Anime Essays of the cards

[DeathBug]

Well, we've got Jinzo, aka Android Psycho Shocker. (Much cooler name...)

First, a bit of anime history: This card was the prized card of Espa Roba in Battle City. Joey Wheeler won it from him, and it became his most used BC won card. It particullarly helped him out against Odion. This monster was also the deck master of Big 5.

Anyway, this card has all sorts of rulings and applications.

Pros:
*Witchable
*Dark (yet again....--; )
*Solid stats for 1 tribute
*Stops all opponent's traps

Cons
*Tribute monster
*Stops your traps too
*Pwned by: Summoned Skull, Archiend of Lightning, Hades, Kaiser Glider, Lily, GAF/GO with an equip

Combos:
*Graceful Charity + Monster Reborn =First turn Jinzo
*Jinzo and Limiter Removal: 4800 attack that can't be blocked with traps. (Throw in a Cannon Soldier as well and be really mean)
*Jinzo + Spell Cancellor = Limited lock
*Jinzo revived with CotH + Giant Trunade = Reuseable CotH

Jinzo is not a monster staple to me, because I don't believe in monster staples. However, he's pretty frickin' good. You should at least side deck one.

The thing that makes Jinzo special is that not only does he negate traps, but he also have very high stats. Since most traps are defensive, he can pwn the field by his lonesome. There are several Traps that cause confusion, however.

First, Call of the Haunted: Jinzo can be revived by Call, because his effect won't activate until he's special summoned and securely on the field. Call becomes useless at this point, and can be destroyed with no ill effects. Should Jinzo be destroyed while Call's out, Call stays on the field doing nothing until removed.

Torrential Tribute, Ring of Destruction, the various Trap Holes: Quite simply, no.

Waboku: If Waboku was activated at any time before Jinzo was summoned, then the Waboku's effect still occurs for the remained of the turn. Think of it as "lingering".

Solemn Judegement, Horn of Heaven: Can wipe Jinzo out, because they're activated before he hits the field.

Finally, the big debate: Jinzo versus Royal Decree. For those that don't know, Royal Decree is a tra card that negates all other trap cards while it's on the field. The wquestion is, which iss uperior?

The answer is Jinzo. The reason why lies with why Jinzo himself is so effective. Most traps are defensive, in that they are meant to protect you should your opponent break through to your life points, or run the risk of doing so.

What are the common traps? D-Ring, Mirror Force, IO, Waboku, TT. They keep your enemies away. When Jinzo is on the field, they don't work, but it doesn't matter because you're on the offensive. As long as the 2400 atk wall is there, you're safe. And if he's blown away, no worries, you've still got that one Waboku or TT that you set to protect you until you can retake the offensive.

With RD, you've taken away your defenses, but you've no guarenteed offense. If your opponent Regekis you, you've got nothing to fall back on. If my opponent plays a Royal Decree, i know that all Iv'e got to do is get a slight offensive, and I'll take control of the duel. RD hurts you more than helps you.

Also, RD is a Tournament Ultra rare. Ever gotten your hands on a Mechanical Chaser, Morphing Jar or Needle Worm? Me niether. If you get one, sell it; you can name your own price.

Anyway, Jinzo owns in any deck that relies heavily on attacking, which is most. He's most people's first choice for their only tribute monster. If you build a deck that he could fit in, you should consider playing him unless you've got a reason not to. V-lord's the curent fad, but Jinzo's proven the test of time as one of the best monsters ever.

Finally, there's a single card that mentions Jinzo by name: in Japan, it's called Android Amplifier. It attaches to Jinzo, and while it's on, your traps work. The downside is that if it's destroyed, Jinzo is destroyed too.

The ruling is that this card and Imperial Order can work at the same time, which is good, because otherwise it would cause quite a conundrum. Basically, if you have this card on your Jinzo, plus IO on the field, all you fear is Breaker. And, hey, you can D-Ring Breaker. >;) Sure, it's uber-situational, but it'd be fun to try.

There is one final thing that needs to be said: Don't bother running both V-Lord and Jinzo in the same deck; it's redundant, since you can use V-Lord to destroy your opponent's traps before they're drawn, anyway.

Rating:

Beatdown: 4.9/5 Darn near perfect
Control/Hand-D: 4.5/5 They might prefer V-Lord
Dark deck: 4.9/5 Too many kick-arse dark monsters...
Machine deck: 5/5 I've always thought that, in a mech deck, Jinzo would pwn even more so. 7 Complete and Limiter rEmoval? Yes, please.

