Swordsoul Punishment – #CYAC-EN052
If you control a Synchro Monster: Target 1 card on the field or in either GY; banish it. If your opponent controls a Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Monster: You can banish 1 Synchro Monster from your GY; add this card from the GY to your hand. You can only use each effect of “Swordsoul Punishment” once per turn.
Date Reviewed: July 18th, 2023
Rating: 2.50
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,
Swordsoul Punishment is a simplistic spot removal with a restriction.
Banish a card in the grave or on the field of either player, but you have to control a Synchro Monster. There are a lot of cards and monster effects in the game that do something like this and don’t require you to control a Synchro Monster. For decks that Synchro Summon a lot like Swordsoul (where this card originates in the lore), this is a card restriction that won’t likely matter to them. For everyone else in the game this is a problem. While almost everyone who can Synchro Summon runs Baronne de Fleur right now, situational cards aren’t the best strategy.
Banish a Synchro Monster in your grave if your opponent controls an Extra Deck monster to add this back to the hand is more realistic an effect and I think should’ve been the first effect restriction on the spot banishing effect. Your opponent nine times out of 10 will control an Extra Deck monster, and if you are running this card you will be Synchro Summoning a lot, making the restrictions easy to come by. Though I think banishing a Synchro Monster from your grave to add this back would also have been sufficient.
Swordsoul Punishment is an okay banishing spot removal, but there are better cards with less restrictions.
Advanced-2/5 Art-4/5
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
Next up we see the first Swordsoul card in a little bit with a brand new Spell for them: Swordsoul Punishment.
Swordsoul Punishment is a Normal Spell where if you control a Synchro Monster, you can target a card on the field or in either graveyard and banish it. It’s fine removal in theory, it just feels slow and somewhat unreliable not being a Quick-Play Spell. I get not wanting to outright make a better Swordsoul Blackout, but as a result, you get something that looks good, but feels underwhelming like this. Also if this is in your graveyard and the opponent controls a Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Monster, you can banish a Synchro Monster from your graveyard to add this back to your hand, so it at least has some recovery to it, even if relies on the opponent using Extra Deck or Ritual strategies. Hard once per turn on each effect, as is the standard now. It’s not really all that bad. It’s searchable removal in Swordsoul you can use on your turn to take care of a problematic card. I just feel like Swordsoul Blackout is better since it can be used on the opponent’s turn, even if it is a Trap. Fine card, might see a little play in Swordsoul every once in a while, but overall pretty fair.
Advanced Rating: 2.5/5
Art: 4.5/5 I mean, at least the events going on here look pretty neat.
Mighty
Vee
Perhaps the final Swordsoul card for the time being, Swordsoul Punishment is a Normal Spell for the Swordsoul archetype with two hard once per turn effects. Punishment’s first effect can only be used while you control a Synchro monster (that is, practically all Swordsoul bosses), targeting and banishing a card on the field or in either Graveyard. For Swordsoul decks in particular, this effect functions as both removal and as an extender, as it’ll trigger the banish effects of various Swordsoul cards, and it’ll let Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign – Chengying sort of “double dip” with its banishing effect. The second effect can be used while it’s in the Graveyard and your opponent controls a Ritual, Fusion, Xyz, Synchro, or Link monster, banishing a Synchro monster from your Graveyard to recycle itself back to your hand. This card’s gimmick is clear, recycling itself and letting you aggressively banish your opponent’s monsters as you bring out more and more Synchro monsters turn after turn. The unfortunate reality is that most Synchro decks, especially Swordsoul, really want to end duels as quickly as possible, so you’re much better off searching Swordsoul Emergence for a more direct extender or Swordsoul Blackout for more aggressive endboard. Punishment could have a use as a going-second tool for boardbreaking or as a tech in slower Synchro decks like Ghoti, which are less aggressive by nature, but overall it’s a card you can do without.
Advanced: 3/5
Art: 4.25/5 CRIT
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