STBL Part 4: That's no moon...

Like any set, Starstrike Blast includes some Cards used in the anime. Let's take a look:

First, we have Swift-Attack Scarecrow:

When your opponent's monster declares a direct attack, you can discard this card to negate that attack and end the Battle Phase.

Scarecrow has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon Attack Declaration. Discarding it is a cost. This effect doesn't target, and you can only activate one Scarecrow in response to the attack.

Next, we have Mirror Ladybug:

If you control at least 1 face-up monster and have no monsters in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is Special Summoned this way, this card's Level becomes equal to the total Levels of all other monsters you control. If the Level of this card is higher than 12, destroy this card.

Ladybug has a Summoning Condition that gives it an Inherent Special Summon. Then, it has a Mandatory Trigger Effect activated upon its successful Special Summon using that method, which can be negated by Swallow Flip. This effect counts the Levels of the other monsters you control when it resolves. Finally, it has a Continuous Effect which will destroy Mirror Ladybug if its Level ever exceeds 12. This isn't limited to its own Trigger Effect. Anything that would cause its Level to be too high will result in Mirror Ladybug being destroyed.

Then, we have Reed Butterfly:

If your opponent controls a face-up Synchro Monster(s) and you control no face-up Synchro Monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Reed Butterfly's Summoning Condition gives it an Inherent Special Summon. It has no further Monster Effects.

Moving on, we have Needle Soldier:

If this card is used as a Synchro Material Monster for a Synchro Monster, during battle between that Synchro Monster and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of that Synchro Monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

Needle Soldier has a Continuous Effect. It is applied as soon as the Synchro Summon is successful, and it doesn't depend on Soldier remaining in the Graveyard (or wherever it's sent after the Synchro Summon). It sets a Condition on the Synchro Monster which gives it a trampling effect that doesn't use the chain. If the Synchro Monster is flipped face-down or is Removed from the Field, it will lose this effect.

Then, we have Necro Linker:

You can Tribute this card to select 1 "Synchron" Tuner monster in your Graveyard. Special Summon that monster. It cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster during the turn it is Special Summoned by this effect.

Necro Linker has an Ignition Effect. You tribute Linker as a cost, and it targets a monster in your Graveyard. Then, it sets a Condition on the Summoned monster, preventing it from being used as a Synchro Material this turn. Flipping the monster face-down will get rid of this Condition.

The last regular Yusei monster is Rescue Warrior:

You take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. If this card is destroyed by battle, select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls that you own, and take control of it.

Rescue Warrior's first effect is a Continuous Effect that prevents Battle Damage. Then, it has a Mandatory Trigger Effect activated at the End of the Damage Step when Rescue Warrior is destroyed in battle. It targets a face-up monster that you originally own, and that your opponent has taken control of. This will override the effect that gave control of that monster to your opponent, so even if your opponent has used Creature Swap, Snatch Steal or Mind Control, you will regain control of your monster "permanently" (or at least until another effect takes control of it). Note that you must target a face-up monster, so if your opponent controlled your monster and turned it into a Spell Card (such as an Equip Card with Relinquished, or a Continuous Spell Card in the case of a Crystal Beast), then you cannot target it.

Now let's look at Jack's Cards, starting with Power Giant:

You can send 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon this card from your hand, and decrease this card's Level by the Level of that monster. If this card attacks or is attacked, until the end of the Damage Step any effect damage you take becomes 0.

Power Giant's Summoning Condition gives it an Inherent Special Summon. You must send the monster to the Graveyard, so you cannot Special Summon Power Giant if Macro Cosmos is active. Modifying Power Giant's Level is part of this Inherent Special Summon, and so, it doesn't start a new chain. If Power Giant has its effects negated, its Level will return to normal. In addition, Power Giant has a Continuous Effect that starts applying since Attack Declaration, which will reduce any Effect Damage you take to 0.

Then, we have Vice Berserker:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard as a Synchro Material Monster, inflict 2000 damage to the player that Synchro Summoned, and the Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material Monster gains 2000 ATK until the End Phase.

Vice Berserker has a single Mandatory Trigger Effect activated upon the successful Synchro Summon of the Synchro Monster. It inflicts Effect Damage to the player that used it as a Synchro Material, and gives an ATK increase to the Synchro Monster. If the player doesn't receive the Effect Damage, such as if that player controls Black-Winged Dragon, then the ATK increase is still applied. If the Synchro Monster is flipped face-down, the ATK increase is lost.

Next, we have Lancer Archfiend:

Once per turn, when a monster you control declares an attack targeting a Defense Position monster your opponent controls, you can activate this effect. If you do, during this battle, if the ATK of the attacking monster is greater than the DEF of the Defense Position monster it battles, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

Lancer Archfiend has an Optional Trigger Effect. You activate it upon Attack Declaration. When the effect resolves, it sets a Condition that will grant the attacking monster the ability to trample during this battle. This effect doesn't target.

Moving on, we have Power Breaker:

When this card is destroyed by your opponent's attack or card effect and sent to the Graveyard, select 1 face-up Spell/Trap Card your opponent controls, and destroy it. If this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Damage Step.

Power Breaker's first effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. You activate it at either the End of the Damage Step after it's destroyed in battle, or after the chain in which it was destroyed by a Card Effect. It targets the opponent's Card that you will destroy. Much like other monsters that depend on the opponent destroying this Card, if your opponent controls Power Breaker and it is destroyed, then it can't activate its effect. Its second effect is a Continuous Effect.

Then, we have Extra Veiler:

When your opponent Special Summons a monster(s), you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During the turn this card is Special Summoned by this effect, your opponent takes any effect damage you would have taken from their card effects, instead.

Veiler has an Optional Trigger Effect to Special Summon itself from the Hand in response to the successful Special Summon of an opponent's monster. You cannot activate this effect during the Damage Step, and you cannot Special Summon more than one Veiler off a single Special Summon. When this effect resolves properly, Veiler sets a Condition that will reflect all Effect Damage you take this turn from your opponent's effects. This Condition doesn't depend on Veiler, so if Veiler has its effects negated or it's no longer face-up before the End Phase, your opponent will still take the reflected damage.

Next, we have Synchro Soldier:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase 1, you can select 1 face-up Synchro Monster you control. Remove that face-up Synchro Monster you control from play and inflict 600 damage to your opponent. If you use this effect, during your next Standby Phase the removed from play monster returns to the field.

