#8 on our Top 10 Cards of 2014 is Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer.

Position on my List: #4

I’m surprised this card is so low; it is one of the best Rank 4 monsters in the game (if not the best), and succeeded in pushing Silent Honor ARK (another one of the best) into obscurity. The card is extremely versatile in what it can do, as it can wipe out any threat on the board, including Spell/Trap cards. The fact that said card goes back to the Deck means that monsters eliminated by Castel don’t get any floating effects, and Spell and Trap Cards run the risk of becoming dead later in the game.

Castel does suffer from being, at the end of the day, one for one removal, but it’s so good at its job that usually when you see a Deck using only one Rank 4, it’s either this guy or Evilswarm Exciton Knight. Given the massive amount of floaters in the current metagame, there is no reason at all to use Silent Honor ARK over this guy; it’s honestly somewhat better to use a second Castel before considering ARK.

It really is a shame that Castel only clocked in at #8 on the overall list. He deserves to be much higher.

Advanced: 5/5

Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer

First, another shout out, for Christian Moss.  He spent many hours doing behind the scenes work, working with me, to help manage the site, interviewing and hiring numerous qualified reviewers.  He put so much hard work and passion into it.  For better, for worse, Pojo.com decided it didn't want any big changes, so Chris left.  He's young, intelligent, ambitious and will certainly find a better outlet for his creativity, but right now, I just wanted to take a moment to record his place in Pojo history.

At number 8 on our top 10 countdown, we have Castel the Skyblaster Muskeeter!

This card was initially hyped to be a bit broken, but shortly after its release, people's opinions of it went down-to-earth.  We first reviewed it on August 22^nd.  That's four months ago!  Summer!  Back when it was 80 degrees instead of 35.  Time really passes by quick once you get into a routine.

Rank-4 XYZ's at this very moment aren't as big as they were months ago.  Looking at the top tier decks, Burning Abyss uses Rank-3's, Shaddolls use Rank-4's but only between Fusions and Synchros and Qliphorts doesn't use an Extra Deck period.  With the Pendulum era inbound, XYZ's will take a back seat.  But the fact is Rank-4 is the most easy to make XYZ and the majority of deck types out there use them.  Castel remains one of the best options.

It's an all-around quality card since it returns any threat on the field to the deck.  This helps in a tight pinch when there's that one card, whether it's a floodgate like Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror or a tough to get over monster.  Since it returns the card to the deck, it doesn't trigger the opponent's graveyard effects like Diamond Dire Wolf (which became largely obsolete because of this card) does.  And when push comes to shove, an XYZ deck is really for versatility and getting the monster you need out at the right moment.  The fact that Castel can get rid of practically any face-up threat makes it a must-have in a deck that uses a good amount of LV4 monsters.

The return-to-deck effect also can help offensive pushes among plenty of other things.  It also has a "Book of Moon" type effect that flips the opponent's monster face-down, that only costs 1 XYZ material.  90% of the time, people prefer to just return the threat to the deck, but sometimes, all you might need is to get over a monster with high-ATK and low-DEF, or flip a monster face-down to negate   its floodgate effect.  This, essentially, makes Maestroke obsolete as well.  A lot of people run 1 of this card, but it's not uncommon for decks like Satellarknights, which are really afraid of Light-Imprisoning Mirrors, to run 2.

My opinion of this card hasn't changed.  It was a strong solid card.  It still is.  It's made other Rank-4's obsolete, but at the same time Extra Deck space is tight and there's lots of competition.  Despite that, it's always easy to find room for Castel.

4/5

Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer

So, what to add to this that I did not mention last time…

Sadly Rank 4’s aren’t quite as large a part of the game as they were earlier during this year, this means that the impact that they have had on the game overall has also thus diminished.

Still, a good card stays a good card regardless, and it’s only a matter of time before Rank 4’s become more important again.

As for the uses of Castel, since the Extra Deck monsters from Burning Abyss, Shaddolls and Satellarknights all may/ do gain an additional effect when sent to the Graveyard, having an option to remove them from the field without while also keeping them away from the Graveyard really does come in as a very handy option.