You know, I loved Jinzo's card pic, but thought they shouldn't have put him in a robe-y thing in the show. Whatever, Jinzo's enough of a bad-arse to get away with wearing a man-dress. ^__^

[Circ]

ALucard, you look a bit overenthousiast to me.

Breaker is a 3.8/5 monster to me.
-He will die of summon-triggered traps without effect
-He's only a 1600 ATK monster after losing it's counter...
-Never forget there's a reason why non-triggered trap are becoming popular (without counting Dark Coffin-type traps!)

Jinzo is 4.5/5
-Never forget that it's extremely rare you'll manage to negate a magic with Jinzo on the field.
-It is NOT a staple in many deck (Water deck, Burners, Gravity Bind-based decks, just to name a few)

Besides, giving Jinzo a lower rating than Breaker just doesn't sound right.

[Guest Alucardfire]

Don't single out my opinion because it simply is right.

Just because you aren't as good a player or nearly experienced doesn't mean ya gotta hate.

APS is a staple. Take a look at the tournament scene and how the Asian metagame is played. Nuff said. Forget negating magic with Jinzo on the field. That's just how it is. Keep your LP safe with damage control.

For Breaker, the point is to make your opponent waste that triggered trap, for example a D-Ring so your other mons will stay safe. 1600 atk is fine, monsters don't have long staying power anyway. Actually, the competitive decks in the meta are staying with mainly staple trap sections of:

Mirror FOrce, Waboku, CoTLD, Imperial Decree, and D-Ring.

They're staples, nuff said. If they were anymore powerful they'd be broken.

[DeathBug]

DeathBug's two cents: I hate staples. I hate the fact that some cards are so broken that everyon uses them, and two-thirds of Tourney decks look exactly the same. I think it stifles creativity in the game, and it's just not fun anymore.

That said, I don't believe in monster staples, just Magic staples. The magic staples are Harpie's Feather Duster, Pot of Greed and Monster Reborn, IMO. Yes, I put HFD before Regeki.

However, I do believe in cards that are so near-broken that practically everyone can use that. Granted, I kind of resent them. The most annoying thing in the world is being told to add Jinzo to your all-Light deck. He's incredibly powerful, but he's not a light monster, dagnabit.

Besides, a deck that runs HFD, HS, 3 MST, and Breaker doesn't need Jinzo. You've got M/T removal covered.

[Guest Alucardfire]

M/t removal and negation are two different things. Granted, light decks have one thing going for them: big hitters. Whether or not ppl accept it outside the tournament scene, APS is a staple. Its main-type has nothing to do with it. The point is to clear the field of any hesistation of attacking with your hard summoned light big hitter(if it were in a light deck). That's like saying you wouldn't put Sangan or BFW in a light deck because they're dark, yet they're essential for their effect and power to speed up the deck.

[Snodin]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Alucardfire [/i]
[B]Don't single out my opinion because it simply is right.

Just because you aren't as good a player or nearly experienced doesn't mean ya gotta hate.

APS is a staple. Take a look at the tournament scene and how the Asian metagame is played. Nuff said. Forget negating magic with Jinzo on the field. That's just how it is. Keep your LP safe with damage control.

For Breaker, the point is to make your opponent waste that triggered trap, for example a D-Ring so your other mons will stay safe. 1600 atk is fine, monsters don't have long staying power anyway. Actually, the competitive decks in the meta are staying with mainly staple trap sections of:

Mirror FOrce, Waboku, CoTLD, Imperial Decree, and D-Ring.

They're staples, nuff said. If they were anymore powerful they'd be broken. [/B][/QUOTE]


Let's not turn this into a lash-out fest, people. We all have our opinions; let's just move on.

Finally, I get to have my say on one of the most popular cards in the game ever: Jinzo.

Pros:
One Tribute; better than two
Witch-able
Trap-killer
High ATK for a Level 6

Cons:
Your Traps don't work either (unless you get the Amplifier)
Easily killed by a Magic or Quick-Play Magic card
Can be killed through Kaiser's suicide
(Totally obvious, but I'll say it anyway) Death by higher ATK monster; name your list here


Jinzo, or "The Mack Daddy" as I sometimes call him. He's the reason why every deck should keep a short list of Traps. I'll agree that having V-Lord and the Mack Daddy in the same deck is pretty overbearing, but then again, all V-Lord has to kill now are Magic cards; your opponent is screwed. The same can be said if you ever get your hands on an Amplifier, and have your Imperial Order out like "Lector" did just last weekend (forgive me for the Spoiler, those of you who haven't seen the episode. Hey, if you didn't see it, shame on you! It's the best duel yet, IMO.)

