Episode 119 Review

Trap Monsters have long been one of my favorite concepts in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s just such a fun idea that traps can turn into monsters. For as long as I’ve known about the existence of Trap Monsters, I’ve thought there should be an archetype based on them. They almost did when they made Tiki Soul and Tiki Curse, both of which supported Trap Monsters, but they never went anywhere with it. It’s a shame that this game has been going on for as long as it has, and it has yet to do that. Despite how much I wanted to make a deck based off of Trap Monsters, I could never fit it in. It dawned on me recently that due to the Fang of Critias being focused on traps, it would be perfect to give Critias a trap-based deck that uses Trap Monsters. Actually, now that I have made Trap Monster deck, I’ve made every type of deck I wanted to make. Also, in case you hadn’t notice, in addition to Trap Monsters, the normal traps of Critias’ deck were based off of famous Trap Cards, such as the Mirrored Force o the Reliquary being based off of Mirror Force.

Until next time, duel on!

Wyrms

Just a little piece of new to share, the new type, Genryuu, has been confirmed to be called the Wyrm-Type in America. For those who don’t know, a Wyrm is a variant of the mythological European dragon. It typically has no limbs or wings, but that doesn’t seem to apply to the monsters of this type. With this announcement, I have updated the Special Episode with this new information, replacing all references of Genryuu with Wyrm.

May the Force be With You…

For those who don’t know, today is May 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day (Get it, May the 4th be with you?). Two of my favorite things in the world are Yu-Gi-Oh and Star Wars, so I always love it when I find Star Wars references in Yu-Gi-Oh. Some of you readers who pay close attention might have noticed that one of the cards I made was called Chaos Relic: Twilight Sabers of Glintos, that was no coincidence. Anyways, I’d like to talk about three real cards that contain Star Wars references.

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”
―Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi

The first time I saw this card, I was laughing for several minutes afterwords. It is such a blatantly obvious reference, its shocking that Lucas Films (or Disney) doesn’t sue. It even looks like an elegantly designed lightsaber. I don’t have much to say about the card’s effect itself. It’s a fairly bland card, if not for the Star Wars reference.

“You don’t know the power of the Dark Side.”

―Darth Vader

I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, what does this completely random Alien card have to do with Star Wars? The answer is all in the Japanese name. This card in Japan is known as Alien Vader. That’s right, in Japan, this card is named after the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader. Take a good look at his design. His head appears as if its some sort of helmet, with a breathing apparatus attached to it. In fact, the entire monster’s body looks as if it is covered in some sort of armor. This monster’s effect is interesting and actually has a funny story behind it. Back when this card, along with a few others, came out in the pack Cyber Dark Impact, Konami wanted to push effects like these, but the problem was that no one in the Yu-Gi-Oh community wanted to worry about tracking what zone their monsters where in, so this card never saw any usage.

“So be it… Jedi!”

―Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious

That’s right, this little guy is the Emperor reborn as a Yu-Gi-Oh card. Just look at it. He uses Force Lightning in the exact same manner as Palpatine and he wears black robes. Not to mention, his name is Force Resonator. Another point of interest is the orb behind him. This may be stretching things a little bit, but it vaguely resembles Darth Vader’s helmet.

Until next time, may the Force be with you…always…

The Best Yu-Gi-Oh Card Ever

I’d thought that today would be a good day to talk to you all about one of my favorite cards, one that is severely underestimated. As anyone who has been to a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament would know, drawing cards is a big deal. Today’s meta decks are full of stuff like Card Car D, Pot of Duality and more, but there is one card that beats all of those. I’m talking about Heroic Gift.

This amazing card can only be used when your opponent has 2000 life points or less, but it is worth the wait. You basically get to draw two cards for free! When I say free, I mean that you don’t have to give up anything, unlike that pesky Card Car D, which basically ends your turn once you use it. But that’s not even the best part! It would seem that duels today go way too fast, Heroic Gift also solves this problem. It make your opponent’s life points become 8000! How amazing is that!? You get to draw two cards without paying anything, and then you get to make the duel last even longer, allowing you to actually have the time to use your two new cards, and have a whole lot more fun. Despite being a Heroic card, this card can be used in any deck, so why not go out and get a copy…or two…or three today!

Until next time, get your game on!

New Type: Genryuu!

This may not have anything to do with Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium, but I just had to share.

That’s right, coming along with the release of Arc-V is the release of a new monster type, the Genryuu! Ryuu is Japanese for dragon, while gen roughly translates to legendary or mythic. These monsters appear to be dragons, but with an extra flare, making them mythical. Here’s an example:

This specific monster is part of the first ever Genryuu archetype, called the Dragonstars. It is not yet known how these cards will differ from normal dragons, and it is possible that the name Genryuu will not stick in America, but there are many possibilities. I just like dragons so much, this has me excited.

On a Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium note, after some consideration, I have decided how to introduce Pendulum Summoning and Monsters into my story. Sometime in the future (probably during the season break between Seasons 3 and 4) I will write a Pendulum Summoning special. This special episode will introduce the concept of Pendulum Summoning to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium and thus explain why they have been absent so far. Who knows, I might also introduce the Genryuus there as well.

Until next time, duel on!

A Note on the Supreme Chaos Deity

As you all saw in the previous episode, the Supreme Chaos Deity – Ruler of Eternity is the ultimate card of Chaos, and meant to be a balance point between the two Envoys. Believe it or not, there are already two cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe that could potentially fit that category. Let’s take a look at them, and see why I didn’t use them.

