[CC Daily #9.5] Take it Easy!

[Maeriberii Haan]

And drop dead easy!

 

 

2 level 3 DARK monsters

If this card is the only monster you control, this card cannot be destroyed by battle, and halve the ATK of all monsters that battles this card during the Damage Step. During the End Phase, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; if a DARK monster(s) you control is destroyed this turn, you can add one of them to your hand.

 

 

As usual for the entries with .5 in its title, this is quite a lot simpler than the others.

 

Not really sure why I made this. Probably due to BA.

 

but idk.

 

Critiques and comments...I guess?

[Darj]

I like how this effectively reaches 3000 ATK when it's the only monster you control. I'm not really convinced by the activation conditions of the second effect: working only when specifically a DARK was destroyed this turn looks awkward; I don't know... I feel it is not good enough for an Attribute-material Rank3. Maybe you could loosen the activation conditions a bit. Then again, I'm not a big fan of this kind of grave recovery effects because either they are unimpressive or enable crazy combos, depending on the deck/build, so I may be biased.

[Kanashimi]

Wait wait wait . . . . O.O

You can do a loop with BA right? (Summon this, spam any BA you want to loop, EP add again to hand) especially Scarm, +1 each turn with this card . . .

 

Anyway i like it~ (for the loop :>)

[Cirrus]

Card is damn good. I don't entirely agree with Voltex's assessment that the card isn't good enough as an attribute Rank 3. Look at cards like Soul of Silvermountain or Totem Bird for the appropriate power level (or heck, Black Ray Lancer); I think this is very appropriate and certainly a solid choice! A good role player.

 

Last effect's wording is kind of hazy though. Add 1 of every destroyed monster? Add 1 of the destroyed ones?

 

Two variations:

 

"if a DARK monster(s) you control was destroyed this turn, you can add 1 monster from your Deck to your hand with the same name as a destroyed monster(s)."

 

"for each DARK monster(s) you control that was destroyed this turn, add up to 1 monster with the same name from your Deck to your hand."

 

Obviously (2) is bonkers and (1) is likely the intended effect, but anyway.

[Darj]

Looks like it picks the monster from the grave actually (or whenever it ended up after being destroyed, for that matter), and it should only pick 1 monster.

 

The reason I found it underwhelming was that it is a lot like a FF - Lion Emperor for DARKs, but of course with a couple of diferences (different recovery conditions, works on end phase, etc.). Except that, unlike Lion, this card is more difficult to activate by requiring the destruction of the DARK monster first, which makes it more tricky to play optimally (except in decks such as BAs of course). So, I didn't mean the effect wasn't good enough, but rather the restrictions/conditions may be too harsh and could be holding it back.

[Cirrus]

Lion Emperor has its own restrictions, though; and is barely played anywhere except in-house in 3-Axis FF. Plus its combat stats are not always as good, especially when you need a Rank 3 body.

 

I see this card as a combat card first - its utility is secondary but useful, imo.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Yeah, the main reason for the (2) effect is suiciding your BAs with it around and then recovering them during the EP. It also intended to only pick one of the destroyed monsters if multiple are destroyed this turn, yeah. Being a spellcaster with some sort of protection also makes Secret Village an easier thing to keep around there whenever the call to use it appears again.

 

But yeah, its main use is being a pseudo 3k beater, with the utility of recycling tacked on there. I think.

[Darj]

And there lies one of my concerns. If FF Lion is barely played except in FFs, in which decks besides BAs would this card be played? I don't know the answer but probably only 1 or 2 decks at most (heck even the condition on the first effect works against DARK decks that may want to control more monsters); but to where I'm going is that this card's playability looks too limited, which is not exactly bad, but it could be better in my opinion.

[Cirrus]

But DARK is a more populated attribute than FIRE.

 

I think the usage statistic you quote as evidence is disingenuous ... or rather, pointless without taking into account some mitigating factors. The first thing to note is, what decks are actually able to make the card? Then you should think, how many decks can make the card but aren't using it? Isn't it largely 0 for both?

 

I'm almost certain that FF - Lion Emperor can't be made by the vast majority of decks in the first place. Rank 3 decks just aren't that common because the rank 3 generic pool isn't that deep or strong. No one would dare suggest that M-X-Saber Invoker is a weak card and yet it doesn't see play outside of Madolche ... why's that? Because decks can't use it.

 

Lack of usage != lack of power.

[Darj]

Not really. Lion Emperor does see play in, well, Fire Fists and sometimes with Evols; it's not made in more decks because decks with enough Level3 FIREs to drop Rank3s are scarce. On the other hand, where would you play this? Because despite of the abundance of DARKs, I can only think of BAs since I foresee the other DARK decks would have trouble summoning this, destroying a DARK on their own turn (only to pick it back for whatever purpose) AND leaving this card alone on the field to make its first effect live. I don't know you, but to me those are a lot of hoops to jump through.

