Hello again my fellow Duelists!
Once again it’s been a while, but I’ve been busy
with school, life, and visiting Wizards of the
Coast! I recently went out there with a few other
members of the community to discuss the game and its
future. Expect great things in the upcoming days
ahead! But now I’m back again and ready to provide
you all with some reviews! We’re taking a look at
the top ten cards from 2013 and today’s card is
definitely high on the scale. With an ability that
simply wins you games, let’s take a look at number
three on the list: Squillace Scourge
Name: Squillace Scourge
Civilization: Water/Darkness
Type: Creature
Race: Leviathan/Chimera
Level: 9
Power: 8000
Flavor Text: N/A
Rarity: Super Rare
Set Number: S8/S10 l 7CLA
Abilities:
(This card enters your mana zone tapped.)
Double Breaker (This creature breaks 2 shields.)
Mindcrush- When this creature enters the battle
zone, each player discards his or her hand.
Tempest of Tentacles- When this creature
enters the battle zone, your opponent can’t attack
or block with creatures until the start of your next
turn.
When Squillace Scourge first
came out, a lot of people in my area thought it
wasn’t the greatest card since it would discard both
players’ hands. Since that day, they’ve been
mistaken and the card has taken off in infamy since
its initial release on May 25, 2013. As a fun side
note, people were (and still are) mispronouncing the
card’s name. Most people say “Squill-es Scourge”
when it’s actually pronounced “Squill-at-chay
Scourge” based off one of the directors Frank
Squillace.
An 8000 body with Double
Breaker should be expected for a level 9 creature.
As a matter of fact, I think it’s a little
underpowered in that regard. I suppose they had to
find some way to balance out this card in the long
run though since its effects are ridiculous.
Mindcrush for one forces both players to discard
their hands. With the recent emergence of
Reverberate, players have been getting an insane
amount of cards in their hands by turn six or so.
Being able to punish those greedy players is always
a plus, especially if you play this guy with no
cards of your own to discard!
The second ability “Tempest of
Tentacles” can allow you to freely swing in with no
major repercussions. Your opponent won’t be able to
block your creatures and they won’t be able to
attack you at all during their next turn. There’s no
way around this effect either in the current game
environment, so when the tempest hits, there’s no
stopping it!
There are a few situational
combos you can do with this card involving King
Coral or even Heretic Prince Var-rakka. If you have
Coral out and then you summon Squillace, you have
the option to choose which effect you want to
activate and resolve first, Coral’s or Squillace’s.
If you use Coral’s effect, all of the level 4 and
less creatures in the battle zone get bounced back
to the owner’s hands. Afterward, both players have
to discard their hands, so it essentially gets rid
of all of your opponent’s smaller
creatures/blockers/etc. With Var-rakka you can
create an infinite loop that is very difficult to
break out of unless you draw one of a few outs you
need during your turn. Essentially you’ll be able to
play Squillace Scourge turn after turn forcing your
opponent to continuously have no hand and being
unable to attack or block as long as you can keep
this combo going. I haven’t seen this combo pulled
off in a competitive environment, but it doesn’t
mean that it still can’t happen.
Overall, this card has been the
bane of many duelists’ existences. The card renders
all blockers obsolete, even the untargetable Eternal
Haven! In most cases when this card hits the battle
zone, it usually spells game over for the opposing
player. This card will continue to see play for a
very long time for its devastating abilities and
that’s why it’s number three on our list.
Constructed: 4.50/5.00
(This card will win you games but it does require
some set up to make it truly effective, not to
mention that it is a level 9 creature, so it may
take a little while to get out.)
Limited: 3.00/5.00 (Clash meta introduced us
to mult-civilization cards and slowed the game down
a bit. It makes it a little bit easier to get this
card out but more often than not, the rush strategy
will prevail. If you can manage to play this guy,
you’re guaranteed to get some hits in and possibly
win the game.)
I hope you enjoyed today’s
review. Make sure to check back for the top two on
our countdown as we reveal the most powerful cards
of 2013! Until next time my fellow
Kaijudo Duel Masters, keep calm and game on!