Classic COTD Reviews – Ancient Sanctuary (2004)

Card name

Pojo avg

My rating

The Sanctuary in the Sky 

2.9

1

It’s a -1.  And it requires you to lose monsters in battle to get its effect.  So that’s more minusing.

It does nothing to add to your field or hand advantage.

There is no situation you use this.  Even the most dedicated Fairy deck avoids this.

The Agent of Force – Mars

3

1

This is what I call “codependency” in card games.  When a card has no value by itself, and requires another card (which also has no value by itself).

The value floor is really low here.  0 ATK and 0 DEF.  Not being affected by Spells/Traps doesn’t matter if you have no stats to back it up.

What if you don’t draw Sanctuary?  Or what if it gets hit with various spell/trap removal cards?

And this assumes your life points are ahead.  What if you’re a little bit behind in the duel and you need to turn things around.  Having a card that only helps when you’re winning makes it worse.

Also, what you’re only, say 1000 or 1500 life points ahead.  Then this card is pointless.

The Agent of Judgment – Saturn 

3

1.5

2400 ATK is the standard for a tribute, and unlike Mars there’s at least some baseline value if you don’t have Sanctuary on the field.

But still, it’s situational.  You need a tribute monster + a field spell + your life points need to be substantially higher to get any sort of value.

Late-game, the burn effect could be a good finisher.  But in many situations, giving up this monster and the Battle Phase isn’t worth it.  You can deal a lot of damage just by allowing this to attack directly.

Or…. you can just use Zaborg to destroy the opponent’s monster and attack direct for 2400.

Shout to Kuro Basara who had the most accurate review.

The Agent of Creation – Venus 

3.3

2.75

I’ve seen a Goat Format deck list top with this card once.

The upside is that this card deck thins and fills your graveyard with LIGHT’s.  And you can put some nice damage on the board with 3 Shineballs out.

The downside, you -1 if you draw the Shineballs before you draw this card.  And you also -1 lategame if you draw into another Venus but already summoned the Shineballs.

Archlord Zerato 

2.6

1

Horrible for so many reasons

1) You destroy all the opponent’s monsters, but you have to use 3 cards to do it (Zera + Sky + a discard).  The opponent having more than 3 monsters is rare, so there’s no path to generating card advantage. 

2) What are the odds of you having Zera + Sky + this card on the field.

3) Sky, as mentioned above does nothing.  Zera is an effectless monster with weak stats.  

All around “codependency”

Just use Zaborg instead…

Emissary of the Afterlife 

3.5

2.75

Technically a +1.  1600 ATK is quite nice for a “floater” monster that replaces itself.

Very niche card.  It’s a must-have in Exodia.  At this point, Confiscation and Forceful Sentry bans help.  But the deck still has to play around Delinquent Duo and Trap Dustshoot.

And, later on in slower formats, it’s a +1 floater by being able to bring in a 1700 ATK LV3 monster or a defense wall.  

It’s not meta.  99% of decks never use this.  But it has a purpose.

Mystik Wok 

3.6

3.5

Reviewers were right that it’s good but wrong about why.

Life gain decks were never even remotely viable, and some of the combos they mentioned have a virtually 0% chance of happening against a half-decent opponent.

This is never a main deck card.  It’s a -1 that doesn’t help your hand or board state at all.

But it’s viable as a side deck card against burn, especially Ojama Trio burn (the tribute can help you free up a monster slot + you take less damage from Secret Barrel and Just Desserts)

Blowback Dragon 

3.8

3.5

Can destroy either monsters or spells/trap but is luck-based.  Can plus or at least break even.

I‘d personally main Zaborg over Blowback because the effect is guaranteed. 

And I’d side deck Mobius (which comes out next set) for decks that rely on spells/traps.  Mobius effect is guaranteed and it hits 2 cards – not 1.

Still, Blowback is great for Machine decks and a good card in general.

Enemy Controller 

3.9

3.5

This card came out at a perfect time.  The ban list banning a few power spells made room for this.

The switch position effect is technically a -1 but can break even if you destroy it in battle.  Viable in beatdown vs. beatdown mirrors.

^ Which, I understand, back in 2004-2005, beatdown was all the rage.  We didn’t have Chaos Turbo back then.

Though the switch to defense effect won’t do you much good against DD Assailant, DDWL, Tomato, Sangan, because they can replace themselves in battle.  But good against beaters like Blade Knight, Kycoo, Gorilla, etc.

The 2nd effect (tribute to take control) is harder to meet.  You would need a specific card like Scapegoat or Sinister to not minus.  And you’d want a LV5-6 monster in hand to tribute the opponent’s monster for.  This can be a powerful finisher.

Good card.  Viable for side decks.  Viable if you have 3x Scapegoats for tributes.  Viable if people in your tournament scene are/were running beatdown.  But not a staple IMO.

Pre ban list: 3 / 5

Advanced format: 3.5 / 5

Brain Control released (a few sets later): 3.25 / 5

The End of Anubis 

4

3.5

The effect is good but it usually won’t do anything on the turn you summon it (unless the opponent has Sangan/Sinister/MOF set).  