Do I have a Jinzo? No, but I wouldn't mind getting one. But do I consider it staple? Yes, and no. He is Staple in a way that he can go into just about every deck; however, not everyone favors him and can win duels without him. Just ask my friend Kuro, who runs a very Mai-like deck that consists of harpies and Amazons. She kicks my tail and then dances around it without needing Jinzo. So he's not for everybody... but it certainly doesn't hurt to give him a try.

As for his looks, very good! He almost looks like a robotic genie, and an evil one! I didn't notice how detailed his mouth piece was until I finally saw its side view on TV. How I love it!!! And doesn't the Amplifier make you wish you could use it the same way Espa Roba did; powering up your Jinzo while doing its other effect? Heh.

So the bottom line is this: Jinzo, the Mack Daddy, has truly earned his popularity; more so than Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Both of them can kick Jinzo's metal butt, but odds are they won't because they need help getting on the field. And I pray I never see the day when my opponent actually pulls off the Jinzo/Amplifier/IO effect on me; I will surrender right then and there. ...Or I'll cry; either one.


Machine Decks: solid 10 (just imagine trying him with Limiter Removal!)
Dark Decks: 8-10
Beatdown Decks: 5-10 (all depending on what kind of duelist needs him)
Burner Decks: 5-10 (same deal)
Looks: 10

Overall: 9.5 (I'd give him a perfect 10, but like someone said earlier, not all monsters are perfect)


*And on a final note, I'll never get the thought out of my head of hearing Jinzo's voice with a rough Southern accent! ^_^;;;

[DeathBug]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Alucardfire [/i]
[B]M/t removal and negation are two different things. Granted, light decks have one thing going for them: big hitters. Whether or not ppl accept it outside the tournament scene, APS is a staple. Its main-type has nothing to do with it. The point is to clear the field of any hesistation of attacking with your hard summoned light big hitter(if it were in a light deck). That's like saying you wouldn't put Sangan or BFW in a light deck because they're dark, yet they're essential for their effect and power to speed up the deck. [/B][/QUOTE]

Well, "Outside the Tournament scene" really defines the entire mindset.

Who cares what I do outside the tourney scene? It's just for fun; there's no stakes. My fave deck is my light deck, and it's non-competative. It'd get creamed at tourney (Although I'd like to think I could at least make things interesting.) But since I'm just playing for fun with it, I don't care about effectiveness as long as I enjoy it. And no, I don't have Sangan or Witch in it.

In a Tournament deck, unless I've got some ungodly deck oncoction where all my monsters have 1600+ attack and defense, I'm putting the Searchers in. And Breaker.

I'm building a warrior deck for Tournies. It's got Witch, Sangan, Breaker, Max M/T removal, max draw power, but no Jinzo. I think that the one tribute would slow it down when the whole point was speed. I'll Reborn my opponents if I need one.

Ironically, Jinzo himself is hindering his effectiveness. I only run four traps in the tourney deck because of Jinzo. Most people don't run more than six. All I have to do is destroy them before I summon monsters and I'm safe. Only IO and CotH are a danger, and even then, they aren't a direct impediment to attacking.

Maybe the reason Tournaments are so boring is because everyone's deck looks exactly the same.

[Guest Alucardfire]

However, people set more than 6 m/t face-down. APS takes away any doubt of attacking unless your opponent has a set Goat.

Your conception of tournament level decks is entirely wrong. You can play several different archtypes as long as they're effective. You just got to know how to make them competitive. That whole 1600+ atk monster thing is wrong as well. So I gues the current world champion who runs a control archtype, has a Killer Tomato, Spirit Reaper, Don Zaruug, BFW, Sangan, Fiber Pod, and Yatagarsu over 1600 attack points, LOL. Good one. ^^;;

And if you don't even run the searchers in your deck that must make it kinda slow..literally.

