Elemental Heroes, Part 2

What's shakin' duelists? Today is part two of our look at the Elemental Heroes. Last time, we took a look at the basic EH monsters. Now, let's take a look at what happens when they join together to become stronger. All of these fusion monsters have pretty good special abilities that can combat anything your opponent can throw at you. I should also mention that they have pretty cool looking art as well.

 First up is Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. He is fused from two of the weaker EH monsters, Avian and Burstinatrix, but is stronger than both of them combined. His 2100 ATK can take down most Level 4 and below monsters, and with the right spell cards, he can become strong enough to take down a fair amount of Level 7 and 8 monsters. His special ability moves him towards the top of the EH list. In addition to smashing the monster and dealing some battle damage to the opponent, he also gets to inflict effect damage in the amount of the destroyed monster's ATK once it lands in the Graveyard. Give him the power to inflict piercing damage, and he could quickly end the duel for your opponent.

Next up is Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman. Combine EH Flame Wingman with EH Sparkman. Think of him as an upgrade of EH Flame Wingman with his 2500 ATK and 2100 DEF. This powerhouse comes with not one, but two special abilities. His first gives him a 300 ATK power boost for each EH monster in the Graveyard. Now, if you are the kind of duelist that doesn't recycle, reclaim or remove their monsters from the Graveyard, he would most likely have at least 3700 ATK when you put him into play. As he gets stronger, your second special ability would most likely win the duel for you. EH Shining Flare Wingman can also inflict effect damage like EH Flame Wingman.

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant is a titan of a monster with 2400 ATK and 1500 DEF. Combine EH Sparkman and EH Clayman, and you get a heavy hitter with a very interesting special ability. By discarding a card, you can instantly destroy a monster on the field with original ATK that is less than EH Thunder Giant's ATK. Think of it as a good way to get rid of annoying monsters that cannot be destroyed by battle like Marshmallon. EH Thunder Giant would work very well in a deck with EH Shining Flare Wingman.

Here we have Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster, made by fusing EH Burstinatrix and EH Clayman. This soldier of justice has 2000 ATK and 2500 DEF. Its special ability allows it to attack while in DEF mode, but only for half of its ATK power and only if your opponent has no monsters. This isn't as effective, but at least you can attack from behind a wall. Use your other monsters to destroy your opponent's defenses, and then score a free hit with EH Rampart Blaster.

Next is Elemental Hero Steam Healer, made from EH Burstinatrix and EH Bubbleman. While it has a low 1800 ATK and 1000 DEF, its special ability makes up for it. It does the opposite of EH Flame Wingman and EH Shining Flare Wingman. Instead of giving your opponent effect damage, it gives you effect healing equal to the ATK of the monster destroyed and sent of the Graveyard.

Elemental Hero Wild Wingman is a fusion of EH Avian and EH Wildheart. His ATK of 1900 and DEF of 2300 is a bit low for a Level 8 monster, but his special ability isn't bad. For the cost of discarding a card, you can destroy a single Spell or Trap Card in play. So you can either sabotage your opponent or trigger a combo on your side of the field. This one isn't as useful as the others, but you can judge for yourself and use him for a duel or two.

Next up is Elemental Hero Wildedge, made from EH Bladedge and EH Wildheart. This Level 8 monster has 2600 ATK and 2300 DEF, with an ability that allows you to attack your opponent's entire line of monsters during each of your Battle Phases. Making him strong enough, and he could wipe out your opponent's monsters in one turn, and allow your other EH monsters to possibly finish off your opponent in the same turn.

The final monster we'll be looking at is Elemental Hero Tempest. This Level 8 heavy hitter is made by fusing EH Avian, EH Sparkman and EH Bubbleman. Weighing in with 2800 ATK and 2800 DEF, his special ability allows you to send a card you have in play to the Graveyard, and at the same time protect one of your monsters from being destroyed in battle. This effect would do well to keep EH Flame Wingman or EH Shining Flare Wingman in play a lot longer.

Well, there you have it. Some of the powerhouses of the Elemental Hero family for your consideration. The only thing left to make a good EH deck is some Spell and Trap cards. Next time, we'll take a look at these. Until next time, get you game on!

