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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh Card of the Day

Mystic Swordsman LV2
Rare / Ultimate Rare

Warrior / Effect Monster
If this card attacks a face-down Defense Position monster destroy the monster immediately with this card's effect without flipping it face-up or applying damage calculation. During the End Phase of a turn that this card destroyed a monster as a result of battle, send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Mystic Swordsman LV4" from your hand or Deck.

Type - Earth / 2 / 900 / 0
Card Number
- SOD-EN011

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being 
the worst.  3 ... average.  5 is the highest rating

Date Reviewed - 10.14.04

Mystic Swordsman LV4
Ultra Rare / Ultimate Rare

Warrior / Effect Monster
If you Normal Summon this card, you must place it in face-down Defense Position. If this card attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, destroy the monster immediately with this card's effect without flipping it face-up or applying damage calculation. During the End Phase of a turn that this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, send this card to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Mystic Swordsman LV6" from hand or Deck.

Type - Earth / 4 / 1900 / 1600
Card Number
- SOD-EN012

Tranorix Mystic Swordsman

The next family of cards is the Mystic Swordsman family. As of right now, Lv6 has not been released in the TCG; he'll be coming though, so just wait. Anyway:

Lv2 is mediocre, to say the least. It has the Sasuke Samurai effect, true; but it also has a pathetic 900 ATK. The supplemental effect is perplexing, to say the least. Lv2 has to kill something in BATTLE for you to be able to summon Lv4 by its effect, but with such crappy ATK, the only way Lv2 is going to kill anything is through his other effect, which DOESN'T let you summon Lv4. Frustrating, isn't it?

Lv4 is a bit better, but it still has drawbacks. First of all, you can't Normal Summon it into ATK; you have to set it. That's really it. The advantages are numerous: For one thing, it's a 1900 ATK Warrior. You can search for it with Reinforcement of the Army and you can Special Summon it (yes, into ATK) with Marauding Captain. Then it also has the Sasuke Samurai effect. What's not to like about that? I'd say that Lv4 is almost a necessity in Warrior Decks. Oh, and the tributing for Lv6 is optional.

The Mystic Swordsman family has upsides and downsides. Lv2 is meh whereas Lv4 is much better. When Lv6 comes, the deck type will become viable on its own; but for now, just stick Lv4 in your Warrior Deck and see how it does.

Traditional – CCCC: 3/5
Traditional – Warrior: 4/5
Advanced – Warrior: 4.5/5 
Coin Flip Once again, don't expect a structured I-SUC review. Today I review the Mystic Swordsman decktype.

Mystic Swordsman looks like a familiar effect to a lot of people. Mystic Swordsman is essentially Sasuke Samurai on steroids. Higher attack... And it comes in three flavors. Although Mystic Swordsman LV6 isn't out yet, I will review it anyways with the other two. The following translation comes from Edo's page at http://www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm

RDS-JP008
MYSTIC SWORDMAN LV6
Earth/Warrior/6/2300/1700
If this card is Normal Summoned, it can only be played in face- down defense mode. If this card attacks a face-down defense mode Monster, don't go to Damage Calculation, and destroy that face- down defense mode Monster as it is. You can have Monsters destroyed by this effect not go to the Cemetery, and instead put it on top of your opponent's deck.


Only one word describes this: wh0a. This is a combination of two g0dly effects: The effect of Sasuke Samurai mixed with the effect of Mystical Knight of Jackal. Let's go over LV2 and LV4 first, though.

LV2 is a nifty creature. The expected onslaught of burn decks and stall/bind decks allows for an environment with a lot more face down monsters. A lot more Mystic Tomatos with no Witch or Sangan post-ban... A lot more flip-effect monsters... And this laughs at them all. 900 attack is decent, much more so than 500. LV4 is dangerous - 1900 attack on a warrior was previously unheard of - 2300 with a huge drawback, but the drawback isn't so huge, the attack great, and the effect brilliant for Mystic Swordsman LV4.

