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From: Tyler Ulsch [mailto:headfirstforhalos00@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 5:19 PM

Subject: A Look at Shadows of Infinity: What Stands Out by Make Me Scene



A Look at Shadows of Infinity: What Stands Out

By: Make Me Scene

Well, it's almost February, which means a few things: Valentine's Day is coming up (for all of us who actually have girlfriends/boyfriends, etc), the new Ban List is almost here, and, last but not least, the upcoming SOI Preview Event is looming ever nearer. Everyone may over look this set as a "N00bzorx" set because of the "new God cards" and the slight E-Hero support. But then, everyone should also see this set as the "almost return of Sinister Serpent." Yomi Frog (I believe dubbed "Yellow Spring Frog" but I haven't seen the official translations) is somewhat like Sinister Serpent in the fact that it keeps coming back. The card reads:

Yami Frog

Water/Aqua/1/100/100
When this card is in your Graveyard at your Standby Phase, and you have no Spell or Trap cards on your side of the field, you can special summon this card to your side of the field. This effect cannot be activated if a [Yomi Frog] is face-up on your field.
Rare

Now that you know the effect (even if you were already familiar with the card), let's break it down.

What it does and what it's good for: Basically, if you have a clear field, you can summon this from the graveyard, care free. Of course some obvious uses for this would be discards for effects like Lightning Vortex or Magic Jammer. It also works as a wall against one monster (although even a Spirit Reaper can get by it). But this card serves some other purposes too. For instance, it's a fantastic Metamorphosis card because it can morph into the devastating Thousand Eyes Restrict, and then come back the next turn. It also works well as bait for Don Zaloog or Spirit Reaper, and even sometimes Thestalos. Yomi Frog is a perfect tribute fodder, because it's pretty much a free card.

Things to remember:

Yomi Frog doesn't work if you have any M/T down.
I'm not sure, but I believe that the effect activates at the beginning of the Standby Phase, so I don't think it's chainable. So, if you have a trap down from the last turn, you can't bring it back.
If you Morph the Frog into TER and equip a monster to it, you can't bring the Frog back as long as the monster is equipped to TER.
Ratings:

Traditional: 2/5 –It's going to die, no matter what. Also, Sinister Serpent is legal in this format, so don't expect Yomi Frog to be seen much

Advanced: 4/5 –Amazing card for most decks. I don't recommend using this card if you run a heavy trap set or you don't have many discard abilities. Also, not a good card for stall decks… Especially with G-Bind, LLAB and MoP. Expect this to be limited.

Limited: 4/5 –If you pull this card at the Preview, even without much to discard, I would run it just for the stall element. Combos well with all of the M/T that require discards.

Now that we are finished with the most anticipated card in the set, let's look at one of the most overlooked cards in the set: Chainsaw Insect. Chainsaw Insect reads:

Chainsaw Insect

Earth/Insect/4/2400/0

When this card battles with an opponent's monster, you're opponent draws a card at the end of the Damage Step.

What?! Give your opponent card advantage? Is he crazy? Yeah… no.

What it does and what it's good for: When Chainsaw Insect attacks a monster, your opponent draws a card. That can be devastating for you because of the card advantage gained by your opponent. Of course, this is only when Chainsaw Insect attacks a MONSTER. If it attacks directly, nothing happens. 4 stars for a 2400 attack monster is fantastic, and if it gets in a free direct hit, that's even better. Why is this such a good card? Well, I'll show you. I was trolling the Deck Fix section of the Pojo forums the other day, and I stumbled upon a deck idea that revolved around LETTING YOUR OPPONENT DRAW CARDS. Amazing, I know. Basically, you use Chainsaw Insect and combo it with Greed. Greed makes your opponent take 500 damage every time they draw a card outside of the Draw Phase. After a while, the damage will build up, and you're opponent won't be able to take any more. Of course, if the Insect attacks directly, there is no penalty. Add the obvious mill potential and you've got a rather well rounded card. Definitely an overlooked card that I think will become a good bit of tech later on.

