Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! English CCG Article 1 - Best of Pharaonic Guardian

[Guest Altron Gundam]

Mostly when a new set or whatever comes out I'll be doing one of these to help you get adapted to the new metagame and identify the real gamebreaking cards of the set.

Here we go..

Anyway, the latest release from Upper Deck is the transition from Series 2,(Metal Raiders till now), to this set, Pharaonic Guardian. The JP set, PG, was part of series 2, but since UD is releasing two JP sets as one Eng set, 301 The New Ruler is included in here as well.

Those of you who play direct damage decks will be pleased. A new monster named Lava Golem at the very end of the set is perfect. Combine this monster with either Sacrifice Sealing Mask or Cursed Mask(owner of the monster who this is equipped to loses 500 per standby and the equipped monster can't atk). Its effect allows you to sacrifice two of your opponent's monsters so that you can summon it under your opponent's control. Your opponent will get a monster with 3000/2500 stats, but if you seal it you will be fine. Your opponent will lose 1000LP per turn, and 1500 if Cursed Mask is on. Dark Room of Nightmare will also come in handy, as it is a magic card that does 500 additional damage to your opponent whenever damage other than battle damage is cast.

Hand disruption decks get a big boost with the addition of Don Zaloog(formerly Don Zaruug) ;_; His added effect make him in every way superior to the White Magical Hat, and the fact that he has better stats doesn't hurt either. When you do battle damage with him you can either choose your opponent to discard 1 card from his hand at random or discard the top two cards of your deck. To maximize this guy's speed use a BFW, Sangan, or Mystic Tomato.

Now, the gem of this set. Soul Reaper. Formerly called the Soul Hunting Spirit, this guy will be a lifesaver in the metagame to come. He is the ultimate staller, cannot die by battle, and if he is successful in a direct attack he forces your opponent to discard one card. Ever need a perfect staller to wait one turn and sac for Jinzo..this is your guy. Downside is, if he is targeted by a magic/trap he is automatically destroyed. Doesn't matter much though...

When the Structure Decks are released such as the Kaiba Structure, specifically, the Undead support will come in useful with this set for the release of Vampire Lord. When V-Lord comes out, save your Pyramid Turtles. ^_^.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me holla, and good luck.

Oh! And coming from a person who's played through this type of metagame before, as I play the JP CCG as well, Destruction Ring is a STAPLE.

[Circ]

Wow... That's really not much. I frankly expected a bit of things in the M/T field too. What should we think about Metamorphosis, Raigeki Break, Ring of Destruction, Mirage of Nightmare (A card I absolutely despise)?

And frankly, Don Zaloog doesn't look that dangerous to me for 2 reasons:

1. He's a level 4 that can't attack under Gravity Bind (a field in which he's owned by WMH)
2. He's only a damned 1400 ATK monster!!

Remember, it's because of [i]low base attacks[/i] that Hayabusa Knight, Maha Vailo and White Magical Hat dropped from the metagame. Heck, even 1800s are not played anymore outside Necrofear and a few Kycoo here and there. All new staple and semi-staple monsters nowadays are monsters that are NOT meant to be kept on the field (Yata, X-Force, Two-Headed Behemoth) or have protective/swarming habilities (Marauding Captain).

Only time will tell, I suppose.

[Guest Altron Gundam]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Circéus [/i]
[B]Wow... That's really not much. I frankly expected a bit of things in the M/T field too. What should we think about Metamorphosis, Raigeki Break, Ring of Destruction, Mirage of Nightmare (A card I absolutely despise)?

And frankly, Don Zaloog doesn't look that dangerous to me for 2 reasons:

1. He's a level 4 that can't attack under Gravity Bind (a field in which he's owned by WMH)
2. He's only a damned 1400 ATK monster!!

Remember, it's because of [i]low base attacks[/i] that Hayabusa Knight, Maha Vailo and White Magical Hat dropped from the metagame. Heck, even 1800s are not played anymore outside Necrofear and a few Kycoo here and there. All new staple and semi-staple monsters nowadays are monsters that are NOT meant to be kept on the field (Yata, X-Force, Two-Headed Behemoth) or have protective/swarming habilities (Marauding Captain).

Only time will tell, I suppose. [/B][/QUOTE]

--; This is what separates the skilled duelists from the non-skilled and the JP CCG from the Eng. CCG. You English CCG players only understand power power power...--;

Its called HAND CONTROL! Load up with monster removal, and possibly two major rushers, like Goblin Strike Team and blow through your opponent's monsters while Zaruug goes in for a direct attack and blows your opponent's hand or deck to hell.

I forgot to mention in my essay, extra drawing power is here. Mirage of Nightmare IS good in certain situations. The discard aspect is not really a drawback if you combine Nightmare with a set Mystical Space Typhoon(if you're smart enough to run three).

Reckless Greed = perfect card for Exodia.

[Circ]

I DO see all the power the Zaloog's [i]effect[/i] is. It's is attack I'm complaining about. It's effect may be powerfull, but it will never affects it's attack.

And frankly, I have better things to do with my MSTs than waiting for a Mirage of Nightmares. Like blowing that pesky face-down M/T into oblivion, maybe?

As for Reckless Greed, NEVER out of Exodia, kinda like Card of Safe Return... (Well, at least I wouldn't play it outside of Exodia)

[DeathBug]

What about all the Zombie (j. Undead) and zombie support cards coming out? There were several prominant ones aside from Spirit Reaper, like Fusion Richie or whatever it's called, as well as Book of Life. (Hypothetically, a zombie deck could have six recursion cards, unless BoM is restricted.)

Should we wipe the dust off of the ol' Castle of Dark Illusions, or leave them in the shoebox?

[Guest Altron Gundam]

Undead support or not, all the undeads suck in PHG. Other than Pyramid Turtle which can be used to call forth Vampire Lord, one of the best discarders in the game...

Anyway, who cares about Zaloog's attack? That's why you support him. Messenger of Peace, Gora Turtle, or whatever. Peace will work as it allows only monsters of 1400 or below to attack. 1500 and below are locked.

As for the MST uses..yes when your down late in the game to a "luck of the draw" matchup, like hands depleted and running on your next draw, please tell me 4 cards wouldn't be useful. ROTFLMAO. --;

Careless Avarice is really good. Why wait till two turns later to get your cards. Get em now..--;