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Pojo's Duel Masters Card of the Day

trox_general_of_destruction
Image from Wizards Duel Master site

  Trox,
General of Destruction

DM04
Card 3



Date Reviewed: 12.23.04


Constructed Average Rating: 3.15
Limited Average Rating: 4.15


Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating.

Lee Sandow

Trox, General of Destruction

 

I've gone ahead and typed Trox's review for the COTD in advance.  I don't know if that's standard procedure, so if I'm doing anything wrong here, please let me know.  Actually, could you go ahead and send me an e-mail describing how most reviewers go about sending in their reviews, so I can make sure I'm doing everything right?  Thanks.  Anyways, the review starts below the line.

_____________________

 

Today’s card is Trox, General of Destruction.  Let’s see what this surly little Demon Command has in store for us…

 

Trox, General of Destruction

Cost:  7

Civilization:  Darkness

Card Type:  Creature
Creature Class:  Demon Command

  • When you put this creature into the battle zone, your opponent discards a card at random from his hand for each other darkness creature you have in the battle zone.
  • Double breaker (This creature breaks 2 shields.)

Flavor Text:  “Say goodbye to the daytime.”

Power: 6000

Mana Generated: 1

Rarity:  Very Rare

Card Number:  3/55

 

Oh, no!  He’s going to cause the light to go out!  How does he plan to do that?  Is he going to discard the sun?  0_o

 

I’m in the process of developing the process I plan to use to evaluate future cards of the day, so for now, I’m going to use this one.

 

First, I’ll comment on each of his stats individually.  Then, I’ll compare his cost to his abilities and power level.  Finally, I’ll sum it all up in my final score.  I’ll then just state anything that makes him better/worse in draft below that.  That being explained, let’s get started!

 

Civilization/Race:  He is a member of the darkness civilization, and he is a Demon Command.  Demon Commands have a lot of support, and they have one of the meanest evolutions in the game.  His abilities (which I’ll get to in a minute), fit in well with other themes in the Dark Civilization.

 

Cost:  Seven mana is a bit steep, but it’s not unrealistic if the power and abilities are good enough.

 

Abilities:  His discard ability can be wicked if timed correctly, but it can be iffy.  Late game (seven mana is late game, IMO), your opponent might not have a hand to discard.  Also, if you summon this guy without having any darkness creatures in the battle zone, this first effect is useless as well.  However, if you pull this off with a field full of Darkness creatures, your opponent could lose their whole hand. 

 

He is also a double breaker, which is always a sweet deal.  There’s really nothing special to say about this ability.

 

Power:   6000 is strong, and can take down most commonly played creatures.  Barkwhip, Crystal Paladin, and most blockers fall to this kind of power, so he won’t lose too many battles.  Crystal Lancer and Fighter Dual Fang can defeat him, and Valdios can suicide. His power is decent, but higher would have been nicer.

 

Ok, now that I’ve reviewed these stats, let’s see how they stack up. 

 

Costructed overview:  His cost is very reasonable for what you get.  Demon Commands tend to be big, pricey creatures, and at lest in this case, you get what you pay for.  His first ability is worth all the mana you spend for him if you use it right, and it’s icing on the cake if you only nail one card.  His double breaker ability is nice, assuming he lives long enough to break shields.  His power is a little weak, but Trox had to make up for his abilities somewhere. 

 

Still, his first effect can be a complete dud at times, and this late in the game, he might not live long enough to get off an attack.  If you are just using him for the discard, use Lost Soul.  You get rid of everything, no questions asked for the same cost.  If you are using him for attack power, go with Zagaan or Deathliger.  If you are using him to evolve into Ballom, go with Photocide or Vashuna. 

 

Basically, what I’m trying to say is this.  Trox is a good card, but he is simply eclipsed by other cards that do their jobs better than he does.  He’s useable, but there’s nothing that is be-all-end-all about him.

 

Out of five, I’d rank him 3/5.

 

Limited overview:  He’s a big double breaker that can destroy most cards in this set with a single attack.  If you draft a lot of darkness cards, he might be able to do some real damage with his first effect.  It is unlikely that any spell or creature effect will destroy him, so you can plan on him staying for the long haul.  Most creatures that COULD destroy him are evolutions (and evolutions are TERRIBLY unreliable in Shadowclash draft).  He’s a tank in limited.  I had to go up against one, and the only way I won that game was by making a wild shield rush.  I couldn’t destroy him.  All big hitters are nice in Limited, and Trox is no exception.  The only gripe I have about him is that he comes very late in the game, and if your opponent is able to weenie rush you, he might not ever hit the field.  4.5/5

 

Happy dueling everyone!