Things to remember:

Chainsaw Insect's ability only activates when it attacks a monster, so if it attacks directly, nothing happens.
Chainsaw Insect's ability activates after the Damage Step, so if your opponent activates Sakuretsu Armor, they don't get to draw a card.
Drawing the card is of course outside of the draw phase, so using Protector of the Sanctuary will negate the draw.
Ratings:

Traditional: 1.5/5 –It's not going to last more than a turn at best. It's basically a free card for your opponent. Also, don't expect to be able to run a Chainsaw Insect deck because of the fact that the damage won't matter when your damage engine doesn't work.

Advanced: 2.5/5 –Remember this is talking about in general CC decks. Chainsaw insect has the instant advantage over Cyber Dragon, GAF, GEAF, and even the Dark World cards. The card disadvantage may be a bit steep outside of it's own deck.

Adv. Chainsaw Insect Deck: 5/5 –Pretty basic here. Whether it's the burn you want, or the mill, Chainsaw Insect Decks get a pretty solid 3.5/5. Very solid, original idea.

The insects definitely get a boost in this set, but I'm done looking at them. My next card is one in a series of "if there are other cards with the same name in the graveyard" cards. This card is called Divine Dragon-Excelion.

Divine Dragon - Excelion
Light/Dragon/5/1500/900
When this card is Normal Summoned, for each [Divine Dragon - Excelion] in your Graveyard, you get one of the following effects. You cannot get the same effect more than once.
- Increase this card's attack strength by 1000.
- When this card destroy an opponent's monster, this card can attack again once
- When this card destroy an opponent's monster and sends it to Graveyard, do damage to your opponent equal to the attack strength of the destroyed monster.
Super/Ultimate Rare

This card is one of the major cards in the set (as can be seen by the fact it's an Ultimate Rare). It's got some powerful abilities, and a bunch of support to work with it.

What it does and what it's good for: Excelion is a level 5 monster with 1500 attack points. Not a good mix. That right there may cause most people to just look away at their shiny new Yomi Frog. The good part about having such a low attack: it can be Last Willed. That is probably the best piece of support for Excelion. Especially if you want to get a second Excelion in your graveyard for its effect. Excelion is a reasonable monster once it hits the field. The real trick is getting multiple copies of the card out in your graveyard. The easiest way for that is to either discard one for an effect (a la Lightning Vortex), or, thanks to this set, use one of the support Magic/Traps that send things to your graveyard. I'll be looking at one of them next. If Excelion get's one effect (hopefully you choose the first one) it becomes a pretty standard beatstick. If it gets two, it becomes pretty amazing in its own right. A 2500 attack monster that can attack twice? A monster that can destroy 2 monsters and deal up to 3000+ damage to the opponent? A Mobius killer that can deal upward from 2500 damage every time it attacks? So many choices.

Things to remember:

· Excelion's ability is continuous, not a trigger. It isn't chainable

· If an Excelion is removed from the graveyard (by Soul Release or otherwise), any othe Excelions that got an effect lose the effect.

· Excelion has 1500 attack while not on the field, so it can be searched out with Last Will, Shining Angel, Masked Dragon, Sangan, etc.

· Once Excelion hits the field, until the summoning is resolved, it doesn't get any of its bonuses.

Ratings:

Traditional: 2/5 –It doesn't work that well, but is still good for Chaos Food.

Advanced: 3.5/5 –It can be amazing with some support, especially Last Will.

Advanced Excelion Deck: 5/5 It IS the deck. Still, the deck gets a 3.5/5 in the Advanced Format overall. I think it has real potential.

Limited: 3/5 –One of the better cards in the set, but it is pretty much a dead card if you don't pull any support for it. Still, it can lead to some big combos.

Excelion has potential, and I'm going to definitely be looking for one come

February 18th. The last card I'm going to preview is a perfect support for Excelion: Lost Next (I'm not exactly sure if that's the real name, but that's what I got from my source).

Lost Next
Trap - Normal
Choose a face-up monster on your field. Send a monster with the same name as that monster from your deck into Graveyard.

Lost Next's potential is amazing. It thins your deck, and combos with a lot of the monsters in the SOI set.

