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GeneralZorpa on Yugioh
Bring On the Thunder!
November 3, 2008

Cuz I'm Bringin' the Lightning!
 
Well to all of the wide selection of Pojo Yugi enthusiasts I say that I am sorry. I have failed to complete a deck for this week's article. Hopefully the extra virtual testing and such will pay off as I might even have a twofer for you all next week. Well anyway, Today we are only going to explore 2 cards. Both are long awaited promotional cards from the OCG (Japan) and they are both extraordinarily powerful and could help to define the game for as long as they are usefull. Of course I am referring to Gorz, Emissary of Darkness and Thunderking Rai-Oh.
 
Both of these cards have the ability to completely change the game that we know and love. To start things off, I am going to say how you can get both of these cards, because they are EXTREMELY easy to get and relatively cheap. You can get Rai-Oh from the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Volume 2 manga now, carried in bookstores like Borders and some comic/card shops. be careful though, in Davis the manga is SOLD OUT! After 1 day! Well, at least Gorz is not even out yet, so you can plan on getting one early. Gorz comes in a special pack reminiscent of the Light and Darkness Power Pack. You get one Gorz and a pair of packs of the now famous Dark Legends set. You can look up the thread on the forums if you want to know more about Dark Legends. The promo is supposed to come out in Walmart later this month, but in other retail stores in January.
 
So without further ado, here's the monsters!
 
Lightning Always Screws Up My Plans!
 
By far my favorite card in the game right now is Thunderking Rai-Oh. Well how can that be? I've only had my playset for like 24 hours, so how did we form such a strong friendship in just that short of a time. The answer is in it's excellent combination of both stats, effects and attribute. Rai-Oh has 1900 ATK and a paltry DEF. He is a LIGHT monster as well as being of the Thunder type. Right now I can see combos with Beckoning Light, Honest, and maybe even judgment of Thunder.
 
But if ATK and Attribute were everything, then Blue Eyes White Dragon would be the best card in the game, right? Well, Rai-Oh has two very disruptive effects. The first is that neither player can add cards to their hand except by drawing them. This is excellent, as both Reinforcements of the Army and Elemental Hero Stratos both make use of such effects. it will also stop Sangan, but that is not all Rai-Oh does.
 
His second effect allows you to tribute him to negate the Special Summon of a monster and Destroy it. Wowzorz. You can nuke Judgment Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus and any Synchro Summon. Before we just had Jowgen and the Barrier Statue monsters, but they just don't have the ATK to push for damage once you have control of the game. Rai-Oh does, and your opponent will either have to make a bad trade, or continue taking beats from Rai-Oh's rather massive 1900 ATK.
 
The obvious pick for this card is in an anti-meta deck, one that counters all of the popular decks out there. People used to use Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo in this regard, but Rai-Oh will make a perfect addition to the deck. It adds Special Summon negation to the massive ATK that such decks often lack. It will also be useful because of the fact that it is a lightning rod for destruction (no pun intended) and will save your more useful monsters for times when you need to have them as well as likely your spell and trap cards.
 
Rai-Oh also shines in Counter Fairy decks, where he will be able to beat down while your counters defend. This eliminates the need for Royal oppression in the deck, making them less reliant on fragile trap cards. Rai-Oh also works together with Honest, so if you happen to encounter Berserk Gorilla, you can drop Honest to protect you. Also Rai-Oh can be used with Beckoning Light in a deck that can actually run it, as copies of Bountiful Artemis are rare in the deck, and reusing fallen copies is a good way to get back on your feet.
 
But where I really think Rai-Oh shines is in Lightsworn. you have access to Beckoning Light as well as Honest and his disruptive effect only interferes with Charge of the Light Brigade. Moreover, unlike Jowgen the Spiritualist, you can choose when to activate Rai-Oh's effect, allowing you to Special Summon while your opponent can't. this should give you time to rally an Army of Lightsworn to Rai-Oh's battle standard. All of the deck thinning in the deck also helps you to get to Rai-Oh faster on the first turn, which is crucial when dealing with pretty much any deck.
 
So why is getting Rai-Oh first turn so important? Well he has 1900 ATK, 2 disruptive effects and is highly cool. The standard opening for a Tele-DAD deck is Reinforcements, search for Stratos summon and go off on Synchros. Well, Rai-Oh stops all those shenanigans, preventing Reinforcement and Stratos's effects from working. Also, he can stop all of those early game Synchro swings by simply killing one of the monsters, often giving you a free turn in which to counter-attack and push through a hand-depleted opponent. Plus, none of the Tele-DAD basic monsters
can get over it, making him all but invincible  except to PWWB and other trap cards.

Dark Thunder from Down Under

Yeah, this guy ain't from Australia that's for sure. this card has been awaited for nearly 2 years in the TCG, making him all but the most pined after OCG promo (CCV was first). the erason Gorz is so good? He puts you back in the game if you get knocked out of it. Seriously, in the DS game I have won dules based off of a timely Gorz drop. Basically a 7 star 2700 ATK and 2500DEF wouldn't normally raise any eyebrows, but the fact that he is a Fiend and a DARK type usually piques my interest. However as with 99% of the cards in this game, it is the effect that matters and not the stats.

When you take damage from an opponent's card, you can Special Summon Gorz from your hand. Then, if you took Battle Damage, you Special Summon a token with the same ATK as the damage that you took from that battle. If it is burn damage, you Special Summon Gorz and your opponent takes the damage as well. Of course, the first of the effects is what is most useful about Gorz as well as fortunately the most powerful. A +1 in a losing situation is a godsend, allowing you to actually battle your way back from the brink of destruction with Gorz and his token. The second effect is kinda mediocre at best, as you would rather use Hanewata or Prime Material Dragon in most situations.

The effect that this card will have onteh game is enourmous. Since PTDN, we have had an OTK mindset, where monsters drop to the field faster flies are born and die just as quickly. The obvious plays have been to clear the field and then swarm for game. You can't do that with the possibility of Gorz lurking somewhere in your opponent's deck. That OTK could very well backfire on you and give your opponent 2 very big monsters on the field. At the worst, Gorz will likely stop the Battle Phase, maybe even give you some wiggle room to make some plays in order to get out of your predicament.

Gorz is of course a mostky Defensive card, but once he hits the field he goes all aggro. 2700 is very good on a monster, able to compete with most of the Synchro monsters and able to blast anything else that commonly sees play. You can also use him as a beatstick using the old dump and revive method or remove him from play to bring him back. With Gorz, the possibilities are almost endless as to how you can use him with all o fhte DARK support that we have right now.

Of course he can be a bad draw because of his level, but htere is rarely a time when you will be unhappy to see Gorz. He is almost the ultimate topdeck card, giving you an advantage over an aggressive opponent and even if you are on the offense, if Torrential Tribute or Mirror Force decide to come to the party, Gorz will make sure that everyone is welcome (did that even make any sense?).

Basically the bottom line is that Rai-Oh and Gorz are great cards, and if you don't have a playset (GORZ IS AT 1 1 FOR THE LAST TIME!!!!) you should go out and find some!

Have a Happy Halloween everyone! raptor1k@hotmail.com is where I'll be (but not tonite), so message me if you have any question sor whatever.

Thanx for Reading!
GZ