August 2007

Recycle, Reduce, Re-use...

There are a lot of cards that have a lot of hype in Tactical Evolution. There's Crystal Seer, Zombie Master, Rainbow Dragon and all of the new Gemini monsters. With so many cards within one set that are considered amazing it can be easy to dismiss two innocent looking rare Trap cards as just filler. However, they're not, and I will be the one to wake up the Yu-Gi-Oh! community to the wonders of Trap Reclamation and Spell Reclamation!

Trap Reclamation
[Trap Card]
Discard 1 card and chain this card to a Trap Card you activated. Whenever that Trap Card is sent to the Graveyard, return it to its owner's hand.

Spell Reclamation
[Trap Card]
Discard 1 card and chain this card to a Spell Card you activated. Whenever that Spell Card is sent to the Graveyard, return it to its owner's hand.

Reclaim Your Lost Souls!

At first glance, this pair of cards is hardly anything special. Most players won't get past the first line about the discard and you have to chain to another card. They will scream and stamp about "Minus One! Minus One! No Good! No Good!" but we'll leave them to that.

I can't tell you how many times that I have wanted back a card that I wasted earlier in the duel. Heavy Storm, Snatch Steal, Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force and Ring of Destruction are all game changing cards. Previously you had to jump through hoops to get them back, using Magical Stone Excavation or Mask of Darkness. Not so with these cards. All they require is that they be on the field when a Spell or Trap card is activated and a measly discard. Treeborn Frog and other card like Thunder Dragon mitigate this cost entirely, as well as tossing cards for I dunno, a combo with the new Zombie support?

Yep, one more reason to play the new style Zombies. Dump and Revive is a way of life for Zombies nowadays and one more discard outlet as well as getting to reuse Book of Life or Premature Burial is huge for Zombies. And that isn't the only deck that these cards can help. Destiny Heroes have seen an all time low recently, but with the release of Destiny Hero Plasma, I am very much regretting selling my play sets of Destiny Draw and Malicious. This is yet another discard outlet for them as well as getting back a needed Spell or Trap card like Destiny Draw.

NOTE: The effect of these cards only applies once, right after it is sent to the graveyard. So the ultimate discard loop will not work.

How to Use These Cards In a Situation

They are not as generic as cards like Sakuretsu Armor, but they can be as good or better. Here is a situation in which Spell Reclamation can be used to swarm the field on your second turn

Player 1: Set one Monster and one Spell or Trap. End Turn.
Player 1: Summon Card Trooper, response?
Player 1: None
Player 2: Mill 3 for Trooper. Discarding Zombie Master, Ryu Kokki, and Snatch Steal. Attack.
Player 1: You attacked my Dekoichi. Draw One.
Player 2: Set one card face down and end.
Player 1: Draw. Special Summon Cyber Dragon, sacrifice for Zaborg, response?
Player 2: None.
Player 1: Destroy Card Trooper with Zaborg's Effect and attack. End.
Player 2: Draw for Trooper. Draw for Turn. Activate Mystical Space Typhoon.
Player 1: You destroyed Sakuretsu Armor.
Player 2: Activate Book of Life. Remove Cyber Dragon and chain Spell Reclamation. Discard Despair from the dark. Special Summon Zombie Master with Book's effect. Return Book of Life to hand. Activate Zombie Master's Special ability. Discard Pyramid Turtle to Special Summon Despair from the Dark. Activate Book of Life to remove Dekoichi and Special Summon Ryu Kokki.

In the above scenario, Player 2 went from no monsters to 3 in one turn as well as setting up further effects from his Zombie Master as well as further revival cards. This is just one example of using Spell Reclamation effectively, and there are many others, as I detail next.


Combos, Tricks, Treats and Downright Evil Plays

These cards combo with EVERY deck out there, as most want the discard outlet and every deck could reuse some card out there. Here are a few ideas to get everyone started:

Burn-Reuse stall cards or powerful burn cards like Ceasefire

Monarchs-Discard Treeborn Frog, reuse Brain Control, Snatch Steal, Mirror Force, Soul Exchange

Destiny Heroes-Discard outlet for Heroes as well as reuse of Destiny Draw and staple spells and traps.

Zombies-Discard for rebirth in Book of Life or Zombie Master as well as to reuse revival spells.

Machine Beatdown-Discard Machines for a huge Overload Fusion as well as Reuse said Overload Fusion.



There are many more treats for your opponent that involve these cards, but I'll let you figure them out for yourself.
If you want to comment, talk Yu-Gi-Oh!, ask advice on decks or strategies, duel or even trade I am raptor1k@hotmail.com

Thanks for Reading!

GZ