[Therrion Single Challenge 1/50] Green-Eyed Scarecrow

[Therrion]

Well, I said I'd start a new single challenge as I ditched my DDC, so here it is. I am only going half as far as Renegade, but bare with me :P

I will include a "why I made it why I did" section below the card's posted lore during each card of this challenge.

 

R4R (Rep for Reviews)

All criticism is welcome, especially harsh constructive criticism.

 

 

You can Set this card from your hand to your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Trap Card. When a monster your opponent controls declares an attack while this card is Set as a Trap Card: You can flip this card face-up; negate the attack, then Special Summon this card. When this card is Special Summoned this way: Return 1 monster your opponent controls that didn't declare an attack this turn to the hand.

 

[spoiler=Design Notes]Well, through out Yu-Gi-Oh! Scarecrows have been related to negating attacks. Can't blame Konami, as it makes sense. If you scare something away, negating attacks is a nice symbolization. You see examples of this in Swift Scarecrow and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, and so I took this approach. Now that I knew I had to have some negating attack effect, I wanted to pursue it in a different way then both those cards did. I decided that just sitting there Wind-Up Knight style would be boring and pointless, thus I made it into a Monster Trap. It ended up, in this regard, seeming alot like Zextra's Thousand Eyes Papilon in a way, so you may realize a resemblence to a card you've seen lately (this wasn't intended). I figured if that is all it was, it wouldn't be played, so I wanted to take it a step further by adding another effect. I thought about it and decided if a Scarecrow comes out of nowhere and scares one monster into not attacking, it could perhaps scare another monster, a fellow ally of the negated monster, and it would run away in shock. Thoughts? [/spoiler]

[Therrion]

/poke w/ a stick

[Ren✧]

Very interesting card. Love the symbolism and theme behind it. It is nice that the card doesn't bar Normal Summoning, and isn't limited to direct attacks either. The only real problem I find with this card is, that there isn't exactly a sure fired place where it will fit in. I guess stall decks that run Swift Scarecrow could be its cup of tea, but aside from that I don't really see it getting much use. That isn't to say that it is a bad card,  it is just that most decks will prefer speed over stalling, although this card has an interesting blend of both, so who knows. I like how it can almost shut down a battle phase without actually ending it. Very nice.

[Therrion]

I had that confliction, but came to accept that every card you make can't be about Special Summoning or destroying. I know this won't impact the meta (though not much will as of now), but it could prove to be a casual all star, providing a Level 4 for a next turn Xyz after coming from the brink, or simply smacking down a monster and this in S/T to protect it. It also works well with Extra Deck monsters (well, vs. them) depending on what attack order your opponent does. I may make more Scarecrows, if I happen to just have a picture of them.

Thanks for the review, as always Renegade. ^^

[Zextra]

Quite a solid card. It fits the theme with the other Scarecrow cards, and I love how it's a monster trap (as opposed to a trap monster xD). It's the fun of handtraps without the unnecessary mindgames, and executed in a very nice manner. The Compulse-ish effect is very nice, especially since competitive players tend to attack with their monsters in ascending order of strength (a common habit since Gorz's release), and this can effectively use that psychological perk against them. Granted that the card itself doesn't have a solid place in any particular deck (aside from maybe some obscure stall variants), but it's a good card nonetheless.

[Therrion]

Thanks for the review Zextra ^^

Yeah, the card doesn't quite have a home, which is sad and as a card maker should've been avoided, but I really didn't want to stray from Scarecrow flavor. Also, the Gorz ascending attack was an idea when I was making the card, and so I thought it would be a balanced trap that still works just about as good as it would with or without the "hasn't attacked" clause, though that attacking habit probably wouldn't apply when there is a trap present on board.