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Article 31: A BAD Look: The List
March 10, 2005
We’ve got some time to twiddle our thumbs until the next ban list, so today we’re going to look at the 50 highest rated cards through my card reviewing system.

This list is sure to engender some controversy. It’s basically A BAD System look at the 50 best cards in the game after the bans, adjusted, of course, for their effectiveness within a theme. I simply reviewed all of the good cards I could think of, then organized them like this. To those of you with “favorite” cards, I’m sorry I couldn’t include them, but nearly 75 cards failed to make the cut.

Following will be a list of the card’s name, the theme it should be placed in, each of its scores in the four categories (Advantage Field/Hand, Best Draw for the Situation, Attributes/Effect, Dependability), and then its basic score out of 100.

An Asterisk (*) means the card is too theme-based to make the general list legitimately. Theme-based cards will get higher scores because A BAD System rates cards based on the theme they deserve to be in.

Here is my definitive list of the 50 best overall cards in the game:

1.         Pot of Greed                            10         10         10         10         100%
2.         Graceful Charity                      9.5        9.5        10         10         98%
3.         Delinquent Duo                        10         9.5        10         9          96%
4          Breaker                                    9          10         10         8.5        94%     
5          Sangan                                    8.5        9.5        9.5        9.5        93%
6.         Heavy Storm                            8.5        8.5        10         9          90%
7.         BLS                                          10         8          10         8          90%
8.         Sinister Serpent                       8          9          9          10         90%
9.         Ring of Destruction                  8.5        8.5        10         8.5        89%
10.        Call of the Haunted                  9          8.5        9          8.5        88%

Comments: 1-3 should be pretty straightforward. Allow me to defend Breaker; with spell/trap removal being limited to MST, Heavy Storm, Mobius, Dust Tornado, and Nobleman of Extermination, alternate, versatile sources of spell/trap removal must be found. Breaker is the third best spell/trap remover in the game, after Heavy Storm and MST, if only for the fact he’s a monster as well with no tribute cost. Throw in the fact he topdecks as a 1900 and is a DARK type (Chaos has very few DARKS these days), and you’ll see he belongs in EVERY aggressive deck PERIOD.

Sangan, BLS, Heavy Storm, Sinister, and Ring are pretty straightforward. They’re all basically staples in today’s environment. Ring might cause some controversy, but in my view it’s clearly the best trap in the game, and by quite a hefty margin. Having targeted removal, being able to use it whenever you want, makes Ring a far more active card than Mirror Force, which requires something by your opponent. It’s also chainable, making for some of the best bait in the opening game, and is probably the only trap that will kill defensive walls, Spirit Reaper, and such. Finally, it ends games. It got a 10 on attributes because it’s the only form of targeted Trap Removal in the game (this is hugely important).

Finally, Call of the Haunted is better than Premature because it can bluff, it can chain to Sangan/Jinzo, there’s no cost involved, and it can work through a Mirror Force/Sak Armor.

11.        MST                                         8          7.5        10         9.5        88%
12.        Snatch Steal                            8.5        9          9.5        8          88%
13.        Mirror Force                             8.5        8.5        9.5        8.5        88%
14.        Spirit Reaper                           7.5        9          9.5        9          88%
15.        Tribe                                        8.5        8.5        9.5        8          86%
16.        Ceasefire                                 6          9.5        9.5        9.5        86%
17.        Premature Burial                     9.5        8          9          8          85%
18.        D.D Assailant                           8.5        8.5        9          8          85%
19.        Torrential Tribute                    8          8.5        9.5        7.5        84%
20.        Nobleman of Crossout             8.5        8          10         7          84%

Comments: I first reviewed Mirror Force back in the pre-ban days. I called it overrated and gave it an 8.0 out of 10. Well times have changed now, there’s far less S/T removal and far more bait, and Mirror Force is now the omnipotent threat everyone feared. Snatch Steal is starting to lose power with the Goat dominated environment; Spirit Reaper is overlooked but A BAD System shows that it is still quite effective (and pesky), especially with the loss of Change of Heart, DDWL.

