From: maurice delamar [mailto:mxdelamar@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 6:49 AM

Subject: Overlooked S/T Removal: Lady Ninja Yae

Hello, fellow Pojo and Yu-Gi-Oh! fans!  Here is yet another CCG Tip from me, and hopefully the first in a series of CCG Tips concerning some overlooked S/T removal cards.  The debut of this series focuses on a nice little Wind monster from Ancient Sanctuary: the sultry yet effective Lady Ninja Yae.

Here are her stats and effect, just in case.

Lady Ninja Yae

Wind/Warrior/Level 3/1100 ATK/200 DEF

Discard 1 Wind monster from your hand to the Graveyard.  Return all Spell and Trap Cards on your opponent's side of the field to the owner's hand.

First off, being Level 3 means Yae can attack through Gravity Bind and the now-restricted Level Limit Area B.  Unfortunately, her 1100 ATK may just not be enough to take down most of the other Level 3s in this case.  That is, until you equip her with either Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, or Fuhma Shuriken.  Fusion Sword Murasame Blade raises her ATK to 1900, plus it can't be destroy by any card effect that destroys Spell Cards; and Fuhma Shuriken raises it to 1800, and lets you burn your opponent for 700 damage for each one that is sent from the field to the Graveyard. 

Yae's effect lets you discard a Wind monster from your field to the Graveyard, to return your opponent's S/Ts back to their hand.  Initially, this would make you lose two cards from your hand--Yae herself and the Wind monster you discard through her effect.  But in return, you will blow all of your opponent's S/Ts back to their hand.  In addition, there are only a handful of chainable S/Ts that can actually try to stop her.  These include Raigeki Break, Compulsive Evacuation Device, and Phoenix Wind Wing Blast.  But even so, Yae's effect still resolves afterwards.  She's constant S/T removal, as long as you are willing to part with one of your Wind monsters.

So the question is: what kind of Wind monsters should you use for her effect?  The first choice should be Roc from the Valley of Haze from Rise of Destiny.  Once Roc is sent to the Graveyard from your hand, it shuffles back into your deck, for later use.  And with 2400 ATK, it's also a decent Tribute beatstick.  Then there are all of those Wind Normal Monsters like Luster Dragon and Sonic Duck.  If you can find the room, fit it at the very least one Dark Factory of Mass Production, to secure two copies of any Normal Wind Monsters in your Graveyard back to your hand.  Luster Dragon is a solid Level 4 1900 ATK card, which is good in any Wind deck. 

And from Shadow of Infinity, we have Chain Thrasher, who really benefits from her effect.  Since Chain Thrasher can attack as many more times as how many copies of him are in the Graveyard, Yae solves the problem of getting them to the Graveyard.  Now you don't need to waste deck space putting in Next to be Lost in your deck!  Once the final copy of the Thrasher is summoned, slap an Equip on him, and watch the carnage.

Lady Ninja Yae can also discard another copy of herself, which could later be retrieved with The Warrior Returning Alive.  Princess of Tsurugi is another solid choice, since she gives you the option to have a little burn in your Wind deck.  Since your opponent will eventually reset S/Ts back onto the field, she is a decent addition.  She's especially lethal alongside a Fuhma Shuriken-toting Yae.

So finishing up, Lady Ninja Yae can be a nice little Wind monster, what with the built-in one-sided Giant Trunade effect.  Yes, you will not be able to destroy your opponent's S/Ts, but you would still be able to avoid that Sakuretsu Armor waiting to do her in.  Returning S/Ts also mean a chance to get your opponent to discard one of his/her own cards with Silpheed, or any other hand control card.  She's weak, but that's nothing a good, reliable Equip can't fix. 

If you have any comments, e-mail me at mxdelamar@yahoo.com.  See you next time!