Subject: Amazoness Attack! ~ KuroKarasu WARNING: The following is extremely long, but worthwhile. It might be a good idea to get anything sugary or- On second thought, I actually want people to LISTEN to me. Disclaimers: I didn't invent Duel Monsters, and the translations are Edo's. ~ "Magician's Force" sounds like a set devoted to Spellcasters, doesn't it? Well, despite the name, it actually has a few other qualities in it that make it interesting, to say the least. This includes the array of Amazoness (Amazon) cards. So far, in the English game, the Spell of Mask (LON here in the U.S.) Amazonesses aren't very widely used, if at all. There's logical reason for that, especially if we revisit the effects: SM-30 FRIEND-SLAYER KNIGHTESS ( The Unfriendly Amazon) ( NOTE: This card WAS NOT originally an Amazoness, but I'm counting her because it seemed planned that the cards from CoBM would be "Amazon" cards, and would be used in an Amazoness deck with that change. However, Konami revised all of the Amazoness cards to apply to Archer, but here we go anyways...) Type: Effect Monster Earth/Warrior/4/2000/1000 Effect: During your Standby Phase, sacrifice 1 of your monsters on the Field or destroy this card. SM-31 AMAZONESS ARCHER (Amazon Archer) Type: Effect Monster Earth/Warrior/4/1400/1000 Effect: Sacrifice 2 of your monsters on the Field to do 1200 damage to your opponent. These two are what I call "Scapegoat Amazons" because they're semi-reliant on having a monster on the field, and Scapegoat's the easiest way to supply those. Of course, Snatch Steal and Change of Heart are always handy as well; why waste a monster of your own? Sad as this is, I'd have to tell you to at LEAST stay away from Unfriendly Amazon, as it's not worth sacking a monster every Standby Phase just to keep a 2000-ATK monster alive. If you REALLY must use an Amazoness from LON, go with Archer. Having 1200 damage done to your opponent can be a game-winner if pulled off at the right time! Though, I'd suggest destroy your opponent's face-down M/Ts before doing so...Don't worry, every other Amazoness known at this time doesn't require any sacs whatsoever. Speaking of Amazonesses in the English game, here's a card that people will, I guarantee, be after as soon as episode 91 of the anime hits the U.S.: WJ-02 AMAZONESS CHAIN-WIELDER (Amazoness Chain Master) Type: Effect Monster Earth/Warrior/4/1500/1300 Effect: If this Monster is destroyed and is placed in a Cemetery as a result of Battle, you may pay 1500 Life Points to choose a Monster card in your opponent's hand. Put that card in your hand, and you may use it for the remainder of the duel. (If the card is put into a Cemetery, put it in its owner's Cemetery.) Ultra Rare I liked this card even before I knew the effect. The effect just makes me like her even more; it can be abused in so many ways! The REALLY nice thing to do with it is discard whatever monster was swiped. Discarding it opens more possibilities, including removal and resurrection! Fun! Also, I'm sure it's pretty humiliating to be beaten by your own monster! Be sure you use a good bit of LP gain, though; as with Lily, the cost is the killer...(Note that the effect is different in the anime and Manga. Trust me, this lady would be BROKEN if we used that effect!) Now to the meat of this whole thing that I've used my time for: 303-005 AMAZONESS PALADIN Earth/Warrior/4/1700/300 Increase this card's attack strength by 100 for each Monster card you have on the Field with [Amazoness] in its name. This is going to be the main hard-hitting Monster in Amazoness decks. Sure, it's not a Gemini Elf, but get a decent amount of Amazonesses on the field and she'll be lethal. Oh, and she gets a self-bonus, too! 303-006 AMAZONESS MARTIAL ARTIST (Amazoness Fighter) Earth/Warrior/4/1500/1300 (For some reason, the stats were editted on the English card..) Battle Damage done to this card's controller due to this card being in Battle is reduced to 0. First off, this effect is NOT a Waboku. Unless Upper Deck/Konami modifies it, it only applies to the Martial Artist. However, this doesn't make it useless; being somewhat spared from a Gemini Elf attack is a plus! Also, if she attacks something like Labyrinth Wall, no damage to LPs! Not as lethal as Swordswoman's effect, but if you can't get Swordswoman, might as well have SOME protection. 303-007 AMAZONESS SWORDSWOMAN (Amazoness Swordswoman) Earth/Warrior/4/1500/1600 Battle Damage done to this card's controller due to this card being in Battle is done to the opponent. Ultra Rare / Parallel Rare ...Ouch. For those of you who have trouble figuring out what that effect means, it means that any "overflow" Battle Damage ordinarily done after the owner of the Swordswoman is done to the opponent instead. This, like Chain-Wielder's effect, can be abused so much it's not funny. This is a VERY evil card that'll cut a nasty chunk of your opponent's LP away if they aren't careful! My favorite way to use this pretty lady? Give her a Ring of Magnetism, then get Amazoness' Pet Tiger out. In this case, by all means, LOWER THOSE STATS! It means more delightful Damage! 