Synchro Soldier has an Ignition Effect. It targets one of your Synchro Monsters. Removing the Synchro Monster from Play and inflicting damage are considered to be simultaneous events. If you cannot Remove the Synchro Monster from Play, damage isn't inflicted. Returning the monster to the Field doesn't use the chain, and doesn't depend on Synchro Soldier remaining on the Field.

And finally, some Tuners, one being Creation Resonator:

If you control a face-up Level 8 or higher Synchro Monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Creation Resonator's Summoning Condition gives it an Inherent Special Summon. Nothing else.

The other Tuner being Attack Gainer:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard as a Synchro Material Monster, select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. The selected opponent's monster loses 1000 ATK until the End Phase.

Attack Gainer has a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It activates upon the successful Summon of the Synchro Monster, and it targets an opponent's monster.

Now, let's look at some of Crow's Cards, starting with Blackwing - Etesian of Two Swords:

If a "Blackwing" monster you control battles an opponent's monster, and that opponent's monster is still on the field at the end of the Damage Step, you can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

Etesian has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. Sending this Card to the Graveyard is a cost, so you can't activate this effect if Macro Cosmos is active. Your Blackwing monster doesn't need to remain on the Field, but your opponent's monster must.

Next, we have Blackwing - Aurora the Northern Lights:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play 2 face-up monsters you control (1 "Blackwing" Tuner and 1 non-Tuner). Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 "Blackwing" Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck. This card's name, ATK, and effects become the same as that monster's, until the End Phase.

Aurora has a Summoning Condition which gives it an Inherent Special Summon. Then, it has an Ignition Effect. Removing from Play the Blackwing Synchro Monster for this Ignition Effect is not a cost. If Aurora has its effects negated after gaining the effects of the Synchro Monster, only the effects of the Synchro Monster will be negated, and it will keep the ATK and name of that monster. Having an ATK of "?", Aurora cannot be added to the Hand via Black Whirlwind or Against the Wind.

And finally, we have Blackwing - Abroholos the Megaquake:

This card cannot be Special Summoned. Any monsters that battles with this card is not destroyed by that battle, and returns to the hand after damage calculation. Once per turn, during your Main Phase 1, you can have this card lose 1000 ATK, and return all cards in your opponent's Spell and Trap Card Zone to the hand.

Abroholos has a Summoning Condition that prevents it from being Special Summoned. Then, it has a Continuous Effect that prevents the monsters it battles with from being destroyed in battle. It also has a Mandatory Trigger Effect that will return any monster it battles with to the owner's Hand After Damage Calculation, even if Abroholos is destroyed in battle. Additionally, Abroholos has an Ignition Effect. Reducing its ATK is part of the effect, and if Abroholos isn't face-up at the time of the resolution, the effect resolves without effect, as Abroholos cannot reduce its ATK. Note that Abroholos cannot return Field Cards to the opponent's Hand. The ATK loss remains as long as Abroholos remains face-up.

And the last regular monster is one of Aki's mosters, Glow-Up Bulb:

You can send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card from the Graveyard. Each player can only use the effect of "Glow-Up Bulb" once per Duel.

Bulb has an Ignition Effect. Sending the top Card of the Deck to the Graveyard is part of the effect, so you can activate this effect even if Macro Cosmos is active. If Bulb isn't in the Graveyard at the time the effect resolves, you still send the top Card to the Graveyard, but if you run out of Cards to send to the Graveyard, Bulb isn't Summoned. Sending the Card to the Graveyard and Special Summoning Bulb isn't considered to be simultaneous, so a monster like Jinzo - Returner will miss the timing.

Bulb's effect has a restriction of only being able to activate its effect once per Duel, similar to Spore. And similar to Spore, even if the activation of this effect is negated, the effect is negated, or if Bulb leaves the Graveyard and later returns, you still cannot activate this effect more than once per Duel. Lately, a common question regarding both Spore and Bulb is about the wording of their restriction. "Each player" means that a single player can only activate the effect of these monsters once per Duel. Activating the effect of your Bulb won't prevent the opponent from activating the effect of his/her Bulb.

There's only one Spell Card from the anime, and that is Tuning:

Add 1 "Synchron" Tuner monster from your Deck to your hand. Then send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard.

Tuning adds a monster from your Deck to your Hand, so it doesn't target. Sending the top Card to the Graveyard is not considered to be simultaneous with adding the monster to your Hand. Also, sending the top Card to the Graveyard is part of the effect, so you can activate this Card while Macro Cosmos is active. If you fail to find a monster to add to your Hand, you do not send the top Card to the Graveyard.

Now, let's look at some Trap Cards, starting with D2 Shield:

Select 1 face-up Defense Position monster you control. Its DEF becomes double its original DEF.

D2 Shield targets a monster you control. It can be activated during the Damage Step, before Damage Calculation. It works similarly to Shrink, only that it doubles the value instead of halving it (and it works with DEF). Unlike Shrink, this modification lasts as long as the monster remains face-up. Much like Shrink, activating multiple copies of D2 Shield won't double the DEF twice. It will only set the DEF at a value equal to the original DEF's double, twice.

Next, we have Red Screen:

Your opponent's monsters cannot declare attacks. This card's controller must pay 1000 Life Points during each of their End Phases (this is not optional), or this card is destroyed. If "Red Dragon Archfiend" is face-up on the field, you can select 1 Level 1 Tuner Monster in your Graveyard, then destroy this card and Special Summon that monster.

Red Screen has a Continuous Effect that stops your opponent's monsters from declaring attacks. It has a Maintenance Cost that forces you to pay 1000 Life Points during your End Phases. Finally, it has an Optional Quick-like Effect that you can activate if either player controls a Red Dragon Archfiend, which doesn't need to be a monster (it could be equipped to Relinquished or similar). This effect targets a Tuner in your Graveyard, and Red Screen is destroyed as part of the effect. This effect cannot be activated during the Damage Step. You also cannot activate this effect if you don't have the Tuner monster in your Graveyard (to avoid losing Life Points) or if Imperial Custom is face-up.

Then, we have Blackback:

Activate only during your turn. Select 1 "Blackwing" monster with 2000 or less ATK in your Graveyard, and Special Summon it. You cannot Normal Summon or Set the turn you activate this card.

Blackback targets a monster in your Graveyard. As usual, you cannot Normal Summon/Set, and then activate Blackback later during the turn.

Moving on, we have Defenders Intersect:

Activate only during the Battle Phase. Defense Position monsters your opponent controls are changed to face-up Attack Position, and their effects are negated.

