TSHD Part 13: Darkness On Motorcycles

Like all of the newer sets (with a very loose definition of "newer"), The Shining Darkness includes Cards from the current Yugioh anime. We have already looked at some as them, as the main themes of the set arrive from the Cards used by two characters, but there are still about a dozen of Cards to look at.

Let's start with Changer Synchron:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard  for a Synchro Summon, select 1 monster your opponent controls and change its battle position.

This Tuner monster has the now common trigger of being used as a Synchro Material. This mandatory Trigger Effect targets one of your opponent's monsters. If you target a face-down Defense Position monster, it will be flipped into face-up Attack Position, and any effects it may have will activate (such as Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter or Snowman Eater).

Next, we have Card Breaker:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned, in face-up Attack Position, by sending 1 card from your Spell & Trap Card Zone to the Graveyard.

Card Breaker is a Special Summon-only monster. In order to Summon it, you must send a S/T Card you control to the Graveyard. Note that this Card must be in your S/T Card Zone, so you cannot send a Field Card to the Graveyard. And like everything that requires a Card being sent specifically to the Graveyard, you cannot initiate Card Breaker's Summon if Macro Cosmos is active.

As for the last of Yusei's Cards, we have Second Booster:

You can Tribute  this card to select 1 face-up Attack Position monster you control. The selected monster gains 1500 ATK  until the End Phase.

It should be self explanatory that Second Booster must be face-up on the Field in order to pay its cost. It targets one monster you control. This is an Ignition Effect, so you cannot activate it during the Battle Phase, let alone the Damage Step.

Now, let's look at Leo/Rua's Cards, starting with Morphtronic Vacuumen:

• While in Attack Position: Once per turn, you can send 1 Equip Card equipped to this card to the Graveyard to inflict 500 damage to your opponent.
• While in Defense Position: Once per turn, you can equip 1 face-up Attack Position monster your opponent controls to this card as an Equip Card. (You can only equip 1 monster at a time to this card by this effect.

Like all Morphtronic monsters, Vacuumen has a "hidden" Continuous Effect that grants it its two effects according to its position. If Skill Drain is active, you cannot activate either of Vacuumen's Ignition Effects, since this Continuous Effect is negated. With that said, the first Ignition Effect sends an Equip to the Graveyard as a cost, and as usual, it cannot be activated if Macro Cosmos is active. The second Ignition Effect targets an opponent's monster.

One of the two Trap Cards from this character is Morphtronics, Scramble!

Activate only when your opponent declares a direct attack while you control no monsters. Negate that attack and Special Summon 1 "Morphtronic" monsters you your hand.

You activate this Normal Trap Card upon an attack declaration. The attack is negated, and you Special Summon a Morphtronic Monster in your Hand. Neither effect targets.

And the other one is Power Break:

Activate only while you control a face-up "Power Tool Dragon". Select up to 3 Equip Cards on your side of the field and/or in your Graveyard and return them to the Deck, and inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each card returned.

Controlling Power Tool Dragon is merely an activation requirement. You target 3 Equip Cards, and return them to the Deck when the effect resolves. You can even target monsters being treated as Equip Cards (such as Unions). If you target a Synchro or Fusion Monster that is being treated as an Equip Card, you still inflict damage, even though it's not returned to the (Main) Deck.

Since the twins usually duel together, here's the one Card used by Luna/Ruka that we haven't reviewed yet: Fairy Archer:

During your Main Phase, you can inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each face-up LIGHT monster you control. This card cannot attack during the same turn  you activate this effect. Only one "Fairy Archer" can have its effect activated per turn.

Fairy Archer only has an Ignition Effect, which counts the LIGHT monsters during its resolution. Its effect itself isn't too complicated, but the wording on its restrictions lead people into trying to figure infinite loops by changing Fairy Archer's name, copying with Phantom of Chaos and changing Phantom's name, etc. Simply put, cheap infinite loops are usually dealt with by issuing arbitrary rulings. And we do have one saying that it's not possible to activate Fairy Archer's effect more than once per turn.

The remaining anime Cards are used by Jack Atlas, more or less. Let's start with Trust Guardian:

This card cannot be used as Synchro Material Monsters except for the Synchro Summon of a Level 7 or higher Synchro Monster. Once per turn, that Synchro Monster cannot be destroyed  by battle. Each time this effect is applied, that Synchro Monster loses 400 ATK and DEF at the end of the Damage Step.

The restriction on Trust Guardian is a Condition, which cannot be ignored. The effect itself is Continuous, and it is applied as soon as the Synchro Monster is Synchro Summoned. It cannot be negated by activating Skill Drain against the Synchro Monster. The prevention and the ATK/DEF loss do not use the chain.

Next, we have Synchro Magnet:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. When you Synchro Summon a Synchro Monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Magnet is not really a Special Summon-only monster, as you can simply send it to the Graveyard with some Card effect and use Call of the Haunted on it. However, unlike the boring Rare Metal Dragon, it does provide an Optional Trigger Effect to Special Summon itself. You can only activate one Magnet at the time.

Then, there's Archfiend Interceptor:

While you control  this face-up  Attack Position card, when an opponent's monster  declares an attack, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

This mandatory Trigger Effect is activated upon attack declaration, and requires that Interceptor remains in face-up Attack Position. If flipped face-down or Removed from the Field, it will resolve without effect.

Another monster is Dread Dragon:

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

An average recruiter of sorts. It has the usual Optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step that doesn't target a Card in the Deck. Boooring Q_Q

And for the last regular effect monster, we have Flare Resonator:

When this monster is used for a Synchro Summon, the Summoned monster gains 300 ATK.

Resonator's effect doesn't use the chain, and much like Trust Guardian, it sets a condition on the Synchro Monster that cannot be negated by Skill Drain, providing an ATK bonus. Not really surprising.

And we finally reach the last Card, which is a Synchro used by Jack Atlas: Chaos King Archfiend:

1 Fiend-type Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card attacks, you can switch the ATK and DEF of all face-up monsters your opponent controls until the end of the Battle Phase.