Granted, those are 3 very powerful cards, but still 3 out of 40 cards.

It doesn’t have as much potential for making a huge play on the turn its summoned.  Compared to Jinzo letting you play aggro, Airknight piercing and drawing, Zaborg destroying a monster and pushing for 2400.

The 2500/0 stats are fine; these stats get over 1 relevant card (Jinzo), but its vulnerable to Book of Moon.

The stats aren’t much of a factor either way here; it comes down to how much you value the effect.

Solar Flare Dragon 

3

2

I know this was popular in stall burn decks back then.  It relies on stall, since 1500 ATK dies to lots of things.

I’d still take Stealth Bird. 1000 damage > 500.  And 1700 DEF survives Breaker, Tribe and DD Assailant.

Having another Pyro is a hard requirement to meet.  There are almost Pyro’s and you wouldn’t run subpar cards just to enable this card.

There are better ways to run burn.

Needle Burrower 

3

1.5

I’ve seen 1 Reasoning/Gate Machine OTK deck in Goat format that used this card.  Though this was 2 or 3 ban lists later when the power level was lower.

Low ATK.  Costs a tribute.  Generates no hand or field advantage.

Night Assailant 

3.8

4.25

This card is wild:

It makes discards free

It counters Delinquent Duo

It retrieves Magician of Faith (reuse Pot/Duo)

Good flip effect 

Synergy with Tsukuyomi

This card is currently an essential part of Chaos Turbo in Goat Format (nowadays). 

Players back then knew it was a good card, but maybe they slightly underrated how good it was.

Decent for any deck in general.  Amazing for decks with discards.

Amplifier 

2

1

This card only works if you control a specific monster on the field.  That monster is limited to 1 and is a tribute monster.  Mega mega situational.

This card’s effect does more harm than good.  It makes Jinzo easier to destroy with cards like Breaker, Heavy and MST).

You -1 whether this card is destroyed, or Jinzo is destroyed.

Sealmaster Meisei / Talisman of Trap/Spell Sealing 

2.1

1

How this card got above a 1 is surprising.

Sealmaster is a vanilla monster with bad stats.

These cards have zero value floor on their own, and do nothing if you don’t draw them together.

The Talisman cards negate your effects too!

If Sealmaster is destroyed in battle, you -2, since you lose the monster and the Talisman.

“Floodgate” cards are only as valuable as the monsters you have on the board applying pressure.  At 1100 ATK, the opponent won’t need spell or trap cards to destroy this.

Codependency.

Double Coston

3.4

1.5

Reviewers?

It’s a co-dependent card.  Does nothing if you don’t have a 2-tribute in hand.  But the two-tribute is a dead-draw in your hand without this card.

You only get 1 Normal Summon a turn, so if you summon this, you have to keep it alive for a turn before you can summon the tribute.

Fourth, at 1700 ATK, while not absolutely terrible, it can -1 against various LV4 beaters.  

I give this a 1.5 instead of 1 because Zombie support like Pyramid Turtle and Book of Life can mitigate the normal summon issue.  

But the core problem is that there’s only 1 good two-tribute monster (DMoC, limited at 1).

Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower 

2

1

Bad stats.  You likely -1 on this.

400 ATK means you take a lot of damage in battle.

No standalone value.  Reliant on other cards.

Doesn’t create hand or field advantage.

Even if you do activate this effect a few times, that’s not nearly enough to deck the opponent out as a win condition.

Goblin King 

3

1

The value floor is so extremely low.  With 0-1 other Fiend monsters it’s only 0 or 1000.

2000 is the critical breakpoint but you need 2 other Fiend monsters.  Which makes you vulnerable to Mirror Force or Torrential Tribute.

3000-4000 ATK is an impractical pipedream.  0-1000 ATK is the most realistic scenario.

Mazera DeVille

3

1.25

I like this card’s effect better than Zerato’s because it’s hitting cards in the hand before they can be played rather than hitting monsters which have already used their effects.

Even then, it’s a pipedream.  As said above, you’re giving up 3 cards to send 3 cards.

And it requires you to run bad cards like Zera.

 Running Pandemonium with Zera and Mazera

King of the Swamp 

2.5

I am torn on this card.  In a vacuum, it’s effect is really good.  Both the search and the substitute.

It’s good for decks that use Polymerization; but those decks just aren’t good.

Monster Gate 

2.8

3.5

Reviewer scores varied a lot on this card.

For most decks, you wouldn’t use this.  It’s a -1.  You give up a monster + a spell to summon just a monster (and it’s at random).

But this is essential for Reasoning / Monster Gate decks, which we’d especially see in Goat format.

That being said, this may have not been common knowledge at the time, and if I were just a reviewer looking at the card, and I didn’t know about that deck, it would seem subpar.

Theban Nightmare 

3.25

1

Every reviewer here was off.  Having the perfect type, attribute, and searchability means nothing if the card’s effect is bad.

