Duelist's Advance Introductory Post

 

Welcome, one and all, to the first-ever posting on the Your Move Yu-Gi-Oh TCG blog!

 

Now, I have been playing Yu-Gi-Oh more-or-less since it hit our shores at the end of the 90’s, and I am still searching for a Deck that helps me win.  Maybe I am just bad at strategy, maybe there’s something else in play.

 

But what I want to do here is talk about all the newest and latest stuff in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG and give you my impressions.

 

I had occasion this past Saturday to stop by a pre-release event at my local game store for the new Duelist’s Advance booster packs.  I figured it was easier to do that than to have to work around the federal holiday coming up on Friday.  (Why they scheduled release day for a federal holiday, I will never know.)

 

How the tournament actually went was irrelevant, but I did pick up a few interesting cards in my five booster packs.

 

This set saw the release of new support for @Ignisters, Archfiends, Argostars, Ashened, Blue-Eyes, Dododo, Flame Swordsman, Fusion, Gagaga, Gaia Knight, Galaxy, Goblin, Gogogo, Heroic, Heroic Champion, Lunalight, Monarch, Morganite, Nouvelles, Number, Number F, Onomat, Polymerization, Primite, Recipe, Regenesis, Sky Striker, Sky Striker Ace, Skyblaster, Super Quant, Super Quantal Mech Beast, Super Quantum, Teleport, Tistina, Utopia, Utopic, Utopic Future, Vanquish Soul, Warrior, Xyz, Zexal and Zubaba archetypes/series.

 

It also saw the release of the Artmage and Power Patron archetypes, as well as the World Release of the TCG-exclusive R.B. archetype.

 

I myself managed to pull enough non-Extra Deck cards to put together a ramshackle, and possibly decent, Ritual Deck.  (Mostly Miracle Raven, a few of the new Nouvelles, Readying of Rites, Angry Burger and ASHLAN-U1000.)

 

Having gone to too few of such events in the past, I had assumed from my one similar experience that we would have to make Decks out of what we pulled and then fight with them.  (We did not, but it all worked out.)

 

But this article is going to focus on the new stuff we received: mainly the Artmage/Power Patron and R.B. archetypes.  I pulled a few of the latter, but only one of the former: R.B. Ga10 Driller.

 

This Super Rare Level 3 Earth Attribute Machine Type Effect Monster has 500 Attack and Defense Points, and can be Special Summoned from the hand whenever you control either no face-up Monsters or only R.B. monsters.  (And no: I have no idea what R.B. is supposed to stand for at this time.)  During the Main Phase, if Ga10 Driller is Linked to an R.B. Link Monster, you can pay 500 Life Points to destroy both one opponent’s monster and Ga10 Driller itself.

 

(Those R.B. Link Monsters being R.B. VALCan Booster and R.B. The Brute Blues, but we will get to them later.  I am just glad they didn’t release only one R.B. Link Monster at a time and make us wait for Doom of Dimensions for the next one.)

 

The name R.B. apparently is short for Revol Bots.  Their Deck strategy is to Link Summon R.B. The Brute Blues and then link it with any one or more of the Main Deck monsters, which can all be Special Summoned from the hand whenever you control either no monsters or only R.B. monsters.

 

Speaking of R. B. The Brute Blues, why don’t we start this analysis with him first?

 

Brute Blues is a Link 3 Wind Attribute Machine Type Effect Monster with 1500 ATK and Link Arrows to the Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right and Bottom Center.  The summoning conditions are 2 or more Machine-Type monsters.  While it points to an R.B. Monster, it can gains ATK equal to that of all R.B. Monsters it points to, can launch two attacks per Battle Phase, and gains protection from battle or card effects.  Plus, during your Main Phase, you can add another R.B. Monster from your Deck to your Hand.

 

Now, these effects are all well and good, but next why don’t we see exactly what kinds of ATK boosts it can gain?

 

We have already discussed Ga10 Driller, but now let’s take a look at its counterpart, R.B. Ga10 Cutter.

 

This Monster is a Level 4 Earth Attribute Machine Type Effect Monster with 700 ATK and DEF.  Special Summon effect aside, this card can also destroy both itself and an opponent’s activated Spell/Trap Card (while negating it), at the cost of 700 Life Points while it is Linked to an R.B. Link Monster.