Chaos King Archfiend has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon Attack Declaration. It is only applied once, so even if more monsters appear, or if you attack a face-down monster, the ATK/DEF values won't be switched. The effect takes the current ATK/DEF values, "freezes" them, and switches them. The "freezing" is similar to Gale's. Don't worry, an article about ATK/DEF modifiers will appear sooner or later. Hopefully later.

And with that, we have analized TSHD! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

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.

TSHD Part 11: The Shine In The Darkness

...Is not related to Mario in any way.

As expected with a name like The Shining Darkness, this set not only includes the hordes of DARK monsters that we have already looked at, it also introduces a number of LIGHT monsters and Cards that interact with them that aren't just a coincidence like Watts and Batterymen. Let's take a look:

First, we have the totally unrelated LIGHT-Attribute Magidog:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard  for the Synchro Summon of a Spellcaster-Type Synchro Monster, you can add 1 Field Spell Card from your Graveyard  to your hand.

Magidog only has an Optional Trigger Effect, cleverly designed to be unable to miss the timing. You need to succeed in the Synchro Summon of the Spellcaster monster, and that's the timing for the activation of this effect (the same timing window that Torrential Tribute uses). Its effect targets one Field Spell Card in your Graveyard. Magidog merely contributes to retrieving stuff like Secret Village of the Spellcasters or Magical Citadel.

Next, we have another unrelated LIGHT monster: Biofalcon:

When a Machine-Type monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard  while this card is face-up on the field, you can add 1 Machine-Type monster with 1000 or less ATK  from your Deck to your hand.

Falcon has an Optional Trigger Effect that you can activate at the End of the Damage Step. Since it needs to be face-up at the time of the destruction (and sending to the Graveyard), you cannot activate its effect if Falcon itself is destroyed by the battle. As usual, since it looks for a Card in the Deck, it does not target. Note that "?" is not a determined ATK value, so speaking of LIGHT monsters, you cannot search for Cyber Eltanin or Satellite Cannon with this effect.

Now, into actual LIGHT-related Cards, we have Lyna the Light Charmer:

FLIP: Take control of 1 LIGHT  monster on your opponent's side of the field for as long as this card remains face-up  on the field.

The heavily delayed LIGHT-Attribute Charmer makes its appearance in this set. Like all Charmers, it has a FLIP Effect that targets a face-up monster of a certain Attribute, and you will take control of that monster. Note that this brainwashing involves two conditions: The monster must remain of LIGHT Attribute, and Lyna must remain face-up on the Field. Back in the day, it was pretty common to ask what happened if the Charmer was attacked while face-down. Most people seemed to believe that you somehow got to keep the targeted monster, even if the Charmers say exactly the opposite. Hopefully this has changed over the years since The Lost Millennium..

Next, we have some Spell Cards for LIGHT monsters, one being support, and the other anti-support. The first one is The Fountain in the Sky:

When a LIGHT  monster is destroyed by battle and sent to your Graveyard, you can remove that monster  from play to gain Life Points equal to its ATK.

Fountain has an optional Trigger-like effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. Removing from Play the LIGHT monster is a cost. There are two small things to notice about Fountain: The first one being that it refers to the Original ATK of the monster (since it's no longer on the Field). The second one is that the monster IS sent to the Graveyard before being Removed from Play, so effects like Shining Angel will still activate properly. Fountain does not equal Macro Cosmos in any way. Of course, being a Continuous Spell Card, it needs to remain face-up in order to resolve properly.

The other Spell Card is Leeching the Light:

Select 1 face-up LIGHT monster your opponent controls. All face-up Attack Position monsters you control gain ATK equal to the ATK of the selected monster, until the End Phase.

Leeching targets a LIGHT monster, which must remain of that Attribute until Leeching resolves. All of your face-up Attack Position monsters you control when Leeching resolves will gain ATK equal to the current ATK of the LIGHT monster. Boring Card Q_Q

Similar to Lyna, this set completes a group of really old monsters with the arrival of Herald of Perfection:

This card can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card, "Dawn of the Herald". You can send 1 Fairy-Type monster  from your hand  to the Graveyard to negate the activation  of a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect and destroy it.

Herald of Perfection is a Ritual monster, so it follows all of their rules. Its effect is an Optional Quick Effect, which sends a Fairy-type monster to the Graveyard as a cost (meaning you can't activate it if Macro Cosmos is active). Its effect can only negate the activation of a S/T Card, meaning it can't negate the effects of already-active S/T Cards like Royal Oppression. Being a Quick Effect that negates activations, you can activate it during the Damage Step and even during Damage Calculation. Much like other similar monsters (Heraklinos, Horus LV8), Herald can negate multiple Cards in a chain providing that it's chained directly to them and that you can keep affording its cost.

In order to Summon the Herald, you need the Ritual Spell Card Dawn of the Herald:

This card is used to Ritual Summon "Herald of Perfection". You must also Tribute monsters whose total Levels equal exactly 6 from the field or your hand. When "Herald of Perfection" is Ritual Summoned by this card's effect, you can remove from play this card in your Graveyard to select 1 of the monsters Tributed for that Ritual Summon and return it from your Graveyard to your Hand.

Aside from being your average Ritual Spell Card, Dawn also has a Trigger-like effect that you can activate in response to Herald's Ritual Summon. Removing the Spell Card from Play is a cost, and it targets one of the monsters you have used. Note that it only works with monsters you have Tributed, so if you end up returning a Djinn monster that you have Removed from Play for this Ritual Summon to the Graveyard, you cannot add it to your Hand. Also note that you cannot activate multiple copies of Dawn of the Herald: If you use Dawn #1 to Summon the Herald, then you did not use the effects of Dawn #2 (or #3) to Summon it.

If this game has taught us something, is that when you mix DARK and LIGHT monsters, you obtain chaos. And this is what causes the Chaos Trap Hole:

Pay 2000 Life Points. Negate the Summon of a LIGHT or DARK monster and remove it from play.