 


cecillbill

(Top 4 at
2004 GenCon - Indy
Championship)
Trox, General of Destruction
Sorry I’ve been absent from the review section for a week. I’m working on some things for you all, which includes Duel Masters So Cal Championship topics. Stay tuned…Trox has been referred to as “a Lost Soul with legs,” and it could deliver more or less than that signature “discard all” spell depending on the state of the duel. Let’s take a look:

[Effects]
1. Double Breaker. Trox’s DB status brings something extra to the table if you can swing with him.

2. Opponent discards a card at random for each other darkness creature that you have in your battle zone. There are at least four things I’d like to mention about Trox’s effect. First, Trox is not included in the discard count—his effect says your other darkness creatures. So if he’s your only guy out, guess what? You’ve paid 7 mana for a double breaker that’s weaker than the 6 mana Zagaan.

Second, Trox obviously fits best in a mono-Darkness deck; every creature you manage to keep in the battle zone is a kindred spirit. So, if you’re looking for hand discard and a late gamer fattie in a dual or multi-civilization deck, you may be better off splitting the two functions and packing Lost Soul and Zagaan. Playtest.

Third, hand discard can be a powerful asset, especially when employed over different stages of the duel. In my experiences with Trox, it’s best to view him as “the clean up discarder.” Sure, playing earlier hand robbers like Horrid Worm and Locomotiver can make the number of cards Trox’s discard less, but that can be a good thing at times. That means there’s less in your opponent’s hands to deal with Trox, so in the event there’s isn’t much blocker deterence or a kill topdeck then Trox’s second effect becomes useful. If cards are left in an opponent’s hand late game, where the mana buildup’s usually good and your opponent could put a bevy of cards into play, then you’re adding to the damage with Trox and netting another hitter in the process.

Fourth, being late game hand kill dependent on the field can make it less effective than Lost Soul in certain duels. Lost Soul chucks everything that manages to stay glued to your opponent’s hand late game. If you only have 1 other Darkness creature in the field when Trox drops and your opponent has 5 cards in hand, then he still has a healthy hand size. Against certain decks keeping Darkness creatures out is easier said than done.

Effect Ratings:
Constructed: 3/5. Trox’s discard effect can either chuck 1 or more cards from your opponent’s hand or nothing at all. The benefit of being able to discard and net a somewhat powerful creature in the process makes him more playable than a lot of other double breakers with summoning sickness.

Limited: 4/5. Here his double breaker status pulls him over the top, because fatties are game enders in Limited. If you Draft him, be sure to pick some other Darkness selections to amplify his discard effect. It’s likely your opponent won’t have the means to kill him or stack his hand too much after losing some cards to Trox. In Sealed, you’re likely to be playing some darkness and I’d just grab him for the double breaker status anyway.

[Power/Cost]
7 mana for 6000 power isn’t the best thing in the world. But, what you’re losing in power you stand to gain in card advantage. Versus a Light player, it’s a pretty bad situation if he’s packing Szubs Kin, Gran Gure, Ladia Bale, or Syforce—since several of those blockers can come out before Trox and all can kill him. 6000 power is decent at best, and it can deal with a wide range of creatures, but not the most heavily played DB’s on the block—Fighter Dual Fang and Crystal Lancer. Hopefully you’ve chucked those cards out of your opponent’s hands prior to or when you played Trox.

Power/Cost Ratings:
Constructed: 3/5. Decent hitter in certain decks.

Limited: 3/5. Can kill a lot of things, although sometimes you don’t see 7 mana buildup in Limited play.

[Other Considerations]
Evo Bait: Ballom is big and packs a potentially devastating effect versus anything but the mirror. Trox is one of the 8 Demon Commands that can help bring Ballom to the party. Trox is probably going to see more play than Deathliger, Giriel, Gilliam, Gamil, and Dark Titan Maginn in the case of evolving into Ballom (and in terms of discard versus Dark Titan), but may be passed up in favor of Zagaan, Vashuna, or Photocide.

Evo Rating: 3/5. One of the things I like about Trox is that his discard effect could help keep cards out of your opponent’s hand that would “answer”
a Ballom drop--make an opponent dependent on the topdeck.

[Where To Deck]
Mono-Darkness. Everything you drop will be dark and whatever stays on the field until the 7 count helps Trox eat away at your opponent’s hand. The majority of Ballom decks out tend to be mono-Darkness, and Trox is suitable evo bait. I’ve nab some good use out of Trox in a hand discard deck packing Marionmancer and Brian Serum as sources of draw. So, depending on the player, the deck and the meta you may not have to confine Trox to just black. If Ballom is not your focus or you’re running other civs, you’ll most likely make a better last effort card-ditch with Lost Soul.

[Some Cards To Deck With It]
If you’re looking to go overboard with the hand discard mechanic, you can try Horrid Worm (which belongs in just about every Darkness deck), Locomotiver, and Ghost Touch. If you’re looking to really annoy your opponent, pack some kill, some slayers and some draw power for chances to be left with more options in hand and on the field than your opponent. If you run Nature in your Ballom deck to get your Demons out quicker, Trox may still be useful as late game discard and evo bait.