The only thing that I change from my original review otherwise is my score, and this is mostly because of Castel’s lower attack power but more because it’s a less important card overall in game impact.

Especially note able is that not every Top Tier Deck is playing it, namely Burning Abyss.

Anything else that can Summon it such as Shaddoll’s and Satellarknights, even if it’s Summoned less consistently should still be including this in the Extra Deck, it’s effect is far too useful to overlook.

Rating: 4.25. I feel that I over rated it last time, this is more of an equaliser score.

If you can Summon Castel, it SHOULD be in your Extra Deck.

Rank 4’s currently are taking up only a couple of spaces most of the time, this takes up one of those slots as essentially a staple.

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer is a unique Rank 4 Winged Beast, and #8 on our countdown. WIND attribute and its type make it a fit for Harpies and Blackwings, despite it not having any specific requirements for Xyz. Two level 4's and you have this gunman on the field and have two choices: detach one to trigger his Book of Moon ability on any face-up monster on the field, or detach two and shuffle a face-up card on the field back to the owners deck.
 
Regardless of which effect you choose, you will be using it to take advantage. Flip a monster of yours face-down to flip it again to gain another use of a flip effect, or flip a troublesome monster on your opponents side of the field and defeat it in battle. Detach both and shuffle a card that is stopping you from making a big play for your opponents life points. Stardust and Zenmaines are prime targets for either of Musketeers effects. With 2000ATK, Musketeer will be defeating almost anything it flips face-down that belongs to your opponent. Cycling a card back into your opponents deck can cripple their strategy and future plays. Even if they have the resources to bring that card back to the field (like Dante in Burning Abyss) those are more resources they will be using to get back what they lost rather than progress forward. Sending a Shaddoll Fusion monster back to the Extra Deck versus destroying it will rob your opponent of retrieving a Shaddoll spell/trap. Both abilities are offensive, and though you will have to choose which one is more important to you, if you have ways of reattaching materials to Castel, you will get more use out of the second effect.
 
In Blackwings and Harpies Castel can be combined with Icarus Attack for further usefulness after its materials are gone. In any other deck he is a useful monster to be played alongside Silent Honor ARK. There's some debate which is better, and when to use which. To be honest, both are good and deserve slots in the Extra Deck if available. Castel can be put in any Extra Deck out there and be effective as long as the Main Deck runs a couple level 4 monsters.
 
Advanced-4/5
Art-4/5
 
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

What we have here today is, quite possibly, the most versatile rank 4 ever conceived, and what has been compared to Madolche Queen Tiaramisu in terms of versatility, in Castel, the Avian Skyblaster.
 
Obviously, in order to use this effectively in a deck, your deck needs to have the capability to get two level 4's out on the field pronto. There are quite a few that can do it, so don't expect me to list them, and most certainly don't expect me to list Geargia, Satellarknights, Fire Fists, Gadget, Mermails, Shaddolls, Qliphorts(assuming you don't have a Qliphort as a scale), Evilswarms, Constellars. 2000 is just alright, and Winged-Beast brings up possible Icarus Attack interactions.
 
Obviously, its effects(mostly the second one) are when it shines. Its first effect uses one of its materials to flip an opponents' monster face-down. If you remember, Maestroke does the exact same thing here, so nothing special, aside from the 200 more attack and no protection. Its second effect uses two Materials to return one face-up card on the field to the deck. This is a very powerful effect, and essentially is removal for any problem card you need.
 
All of these perks aside, this card does have some downfalls. Lack of inherent protection means it can easily fall to any effect, and 2000 is certainly not gonna last very long on the battlefield. Cards such as Number 101: Silent Honor Ark can most certainly be more beneficial due to its stayability, but in terms of removing otherwise unremovable cards, this card definitely warrants 1(or even 2) slots.
 
Advanced:4/5
Traditional:Whoplaysthisformat/5
 
Art: Surprisingly decent, 3.5/5