Lake Abnormality

[Atypical-Abbie]

With Level 1 Synchros not being really all that possible in the real game, I figured I would give it a go in a realistic way. All you need is a Level 1 Tuner and a non-Tuner of any Level and you can get it out. So, the card itself is a Synchro Tuner, which Special Summons non-Tuners to get your play going. By discarding a Tuner, you get a 1 higher Level non-Tuner. Additionally, you can easily bring it back, since it can destroy Tuners to Special Summon it from the GY.

 

1 Tuner + 1 non-Tuner monster
For this card’s Synchro Summon, treat the non-Tuner monster as a Level 0 monster. You can discard 1 Tuner; Special Summon 1 non-Tuner monster from your Deck whose Level is 1 higher than the discarded Tuner, but you cannot activate that monster's effects or cards with the same name for the rest of this turn, and if you do, immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon using this you control. If this card is in your GY: You can target 1 Tuner monster you control; destroy it, then Special Summon this card from your GY, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of “Lake Abnormality” once per turn.

[Darthikyu]

I'm kinda wondering what deck would like this card, or benefit off of it existing, when Needlefiber exists. 

In essence they require the same materials (albeit needle can be summoned with two tuners ig) and needle can summon a level 3 or lower tuner. 

Also, Needle summons any synchro tuner (it can summon this :o) 

 

Anyways, my point being: Where does this card fit in the metagame? 
I could see this card being run in Blue-eyes for whacky Destrudo plays, I suppose (Use a card + lvl1 tuner, make this, discard Destrudo since it's not  important in hand, summon a blue-eyes, instantly go into azure-eyes) but if that works, you probably could've gone Azure-eyes immediately anyways. As for it reviving itself, that's neat and all, but with the discard eff being hard OPT I don't see it as all that important, nor a big factor for using it, because in the end it doesn't extend your play much apart from being able to link summon using it after you revived it, or for some reason/somehow synchro summoning a second card.

 

Of course, I'm by no means an expert on the metagame, but this is what (in a nutshell) strikes me: 
I consider the payoff for making this card, which is fairly easy, good. Doesn't instantly plus for you, but you do get the chance to proactively swap cards for monsters on board, and with it being a synchro tuner you can make needlefibre and then revive this card (by destroying the tuner you summoned off of needle, which might have an eff too) 

However: 

I'm wondering if you really want to invest in this when most of the time needlefiber SEEMS to just be better. To me, anyways. 

[Darj]

You don't have to go out of the way with a "treated as Level 0", you know,  Take Ultimaya as example. Also, you would avoid ruling issues because Level 0 monsters have no precedence.

 

Other than that, card seems ok. Needlefiber is better in general, but this should have a niche... somewhere. Also an advantage this card has over Needlefiber is that it can search Level4+ Tuners.

[Atypical-Abbie]

I'm kinda wondering what deck would like this card, or benefit off of it existing, when Needlefiber exists. 

In essence they require the same materials (albeit needle can be summoned with two tuners ig) and needle can summon a level 3 or lower tuner. 

Also, Needle summons any synchro tuner (it can summon this :o) 

 

Anyways, my point being: Where does this card fit in the metagame? 

I could see this card being run in Blue-eyes for whacky Destrudo plays, I suppose (Use a card + lvl1 tuner, make this, discard Destrudo since it's not  important in hand, summon a blue-eyes, instantly go into azure-eyes) but if that works, you probably could've gone Azure-eyes immediately anyways. As for it reviving itself, that's neat and all, but with the discard eff being hard OPT I don't see it as all that important, nor a big factor for using it, because in the end it doesn't extend your play much apart from being able to link summon using it after you revived it, or for some reason/somehow synchro summoning a second card.

 

Of course, I'm by no means an expert on the metagame, but this is what (in a nutshell) strikes me: 

I consider the payoff for making this card, which is fairly easy, good. Doesn't instantly plus for you, but you do get the chance to proactively swap cards for monsters on board, and with it being a synchro tuner you can make needlefibre and then revive this card (by destroying the tuner you summoned off of needle, which might have an eff too) 

However: 

I'm wondering if you really want to invest in this when most of the time needlefiber SEEMS to just be better. To me, anyways. 

Needlefiber is a strong card, I cannot deny that, but the main idea is to use them in a combination of both. This card also allows more access to other kinds of cards, and it can revive itself as well, so it has a way to make a comeback play, where Needlefiber can die more easily.

 

You don't have to go out of the way with a "treated as Level 0", you know,  Take Ultimaya as example. Also, you would avoid ruling issues because Level 0 monsters have no precedence.

 

Other than that, card seems ok. Needlefiber is better in general, but this should have a niche... somewhere. Also an advantage this card has over Needlefiber is that it can search Level4+ Tuners.

