Grave Oyja has average stats of 1600/1500. It’s pretty easy to destroy, and it’s only capable of doing a minimal amount of damage to your opponent’s LP by its ATK strength, but if you can keep it on the Field for a while, either with protection or with its Effect, then it’ll prove to be quite a helpful card to you in most situations.

Grave Oyja has many Monsters, both newly released in TLM and older ones, to work with. It has several uses, even outside of Rock-based Decks, which makes it a bit more of a versatile Monster Card. First of all, if there are any Monsters on your side of the Field in face-down Defense Mode, which is quite likely to be in Rock-based Decks, then Grave Oyja can’t be the target of battle, so a lot of times your opponent might have a rough time getting around it.

The second part of its Effect, as simple and minimal as it may seem, can actually end up doing a hefty amount of damage to your opponent’s LP, and this part of its Effect is what makes Grave Oyja such a versatile card. You can use it in flip-based Decks with cards such as Stealth Bird to give you quite an advantage. With simply a Grave Oyja on the Field and a face-down Stealth Bird, you can flip Stealth Bird to do 1000 damage, add on another 300 from Oyja’s Effect, get the Bird back face-down and protect Oyja from attacks. It can also work very nicely with Dummy Golem, which will be the next card reviewed here in this article. It works great with Medusa Worm (Earth/Rock - Level 2 - 500/600, Effect: This card can change to face-down DEF mode once per turn. When successfully Flip-Summoned, destroy one of your opponent‘s Monsters on the Field) and Guardian Statue (Earth/Rock - Level 4 - 800/1400, Effect: This card can change to face-down DEF mode once per turn. When successfully Flip-Summoned, return one of your opponent‘s Monsters on the Field to their Hand), as well. Any Monsters with Effects such as those work very nicely with Grave Oyja. I emphasize Oyja’s use with Stealth Bird as the Bird’s been one of my favorite cards to use in Decks for quite some time. It’s a card that’s usually extremely unexpected, and with Grave Oyja, the LP damage to your opponent can certainly add up very quickly.

Overall, I see Grave Oyja as being a fun and effective card to use in many situations. I’d suggest trying it out a couple of times to see how it works for you if you can find any room for it in your Deck or Side Deck. Rating: 7/10.

Next we take a look at the afore-mentioned Dummy Golem; a Normal card from the TLM set.

Dummy Golem.. Quite an interesting Monster Card; one that can also sometimes be effect in Decks other than just Rock-based Decks, and it can be a great card for your Side Deck in many cases.

It has rather weak stats of 800/800 for being a Level 2, but it has a rather nice Effect that can come in handy in many situations. If your opponent has any powerful Monster Card on their side of the Field, like say, perhaps, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, you can set down a Dummy Golem, perhaps with something protecting it, and wait to Flip it to take control of the BLS. That can certainly prove to be quite devastating to your opponent. Keep in mind, though, that Dummy Golem must be on the Field for its Effect to resolve. So if it were to be destroyed in Battle by an opponent's Monster, its Effect would not resolve, and you would not be able to take control of an opponent's Monster.

There’s a simple situation example for you. Say at the end of your opponent’s turn, they have a BLS on the Field, and you have a face-down Dummy Golem. Your turn now. Flip your Dummy Golem and select their BLS. You get that and they get your Golem. You use their BLS to destroy your D-Golem for 2700 damage, then attack for another 3000. It works great against any other opposing Monster that may be of any threat to you, as well, whether they attack your face-down D-Golem or you get to Flip it face-up yourself on your own turn.

Now, another thing about D-Golem is that you get to keep control of the selected Monster (and the opponent keeps control of your Dummy Golem) until they are both destroyed. If your D-Golem gets destroyed first, you still keep control of the opponent’s Monster, and vice versa. If there is a ruling made saying that this information is incorrect, I will correct it.

Overall, I can see Dummy Golem as another fun and effective card to use, and it can be nice to surprise your opponents with. Rating: 6.7/10.

