Clocking in at a huge 4000 ATK and 3500 DEF, Odin is the most powerful of the three Aesir. His effect is no slouch either.  Once per turn during your Main Phase, you can activate Odin’s effect. Once it resolves, Odin has immunity from the effects of Spell/Trap Cards until the End Phase. This opens up a lot of plays for you. Not only does it give you free reign to do whatever you want on your turn with very little worry of your Odin being destroyed, you can also perform awesome combos that you’d never think to do under normal circumstances.

One example is what Dan Posey did during his round two match during the Bounty Tournament at the Yu-Gi-Oh Extravaganza in Los Angeles last weekend. He was in a tight spot when his opponent Special Summoned Gorz, The Emissary of Darkness along with a 4000 ATK token. He then remembered Odin’s effect, activated it, and used Dark Hole to eliminate both of his opponent’s monsters while leaving Odin on his side of the field unharmed. Of course, like the other Aesir, when Odin is destroyed by battle or your opponent’s card effect, you can remove a “Nordic Ascendant” Tuner from your Graveyard to Special Summon it during the End Phase of that turn. Better yet, when it’s Special Summoned in this way, you get to draw a card!

There are many ways to Synchro Summon Odin, Father of the Aesir, but there are only two Tuner Monsters that fit the condition to bring him out: Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant and the World Premiere Card Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant.

Valkyrie is a Level 2 Tuner Monster with an ATK of 400 and DEF of 800, and a fantastic effect for bringing out Odin quickly and easily. When your opponent has a monster on the field and you control no other cards, you can Normal Summon Valkyrie and remove from play two “Nordic” monsters from your hand to Special Summon two “Einherjar Tokens” in face-up Defense Position. These tokens each have 1000 ATK and 1000 DEF and are Level 4 Warrior-Type monsters. That means that, combined with Valkyrie, you have a combined level of 10 on the field, the exact level of Odin! This is definitely one of the easiest ways to Synchro Summon the Father of the Aesir, and with a power as great as his; you’ll want to use it as much as you can.

Vanadis, on the other hand, is a Level 4 Tuner Monster with an ATK of 1200 and DEF of 400. She also has an excellent effect which can make her even more useful than Valkyrie. Vanadis is able to be used in place of any “Nordic” Tuner Monster for a Synchro Summon (As long as the other materials are “Nordic” monsters). That means that you can use Vanadis to summonOdin, Father of the Aesir; Thor, Lord of the Aesir; AND Loki, Lord of the Aesir.

A great way to Synchro Summon an Aesir using Vanadis is to Set Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts and let it get attacked by your opponent’s monster. When destroyed by battle it Special Summons 2 “Nordic Beast Tokens” to your side of the field. Since both the tokens are Level 3, you can simply Normal Summon Vanadis and Synchro Summon the Aesir of your choice! That’s not her only effect though!

Once per turn, Vanadis can also send one “Nordic” monster from your Deck to your Graveyard in order to change its Level to the Level of the monster you sent. This means that not only does Vanadis have excellent flexibility for summoning whatever Synchro Monster you happen to need at the moment, but she also fuels the Graveyard for the Aesir and their revival effects, or sends LIGHT and DARK monsters to let you Summon Chaos Sorcerer.

With so many ways to summon Odin and the other Aesir, and so many ways to build a Nordic deck, I can’t wait to see all the creative and inventive plays that are sure to happen after theStorm of Ragnarok Sneek Peek!