 

And the last Main Deck R.B. Monster, R.B. VALCan Rocket, is a bit unusual compared to the others.  As a Level 5, you would require a Tribute if you wanted to Normal Summon it (although why would you?).  Level aside, VALCan Rocket is a Fire Attribute Machine Type Effect Monster with 1000 ATK and DEF.  By paying 1000 Life Points and destroying VALCan Rocket, you can not only destroy both it and up to 2 cards your opponent controls, but also deal them 500 points of damage for every card destroyed in this way.

 

(Now, when it says ‘every card destroyed’, I don’t know if that includes the destroyed VALCan Rocket itself.  That’s certainly the kind of thing that one could argue about.  I mean, it probably just means ‘every card of your opponent’s that was destroyed’, but sometimes wording can be everything in this game.)

 

An initial analysis states that R.B. Ga10 Driller is the only one of the Main Deck monsters that you can combo with Machine Duplication.  That should get you an R.B. The Brute Blues right away, at the cost of having no further access to Ga10 Drillers (unless you return them to the hand, field or Deck somehow).

 

The archetype has yet to be given any Trap Cards, but they do possess both a Normal Spell Card and a Field Spell.

 

Starting with the Field Spell, R.B. Funk Dock, it lets you automatically add another R.B. card from your Deck to your hand as soon as it’s activated.  Not only that, but you also gain 500 Life Points whenever a monster your opponent controls is destroyed.  Plus, while this card is on the field, whenever a face-up R.B. monster you control leaves the field outside of the Damage Step, you get to summon another R.B. monster straight from your Deck.

 

The other Spell Card, R.B. Stage Landing, lets you summon any R.B. monster from your Deck or your Extra Deck other than one you already control.  It can also save one of your R.B. monsters from destruction by banishing itself from the Graveyard.  The only downside is that you lock yourself out of Special Summoning anything from the Extra Deck other than 1500 ATK or less Machine Type monsters for the rest of the turn.

 

That ability to Special Summon straight from the Extra Deck, apparently without having to fulfill any of the usual summoning requirements, is a pretty awesome effect, the likes of which I’ve never seen in the full 25+ years of the game.  (And doesn’t that ‘nothing but 1500 ATK or less Machine Type monsters’ clause just fit in so well with R.B. The Brute Blues and VALCan Rocket?)

 

And the last card of the archetype (for now, anyway) is the Link 2 R.B. VALCan Rocket.  It is a Fire Attribute Machine Type Link Effect Monster with 1000 ATK.  It has Link Arrows at the Top Center and Bottom Center, and its summoning requirements are 2 Machine Type monsters.  It lets you add an R.B. Spell from your Deck to your hand as soon as its summoned, in addition to Special Summoning an R.B. monster from your hand or Graveyard in Defense Mode as long as [VALCan Rocket] exists in the Extra Monster Zone.  Plus, once you’ve done that, you can also move VALCan Rocket into another Main Monster Zone, at the cost of only being able to Special Summon 1500 ATK or lower Machine Type monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of the turn.

 

For the time being, this archetype seems pretty cohesive and straightforward.  Plus, those lenient summoning requirements for the Link Monsters lends itself very well to synergy with other Machine Type Decks.  I’d imagine that lower-Level Machines could be combined with Machine Duplication to quickly bring out Brute Blues, while maybe you could save your more valuable R.B. monsters for linking to it.

 

And, by my count, if you manage to fill all three Link Arrows, you should be able to boost Brute Blues’ ATK by 1500, 1700, 1900, 2000, 2100, 2200, 2400 or 3000.  (That should cover every current possible permutation of all three Main Deck monsters.)

 

That’s an ATK of 3000, 3200, 3400, 3500, 3600, 3700, 3900 or even 4500 for your ace monster.  That’s as much as Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!

 

Tack on its protection and double attack effects and your opponent will definitely have a lot to deal with.

 

Now, let’s move on to the second new Archetype we got in this pack: The Artmegia (and, to a lesser extent, the Power Patron cards).

 

This archetype, I actually managed to pull a few more cards from.

 

To hear the lore tell it, the Power Patrons are extraplanar deities that the Artmages draw their powers from.  These Artmages train to use art magic in their academy city, now a nation, “Academic Arcane Arts Acropolis”.  (This Field Spell we will get around to later.)

