Tuesday, May 18, 2010

TSHD Part 12: Darkness In the Shine

Despite its suggestive name and the usual support for LIGHT and DARK Attributes, The Shining Darkness provides some help to other needed themes and an unusual amount of hate towards some Cards. Let's take a look:

The first Card provides Synchro hate, and it's called Memory Crush King:

When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent by a direct attack, remove from play all Synchro Monsters in your opponent's Graveyard, and inflict 1000 damage to your opponent for each monster removed.

King has a mandatory Trigger Effect that activates at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. Since it affects "all" monsters that meet its criteria, it does not target. The removal and the damage are considered simultaneous. Note that the damage is inflicted all at once, not 1000 per monster.

Following the Synchro hate, we have Intercept Wave:

All Synchro Monsters on the field are changed to Defense Position. And then return all face-up Synchro Monsters to the Extra Deck during the End Phase.

This Quick-Play Spell Card is used to bounce all Synchro Monsters back to the Extra Deck, but it takes some requirements to do so. In order to activate it, there must be at least 1 Attack Position Synchro Monster on the Field. It will then switch them all to Defense Position (and again, since it affects "all" Synchro Monsters, it doesn't target). If you succeed in switching the position of a Synchro Monster, during the End Phase, you can apply the second effect to make them all begone. This second effect doesn't use the chain, so you cannot respond with a Card like Book of Moon to prevent your monster from being returned to the Extra Deck. Finally, note that the second effect will affect any Synchro Monsters that are face-up at the time, even those Summoned after Wave's resolution.

And one more Synchro hate Card, Synchro Ejection:

Select 1 face-up Synchro Monster your opponent controls and remove it from play. Then, your opponent draws 1 card.

This Normal Trap Card targets the Synchro monster. When it resolves, the target is Removed from Play, and if you succeed is Removing it from Play, your opponent draws one Card. You cannot activate Ejection if Protector of the Sanctuary is face-up, except during your opponent's Draw Phase.

We then have some WATER monster support. The first one being Ronintoadin:

This face-up card's name is treated as "Des Frog". You can remove from play 1 "Frog" monster in your Graveyard, except "Frog the Jam", to Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster.

Like many of its friends, Ronintoadin has several abilities. The first effect is a Continuous Effect, which is applied as long as Ronintoading is face-up. The second effect is an Ignition Effect, which Removes the frog from Play as a cost. It does not target Ronintoadin itself. The restriction on Synchro Summoning is not treated as and effect, and so, it cannot be negated by Cards like Skill Drain.

The other WATER support Card is Testudo erat Numen:

Neither player can Special Summon monsters  with 1800 or more ATK.

This pink turtle has a Continuous Effect that prevents Special Summons. In order to prevent a monster's Summon, it must have an Original ATK of 1800 or more, so it can prevent the Special Summon of Cyber Dragon if Burden of the Mighty is active, but it cannot prevent the Special Summon of Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. It is also worth nothing that you cannot use Testudo as a requirement for the Special Summon of a monster with too much ATK, so you cannot use it as a Synchro Material for Stardust Dragon, or as a tribute for Destiny Hero - Plasma.

Next, we have some Beast support, courtesy of Key Mouse:

When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monster  from your deck to your hand.When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 Level 3 or lower Beast-Type monster  from your deck to your hand.

Key Mouse has an optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. Since it looks for a Card in the Deck, it doesn't target. You cannot activate its effect if Thunder King Rai-Oh is face-up. It's very similar to recruiters, so it's not too complicated.

Let's go back to the hate, and take a look at Hunter of Black Feathers:

While your opponent controls 2 or more face-up monsters, all of the same Type, you can send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard to select and destroy 1 face-up monster your opponent controls.

Hunter sure is picky to destroy stuff. Its effect is an Ignition Effect with some heavy requirements. First, your opponent must control at least 2 face-up monsters (there can be some face-down ones). Next, all of the face-up monsters must be of the same type. Then, you can pay its cost of sending 1 Card to the Graveyard (which, as usual, Macro Cosmos prevents), and only then, you are allowed to target a face-up monster and destroy it. Too many demands for some cheap monster destruction. If all the face-up monsters have their Type changed (by DNA Surgery), then Hunter's effect still resolves properly. It doesn't care which Type the monsters are, as long as they all follow suit. However, if the Type of the monsters becomes different (such as if DNA Surgery is destroyed), then it will resolve without effect. This disruption can also be caused if your opponent no longer controls 2 or more face-up monsters, and obviously, if the target is flipped face-down.

