Dark
Paladin |
All right, we're not looking at anything new this
week, nor are we reviewing Tues or Weds in order to
celebrate our freedom from British Rule--Pojo...but
the three cards this week, as well as the first
three next week, were picked by me. There isn't
necessarily a theme here, just as to whether these
cards are still any good, useful as tech, and
whatever else comes up in the reviews.
Having said that, we open with Trade-In. Trade-In
is a card I assume most players are familiar with,
and one of the ever growing army of cards that
requires a cost, in this case, discarding a Level 8
Monster from the Hand to the Graveyard, allowing you
to Draw two cards from the Deck. First, let's point
out this doesn't give you any immediate advantage.
This, plus the discard, and you replace both cards.
It of course doesn't mean you didn't Draw something
that will lead to advantage of course.
Now, the big places to play Trade-In would be a
Dragon Deck, specifically say one of a Hieratic
build. There are other Level 8 Monsters people
play, but odds are you'd much rather be playing what
you would be discarding. Obviously we very seldom
tribute for a Level 8 Monster anyway, so this can
help you get said Monster to the Graveyard for
revival. I mean, there's a place for this in a
Demise Deck if anyone still or enjoys playing
something like that. Light and Darkness Dragon
could be a target too.
Ratings:
Traditional: 2/5
Advanced: 3/5 Average, some Decks as mentioned,
can really use it, while others have no place for
it.
Art: 3/5
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Philosophical
Psycho
The "Psycho" in "Philosophical
Psycho" is short for "Psychological." "Philosophical-Psychological" is short for something else as well... |
As Pojo.com is an American establishment, no new
CotD will be provided for Tuesday and Wednesday in
observation of The United States of America's
"declaration of independence" from The United
Kingdom of Great Britain on July 4, 1776. I can't
really tell if any other Pojo articles (other than
CotD) will still be operational, but I'd just
recommend to check back next Thursday instead.
Today's card is a Gold Series 4 Common and the other
two this week are from Gold Series 2, so you can
expect them to be at least a 3/5 rating and for most
of them to have been commonly placed in Structure
Decks.
This card, as you may know, initially made its debut
for use in the Rise of the Dragon Lords Structure
(Dragons are arguably the best users of Trade-In).
It's very hard to go so in-depth with this card,
given it's just "discard a card a draw two."
Level 8 monsters are scarcely used, although as far
as any card that has an effect of drawing two cards,
Trade-In would have to be one of the best. Many
monsters, especially Level 8 ones, serve better use
in the Graveyard than in the hand, as it is easier
to summon them (Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted,
their own effects) or to use them for other effects
(food for Black Luster Soldier, even discarding BLS
himself and getting him back with Warrior Returning
Alive). You might even want to get rid of a Level 8
monster that's taking up space in your hand.
(Quoting Kaiba in episode 71: "Double Duel - Part 2"
in his tag duel against Lumis and Umbra: "It'd be
better off in the Graveyard.") Many cards can even
recycle the monster you just discarded back into
your hand, such as with Warrior Returning Alive,
Ancient Gear Workshop, or Preperation of Rites.
Perhaps even more infamously is the Diamond Dude
Turbo, commonly abbreviated to DDT. Destiny Hero -
Diamond Dude is notorious in using his effect to
activate powerful Spell Cards without needing to pay
their costs (such as, say, discarding a Level 8
monster). Destiny Hero decks are very multifarious,
but this specific variation capitalizes on the very
abusive relationships that Diamond Dude has with
Trade-In and Destiny Draw (with Destiny Hero -
Plasma being available if either of those Spell
Cards are drawn).
I would say the biggest letdowns of this card, aside
from not being able to discard 8 or above, is that
the cost of a discard is a painful one, and
admittedly it's a very restrictive discard (Pot of
Greed was banned for being a complete +1, and if
there were a card that could discard any other plain
card for two draws, that might be broken still). If
your card gets Magic Drained (an admittedly
infrequently used card), you would be placed in a
tight position. (Most people, however, find it very
counterproductive to use Dark Bribe or Solemn
Judgment on draw cards.) Taking these factors into
account, though, Trade-In will rarely be negated,
and given that it draws two cards, there is no net
card loss and it is a great help in thinning your
deck size. That said, it is a good card.
Niche Decks: as a general rule of thumb, one copy
should be used if you run at least three LV8's, two
should be used if you run at least five LV8's, and
three should be used if you're not using an insane
amount of LV8's or Diamond Dudes, but here are a few
of the most viable Decks that I haven't mentioned
yet that most appreciate this draw card: Normal
Beatdown, Fairies, Zombies, Ancient Gear, Exodia
(Dragon and Destiny Hero variants)
Trad: 5/5 (I know you have Pot of Greed and other
broken drawing combos, but Traditional features many
Level 8 monsters such as Dark Magician of Chaos, not
to mention that Trade-In is indeed one of the most
balanced draw cards ever, and this type of speed
alongside Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity is
invaluable for FTK)
Adv: 3.4/5
Aesthetics: 3/5 It's a nice medieval, archaic
artwork, providing a bronze figurine to a merchant
for two gold coins. They really could've picked a
better statue than Felgrand Dragon... Felgrand's
effect only activates when it is destroyed on the
field. Also, maybe a name other than Trade-In
would've been a better fit.
Philosophy Corner: I watched the original Star Wars
triology for the first time last week. Granted, I've
watched The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the
Jedi before, but I've never seen The Phantom Menace
or A New Hope, so I never really caught on with the
story. Anyway, after watching it, I got a lot more
respect for people serving in armed forces. Still
(and this is ironic because I'm writing an article
about Duel Monsters), this concept of war and
ruthless violence puts me off a lot. Violence is
common in the animal kingdom; perhaps the human
penchance for blood is only natural? I might be a
bit rusty on the details, but the
American Revolutionary War's main grievance was that
during this time period, Britain was in a great deal
of warring (especially against France) and heavily
taxed the American colonies for their cause.
American Patriots also felt the British were too
harsh in imposing their jurisdiction, especially the
"taxation without representation" part. It was for
these reasons the colonies reluctantly agreed to
sever from the motherland forever. America won
because many of Britain's enemies helped the
American cause for the sake of insulting Britain.
Considering the bloodshed that followed, I can't
really say I whole-heartedly approved of the
revolution. Actually, I shed dubious light on the
entire point of having countries. I wrote a story
like that once...
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