Mermail Atlanteans

October 31, 2012

by Paul Clarke

Hey guys, guess what? The sneak peek for Abyss Rising is this week and you know what that means. All of the money you have earned (or talked out of your parents) is all going down the drain. Abyss Rising is full of a bunch of water monsters that will most probably sculpt the rest of the format.

Let’s take a look at some of the more important cards coming out, as well as some of the important cards from the new Atlantean Structure Deck.

There are only three important Atlanteans, so lets first take a look at them.

Atlantean Dragoons
Level 4
Sea Serpent/Effect
All face-up Level 3 or lower Sea Serpent-Type monsters you control can attack your opponent directly. When this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a WATER monster's effect: Add 1 Sea Serpent-Type monster from your Deck to your hand, except "Atlantean Dragoons".
1800 ATK / 0 DEF

This guy is just amazing. As we progress further into the monsters from Abyss Rising, you will be able to see all of the cards this guy can search out. There is a Grandsoil for waters that this guy can search!

Atlantean Heavy Infantry
Level 2
Sea Serpent/Effect
During your Main Phase, you can Normal Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Sea Serpent-Type monster in addition to your Normal Summon/Set. (You can only gain this effect once per turn.) When this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a WATER monster's effect: Target 1 face-up card your opponent controls; destroy that target.
0 ATK/1600 DEF

This guy may not seem that good right away, but trust me when I say that it is. The Atlantean Deck runs a lot of cards that pay the cost of sending a Water card to the grave. That pretty much makes this card a Smashing Ground, or even a Twister. It’s other effect that lets you summon another Sea Serpent can also come in handy once in a while.

Atlantean Marksman
Level 3
Sea Serpent/Effect
When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Atlantean" Sea Serpent-Type monster from your Deck, except "Atlantean Marksman". When this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a WATER monster's effect: Target 1 Set card your opponent controls; destroy that target.
1400 ATK/0 DEF

The final Atlantean I have to showcase for you is none other than Atlantean Marksman. It most definitely has the best second effect. After doing any damage in battle, it has the ability to special summon a Level 4 or lower Atlantean monster from your deck. If you get Dragoons, that is 3200 direct damage! Marksman’s other ability is also great. It destroys pesky face-downs so you can get through with your combos.

Okay, so those are the Atlanteans that you need to worry about from the starter deck, but lets get to the more important cards. The cards from Abyss Rising.

Card #1
Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord
Level 8
Sea Serpent/Effect
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by having exactly 5 WATER monsters in your Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Special Summoned: Discard 2 random cards from your opponent's hand (or their entire hand if less than 2). You can only use the effect of "Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord" once per turn. If this card leaves the field, skip the Battle Phase of your next turn.
2800 ATK/ 2200 DEF

With all the support for this card, it won’t be too surprising to get this guy out turn two. Atlantean Dragoons can search for it and all of the other Atlantean support can make your grave 5 waters pretty quick. If you exceed 5 waters in grave, there are cards like Salvage, Monster Reborn, and Pot of Avarice to fix that up for you!

Card #2
Mermail Abysslinde
Level 3
Aqua/Effect
If this card on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 "Mermail" monster from your Deck, except "Mermail Abysslinde". You can only use the effect of "Mermail Abysslinde" once per turn.
1500 ATK/1200 DEF

You might be asking yourself, what does this card (or Mermails in general) have to do with Atlanteans? Well I have an answer for you, and it’s a pretty simple answer at that! Almost all of the Mermails have great effects, and they have costs that trigger Atlanteans. Mermail Abysslinde may not have an effect that triggers Atlanteans, but it does have the ability to search out some Mermails that do.

Card #3
Mermail Abyssmegalo
Level 7
Sea Serpent/Effect
You can discard 2 other WATER monsters; Special Summon this card from your hand. When you do: You can add 1 "Abyss-" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand. You can Tribute 1 other face-up Attack Position WATER monster; this card can make a second attack during each Battle Phase this turn
2400 ATK/1900 DEF

Oh… look… it is a Sea Serpent…. how convenient… This is one of the best cards in the deck. Not only can you trigger two atlanteans with just one card, but you also search one of the better cards in the deck, Abyssphere, but I’ll get to that card later. It’s second ability that lets it attack twice can also trigger atlanteans. This card just flows so well in the deck. Dragoons can search it out and then this card can then proceed to fuel your grave for your Moulinglacia. Oh… and Big Eye! Lots of Big Eyes can be made in this deck!