Keeping the hate going, we have Forbidden Graveyard:

Activate by discarding 1 card. Effects that activate in the Graveyard this turn are negated.

Discarding a Card is a cost, and once Graveyard resolves, it will negate effects that activate in the Graveyard. Note that it only addresses where was the effect activated, and not the location of the monster. This is one good example of why it is important to remember that effects activate and resolve in the same place, regardless of the location of the Card that generates it. For example, if you send Dandylion to the Graveyard, your opponent chains Forbidden Graveyard, and you wish to chain Call of the Haunted targeting Dandylion, since the effect activates in the Graveyard, it will still be negated by Forbidden Graveyard, even if Dandylion is no longer there. This example is also useful to explain that, much like the Imprisoning Mirrors, chaining Forbidden Graveyard to an effect that activates in the Graveyard will succeed in negating it. You don't need to activate it beforehand.

As for some hate against Gladiator Beast and similar Cards, we have Corridor of Suffering:

Monsters that were Special Summoned from the Main Deck cannot activate their effects, their effects are negated, and they cannot declare an attack, as long as they remain face-up on the field.

Corridor affects monsters Summoned from the Deck, even if they are Summoned face-down by Apprentice Magician or Super-Nimble Mega Hamster (once they are flipped face-up). If you are wondering if it's not somewhat redundant to prevent the effect activation and negate them at the same time, remember that Continuous Effects do not activate, so a monster like Gladiator Beast Laquari would have its effect negated instead. Flipping the affected monster face-down and face-up will remove the restriction. Also, remember that the restriction only applies while the monster is face-up, so a monster like Apprentice Magician will still activate its effect to search a Spellcaster monster.

Now, let's look at some removal hate with Guard Mines:

Activate  only when a card is activated with an effect that would target and destroy a monster you control. Negate the effect and destroy that card. Then Inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

This Normal Trap Card is chained to an effect that targets only 1 monster you control. It cannot target anything else, and it definitely won't work with cards that do not target. The destruction also must be certain upon the effect's activation, so you cannot chain Guard Mines against Snipe Hunter, even if it does target. You also cannot activate Guard Mines during the Damage Step (against Machina Fortress, for example). Finally, the 500 points of damage are inflicted only if you succeed in destroying the Card that Guard Mines negates, so if Dust Tornado is chained and destroys a Card like Sakuretsu Armor, you won't inflict damage.


Finally, some hate against big monsters with Power Frame:

Activate only when a face-up monster you control is selected as an attack target by an opponent's monster with higher ATK. Negate that attack,and equip this card to your monster that was being attacked. The equipped monster gains ATK equal to the difference in ATK between the two monsters.

Power Frame is a really freaky Normal Trap Card. You activate it upon an Attack Declaration, and it targets your attacked monster (not the attacking monster). The attack is negated, and this Card becomes an Equip (Trap) Card. The effect as an Equip Card is to provide ATK equal to the difference between the ATK of both monsters, even if at the time of its resolution your monster ended up with higher ATK (because the ATK values are still different). As a really weird side note, since Power Frame is not a Continuous Trap Card, if an effect is chained to destroy it, it will still negate the attack (but it won't become an Equip Card).

After so much hate, let's look at the last support Card, Pyramid of Wonders:

All face-up  Zombie-Type monsters  you control  gain 200 ATK  for each monster your opponent controls. If (exactly) 1 face-up Zombie-Type monster  you control  would be destroyed, you can send  this card to the Graveyard instead.

Pyramid has two effects we have reviewed a number of times: A Continuous ATK boost, and a substitution effect. The only complication rises due to the restriction on the substitution effect, which demands that only a single Zombie Monster is being destroyed at the time you wish to apply the effect. This means that you cannot apply the substitution effect if a Card like Torrential Tribute is activated.

The last Card for today is Damage Gate:

Activate  only when you take Battle Damage. Special Summon 1 monster  from your Graveyard with ATK less than or equal to amount of damage you took.

Gate has a really simple effect. You activate this Normal Trap Card at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, and it targets one monster in your Graveyard. Of course, note that zero and "?" are not lower than anything, so you cannot target a monster with those ATK values.


That's all we have for today, and in the next article, we'll be done with The Shining Darkness! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

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