Forum:Abyss Rising opinions

First of all, I'd like to thank the users of this wiki for providing the pictures and translated texts a week before the announced release date. Now for my review. Admittedly, aside from the "Prophecy" and "Spellbook" series/archetype, only a handful of cards managed to catch my interest.

The Xyzs - Wow. A total of 12 monsters that go into the Extra Deck, that's a record. I'll be listing them from what I think is the best to worst.


 * 1st place goes to the "Heroic Champion" Xyzs - true to their name, these guys rank highest among the Xyzs in this set. "Gandiva" pairs nicely with "Steelswarm Roach", while "Kusanagi can get stronger as it negates Traps. Admittedly, the latter is not as flexible "Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" and its requirement for 3 specific Materials limits its usability.


 * 2nd place is a tie between "Queen Madolche Tiaramisu" and "Mermail - Gaioabyss". The former's effect is completely devastating while at the same time helpful for you, especially with the "Madolche Ticket" that came in the same pack. The latter has a built-in "Gravity Bind"-like effect with a dash of "Thor" in the mix, except that the negation part can be activated during the opponent's turn.


 * 3rd place is occupied by the Cover Card of the pack: "Number C32: Shark Drake Vice". This Chaos Number actually has a decent effect; it can be used during your opponent's turn and even during the Damage Step. It's certainly a lot more pleasing to the eye than its brother. Unfortunately, it also suffers from the same activation conditions as it, requiring the player to have a dangerously low 1000 Life Points to use its effect.


 * Honorable mentions go out to:
 * "Snowdust Giant" - I like the recent trend of giving "Ice Counter" cards more support.
 * "Empress of Prophecy" - goes nicely with "Hierophant of Prophecy", though you need a substantial amount of Spellbooks in your Deck to actually make sure it'll destroy something.
 * "Number 8: Heraldic King Genome Heriter" and "One-Eyed Skill Gainer" - here we have another instance of a Number having similar effect(s) with a non-Number; this is one of the reasons I dislike the fact that there are 99 of them - the Xyzs have slightly altered versions of other Xyzs' effects. This time it's about copying the effects of an Xyz. It's obvious that the Number wins this round: it can use its effect-copy effect multiple times, it needs less Materials and it even reduces the target's ATK to 0.
 * "Gagaga Gunman" - a rather "meh" card actually.

The last place goes to:
 * "Awakened Brave Warrior - Gagagigo" - 3 Materials for a no-effect monster, with not even a 3000 ATK? Thanks, but I'll stick to "Vylon Disigma" or "Number 16: Shock Master", or at the very least "Gem-Knight Pearl".
 * "Number 9: Canopy Star - Dyson Sphere" - If it could only negate the first attack aimed at ANY monster, not just itself, then it might've been a bit more interesting.

Archetypes/series


 * "Mermail"/"Abyss" - Truth be told, I'm not that interested in WATER monsters, but I have to admit that the power of these cards is not something to overlook. They can swarm and search for more monsters at the same time.... Why does that sound familiar?
 * "Prophecy"/"Spellbook" - With the addition of "Spellbook Institute - La Maison", a Deck revolving around the Spell Cards can become a bit more consistent. Even when you have no other Spellbook Spell Cards in the Grave, it can still count itself for its effect. The Prophecy monsters are also pretty decent, particularly the "Justice", though I would've liked if the "Emperor" didn't need to banish a Spellcaster you control for its effect, but I guess it's so you can't abuse it. I wish they could've done better with "Goethe Spellbook's" first effect though.
 * "Heroic"s - not much going on here, just a monster with a common effect and another one who can only power up Rank 4 monsters, though the latter goes well with the Heroic Champions. A trap card that basically inflicts damage to the opponent and another one, though not particularly supportive of this archetype, whose benefit is not worth the cost.
 * "Madolche" - The best support by far, especially with the aforementioned "Madolche Ticket". Definitely would recommend to have this card in multiples. "Madolche Croiwanssant" can trigger it quickly, "Madolche Marmamaid" can retrieve it and "Madolche Messengelato" benefits from it.
 * "Heraldry" - Not really a lot of things to say about this one. The Xyz would've been better if it could leave out the specification of its Materials, but it would go against the "blue blood" theme it has going on. The 2 monsters are rather lackluster, but the "Miracle Fusion"-like Spell Card is quite impressive; too bad it can only summon Rank 4 monsters.

Other cards worth mentioning


 * "Bull Blader" - I'm actually quite surprised this card got an improvement in its effect. Its anime effect was good enough. But now it's a perfect "revenge killer". Works nicely with cards like "Waboku" or "Safe Zone".
 * "Solar Wind Jammer" - it's like a "Cyber Dragon", only without the beatstick part. The one advantage it has over the Dragon is that it can increase its own Level. The trick is to keep it on the field to actually use it, but you can use something like "Limit Reverse" to SS during your opponent's turn and try to go for a Rank 6 monster.
 * "Ice Spirit God - Moulin Glace", "Distant Sea Knight", "Mechanical Sea Serpent - Plesion" - and here we continue the trend from the previous booster of giving support for Attributes that are not LIGHT and DARK. Who will be next: WIND or FIRE?
 * "Nimble Angler" - Mixes well with "Nimble Sunfish".
 * "Tannhäuser Gate" - if only it had its effect unchanged, oh, the possibilities. The restriction for 1000 or lower ATK monsters is OK, but the Type part ruined it for me.
 * "Forbidden Garments" - I think I prefer "Forbidden Lance". Plus if the monster is already targeted, this card cannot be chained so it can be "un-targeted".
 * "Mental Corruption" - the Spell Card version of "Tragoedia", well, a part of it, anyway.
 * "Unification of the Country" - in some ways, this card is superior to "Rivalry of Warlords". For one, it doesn't prevent players from Summoning monsters.
 * "Cashback" - Bane of anyone using "Solemn Judgment" or "Solemn Warning".

Cards not worth mentioning


 * "Achacha Chanbara" - doesn't even stop the damage.
 * "Battle Break" - started out nicely, then it disappoints.
 * "The Modest Sentry" - who would use this? Probably the same ones who use "Pot of Generosity"
 * "Houseduston" - I know of many monsters who can do better.
 * "Fishborg Blaster" - unless you're running a lot of "Gishki" cards that allows you to see the top-side of your Deck, this card will see little usage even in WATER Decks.
 * "Straggling Force" - the monster it takes control of can't be used as Material for basically anything; you can't even use it to attack. The only things you can do with a monster is : A) use it for a Tribute Summon, but only if you SS Starggling Force during your opponent's turn or use cards like "Double Summon"; B) Tribute it as a cost for card effects; C) use its effect in manner that'll somehow give you an advantage (such as using "Scrap Dragon's" effect by targeting itself along with an opponent's card).
 * "Memory of a Friend" - and I would use this in place of "Dimensional Prison"...why?

As usual, please share your thoughts.--PoirotH (talk • contribs) 16:41, July 14, 2012 (UTC)