Subject: the REAL staples-TheProphet Subject: The REAL Staples Date: 5/18/03 Time: 10:42 A.M. Hello again. For those of you picky people who sent me all those e-mails about my last rant, I realize I was wrong so get off my back. And mad props to the one guy who was cool enough to send me a meaningful e-mail. Anyway, today I talk about cards that are considered staples. But are they really staples? The first group of staples I will look at have been restricted since the beginning. YGO! Magazine calls them the Big Five staples. They are: Pot of Greed Change of Heart Raigeki Monster Reborn Dark Hole Now, let's consider these cards. Raigeki and Dark Hole do not help any deck. Since they are monster removal cards, they only fit into offensive decks. The same goes for Monster Reborn. Let's say you are using a Burn or Deck Depletion deck with lots of Flip Effects. When Monster Reborn revives a monster, it doesn't get its Flip Effect (if it has one). Ergo, it is far more beneficial to our sample deck to use Spear Cretin and The Shallow Grave as Graveyard recursion. Pot of Greed gives you card advantage, and card advantage in any way, shape or form, is great for any deck. As for Change of Heart, that's a little iffy. It definitely fits into any offensive deck. But do defensive decks really need it? I'm going to say yes, because Change of Heart can be a great disruption card to mess up your opponent. I will now look at several other "staple" magic cards. Premature Burial Snatch Steal Swords of Revealing Light Heavy Storm Harpie's Feather Duster Nobleman of Crossout Graceful Charity Mage Power United We Stand Let's go from the bottom up this time. The Equip cards (Mage Power and United We Stand) only fit into offensive decks. That's about it. Graceful Charity is good for any deck that is geared toward speed. However, if speed is not your strategy, Graceful Charity is mediocre at best. Nobleman of Crossout is also best suited for offensive decks, and I don't think it belongs anywhere else. Harpie's Feather Duster is great in offensive decks, but I'm really not sure about other deck types. My verdict is that Harpie's Feather Duster is one of the few True Staples (I will list these at the end). Heavy Storm is horrible in Gravity Bind/Messenger of Peace and any other deck that relies on continuous Magic and Trap cards to get the job done (Legendary Fisherman decks are a good example of this). Swords of Revealing Light, in my opinion, belongs in any deck except Gravity Bind/Messenger of Peace. Why they didn't make this card restricted to one right away is a mystery to me. Snatch Steal is horrible in Gravity Bind/Messenger of Peace decks (I'm getting tired of typing that, so from now on I will call it Clown Control), and I'm beginning to doubt its effectiveness in beatdown as well. I guess it all depends on what kind of deck your opponent is using. Premature Burial, like Monster Reborn, is useless in decks that rely on Flip Effects to get the job done. However, it is a godsend in offensive decks. There are also a select few "staple" Traps. Let's see what they are, shall we? Mirror Force Magic Cylinder Torrential Tribute Ceasefire Call of the Haunted Imperial Order Mirror Force is a true staple, and I shouldn't have to tell you why. A lot of people have differing opinions on Magic Cylinder. Many of Pojo's Card of the Day staffers said it was staple or near-staple, while IQ gave it a low rating. Why? Because it doesn't destroy the monster. Don't get me wrong, this is a good card and a staple in Burn decks, but if you play against a speed beatdown, one negated attack won't help you much. Torrential Tribute is also a controversial card. It's obviously quite good in offensive decks, but in Burn and Deck Depletion decks, monster removal is not really needed. Ceasefire depends largely on what your opponent uses. I think it should be featured in any Burn deck and any other deck that uses a lot of effect monsters (Clown Control comes to mind). If you don't use many effect monsters, trade it or sell it if you get it. Call of the Haunted, like so many other "staples" featured in this article, is only good in offensive decks. It can also serve a purpose in Exodia and maybe Clown Control. Imperial order is very versatile. It can be used as a lockdown card or a free Magic Jammer. Definitely a true staple. But I'm not done. There are also a few Monster "staples" that I want to talk about. Jinzo Cyber Jar Penguin Soldier Witch of the Black Forest Sangan Jinzo is great in any deck except Clown Control. I also don't like it in Exodia. I don't know why, I just don't. Cyber Jar is excellent in beatdown and Deck Depletion, but it can kill you if you run Exodia. Penguin Soldier is great in beatdown (for monster removal), Exodia (to retrieve Exodia pieces from the field), and any deck that relies on Flip Effects (it can reuse the Flip Effects). It's just a really versatile card. And it looks cool. Witch is great in beatdown, and both Witch and Sangan are good in Deck Depletion, Burn, and Exodia. They are very versatile cards,and they are restricted for a reason. And now, I list my True Staples: Pot of Greed Change of Heart Harpie's Feather Duster Mirror Force Penguin Soldier Imperial Order Although many of these cards are almost good enough to be True Staples, they just didn't make the cut. Until next time. How's my driving? e-mail me at kungfuaxedemon1000@yahoo.com P.S. No bashes, viruses, or anything of that nature or your e-mail will be deleted. P.P.S. Long live Czar Cannon Soldier! Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.