Ceasefire is another game-ender; it also protects versus the double Crossout meta, protects against the Magician of Faith infested meta, promotes great synergy with Tribe and Snatch Steal, and is probably the best bait in the game. The rest are pretty straightforward.

21.        D.D Warrior Lady                     8          8.5        9          8          84%
22.        Jinzo                                        9          6.5        10         8          84%
23.        Scapegoat                                6          8          9          10         83%
24.        Magician of Faith                     8.5        8          9          7.5        83%
25.        Lightning Vortex                      8.5        7.5        9          8          83%
26.        Blade Knight                            8.5        8.5        9          7          83%
27.        Slate Warrior                           8          8          9          8          83%
28.        Berserk Gorilla                         9          8          9          7          83%
29.        SORL                                        7          9          9.5        7          81%
30.        Airknight Parshath                  9.5        6.5        9.5        7          81%

Comments: Most everyone knows that I tend to dismiss D.D Warrior Lady as overrated. I think D.D Assailant is superior to it, mostly because Assailant can also handle Tribe, Breaker, Strike Ninja, Blade Knight, Enraged Battle Ox and whatever else you might throw at it. D.D, on the other hand, is an automatic loss in those situations.

Lightning Vortex rates fairly highly, but you’ll need discards. I think the nature of A BAD System recognizes those cards that are almost (never) dead draws like Berserk Gorilla, which I personally dislike outside of Earth beatdown, and give them the high ratings they deserve.

Airknight Parshath is still the second best tribute in the game. It counters the goat/magician metagame and pays for itself after one draw.

31.        Apprentice Magician               8          8          8.5        8          81%
32.        Sacred Phoenix                       9.5        6.5        9.5        7          81%
33.        Cyber Jar                                6.5        9          10         6.5        80%
34.        Sakuretsu Armor                     7.5        8.5        8          8          80%
35.        Smashing Ground                    8          8          8          8          80%
36.        Magic Drain                             8          7          8.5        8.5        80%
37.        Book of Moon                          6          8.5        8          9.5        80%
38.        United We Stand                     9          7.5        9.5        6          80%
39.        Zombrya the Dark                    9          8          8.5        6.5        80%
40.        Magic Cylinder                       7.5        8          9          7.5        80%

Comments: Yes, Apprentice Magician is that good.

Sakuretsu/Smashing are generally even, and I find Book of Moon to be far superior to Enemy Controller. United We Stand makes a comeback (it’s very powerful), but the most surprising addition to some might be Zombrya the Dark.

Well, it counters Senshi, Balter, Berserk Gorilla, D.D Assailant, Kycoo, Airknight, and everything else. It’s also the best opening drop in the game (that changed with the ban of Change of Heart), and it’s irrelevant if it can’t attack direct, since monsters die within 1-2 turns. It’s also a DARK Warrior, and Warriors have VERY FEW Darks.

41.        Injection Fairy Lily                   10         6.5        10         5          79%
42.        Morphing Jar                           7          9          9.5        6          79%
43.        Card Destruction                      7          7.5        10         7          79%
44.        Mobius                                     8          6.5        9          7.5        78%
45.        Windstorm of Etaqua               7.5        8          8.5        7          78%
46.        Enemy Controller                     6.5        8.5        8.5        7.5        78%
47.        Thunder Dragon                      8          6.5        9          7.5        78%
48.        Metamorphosis                        9          6.5        9          6.5        78%
49.        DMoChaos                               9.5        6          9.5        6          78%
50.        Blowback Dragon                    9.5        6          9.5        6          78%

Comments: This is where the rest of the cards go. They’re not really debatable, I guess, since none of them are all too shocking.

Thunder Dragon will counter the Delinquent Duos thrown out there, and 3 Thunder Dragons+ ONE Light monster is enough for Black Luster Soldier, so if you’re starved for Lights, go for it. Obviously either GC or Card Destruction + Thunder Dragon is one of the best combos in the game. Graceful= 3 cards for two (GC+Thunder Dragon). Card Destruction= 6 cards for 6, but with a new hand and a chance to draw GC/Pot/DDuo.