Elemental Heroes, Part 1

What's shakin' duelists! This will be the first in a trio of posts. Today, we're gonna talk about one of the backbone deck archetypes from the GX era: The Elemental Heroes. These warriors of justice work together in a variety of ways to quickly take down the competition. In addition to that, you can fuse 2 or more of them together to make even more powerful Elemental Heroes. This archetype has a number of Spells and Traps that work well to power up and protect these heroes. Let's take a look at the basic Elemental Heroes.
 

 
Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix don't seem too powerful at first glance, but you'll want them in your deck anyway. You'll see why in the next post.

EH Sparkman has decent ATK power, and with an Equip or Field Spell, he could be a real damage dealer.

EH Clayman is great for stalling with its DEF of 2000. Alone, each of these 4 cards don't seem like much, but their true potential is unlocked when they are fused together, to make much stronger Elemental Heroes.
 

Elemental Hero Bubbleman is another seemingly weak Monster, but his special ability gives you the power to draw 2 cards, if he is the only card you have in play when you summon him. Think of him as a Monster version of Pot of Greed.
 

Next up is Elemental Hero Wildheart. He's got average ATK and DEF, but his special ability makes him immune to Traps. Power him up, and he'll overtake Sparkman as most useful Monster so far.
 

Elemental Hero Bladedge packs a pretty good punch at 2600 ATK. Combine that with his ability to inflict piercing damage, and he's a good choice for offense.
 

The final Elemental Hero to consider, has the most heroic look out of the bunch. I'm talking about Elemental Hero Neos! This champion of justice weighs in at 2500 ATK, and I've seen many decks built around this one card. Next time, we'll take a look at how these these monsters work together to take any opponent down. Later Duelists!

Card Spolight: Genesis Dragon

What's shakin' duelists? Coach Muramasa is here on a rather hot and sunny summer day to give you some duel fuel to toast the competition. All of my loyal readers know how much I enjoy working with a good Dragon deck. I was hanging out for a bit at the local hobby shop, and came across a card that stood out among the rare finds. Today, I thought I'd talk about the new card I slipped in my deck, as well as a bit of support for this nice find.



Genesis Dragon is a light attribute Dragon with pretty decent stats (2200 ATK / 1800 DEF). Its special ability makes it the recycler of your deck. Once per turn, this card can swap a Dragon from your hand with one from your Graveyard. This is a good option for pulling off that Synchro Summon or Xyz Summon to turn things around in a duel. The other special ability activates when Genesis is sent from the field to the Graveyard. Scoop up all those Dragons and shuffle them into your deck. This will give you a refill, and a second chance to draw the right cards to win.



There are a number of Dragons that give good support to Genesis Dragon. Dragunity Brandistock can be equipped to a monster, giving the ability for that monster to attack twice during your turn. Stardust Dragon offers the perfect defense, using its effect to negate and destroy a single card that might try to destroy Genesis Dragon. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon is a good card to pair up with. Its ability to Special Summon any Dragon (including Genesis) is a must in a deck where you are trying to play the right card at the right time.



No deck would be complete without some Spells and Traps. Ancient Rules is a good card to allow for a Special Summon of a high level Dragon. Card Destruction will get some of your ace monsters in the Graveyard from your hand, and allow you to draw a new hand. If you play this at the right time when Genesis is in play, you can dominate the duel. Is your opponent picking on your ace card too much? Consider using A Hero Emerges. When your opponent attacks, this card will make him

Deck Submission - Elemental Hot & Cold

Hey there duelists! The Coach is here to get you champions in the making revved up. Today, I'm gonna share with you a deck idea I was given by a duelist who came across my blog. First let me say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to enjoy this blog. I'm doing this for all the Yu-Gi-Oh! fans out there, and keep it up as long as I see that it is helping you the reader out. I've got most of the cards to simulate this deck, and I've ordered the remainder online. When I get them, I'm gonna try this deck out with my dueling circle, and let you know how it did in a later post. I've kept you waiting long enough, so here it is.

