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GeneralZorpa on Yugioh
Tech This!
May 22, 2009

I'll Be Back!
 
I am writing this on the 21st, and have not seen Terminator yet, but today's article is going to be Terminator themed so you can get the hell out if you don't wanna hear jokes along that line.
 
Anyway, I have a ton to talk about so i might as well get started yeah? There are tons of cards out there. Probably over 4 thousand or so in the game and not all of them are good. In fact some of them are downright horrible (Dark Armed Dragon) and others are so good that people could write epics that testament it's power (Shapesnatch). In case you don't get it, there is a joke there so just work your brain a little harder and you'll get it.
 
God I am digressing like a college professor! Anyway, there are a lot of cards that fly under the radar until someone finds them in order to make them good. Smashing Ground, Legendary Jujitsu Master and Gravekeeper's Spy are some of these. Even the mighty Solemn Judgment was considered too costly in order to play.
 
But today I bring you cards that are both new and old but bring us back to the place that I like to think of as being creative. There will be no obviously good cards here, so we can wait for the net-deckers to leave so I can counter their $50 holo with my 10 cent common. Are they all gone? Well there are some stragglers, but I'll start anyway.
 
Today's cards are Mirror of Oathes, Brain Golem, Lightning Vortex, and Snowman Eater. Now these cards have almost nothing in common, so that should be a clue. These cards are meant as tech for existing decks or as a side-deck option for others. I wanted to write a whole article on Shapesnatch, but I couldn't think of anything awesome to say about it that hasn't already been said. If you aren't playing 3, you should.
 
:)
 
Come With Me If You Want to Live!
 
 First off is probably the best common in the entire Raging Battle set. We have a Normal Trap card which is pretty good, it can be teched almost anywhere. The effect is that whenever a monster is Special Summoned from the deck, you can flip it face up  and destroy the monster and then draw a card. WOW. This is Swallow Flip on Steroids!
 
The thing with this card is that it does not negate effects, which means that Gladiators are not going to be as hard hit by it, but it is really meant to stop that blasted cat. Yeah, it will destroy Rescue Cat's summoned monsters before they can do any real damage. Samnite, Airbellun, Test Tiger and any other card that it gets are completely useless, your opponent loses their Normal Summon and you get to draw a card for a quick +1.
 
Now, compare this to Swallow Flip. It is a Counter Trap, which means it is harder to play, but can work well in Counter Fairy decks. Now all it does is negate the EFFECT of a Special Summoned monster and destroy it. Rescue Cat's targets do not activate. In addition, you do not get to draw a card. As far as I am concerned I am going to play the card that counters tons of the top cards in the game AND draws me cards.
 
Now, here is where it gets a little boring. I am going to list off all of the great cards out there that Special Summon monsters from the deck. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it gets the point across.
 
Destiny Hero Malicious
Emergency Teleport
Giant Rat
Mystic Tomato
Shining Angel
Nova Summoner
Mother Grizzly
UFO Turtle
UFOroid
Flying Kamakiri #1
Masked Dragon
Lonefire Blossom
One For One
Any Gladiator Beast
Summoner Monk
Rescue Cat
Reasoning (not sure if this is counted as "the deck" but I think it does)
Monster Gate (Ditto)
 
I am sure that I have forgotten some as there are really so many that have been played competitively in the past as well as now. The point is that many of the top cards in the game are just nerfed by this card. I think that in an Anti-Meta deck it is going to be main-deck worthy, at least if Gladiators, Cat Synchro and Summoner Monk based decks continue to be the order of the day. It is at least side-deck worthy against Gladiator Beasts and Cat Synchro, as they are both packing Rescue Cat and Summoner Monk.
 
So, before you relegate this to the shoebox, pick out a playset and try it out. You might like what you find.
 
I Like Your Gun
 
Brain Golem. Now we have something to talk about. Off the bat we have a 2500 ATK 1800 DEF DARK Fiend that is level 6. For once we do not have any Tuner or Synchro status that we have to worry about which is nice. The effect is basically there to nerf Lightsworn and Counter Fairies. The effects of face-up LIGHT monsters cannot be activated. If this card destroys a LIGHT monster as a result of battle it can attack once more in a row.
 
