Subject: "The Amazon Monsters- Are They Worth The Sacrifices?" -Snodin


The Amazon Monsters- Are they really worth the sacrifices?


A review by "Snodin"


With the release of "Labyrinth of Nightmare," we get more and more 
interesting cards. Two of these new cards not only look alike, but they 
also have similar-looking effects. They are "The Unfriendly Amazon" and 
"Amazon Archer." Both of them look cool at first glance, but as you will 
soon see, their effects come at a heavy- not to mention risky- price.

First, let’s look at "The Unfriendly Amazon." She’s a Level 4 Monster 
with an Attack power of 2000. Now automatically you know that she’ll have 
an effect, being an otherwise formidable card. Now check out the effect: In 
order to keep her alive, you must sacrifice two specific kind of monsters 
during each of your standby phases. The monsters you need to sacrifice have 
to be non-Tribute monsters- meaning, Levels 5 and higher- and their 
sacrifices cannot be used to backup the effects of other monsters. What 
that basically means is, to keep your Unfriendly Amazon in play, you must 
sacrifice two Monsters like "Rude Kaiser," or "Flame Champion," or 
"Swordstalker," and the like.

The sacrifices themselves might not be so bad, since there are several 
Level 5 Monsters with ATK power weaker than the Unfriendly Amazon. But the 
real trick is, getting the non-Tribute Monsters out in the first place, 
because you and I know that they can’t be put in play unless you 
sacrifice a weaker monster for each of them. (There is another "Labyrinth 
of Nightmare" card that can make this go faster, and that's the Trap card 
"Mask of Restrict;" that is, unless I'm translating it wrong.) Roughly, you 
have to sacrifice a total of four Monsters for just one Standby Phase for 
your Unfriendly Amazon's survival. Yeah, it’s tricky. And most people 
will compare that to the summoning of "Gate Guardian:" not worth it.

But just because her effect is so costly doesn’t mean Unfriendly Amazon 
is not worth playing; on the contrary, she is. This is how I would deal 
with her: I would wait until I have both she and an Equip Magic card in my 
hand, then I would summon the Unfriendly Amazon and Equip her with a 
heavy-hitting Magic card, and all of this of course would be at the right 
time. That way, I would have a heavy-hitting monster and use her for just 
one turn, then discard her and the Equip Magic card to the Graveyard. This 
effect of course is similar to the effect of "Limiter Removal;" it’s 
basically the same idea. And in my opinion, it's just as effective.

Then there’s "Amazon Archer." She needs you to sacrifice two Non-Tribute, 
non-effect Monsters as well, only THIS time, the sacrifice might just be 
worth it. By sacrificing these Monsters, your Amazon Archer can inflict 
1200 direct damage to your opponent’s Life Points. This would be one of 
those "perfect timing" situations; it’s late in the game, and you’re 
trailing by a few points, and you have at least 2 Monsters on the field 
like "Summoned Skull" and "Blue-Eyes White Dragon," and their powers just 
aren’t enough to get your opponent. Enter Amazon Archer, sacrifice the 
Skull and Blue-Eyes, and BOOM! Game over! Now that’s just one out of many 
possible scenarios, mind you. Chances of this happening might be extremely 
minimal. But if you play her right, the Archer could come in handy. The 
only true weakness she has is that unlike her "sister," Amazon Archer’s 
ATK points are a mere 1500. Ouch.

So, are these two ladies worth the chances? It all depends on you; in my 
opinion, Unfriendly Amazon works best in a Beatdown, and Amazon Archer fits 
in a Burner. I rate them both 2.5/5; all you have to worry about is the timing.

For questions and comments, feel free to e-mail me at KaodMaster@aol.com. 
Thank you.