ELEMENTAL HERO HOT & COLD version 1.0

Monsters (20)


2x Elemental HERO Bubbleman
2x Elemental HERO Burstinatrix

3x Elemental HERO Heat
2x Elemental HERO Ice Edge
3x Elemental HERO Lady Heat

3x Elemental HERO Neos
3x Elemental HERO Ocean

1x Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab
1x Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin

Spells

1x A Hero Lives

1x Card Destruction
2x E - Emergency Call

1x Fifth Hope
1x Get Your Game On!

1x Hero's Bond

1x Miracle Fusion

1x Parallel World Fusion
1x Polymerization
1x Skyscraper
1x Skyscraper 2 - Hero City
1x Swords of Revealing Light
1x United We Stand

Traps (6)

1x Change of Hero - Reflector Ray

1x Hero Barrier
1x Hero Counterattack
1x Hero Signal
1x Hero Spirit
1x Mirror Force


Extra Deck (6)

1x Elemental HERO Absolute Zero
1x Elemental HERO Flare Neos
1x Elemental HERO Inferno
1x Elemental HERO Marine Neos

1x Elemental HERO Nova Master
1x Elemental HERO Steam Healer

Cards in red are Semi-Limited
Cards in blue are Limited
Cards in black have no limit

This is a very interesting deck. Not only does it center around the Elemental Hero archetype, it takes it a step further showcasing the FIRE and WATER attribute EH monsters. This is almost like dueling with both hands behind your back. I personally look forward to trying this deck out myself. While I'm waiting for my new cards to arrive, let's inspect this deck from top to bottom. First, let's start off with monsters. We should note that EH Neos is a LIGHT monster, but is necessary for getting EH Flare Neos and EH Marine Neos in play. On the WATER side we have EH Bubbleman, EH Ice Edge, EH Ocean, and Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin. For the FIRE side we have EH Burstinatrix, EH Heat, EH Lady Heat, and Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab. This is a pretty balanced deck. We've got EH Bubbleman that can draw a couple of extra cards for you if the timing is right. EH Heat gets stronger with each additional EH monster on the field, and EH Lady Heat dishes up more pain at the end of each turn if you have more EH monsters in play. EH Ocean can recycle monsters from the field or graveyard. EH Ice Edge is a bit on the weak side, but his ability to deal direct damage and destroy Spell or Trap Cards will come in handy.

Next, let's look at the Spell Cards. There are some notable cards among these. E - Emergency Call is good for pulling EH monsters from your deck to your hand. Hero's Bond is a good follow-up, if you already have an EH monster on the field. You can go from one to three monsters in the same turn. This is good for quick Fusion Summoning, or making use of the special abilities of EH Heat or EH Lady Heat. Fifth Hope is a good one if you're in need of some quick cards. If you have at least five EH monsters in the graveyard, shuffle them into your deck, and draw two or three cards depending on what your hand and field are like at the moment. This is good for an EH recycling deck. Get Your Game On! is a very powerful, and very rare card. Most people wouldn't have this unless they attended a certain 2007 tournament. It doubles the power of all EH and Neo-Spacian monsters in play.
 

A Hero Lives is a card for Special Summoning an EH monster of Level 4 or less, at the cost of half of your Life Points. This card is really risky and wasteful, especially if you still have 8000 LP at the time. I would drop this and substitute an H - Heated Heart instead. You've got United We Stand and Skyscraper for additional power, Card Destruction for wiping out your opponent's hand, Swords of Revealing Light for stalling, and Skyscraper 2 - Hero City for reviving monsters from the graveyard. The last Spells to look at are all for Fusion Summoning. Polymerization is for textbook Fusion Summoning, Miracle Fusion is for Fusion Summoning from the field or graveyard, and Parallel World Fusion is for Fusion Summoning with banished monsters. Use them in that order, and you have an almost infinite source of Fusion Summoning materials.

Now let's move on to Traps. There aren't very many, but each can work in the right situation. Hero Signal will replace an EH monster that was destroyed by battle with another from your hand or deck. Hero Barrier will shield an EH monster from attack one time. Hero Counterattack allows you to replace a fallen EH monster, if your opponent randomly picks it from your hand when you play this card. On top of that, you send one of their monsters to the graveyard as a bonus. Hero Spirit can protect you from a lethal attack once, providing you lost a monster in the same turn you play the card. Change of Hero - Reflector Ray is a really nasty card. If an EH Fusion monster is destroyed by battle, your opponent takes damage equal to its level x 300. Since a lot of EH Fusion Monsters have seven or eight stars, that's 2100 to 2400 points of Effect Damage. Our last Trap is none other than Mirror Force. This card is only good if your opponent attacks you. You'll not only destroy that monster, but all other attack position monsters they control at the time of the attack. Save this ace for hitting 2 or more monsters at the same time.

