DM7FGD's Look Into the Future

Article # 25 - A Thunderous Mirage

For today’s article, my 25th here at Pojo‘s, we’ll be taking a look at 3 interesting Monster Cards, 2 of which will be released in the next English set; Dark Crisis. We begin this article with a look at Black Flare Knight and its counterpart, Mirage Knight.

Both Black Flare Knight and Mirage Knight will be released in the next English set; Dark Crisis, as they were both Normal Rares from the Japanese 304 set.

Let’s start with Black Flare Knight.. Not exactly a Fusion Monster you’d want to include in your Fusion Deck unless you’re using a Dark Magician / Dark Paladin Deck, or unless you’re using Magical Scientist. It can certainly be a great card to use with the Scientist, as you could use it to simply bring out a Mirage Knight from your Hand or Deck, (By launching it right into an opponent’s stronger Monster) or you could use it to easily get rid of one of your opponent’s Monsters.

The damage done to it being reduced to 0 can certainly come in handy quite often when using Flare Knight, as there’s a certain combo that I’ll be explaining later where that could come in handy. Not to mention it’s always nice being able to have a Special Summon Effect such as that, and having to take no damage from using it.

Not too many Decks that the Flare Knight can fit well into, other than the 2 I mentioned earlier; Dark Magician / Paladin and/or Scientist. Overall, alone, I’d give the Flare Knight a rating of 6 / 10. Now for a look at Mirage Knight..

Mirage Knight is certainly one very powerful Monster card, though it’s not exactly easy to get out, since you have to have a Black Flare Knight being destroyed in Battle. Certainly not a card you’ll want to include in any Deck unless you’re planning on getting a Black Flare Knight out on the Field sometime during the Duel.

Its Effect can be massively powerful, especially against any Monster in ATK mode. Any Monster in ATK mode that Mirage Knight might destroy, a hefty 2800 damage will be done to the opponent. For example, say your opponent has a face-up Jinzo, and you bring out Mirage Knight. You attack, raising Mirage Knight’s ATK by 2400 points, to 5200. Damage goes through to the opponent’s Jinzo, and they take 2800 damage.

It being removed from the game during the End Phase of which it battles is not too big of a drawback, for how much damage it could do, but because of that, it’d probably be wise not to attack any face-down Monsters with Mirage Knight, since that will only most likely hurt you more than it would help in the long-run, unless of course you have a Big Bang Shot or something equipped to your Mirage Knight. Also, if it just attacks direct, it will still be removed from the game, since that Effect basically takes place just after damage is calculated.

Overall, I’d rate Mirage Knight a 6 / 10, as well, since it relies on Black Flare Knight to be Summoned.

Now for an explanation of a Scientist / Flare Knight / Mirage Knight one-turn-win combo.. All it really requires you have is 2 cards in hand / on the Field, and the right cards in your Fusion Deck and Deck itself. The combo won’t be possible in English for quite some time, though, since there’s no telling when Crimson Sunbird (A Level 6 2300 ATK Fusion Monster from the Japanese BC set) might be released in English.

It requires the following cards: 1x Magical Scientist, 1x Forced Transfer (Creature Swap) or Magic Box of Death (Magic Card - Effect: Destroy one of your opponent‘s Monsters and give them control of one of your own Monsters), 3x Black Flare Knight, 1x Crimson Sunbird, and 3x Mirage Knight.

- Summon Magical Scientist

- Special Summon Crimson Sunbird from Scientist

- Activate Forced Transfer / Magic Box of Death, and give them your Crimson Sunbird

- Special Summon 3 Black Flare Knights from Scientist

- Send your Black Flare Knights into attacks against the Crimson Sunbird, destroying them, and you take no damage due to the Knights’ Effects

- Special Summon 3 Mirage Knights from the Flare Knights’ Effects

- Attack the Crimson Sunbird with one Mirage Knight for 2800 damage from its Effect, then attack direct with the other 2 Mirage Knights for 5600 damage, totaling 8400 damage for the win.

It might sound complicated, but it only requires you have over 4000 LP, and it really only requires the right cards being included in your Deck, and only 2 cards available at one time. (Scientist and Creature Swap / Magic Box) Some may say it’s even easier to pull off than the traditional Scientist combo, and is easier to base a Deck around. Anyways, enough of that.. Let’s move on to the last card of today’s article; Thunder Lord - Geborg.

This Monster is certainly an intriguing one, and one of my personal favorite Tribute Monsters. Right away, you can see that it has some nice stats, with a powerful 2400 ATK strength, and a nice, searchable 1000 DEF.

Being a Light/Thunder type is nice, too. Thunder types don’t have too many Monsters, let alone good ones, but Thunder Lord certainly put an end to that, as Thunder Lord is certainly a Monster with a lot of potential. Destroying a Monster when it’s Summoned can prove to be very devastating. 2400 ATK with such an Effect is pretty darn powerful indeed. Could easily set you up for a free 2400 damage to your opponent, at least, if they have some Monster in your way.

Watch out, though, because Thunder Lord’s Effect is not optional. If you were to Summon it when your opponent doesn’t have any Monsters, you’d have to destroy one of your own. You’d even have to destroy your own Geborg if you were to Sacrifice Summon it when no other Monsters whatsoever were on the Field. So just be a bit careful when using it, and know that its Effect is not optional, and that it only works when it’s successfully Tribute-Summoned.

If you Special Summon it, it’s not going to get its Effect, but even then, 2400 ATK strength isn’t that bad at all for a Level 5 Monster with such an Effect. (Oh, and yeah, despite some confusion, Thunder Lord does indeed have 2400 ATK, not 2450)

Thunder Lord - Geborg can work well in Thunder-based Decks, Light-based Decks, Decks with a lot of Monster Destruction, Beatdown, and whatever other Deck you may want to include it in, as it could work well in quite a few different Deck-types.

I’d give Thunder Lord - Geborg an overall rating of 7.5 / 10. I myself consider it one of the better and more fun to use Level 5 Monsters in the game, but that could just be me.

And that’ll do it for my 25th article here on the site - A Thunderous Mirage. You can reach me with any questions and/or comments at dm7fgd32@hotmail.com

Until Next Time..