STBL Part 1: Like Toy Soldiers

The new set Starstrike Blast introduces a new theme called Karakuri. It's composed of Machine-Type monsters of EARTH Attribute who base their effects on Battle Position changes. Let's take a look.

Most Karakuri Monsters have the following effect in common:

This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card on the field is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position.

The first sentence is a Continuous Effect. This effect forces the player to enter the Battle Phase, and the player cannot end it without the Karakuri Monster declaring an attack. A Karakuri monster that cannot attack due to a Card effect such as Swords of Revealing Light or Fiendish Chain, or one that is in face-up Defense Position will not force the player to attack with it, because attacking is not possible.

The second sentence is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It's activated upon Attack Declaration, when the Karakuri Monster is selected as an attack target. It will be activated in the case of a replay as well.

With that covered, let's look at the monsters. The first one is Karakuri Soldier mdl 236 “Nisamu”:

This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card on the field is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Karakuri" monster from your Deck in face-up Attack Position.

Aside from the common effect to Karakuri monsters, Nisamu has an Optional Trigger Effect. It's your usual recruiter that activates at the End of the Damage Step.

Then, we have Karakuri Merchant mdl 177 “Inashichi”:

This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card on the field is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can add 1 "Karakuri" card from your Deck to your hand.

Aside from the common effect, Inashichi has a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It's activated upon its Normal Summon, so it can be negated by Pulling the Rug. Note that it can search any Card with "Karakuri" in its name, not just Monster Cards.

Moving on, we have Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 “Nishipachi”:

This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position. When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, select 1 monster on the field and change its battle position.

Aside from the common effect, Nishipachi has Mandatory Trigger Effect. It's activated upon its successful Normal or Special Summon, and so, it can be negated by Pulling the Rug or Swallow Flip accordingly. This effect targets.


Next, we have Karakuri Ninja mdl 339 “Sazank”:

 This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position. When this card is flipped face-up, select 1 face-up monster on the field, and send it to the Graveyard. During the turn this card is flipped face-up, it can attack your opponent directly.

Barring the common effect again, Sazank has two more effects. Its first additional effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect that activates when Sazank is flipped. Much like Snowman Eater, this isn't a FLIP Effect, but functions in the same way as those effects. It targets a face-up monster on the Field. The second effect is a Continuous Effect that allows Sazank to attack directly.

The last Karakuri Monster in the original set is Karakuri Bushi mdl 6318 “Muzanichiha”:

This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card on the field is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position. If another "Karakuri" monster on the field is destroyed, this card gains 400 ATK.

Along with the common effect, Muzanichiha has a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It provides an ATK boost each time a Karakuri monster on the Field is destroyed. The Karakuri monster must be face-up at the time of its destruction in order to activate this effect.

We then have some Spell Cards, starting with Karakuri Showdown Castle:

When a face-up "Karakuri" monster you control selects an opponent's face-up monster as an attack target, you can change the target's battle position. When this face-up card on the field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can select 1 Level 4 or higher "Karakuri" monster in your Graveyard, and Special Summon it.

This Field Spell Card has two effects. The first is an Optional Trigger-like effect that can be activated upon Attack Declaration. It targets the attacked monster. The target monster must remain face-up and on the opponent's side of the Field in order for this effect to resolve properly. Only the controller of this Field Spell Card can activate this effect. The second effect is an Optional Trigger Effect too. It's activated when this Card on the Field is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, similarly to Morphtronic Map. It targets a Karakuri monster in the Graveyard. This effect can miss the timing if the destruction of Showdown Castle isn't the last thing to happen, so if Mystical Space Typhoon is chained to Castle's activation, or if it's destroyed by the activation of your own new Field Card, you won't be able to activate the effect. Much like Geartown, the proper way to activate this effect by replacing it with a new Field Card is to SET the new Field Card, not to activate it.

Then, we have Golden Gearbox:

Select 1 face-up "Karakuri" monster on the field. It gains 500 ATK and 1500 DEF, until the End Phase.

Gearbox targets a face-up Karakuri monster on either side of the Field. It provides an ATK/DEF boost. Not much elseto say.

The last Karakuri Spell Card is Karakuri Anatomy:

 Each time a "Karakuri" monster's battle position is changed, place 1 Karakuri Counter on this card (max. 2). You can send this card from the field to the Graveyard to draw 1 card for each Karakuri Counter on this card.

Anatomy has a Continuous Effect that causes it to gain Karakuri Counters each time a Karakuri monster changes its Battle Position. The Karakuri monster must be face-up at the time it's done changing its position for this Card to recognize it, so if Book of Moon is used, no Counters will be gained. Remember that flipping a face-down Monster face-up with a Card like Swords of Revealing Light doesn't change its Battle Position. The Monster Card must change from Defense to Attack Position, or vice-versa. Anatomy's second effect is an Ignition-like effect.. Sending the Card to the Graveyard is a cost, so if Macro Cosmos is active, this effect cannot be activated.

We then have two Trap Cards, the first one being Karakuri Trick House:

Activate only when the battle position of a face-up "Karakuri" monster you control is changed . Select 1 card on the field, and destroy it.

Trick House responds to a Battle Position change, which must be the last thing to happen. The Karakuri Monster must be face-up before and after changing its position for this Card to recognize it. The destruction effect targets a Card on the Field.

The other Trap Card is Karakuri Clock:

Activate only when a face-up Defense Position "Karakuri" monster is selected as an attack target. Destroy all face-up monsters your opponent controls.

Clock is activated at the time of Attack Declaration. The Karakuri Monster can be on either side of the Field. This effect doesn't target.

An OCG import Card for the Karakuri theme is included in this set, being Karakuri Spider:

If this card attacks a DARK monster, destroy the attack target after damage calculation.

Spider has a Mandatory Trigger Effect that is activated before the End of the Damage Step, at the same timing FLIP Effects or D.D. Warrior Lady activate their effects. It doesn't target. It activates even if Karakuri Spider is destroyed in battle. Note that it will only activate if Karakuri Spider is attacking, not if it is attacked.

There's also a TCG exclusive for the Karakuri theme, being Karakuri Barrel mdl 96 “Shinkuro”:

 This card must attack if able. When this face-up Attack Position card on the field is selected as an attack target, change it to Defense Position. Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by battle.

Shinkuro has the common effect once again. Additionally, it has a Continuous Effect that prevents its destruction in battle once per turn.

The final monster for the theme is a Synchro Monster: Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”:

 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Machine-Type monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 "Karakuri" monster from your Deck. Once per turn, you can select 1 monster on the field, and change its battle position.

Burei's first effect is an Optional Trigger Effect activated upon its successful Synchro Summon. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. Its second effect is an Ignition Effect. It targets a monster to change its Battle Position.

Well, that's all for the Karakuri monsters. Stay tuned for more STBL. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.