Sure, you could play this for its first effect as a pseudo 3000-ATK beater indestructible by battle, but since it needs to be your only monster, its summoning opportunities should be limited, and there may be better Rank3s to make at that time. For instance, if what you want is a 3000-ATK beater, Acid Golem is an option; yes, I understand they aren't fully comparable and, unlike this card, Golem locks your Summons afterwards and doesn't have any additional effects, but it doesn't conflict with other monsters you may control, and thus may be a more reliable choice for a beater and possibly finishing your opponent.

 

Anyway, I'm not saying the card is weak; it does look like a fun toy for BAs, but it wouldn't hurt to cut some of those "hoops" to make it a bit more versatile and/or reliable. The card could be left as it is right now, but why not make it as good as possible?

For instance, I'm thinking the second effect could be turned into a quick-effect so you can get back a DARK monster if it was destroyed during the opponent's turn.

 

EDIT:

These are just a couple of ideas, but loosening the recovery condition to when a DARK is sent to the grave would help as well, as it would allow you to retrieve DARKs that were discarded, Tributed, used as Fusion material, etc. Making this effect as Majester Paladin could be another possible boon:

 

Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then activate this effect; during the End Phase of this turn, add 1 DARK monster form your Graveyard to your hand that was sent there this turn, except "Dullahan of the Willows, Banki".

[Cirrus]

Not really. Lion Emperor does see play in, well, Fire Fists and sometimes with Evols; it's not made in more decks because decks with enough Level3 FIREs to drop Rank3s are scarce.

Which is exactly what I pointed out. Lion Emperor is a good card but cannot be made easily by the vast majority of decks, and is clearly playable in decks in which it can be made. I am positing that this is the exact same. Can you name a Rank 3 DARK deck that is -not- Burning Abyss? Does it exist? I mean you can say Ghostricks but this card isn't as good as their in-house solutions of Alucard -> Dorklord, plus it doesn't benefit from their archetype support, so they have little if any desire to make this card (they have so many solutions to battle it's not necessary).

 

On the other hand, where would you play this? Because despite of the abundance of DARKs, I can only think of BAs since I foresee the other DARK decks would have trouble summoning this, destroying a DARK on their own turn (only to pick it back for whatever purpose) AND leaving this card alone on the field to make its first effect live. I don't know you, but to me those are a lot of hoops to jump through.

Think of it as something a bit different. Say you have a lone level 3 sitting on the board and a Tour Guide in hand. You need a 3k beater. Well, this man is the man for the job (suppose for a moment that the deck is not, in fact, BA, but some other hypothetical DARK Rank 3 Deck). You NS Tour Guide, get a guy, Xyz with the guy on board, and then you can run your Tour Guide into the other card to nab it back in the End Phase as well as make this card's first effect live. I've always thought the second effect was secondary to the first, and meant only as a small bonus. Unlike Acid Golem and Muzurhythm, this card doesn't have a charge system (and dies on the counterswing!) or a painful restriction, but rather a condition which is largely moot in the situations you need to use this card anyway (you are in a losing situation and need to answer the opposing monster somehow, meaning you probably don't have much board presence).

 

My main argument has been that the design itself is sufficient, even though there is a dearth of decks to play it in - but this is generally unavoidable, is it not, because of the material requirement? Attribute/Type Rank Xs see significantly less play than generics. See again my note about M-X-Saber Invoker.

[Darj]

Think of it as something a bit different. Say you have a lone level 3 sitting on the board and a Tour Guide in hand. You need a 3k beater. Well, this man is the man for the job (suppose for a moment that the deck is not, in fact, BA, but some other hypothetical DARK Rank 3 Deck). You NS Tour Guide, get a guy, Xyz with the guy on board, and then you can run your Tour Guide into the other card to nab it back in the End Phase as well as make this card's first effect live. I've always thought the second effect was secondary to the first, and meant only as a small bonus. Unlike Acid Golem and Muzurhythm, this card doesn't have a charge system (and dies on the counterswing!) or a painful restriction, but rather a condition which is largely moot in the situations you need to use this card anyway (you are in a losing situation and need to answer the opposing monster somehow, meaning you probably don't have much board presence).

 

My main argument has been that the design itself is sufficient, even though there is a dearth of decks to play it in - but this is generally unavoidable, is it not, because of the material requirement? Attribute/Type Rank Xs see significantly less play than generics. See again my note about M-X-Saber Invoker.

 

Well, of course the card has a a niche and can shine from time to time.

 

Again, the card is not weak nor bad, and I agree with you that the design is "sufficient", but my argument is that, the way I see it, it can afford to be better with, let's say, more lax conditions on the second effect, without becoming unfair or broken. But in the end, it's up to the card creator to leave this card as it is now, or push it a bit further; either way it's fine, really.

 

By the way, I remembered another archetype that could have relatively easy access to this card: Phantom Knights. They even have a monster that increases the ATK of a DARK Xyz summoned monster by +1000, so they could very well drop this with 2500 ATK; now that would be an interesting interaction.