How often will you actually get this card’s effect off?  1 out of every 40 or 50 games?  I look at the most common case scenario; not the best possible feverdream scenario.

Also consider, if you have no other cards in hand or field, you’ve almost certainly lost the game and it’s too late for even this to succeed. 

I’ve written in previous articles how ATK points (past a certain point) don’t matter that much.  

An extremely situational 3000 (which is overkill) does not make up for 1500 ATK (which is insufficient) that this card will usually be.at.

White Magician Pikeru 

~2.5

1

Most of the reviewers were off base here.

Yes, this requires stall, but even in those decks its counterintuitive.

For the stall decks, the win condition is burn.  You want to burn down the opponent’s life points before they draw the answers to your setup.  If you’re spending a card on this, it means you’re not putting a card into burn or whatever your win con is.

Gear Golem the Moving Fortress 

~3

3

Pojo reviewers varied a lot with their scores, and I lean toward the middle.

GK Spy is a better defense wall (DARK, usually a +1 and thins your deck).

But if you’re looking for raw defense points, right now Gear Golem is the highest LV4 defense (without any negative effects).

The direct attack may be okay for burn decks; it can’t get through Gravity/LLAB but can get through Messenger.

Gogiga Gagagigo 

1.5

1

We all agree this card is bad.  Two tribute (almost unsummonable).  No effect.

It’s LV8.  If it were LV7, it could be brought out with A Legendary Ocean with only 1 tribute.  But even then it would still be subpar.  Co-dependency is an issue.  It would be dead without ALO.

There’s a point in diminishing returns when it comes to ATK power in classic Yugioh.

But there’s no commonly used card that 2950 would get over that 2400-2500 wouldn’t.

Metal Armored Bug 

2

1.25

See above.  Two tribute.  No effect (zero utility).  Diminishing returns on ATK power.

Being searchable by Witch doesn’t matter if this card brings nothing to the table.

Sure, it can be summoned by Pinch Hopper in Insect decks, but they’re co-dependent.

Ghost Knight of Jackal 

2.8

1.5

It dies to any LV4 1800+ beater.  Imagine paying a tribute and then going -1 in battle.

If it destroys a flip effect, its summoned face-up so you don’t get the effect.

Oh, and destroying Witch/Sangan or Tomato in battle and summoning it your field will allow the opponent to search

Destroying Witch/Sangan or Tomato in battle helps your opponent.

Zaborg the Thunder Monarch 

3.25

4.25

This card was criminally underrated on release.

Gets rid of flip effects/DDWL/Tomato without having to attack into them.

Gets rid of Jinzo or any powerful monster, so it being weaker than the opponent’s monster is never an issue.

Destroying a monster and dealing 2400 direct damage puts you ahead both in card advantage and life point advantage.  This card was seriously slept on.

Yes, Airknight was more popular in 2004 as a Scapegoat counter.  But Zaborg would later be discovered as GK Spy is realized to be an extremely powerful card.  Zaborg counters it both with its effect and 2400 ATK.

Spirit of the Pharaoh 

1.75

1

Nearly impossible to summon.

Requires you to use a deck of several horrible cards that minus, and are dead-draws if drawn too early.

Vampire Lady

2.5

1

ExMinion’s review is spot-on.

It has one of the effects of Vampire Lord but it’s the effect that has negative value – not the good one.

It doesn’t generate hand or field advantage.  

It generates “deck advantage” for the opponent.

It -1’s in battle against a LV4 beater.

The designer of this card had the gall to give it 1550 ATK and DEF so it couldn’t be searched by Sangan or Witch.  Like anyone would ever want to search this!

The Kick Man 

2

1.5

This card has a few problems.

This card has no value standalone (it’s a 1300 ATK monster that does nothing).

It requires you to both have an equip spell in the grave.  Neither Premature nor Snatch Steal (the only 2 equips) benefit from this.

You could maybe make a niche case for United We Stand, but that is situational.

This also requires an equip in the graveyard, meaning its a dead draw early game.

Regenerating Mummy 

3.5

2.75

It counters Delinquent Duo, which is a strong and ubiquitous card, but it’s only 1 card.

Against the other 39 cards in your opponent’s deck, this is just a 1800 ATK vanilla beater once it hits the field.  Which is only barely passable in 2004.

This countering Don Zaloog is less reliable.  Not everyone runs him.  And the discard is random; what if this card is not chosen?

Being DARK and Zombie (Pyramid Turtle, Book of Life support) help a tiny bit though.

Draining Shield 

2.8

1.5

As a Battle Phase trap is slow.  And it’s a -1 that gives you temporary relief doesn’t remove the threat.

It may sometimes have value, but in most cases it’s a -1 that causes you to lose more life points in the long run because it doesn’t protect your board.

Level Limit – Area B

4

3.75

At this point, MST is at 1.  Harpie’s Feather Duster is banned.  (Mobius comes out next set, but it’ll usually be side decked – not mained).

This is a great stall card for burn or maybe other alternative win condition decks that need to buy time.

This will punish players who “under-side deck”, though