LV6 is where the deck begins to SHINE, though. Destroy a monster and then PLACE IT BACK ON TOP OF YOUR OPPONENT'S DECK. The no drawing/useless drawing element of the game has been exercised in a few ways - Yata, Tsukuyomi-Mask Of Darkness- Time Seal/Drop Off, and Mystical Knight of Jackal. Now, take a moment and imagine what happens if your opponent cannot match 2300 attack. They have to either take the damage of a direct attack or put the monster in attack and still take damage and lose a card. Tough choice. And you can just keep on summoning... But that's not even the scariest part. The scariest part is that it's easy to keep them in the lock... If they have a monster on the field in attack... Summon a Tsukuyomi and keep it face down. Hell, since it works out so perfectly in this deck, you can actually throw in Mask of Darkness and Drop Off/Time Seal and still make it work pretty well. If they try to attack, Ultimate Offering and Tsukuyomi could take care of it... The lock won't last for more than three turns most of the time. Just so you know, you don't actually see what monster is destroyed as it is never flipped face-up and never sent to the graveyard, but straight to the top of their deck.

So, here's an example of a good Warrior lockdown deck with Mystic Swordsman. Many of the brainchildren for this deck came from PressAltAndF4 on the forums, but I'm hopeful that I haven't completely copied his deck in my example.

Monsters: 17
2x Mystic Swordsman LV6 (as a substitute, you can run Blowback Dragon)
3x Mystic Swordsman LV4
2x Mystic Swordsman LV2
2x Marauding Captain
2x Tsukuyomi
2x Legacy Hunter
2x Don Zaloog
2x Mask of Darkness

Magic: 18
Pot of Greed
Change of Heart
2x Giant Trunade
Snatch Steal
Heavy Storm
Forceful Sentry
Confiscation
Premature Burial
2x Book of Moon
2x Reinforcements of the Army
2x The Warrior Returning Alive
3x Level Up!!

Trap: 7
Ring of Destruction
2x Ultimate Offering
Call of the Haunted
Ceasefire
2x Waboku

I wouldn't recommend running a Mystic Swordsman deck just yet, but if you do, then this is a good build to work with. Once LV6 comes out, then you can have fun with it. 
ExMinion OfDarkness Mystic Swordsman Lv. 2/4

Instead of looking at this in the Leveling-up perspective, I'm going to look at the cards against each other.

Level 2 is the quick and easy way to get rid of a F/D monster. Its attack is better than Sasuke Samurai and it does the same thing. He also gets under all of the continuous cards that block attacks (G-Bind, Level Limit, and Messenger of Peace.) This is invaluable in Advanced, as most cards need to be flipped or killed in battle for their effects to trigger, and this avoids both scenarios.

Level 4 requires a bit more effort, but is a more solid card overall. Not only can he get rid of F/Ds with ease, but he's 1900 ATK as well, so he can hold his own against other things! The problem is that if you summon him normally, he has to be put face-down (Read: YOU MUST SET HIM FIRST. No sense in the opponent knowing what it is if they don't have to.) In Advanced, this card is actually worse than his little brother; 4 stars + 1900 ATK = screwed over by ALL THREE of the big attack stoppers. Granted, Level 4 can be summoned by Level 2 killing a monster -- but how often is a 900 ATK monster going to kill something else in battle?

A short while ago, someone asked me what the phrase "TeCH" means, as I used it in a review a long, long time ago. I'll work that term into this review and answer the question at the same time.

TeCH is short for Technical Advantage -- it's when a player plays one or more copies of a card to cover a deck's weakness, or exploit one of many opponents. For example, a player in a Chaos heavy environment may TeCH 2 or 3 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer into their main deck, knowing that removing things from the graveyard and stopping the opponent from doing so puts them at an advantage. This is DIFFERENT from sideboarding -- the term grew up in Pokemon, where there was no such thing as a side deck, so the weaknesses had to be covered in the 60-card main deck and nothing else.

Mystic Swordsman Lv. 2 is TeCH against the Burn/Stall decks.

Sword-boy Lv. 2 gets a 1/5 in Traditional (there are better cards, and Witch/Sangan still trigger) and 4/5 in Advanced (for hurting Burn.)

Sword-boy Lv. 4 gets a 1/5 in Traditional (again, there are better cards -- NOBLEMAN OF CROSSOUT COMES TO MIND!) and a 2 in Advanced (getting stopped by the stall cards isn't what you want to do when countering Burn/Stall.) 
Snapper Mystic Swordsman LV2 and LV4

Today’s cards are the Mystic Swordsmen, two monsters that are very similar to Sasuke Samurai.