303-008 AMAZONESS BLOWGUNNER (Amazoness Blowpiper) Earth/Warrior/3/800/1500 During your Standby Phase, choose 1 of your opponent's Monsters on the Field. Decrease that Monster's attack strength by 500 until the end of the turn. This is the ONLY Amazoness that can get around Gravity Bind. Should you run into something like Clown Control, this can be a very nice card, especially if Gaia Power is out. I like, and I use! 303-009 AMAZONESS' PET TIGER Earth/Animal/4/1100/1500 You can only have one of these cards face-up on the Field at a time. Increase this card's attack strength by 400 for each of your Monster cards on the Field with [Amazoness] in its name. While your opponent does not destroy this card, your other Monsters with [Amazoness] on their names can't be attacked. Rare Well, this certainly makes Harpy's Pet Dragon seem inferior (which it is)! It's grab able, tribute-less, gets a bigger bonus, and it's mutually beneficial! Since it has "Amazoness" in its name, it is able to use the Amazoness-related M/Ts. It's also only a regular rare (and will hopefully stay that way) , making it relatively easy to find. The only bad thing about this kitty is that you can only have one on the field, which, considering the chaos that would happen if you COULD get two or three on the field ( it would be a no-attack situation, with the Tigers getting bonuses from each other) is perfectly fine. Feel free to try one or two in an Amazoness deck, though; there's more than one way to have a potential no-attack situation with this thing! I think I'll let you people figure it out; it's relatively easy if you remember Dreamsprite. 303-030 AMAZONESS GYPSY (Amazon Magician) Normal Magic Until the end of the turn, switch the base attack strengths of 1 of your face-up Monsters on the Field with [Amazoness] in its name, and 1 of your opponent's Monsters on the Field. This seems pretty good at first glance, and gets even better if you read the fine print. Note that it doesn't actually ADD ON OR SUBTRACT to any stats of its own accord; this means that Reverse Trap can't stop whatever chaos you wish to cause with this card! 303-042 AMAZONESS PHALANX (Amazoness Archers) (NOTE: What did Konami think they were doing when they dubbed this thing?!? That's going to confuse many people...) Normal Trap When your opponent attacks, you may activate this card if you have a Monster on the Field with [Amazoness] in its name. All of your opponent's Monsters change to face-up attack mode (Reverse Effects are not activated) and have their attack strengths reduced by 500. Your opponent must attack with all of his or her Monsters. Super Rare Not bad; Reverse (Flip) effects don't stand a chance, and everything gets reduced by 500. It's even more fun when your opponent HAS to take a direct attack because their Man-Eater Bug (or Magician of Faith, Fiber Pod...) has less than 500 ATK. Oh, and as with all of the cards in this article, the art is DEFINITELY worth checking out, if nothing else. But hey, that's just my opinion! 303-043 QUICK SAVE (Dramatic Rescue) Normal Trap Activate when 1 of your Monsters on the Field with [Amazoness] in its name is targeted. Return the targeted Monster to its owner's hand, and Special Summon 1 other Monster from your hand. Rare I like this card, and I hope you see its potential as well. Tribute to the Doomed? Go on, kill my Witch! Creature Swap? Here, take my Amoeba! It's also useful if you Special Summoned an Amazoness via Giant Rat; you can swap it for another monster, conserving that effect for when you REALLY need it. I like this thing! The only bad thing about it is when you lack a monster to switch it with, which is REALLY not fun when your Amazoness Paladin's about to be struck with a Ring of Destruction. Ouch. Ok, I made an ATTEMPT at being not so biased. I think I horribly failed at that, but if you want, feel free to try the Amazon cards out when they hit the U.S. You never know, you might really like them! ~KuroKarasu If you want to contact me, send me an e-mail at ZenSuicune@aol.com. Don't IM me via AIM unless I get to know you first; I tend to be a bit paranoid about screen names I don't know. Also, please go easy in the flames as this is my first article, and it was started WAY more than a month ago. Special people who read my article and liked it and/or proofread it, inspiring me to both send it and put it in my site: Snodin, Amethyst Bubble, Lord Tranorix , YamiHino, C.A. Weed, Bakura, HeavyMetalBishop...And I probably forgot some people. Sorry to you people I probably forgot!