The payment is a cost. Other than that, Chaos Trap Hole works exactly like Horn of Heaven or Solemn Judgment, meaning that it can negate Normal Summons, Flip Summons, and inherent Special Summons (only). So far, all monsters with multiple Attributes always have one of the two Attributes that Chaos Trap Hole needs (such as Light and Darkness Dragon or Chaos Sphere), so they can always have their Summon negated. However, do note that none of the monster's effects are applied while the monster is being Summoned, so if a monster like Elemental Mistress Doriado had its original Attribute as FIRE, and gained other Attributes through an effect, you could not negate its Flip Summon.

Along with the Chaos Trap Hole, there are other cracks such as Crevice into the Different Dimension:

Declare 1 Attribute and select a total of 2 monsters with that Attribute from the Graveyards. Remove those monsters from play.

Crevice is actually a really simple Trap Card. Upon its activation, you declare an Attribute AND target two monsters on either Graveyard. The only action you perform during its resolution is to Remove the targets from Play. It may sound somewhat confusing that both actions are linked by an "and", or that you need to declare an Attribute, which is used later (even if its slightly later). I believe that most of the confusion comes from unconsciously assuming that the monsters in the Graveyard will keep their Attributes the same by the time the Card resolves, so they will never be illegal targets, but this may change in the future. The only other relevant note is that if one of the targets is missing, the other one is still Removed from Play.

And finally, in order to rule this chaos, we have the Chaos Goddess:

1 LIGHT Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner DARK monsters.
Once per turn, you can send 1 LIGHT monster from your hand to the Graveyard to select 1 Level 5 or higher DARK monster from your Graveyard. Special Summon that monster. It cannot be used as a Synchro Material monster.

The first thing to notice about Goddess is that it fixes an Attribute requirement for both, the Tuner monster and the non-Tuner monsters, which is not very common. Other than that, its single effect is very simple. It's your average Ignition Effect, which sends a monster to the Graveyard as a cost and targets a monster that you wish to Special Summon. Of course, if Macro Cosmos is active, you can't activate its effect (so much for being a chaos goddess). The Summoned monster cannot be used as a Synchro Material as long as it remains face-up, but if you flip it face-down and then face-up, this restriction is lifted.

And that's another batch of TSHD Cards that we have revised, but we still have about a fourth of the set left! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 10: Shining Terminal

The Shining Darkness includes a number of support Cards for some existing themes from the Duel Terminal arcade, as well as reprints of some Duel Terminal Cards that were illegal until TSHD was released. These Cards support the Ally of Justice, Genex, Ice Barrier and Worm themes. Let's take a look:

The new support Card for the Ally of Justice theme is Ally of Justice Core Destroyer:

If this card attacks or is attacked by a LIGHT monster, destroy that monster at the start of the Damage Step (without damage calculation).

As you can probably tell from its text, or even its looks, Core Destroyer works like a pocket version of Ally of Justice Catastor. It has a mandatory Trigger Effect which you activate at the start of the Damage Step if both battling monsters are face-up at the time. Damage Calculation is not applied only if you succeed in destroying the battling monster, but if Core Destroyer fails to do so (because its effect is negated, or the other monster uses a substitution effect), then Damage Calculation WILL be performed.

Then, we have a reprint of Ally of Justice Light Gazer:

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
This card gains 200 ATK for each LIGHT monster in your opponent's Graveyard.

Not much to say about this guy. It only has a Continuous Effect, which constantly recalculates the ATK bonus. A very simple effect.

Now, let's take a look at the Worm support Spell Card, Worm Call:

Once per turn, if your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon 1 Reptile-Type "Worm" monster from your hand in face-down Defense Position.

This Continuous Spell Card has an Ignition-like effect. Since the Worm monster is Summoned from the Hand, Worm Call's effect doesn't target, but you must reveal the monster when the effect resolves, before Summoning the monster (in order to verify that it is a Reptile-Type Worm monster). Being a Continuous Spell Card, it needs to remain face-up in order for its effect to resolve properly. Also, when the effect starts resolving, you must still have zero monsters, and the opponent must still control at least 1 monster.

The last original DT support Card in the set was Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier:

Reveal 3 "Ice Barrier" monsters with different names in your hand to select 1 card your opponent controls. Destroy the opponent's card and Special Summon 1 "Ice Barrier" monster from your hand.

Triangle reveals three monsters as a cost, and it targets an opponent's Card. When it resolves, you destroy the target Card, and if you succeed in doing so, you Special Summon an Ice Barrier monster from your Hand. This Special Summon doesn't target the Ice Barrier monster in your Hand, and it doesn't need to be one of the three monsters that you had previously revealed. Even if the Summon depends on the destruction, these two events are considered to be simultaneous.

The following Cards are all reprints of the Genex theme from the Duel Terminals. Let's skip Controller since it's just a boring Normal Monster and let's look at Genex Undine:

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can send 1 WATER monster  from your Deck to your Graveyard to add 1 "Genex Controller" from your Deck  to your hand.

Undine has an optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon its successful Normal Summon, so Pulling the Rug can negate its effect. Undine is very interesting in the aspect that it can send a specific monster from the Deck to the Graveyard as a cost, and it was the first Card to do so. Since it looks for a Genex Controller in the Deck, it does not target the Controller (or the WATER monster).

Next, we have Genex Searcher:

When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 "Genex" monster  with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck  in face-up  Attack Position.

Your average recruiter. It has an optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. Boo, you are boring!

Moving on, we have Genex Neutron:

During the End Phase of the turn that this card was Normal Summoned, you can add 1 Machine-Type Tuner monster from your Deck  to your hand.

Neutron has a really convoluted effect. It's an Optional Trigger Effect that actually activates during the End Phase, not when it is Normal Summoned, so you cannot use Pulling the Rug against it. In order to be able to activate the effect, Neutron must be able to "remind" it was Normal Summoned. There are three situations in which it will "remind" this:

1) It remains face-up until the End Phase.