Next we take a look at Hieracosphinx; a Super/Ultimate Rare from the TLM set.

Hieracosphinx has pretty standard stats for a Level 6 at 2400/1200. It will be tough for your opponent to destroy in battle in most situations, which also means it can be capable of doing a nice amount of damage to your opponent’s LP.

Its Effect is simple, and it can be nice for stalling and protection for such Monsters as Stealth Bird, Swarm of Scarabs/Medusa Worm, Des Lacooda, or any other Monsters with Effects that allow them to flip face-down once per turn like that. With this sphinx protecting such Monsters, your opponent can be in for a lot of trouble, whether that mean mass damage to your opponent, mass Monster or M/T removal, or mass Draw power for yourself. If you can get Hieracosphinx and Guardian Sphinx out on the Field at the same time, maybe add a Swarm of Locusts or Stealth Bird to the mix.. Evil, I tell you.

There’s not too much else to say about Hieracosphinx, really. It can be a good card to try out, and there are plenty of cards for it to work with. It can be good for Earth or Rock-based Decks, as well as of course Defensive Decks or Decks with Monsters that can flip face-down once per turn.

Overall, Hieracosphinx is a pretty nice Monster Card. It has a good ATK strength, and a good Effect in the right kinds of Decks. Rating: 7.3/10.

And finally, we have Criosphinx, a Rare from the TLM set.

Criosphinx has a weak ATK strength of 1200, making it vulnerable to attacks and easy to destroy. But if you can keep it in DEF mode, it’ll likely be able to hold its own for a while with 2400 ATK strength. One good thing about its low ATK strength, however, is that it enables it to be brought out via Giant Rat.

Criosphinx’s Effect can be useful in combination with Guardian Sphinx or Guardian Statue, returning Monsters to your opponent‘s Hand and making them discard. If any Monster(s) are returned to your opponent’s Hand with Criosphinx in play, your opponent may choose which card they want to discard. It is not random.

Keep in mind, though, that this Effect can also work against you. If your opponent sends any of your own Monsters back to your Hand, then you must choose a card in your Hand and discard it.

I wouldn’t really recommend using this card in anything other than Rock-based Decks with Guardian Sphinx and Guardian Statue. It won’t really come in handy too often, and the combos it has to work with won’t always be so easy to pull off.

Overall, I really don’t see Criosphinx as a very effective Monster card to use whatsoever, especially with its weak ATK strength. Even in a Rock-based Deck, I would probably recommend including it only in the Side Deck and perhaps substituting it in once in a while to see if it works alright for you. Rating: 5/10.

And what do all of these new Rock-types have to work with? A new card called Rock-Throwing Attack; a Normal Trap Card that allows you to search your Deck for a Rock-type Monster (shuffling your Deck afterward) and put it in your Graveyard to deal 500 points of damage to your opponent‘s Life Points.

Now for a Deck example of a Rock-based Deck..

1x Megarock Dragon
1x Guardian Sphinx
1x Hierarcosphinx
3x Grave Oyja
2x Dummy Golem
2x Stone Statue of the Aztecs
2x Medusa Worm
1x Gigantes
1x Legendary Jujitsu Master
1x Mine Golem
1x Cyber Jar
1x Sangan
1x Sinister Serpent

2x Monster Reincarnation
2x Book of Moon
1x Pot of Greed
1x Graceful Charity
1x Lightning Vortex
1x Premature Burial
1x Snatch Steal
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Foolish Burial
1x Delinquent Duo
1x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Dark Core
1x Mystery Wok

3x Rock-Throwing Attack
1x Call of the Haunted
1x Holy Barrier - Mirror Force
1x Destruction Ring
1x Waboku / Magical Cylinders / Ceasefire Treaty

And that’ll do it for Article # 58 - Turning Your Heart Into Stone. You can e-mail me with any questions and/or comments at dm7fgd32@hotmail.com

Until next time..