Now that is basically screaming I KILL LIGHTSWORN!!! He is a solid side-deck choice for a DARK based deck,a s he works with all of there shenanigans as well as having a pretty high ATK that kills most non-Synchros that see play right now and all for one tribute. No longer is Summoned Skull boasting considerable force and LIGHT monsters everywhere are quaking in their little space boots.
 
Now, this card will not stop Honest, and for that reason you might be tempted to play Light Imprisoning Mirror instead. That is not a great idea. Everything on legs is better. The fact that it is a 2500 ATK beater is even better. There is actually not that much to say about this card, it likes what it does and it does it well with a minimum of effort and cost associated with it.
 
To be honest, I like Dimensional Fissure better for countering Lightsworn, as it will permanently remove them from play, even if it gets destroyed. However, an aggro DARK deck can really use this. There is always the risk of Honest, but the odds are that they don't have one at the exact moment that you play it. Plus, teching a popular choice of Divine Wrath in your deck is going to put a stop to Honest shenanigans even before they become a problem.
 
I Am Run By Two Fusion Power Cells
 
Lightning Vortex. If you do not know this card, then you should really stop living under rocks, it's very uncomfortable. Anyway, we have a Normal Spell, which is nice as it can be teched very easily. The effect is beautiful. You discard one card and destroy all face-up monsters on your opponent's side of the field. This was one of the "balanced" versions of banned cards that came out at that time. Brain Control and Monster Reincarnation being the other two.
 
Now this card has been run off and on, usually to stop Samurai and Lightsworn, but I do see a practical use outside of that. Blackwings. They generally make mincemeat out of any deck that does not have proper defense for it. However, teching Threatening Roar, or, say, Waboku can really give you an opening against this deck. You can also use Rainbow Life, but it is a little costly. Basically you stall for their attack and then nuke 'em with Lightning Vortex during your turn.
 
Blackwings are very vulnerable to mass destruction, as they do not run Solemn Judgment and they extend to the field very quickly. Lightning Vortex gives you the swing back in tempo that you will need in order to take the game to more of your field of play. They do burn with Dark Strike Fighter, but usually only after they attack and then only for a limited amount of damage. They also do not run very many defensive traps, which allows you to attack through what would have been an impenetrable wall of monsters in order to strike back.
 
Basically I like this card all around as an all-purpose answer to everything and am going to probably be teching one copy in my Gladiator deck as an answer to everything.
 
Hasta La Vista Baby!
 
Signing out today's article is the replacement for Legendary Jujitsu Master. We have a level 3 Aqua WATER monster with 1900 DEF and 0 ATK. That is alright by itself, but there are better cards out there for defensive purposes. Of course, this guy is not all about the defense. When he is flipped face-up, you destroy one face-up monster on the field. I actually don't get it. Wouldn't he only eat snowmen if he was a Snowman Eater?
 
Anyway, the best part of this card is the fact that it is NOT a Flip effect. This makes it harder to negate and it activates more often. It has higher DEF than JuJu Master and instead of them drawing their card again, you destroy their monster and send him packing to Davy Jones' Locker. You can also manually flip him (not recommended) in order to get his effect to go off, something that JuJu cannot match.
 
Even the might Man-Eater Bug simply does not have the staying power in order to beat this guy. 1900 will repel just about anybody you don't like, Laquari (unboosted), Thunderking Rai-Oh, all of the 1900 Koaki'Meiru monsters and Stratos. This means that he can defend you in a tight spot as well as be fodder for Synchro Summoning. In fact, Debris Dragon works wonders with this guy, SYnchroing for Black Rose Dragon at the slightest provocation.
 
All in all, this is a solid anti-Gladiator choice as well as being a great combo card or just a great card for stalling out for a turn while youget back on your feet.
 
Anyway, I am tired, and am gonna go to sleep, but if you have any questions, comments or ideas about anything YGO related, send me an email at raptor1k@hotmail.com with YGO in the title so i don't discard it.
 
Thanx for reading!
GZ