2) It is flipped face-down, but is flipped face-up before ending the turn.

3) It is Removed from Play temporarily and returned to the Field (by the infamous Interdimensional Matter Transporter, for example).

The key scenario in which it will "forget" that it was Normal Summoned is if you Remove it from the Field and Summon it again through other means, such as Call of the Haunted. As a final note, once again, since it looks for a Card in the Deck, it does not target.

The last monster is the Synchro Monster Hydro Genex:

"Genex Controller" + 1 or more WATER Non-Tuner monsters
When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, gain Life Points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster.

Hydro has a very simple effect. It's an mandatory Trigger Effect that activates at the End of the Damage Step. Since it activates once the monster is sent to the Graveyard, it looks at the ATK value while in the Graveyard (which most likely will be the monster's Original ATK).

That's all we have for today, but there are still a ton of The Shining Darkness Card to review! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 8: Saberfish

I sure hope no one thinks that the title is a good Deck idea -_-

We still have a few TCG exclusives to review. Most of them are X-Saber support, with a couple of other intereasting Cards.

The first TCG exclusive is the Sneak Preview promo Card, XX-Saber Boggart Knight:

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "X-Saber" monster from your hand. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "X-Saber" monster.

Boggart Knight's first line is an optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon its successful Summon. It can be negated by Pulling the Rug or By Order of the Emperor. Note that this effect doesn't target anything, as Cards in the Hand cannot be targeted. The second line is a Condition, which cannot be negated by Cards like Skill Drain.

The next one is a Fish support Card: Nimble Sunfish:

When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, send 1 Fish-type monster from your Deck to the Graveyard. Then, you can Special Summon 1 "Nimble Sunfish" from your Deck.

Sunfish only has one effect. This is a Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. It is somewhat tricky, much like its furry counterpart Nimble Momonga, but Sunfish's effect is actually mandatory. It is a single effect, with an optional action within it. The effect will activate even if you have no more Fish monsters, but you won't be able to Special Summon another copy of Sunfish if you don't send a Fish to the Graveyard. You don't need to have more Sunfish in the Deck to send a Fish to the Graveyard..

Moving on, we have a Beast-Warrior exclusive: Akz, the Pumer:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing from play 2 Beast-Warrior-Type monsters in your Graveyard. Once per turn, you can discard 1 Beast-Warrior-Type monster from your hand to activate 1 of the following effects: • Double this card's ATK until the End Phase. • This card can attack your opponent directly this turn.

Removing from Play 2 Beast-Warriors to Special Summon Akz is an Inherent Special Summon. Then, Akz has two different Ignition Effects, both with the cost of discarding a Beast-Warrior. Neither effect targets, and you can only activate one of them per turn. The first effect doubles whatever is Akz's current ATK until the End Phase. The second effect grants it the ability to attack directly. This second effect cannot be negated by Skill Drain once it has resolved successfully.

The next exclusive would be Saber Vault, but its effect is simple enough. And so, let's move into the last TCG exclusive, XX-Saber Darksoul:

If this card you control is sent to the Graveyard, during the End Phase, you can add 1 "X-Saber" monster from your Deck to your hand.

The procedure to search for an X-Saber via Darksoul is somewhat complicated. First, Darksoul has a mandatory Trigger Effect, so it cannot miss the timing. This effect is activated when it is sent to the Graveyard. Later, during the End Phase, you can search for the X-Saber monster without starting a chain. These two instances are not related to each other, so Darksoul does not need to remain in the Graveyard until the End Phase. Quite the hassle for a delayed Sangan, huh?

That covers all the remaining TCG exclusives, but there's even more TSHD Cards to look at! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 7: Chimera Of Darkness

Koa'ki Meiru is a recent theme that began exactly a year ago with Raging Battle. The theme heavily revolves around  using the Spell Card Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru in various ways, mostly to maintain your own monsters from self-destructing. The Shining Darkness further expands the theme with new Cards, and the anticipated import of Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak. Let's take a look.

The only monster originally included in the set was Koa'ki Meiru Sandman:

During each of your End Phases, destroy this card unless you send 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your hand to the Graveyard or reveal 1 Rock-Type monster in your hand. You can Tribute  this card to negate the activation of an opponent's Trap Card and destroy that card.

Like most Koa'ki Meiru monsters, Sandman's first line explains its Maintenance Cost. Maintenance Costs cannot be negated by Skill Drain or similar Cards, and they also do not use the chain. If you control multiple Cards with a Maintenance Cost, you choose the order in which you pay them. A common question is how you can keep alive more than one Koa'ki Meiru monster. You can reveal the same monster for two or more monsters, so if you control 2 copies of Sandman, you can reveal a single Koa'ki Meiru Guardian in your Hand to keep both alive. However, you cannot send one Iron Core to the Graveyard for both of theme, as you need to fulfill the cost of both of them. Think of it as using money: You can show the same $100 bill to two different people (unless the first one steals it from you), but you cannot pay to two different people with the same bill.

Onto Sandman's actual effect, it is an optional Quick Effect which tributes Sandman as a cost. This type of effect is required, because you need to chain Sandman's effect to a Trap Card, and so, it must match its Spell Speed. Speaking of Spell Speeds, Sandman cannot negate Counter Trap Cards for that reason. It also cannot negate Trigger-like or Quick-like effects of Trap Cards like Skill Sucessor or Royal Oppression. It only negates Trap Card activations (flipping them face-up). Being a Quick Effect that negates activations, it can be activated during the Damage Step, even during Damage Calculation.

The only original Spell Card was Koa'ki Meiru Initialize!:

Tribute 1 "Koa'ki Meiru" monster to add 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.

Initialize is a very simple Quick-Play Spell Card. It tributes a Koa'ki as a cost, and searches for the Iron Core. Since it can search for the Iron Core within the Deck, where Cards cannot be targeted, the whole effect does not target (even if you wish to retrieve an Iron Core from the Graveyard). Note that since Initialize includes "Koa'ki Meiru" in its name, you can recover it with Koa'ki Meiru Crusader.