Intersect can be activated during the Battle Phase, outside of the Damage Step. It only affects the monsters that your opponent controls when this Card resolves, not those placed on the Field afterwards. The effect negation is only applied for effects that are applied on the Field, so it won't negate the effect of Sangan and similar monsters.

Next, we have Gravity Collapse:

Activate by sending 1 face-up Synchro Monster you control to the Graveyard when your opponent Summons a monster. Negate the Summon and destroy that card. Your opponent cannot Summon a monster until the End Phase of this turn.

Gravity Collapse sends a Synchro

Then, we have Blackwing  - Boobytrap:

When this Set card is destroyed by your opponent's card effect while you control a face-up "Blackwing" monster, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent and draw 1 card.

Boobytrap has a Mandatory Trigger-like effect that is activated when it is destroyed while face-down. You cannot activate this Trap Card like other Normal Trap Cards, you must meet its triggers. You must control the Blackwing Monster upon this effect's activation and its resolution. The damage and drawing a Card are considered to be simultaneous events, but if you cannot inflict the damage to your opponent, you do not draw a Card.

Moving on, we have Star Siphon:

Activate only when a Synchro Monster is Special Summoned, by selecting it. Special Summon 1 "Siphon Token" (Spellcaster-Type/DARK/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0). Its Level is that of the selected monster, and the selected monster is now Level 1.

Siphon is activated upon the successful Special Summon of the Synchro Monster, and it targets that monster. A Level 1 token is Special Summoned, and it has its Level modified to become the Level of the target Synchro Monster, while the target Synchro Monster has its Level reduced to 1. It the Synchro Monster is no longer face-up by the time this effect resolves, the token remains a Level 1 monster, and the Synchro Monster never has its Level modified by this effect. Siphon cannot be activated during the Damage Step.

And finally, we have Half Counter:

Activate only during damage calculation if a monster you control is being attacked. The attack target monster you control gains ATK equal to half the original ATK of the attacking monster, until the End Phase.

Half Counter is activated during Damage Calculation. It only targets your monster.

Now, let's look at the Synchros, starting with Red Nova Dragon:

2 Tuners + "Red Dragon Archfiend"
This card gains 500 ATK for each Tuner monster in your Graveyard. This card cannot be destroyed by the effects of your opponent's Spells, Traps, or monsters. When your opponent's monster declares an attack, you can select it, then remove this card from play and negate the attack. During the End Phase, Special Summon this card that was removed from play by this effect.

Red Nova Dragon uses exactly 2 Tuners along with a specific monster. You can use a monster that has gained Red Dragon Archfiend's name, but you must still add up its 12 stars with the Synchro Materials. Nova's first effect is a Continuous Effect that gives it an ATK boost. Then, it has a second Continuous Effect that prevents it from being destroyed by your opponent's effects, but it still can be destroyed by yours (like your own Dark Hole). Its third effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon Attack Declaration. It allows you to negate one attack by Removing from Play Nova Dragon as part of the effect. This effect targets the attacking monster. Even if the attacking monster is Removed from the Field before this effect resolves, Nova is still Removed from Play. Finally, it has a Mandatory Trigger Effect activated at the End Phase that Special Summons Nova back to the Field if you Removed it from Play with its own effect.

Next, we have Formula Synchron:

1 Tuner + 1 non-Tuner Monster
When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can draw 1 card. During your opponent's Main Phase, you can Synchro Summon using this face-up card you control as a Synchro Material Monster.

Formula Synchron is the first Synchro Monster that is also a Tuner Monster (and vice-versa). It is also an Effect Monster, even though it's not listed as one and it lacks the characteristic orange border. It has an Optional Trigger Effect activated upon its successful Synchro Summon that allows you to draw a Card. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. Other than that, it has an Optional Quick Effect that you can activate during your opponent's Main Phases. It allows you to perform a Synchro Summon with this effect, much like Urgent Tuning. You must still meet all the requirements for a Synchro Summon, so the Levels of the monsters must add up those of an eligible Synchro Monster in your Extra Deck. Since the Synchro Summoned is performed when the effect resolves, sending the Synchro Materials to the Graveyard is not performed while activating the effect, and you don't have to announce which Synchro Monster you are Summoning or which Synchro Materials you will use while activating the effect. Once the effect is activated, you must perform a Synchro Summon as long as you have eligible Synchro Materials, even if it is no longer possible to Summon the Synchro Monster you intended to Summon (for example, if you wanted to Synchro Summon Arcanite Magician and your Spellcaster-type non-Tuner monster disappears, but you still have other face-up monsters).

Regarding its activation timing, you can activate it when your opponent wants to end the Main Phase (and proceed to the Battle Phase or End Phase), but this doesn't force your opponent to proceed to the next Phase. You can chain Formula's effect to any Spell Speed 2 or lower effect, but you cannot activate Formula's effect more than once per chain. This is because otherwise you would be able to chain Formula's effect to itself infinitely.

The last Card for today is the cover Card of the set: Shooting Star Dragon:

1 Tuner Synchro Monster + "Stardust Dragon"
Each of these effects can be activated once per turn: ● Reveal the top 5 cards of your Deck. Shuffle them back in, and this card's maximum number of attacks this turn is equal to the number of Tuner monsters revealed. ● Negate the activation of an effect that would destroy a card(s) on the field, and destroy that card. ● When your opponent's monster declares an attack you can select it, then remove this card from play and negate the attack. During the End Phase, Special Summon this card that was removed from play by this effect.

Much like Red Nova Dragon, Shooting Star Dragon asks you to use a monster named Stardust Dragon, but you can also use a monster that has gained Stardust's name. You can also use a Synchro Monster that has been turned into a Tuner Monster by a Card Effect. In either case, you have to add up Shooting Star Dragon's 10 stars while Synchro Summoning it. As for its effects, note that the first sentence sets a restriction for each individual effect, meaning  all three effects can be used in a single turn, but each can only be used once.

