We continue this week with a very strange darkness spell.  Roulette of Ruin looks to be a pretty unique type of gamble (as the name suggests) and can potentially debilitate your opponent’s strategy.  Even so, would a gambling card be considered tournament worthy?  Let’s take a look.

 

Roulette of Ruin

 

Cost: 5

Civilization: Darkness

Type: Spell

Rules Text:

·         Shield trigger

·         Choose a number. Show your hand to your opponent and discard from it each card that has that cost. Then your opponent shows you his hand and discards from it each card that has that cost.

 

So far at 5 mana, things don’t look too promising.  For starters you have to do something that’s almost never done in Duelmasters (unless it’s accidental) and that is to show your opponent your hand.  If you have no hand then that’s cool but if you’re trying to keep a secret then it’ll pretty much be revealed once you pay the 5 mana.  On top of that, you have a chance of doing nothing to your opponent… a very hefty gamble indeed.

 

On the bright side you have the potential to do some pretty serious damage to your opponent’s hand.  Imagine facing a rush deck and your opponent activates this card as a shield trigger.  In this case the number would be easy to guess.  Just pick 2 or 3 and your opponent will lose their almost their entire hand.  Also think of the possibilities of being able to discard annoying cards such as Pyrofighter Magnus and Bazagazeal Dragon.  These cards are used to be able to seek refuge by returning to the owner’s hand but not anymore.

 

That’s only a small portion of what this card can do.  If you’re more of the cautious type then you can combine this card with Grape Globbo and Gigandura to see what your opponent is up to before you cast.  Even though this would be an easy way to thwart your opponent’s strategy, let’s face it.  The lucky number is “5”.  Most of the overpowered and overused cards cost 5 mana and when you call out “5” you will more than likely land a heavy blow.  If you need proof then think of cards like Corile, Phal Ega, Illusionary Merfolk, Mist Rias, Mongrel Man, Petrova, Warlord Ailzonius, and Skysword, the Savage Vizier (just to name a few).  Corile and Petrova alone should be reason enough to stick a few Roulettes in your deck.

 

As you can see, even though Roulette of Ruin appears to be a gamble, it was pretty much designed to be an equalizer.  Once you’ve caught on to your opponent’s strategy, you’ll pretty much be able to eliminate his/her keycards.  Just remember that the effect also targets you.  So if you go out there ready to take revenge on all the Coriles out there, just remember that if you’re carrying Coriles or any other 5 mana cards you’re going to take some damage as well.

 

The Good:  Once you adapt to your opponent’s strategy you’ll be ready to stop anything (observe your opponent’s mana).

 

The Bad:  This card has the potential to discard nothing.

 

The Ugly:  You have to show your opponent your hand.

 

Constructed Rating: 4/5 – I would mainly recommend this card to experienced players.  Once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to predict what your opponent is holding by turn 5.  If used properly you can render any strategy useless.

 

Limited Rating: 1/5 – This card is terrible in Limited.  The decks are too unpredictable.

 

 

Please feel free to post your comments, questions, and/or objections on the Message Board and I’ll be more than happy to respond.  Happy dueling!

- DRY 1337