And the last original Trap Card was Koa'ki Meiru Shield:

Activate only when your opponent's monster declares an attack if you have 2 or more "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" in your Graveyard. Destroy all face-up Attack Position monsters your opponent controls.

Once again, a simple Card. Shield is activated upon attack declaration if you have the necessary amount of Iron Cores. The Iron Cores are merely an activation requirement, so if they are no longer there, Shield will still resolve properly.

Aside from these Cards, Koa'ki Meirus also received some TCG exclusives. The first one being Koa'ki Meiru Prototype:

If a face-up "Koa'ki Meiru" monster(s) on the field would be destroyed during the End Phase, you can destroy this card instead. When a face-up "Koa'ki Meiru" monster(s) on the field is destroyed during the End Phase, you can Special Summon 1 "Koa'ki Meiru" Token (Rock-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 1800)

Prototype has two effects. The first effect is your usual substitution effect, which are Continuous. This one is applied during the payment (or rather, failure to pay) of the Maintenance Cost of another Koa'ki Meiru. The second effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you can activate when a Koa'ki is destroyed during the End Phase. It doesn't necessarily have to be due to failure to pay. The destruction can be caused by Cards like Icarus Attack. As a side note, notice that Prototype does not have a Maintenance Cost.

The other TCG exclusive is Core Overclock:

All face-up  "Koa'ki Meiru" monsters you control gain 500 ATK. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can discard 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" to have all face-up  "Koa'ki Meiru" monsters you control gain 1000 ATK  until the End Phase.

This Continuous Spell Card has a Continuous Effect that provides ATK, and an Ignition-like effect that provides even more ATK. Discarding an Iron Core is a cost. Since both effects affect "all" of your monsters, neither one targets. Also, note that the ATK bonus are cumulative, so if you activate the second one, and affected monster would have a 1500 ATK bonus. Finally, note that the 1000 ATK bonus only applies to face-up Koa'kis that you control when the effect resolves.

The last Card for today is the OCG import, Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak:

During each of your End Phases, destroy this card unless you send 1 "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" from your hand to the Graveyard or reveal 1 Warrior-Type monster from your hand. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, it can attack  once again in a row.

As usual, Bergzak has the traditional Maintenance Cost. Bergzak's effect is an optional Trigger Effect. You activate it during the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step, which by itself creates some discrepancies with some interpretations of the Damage Step chart. Oh well -_- Note that Bergzak can only attack ONCE again, no matter how many monsters it destroys in battle.

That's all for the TSHD Koa'ki Meirus, but there are far more to review. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 6: Thunderstruck

Brief article time! The Shining Darkness introduces a new theme based on Thunder monsters, called "Watt". The theme further expands in the next set, too. Before we start, it is worth noting that the theme's original name (Ereki) would actually make Oscillo Hero #2 a Watt monster. But until stated otherwise, it will be a sad hero.


The first Watt monster is Wattgiraffe:


This card can attack your opponent directly. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent as a result of a direct attack, your opponent cannot activate the effects of any Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster Cards until the End Phase of this turn.


Wattgiraffe has two effects. The first effect that allows it to attack directly is a Continuous Effect. The effect prevention is a mandatory Trigger Effect, which you activate at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. This effect pretty much prevents ANYTHING that uses the chain, be it a monster effect, the activation of a S/T Card, or the effect of an already-active S/T Card (like Royal Oppression). This powerful effect is a mix of the effects of Angel O7 and Cold Wave, and both being stuck to the opponent only.

Next, we have Wattfox:


If this card is destroyed by your opponent's card (either by battle or by card effect), your opponent cannot Special Summon a monster, or activate  Spells, Traps, Spell/Trap card effects, or Monster Card effects, for the rest of this turn.


Fox has a mandatory Trigger Effect, which is very similar to Wattgiraffe's. In exchange for a slightly more complicated trigger, it also prevents the opponent from Special Summoning, as well as the other prevention that Giraffe offers. Note that Fox is very similar to Vampire Lord in the aspect that the owner must be controlling Wattfox in order to activate its effect.


The last Watt monster is Wattwoodpecker:


This card can attack twice during the same Battle Phase. Monsters that battled with this card cannot change their Battle Position.


Woodpecker's first effect is very common, and its a Continuous Effect. The second effect is where it gets a little more complicated. For starters, the effect doesn't have a classification, but since it doesn't use the chain, you can think of it as a Continuous Effect. In order to apply this effect onto other monsters, Woodpecker must enter remain face-up until you enter the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. As soon as you enter, the other monster is now affected by Woodpecker. But, for example, if Woodpecker is destroyed by Mirror Force, or Ally of Justice Catastor, it is not considered to have "battled" with the opposite monster. An affected monster stays affected as long as it remains face-up, but note that Woodpecker's position lock, like most effects that lock positions, only refers to manual position changes. You can still use Book of Moon and similar Cards.


The last Watt support Card for now is Wattcube:


Equip only to a Thunder-type monster. It gains 100 ATK for each Thunder-type monster in your Graveyard. You can send this face-up card from the field to the Graveyard to have 1 face-up Thunder-Type monster you control gain 1000 ATK.


Cube is a really simple Equip Card. While equipped, it provides a small ATK bonus based on the number of Thunder-type monsters in your Graveyard. But you can send it to the Graveyard (as a cost) to have a Thunder-type monster gain 1000 ATK. The last effect is an Ignition-like effect. The key differences here are mostly from a strategic point of view, as having an instant 1000 ATK bonus is much easier than piling up 10 Thunder-type monsters in the Graveyard, and it doesn't have the vulnerability of having to remain face-up in order to provide the ATK boost. As for some additional notes on the second effect, it targets a Thunder monster (note that it can be ANY Thunder, not just the equipped monster), you cannot activate it if Macro Cosmos is active, and the 1000 ATK bonus remains as long as the targeted monster remains face-up. It should be pretty evident that both effects are incompatible, as once you pay the cost for the second effect, the Equip Card is no longer face-up, so your monster won't gain 100 ATK per Thunder.