The first effect is an Ignition Effect. Revealing 5 Cards is part of the effect. Being an Ignition Effect, this effect is completely optional. That is to say, you don't need to activate it in order for Shooting Star Dragon to attack. You only activate it to try to obtain more attacks. If you don't activate it, Shooting Star Dragon can attack once like any regular monster. This effect determines the maximum number of attacks that SSD can perform this turn, so if you reveal 0 Tuner monsters, SSD cannot declare any attacks, even if it gains the ability to attack twice with another Card's effect like Wonder Clover. Similarly, if the maximum number of attacks gained by SSD's effect is 3 or higher, an effect like Wonder Clover won't override it: It's already able to attack twice, and even more times.  You cannot activate this effect if you don't have at least 1 Tuner Monster in your Deck or 5 Cards to reveal, but if you don't meet either requirement when the effect resolves, you resolve the effect as much as possible, trying to reveal 5 Cards on the top of your Deck. You do the same if SSD is no longer face-up too.

The second effect is an Optional Quick Effect. It's similar to the Quick Effect of Stardust Dragon, only that it doesn't have a cost. Much like Stardust Dragon, it cannot negate effects that aren't certain to destroy a Card on the Field like Snipe Hunter. The third effect is an Optional Trigger Effect, and it works exactly as that of Red Nova Dragon's. And much like Red Nova, it also has a fourth effect that is a Mandatory Trigger Effect that Special Summons SSD after the third effect Removes it from Play.

That's all we have on STBL for today. Stay tuned for more Starstrike Blast!

TSHD Part 1: Kentucky Fried Crow

Well, the rulings documents will be posted later than expected, but I hate breaking promises. So let's start looking at this new set anyway. We'll start by looking at the Blackwing, and not-so-Blackwing Cards included in it. This set contains 9 Card related to the theme to some extent, which is no surprise considering that the cover Card is a big dragon with black wings.

The first Card we'll look at is Blackwing - Ghibli the Searing Wind:

When your opponent declares a direct attack, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can switch this card's original ATK and DEF until the End Phase.

Ghibli has two effects. The first effect is a Trigger Effect, which you activate at Attack Declaration, when your opponent announces a direct attack. Its the same timing that Battle Fader has. Note that you cannot activate more than one Ghibli's effect, or activate a mix of Ghibli with Battle Fader (or any other similar monster). 

The second effect is an Ignition Effect, and as such, it can only be activated during your Main Phases. After the switch, you would re-apply current ATK modifiers on top of the new value. So if you equip Axe of Despair (1000/1600), after the switch, you add 1000 ATK to the new Original ATK (2600/0). If Shrink is used on Ghibli (0/1600), after using its effect, the new Original ATK will be halved (800/0).

Next, we have Blackwing - Gust the Backblast:

If you control  no cards, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. While this card is face-up on the field, if your opponent's monster attacks a "Blackwing" monster you control, the attacking monster loses 300 ATK during the Damage Step only.

The first sentence on Gust's text is an Inherent Special Summon. You must have no Cards on your side of the Field in order to perform it. Note that you are not required to do so, and you can just Normal Summon or Set Gust as any other monster. The second sentence is a Continuous Effect, which starts applying at the Start of the Damage Step. Multiple copies of Gust are cumulative, so if you control two, the attacking monster will lose 600 ATK.

Moving on, we have Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr:

If this card is added from your Deck to your hand by the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Monster Card, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "Blackwing" monster.

Breeze has a Trigger Effect, and a Condition. Its Trigger Effect is optional, however, it is one of those few Optional Trigger Effects that cannot miss the timing (due to the use of the word "if" rather than "when" to indicate its trigger). If you add Breeze to the Hand in the middle of a chain, such as multiple copies of Black Whirlwind, or in the middle of a resolving effect, such as Allure of Darkness, you can start a new chain after the last effect is done resolving. You cannot activate this effect during the Damage Step.

The Condition cannot be negated by anything. It is not wise to compare it to Vayu, as Vayu is unique by itself for having a Continuous Effect rather than a Condition. It seems pretty evident that you cannot use Breeze for popular Synchros like Stardust Dragon, but a really common question is whether you can use it as a Synchro Material for Black-Winged Dragon, specially since the Japanese advertisment for the set blatantly uses it like that. But like we we'll see in a minute, Black-Winged Dragon is not a Blackwing monster, so you cannot use Breeze to Summon it.

Starting with the Spell Cards, we have Black-Winged Strafe:

Send 1 "Blackwing" monster from your hand to the Graveyard to select 1 Defense Position monster your opponent controls. Send that monster to the Graveyard.

This Normal Spell Card is pretty simple. You send 1 Blackwing from your Hand to the Graveyard as a cost, and you target 1 Defense Position monster (no matter if it is face-up or face-down). When Strafe resolves, the monster is sent to the Graveyard. If Macro Cosmos or a similar Card is active, you cannot activate Strafe, as you can't pay its cost, but if you successfully activate it, and Macro Cosmos is chained, the targeted monster is simply Removed from Play.

The second, and last Spell Card is Cards for Black Feathers:

Remove from play 1 "Blackwing" monster in your hand to draw 2 cards. You cannot Special Summon during the same turn you activate this card. You can only activate 1 "Cards for Black Feathers" per turn.

Another simple Card. Removing from Play a monster is a cost. As usual, you cannot filp the restrictions around, so you cannot perform a Special Summon first and activate CfBF later. If you send this Spell Card to the Graveyard by the effect of Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude, not only you get to bypass its cost, and the ability to perform Special Summons, but also, you can activate another copy of Cards for Black Feathers, since Diamond Dude only activates the effect of the Spell Card, and not the Card itself.

Moving into the Trap Cards, we have Blackwing - Backlash:

Activate only when your opponent's monster declares a direct attack while you have 5 or more "Blackwing" monsters in your Graveyard. Destroy all monsters your opponent controls.

Some sort of Mirror Force for the theme. You activate this Normal Trap Card upon Attack Declaration, and you must have 5 or more Blackwings in your Graveyard. The amount of Blackwings is only an activation requirement, so if their number is reduced in a chain, Backlash still resolves properly. Note that, unlike Mirror Force, Backlash destroys all monsters on the opponent's side of the Field, no matter their position.

The next Trap Card is Blackwing - Bombardment:

Tribute 1 "Blackwing" monster to select 1 face-up Synchro Monster you control. That Synchro Monster gains ATK equal to the Tribute monster's ATK until the End Phase.

The tribute is a cost for this Normal Trap Card. It targets a face-up Synchro Monster on your side of the Field. The first thing to mention is that this Card can be activated during the Damage Step, before Damage Calculation. If activated during the Damage Step, it won't cause a replay. And another important note is that Bombardment reffers to the current ATK of the Blackwing monster, so if you attack with Shura, activate Kalut's effect, and then activate Bombardment, your Synchro Monster will gain 3200 ATK.