[DeathBug]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Alucardfire [/i]
[B]Your conception of tournament level decks is entirely wrong. You can play several different archtypes as long as they're effective. You just got to know how to make them competitive. That whole 1600+ atk monster thing is wrong as well. So I gues the current world champion who runs a control archtype, has a Killer Tomato, Spirit Reaper, Don Zaruug, BFW, Sangan, Fiber Pod, and Yatagarsu over 1600 attack points, LOL. Good one. ^^;;[/B][/QUOTE]

You misunderstood my example; I meant that, in a Tournamente setting, the only reason I [b]wouldn't[/b] run WotBF and Sangan was if all of my monsters were unsearchable.

And, maybe it's just the Tournaments I've been to, but there is absolutely no creativity whatsoever. Everyone runs some horrible Beatdown/Control Hand D mutant of a deck, with only five or so cards being different.

Example: Player A has a Don Z on the field. Player B summons a Mystic Tomato and suicides it, thus summoning his own Don Z. Player A then summons his own Mystic Tomato and suicides it, summoning his other Don Z. It's ridiculous.



[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Alucardfire [/i]
[B]And if you don't even run the searchers in your deck that must make it kinda slow..literally. [/B][/QUOTE]

So what? Who cares how long it lasts if I'm enjoying myself? It's casual play.

[Guest Alucardfire]

Competitive decks should only run 1 Don Zaruug at most. It is in overrated monster. XD

Anyway, I respect the point you're trying to make, but yeah, whatever. Your opinion is yours and mine is mine, so lets just agree to disagree.

As if some pathetic atempt to stay on topic, I'll make one of my own. The first JP card I profiled was Blowback Dragon. I'll profile Angel of Judgement - Saturn now.

Angel of Judgement - Saturn(Light/Angel/6/2400/0)
Effect: If your life points is higher than your opponent's you make sacrifice this monster during your 1st Main Phase to do your opponent damage equal to the difference. You do not get a battle phase the turn you use this effect. You must have Sanc. of the Sky in play to use the effect.

[img]http://www.cardhaus.com/images/308-006.jpg[/img]

Anyway, this card is very good in the right deck. Within a deck supported around angels or just Saturn's effect, just raise your LP and nuke your opponent with Saturn. It is possible to use CED's effect along with a Saturn deck. Its base stats alone are very impressive, superior to Kaiser Glider because it can be searched.

3.7/5. Very impressive.

[DeathBug]

Hmmm....a card I hadn't given much thought to, but will give a brief overview nonetheless.

First, a rant: I am really, really sick of Konami introducing these lil' tribes of monsters, using a bunch of slots in the set to make them playable...then never releasing new support cards again!!

Gravekeepers, Amazons, Spell counters, Unions, Spirits, Chess Demons, and now Sanctuary Angels...a few of them have effects or stats good enough to stand on their own or be assimilated into other decks, but most of them become useless as the game advances. When we've already got several under-developed main types of monsters (Pyro? Sea Serpants? Birds?) it's just a waste to keep adding more, especially if you're not gonna' continue to support them!

*End Rant*

So....Saturn. I'd actually be willing to trade a lower level for a lower attack, myself. I'm hesitant to burn up a tribute monster, especially when I've got to raise my LP first. LP gin has always been a weak strategey, but there were never really good ways to use it effectivly before I suppose that this card could combo with Fire Princess....but then you've got to protect the Princess and your field card.

However, the Sanc. angels work together, so I can see a much more effective use of this card than with FP. Since I do'nt know that much about the SAnc Angels, I can't really rate them as a unit.

As an attacker without an effect combo, she's nice, but if I'm not planning on using her effect, I'd probably run Kaiser Glider instead, on the premise that if I'm sacrificing a monster, I want a decent effect.

So, I give AoJ-Saturn a 2.5/5. THat's my basic rating for cards that need a deck built around them to be sucessful. Obviously, she'd get a 5/5 in a deck based around her effect, and a 4.5/5 for Sanctuary angels.

Yeah, I really don't know much about the Sanc. Angels...*runs off to Edo's*

Very neat pic; reminds me of "Marie the Fallen One" for some reason.