Next we’ll be doing some top 5’s for those themed decks that were not eligible.

The Best Zombie Cards:

1.         Vampire Lord                          9.5        7.5        9.5        9.5        90%
2.         Pyramid Turtle                         9          9.5        9          7.5        88%
3.         Spirit Reaper                           7.5        9          9.5        9          88%
4.         Book of Life                             9.5        7          9          7.5        83%
5.         Ryu Kokki                                8.5        5.5        8          7          73%

The Best Gravekeepers Cards:

1.         Necrovalley                             9.5        9          10         7.5        90%
2.         Gravekeeper’s Spy                  9          9          9          7.5        86%
3.         Rite of Spirit                            9          8          9          8          85%
4.         GK Spear Soldier                    8          8          8          9          83%
5.         GK Assailant                            8          7          9          7          78%

The Best Fiends: *Archfiend Soldier receives a 9.5 because he counts as an Archfiend, which makes him a staple in Archfiend decks.

1.         Slate Warrior                           8          8          9          8          83%
2.         Dark Necrofear                        9.5        6.5        9.5        7          81%
3.         Archfiend Soldier                    7.5        7.5        9.5        7.5        80%
4.         Night Assailant                        7.5        7.5        8.5        8          79%     
5.         Newdoria                                 7.5        8          7.5        8          78%

The Best Dragons: *The low scores for Dragons seems to show why the archetype is weak in the professional environment.

1.         Luster Dragon                       7.5        7.5        8          7.5        76%
2.         Twin-Headed Behemoth          7          8          7          8          75%
3.         Spear Dragon                          7          7          8.5        7          74%
4.         Horus LV 6                               8          6          8          7          73%
5.         Horus LV 8                               9.5        4          10         5          71%     

The Best Fairies: *Shining Angel only gets this high a score in a Fairy Deck, because he can search out other Angels, Mudora, or Mars. The restriction of DDWL has made Shining Angel obsolete in standard Chaos.

1.         Manju                                      8          10         9.5        10         94%
2.         Shining Angel                          7.5        8.5        9          8          83%
3.         Airknight Parshath                   9.5        6.5        9.5        7          81%     
4.         Soul of Purity and Light           8.5        6.5        8.5        6          74%
5.         Mudora                                    9          7          8          5          73%

Other Cards with High Scores: * This includes themed cards and cards that matched Blowback Dragon’s score, but were considered inferior to it.

*           Strike Ninja                              8.5        8          9          8          84%
*           Level Limit Area B                   7          8          10         8          83%
*           Abyss Soldier                           8          8          9          8          83%
*           Roulette Barrel                        8          8.5        8.5        8          83%
*           Mystic Tomato                         7.5        8.5        8          8          80%
*           Gigantes                                  8          7          9          7.5        79%
*           Gravity Bind                             7          7.5        9.5        7.5        79%
*           Solar Flare Dragon                  7          8          8.5        8          79%
*           Stealth Bird                             7          8          9          7.5        79%
*           Lava Golem                             9          7          9          6          78%
*           Waboku                                   5.5        8          8          9.5        78%
*           Magical Merchant                    8          8          8          7          78%
*           Time Seal                                8          6.5        7          9.5        78% 

That does it for this article! I hope to have fun in the future creating FORCE awards for those cards that provide the most of each category, and even do some more of the best subtype and themed monsters.

I look forward to open dissension, welcome all e-mails, and will be happy to debate and defend all of my points.

You may reach me at JAELOVE@gmail.com. I’d like to thank Ryoga and Dark Paliden for mentioning me in their articles; I’d like to also commend them for the great work they’re doing. Good job, and welcome to the team fellows :D. Finally, thank you to the fans who voted in the polls; I’d be nothing (except a really bored Yu-Gi-Oh player) without your support.