Our next look is at the Fusion Monsters. There are six to choose from in this deck, and each brings something to the table. EH Steam Healer grants you Life Points equal to the ATK of the monster that it destroyed in battle. EH Inferno gets a 1000 ATK boost if it attacks a WATER monster. This is a good choice for a lot of Ice Barrier and Sea-Serpent decks out there. EH Flare Neos gains 400 ATK for each Spell or Trap in play, for a maximum boost of 4800. The catch is, he returns to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn. EH Marine Neos is good for destroying a random card in your opponent's hand. EH Nova Master is good for drawing a card after it destroys an opponent's monster. EH Absolute Zero gets stronger for each WATER monster on the field, except itself. It also wipes the opponent's monsters out should it be forced to leave the field. All in all, these are good Fusion Monsters.

Well, that's it for another session with the Coach. I hope you've learned something that you can apply to your daily dueling scenarios. Until next time, keep drawing that card that will turn things around in your life.

Card Spotlight: Amulet of Ambition

     Hey Duelists! The Coach is back again with your dose of duel fuel. Today we're look at a Spell Card that often gets overlooked in the game. I'm talking about the Amulet of Ambition. This card may seem kinda weak due to the need to equip it to a Normal Monster, but the lower the monster's Level, the more useful this card becomes. Equip this to a Level 1 monster, and you could have a game changer on your side. The effect of this card grants you a 500 ATK boost times the difference in levels between your monster and the monster you attack. Let's take a look at three good uses for this card.

     Scenario #1: Your opponent has a Stardust Dragon (Level 8 / 2500 ATK / 2000 DEF) in play. You play a Cycroid (Level 3 / 800 ATK / 1000 DEF). Equip Amulet of Ambition to change your ATK to 3300. Attack with Cycroid to destroy Stardust Dragon and deal 800 points of damage.

     Scenario #2: Your opponent has Obelisk the Tormentor (Level 10 / 4000 ATK / 4000 DEF) in play. You play Ancient Elf (Level 4 / 1450 ATK / 1200 DEF). Equip Amulet of Ambition to change your ATK to 4450. Attack with Ancient Elf to destroy Obelisk and deal 450 points of damage.

     Scenario #3: Your opponent has Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine (Level 12 / 4000 ATK / 4000 DEF) in play. You play a Mokey Mokey (Level 1 / 100 ATK / 100 DEF). Equip Amulet of Ambition to change your ATK to 5600. Attack with Mokey Mokey and deal 1600 points of damage.

     As you can see, this card has a lot of potential. In addition to giving some power boosts, this card can return to the top of your deck if it is sent to the Graveyard. Use this card to activate other card effects and recycle it for use in battle at the same time. It works best with very low level monsters. Give it a try and let me know about your experiences. Until next time, this is Coach Muramasa saying, get your duel on!

Crystal Beasts, Part 2

Welcome back duelists! Coach Muramasa here to give you a daily dose of duel knowledge to keep you revved up in the field. Today, we'll take a second look at the Crystal Beasts archetype from the GX era. Last time, we looked at the precious gems that make for a pretty intense team. Now, we're going to look at cards that support this group pretty well.