[Snodin]

It's the wings, DeathBug. The wings. ^_^

ANGEL OF JUDGEMENT- SATURN

Pros:
-Searchable by Witch
-Awesome Burn effect; works in LP gain decks/Fire Princess decks
-High ATK; one of the few playable Angel types
-A Light monster; can work with various Light strategies (particularly Chaos Emperor Dragon or Chaos Soldier)

Cons:
-0 DEF
-Effect reliable on a particular Field card
-Can be killed by Hades and higher attackers in battle
-Kaiser Glider can suicide and live, like Jinzo


It's nice to see that in the future, Angels will get more and more props, as will the Fire monsters. Most of us already have the incredibly-powerful-but-hard-to-get-onto-the-field Wingweaver, so seeing a one-Tribute Angel with an ATK that's actually higher than Airknight's is pretty awesome. However, if you really want to make this angel's effect to work, you MUST get the field card Sanctuary of The Sky. In a sense, the Gravekeepers have opened up a new strategy to the game: Field Decks. These are decks that actually revolve around Field cards like Necrovalley and Sanctuary, so the Spell card Teraforming may see play sooner than we think.

What the effect basically means is, if you were to have say 2000 LP more than your opponent, you'd then sacrifice this monster when Santuary is in play, then you'd deal your opponent 2000 direct damage. It's almost like Ring of Destruction's effect without its backfire, but it's not as devastating as my favorite double-trap combo, Ring of Destruction/Barrel Behind the Door.

On the other hand, Saturn's effect can work in more ways than one. Once she's in the Graveyard, you can take her and a Dark monster out to special summon a Chaos monster- Dragon or Soldier. Or, you can special summon her with Monster Reborn or another revival card, and deal more heavy damage. Perhaps her effect can be more in handy with other angel friends that also need Sanctuary of the Sky in play, but we'll just see.

And yes, she can work in a Fire Princess deck, since Fire Princess also requires you to gain life points. However, don't think that this strategy is fool-proof; too much life point-gain cards will take space in your deck, and you don't want a Bad Reaction to Simochi to pop up in front of your face. So be careful.


Standard Beatdown Deck: 5.0
Standard Burner Deck: 4.0
Fire Princess Deck: 8.0
Sanctuary Deck: 10
Chaos Deck: 6.0 (would get a higher score, but that one-Tribute thing gets in the way slightly)
Extra Points: 4, for being called Saturn (it's my favorite planet other than Earth! ^^)

Overall: 7.0- Versatile, but probably won't stay on the field long

[DeathBug]

[IMG]C:\My Documents\My Pictures\305-052.jpg[/IMG]

JUDGEMENT OF ANUBIS
Counter Trap
Discard 1 card from your hand. Negate and destroy a Magic card
activation and effect that has a [Destroy Magic/Trap cards on the
Field] effect controlled by your opponent. Afterward, you can
destroy 1 of your opponent's face-up Monsters on the Field and do
damage to your opponent equal to that Monster's attack strength.

(Courtesy of Edo; if you've never been, go.)

This card was used in the anime by Odion (Jp. Rishid) against Joey's Giant Trunade. It protected Odion's Temple of the Kings and Avatars of Aphopis, and destroyed Joey's Gearfriend, Hayabusa Knight and Tiny Guardian/Little Winguard; it was used incorrectly in the anime, however.

There's a lot of debate on this side of the other pond as to whether or not JoA deserves its spot as the retail secret rare from Dark Crisis. Is this card any good?

Pros:
*Protect set Magic/traps
*Destroy one monster
*Burner damage
*Can negate: HFD, HS, MST, and a few others.

Cons:
*Only negates magic cards
*Requires discard
*Destruction only works if opponent hasa monster on field

Well, first, if the card was as powerful as it was on the anime, it would be more popular, but it can only destroy one monster. That monster must be on the field at the time JoA is triggered for the effect to ocurr.

Only Magic cards can trigger it; no Breaker or Dust Tornado. Also, the card must *destroy* the M/T; no Giant Trunade or Nobleman of Extermanation.

Whether or not it's any good depends on whether or not you've got M/T that need protecting. Good cards to protect are Mirror Force, Magic Cylinder, Premature Burial, Field magics, United We stand and Swords of Revealing Light. If you run a large number of any of those cards, you should consider JoA. If all your traps are chainable and you only run one or two equips, you might want to just stick with Imperial Order.

It bears mentioning, although it's rather obvious, that discarding is bad. However, come the next set, discarding might not be as bad as previouly thought. If the card I discarded was the one light monster I needed in my Graveyard to summon Chaos Emporor Dragon, for example, then discarding actually allows more options. Of course, if you're discarding Sinister Serpant, do'nt even think twice. Even the new monster Oustanding Dog Marron takes the sting out.

(Also, in the future, you can discard Exectioner Makuyra and Masked Beast: Des Guardius, among others, to get their effects.)