Talked about this on the Duel Portal Discord, and people have many opinions, I am aware of Level 0 monsters not being much of a thing, but as someone pointed out, which I also believe in, as this is for a simple material check, like Nirvana High Paladin or cards that treat their name differently for Fusion Summons, like King of the Swamp, they are never like that on the field, so I don't believe they would violate any rules on that matter. Lastly this doesn't search any Tuners, not sure if you miswrote or not, you discard a Tuner for a 1 higher Level non-Tuner. 

[Darj]

I misread indeed: I thought it discarded a non-Tuner to Summon a Tuner. Then it has different applications to Needlefiber. For instance, some of monsters, specially floodgate-ish ones with Level5+ would appreciate being Summoned directly from the Deck. Needless to say, you would require another monster on board to perform the Synchro Summon bound to the effect without taking away said monster.

 

And right, the monster may never become Level 0 since as you say, it's just check, but still, you can keep it simple with a "You can Synchro Summon this card by using 1 Level 1 Tuner and 1 non-Tuner monster with any Level", right? But it's up to you.

[VCR_CAT]

As it's been said, there's no reason for it to read "treat it as Level 0", just as there's no real reason for this to be a Synchro monster. The card also feel as if it has no reason to be a Level 1 monster beyond "So it's a Level 1 Synchro because there's no Level 1 Synchros". Having that sort of feature doesn't make a card interesting on its own, and the effect doesn't contribute to that either. I'm not sure what you niche you wanted this card to fill, what it was meant to bring to the Synchro mechanic that will make me want to run it over anything else. The grave summon effect is pretty much just a "But this tuner monster I already control isn't the level I want", which isn't very insightful. Functionally competent synchro themes all have their own ways to get out the tuners they want when they want, or have their own benefits to using certain tuners over others, so I don't know where that grave effect fits in that makes it do something that they have trouble doing already.

 

Really, it just feels like a bad, inverse Needlefiber with a Level 1 gimmick slapped on. I'd say take it back to the drawing board and figure out what exactly you want this card to do-- answer the question "Why do I want this in my deck over anything else, if there is anything else that does what it does". Good cards will stand out for their mechanics and how they play, not because they have something special like "It's a Synchro Monster but it's level 1". Also, for that, no aspect of the card should be unquestionable; be willing to change any and all aspects, including the level and how it's summoned. If you can't find a good reason for making it inherently level 1, then maybe don't make it level 1.

[Atypical-Abbie]

As it's been said, there's no reason for it to read "treat it as Level 0", just as there's no real reason for this to be a Synchro monster. The card also feel as if it has no reason to be a Level 1 monster beyond "So it's a Level 1 Synchro because there's no Level 1 Synchros". Having that sort of feature doesn't make a card interesting on its own, and the effect doesn't contribute to that either. I'm not sure what you niche you wanted this card to fill, what it was meant to bring to the Synchro mechanic that will make me want to run it over anything else. The grave summon effect is pretty much just a "But this tuner monster I already control isn't the level I want", which isn't very insightful. Functionally competent synchro themes all have their own ways to get out the tuners they want when they want, or have their own benefits to using certain tuners over others, so I don't know where that grave effect fits in that makes it do something that they have trouble doing already.

 

Really, it just feels like a bad, inverse Needlefiber with a Level 1 gimmick slapped on. I'd say take it back to the drawing board and figure out what exactly you want this card to do-- answer the question "Why do I want this in my deck over anything else, if there is anything else that does what it does". Good cards will stand out for their mechanics and how they play, not because they have something special like "It's a Synchro Monster but it's level 1". Also, for that, no aspect of the card should be unquestionable; be willing to change any and all aspects, including the level and how it's summoned. If you can't find a good reason for making it inherently level 1, then maybe don't make it level 1.

Well...that is a review. I am not entirely sure how to respond to this, but I will say that I find you criticism of making a Level 1 Synchro a bit silly, that is just a part of it. You say there is no reason for it to be a Synchro Monster, which I find ridiculous, as it's a Synchro Tuner, what else am I suppose to make it? That confuses me a bit. As for what I intend for it, well once again we are at Needlefiber, and for my defense, I will say that this brings out non-Tuners, so immediately it gives you many other options. Along with that, you can bring out Level 4 and higher as well, so there are even more options for it. Needlefiber, to my knowledge, is not used that much for Synchro plays compared to advancing Links plays, this is for Synchro Decks first of all. It's for making monsters that require Synchro Monsters, that require monsters you don't have access to, to set-up cards for the GY for later. Reviving it also gives it an advantage that Needlefiber doesn't have, a comeback play, if you are stuck with Tuners in your hand, by simply getting out a Tuner, you grant access to a new Synchro Monster. There are a lot of situations where this could be useful, while it has a niche, and Synchro Decks aren't that common anymore, as it's only requirement is a Level 1 Tuner and any other monster with any Level, that also grants you an easy card to bring out in many situations where Needlefiber wouldn't be able to advance the play you needed at that time. I find it important to be prepared for multiple outcomes, sticking to a single option is limiting to me.