Stats (All LVs): LV2 has 900/0 ATK/DEF, allowing it to be searched out by Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, and Giant Rat. Its stats are not ideal for a monster that needs to destroy a monster to get its effect (but we’ll get to that later). LV4 has 1900/1600 ATK/DEF. With 1900 ATK, it is a standard beatstick. Unlike most beatsticks though, it doesn’t have the ability to be searched for by the Witch, which is a slight negative. Both are EARTH monsters, giving them some love in the Attribute department. And both are Warriors, which have got support up the wazzuh. Stats (LV2) – Bad. Stats (LV4) – Great.

Effect (LV2): LV2’s effect is really just a carbon copy of Sasuke Samurai’s; when it attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, you destroy it with LV2’s effect. Sasuke Samurai was widely played for a while due to this effect, but then people discovered that with its low terribly ATK, it would most likely be destroyed during the opponent’s next turn, which enlightened people to the fact that it was far from a monster staple. LV2 has the same problem; you’ll use the effect once, it will be destroyed, and you’ll move on. Of course the effect is useful, but just not worthwhile considering LV2’s ATK. LV2’s second effect allows you to send LV2 to the Graveyard during the End Phase of a turn that it has destroyed a monster in battle, to Special Summon LV4 form your hand or Deck. Unfortunately, if LV2 destroys a monster with its effect, it isn’t considered as a result of battle, bringing LV2’s chances of destroying a monster without an ATK boost to a very low level. But, if LV2 manages to destroy something as a result of battle, you’ll get a good monster as a result of your efforts. Effect – Good.

Effect (LV4): The first part of LV4’s effect forces it to go to face-down Defense Position whenever it is Normal Summoned. That isn’t to bad considering it has a decent DEF, allowing it to survive a few attacks while face-down. And if it isn’t attacked, you can just Flip Summon it during the next turn. The second part of its effect is the same as LV4’s first; when it attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, you destroy it with LV4’s effect. While LV2 couldn’t use the effect well due to its low ATK, LV4 has zero problems with it. If you use the effect, you’ll get rid of a potential threat and you’ll have a decent wall during your opponent’s turn. LV4’s third effect allows you to send LV4 to the Graveyard during the end of a turn it destroyed a monster as a result of battle, and Special Summon LV6 from your hand or Deck. Like LV2, if you destroy a monster with LV4’s effect, you can’t then Special Summon LV6. And as you may or may not know, LV6 hasn’t been released in the TCG yet, so this effect will do you no good. But, when LV6 is finally available, LV4 will not have a problem with destroying monsters as a result of battle. Effect – Good.

Combos: When using LV2, it may be wise to give it an Equip Spell Card so that your opponent won’t be able to take out a large amount of your Life Points during their next turn. If you don’t do that, you should give it some type of protection like a Waboku. You van also use Level Up! on LV2 to Special Summon LV4, and you can use it on LV4 to Special Summon LV6 when it is released. There are also a few ways to get around LV4’s summoning restriction; Normal Summon Marauding Captain and then Special Summon LV4 through MC’s effect, do a classic dump and revive on LV4, or Normal Summon LV4 and then use Book of Taiyou to flip it face-up.

Usability: The Mystic Swordsmen fit in a few decks. One is of course a Mystic Swordsman Deck, which will be playable whenever it is that RDS is released. They can also be used in Warrior Decks, which have numerous ways to Special Summon monsters in a short period of time. In either deck, the Mystic Swordsmen, particularly LV4, will be a force to be reckoned with.

Although they basically do the exact same thing, LV4 is the best at using its effects, making it an overall better card. And I hope you’ll all enjoy tomorrow’s cards; I think the reviews will be a page long each. Is he joking? Yea maybe.

Advanced Format (All LVs): 4/5. Warrior Decks will be very useful and very popular in Advanced, and seeing as the Mystic Swordsmen are Warriors, they may just find a use.
Traditional Format (All LVs)t: 3.5/5. Warrior Decks are successful here as well, although they won’t be as common.
Art (All LVs): 4/5. Both of the Mystic Swordsmen look very impressive, with LV4 taking the coolness cake. 

 

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