This card only requires that your opponent control the Magic card destroying M/T's. It doesn't require that the M/T's belong to you.

A killer combo (that is situational, as most fun combos are), is to activat this card when your opponent pulls the MST/Mirage of Nightmares draw trick. They'll loose their monster, an MST, and have to discard. You loose two cards, they loose up to five. Not bad, but still very situational.

Finally, don't think you'll always get the burner effect. Most M/T removal is done during Main Phase 1, prior to summoning. It only takes a good player getting nuked by JoA once to cause him/her to always destroy M/T's before summoning. However, there are many times when you will get the effect.

In short, Judgement of Anubis is good in some decks, but not others. If you have some Magic or trap cards you just have to keep alive, use it. If you don't really have that many, don't bother; use Imperial Order or Spell Shield Type 8.


Score:

In a deck with field magics/continuous traps: 3.5/5
In other decks: 1/5

That's one cool pic, by the way.

[Snodin]

JUDGEMENT OF ANUBIS
Counter Trap
Discard 1 card from your hand. Negate and destroy a Magic card
activation and effect that has a [Destroy Magic/Trap cards on the
Field] effect controlled by your opponent. Afterward, you can
destroy 1 of your opponent's face-up Monsters on the Field and do damage to your opponent equal to that Monster's attack strength.


This card has a lot of potential, but it's extremely situational. I'd say it would work best in a Burner deck, because most likely you'll want to use it to destroy your opponent's biggest, baddest monster and do a ton of LP damage. If that would be the case, then you would somehow have to try to tempt him/her into using a Harpies Feather Duster, MST, or Heavy Storm. In fact, let's look at all of the Magic cards that this card only works on:

-Harpies Feather duster
-Mystical Space Typhoon
-Heavy Storm
-De-Spell (hyeah, like anybody uses it anymore)
-Magic Drain (unless it's a trap)

Those are all of the ones I could find and think of; not a lot. So you're probably better off using one of them, plus counter-traps like Magic Jammer, or better yet, Imperial Order.

Oh, and let me please say this: How hypocritucal it is of Upperdeck to give Anubis the "okay" to keep his name, while Hades had to change his. Hello; they're BOTH mythic gods that are related to death!


Burner Deck: 5.0
Beatdown Deck: 5.0
Extra Points: 5, for keeping his name

Overall: 5.5- too situational, but in the right situation, can be deadly

[Domon]

[img]http://www.cardhaus.com/images/dcr-006.jpg[/img]

DCR-006
Guardian Ceal
Level 4
Fire type
Pyro/Effect
ATK/1700 DEF/1400

Effect: This card can only be Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned when there is a "Shooting Star Bow-Ceal" on your side of the field. Send an Equip Spell Card on your side of the field equipped to this monster to the Graveyard to destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field.

[COLOR=darkblue]Well, well. One of the guardians from Dark Crisis. This card is pretty good for being a guardian, I mean he's searchable with Witch, he's got a 1700 ATK. But his effect is what makes this guy dangerous, the best way to explain this is to use Butterfly Dagger-Elma, you equip that onto Ceal, making sure that his card is out too, well you blow up Elma, which was equipped to Ceal, destroy one monster on the opponent's side of the field. But oops, Elma comes back, then you get to repeat that cycle until your opponent's field is clear of all monsters and then move in for the kill. I mean of course you'll need Black Smith Kotetsu to get Elma out faster but meh. I would like to see a deck built just for this guy's effect simply because I think it's a pretty cool monster removal force.

But onto his bad side. Poor, poor Ceal, he had to be cursed with the fact that he's a guardian and therefore needs his Bow out on the field, and if you think Skill Drain would work then you'd lose the effect. If Ceal were a normal summon monster he would be a force to be reckoned with.

Domon's rating: 4.2/5 he would have gotten a 4.5 if he weren't a guardian and a 1700 hitter.[/COLOR]

[DeathBug]

I'm afraid that the Ceal/DoB combo doesn't work. It has to do with the wording of Ceal and Dagger's effect: Ceal "sends cards to the graveyard". DoB must be "destroyed".

