May 4, 2010
When we last talked about “Shock Factor” cards we established that your opponent can’t play around cards he can’t see coming. We looked at a mix of old and new cards to give some examples, showing you some choices that can work in a variety of Decks. Today, we’ll look at some cards for specific Decks you might be playing yourself.
We talked about finding shock factor cards by looking at themed cards that are seeing less play, or by taking cards from one Deck and adding them to another. Blackwing Duelists can do both. Delta Crow – Anti Reverse can work wonders against Decks that Set lots of cards to the Spell & Trap Card Zone, like Gladiator Beasts and Gadgets. Once cards likeInfernity Break and Infernity Inferno from The Shining Darkness start seeing play, Delta Crow will help you deal with some of the Infernity Deck’s best combos.
Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter is a great choice too, destroying monsters like Flamvell Firedog orGravekeeper’s Spy before their effects can activate. Ryko’s ability to send 3 cards from the top of your Deck to your Graveyard can help you make combos with Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor, Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn, or Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North, too.
Gladiator Beasts are a powerful Deck right now, but many Gladiator Beast monsters have low ATK. Indomitable Gladiator Beast is a Quick-Play Spell that gives a 500 ATK boost to one of your Gladiator Beast monsters, helping them defeat monsters like Flamvell Firedog andBlackwing – Shura the Blue Flame in battle. You can take this Spell Card back to your hand from the Graveyard by sending two Gladiator Beast monsters there back to your Deck. Not only does that let you reuse Indomitable Gladiator Beast again and again, it means that you can return important Gladiator Beasts like Bestiari and Murmillo to your Deck and Summon them again later.
A lot of “X-Saber” monsters are Level 3 or lower. You can keep your opponent’s monsters from attacking by activating Level Limit – Area B or Gravity Bind. Your X-Sabers will be free to attack, and since you’ll be able to keep weaker X-Sabers in Attack Position, you can destroy more cards with Saber Slash. With Saber Slash and X-Saber Airbellum destroying and discarding so many cards, your opponent will have a tough time surviving.
Quickdraw Dandywarrior Decks use Fluff Tokens from Dandylion to block attacks and make Synchro Summons, but there are plenty of other ways to use those Tokens! Since the Tokens have 0 ATK, you can Tribute them to Special Summon Reptilianne Vaskii. Since you can Tribute your opponent’s 0 ATK monsters as well, you could even use 1 or 2 opposing monsters to Special Summon her, then use her effect to destroy another monster. The Fluff Tokens are Plant-type monsters, so you can Tribute them for Pollinosis to negate a Summon or the activation of a Spell Card, Trap Card, .
While most Duelists use Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to fill the need for a Flip Effect Beast-type in Synchro Cat Decks, you can add 1 Des Koala to open up new plays. Super-Nimble Mega Hamster can Special Summon Des Koala face-down, so you can flip it and deal effect damage. Or, you can Special Summon Des Koala and X-Saber Airbellum with Rescue Cat to make a Level 6 Synchro Summon.
Scrap Recycler is a cool card for Gadget Decks – once per turn, its effect lets you add 2 Level 4 EARTH Machines from your Graveyard to your Deck to draw a card. Send back Machina Gearframe or Gadget monsters to reuse their effects. You can even use Scrap Recycler’sother ability when you Normal Summon it to send Machina Fortress to your Graveyard, then Special Summon it with its own effect.
These suggestions are really just the tip of the iceberg. Once you get familiar with your Deck, there are countless ways to customize it and surprise your opponents. Remember: your opponent can’t play around cards he doesn’t expect, so a little creativity goes a long way.
