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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day

Countdown:
Top 10 Yu-Gi-Oh Cards of 2008

#9 - Thunder King Rai-Oh

Card Ratings
Traditional: 3.33
Advanced: 4.75 

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst.
3 is average.
5 is the highest rating.


Date Reviewed - 01.06.09

Back to the main COTD Page

 

Dark Paladin
#9--Thunder King Rai-Oh

I'm excited for this card, as we haven't even reviewed it, yet it made the list. We have here, a little gem of a monster, Level 4 who is a Light attributed and Thunder type with a delicious 1900 attack and an 800 defense.

Now, for the first effect, our Thunder friend prevents either player from adding a card to their Hand outside of their respective Draw Phase, or simply Drawing...everything else is out. Secondly, you can send this face up card (nice, so attack or defense, as long as face up) to negate the Special Summon of an opponent's monster and destroy it.

Incredible, delicious, why the hell haven't we reviewed this guy before? Obviously, this guy is pretty splashable, but he shines pretty well in Lightsworn and even Counter-Fairy by simpling fitting the Light attribute.

Ratings:

Traditional: 3.5/5

Advanced: 4.5/5

Art: 5/5 Great picture, I feel sorry he seems to have points or even pegs almost as opposed to real arms or legs, but I get the feeling he can levitate, hover, or fly...
General Zorpa Thunderking Rai-Oh

Coming in at number 9 is one of Jaden's cards, Rai-Oh. Now Thunderking has pretty good stats just by himself as a 1900 ATK LIGHT Thunder Type. 1900 is pretty big nowadays, able to take down all but Legendary Dragons and Tribute/Synchro monsters. The LIGHT attribute makes him a prime candidate for Honest, so LIttle City can make good use of him.

Speaking of decks that can use him, his effects are game breaking. He can tribute himself in order to negate the Special Summon of a monster and kill it as well as stop all players from searching for cards from their decks. This means that the standard opening play for an Anti-Meta deck is going to be Summon Rai-Oh, Set Solemn Judgment, Set Compulsory Evacuation Device and there is little a Tele-DAD player can do to get around it.

The first effect is easily the most popular, getting a player to either kill him with battle or with a kill spell as a Special Summon will only result in you losing your monster. Rai-Oh is not all powerfull though. He is unable to stop the effects of Elemental Recruiters (Mystic Tomato and friends) as well as the effects of Green Baboon, Guardian of the Forest and Gorz, Emissary of Darkness.

However, I find that his second effect is just as disruptive, stopping all of these commonly played cards. Elemental Hero Stratos, Gladiator Proving Ground, Reinforcements of the Army, Charge of the Light Brigade, Sangan and Goblin Zombie. All of these effects help to make the top decks what they are. Combine that with a Special Summon negation ability and 1900 points backed up by Honest and you have a winning card.

Besides anti-meta decks and Little City decks, this card can fit into numerous different strategies. Lightsworn can use him to great effect, as they will only lose Charge of the Light Brigade to his effect and they can protect him well enough with both Honest and Necro Gardna. He will also add a signifigant attack boost to your field and deck, allowing you to keep pace with other big monsters.

He can also be used in Gladiator Beast decks. They don't really need to use Gladiator Proving Ground in order to win. Plus negating Special Summons without giving your opponent the ability to negate your own Special Summons. Dark Armed Dragon and Judgment Dragon really ruin Gladiators day, so any card that is aggressive and can help to negat opposing strategies will pretty much make the cut.

Traditional-2/5
Advanced-5/5

Jeff Lang
9: Thunderking Rai-oh

    Today’s card for review is Thunder King Rai-Oh. Yet another potential game breaker. This guy is so crazy good. He will stop Gadgets, Stratos, Sangan, Reinforcement of The army and Charge Of The Light Brigade to name a few with its first effect. Like that wasn’t good enough, you can also pop him to negate a special summon. I see no reason not to be using this card right now it is so good.
Mr. Random Thunder King Rai-Oh has many things going for him. First of all, his attack is 1900 and most things can't beat that unless another card is used. Most decks strongest no tribute normal summon monsters are between 1700 and 1850. Because of its 1900 ATK it can get over annoying Legendary Jujitsu Masters, but of course not Gravekeeper's Spies.

1900 ATK and an effect with Thunder King makes him an awesome card. Its first effect stops anything added to the hand for both players. This means that no Stratos, Gadgets, Sangan or Reinforcement of the Army search. It limits what moves your opponent can make and its great as a first turn summon. It doesn't stop the draws though.

Thunder King's second effect is whenever a monster is special summoned, you can send him to the graveyard to negate the special summon and destroy it. It comes in handy when the opponent has a Dark Armed Dragon or Judgment Dragon in hand ready to use. Its taking a win condition away from them. Its a great counter to most of the top decks and should be a side deck card for most decks.

Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 4/5

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