Therefore, DoB would not return. Without that combo....Ceal kinda' sucks. ^__^;

Rating: 1/5

[Tom222666]

Well, I think that Ceal is an okay monster but a little overrated. He could have been docked a level and replaced with something more useful, like Skill Drain. I give it a 2/5. Now, at Domon's behest I will put out a card.
Vampire Lord.
[*img/]http://www.cardhaus.com/images/dcr-000.jpg[*img]
Effect:If this monster is destroyed by an oppenents Magic, Trap, or Monster Effect, special summon this monster on your next Standby phase. Also, if this monster does damage to your opponents life points name a type, Monster, Magic, or Trap, your opponent must then search their deck for the named type and discard it to the graveyard. The deck is then shuffled.
This is the big man in my view. I mean if he attacks and hits a Mirror Force, he will come back, Raigeki he comes back, Dark Hole you guessed it comes back. But the key to this guy is to make sure he stays in the graveyard, because if he leaves then he won't come back. And the icing on the deck is the deck destruction aspect of him. All in all I give him a 4.7/5. Simply awesome.

[Domon]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i]
[B]I'm afraid that the Ceal/DoB combo doesn't work. It has to do with the wording of Ceal and Dagger's effect: Ceal "sends cards to the graveyard". DoB must be "destroyed". [/B][/QUOTE]

Ah, my mistake. But there is are two cards that I also know of that continually return to you, Horn Of The Unicorn and Sword of Deep-Seated, of course those annoying things continually hit the top of your deck >__<;;. But its still worth a try. I mean it would surely be a pain in the neck but ya never know. ^_^;;;

Now, onto Vampire Lord.

I totally agree, he is a big hitter, but big hitters have downsides, and sadly Vampy's downsides are showing badly. Firstly, he has a 2000 ATK strength, true, you get him out fast and he'll wreak havoc on your opponent and his/her deck, but that 2000 ATK will quickly get overshadowed by Summoned Skull, Ha Des, Jinzo, etc.

But he can get out quickly, remember Pyramid Turtle from Pharonic Guardian?? Well have that die and then whip out Vampy lord and wham!! No tribute and you've got that bad boy sitting out on the field laughing at your opponent. Another thing is just what Tom stated, he hits Mirror Force, gets blasted by Raigeki, sucked in by Dark Hole, or Rung by Ring of Destruction and he comes back!! O_o;;.

I really only see flaws with his ATK, if he were a 2500 or even a 2400 hitter he would definetly be a force to be reckoned with.

My rating : 4.5/5

[DeathBug]

Ahh, V-Lord, the new "Yata". A very powerful card that is mistaken for unbeatable and placed in all sorts of decks, even if he doesn't belong.

Well, ranting aside, let's check him out.

Pros:
*Witchable
*Revival effect
*Discard effect
*Yet [b]another[/b] powerful Dark monster (Can you tell I have a pet peeve?)
*Can be brought out by Pyramid Turtle

Cons:
*Lvl 5
*only 2000 attack?
*Using his ability effectivly requires a little thought
*If he died in battle, he stays dead
*Pwned by: Jinzo, Hades, Kaiser Glider, Helpoemer, Magical Scientist, GAF, Giant Orc, Kycoo, DD Warrior Lady,monster monsters with a power up...

Well, many people have been giving this guy two rating, Pre-restriction and post-restriction. I think that's a waste of time; we *know* that in the long haul, you can only play one, and I will grade him according to those standards.

Machines have Jinzo, and Zombies have V-Lord. For control, this guy can be very effective. Summon him via whatever means, do some damage, and name a card to be sent to the Graveyard.

This guy flips off Mirror Force, Regeki, Dark Hole, Trap Hole, T-Virus, X-Force, Regeki Break, D-Ring, and various others.

However, his biggest flaw is that he's basically a lightweight in the brute force department, and for good reason: any stronger and he'd be totally broken. If you see him, take care of him the old fashioned way: hit him until he stops getting back up. GAF is most likely to do this, but if you manage to special summon a heavy hitter like Jinzo or Hades, they'll do the job as well. For budget duelists, Zombrya the Dark and Giant Orc will take care of him.

The problem is, V-Lord can be revived with up to nine recursion cards. (However, only six might actually be used...)

Monster Reborn, Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted bring him back. Three Shallow GRaves could bring him back, but I highly doubt anyone would use oeven one of those. The card you have to watch out for is Book of Life; since V-Lord's a Zombie, your opponent can revive him while at the same time removing one of your guys from play.

The best way to deal with him, then, is to remove him from the game. Book of Moon + Nobleman of Crossout can easily do this, but the best way to do so, IMO, is with the DD Warrior Lady.