Name: Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of Twilight

Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Cannot be Special Summoned, unless you have an equal number of LIGHT and DARK monsters in your Graveyard. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing all LIGHT or all DARK monsters from your Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. While face-up on the field, this card is also LIGHT-Attribute. When this card is Special Summoned: You can activate 1 of these effects, depending on the Attribute of the monster(s) banished for its Special Summon. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase during the turn you activate this effect. ● LIGHT: Target 1 monster on the field; banish that target face-up. ● DARK: Banish 1 random card from your opponent’s hand, face-down, until your opponent’s End Phase.

This card came out several months ago in Japan, and has yet to make an appearance in America. Initially, I was happy to see a new Chaos card, especially one that stayed true to my vision of Chaos. But that soon went away. It is my opinion that this card was made to profit off of the extreme popularity of the Envoy of the Beginning (Which I completely resent). In the end, this card is nothing but a watered down version of the original.

Pros: Since it is called the Envoy of Twilight, it counts as both a Light and a Dark monster, and its effect revolves around Light and Dark monsters, it can be seen as a balance between the two Envoys of Chaos.

Cons: It favors Light by being a new Black Luster Soldier, and its effect deals with only Light or Dark, not both. Also, it’s effect is fairly (b)lack luster (pun intended), and in the end, it isn’t any more powerful than either of the Envoys.

Name: Chaos End Ruler – Ruler of the Beginning and End

Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by banishing 1 LIGHT Warrior-Type and 1 DARK Fiend-Type monster from your Graveyard. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this card’s Special Summon. You can pay 1000 Life Points; banish all cards your opponent controls and all cards in their hand and Graveyard, then inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each card banished by this effect.

This card appeared in episode 11 of Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal. It was the center of a plot to steal the ultimate deck (Which is surprising to find that it’s not Yugi’s deck, but a Chaos deck. Hmm…I wonder what that means.). This card was seen for only a split second, but thanks to the fact that cards actually have text in the Japanese anime, we are able to know what its effect is.

Pros: It is without a doubt more powerful than either of the Envoys. In fact, since its Chaos Emperor Dragon-like effect also banishes, that makes it similar to Black Luster Soldier’s effect as well. Its name also infers a combination of Light and Dark. The effect that stops cards from responding to its summon, allows it to share an effect with the Egyptian God Cards.

Cons: Its summoning requires a Light Warrior (Such as Black Luster Soldier), and a Dark Fiend (Like…well um, not like Chaos Emperor Dragon), which I personally find very strange. I personally do not like its name, why does it have to have end and ruler in its name twice?

So as you can see, despite having two already existing cards to choose from, why I made my own.

Until next time, duel on!

Ho…Ho…Ho…?

In order to celebrate the holidays, let’s look at a monster that was just released in Japan.

Translation: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) to your opponent’s side of the field, in face-up Defense Position, by tributing 1 monster they control. If you do, during this turn’s End Phase: The controller can draw 1 card.

The card in Japan is called Satan Claus, as in an anagram of Santa. A likely English translation will be Santa Claws, in order to avoid any religious references, but still keep to the monster theme. This monster is a perfect example of the Christmas Spirit! Just think about it, it sneaks on to your opponent’s field in the middle of the night, takes the tribute of milk and cookies, and leaves them the present of drawing a card! So if you want to give the gift of drawing this holiday season, get your hands on a Santa Claws!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a duel on!

Episodes 51 and 52 Review

For now on I’ll review both episodes in a two part episode at once.

***Spoiler Alert***

The most noteworthy thing that came from these episodes was that we got to see Yuni duel for the first time since episode 34, it’s been almost 20 episodes! These episodes were meant to serve as a stepping stone for Yuni, helping him prepare for his destiny that Apep continues to refer to. Speaking of that, at the end the second episode, we finally got a direct mention of what Apep has planned for Yuni. We figure out that Yuni is destined to become a Lord of Chaos. What could this mean for the future of the series? You’ll just have to keep on reading to find out.

***End Spoiler Alert***

I’d like to share a little fact for anyone who doesn’t already know, the Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the End may not sound like a Chaos monster, since Chaos isn’t in its name, but that is just due to bad translation. The original Black Luster Soldier, the Ritual one, was known as Chaos Soldier in Japan, so when they went and made the Chaos Emperor Dragon in Japan, they made a new version of Chaos Soldier to go with it. The problem came in America, since they had already called it Black Luster Soldier, they couldn’t go and give it a new name. If you ask me they should have compromised and called it Chaos Luster Soldier. In a way though, Black Luster could refer to Chaos, since black means dark, and luster is the shine of something, as in light.

Until next time, duel on!

Episode 46 Review

***Spoiler Alert***

And so we finally enter the finale of Season 2. The main feature of this episode was the Battle Royale duel. my inspiration for it came from episodes 106 and 107 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s. In those episodes, an army of robots known as the Diabalo start to attack duelist in the World Dueling Grand Prix, including Yusei. That duel still had somewhat of a structured pattern. I decided that I wanted to completely break down the structure and have an all out free-for-all brawl. Three of the Disciples in the duel were previously unknown. Demon, Plague, and Doom were all made for this duel because I wanted at least 10 Disciples to go up against Yugi. Demon used Archfiends, Plague used Steelswarm, and Doom used Dark World. I didn’t want to make whole new decks for these random characters, so I gave them what in my mind where the three most “evil” archetypes.

***End Spoiler Alert***

Until next time, duel on!

Happy Halloween!

Ghostrick-or-Treat!

Happy Halloween everyone! In case you don’t already know, the picture above is of one the newest archetypes, the Ghostricks! Maybe you can celebrate this Halloween by reading the Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium episode Bump in the Night, and about its spooky Night Terror monsters. I’d also like to use this post as chance to announce that I have finished playing Pokemon Y (For those of you who care I just got my entire team up to level 100), and I will be returning to writing Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium. Expect the next episode to come out around next Sunday. Hope you all have a spooky Halloween!

Until next time, ghoul on! (Sorry, I just had to.)