The last Trap Card is Black Thunder:

Activate only when a "Blackwing" monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard. Inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each card your opponent controls.

This Normal Trap Card is activated at the End of the Damage Step. It inflicts effect damage, and the Cards are counted during its resolution. A very simple effect.

Finally, we have the cover Card for this set. The infamous Black-Winged Dragon:

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Whenever you would take damage from a card effect, place 1 Black Feather Counter on this card instead. This card loses 700 ATK for each Black Feather Counter on it. Once per turn, you can remove all Black Feather Counters on this card to have 1 face-up monster your opponent controls lose 700 ATK for each Black Feather Counter, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK lost by that monster because of this effect.

The first and most important ruling about this monster is that it is NOT a Blackwing monster. The hyphen on its name is more than enough to deny it that honor. You cannot use Kalut to give it more ATK, you cannot use Breeze as a Synchro Material to Summon it, and you cannot Special Summon it with Vayu's effect.

With that said, let's look at its effects:

Whenever you would take damage from a card effect, place 1 Black Feather Counter on this card instead.

This is a Continuous Effect. It is applied in the middle of an effect that would cause you to take effect damage, and this is not optional. This effect can disrupt the resolution of some Cards like Against the Wind, which won't be able to cause you damage, and so, you won't add its target to your Hand.If BWD has its effects negated, the Counters are removed.

Onto the second effect:

This card loses 700 ATK for each Black Feather Counter on it.

Another Continuous Effect, and this one is self-explanatory. Note that the first effect and this one are not related, so even if you lower BWD's ATK to zero, you can still place more Black Feather Counters on it.

And for the big finale, the last effect:

Once per turn, you can remove all Black Feather Counters on this card to have 1 face-up monster your opponent controls lose 700 ATK for each Black Feather Counter, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK lost by that monster because of this effect.

This is an Ignition Effect (so you activate it during your Main Phases). Removing all Black Feather Counters is a cost, and this effect targets an opponent's monster. When the effect resolves, the target will lose 700 ATK for each Counter that you removed as a cost for this effect. And then, you will inflict damage equal to the amount of ATK that the target lost. So, for example, if you remove 4 counters and target Jinzo, Jinzo is supposed to lose 2800 ATK, but it only has 2400 ATK. Its ATK will be reduced to zero, and you will inflict 2400 points of damage. Note that you cannot target a monster with zero ATK with this effect. And most importantly, this ATK loss remains as long as the target remains face-up on the Field.

Well, that's all about Blackwings in The Shining Darkness.If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Sneak Preview Part 4: Back In Black

We have already reviewed most of the existing Cards that build and support the Blackwing theme, and we still have a few more to go. Ever since they started in CRMS, they have only taken a break in the latest set so far being Absolute Powerforce. This means that we have some Blackwing Cards in Ancient Prophecy and Stardust Overdrive. And whether you are a Blackwing player, or you are just sick of them, you will love (or hate) to know that there are almost new Cards for them in The Shining Darkness.

But back to the the present, or probably the past, let's start looking at Ancient Prophecy. We start with Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain:

This card can attack your opponent directly. When this card attacks your opponent directly and inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, change 1 Attack Position monster your opponent controls  to Defense Position.

Fane is very simple. Its first effect is a Continuous Effect, which we have reviewed a number of times already. Its second effect is a mandatory Trigger Effect. It activates at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step when Fane inflicts at least 1 point of Battle Damage, and it targets 1 Attack Position monster.

The next monster from the same set is Blackwing - Mistral the Silver Shield:

If this card on the field is destroyed  and sent to the Graveyard, reduce the Battle Damage you take from the next attack this turn to 0.

This Tuner monster is also very simple, but slightly more complicated than Fane. Mistral has a Mandatory Trigger Effect which activates at the End of the Damage Step. This effect actually places a condition that will reduce Battle Damage the next time you take Battle Damage during this turn. This condition doesn't use the chain once you apply it. Note that this condition will be applied immediately for the next time you will take Battle Damage, meaning that you don't get to choose which attack to block. Your opponent is likely to attack with a weaker monster before using his/her most powerful monster, and Mistral will only stop the least threatening attack.

These two monsters aren't too surprising, or even worth of too much analysis. So let's move to where the juice is at. The last Blackwing monster from ANPR: Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor:

If this card is face-up on the field, you cannot use it for a Synchro Summon. If this card is in your Graveyard, you can remove from play this card plus 1 non-Tuner "Blackwing" monster in your Graveyard, and Special Summon 1 "Blackwing" Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose Level equal the total Levels of the removed monsters. The effect(s) of that Synchro Monster is negated.

Now this is something worth looking at. This Tuner monster has a Continuous Effect and an Ignition Effect. The Continuous Effect prevents it from being used as a Synchro Summon, which is somewhat counter-productive, but you can still use Vayu with Cards like Tuner's Barrier. The important thing here is that, being a Continuous Effect that is applied on the Field, it can be negated. So if you use Skill Drain, or the very negation caused by Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame, you can perform Synchro Summons with Vayu.

The Ignition Effect targets the other Blackwing monster in your Graveyard. It is not a cost to Remove either Card from Play. When Vayu starts resolving, first, you check that both Vayu and the targeted Blackwing monster are still in the Graveyard. If not, nothing is Removed from Play or Summoned. If they are, you remove both monsters from Play and look for a Synchro Monster that matches the sum of their Levels. If at resolution you fail to find any (because an effect caused it to no longer be there), then nothing is Summoned, but Vayu and the other Blackwing stay Removed from Play. If there are no problems with the effect, the Blackwing Synchro Monster is Special Summoned. This Summon is not a Synchro Summon. Additionally, the effects of the Synchro Monster are negated as long as it remains face-up on the Field.

A question as common as the Blizzard+ Whirlwind "trick" is in regards to Vayu vs. Royal Oppression. Many have heard a ruling saying that "you can't negate Vayu with Oppression", or that "Vayu is unaffected by Oppression". Both are using incorrect words. Vayu can certainly be negated by Oppression, and can certainly be affected by it. If Oppression, or any similar Card tries to negate Vayu, then the Synchro Monster won't be Special Summoned. That's pretty evident. The real reason why it is inefficient or pointless to negate Vayu (which are very different from "impossible") is because Vayu has no cost. If Vayu's effect is negated, then Vayu and the targeted monster will remain in the Graveyard, and the Synchro Monster will remain within the Extra Deck. In other words, Vayu has just met the requirements to activate its effect again. Using effect negation on Vayu is similar to trying to negate Treeborn Frog while it sits in the Graveyard during the Standby Phase: It will just activate again.