(Note: If V-Lord is revived via Call of the Haunted or Premature Burial, and that card is destroyed, V-Lord will [b]not[/b] return. tHe reason is that it's CotH/PB's effect that sent him back to the grave, and that's your card, not your opponent's.)

V-Lord's deck destruction effect is very useful; however, it takes a bit of skill to know how to use it. If you name "Monster", your opponent will dump a heavy-hitter monster, then revive it later. (Although you could name Monster, hope your opponent dumps something strong, then revive it yourself.)

Conventional wisdom says that the first card type to destroy is Trap, because most duelists run less traps than anything, and the traps they run are very poiwerful and dangerous. If they have no more traps, go for magic, then monster.

Of course, if your opponent has a very small monster force, it m9ight be better to dump those first. It depends on the circumstances, and takes some practice to use the effect properly.

V-Lord's everywhere right now, but once people realise that he's not for every deck, he'll be regulated to where he belongs: zombie decks, control decks and destruction decks.

Finally, as I said in my Jinzo review, don't run Jinzo and Vampire Lord in the same deck; it's counter-productive.

Ratings:
Beatdown: 2/5
Control: 4.6/5
Zombie: 5/5 (Three Book of Life(s) will make this guy a major pest)

[Guest Alucardfire]

Actually APS being in its staple status would work fine in the same deck with a Vampire Lord. Regardless of whether you'll target traps with VL or not, APS is still 2400/1500, and they are both gonna eventually be on the res. list at 1 per deck. APS already is, but which one will you be able to summon first? You'll only get in a few atks with VL, so either target somtin else or w/e. No big deal.

[DeathBug]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Alucardfire [/i]
[B]Actually APS being in its staple status would work fine in the same deck with a Vampire Lord. Regardless of whether you'll target traps with VL or not, APS is still 2400/1500, and they are both gonna eventually be on the res. list at 1 per deck. APS already is, but which one will you be able to summon first? You'll only get in a few atks with VL, so either target somtin else or w/e. No big deal. [/B][/QUOTE]

My opinion was that it was overkill, but it would depend on your deck. Most decks only want one tribute anyway, and, for most of them, Jinzo is the superior monster.

[Guest Alucardfire]

APS IS the superior monster.

Simply put APS > VL ^^;;

VL has become outdated in the JP meta, but it should serve well in the ENg meta for control, destroy the opponent's 5-6 card trap section(if their deck is competitive it will have that many), and go from there.

The reason ppl would have both is because if you draw Jinzo first, you can negate the traps then, before VLord comes out, which could be all the way at the bottom of your deck.

[Circ]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i]
[B]Most decks only want one tribute anyway, and, for most of them, Jinzo is the superior monster. [/B][/QUOTE]

Actually, a 20/20 deck can support 3 tribute monsters without too much trouble, but the current tendency is to run about 15-16 monsters, which can hardly support more than one tribute monster without risk.

[Guest Alucardfire]

A 20:20 deck will nowhere be seen in competitive play. 20 monsters is FAR too high for a deck as you don't want your hand clogged with monsters but with m/t to support as you can only normal summon 1 mon per turn but can use multiple m/t per turn.

[Domon]

[IMG]http://www.cardhaus.com/images/lod-018.jpg[/IMG]

LOD-18 Marauding Captain
Lvl 3
Earth
Warrior/Effect

Effect: As long as this monster remains face-up on the field, your
opponent cannot select another Warrior-Type monster on
your side of the field as an attack target. When this monster is
Normal Summoned Successfully, you can Special Summon 1
Level 4 or lower monster from your hand.

[COLOR=darkblue]Okay, this card is used either in Warrior decks or beatdowns, depends on what your playing style is, but seriously this guy is designed for any kind of deck basically, I mean he can get summoned, get out oh say a Gemini Elf, Breaker, or Archfiend Soldier, the list goes on of possibilities for this guy, I mean seriously who wouldn't want to run this guy for a quick rusher?

Unfortunenately though, he doesn't protect all cards that get summoned via his effect, this is really not a good thing and can seriously hurt you in the long run. Also he has a meager 1200 ATK, not gonna last very long, though he really doesn't need to, just long enough to get out another monster, plus side is that he's Witchable and Sanganable. All in all I think he makes up for his mistakes with other things.

I give this guy a solid 4/5 I mean come on I can't give a solid 5 to him with quite a few of these noticable flaws, had he been a 1500 hitter he would be better, and still searchable.[/COLOR]