First up is Crystal Beacon. This Spell Card lets you Special Summon a CB monster from your deck, providing that you have at least 2 Crystal Beasts in your Spell & Trap Zone. Slip 2 or 3 of these in your deck to pull the team of seven together faster for Rainbow Dragon. (8/10)

Rare Value is another Spell Card that requires at least 2 CB monsters in your Spell & Trap Zone. Your opponent will pick one to send to the graveyard, and you will get to draw a couple of cards for your loss. Play this after a "Crystal Beacon". (6/10)

Crystal Blessing a good card for recycling CB monsters from your graveyard back to your Spell & Trap Zone. Use this along with "Crystal Beacon" and "Rare Value" to quickly get your magnificent seven in play in a couple of turns. (7/10)

Crystal Promise lets you move a CB monster from your Spell & Trap Zone to your Monster Zone as a Special Summon. Consider CB Emerald Tortoise for defense, or CB Sapphire Pegasus for offense. (7/10)

Crystal Release is a good Spell Card for giving a CB monster an ATK boost. In addition to this, when it is sent from the field to the graveyard, you get to pull a CB monster from your deck to your S/T Zone. Equip this to CB Topaz Tiger, CB Amber Mammoth or CB Sapphire Pegasus. (8/10)

Now let's take a look at a couple of traps. Rainbow Path is a good card to use, as it not only negates an opponent's attack for the cost of a CB monster in your ST Zone, but it also allows you to pull a "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" from your deck. (5/10)

The last card to take a look at is Rainbow Gravity. This trap may be your ace in the hole. All you have to do is get all seven CB monsters on the field or in the graveyard, and then you can pull a "Rainbow Dragon" or "Rainbow Dark Dragon" from your deck or graveyard. (7/10)

That does it for another dueling session from the Coach. Take good care of those of gems, and let shine through in your next duel. Until next time, keep on dueling!

Crystal Beasts, Part 1

What's shakin' duelists? The Coach is back for your next Yu-Gi-Oh! lesson. Today, we're gonna take a look at an interesting archetype form the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX era. The Crystal Beasts are a series of seven monsters that are inspired by the colors of the rainbow. These precious gems have a special ability that allows them to be placed in the Spell & Trap Zone. You'll find out a little later why this is important. Let's take a look at the members of this exclusive club.

First up is Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle. Its special ability allows it to Special Summon other CB monsters from the Spell & Trap Zone to the Monster Zone. This is a good way to recycle your monsters and keep your field with a minimal defense. (6/10)

Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth has a special ability that makes it a shield for other CB monsters. Consider equipping this card with an Equip Spell or Field Spell that boosts ATK and you could end up trashing your opponent's offense. (6/10)

Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger has a special ability that gives it an ATK boost during the Damage Step of an attack. Give him an ATK boost beforehand to guarantee success against almost any monster. (5/10)

Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise is a good choice for protection. Its 2000 DEF will help stall your opponent. On top of that, its special ability allows you to switch a monster you attacked with during your turn to DEF position. This can only be done during your Main Phase 2. (6/10)

Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus is a typical level 4 monster with 1800 ATK. Its special ability allows it to put a CB monster from your hand, deck or graveyard into your Spell & Trap Zone. This is good for working to that seven CB combo. (7/10)

Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle has a special ability that allows it to take a CB monster you control and place it on the top of your deck. This is a good way to recycle another CB monster that was in your Spell & Trap Zone. (5/10)

Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat has an ability that allows it to attack your opponent directly. If it chooses to do that, the damage inflicted is only half. Consider powering up this card with an Equip Spell Card. (5/10)

Rainbow Dragon is the result of getting all seven Crystal Beast monsters between your field and graveyard. This card is a powerhouse level 10 monster with 4000 ATK and 0 DEF. In addition, this behemoth of dragons can activate a special ability that allows it to send all CB monsters you control to the graveyard and gain 1000 ATK for each one. You could easily gain up to 9000 extra attack with this effect, for a whopping 13000 ATK. This would make for an intense one hit knockout to your opponent. Its other special ability allows you to remove all CB monsters you have in the graveyard to shuffle all cards on the field back their owners' decks. (9/10)

Rainbow Dark Dragon is the dark side of Rainbow Dragon. It also can only be Special Summoned, but with a different condition. By removing 7 different DARK monsters with different names, you can put this bad boy in play. Its special ability allows you to boost this monster by removing from play all other DARK monsters you control, as well as the remaining DARK monsters in the graveyard, for a 500 ATK boost per monster. This isn't as powerful as Rainbow Dragon's ability, but could rival its strength just the same. (8/10)

There you have it gem collectors. The Crystal Beasts and their Rainbow Dragons exposed to you. Join us next time for more dueling tidbits. Until then, get your game on!