There is one more Blackwing monster before our brief break in ABPF. Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant was included in Stardust Overdrive. Let's take a look:

1 "Blackwing" Tuner Monster + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can select and destroy up to 2 face-up monsters on the field with DEF lower than this card's ATK. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase the turn you activate this effect. The next time a "Blackwing" monster you control would be destroyed by battle during your opponent's turn, it is not destroyed; this effect only happens once.

The first thing to notice is that you need at least 3 monsters to perform a Synchro Summon of this monster. Since adding 8 Levels using 3 or more monsters is somewhat complicated for Blackwings, most players simply use Vayu's effect targeting Armor Master. Since Vayu doesn't perform a Synchro Summon, it doesn't need to fulfill Silverwind's demands for three monsters.

Setting that aside, Silverwind has a Trigger Effect and a Continuous Effect. The Trigger Effect is optional, and it targets up to 2 monsters. Their DEF must be lower than Silverwind's ATK upon the effect's activation and when it starts resolving. If you activate this effect, and the activation isn't negated, you can't conduct your Battle Phase (even if Silverwing falied to destroy the monsters because it was flipped face-down). Like we learned in a previous article, you can't flip this restriction around by conducting your Battle Phase and Summoning Silverwind during Main Phase 2 (the effect can't be activated).

The Continuous Effect is a little picky. The first time a Blackwing monster will be destroyed during the opponent's Battle Phase, that monster is not destroyed in battle. This effect can only applied once while Silverwind remains face-up on the Field. If the same monster is attacked again, this protection is gone. You cannot choose when to apply it. And of course, if Silverwind is flipped face-down and face-up, you can apply it once again.

It sure has been a long way to look at all the Blackwing Cards, but we still have one more theme to review while waiting for The Shining Darkness. Stay tuned for the next part! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Sneak Preview Part 3: Darker Than Black

With the arrival of Raging Battle, Blackwings received tons of support in order to get the first batch of birds moving. This is where it began to be pretty obvious that they would keep getting even more support, but for now, let's focus on this peculiar set, and the 9 support Cards included in it for this theme.

The first one we have is Blackwing - Elphin the Raven:

If you control a face-up "Blackwing" monster, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can change the Battle Position of 1 monster your opponent controls.

Elphin has a Summoning Condition similar to that of Sirocco. Afterwards, it has an optional Trigger Effect. This effect targets 1 of your opponent's monsters in any position, and switches that position (if the monster is in face-down defense position, it is flipped). This effect can be negated by Pulling the Rug and similar Cards. Keep Elphin in mind, as we'll address it in a minute.

The other Card you need to keep in mind for a second will be Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North:

This card cannot be Special Summoned. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Blackwing" monster from your Graveyard  in face-up Defense Position.

First, we have a Summoning Condition that stops you from Special Summoning Blizzard. It doesn't really blend too well in a theme with lots of Special Summons, but oh well. Next, we have an Optional Trigger Effect. It targets 1 Blackwing monster in your Graveyard, and it Special Summons that monster in face-up Defense Position. This position can be changed during your next turn manually.

These two Cards are pretty simple. And the reason I asked you to remind them was Black Whirlwind:

When a "Blackwing" monster  is Normal Summoned to your side of the Field, you can add 1 "Blackwing" monster from your Deck to your hand that has less ATK than that monster.

This is a Continuous Spell Card with a Trigger-like effect. When you Normal Summon a Blackwing monster, it will start a chain.This effect doesn't target anything. When it resolves, it looks at the current ATK of the Summoned monster, and then it allows you to search for a Blackwing monster with less ATK. The Summoned Blackwing monster must remain face-up, otherwise its ATK cannot be checked, and so, you will not get to search any Blackwing monster (not even a 0 ATK one). Being a Continuous Spell Card, Whirlwind needs to remain face-up in order to resolve properly, so you need both, the Spell and the monster, to remain on the Field until the effect resolves.

Now that we have assembled the unholy trinity of Blizzard, Elphin and Whirlwind, we can proceed with the dreaded ruling about manipulating SEGOC effects. If you Normal Summon Blizzard/Elphin, and you wish to activate Whirlwind's effects, they are two Optional Trigger Effects that you control. If you remember our chat about SEGOC, you can manipulate these effects in any order you wish, be it:

Blizzard/Elphin -> Whirlwind

OR

Whirlwind -> Blizzard/Elphin

So what's the point? If you make the monsters link 1 and have Whirlwind be link 2, the nothing can be chained to these monster's effects. For example, Elphin cannot be negated by Tytannial, and Blizzard cannot be negated by Oppression. This happens because no effects can be activated while building a SEGOC chain. And since neither Tytannial or Oppression can be chained directly to the Card they want to negate, they cannot negate these effects. 

The opposite chain also has its purposes. If Blizzard is link 2, then neither player can respond to the successful Summon of the targeted Blackwing monster (such as with Bottomless Trap Hole or Torrential Tribute). As for Elphin...well, I guess one can't use Tragedy in response to the position change -_-

Elphin and Blizzard are the only Blackwing monsters with Optional Trigger Effects upon their successful Normal Summon, so these two are the only ones that can mess around with Whirlwind. This question is extremely common, so I hope this explanation is clear enough.

The next Card is Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow:

When a "Blackwing" monster you control attacks or is attacked, you can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard during the Damage Step to have that monster gain 1400 ATK until the End Phase.

Before we start, sorry, but I won't address Honest vs. Kalut here. That really deserves its own article Q_Q

With that said, Kalut has a Quick Effect. You must send it from your Hand to the Graveyard as a cost. Kalut's effect can only be activated during the first four Sub-Steps of the Damage Step. That is to say, any time before Damage Calculation, and surprisingly, during Damage Calculation too. You can activate Kalut's effect if you attack directly, and you can activate more than one copy. Kalut's effect doesn't target anything. Since sending it to the Graveyard is a cost, if a Card like Macro Cosmos or Banisher of the Radiance is active, you cannot activate Kalut's effect, as you can't pay its cost.

Moving on, we have Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame:

When this card destroys an opponent's monster  by battle and sends  it to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 "Blackwing" monster  with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck. That monster's effect (s) is negated.

