Dark Paladin's Dimension

Article #3 Secret Rares

1.21.05   Welcome again!

I would like to first thank all who have e-mailed and commented to me about my section! This is so awesome, and to answer any e-mail, I will fix decks, if you want. Now, I have a confession to make. When I wrote my article about Staples, I talked about Pot of Greed. That is a wicked little combo. This has spawned a nice little contest--hmm? I must admit I was indeed wrong, I have the solution and it clicked almost immediately after reading yesterday's Deck Garage.
Anyway, with the exception of today, I will only send one article a week if possible.

On to today's article--Secret Rares

Are all Secret Rares worthy of being so? Sometimes people get so excited waiting for new boosters to come out and then they are so disappointed. Here is a list of Secret Rares...

Tri Horned Dragon
Gaia the Dragon Champion
Gate Guardian
Thousand Dragon
Blue Eyes Toon Dragon
Serpent Night Dragon
Jinzo
Imperial Order
Gemini Elf
Magic Cylinder
Yata Garasu
Injection Fairy Lily
Ring of Destruction
Lava Golem
Dark Magician Girl
Diffusion Wave-Motion
Vampire Lord
Judgement of Anubis
Invader of Darkness
Chaos Emperor Dragon--Envoy of the End
The End of Anubus
Mazerra DeVille

Now, these are all the Secret Rares from Legend of Blue Eyes to Ancient Sanctuary. (Obvious Ultimate Rares took out Secret Rares in Soul of the Duelist.) Now, we will go over whether or not these are worthy of being in their coveted slots. Also, these arguments can be made for Super and Ultra rares, but I'm not discussing that here. Similarly, an argument can be made to cards aren't as rare as they should be.

Anyway...

Tri Horned Dragon--2850 attack for a 2 tribute Dragon. Not necessarily a bad card, but you already had Blue Eyes which was more powerful and easily accessible through SDK. This card shouldn't have been Secret Rare when something more powerful could be obtained more easily.

Gaia the Dragon Champion--2600 fusion of two substandard tribute monsters. Wow, this thing could've gotten off being a Rare. A common would've been fine. 2 tributes for Gaia, and 1 for Curse of Dragon for a 300 attack point boos?
*chuckles*

Gate Guardian--Oh, 3750 which is oh so powerful. Lets see, 9 total tributes and you have to obtain the 3 Super Rare pieces. Also, have all 3 on the field, and this in your hand. Decks tried to be built around it, but failed miserably.

Thousand Dragon--2400 fusion of two more monsters, making this WORSE than Gaia the Dragon Champion. Made Starter Deck accessible as a common in SDJ. What's that tell us?

Blue Eyes Toon Dragon--Supposed to be the best toon, but the original Blue Eyes wasn't a Secret Rare. So this one is because if you get Toon World out it can attack directly for 3000 points. (After you give up 1000 for Toon World and 500 for Toon Dragon to attack.) *sighs*

Serpent Night Dragon--Come on, still such stronger easily accessible monsters to be acquired. 2350 attack and 2400 defense won't stand up to much. Summon Skull and Jinzo take this out without even a flinch.

Jinzo--A card that has been and remained phenomenal after the PSV days. He dominated then, and continues to. He probably always will. This in my opinion was the first worthy Secret Rare.

Imperial Order--What TWO great Secret Rares...from the same set? If only you could combo this with Jinzo. So it had a little translation error, it was so good it's BANNED.

Gemini Elf--I guess this guy was secret because he was the first effectless level 4 1900 attacker. Released as a variant in the IOC packs, we got better and less rare choices. (Slate Warrior, Archfiend Soldier, Mad Dog of Darkness,
etc.)

Magic Cylinder--Another fabulous trap card that was quite overrated, even deemed a staple for a while. Currently, it seems to be a bit underrated, but I believe it earned its spot.

Yata Garasu--so feared, so powerful, he is also banned. The Demon Bird himself, this was again another great choice for Secret Rare. We couldn't just have him floating around everywhere.

Injection Fairy Lily--What a powerhouse she is, hmm? A great little card who can even use her effect under Gravity Bind. How evil, and I also believe she was worthy of her spot.

Ring of Destruction--Another excellent trap card that was also a bit overrated.
Seems to be used pretty universally, but of course, use with care. It could cost you the duel. This is a great card, but might have been ok as an Ultra Rare.

Lava Golem--This card has awesome art, but sadly, doesn't need a Secret Rare spot. A nice burn card if used properly, and you can defensd yourself. I'm glad the picture is holo, but it would've been holo as merely a Super Rare.

Dark Magician Girl--Sadly, the coveted, beloved female didn't need to be a Secret Rare either. Re-released as a variant in RDS boxes, and though this set was about Magicians, Breaker could've been the Secret Rare.

Diffusion-Wave Motion--Also re-released as a RDS variant, this sadly also didn't need to be a Secret Rare. Perhaps if it did a little more, or worked with a few more monsters (Level 6 or higher)

Vampire Lord--one of the most overused, abused, and overrated Secret Rares ever, except maybe CED and Yata. This thing went into every single deck for a while, and for good reason. But he fell out like other cards eventually.

Judgement of Anubus--Another RDS Variant, this thing could've gotten of as a Super, maybe even a plain old Rare. This is a severely watered down Mirror Force and dismissed quickly.

Chaos Emperor Dragon--Do I need to go over this one? So great, so powerful, so broken just WOW! He is also banned, and he is the single most destructive and damaging card ever.

Invader of Darkness--Negating quickplay spells is good, don't get me wrong, but Super or Ultra Rare would've been good enough for this fellow. One heck of a powerful fiend though.

The End of Anubus--I'll let this guy keep his spot, he is worth it. I've sadly only seen him in a few decks. 2500-0 for a one trib monster is as good as it comes right now. His effect is also N A S T Y!

Mazerra DeVille--Why oh WHY did they waste a Secret Rare spot on this guy? This is kinda like Gate Guardian being summoned. Warrior of Zera has to be on YOUR side of the field AND Pandemonium has to be out. What a sick combo if you can pull it off.

Take care

Until next time

Feel free to e-mail me with anything at tsearcy@lssu.edu

Also, I have a quick little poll:

Should I fix decks here in my section? (I have been sent over a dozen decks in the last 6 hours)

Yes
No

You stay classy, Planet Earth :)

~Dark Paladin~