DM7FGD's Look Into the Future

Article #18 - Lords of the Undead

For today’s Article, we’ll be taking a look at 3 future Zombie-Type Monster Cards. One of them being what is one of the most anticipated cards to be released in English. We begin with reviews on the Monsters From Darkness; Despair and Fear.

Fear From the Darkness
Dark/Zombie - Level 4 - 1700/1500
Effect: If this card is placed in the Cemetery from your hand or deck by
an opponent's card effect, Special Summon this card to the Field.[/b]
*Rare from Japanese 304 Set. Coming in Dark Crisis*

Despair From Darkness
Dark/Zombie - Level 8 - 2800/3000
Effect: If this card is placed in the Cemetery from your hand or deck by
an opponent's card effect, Special Summon this card to the Field.
*Common from Japanese 304 Set. Also coming in Dark Crisis*

Both of these Monsters have similar Effects, that could make your opponent regret ever playing any Hand or Deck Destruction cards against your deck. (i.e. Zaloog, Needle Worm, Delinquent Duo, etc.) One little mistake like that from your opponent, and they'll be up against either a pretty well-balanced 1700 ATK Level 4 Monster, or they'll be up against a Level 8, 2800 ATK behemoth of a Monster.

Although it may seem otherwise, Fear From Darkness is a bit more versatile than Despair From Darkness, if playing these Monsters in a deck such as a Zombie deck. The reason being because Fear From Darkness won't render totally useless if it doesn't get discarded by an opponent's card Effect, as you could easily just Summon it to the Field. You most likely wouldn't exactly want to Sacrifice 2 Monsters for a Despair From Darkness.

Plus there's the fact that Fear can be searched by Sangan or brought out by Pyramid Turtle, and Despair From Darkness would be useless in either of those situations. Don't get me wrong, though, Despair can be absolutely devastating if you can get it out by way of your opponent‘s Hand/Deck Destruction Cards. Could be a rare situation in which you thank your opponent for using Hand/Deck Destruction against you. With 2800 ATK, although it probably won't last long on the Field, Despair From Darkness is certainly a very powerful Monster. Imagine a situation in which you have 2-3 cards in hand, 2 being Despair From Darkness, and your opponent activates the Delinquent Duo, ultimately choosing both of your Despairs.. Your opponent would have wasted 1000 LP just to give you 2 Monsters on the Field, both with a very powerful 2800 ATK each. That'd certainly give you some advantages. When using the Monsters from Darkness, what would usually mean card disadvantage for you, could actually end up meaning great Field advantage for you.

Neither Monster is restricted, in case you may be wondering, nor will they be. They're good, especially if you get them out for free, but they're not exactly great. I'd rate Fear From Darkness an all-around 7.3/10 and 8.3/10 for Zombies in general. I’d rate Despair an all-around 7.2/10 and 8.2/10 for Zombies in general.

Now for a Monster that is Restricted (To 1 Per Deck), and that is one of the most anticipated cards for English release.. Vampire Lord.

*Unknown English release. Released as a Japanese Ultra Rare in the Kaiba Structure Deck Volume 1, and reprinted in the DL4 set.*

For only being a Level 5 Monster, and with its power in being able to be Special Summoned by Pyramid Turtle, V-Lord is indeed a Monster to be wary of, but only being able to run 1 in a deck doesn't make it as powerful as it was (When it was un-restricted) and could be. V-Lord is certainly a bit of an overrated Monster Card.. But anyways, let's start off with the basics on V-Lord..

Note its Effect of return. "If this Monster is destroyed by an opponent's card Effect, Special Summon this card to the Field during your next Standby Phase." This Effect may be activated if it's destroyed via Raigeki, Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute, and other cards like that. This Effect may not be activated if Vampire Lord is "sent" to the Graveyard, "discarded" to the Graveyard, or destroyed in Battle.

With 2000 ATK, and the ability to be searched out by Black Forest Witch or Pyramid Turtle, Vampire Lord is, no doubt, a very powerful Monster. And its return Effect can be great because almost more often than not, V Lord's going to be destroyed by means of a Magic or Trap card if it's on the Field. But these days, V Lord can be relatively easily destroyed in Battle by cards such as Genocide King Demon (Check Futuristic Fiends), Berserk Gorilla (Check Beastly Behemoths), Goblin Attack Force or some other High-Level Monsters such as Jinzo, as well as the removers, of course, the Dimensional Warriors (Check Warriors of the Future). Also note that if Chaos Emperor Dragon’s (Check Messenger of Chaos) Effect is used while V-Lord is present, V-Lord’s return Effect will not be able to take place, as it wasn’t “Destroyed.” Key word there.

Vampire Lord's Deck Destruction Effect can be very useful as well. Do damage to the opponent and name a type of card and they search their deck for a card of that type and discard it. (Note it may be any card they wish of the type you mention) Depending on your current position in the duel, your choices may vary. It’s an Effect that may help you, or it may backfire, depending on what type of deck your opponent is running, so when using V Lord, just be sure to be careful when naming a Card Type.

So overall, a Monster with a decent ATK strength for a Level 5 Monster, with a Deck Destruction Effect and a Return Effect that most likely comes in handy more often than not, and with the ability to be searched by BFW and brought out by Pyramid Turtle, Vampire Lord is certainly a very good Monster. The fact is, though, that its Restriction to 1 took away much of its power. Many duelists were having lots of fun being able to abuse 2 and 3 Vampire Lords in a single Deck, but all that came to an end when it was restricted to 1, back on April 1st of this year. The power's still there, but the abusive power is gone.

V Lord's a good Monster indeed, but it's not a Monster I would consider "great", as many do. Calling V Lord "great" or "the best High Level Monster in the game" is simply overrating it. When the card's released in English, which is at an unknown time, you can bet that many duelists will be trying it out, and it will remain in many of those people's decks, as it is a good card, and at times can be very good, but it's really not that "great." It's one of those cards that you simply use if you like it, or don't use if you dislike it. I, for one, dislike Vampire Lord (Not so much “dislike“ it itself, since it is a good card.. I just don‘t like using it), though I do use it in 2 of my Decks.

I give Vampire Lord an overall 8/10. Quite a few people are beginning to think that V-Lord should be moved to only being Semi-Restricted. since it doesn’t exactly rank up there with the Chaos Monsters and such.. That really wouldn’t be too bad of a thing to happen, so we can only wait and hope, I suppose.

To finish off this article, here’s a Zombie Deck example, followed by pictures of the cards.

1x Vampire Lord

1x Jinzo

2x Despair From Darkness

2x Fear From Darkness

2x Pyramid Turtle

1x Spirit Reaper

1x Royal Bodyguards

1x Des Lacooda

1x Tribe-Infecting Virus

1x Fiber Jar

1x Black Forest Witch

1x Sangan

1x Sinister Serpent

2x Book of Life - Forbidden Magic

2x Call of the Corpses

1x Book of Moon

1x Raigeki

1x Dark Hole

3x MST

1x Harpy Feather Duster

1x Heavy Storm

1x Pot of Greed

1x Graceful Charity

1x Mirage of Nightmare

1x Monster Reborn

1x Premature Burial

1x Change of Heart

1x Snatch Steal

1x Nobleman of Crossout

1x Imperial Order

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Torrential Tribute

1x Ring of Destruction

1x Mirror Force

http://cardhaus.com/images/304-025.jpg

And that’ll do it for today’s article. As always, you can contact me with any questions or comments at dm7fgd32@hotmail.com

Until Next Time..