Shura has an Optional Trigger Effect, which you activate at the End of the Damage Step. It Special Summons a Blackwing monster from the Deck, and sets a condition on that monster that negates its effects as long as it remains face-up. Two things to notice is that Shura doesn't target anything, and since it activates during the Damage Step, Oppression cannot negate its effect. Shura must remain face-up until the End of the Damage Step in order to activate its effect, but once it is activated, it doesn't need to remain face-up anymore. Finally, if the Summoned monster is flipped face-down or Removed from the Field, its effects are no longer negated, but this condition cannot be negated by Skill Drain or similar.

As for the last monster for today, we have Blackwing - Armed Wing:

1 "Blackwing" Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner monsters
If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, it gains 500 ATK during the Damage Step only. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower then this ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

Armed Wing is pretty simple. Both of its effects are Continuous. The second effect is our usual trample effect, which we have reviewed numerous times. The first one is an ATK boost that you start applying at the Start of the Damage Step if the attacked monster is in Defense Position at that time.

The only other Spell Card for the theme in this set is Against the Wind:

Select 1 "Blackwing" monster in your Graveyard. Take damage equal to the ATK of the selected monster, and add it to your hand.

This Normal Spell Card targets 1 Blackwing in your Graveyard. When it resolves, if the target is still there, you will take effect damage equal to its ATK. If you succeed in taking damage, you will add the monster to your Hand. Despite this dependence on taking damage, it is considered that the damage is simultaneous with adding a Card to the Hand, so there are no timing issues. If the target is not in the Graveyard when you start resolving Against the Wind, you don't take damage (or retrieve the Card). If you do not receive the damage (such as, if you chain Barrel Behind the Door), then you do not add the Card to the Hand.

There are also two Trap Cards in this set. One being Delta Crow - Anti Reverse:

Activate  only while you control a face-up "Blackwing" monster. If you control  exactly 3 "Blackwing" monsters, this card can be activated from your hand. Destroy all face-down  Spell  and Trap Cards your opponent controls.

This Normal Trap Card's effect isn't too surprising, but it's activation requirements are. You can only activate it if you control at least one Blackwing monster. Being an activation requirement, it doesn't matter what happens with the Blackwing monster before this Card resolves. When it resolves, it destroys all or your opponent's face-down S/T Cards. If one or more are chained, those aren't destroyed, but the remaining ones are. The most impressive feature about this Card is that if you control exactly 3 Blackwing monsters, you can activate it from your Hand, and since this Card has no other activation requirements, you can activate it at any time from your Hand (except during the Damage Step), be it your Draw Phase, your opponent's End Phase, etc.

The last Card for today is also a Normal Trap Card, and it's not a very simple one. It is Fake Feather:

Send 1 "Blackwing" monster  from your hand  to the Graveyard and select 1 Normal Trap Card in your opponent's Graveyard. The effect of this card will be the same as the selected Normal Trap Card.

Sending 1 Blackwing monster to the Graveyard is a cost, and similar to Kalut, this Card can't be activated if Macro Cosmos is active. It targets a Normal Trap Card in the opponent's Graveyard, and when Fake Feather resolves, it will perform the effect of the targeted Trap Card. The important thing to note here is that the timing in which you activate Fake Feather must be EXACTLY the same timing as the Trap Card you target. For example, if you wish to target Mirror Force, then you must activate Fake Feather when the opponent declares an attack. You cannot activate Fake Feather during your End Phase just to wipe Attack Position monsters. Also remember that you cannot activate Fake Feather during the Damage Step. 

You do not need to pay any of the targeted Trap Card's costs, but if it targets, you must choose the respective targets as well. If you target a Trap Card that has the ability to remain on the Field (such as Metalmorph), then Fake Feather will not remain on the Field, as this is not part of Metalmorph's effect. Finally, note that Fake Feather's effect upon activation is to copy a Trap Card, and not the Trap Card's effect. This means that if you target a Trap Card that destroys monsters on the Field, Stardust Dragon cannot chain itself to Fake Feather.

Well, that's it for today. Stay tuned for the next part! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Sneak Preview Part 2: Oiled Pidgeons

Other than being "the Infernity set", The Shining Darkness is also popular for containing several support Cards for the Blackwing theme that began last year in Crimson Crisis. In this part, we'll be looking at the first batch of Blackwing Cards, from the first set they appeared on, which contains some of the most important monsters for the theme.

The first one in line is Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn:

If your opponent controls a monster and you control  no monsters, you can Normal Summon or Set  this card without Tributing. Once per turn, you can select 1 face-up "Blackwing" monster you control. It gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all face-up "Blackwing" monsters  on the field except itself. Monsters other than the selected monster cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.

Sirocco's first line is a Summoning Condition, and the rest of the text is an Ignition Effect. The Summoning Condition is similar to Cyber Dragon's Inherent Special Summon, only that it's a Normal Summon or Set instead. Being a Normal Summon, there isn't much else to say, other than you can combine Cards like Ultimate Offering with this Summoning Condition to Summon a 2000 ATK monster during the opponent's Battle Phase.

The Ignition Effect is where the cake is at, and surprisingly, it's not a lie. This effect targets a Blackwing monster. After it resolves, you add up the ATK of every other Blackwing monster (even the opponent's) and increase the targeted Blackwing's ATK by that amount. After this effect resolves, no other monsters you control can declare an attack this turn. Note that if the effect's activation is negated, you can declare an attack as usual, but if only the effect is negated (Forbidden Chalice, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror), no ATK will be gained and the other monsters still can't declare an attack. Since this effect needs to stop certain monsters from attacking, you cannot activate it during Main Phase 2. Another important ruling is that if you activate two Siroccos, and target two different monsters, no monster you control can attack during this turn, as each effect stops the other target from attacking. You can, however, target one monster with two different Siroccos and have it gain a huge ATK bonus.

A fun fact about this effect is that neither its English text nor its Japanese text explain how long it lasts. One would think that it lasts forever, creating huge beatsticks of 4000 ATK or more. However, this effect has been ruled to last until the End Phase, which makes enough sense when compared to similar effects. One still wonders why it wasn't included.

It is also important to note that once Sirocco has resolved properly, giving the ATK boost to the Blackwing monster, using a Card to negate Sirocco's effect will have no effect on the ATK boost. So if I target a Bora, and have it gain 2000 ATK, if Skill Drain is activated later, Bora will remain at 3700 ATK.


