Evilswarm Exciton Knight

This is an important review for me, because looking back 11 months ago, my review of the card was a total embarassment.  I didn't even spell the card correctly, I called it "Evilsworn Excitation Knight".  Really?!??  What?!?!  And I gave it a 3 out of 5, only for it later to be a widely used card in competitive play.  Back then, I should have given it a 4 or a 5.  I had a lot of other things going on that week and I forgot to proofread it.  Time to redeem myself.

It's a long effect, but here's what EEK does, in a nut shell:

•    You can activate it's effect anytime in either player's turn

•    You can only activate the effect when your opponent has more cards in field and hand combined than you do.

•    It destroys all cards on the field except Exciton itself.

•    Your opponent's life points are protected this turn, to prevent you from OTKing.

•    It only requires you to detach 1 material, so you can use it again if you need to.

Exciton was practically a staple card for those who could afford the crazy $60-80 price.  Most decks have been using LV4 XYZ monsters and EEK is one of the best Rank 4's.  This is an all or nothing.  The majority of the time, you won't use the card at all, but when you do, it will significantly change the  tide of the duel.  And that's what the Extra Deck is about.  It's essentially a toolbox.  You don't need to use Exciton every game, but just knowing that your 2 LV4 monsters could become an Exciton whenever you want them to is comforting.

This card is essentially the new Heavy Storm, but it's more balanced in three ways.  (A) Since it's in the Extra Deck, it's not a luck matter of who draws it first, (B) It requires two monsters, and your Normal Summon usually, as a corrollary, (C) it only works if you're opponent is ahead of you in card advantage and (D) you can't OTK it.

This card does have a few weaknesses compared to when it was released:

•    With all the +1's out there, it's a little easier to recover from an Exciton nuke.

•    Destroying monsters triggers graveyard effects and doesn't hurt floaters much

•    Rank-4's aren't as common as they were from February to October

•    People are aware of what Exciton can do by now, so they don't over-extend as much.

The last point is important.  Exciton restored balance to the game.  People aren't going to play all of their cards at once if they know an Exciton is waiting for them.  They're going to have to conserve a bit more.  But there are going to be moments where the opponent kinda has to over-extend, to get over your setup, and that's where you can nail them with Exciton.  Even with the weaknesses I mentioned, for what it is, Exciton is still an essential card. 

There are lots of good generic Rank-4 XYZ's out there, but very few, if any, of them can match up to Evilswarm Exciton Knight.

4.5/5

Evilswarm Exciton Knight

This card initially hit the scene hard, and entered the Game at a time when Rank 4’s were the pivotal aim of almost every Deck, but especially any that hoped to be competitive!

In essence, Exciton Knight could be considered the Black Rose Dragon of Xyz’s, the main difference being of course that you could also use it’s effect during your opponents Battle Phase, and this on the rare occasion would lead to situations where your opponent had to miss their Battle Phase in order to not be effected by this cards effect.

I’d witnessed on many occasions where someone would minus themselves early game simply so that they could avoid being caught out by an Excition Knight… The truth is though, that the fear that it caused was only quite short lived, especially when it was realised that it could be somewhat situational, and quite often there were far better options to Summon, especially considering that fact that Excition Knight clears the entire field. And of course clearing your field of cards can at times serve your strategy far less that it hurts your opponent if you have set up.

However, it was also quite normal to Summon Exciton Knight during your first turn when you were going second as Decks like Geargia were extremely competent at plussing very quickly.

Sadly for Evilswarm Excition Knight, it really hasn’t aged well, and essentially is not seeing any play at all… But this is the price that a good card can pay if it ends up being somewhat situations, plus, this could very often be the only card from your Extra Deck that you did not end up Summoning even at a small Local level Tournament. Of course it did at times have the ability to change the outcome of larger matches, such as at a regional’s. In general though it just didn’t quite ever perform up to the potential that it clearly threatened.

Rating: 3.5. What was really hard to believe is that at one stage this commanded quite an impressive price tag, only to slide into essential obscurity.

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Happy Holidays Everyone!
 
This week will be spaced out because of said holidays, but today we've got an entry, and it's Evilswarm Exciton Knight. #5 on our list for the year, Exciton Knight is a very useful and versatile card that, although was huge when it first came out, seemed to lose a lot of its steam within a few months. Two level 4's make this Rank 4, no specific monsters needed. Below-average stats for a Rank 4, but its Quick Effect more than makes up for that. The ability to clear your opponents field by detaching only ONE material from Exciton Knight is broken. Normally an effect that would take up both materials, being able to do this during your turn or your opponents Battle Phase makes it even better. Sure, your opponent won't take any more damage for the turn once you activate this effect, but that is beside the point. The only restriction to this effect is that your opponent must have more cards in their hand and on the field than you do. That ruling makes this card a perfect resource for you when you are facing a drastic card disadvantage.
 
Insanely easy to summon and an effect you can use up to twice, Exciton Knight also has support behind it being a LIGHT and a Fiend. Fodder for both its archetype and type, I can't see how this monster lost so much of its hype. Xyz Reborn it from the grave and activate its effect during your opponents Battle Phase for a surprise wiping of their field. If they try to Compulse or Bottomless it, chain the effect and still get use of its effect. You won't be summoning Exciton Knight if your opponent has less cards than you, otherwise you will be leaving him out there mostly unprotected. You could Special Summon Exciton Knight in a top-decking war and put your opponent in a tough spot: if they end up with more cards than you then they will also have to destroy Exciton Knight before their Battle Phase or else face its wrath.
 
Evilswarm Exciton Knight is a great card and should be used in every Extra Deck unless you don't run enough Level 4 monsters. The downside to no further damage able to be inflicted to your opponent after the effect aside, clearing the field is too useful to pass up in my opinion.
 
Advanced-4/5
Art-3.5/5
 
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

#5 on our Top 10 Cards of 2014 is Evilswarm Exciton Knight.

Position on my list: #3

Evilswarm Exciton Knight isn’t quite the broken monstrosity everyone expected it to be when it was announced, but if you were to ask me what, from personal experience, I thought the best Rank 4 monster was, I would say this card.

Being a field nuker that was easy to use in just about any Deck at the time of the card’s release, a lot of people cried foul at Exciton and said that it would quickly shape up to be one of the most broken cards in the game. This didn’t turn out to be the case; Exciton stopping all damage to the opponent the turn its effect is used prevented it from being used as a game-winning push, and the requirement to be at a lesser card count than the opponent was tough to pull off in the +1 oriented format the card was introduced in (with all subsequent formats adopting similar strategies). Additionally, 1900 ATK, while great, isn’t too difficult to get over.

Despite all of this, Exciton Knight is still a field nuker, and while it can’t win you a game on its own, it throws momentum heavily in your favor should the card go off. People who commit too much to the board can get destroyed by this card; in my own experience, Exciton has won me more games than Castel and ARK have.

The card may not come up as often as people would want it to, but you’ll be damn happy you have it when it does.

Advanced: 5/5