Thursday

Archfiend Emperor, the Fist Lord of Horror, is one hell of a card. I believe I had this guy at #10 on my list for this set. This is a card that can really make Archfiends go, he's about as great for Fiends, and not really playable elsewhere. Dark, Fiend, Level 8, with 3000 attack and 2000 defense. First off, this is a Level 8 Monster I wouldn't fault anyone for actually tributing for. This Monster begins with a Fusilier-esque effect, where it can be Normal Summoned without tribute, and then loses half i ts attack and defense (1500-1000). If Summoned in that way, this card is destroyed during the End Phase. Not that that's actually a problem, as you're using this to pull out either a Rank 8 XYZ Monster, or a very beastly Synchro Monster. You can't Special Summon Monsters except for Fiends, which goes back to the part about not really being able to use this outside of Fiend/Archfiend. Also, once a turn, you can remove an Archfiend card from your Hand or Graveyard to target and destroy a card on the Field. He's good where he belongs, hella good, honesty.

Ratings:

Traditional: 2.85/5
Advanced: 3.85/5
Art: 5/5

We are going to take a look at another card that was holo’d out recently in Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror. If it wasn’t for the stipulation that you can only special summon Fiend-Type monsters, this card would be a lot more versatile. You could normal summon this level 8 monster after you special summoned another level 8 monster and then overlay for a rank 8 monster. Alas, there are no Rank 8 Fiend-Type monsters in the game as of yet. As a level 8 monster, you can use Trade-In on it and then special summon it with Call of the Haunted for a powerful 3000 attack monster. Or better yet, use Archfiend’s Roar to special summon it from the grave and then use Emperor’s effect to remove Roar to destroy a card your opponent controls.

You could try Archfiend Emperor along with Beast King Barbaros in a Skill Drain deck, but the main fit for this card is in an Archfiend deck. Judgment of the Light added some much needed support to Archfiends. We now have a total of 9 level 4 monsters with 1900 attack or more that we can put in our deck, plus Archfiend Heiress and Pandemonium which can search them out. They are also Dark Fiends so Dark Necrofear with Return from a Different Dimension and Escape from the Dark Dimension can work well in your Archfiend deck.

Just how good Archfiends can be is yet to be known, but putting one together and testing it our can be a lot of fun. Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror should definitely be in this deck as the boss monster just as High Priestess is in Prophecy decks. I do not think that Archfiends can compete against top tier decks so my rating will reflect that.

Good luck and good Dueling,

Traditional: 1/5
Advanced: 2.5/5

Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror
DARK/Fiend/Effect/Level 8/3000/2000
You can Normal Summon this card without Tributing, but its original ATK and DEF become halved. If Summoned this way, it is destroyed during the End Phase. You cannot Special Summon any monsters, except Fiend-Type monsters. Once per turn: You can banish 1 "Archfiend" card from your hand or Graveyard, then target 1 card on the field; destroy that target.

Ah Archfiends, one of the earliest Archetypes and one that never really worked. Konami are trying again it seems with recent expansions but it is still the same. The main problem with Archfiends is that they aren’t really an archetype just a bunch of fiends who happen to shared part of their name with other fiends.

Still before I go in an Archfiend rant, today we are looking at Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror, a monster that wants to be the big bad of this “archetype”. Statwise things are good 3000 ATK and 2000 DEF for a level 8 are all good and it is a DARK/Fiend so plenty of support there.
The first effect is one which is also critical for any high level tribute monster an alternate summoning condition. Simply you can Normal Summon (not Set) it without tribute, but its ATK and DEF are halved and it will die during the End Phase. While Skill DSrain will give it back its stats it is still going to go boom. Also even when you have it on the field, you can only special summon Fiends, still if this is in an Archfiend deck, that isn’t much of a problem.
The second effect allows you to banish an Archfiend card to destroy 1 card on the field. On the plus side it can be any Archfiend card not just a monster and it can destroy any card on the field and you do get the option to banish cards from either your hand or graveyard, but we have seen this effect before on so many cards it makes you wonder if you could just play one of them.

Overall, it has an alternate summoning condition and good stats it has a solid effect, but if you do use the alternate summoning condition, it is a one shot and it doesn’t really work unless you are using an Archfiend deck and no-one does.

Traditional: 1.5/5
Advanced: 2.5/5