What it does and what it's good for: Lost Next works very well in the limited format. There are tons of cards that want other copies of the card in the graveyard. This card helps get just that. It also helps in the centric theme of Excelion-types. There isn't much I can actually say about this card that wasn't said with Excelion. It combos well, can cause deck thinning, and can even set up for a Call of the Haunted or Premature Burial recursion. Not to mention it works with the Des Frog/TADPOLE line and even Yomi Frog (Although Yomi will be limited).

Things to remember:

· Lost Next is a trap, so it's chainable to pretty much everything. This can help with Excelion and TADPOLE easily. Also works when your opponent wants to destroy (or attack) the monster you target.

· Lost Next can't chain to cards like Pot of Avarice because Pot requires the cards to be in the graveyard during the activation of the card. You can however let Lost Next resolve, then activate Pot to get the card back in your deck.

Ratings:

Traditional: 1/5 –Don't try it. The deck ideas with this won't work well in this format.

Advanced: 2/5 –In CC, this card won't work unless you combo it with Premy or CotH. Even then it's a 1 for 2… a -1 advantage. Add to the fact that the monster won't stay alive for long… bad idea.

Adv. Excelion Deck: 4/5 Used in an Excelion or Des Frog deck, this card is pretty much a must. Combos with hopefully most things in the deck.

Limited: 4/5 – there is so much in the new set that has the whole Excelion theme, that if you crack two of them and this, you should run it all.

There you have it, a few of the cards to look for during the Preview. Remember that in Limited, look for the combos that work best with what you have. And, if you pull a Yomi Frog or an Excelion, I will be looking for you (assuming you're going to the Maryland event).

Afterthoughts: Shadows of Infinity looks to be a pretty original set. I think that Insects may have some more playability… Albeit nothing groundbreaking. The three Demon cards will be thrown in the trade binders as n00b bait (although Raviel may have some potential), and Yomi Frog will be the new $20 dollar rare. Although, through it all, I will still be trading off my Elemental Hero Neo Bubbleman and Cyber Barrier Dragon for an Excelion and other random support.

I'm going to leave you all with a deck fix centered around Excelion (I had all this build up… it's the least I can do).

Exciting Excelion Execution!

Monsters (18)

3x Divine Dragon- Excelion

1x Mobius the Frost Monarch

1x Cyber Dragon

3x Successor of Magic Sealing

2x D.D. Assailant

1x Yomi Frog

1x D.D. Warrior Lady

1x Exiled Force

1x Sangan

1x Breaker the Magical Warrior

1x Cyber Jar

2x Masked Dragon

Magic (17)

1x Reinforcement of the Army

2x Last Will

1x Soul Exchange

1x Dark Hole

1x Premature Burial

1x Book of Moon

1x Smashing Ground

1x Hammer Shot

1x Pot of Avarice

1x Snatch Steal

1x Brain Control

2x Seal of Heritance

1x Nobleman of Crossout

1x Scapegoat

1x Heavy Storm

Traps (7)

2x Sakuretsu Armor

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Widespread Ruin

2x Lost Next

1x Generation Change

Total: 42

Overall, I give this deck a 7.5/10. Nowhere near perfect, but with a bit of tweaking, I'm sure you can get it to work. That's what I get for writing an article in an hour. A very original deck. Basically, bring out Excelion in many different ways, kill him twice and beat down with a huge beast. Of course, this won't work that well if your third Excelion dies, so I added some more beatsticks in the form of Successor of Magic Sealing. This thing is a 1700 ATK Warrior that can be used to destroy monsters of up to 2 different Attributes, depending on how many are in the graveyard. This card is fantastic against CC Toolboxes, mostly because of the wide use of DARK and EARTH types. It also can be quickly changed to any other type, just by reborning one, or adding a second the the graveyard. This deck thins pretty quickly so I added a Pot of Avarice. It's also a really good way to get those Excelion or SoM back into your deck to reuse their abilities.

Until next time, Pojoevangelists!

And remember, you can email me with any questions, comments, deck fixes, ideas, or tips. Also, if you live in MD and are going to be at the Preview or the Dream Wizards tournament this week, drop me a line.

Headfirstforhalos00@gmail.com

-Make Me Scene

Love is Love

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Yes.