Speaking of Blackwing - Bora the Spear, it's the next Card in this review:

If you control a "Blackwing" monster other than "Blackwing - Bora the Spear", you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster  whose DEF is lower than the ATK  of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent.

If you have been reading some of the posts in this blog, then Bora shouldn't be very hard to interpretate. It has a Summoning Condition, which is an Inherent Special Summon, and it also has a trample effect, which is a Continuous Effect. Despite its simplicity, there was a very common question when it was first released: In order to Special Summon Bora, you must control at least one Blackwing monster that isn't named Bora. This means that if you control Sirocco and Bora, you CAN Special Summon a second Bora from your Hand. If you already control 1 Bora, it doesn't matter, as long as you have some other Blackwings on the Field. Of course, they must be face-up.

Moving on, we have Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind:

If you control a "Blackwing" monster other than "Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind", you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Once per turn, you can halve the ATK and DEF of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls.

At first sight, Gale doesn't look much more complicated than Bora. It has the same Inherent Special Summon, only that under its own name. The second sentence is an Ignition Effect that targets 1 face-up monster, whose ATK/DEF is halved permanently while it remains face-up on the Field. The complications start on explaining how this "halving" works:

-Any regular monster with no additional ATK/DEF modifiers is not an issue. For example, if you target Jinzo, its ATK will be 1200.

-All existing ATK/DEF modifiers are taken into account into the halving. However, once Gale's effect resolves, this ATK/DEF modifiers are no longer important, and even if they stop being applied (due to negation/destruction/etc.), the ATK/DEF remains the same. For example, if I equip Axe of Despair to Jinzo, its ATK, which is currently 3400 will be halved to 1700. If Axe of Despair is destroyed or negated, Jinzo will still remain at 1700 ATK. This also tells us that Gale is cumulative (the values are halved again, and end up in a quarter of what they used to be. Using our first example, Jinzo would go to 600 ATK. Using our second example, Jinzo would go to 850 ATK, ignoring once again the presence or absence of Axe or Despair). "Freezing" a monster's effects is probably the most interesting part about Gale's effect, as it disrupts monsters like Tragoedia (won't vary even if Cards in Hand increase or decrease) or Fortune Ladies (won't vary even if their Level varies).

-New ATK/DEF modifiers can add and substract from the new value set by Gale. So if I take Jinzo and halve its ATK/DEF (now 1200), I can activate Axe of Despair and it will have 2200 ATK.

Of course, there are some very specific interactions that will become confusing. An interesting exception would be that Light and Darkness, Light End, and Dark End Dragon all reduce their stats as separate decreases, so they can still decrease their starts while resolving their effects, instead of merely "freezing" (for example, if Dark End Dragon has activated once (2100/1600), and you use Gale (1050/800), Dark End can activate its effect again (550/300) instead of "freezing" at 1050/800.). I think monsters like these (Arcana Force EX - The Dark Ruler, for example) are the only ones that work like this. Another exception would be the almighty Wicked Avatar, who would simply restore its ATK/DEF to normal.

There are also some funky interactions between Gale and other similar ATK/DEF modifiers, but I'll leave that for a scary article.

The Spell and Trap support for Blackwings in this set isn't too surprising, but it's worth looking at anyway. The only Spell Card is Raptor Wing Strike:

Return 1 face-up  "Blackwing" monster you control to the Deck. Add 1 "Blackwing" monster  from your Deck to your hand.

This Normal Spell Card returns a Blackwing Monster to the Deck as a cost. You then add one Blackwing monster from the Deck. Note that there is no restriction to which monster you can add to the Deck. Raptor Wing Strike doesn't target anything, by the way. Surprisingly, one can return a Blackwing Synchro Monster to the Extra Deck and still fulfill this Card's cost, which is somewhat contradictory with some rulings we might see later. Oh well Q_Q

The only Trap Card is Ebon Arrow:

Select 1 face-up  monster you control. Until the End Phase, it loses 500 ATK and during battle between that attacking monster  and a Defense Position monster  whose DEF is lower than the selected monster's ATK, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. When the selected monster destroys  a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard  this turn, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's  original DEF.

It's not exactly Blackwing support, but hey, it sorta fits the context. Ebon Arrow targets one of your monsters. You can activate this Trap Card at any time, including the Damage Step, but not during Damage Calculation or onwards. The targeted monster loses some ATK, but gains a trample effect (which, as always, doesn't use the chain). When it destroys a monster in battle, it starts a chain at the End of the Damage Step to inflict effect damage equal to the monster's Original DEF. Multiple copies of Ebon Arrow are cumulative, however, trampling is never cumulative. Your monster would lose 1000 ATK, and inflict the effect damage twice.

Finally, we have a very powerful Synchro Monster: Blackwing - Armor Master:

1 "Blackwing" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, and you take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. If this card attacks a monster, you can place 1 Wedge Counter on that monster at the end of the Damage Step (max. 1). You can remove all Wedge Counters from your opponent's monsters to reduce the ATK and DEF of each monster that had a Wedge Counter to 0, until the End Phase.

Armor Master has four effects, so let's break them down:

This card cannot be destroyed by battle

 

Pretty straightforward. A Continuous Effect that will also be applied if Armor Master is attacked while face-down.

you take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card.

 

This complements the first effect, effectively making any attacks towards Armor Master quite pointless. Also a Continuous Effect.

If this card attacks a monster, you can place 1 Wedge Counter on that monster at the end of the Damage Step (max. 1).

 

This is a Trigger Effect. The attacked monster must be face-up at the End of the Damage Step in order to place a Wedge Counter, so it must survive battle. The Wedge Counters are not related to Armor Master in any way, so if Armor Master has its effects negated, or is no longer face-up, they still remain on the affected monster. This effect does not target.

 

You can remove all Wedge Counters from your opponent's monsters to reduce the ATK and DEF of each monster that had a Wedge Counter to 0, until the End Phase.

 

The final punishment for trying to battle with Armor Master. Despite what is shown at the anime,  the actual Card performs this effect as an Ignition Effect, so you can only activate it during your Main Phases (NOT during the  Battle Phase). This effect doesn't target, and it removes all Wedge Counters on the opponent's monsters as a cost. Like we just saw, the Wedge Counters are not related to Armor Master. This means that if the Armor Master that placed the Counters is no longer face-up, a second Armor Master can activate its Ignition Effect and still reduce the ATK/DEF of the opponent's monsters.

 

And that's it for today. Stay tuned for part 3, which will have even moar Blackwings. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.