 

One such deity is among the cards I pulled: the eponymous Artmage Power Patron.  This Level 1 Earth Attribute Illusion Type (still don’t know what to make of those) Effect Monster has 300 ATK and 200 DEF.  It may block all other Extra Deck Summons but Fusion, but it has a few other effects to make up for it.  Once per turn, you can Fusion Summon either an Artmage Fusion Monster or Nerva the Power Patron of Creation by using both Artmage Power Patron and other monsters from your hand or field.  And, if this card is sent from the hand or the field to the Graveyard, you can add one Artmage Spell or Trap Card from your Deck to your hand, provided it doesn’t share a name with one that’s already in your Graveyard.

 

Following that up is Artmage Litera, a Level 3 Light Attribute Spellcaster Type Effect Monster with 400 ATK and 1800 DEF.  (Litera means book, yet she’s shown in the artwork playing some sort of bass guitar/lute thing.)  If you control an Artmage monster, you can not only Special Summon this card from your hand, but you also get to take back an Artmage Trap Card from your Graveyard.  She can even bounce herself back to your hand during your opponent’s Main Phase in order to summon a different Artmage monster from your hand or Graveyard.  And did I mention that you take no damage from any battles involving her?

 

Artmage Pact-Awakening-is the only Trap Card in the Deck, and allows you to Special Summon an Artmage or a Medius the Pure from your Deck.  In doing so, you can also prevent your Fusion Summoning cards from being negated, as well as the Fusion Summons themselves.  And, finally, you can banish this card from your Graveyard to destroy one card your opponent controls, albeit by returning one Artmage monster you control to your hand/Extra Deck.

 

Artmage Masterwork-Succession-, the last card I pulled, is a Quick-Play Spell, one that lets you Fusion Summon during the Main Phase, and grants the Fusion Summoned monster 500 extra ATK if you happen to control a Field Spell.  It also lets you return 3 different Artmage cards from your Graveyard to your Deck if you banish it itself from your Graveyard during the Main Phase.

 

Now, these cards are only the tip of the iceberg.  And the best is yet to come (down below, right now).

 

Moving on to one of the cards we just mentioned, Medius the Pure is an Ultra Rare Level 4 Dark Attribute Fairy Type Effect Monster with 1800 ATK and DEF.  You can see how it got to be an Ultra Rare when you look at its special ability, which enables you to add to your hand or Special Summon a Power Patron from your Deck.  Not only that, but, by shuffling 1 monster in your hand or on your field back into the Deck, you get to summon Medius back from your Graveyard (albeit with the usual banishment once it returns to the Graveyard again clause).

 

On the subject of Main Deck Monsters, let’s move on to the other Ultra Rare of the archetype, Artmage Graflare.  He’s a Level 5 Light Attribute Dragon Type (but surprisingly human-looking) Effect Monster with 2100 ATK and 1500 DEF.  He can’t be destroyed in battle once per turn, and he can be Special Summoned from the hand while you control an Artmage monster, in addition to setting an Artmage Spell Card from your Deck.  And, if you have 3 or more different monster Types on the field, you can Quick Effect destroy one Spell or Trap Card your opponent controls.  (If you don’t control 3 or more different monster Types, however, then it works at a much slower speed.)

 

And the final Main Deck Monster of the archetype is Artmage Finmel.  She’s a Secret Rare Level 7 Light Attribute Warrior Type Effect Monster with 2400 ATK and 1500 DEF.  Don’t let her protective effect that shields Level 6 or lower Artmage Monsters from being targeted by card effects fool you; She can, ironically enough, blanket negate the effects of all your opponent’s monsters AND cut their ATK in half…provided that you control 3 or more Monster Types during your Main Phase.  And, even without that effect, you can still Special Summon her from your hand if you control another Artmage monster, as well as draw one new card.

 

(Now, at this point, I’m willing to admit that I don’t see too much of a cohesive strategy coming together here.  I mean, sure, they support each other, and the different-Typing thing has been done in at least one other archetype before, but I can’t remember if it turned out to be any good or not.  Maybe we’ll have a better idea once we look at the Fusion Monsters and Spell Cards of the theme.)

