Vortex the Whirlwind is a Level 5 Synchro Monster that you Summon by combining a Tuner with any number of Winged Beast-Type non-Tuner monsters. It has 2100 ATK, and if it’s destroyed in battle and sent to the Graveyard you get to Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Winged Beast-Type monster from your Deck. It’s a very simple effect, but as XX-Saber Emmersblade taught us, simple can be a synonym for “extremely powerful”.

While Vortex the Whirlwind may sound like a Blackwing, it isn’t. It’s a WIND-Attribute monster that’s useful in any Deck that uses Winged Beasts. Blackwing Decks benefit from it because it’s another Synchro Monster to choose from Summon Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honorfrom your Deck with Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, or bring back Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow with Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North. Decks that use Harpie Lady or Mist Valley monsters can benefit from Vortex’s Type, Attribute, and effect, and of course Dragunity Decks now have a Level 5 Synchro that can help them further their combos by searching out copies of Dragunity Tribus. Decks that use Dark Simorgh also benefit, as they often use Blackwing monsters but lack in quality WIND-Attribute monsters.

Vortex the Whirlwind also has an advantage over Ally of Justice Catastor when you face off against the revamped and revitalized Six Samurai Decks that are sure to surface starting in February: It straight up beats Grandmaster of the Six Samurai. Let’s say you’re playing a Blackwing Deck and your opponent Summoned a bunch of monsters including a Grandmaster. You can Summon Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, use it to Special Summon Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow, and then Synchro Summon Vortex the Whirlwind.

Grandmaster has no way to protect itself, so you can attack it with Vortex, destroying both monsters and triggering your monster’s effect but not the opponent’s. From there, you can Special Summon Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame from your Deck and use it to run over another monster like Hand of the Six Samurai which then lets you Summon another monster from your Deck.

Vortex the Whirlwind is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Storm of Ragnarok. There’s just so much more to see that it makes my head spin just thinking about it. The Legendary Six Samurai are just that,  legendary, and the Aesir are so powerful that they managed to acquire the naming rights to Monday Night Matchup, renamed it to “Wodensday Night Matchup”, and moved it to Woden’s day… I mean Wednesdays. There are even a couple cards that you might want to think about playing regardless of what Deck you play. Just make sure you check back every day so that you don’t miss a minute of our Storm of Ragnarokpreviews!