With Shadow Specters finally on shelves, we all get a chance to upgrade our existing decks and try out some new ones. Ghostricks, Noble Knights, and Bujins become slightly more playable, while dragons continue to dominate the pack. On top of this, dragons gained a new theme in the form of Rank 8 plays thanks to Mythic Tree Dragon and Mythic Water Dragon. In this article, I’m going to talk about what I think of the new Dragon support and how it will most likely affect the upcoming Circuit Series event in Boston.
The most hyped card from the new set has to be none other than Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand. Here is his effect:
2 Level 8 monsters
Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 face-up monster on the field; this turn, its effects are negated, but it is unaffected by other card effects.
Felgrand is a Light Warrior type monster packing a whopping 2800 attack and 1800 defense! His effect is nothing short of amazing as it has multiple uses and interactions. It’s spell speed two so you can chain it to card effects, and it can be used on anything including itself. The first thing that I really want to say about this card is that it changes the way you think about interrupting your opponent. Normally, when you see your opponent going for an Xyz or Synchro play, you can just sit back and see what he summons before you respond. However, if you see this guy coming, you need to respond before he hits the field, because once he does, he becomes an immediate problem. Cards like [ccProd]Phoenix Wing Wind Blast[/ccProd]and [ccProd]Raigeki Break[/ccProd] are no threat to Felgrand. Even [ccProd]Spellbook of Fate[/ccProd] is unable to deal with him. This is why it is imperative to stop the summoning from ever happening.
Now in order to summon him, you might be wondering what options you have available to crank out not one, but two level 8 monsters that you’d actually be willing to give up. The easiest answer is the Mythic Tree and Mythic Water Dragons. They create a little combo together. Here are their effects:
Mythic Tree Dragon
Once per turn: You can target 1 WATER Dragon-Type monster you control; this card's Level becomes the current Level of that monster.
Mythic Water Dragon
If you control an EARTH monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only Special Summon "Mythic Water Dragon" once per turn this way.
The Tree Dragon is level 4 and the Water Dragon is level 8. So basically, you normal summon the earth and then special summon the water, after that you have the Tree Dragon copy the level of the Water Dragon and Xyz for a rank 8. You also have Heliopolis and Number 46 to choose from. Speaking of which, I might as well let you know a bit about the latter, too. Here’s what he does:
Number 46: Dragluon
2 Level 8 Dragon-Type monsters
Once per turn, if you control no other monsters: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then activate 1 of these effects.
● Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster from your hand.
● Target 1 Dragon-Type monster your opponent controls; take control of that target.
● Dragon-Type monsters your opponent controls cannot activate their effects until the end of your opponent's turn.
This guy is 3000 over 3000 which means he is a force to be reckoned with. On top of that, he had three relevant effects for the Dragon mirror match. The key thing to note about him is that unlike [ccProd]Number 11: Big Eye[/ccProd], he can actually attack after using any of his effects. So if you steal a Blaster, you can swing for 5800 between the two of them alone.
Anyways, now that we’re all done introducing these guys, we can discuss some theory-oh. After my testing, I’ve found that the Mythic Tree Dragon is strictly a good card even without playing the Mythic Water Dragon. It gives you easy access to Rank 7 Xyz monsters and it can be brought back by [ccProd]Debris Dragon[/ccProd] to make a Rank 4s like [ccProd]Queen Dragun Djinn[/ccProd]and [ccProd]Diamond Dire Wolf[/ccProd]. That’s huge because Diamond Dire Wolf happens to be an out to [ccProd]Evilswarm Ophion[/ccProd].
The Mythic Dragons are searchable by Tidal and Redox, who—before Shadow Specters—didn’t have anything good to search but themselves. So one of the key benefits of playing them is that you won’t run out of those elements so quickly anymore, and you have more options than just searching another copy. Obviously, you will want to be careful because losing an element can be really bad if your play doesn’t go very far.
The Mythic Dragons aren’t really all that hindered by [ccProd]Maxx “C”[/ccProd] which is really good. It’s no different than your opponent using Maxx “C” when you go to make a level 8 Synchro. The Mythic Water dragon does not start a chain when you summon it, which means that your opponent would have to use Maxx “C” when you normal summon the Mythic Tree Dragon. Now this could be beneficial if you have traps because you can choose to just set them and end your turn, causing your opponent to take a -1 on his Maxx “C.” It’ll be interesting to see that scenario play out in competitive play soon.
I have been dying to get back to my Blue Eyes Ruler deck and I think this set gives it some of the cards that it needs to be competitive again. Since the Mythic Water dragon is both level 8 and searchable, it will mean no more dead Trade-ins hopefully. Also, you can finally do something with your Blue-Eyes other than making Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon. I’m sure the deck would be crazy fast, too! Anyways, if you haven’t already, I recommend trying out these new cards and seeing how you like them. In the OCG, they’ve been splashing one copy of each so maybe there’s some merits to that.
The Circuit Series comes to Worcester, MA NEXT WEEKEND! November 16-17! Thanks for reading! Remember, Play Hard or Go Home!
-Frazier Smith
Latest posts by Frazier Smith (see all)
- Know The Power Of Demise - June 2, 2016
- Viability of the Subjugated – Water - February 22, 2016
- The Problem with Monarchs - February 11, 2016
Get
Connected