That covers the Watt theme so far. Stick around while we look at more TSHD Cards. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 5: Dark Twinkle Moss

Other than the random anime Cards used by Aki(za) in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Plants received some additional support in The Shining Darkness as well. Let's take a look at what they have to offer:

The first plant Card is Revival Rose:

If a Level 5 or higher Plant-type monster  you control  is destroyed, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard.

Rose has an Optional Trigger Effect. But do not fear: Rose is actually one of the few Trigger Effects that cannot miss the timing, due to the "if" before its trigger. If your Plant-type monster is destroyed in the middle of a chain, or during an effect that isn't done resolving (such as Garlandolf's), then you can simply start a new chain with Revival Rose. Also note how Rose doesn't need that the Plant monster is sent to the Graveyard, so you can even use it if your Tytannial is destroyed by Bottomless Trap Hole. Furthermore, you can also activate Rose when a Plant whose Level has been increased is destroyed, so you can even use it if your Level 6 Copyplant is destroyed. You can even activate multiple copies of Revival Rose out of a single monster. Despite all these liberties, you are not allowed to activate Rose's effect during the Damage Step, much like other similar monsters like Green Baboon.

The next Plant Support is Bird of Roses:

When this face-up Attack Position card is destroyed by battle with an opponent's attacking monster and sent to the Graveyard, you can special Summon 2 Plant-type Tuner monsters from your Deck in face-up Defense Position.

Bird of Roses has an Optional Trigger Effect, and with such a long Trigger, you can figure out that it has a lot of problems activating its effect. It doesn't have timing issues, since it activates at the End of the Damage Step, but meeting every other requirement can be pretty annoying:

1) It has to be in face-up Attack Position during Damage Calculation, so not only you can't Set it an expect it to be attacked, but also, the opponent can switch its position with Book of Moon and prevent its effect.

2) It must be destroyed in battle by an opponent's attacking monster, which means that you cannot attack a bigger monster with Bird of Roses to activate its effect, and you also cannot activate its effect if you use Creature Swap to give your Bird of Roses to your opponent and attack it yourself.

3) The effect's activation is optional, but you must have at least 2 Plant-type Tuners in your Deck. You cannot Special Summon only 1.

Moving on, we have Spore:

If this card is in your Graveyard, you can remove from play 1 other Plant-Type monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon this card from your Graveyard, and increase its Level by the Level of the monster removed from play to activate this effect. Each player can only use the effect of "Spore" once per Duel.

Spore's effect is quite peculiar. It derivates from the new ruling on Twin-Headed Behemoth, which we'll discuss in a minute. In the case of Spore, it has an Ignition Effect whose cost is Removing from Play another Plant-type monster in your Graveyard. This effect can only be activated once per Duel, which is what happened with the Behemoth. You may remember that Behemoth had been Limited since its release, and when Behemoth became Unlimited on March 09, it created some confusion on how to keep track on which Behemoths had activated their effect or not, specially if one shuffled them back in the Deck with Pot of Avarice and the like. This lead to an extension of the restriction, which stopped every copy of Behemoth from activating once you activate the effect of one of them. This is the same case for Spore: You can only activate the effect of a single copy of Spore through the Duel. Even if the activation of the effect is negated, no Spore can activate its effect. As for gaining the Level, Spore is Summoned with its effect already modified. Skill Drain cannot negate this.

Shenanigans aside, let's continue with Cherry Inmato:

When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon up to 2 "Inmato" monsters from your Deck. They cannot be used as Synchro Material Monsters this turn.

Now this is a simple monster. Cherry Inmato has an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate at the End of the Damage Step. If you activate its effect, you can Special Summon 1 or 2 monsters with "Inmato" on its name, meaning "Inmato" itself, or another copy of Cherry Inmato. The restriction that prevents a Synchro Summon can be erased by flipping the monster face-down.

We also have a Normal Trap Card for Plants: Blossom Bombardment:

Activate only when a Plant-type monster you control destroys an opponent's mosnter by battle and sends it to the Graveyard. Inflict damage to your oppoennt equal to the destroy monster's original ATK.

Bombardment is activated at the End of the Damage Step. Your Plant-type monster needs to remain face-up until that time, but not when Bombardment starts resolving. The rest is surprisingly explicit on the text itself.

Plants also received a TCG exclusive, which is not actually a Plant itself. I'm talking about Snyffus:

Once per turn, you can Tribute 1 Plant-Type monster to select and destroy  1 face-up  card your opponent controls. When a Plant-Type monster(s) on the field is destroyed  while this card is in the Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from the Graveyard. If you do, it is removed from play when it is removed from the field.

Snyffus has two effects. The first is an Ignition Effect. Tributing a Plant is a cost, and you can use face-down Plants. It targets any face-up Card on your opponent's side of the Field. The second effect is an Optional Trigger Effect. Does it sound familiar? Yes, Snyffus is slightly based on Revival Rose's effect, except that due to the lack of the word "if", Snyffus CAN miss the timing. Removing itself from Play can be erased if you flip Snyffus face-down.

The last Card for Plants is the Synchro Monster Splendid Rose:

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 Plant-Type monster in your Graveyard to halve the ATK of 1 face-up monster your opponent controls, until the End Phase of this turn. If this card attacks, during the same Battle Phase you can remove from play 1 Plant-Type monster in your Graveyard to halve the ATK of this card (until the End Phase) and attack once again.

Splendid Rose has two Ignition Effects. Yup, the second effect is an Ignition Effect that you can activate during the Battle Phase. Weird, huh? Both effects have a cost of Removing from Play a Plant-type monster. The first effect works like most Ignition Effects, so it's limited to your Main Phases. It works similarly to Gale the Whirlwind, only that it's not permanent. The second effect is activated during the Battle Phase in which Rose has declared an attack, and you activate it when you aren't doing anything during the Battle Phase (in other words, you don't activate it while attacking, or during the Damage Step, or anything like that). Rose can only gain one additional attack (even if mixed with other effects that grant more attacks), so you can only activate this effect once. You don't have to attack if you don't want to.