 

Let’s start out with Academic Arcane Arts Acropolis, the Field Spell that I mentioned back at the start of the section.  It helps you get Medius the Pure out onto the Field by granting you an extra Normal Summon (of it, and only it) during your Main Phase.  But its next effect does get a little complicated.  By discarding a Spell or Trap Card from your hand and declaring the name of an Artmage monster that is NOT one you already control and NOT one you have already previously declared for this card’s effect, then you get to add it from your Deck to your hand.  Doing this also blocks you from Special Summoning anything other than Artmage monsters, Medius the Pure or Extra Deck monsters.

 

Once you’ve worked around this card’s restrictions, you could theoretically use it to float out all 3 different Types you need to activate your best card effects on the field right away.

 

And speaking of which, the archetype’s Continuous Spell “Artmage Vandalism-Assault-“ both lets you add Medius the Pure from your Deck to your hand when you activate it and protects your Academic Arcane Arts Acropolis from destruction by destroying itself.  But its most interesting effect is that it lets you treat a Fusion Material monster you’re using to Fusion Summon with as an Artmage monster.

 

I haven’t quite seen any scenarios yet in which that would be useful, but maybe I’ll get it when we actually examine the Fusion Monsters of the archetype.

 

But, first, we have two more Spell Cards to look at.

 

Like Vandalism-Assault, Artmage Varnish –Alteration-also supports Academic Arcane Arts Acropolis, albeit by instantly placing it from your Deck or Graveyard into your Field Spell Zone.  Plus, if you already have Academic Acropolis out, you can add any other Artmage card from your Deck to your hand (other than Artmage Varnish-Alteration-, that is).  And, again like Vandalism-Assault, it also supports Medius the Pure, by letting you Special Summon him from the hand to negate an attack, albeit at the cost of banishing Varnish-Alteration-itself, that is.)

 

And, finally, Theorealize plays into both the Medius strat and the Type strat.  This Spell can send Medius from your Deck to your Graveyard in order to move the top card of your opponent’s Deck to the bottom of it if you want to (after having seen it yourself, of course).  The Type strat comes into play when you banish this card from your Graveyard in order to change one of your monsters’ Types and Attributes until the end of your opponent’s turn.

 

Attribute?  Will that maybe come into play with the Fusion Monsters?  I mean, I’ve seen Type thrown around here and there…

 

Let’s see if we can answer that question by looking at Artmage Diactorus, the first Fusion Monster of the archetype.

 

He’s a Level 8 Light Attribute Fairy Type Effect Monster with 2800 ATK and 2500 DEF.  His Fusion Materials are Medius the Pure and 1 other Artmage Monster.  Aside from a basic Battle Position-changing effect, he can also summon a Medius the Pure from the hand, Deck or banishment when he’s destroyed, which is okay, I guess.  But the real meat of his effect is his negation+destruction effect…that only activates when you have 3 or more different Monster Types on your field.

 

And now I can see the potentiality for using the Graveyard effect of Theorealize to quickly change a Monster’s Typing, if you need to, in order to use the effects of cards like Diactorus and Finmel.

 

Last, but certainly not least is Nerva the Power Patron of Creation.  And, with a name like that, and being so fabled in the lore, you just know she’s gotta have some wicked power behind her.

 

As a Level 10 Fusion with 3300 ATK and DEF, things look promising at first glance.  And, for what it’s worth, she’s an Earth Attribute Illusion Type Effect Monster whose Fusion Materials are 3 Artmage monsters (something that can be ameliorated by Artmage Vandalism-Assault-.  And her Fusion Summoning becomes even easier when you see that she can be brought out sans Fusion card by Tributing 3 monsters with different Types (but not Attributes?  Then why even have that effect on Theorealize?).  She can’t be destroyed by card effects as long as you control something in the Field Zone.  But the real kicker is her final effect, which lets you actually change the activated effect of another Artmage monster once per turn into an omni-destruct.

 

Look, I get that these cards all support each other and make it easier to use each other, but I’m not exactly seeing a ton of cohesion or a clear end-board state here.  I don’t think they’re even all artists.  I mean, Finmel draws with light and Litera plays her lute-thing, but what the heck kind of artist is Graflare supposed to be?

 

And, again, why give Theorealize the power to change a Monster’s Attribute if it never comes into play vis-à-vis any of the other cards in the archetype?

 

Well, at least in terms of Typing they only have an overlap in two Fairy monsters and 2 Illusion monsters.

 

And I’m sure some smart player can build an interesting Deck out of these guys, but I don’t think it’ll be me.

 

Now, those new archetypes coming in Justice Hunters next month, maybe…