Performapal Monkeyboard – #OP01-EN008
Pendulum Effect
Unless you have a “Performapal” card in your other Pendulum Zone, this card’s Pendulum Scale becomes 4. During your Main Phase, if this card was activated this turn: You can add 1 Level 4 or lower “Performapal” monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Performapal Monkeyboard” once per turn.
Monster Effect
You can discard this card; reveal 1 “Performapal” or “Odd-Eyes” monster in your hand, and if you do, reduce the Levels of monsters in your hand with that name by 1 for the rest of this turn (even after they are Summoned/Set).
Date Reviewed: July 5th, 2024
Rating: 4.08
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is awful. 3 is average. 5 is excellent.
Reviews Below:
King of
Lullaby
Hello Pojo Fans,
Performapal Monkeyboard ends the first half of our look at the best Pendulum Monsters in the game, as well as ends our week.
Currently Limited, Monkeyboard as a Pendulum Spell is a Performapal RoTA, searching any Level 4 or lower from your Deck and adds it to your hand. Pretty good seeing as many Performapal monsters are able to be splashed into other archetypes and work in conjunction with other archetypes. If you do splash it into another archetype and don’t have another Performapal card in the other Pendulum Zone then Monkeyboard’s scale changes to 4 instead of 1.
Pendulum Sorcerer and Skullcrobat Joker are two of the top Performapal monsters to search with Monkeyboard. Off a Pendulum Summon, Sorcerer can pop two to search two different monsters than the ones it destroyed (Performapal), while Joker can search a Performapal or Odd-Eyes off its Normal Summon. Or, if you have something like Guiturtle activate before Monkeyboard, then you can draw off activating Monkeyboard because of Guiturtle and get your search on top of that.
As a monster, Monkeyboard can be discarded to become a sort of weaker Cost Down for a Performapal or Odd-Eyes monster you reveal. It only drops it a Level, which helps the nine or so Level 5 Performapal/Odd-Eyes monsters that would become Level 4. Otherwise, shrinking the Level of one monster in your hand by one isn’t that good of an effect, especially on a Level 6 with 1000ATK.
Monkeyboard does its best work as a Pendulum Spell. It searches Skullcrobat Joker, which can then search another scale for you to complete your scales and perform a Pendulum Summon. Joker can search Monekyboard since you only can play one, while Joker is at three: the two are a tandem that once were the bane of the meta’s existence. Simple interactions can have bigger plays and that’s what you get with Monkeyboard.
Advanced- 4/5 Art- 3.5/5
Until Next Time,
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
We end the first half of the Top 10 off with a card from the face archetype of the Pendulum mechanic. From Breakers of Shadow, we have Performapal Monkeyboard.
Monkeyboard as a Pendulum Scale is a Scale 1, which is a good Scale, but it becomes a Scale 4 if you don’t have a Performapal in your other Scale, which is pretty rough, but keeping you to Performapals at least. Besides that restriction, we get a HOPT effect on the turn it was activated to search for any Level 4 or lower Performapal from the Deck. A great effect in the Performages and Pals Deck to get you to cards like Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, Performapal Guitartle, and Performapal Lizardraw. Those basically remain some of the best Performapals in the game, along with a few additions since like Odd-Eyes Synchron, Gentrude, Lady Ange, etc. This is the main reason to play the card, since the Monster Effect doesn’t offer much.
Monkeyboard as a Monster is a Level 6 EARTH Beast Pendulum with 1000 ATK and 2400 DEF. A pretty decent wall, EARTH is good, and Beast is alright. All this does for a Monster Effect is let you discard it to reveal a Performapal or Odd-Eyes monster in your hand to reduce the Levels of monsters in your hand with that name by 1 for the turn, even after they are Summoned or Set. The only use I can even think of is adjusting Levels of monsters so they can be Pendulum Summoned, but I doubt you would ever use this effect and sacrifice that Pendulum Effect. Monkeyboard is another card with a great Pendulum Effect, and in this case a pretty bad Monster Effect. You play the 1 copy you are allowed to in anything Performapal related still for the search, since it’s a 1-card Scale potentially, and a bunch of consistency when combined with Skullcrobat Joker. If it goes to multiples ever, I can see Performapal Decks running multiples as well.
Advanced Rating: 4.25/5
Art: 4/5 It’s a monkey with a keyboard mouth, that’s cute.
My #6: Performapal Skullcrobat Joker
Mighty
Vee
Closing the week is number 6 on our countdown, the formerly dreaded Performapal Monkeyboard. We actually reviewed Monkeyboard for Throwback Thursday…two years ago! How time flies. Monkeyboard is a level 6 EARTH Beast Pendulum monster with a powerful scale of 1, enjoying the searchability of most Performapal monsters– though the most efficient ways to get to it would be Beyond the Pendulum, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker, and Performapal Pendulum Sorceror. Monkeyboard’s stats are pretty unimpressive, with a pitiful 1000 attack and an only decent 2400 defense for a level 6 monster. Monkeyboard still sits at limited in both the TCG and OCG, and frankly, not much has changed!
While it’s active in the Pendulum Zone, Monkeyboard’s scale becomes 4 unless your other Pendulum Zone is occupied by another Performapal. That won’t be an issue because, as we’ve covered in our previous review, Monkeyboard’s bread and butter effect is its Pendulum effect, a hard once per turn effect to search any level 4 or lower Performapal monster as long as it’s the same turn you activated Monkeyboard. You’ll grab pretty much whatever you need to combo, which often comes down to a scale 5 or higher Performapal or a Skullcrobat Joker for follow-up.
Monkeyboard’s monster effect, on the other hand, is much less useful, letting you discard it to reveal a Performapal or Odd-Eyes monster in your hand, then reduce the levels of all monsters in your hand with that name by one, making it just a tiny bit easier to Pendulum Summon. If you have to use this effect instead of Monkeyboard’s Pendulum effect, something has gone horribly wrong because Performapal has no issues summoning level 7 monsters. Just use the Pendulum effect! Along with its partner in crime Performage Plushfire, Monkeyboard was a powerful playmaker in the vicious Pepe deck, which could spam level 4 monsters and make powerful (for the time) Xyz endboards. As the less-than-stellar performance of Supreme King shows, not even Monkeyboard is able to let Pepe break the game again. Maybe when Plushfire comes back (hint hint) we could see some tops, but for now, Pepe remains a relic of a horrifying past.
+Instantly sets up scales by itself
+Reasonably accessible in Performapal-heavy decks
-Strongest combos require multiple cards
-Terrible monster effect
Advanced: 4/5
Art: 2.5/5 I still think most Performapals look pretty freaky, Monkeyboard included, but I guess it is what it is.
Alex
Searcy
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