Well, that's all for the plants in The Shining Darkness. Stay tuned for more Cards from this set! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 4: Handless Job

The final Cards for the Infernity theme in The Shining Darkness are 5 pretty powerful Trap Cards.

Let's start with Infernity Reflector:

Activate only by discarding all the cards in your hand when an "Infernity" monster you control is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard. Select and Special Summon that monster from your Graveyard, and inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

This Normal Trap Card is activated at the End of the Damage Step. Discarding your hand is a cost, and it targets the destroyed Infernity monster. The damage and the Summon are simultaneous. As a side note, you need at least 1 Card in your Hand to activate Reflector.

Next, we have Infernity Break:

Activate only if you have no cards in your hand. Select 1 "Infernity" card in your Graveyard and remove it from play. Select 1 Card your opponent controls and destroy it.

Break targets two Cards, one in your Graveyard, and one on the opponent's side of the Field. Break will resolve properly even if you have Cards in your Hand during its resolution. The destruction and the removal are considered to be simultaneous. If your Card is no longer in the Graveyard, then you do not destroy the other target, but if the opponent's Card is no longer on the Field, you still Remove your Card from Play. Note that Infernity Break can use any Card with "Infernity" in its name, so you can use Cards like Infernity Launcher or even another copy of Infernity Break.

Moving on, we have Infernity Inferno:

Discard  up to 2 cards and send the same number of "Infernity" cards from your Deck to the Graveyard.

Inferno has no cost. You actually discard the  Cards as part of its effect, so it works with the effects of Dark World monsters. Once you activate Inferno, you must discard at least one Card. After you discard, you will send the same amount of "Infernity" Cards from your Deck to the Graveyard. Once again, notice that you are not restricted to Infernity monsters.

The following Card lacks the Infernity name, much like ZERO MAX, but it still blends with the theme. Let's take a look at Phantom Hand:

Once per turn, if you control a face-up "Infernity" monster(s), you can remove from play all cards in your hand (face-down) until your next Standby Phase.

In order to resolve Phantom Hand's effect properly, you must control an Infernity monster upon its resolution. Once you do, the Cards that were in your Hand are not related to Phantom Hand anymore, so even if PH is no longer face-up, you will still recover the Cards during your Standby Phase. Of course, if Phantom Hand is destroyed in a chain to its effect that Removes your Hand from Play, it will resolve without effect, as it is a Continuous Trap Card. Note that Phantom Hand has a Spell Speed 2 effect, so not only you can activate it during your opponent's turn, but also, you are able to chain it to most effects. For example, if your opponent activates Torrential Tribute when you Summon Infernity Guardian, you can chain Phantom Hand's effect to protect Guardian.

The last Trap Card and Infernity support in the set is the TCG exclusive Infernity Barrier:

Activate only when your opponent activates a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect, if you control a face-up Attack Position "Infernity" monster and have no cards in your hand. Negate the activation and destroy that card.

Barrier is an extremely simple Counter Trap Card. If you meet its activation requirements, it negates almost anything. It's easier to list what Barrier cannot negate, which are the effects of already active S/T Cards, and effects that do not use the chain like Jinzo. Some people simply read it as a copy of Solemn Judgment, which leads to believe it also negates Summons, but this is not true for Summons that aren't performed through an effect that uses the chain. For example, Barrier can negate the effect of Gorz, but it cannot negate the Special Summon of Cyber Dragon.

And that's all for Infernities so far. Stay tuned for more TSHD goodness. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 3: Thing T. Thing cries in shame

While the Infernity Deck heavily depends on the Spell Card Infernity Launcher, there aren't actually that many Spell Cards for the theme itself. Probably because Spell Cards help a lot on reducing Hand size. Oh well, not my job to figure these things out. In this part, we'll look at the few Spell Cards issued for the Infernity theme.

Let's look first at Wave-Motion Inferno:

While you have no cards in your hand, face-up "Infernity" monsters you control gain 400 ATK and DEF. You can send this face-up card from the field to the Graveyard to send all cards from your hand to the Graveyard.

This Continuous Spell Card is pretty simple. Its first effect is continuously applied, and as you can probably tell, as soon as you have Cards in your Hand, the ATK/DEF boost stops being applied. The second effect is an Ignition-like effect, so you can only activate it during your Main Phases. Sending WMI to the Graveyard is a cost, so you cannot activate this effect while a Card like Macro Cosmos is active. If Macro Cosmos is chained, all Cards in your Hand are Removed from Play.

Next, we have Into the Void:

Activate  only if you have 3 or more cards in your hand. Draw  1 card. During the End Phase of this turn, discard all the cards in your hand.

Into the Void isn't an Infernity Card per se, but some people consider it as one. Having 3 Cards in your Hand is an activation requirement, which means that Into the Void will resolve properly even if your Hand size is lower than 3 Cards when it resolves. This allows you to activate ItV if you only have 2 Cards in your Hand along it, as you would be having 3 Cards total. The effect that discards all Cards in your Hand doesn't start a chain. If you send ItV to the Graveyard via Diamond Dude's effect, you can skip the requirement of having 3 Cards in your Hand, but you must still discard your Hand during the End Phase.

Moving on, we have ZERO-MAX:

Activate only if you have no cards in your hand. Select 1 "Infernity" monster in your Graveyard. Special Summon it, and destroy all face-up monsters on the field with ATK lower than the Special Summoned monster's ATK. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase during the same turn you activate this card.

ZERO-MAX is a really peculiar Normal Spell Card. You can only activate it if you have no Cards in your Hand. However, if ZERO-MAX is in your Hand, then you do have Cards in your Hand, so you cannot activate it directly from your Hand like most Spell Cards. You must set it first. With that said, ZERO-MAX targets one Infernity monster. Once it is Special Summoned, you destroy all face-up monsters with lower ATK than that monster. The Summon and the destruction are not simultaneous, so neither player can respond to the Summon. This would cause Infernity Archfiend to miss the timing. Note that you can activate ZERO-MAX even if there are no monsters to destroy.  Back to the usual restriction, if you have Cards in your Hand when ZM resolves, it will resolve without effect. And finally, if you use ZM along Diamond Dude, you can conduct your Battle Phase.