Card #4
Mermail Abysspike
Level 4
Fish/Effect
When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can discard 1 WATER monster to the Graveyard; add 1 Level 3 WATER monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use the effect of "Mermail Abysspike" once per turn.
1600 ATK/800 DEF

This card is searchable by Abysslinde and it triggers atlanteans in hand. It also can tutor you some of the missing pieces to whatever combos you might have at the moment. What is not to like?

Card #5
Mermail Abyssturge
Level 4
Fish/Effect
When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can discard 1 WATER monster to the Graveyard, then target 1 Level 3 or lower WATER monster in your Graveyard; add that target to your hand. You can only use the effect of "Mermail Abyssturge" once per turn.
1700 ATK/1100 DEF

This card is pretty much a worse Abysspike, but it is still pretty good. Give it a try if you want. I won’t judge you.

Card #6
Abyssphere
Continuous Trap
Special Summon 1 "Mermail" monster from your Deck. Its effects are negated. You cannot activate any Spell Cards. When this card leaves the field, destroy that monster. Destroy this card during your opponent's next End Phase after activation.

There are a lot of neat tricks with this card. If your opponent uses Heavy Storm or MST on it, just chain it and get Abysslinde, which can then get whichever mermail that you want in that situation. Abyssphere also has great interactions with Dewloren, which is surprisingly easy to summon in this deck. Don't forget that Abyssmegalo can search this out from your deck.

Card #7
Mermail Abyssgaia
Rank 7
Aqua/XYZ/Effect
2 Level 7 WATER monsters
While this face-up card has any Xyz Material, Level 5 or higher monsters cannot attack. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the effects of all monsters your opponent controls whose ATK is lower than this card's ATK, until the End Phase.
2800 ATK/1600 DEF

If you can bring this guy out, it is pretty darn good. It is like a one turn Skill Drain every time you trigger its effect. Its first effect is also pretty relevant versus a few decks as well!

There is a lot more water support in Abyss Rising, but if I were to list each and every card, then I would be listing all 60 cards in the set, so lets just leave it to these seven cards!

With these seven new cards, as well as the three new atlanteans, it is pretty clear that a new deck is coming. It will be powerful; it will be dumb. Be prepared!

Now lets take a look at some of the support cards for the Atlanteans.

Salvage
This card is pretty darn good in atlanteans. It lets you reuse your atlanteans, Deep Sea Divas, Mermail Abysslinde, and Genex Undine and it manipulates our grave for Moulinglacia!

Moray of Greed
This card is neat. I’m not sure if it is actually needed, though. I am currently running one, but I could see myself cutting it.

Genex Undine
This card is pretty busted in my opinion. Sure there is the Controller drawback, but it is a cost to send the water… so that means when you summon Undine, you can either search your deck for a Sea Serpent, destroy a face-down card, or destroy a face-up card, as well as add controller to your hand. And to be honest, controller isn’t always that dead in this deck. You can simply use Abyssphere to get Abysslinde and summon Controller to synchro into Delworen. From there, you can return Abyssphere back into your hand. It’s a small little lock that pretty much lets you win if your opponent can’t handle it.

Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
IT TRIGGERS ATLANTEANS!

Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
Detaching will trigger atlanteans!

Deep Sea Diva
It searches some of the atlanteans. Call me crazy, but right now I am not running it.

Dragon Ice
This card also triggers atlanteans. I don't think it is that good, though.

Let’s take a look at my current build. Don’t make too much fun of me. This is only my second build, and I have only been play testing with this deck for a few hours.

Monsters: 20
1x Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord
3x Genex Undine
2x Genex Controller
3x Atlantean Dragoons
2x Atlantean Heavy Infantry
2x Atlantean Marksman
3x Mermail Abysslinde
2x Mermail Abyssmeglo
2x Mermail Abysspike

Spells: 10
1x Dark Hole
1x Heavy Storm
1x Monster Reborn
1x Salvage
1x Moray of Greed
1x Pot of Avarice
2x Pot of Duality
2x Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 10
3x Abyssphere
2x Solemn Warning
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Torrential Tribute
1x Solemn Judgment

Almost all of the builds I have seen have been running around 26 Monsters and only the 3 Abyssphere as the trap line-up. I’m not really a fan of decks with no traps (outside of Frog FTK and Chaos Dragons) so I opted to throw in quite a few.

I hope you all know what to look forward to in Abyss Rising now. Good luck getting what you need. Until next time, play hard or go home!