[Format Ratings Overall]
Constructed: 3/5. After getting my feet wet with Trox in both a Ballom and Hand Discard deck I'm leaning towards the view that Lost Soul is generally a better late game discard play unless your aim is to evolve Ballom. If there’s anything in your opponent’s hand when Lost Soul is played then it’s gone. Trox doesn’t always deliver returns on a 7 mana investment like that, and his double breaker effect may not even pop off due to something as simple as a Death Smoke. Any effect that depends on the field has the potential to be weakened by that dependency, but Trox has a great deal of playability.

Limited: 3.5/5. As always, fatties are huge threats in Limited because kill is not rampant. This one has the bonus of possibly making your opponet discard soemthing, which can be very damaging in Limited.
 

The Antman
Trox General of Destruction -  Very Rare -#3(DM-04)
 
Say goodbye to the daytime. kjdf man that is one of my favorite flavor texts. and it fits this card too.
 
man this things power is so good!!! by the time turn 7 comes around, discarding wont be much of a factor, but you could eaisly get rid of thier hand.  If you play black green than this thing gets even better since you can get it out earlier.  Sure it works best in mono decks but if you can sneak a couple of small blacks like marrow than you could probably nuke a opponets hand. + this guy has double breaker to boot so hes not entirely useless after he hits the field.
 
Ratings:
constructed- 3/5 not a bad card, but black realy could go w/o it.  I personaly dont play it, prefer ghost touch cuz its a trigger
limited- 4/5 it only got a high rating for it being a 6000 DB, but it is just too out of charicter in this set for its ability to be good.
 
Final Thought- I know its strange that it got a good limited rating and a ok constructed, but it realy isnt needed in constructed.
 
Jordyce Trox, General of Destruction

Sorry, today's review will be quite short. Christmas matters, buying presents and stuff. Not to mention it's a mixed card up for discussion today
- Trox, General of (Hand) Destruction.

First part of my review is the analysis of the card. As most hand destruction says right now is that your opponent discards randomly from their hand. That means whatever you hit in there hand is up to chance. Good.
The second part is that this thing sends your card advantage over your opponents' roof. For every guy you have, that's a card gone randomly.
Useless by himself, with 2 or more guys on the field when he's played your seeing amazing power. The snag is that it's not when attacking, but it also means that Terror Pit won't stop him from activating his effect.

In terms of strength, I like to divide them into 4 divisions. First division is Horrid Worm level power. I'm talking 1000-3000, or power that is killed off by Searing Wave. Next is the mini evolution, higher cost basic guy, Barkwhip level. I'm talking 4000-6000 power. These guys are normally either fast or slow, evolvable or not. The next is bigger evolutions, the Crystal Lancer level. Talking 7000-9000, this is the section in which the double breaker with haste reign; FDF, Lancer, Niofa etc... The last level is my least favorite, the Super Rare power level in which anything 10000+ is in.
We are talking those high cost Terror Pit bait cards. Alcadeias, Ballom and co are good but the rest are just trouble. After reading all of that, Trox fits into the Barkwhip level but at Crystal Lancer level cost. Meaning that when you summon Trox, he will get a hit in then most likely die.

The power is reasonable, the effect is good but hard to pull of and the picture is just weird. He is evolvable into Ballom, and I'd have to say out of the few cards you would want to run in your Ballom deck this would one of them. Considering some of the other are just sad.

Constructed: 2.5/5.0 - Truely, this could be better. In a Ballom/Hand Destruction deck he reigns a 4.5.
Limited: 3.5/5.0 - His effect dosen't really do much but probably make your opponent lose 1 card because of lack of playing mono-black. But a fat body and double breaker isn't worth passing up.
Artwork: 3.0/5.0 - The picture really freaks me out, but the picture itself resembles what you think this would like like.

 
Knives101 Trox

Trox can be devestating. You just need to have two or three black creatures in play, before you play him. Doing so can be pretty difficult when you are facing a good player. The best way to use Trox is to run a deck that has a ton of darkness creatures. Trox can work pretty well in a Ballom deck. Just cast Trox to make your opponent discard his hand. This way he won't have any spells in his hand to take out Trox. Next evolve Trox into Ballom. It works pretty well if you ask me.

Rating: 3
 
Parshathrules
8391

Trox, General of Destruction

 

Finally, a card that I like! 7 for 6000 isn’t very helpful, but having double breaker adds points to his score. His effect can be game-breaking provided your opponent is keeping some hand-advantage. Swarm with some black monsters, tagged with some removal, and your opponent will be like X_X when you play this killer. It’s also bait for Ballom, which means in back to back turns, you can take out their hand and field. Nifty, eh?

 

Trox should get more play, because he can really turn the tide of a match. He’s even fun to play!

 

4/5, Lost Soul just got some tires. Really, really, big tires.

 

 

   
 

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