The last Spell Card is the heart and soul of the Deck, Infernity Launcher:

Once per turn, you can send 1 "Infernity" monster from your hand to the Graveyard. While you have no cards in your hand, you can send this card from the field to the Graveyard to select up to 2 "Infernity" monsters in your Graveyard and Special Summon them.

This Continuous Spell Card has two effects. The first effect is an Ignition-like effect, which helps reducing your Hand size. Launcher needs to remain face-up in order for this effect to resolve properly. The second effect is also an Ignition-like Effect, which sends Launcher to the Graveyard as a cost and targets up to 2 Infernity monsters. If one of the targets is no longer in the Graveyard, you still Special Summon the other one. If you have Cards in your Hand, as usual, Launcher will resolve without effect. Finally, if Macro Cosmos is active, you cannot pay Launcher's cost, so you cannot activate its second effect.

There are the few, but powerful Spell Cards for the Infernity theme. Stay tuned for the last article about Infernities! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

TSHD Part 2: Look mom! No Hands!

Despite Blackwings being a popular Deck, and some sort of black-winged monster being the cover Card of the set, everybody knows that bird is the word, and that The Shining Darkness has a huge total of 15 Cards around the Infernity theme. Today we'll look at the monsters added to the theme.

The first monster is Infernity Mirage:

This card cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. If you have no cards in your hand, you can Tribute this card to select 2 "Infernity" monsters in your Graveyard. Special Summon those monsters.

Mirage's first sentence is a Condition that stops you from Summoning it from the Graveyard. Even if Dark Ruler Ha Des destroys it in battle, you cannot Summon it from there. Note that this restriction only applies to the Graveyard, but you can still Special Summon Mirage from the Hand, Deck, or Removed from Play Zone. The second sentence on Mirage's text is an Ignition Effect. Tributing Mirage is a cost, and it targets 2 Infernity monsters. Having no Cards in Hand is merely an activation requirement, and unlike many of its friends, Mirage will still resolve properly even if you have 1 or more Cards in your Hand at the time of its resolution. And as an additional note, it will also resolve properly if one of its targets is no longer in the Graveyard.

The next monster is Infernity Randomizer:

Once per turn, while you have no cards in your hand, you can draw  1 card and reveal it. For a Monster Card drawn with this effect, inflict damage  to your opponent equal to the Level of that monster x 200. For a Spell or Trap Card, you take 500 damage.

Randomizer has an Ignition Effect. Drawing a Card is part of the effect. You then reveal it, and inflict damage according to the type of Card you drew. It may sound obvious, but you DO get to keep the Card you draw, regardless of its type. If you have Cards in your Hand before resolving Randomizer's effect, it will resolve without effect. Drawing a Card is not considered to be a simultaneous action to inflicting damage, so your opponent cannot activate a Card like Drastic Drop Off after Randomizer resolves. Finally, if the drawn monster has its Level modified by a Card like Cost Down or similar, then you refer to its modified Level.

Moving on, we have Infernity Beetle:

While you have no cards in your hand, you can Tribute this card to Special Summon up to 2 "Infernity Beetle" from your Deck.

This Tuner monster only has an Ignition Effect. Tributing Beetle is a cost. Much like Randomizer, it will resolve without effect if you have Cards in your Hand when its effect starts resolving. You only need 1 Beetle in your Deck in order to activate the effect, and as you can probably tell, you can choose to Summon 1 or 2 Beetles once the effect starts resolving.

Another Infernity Monster is Infernity Avenger:

When a monster you control, except "Infernity Avenger", is destroyed by battle with an opponent's monster and sent to the Graveyard, while you have no cards in your hand, you can Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. In that case, the Level of this card is equal to the Level of your destroyed  monster.

Avenger has an Optional Trigger Effect which is activated at the End of the Damage Step. Once again, having Cards in your Hand before the effect resolves will cause it to resolve without effect. Note that Avenger doesn't target itself, and that you can Special Summon multiple copies of it. Finally, Avenger's Level becomes the same as the destroyed monster once the monster is in the Graveyard, so even if you use an effect like Tragoedia's or Level Eater's, Avenger will look at its original Level.

We received one OCG Promo Card as an exclusive, and like you can guess, it's an Infernity Monster. It's Infernity Destroyer:

While you have no cards in your hand, when this card destroys  an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict 1600 damage to your opponent.

Destroyer is quite simple. It has a mandatory Trigger Effect, which activates at the End of the Damage Step. Predictably, it will resolve without effect if you have Cards in your Hand at its resolution. It is also important that Destroyer won't activate if it is no longer face-up before the End of the Damage Step.

The last monster for today is a Synchro Monster devoted to the theme: Infernity Doom Dragon:

1 DARK Tuner + 1 ore more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn, if you have no cards in your hand, you can select 1 monster your opponent controls. Destroy that monster and inflict damage to your opponent equal to half its ATK. This card cannot attack during the same turn you activate this effect.

Doom Dragon has an Ignition Effect. It targets one of your opponent's monsters. And one more time, it will resolve without effect if you have Cards in your Hand. You will also inflict damage equal to half of the monster's current ATK (with all the existing ATK modifiers). The destruction and the damage is simultaneous, much like Ring of Destruction, so an effect like Machina Peacekeeper won't miss the timing. If you target a face-down monster, no damage is inflicted, and if you target a monster that you fail to destroy (for example, if protected by an Union Monster), then you won't inflict any damage either. Finally, as usual, you cannot reverse the restriction by attacking and then activating the effect, but you can activate this effect during Main Phase 2 if Doom Dragon did not declare an attack.

That's all for Infernity monsters so far. We'll keep looking as Infernities in the next part, so stay tuned! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.

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.