Thoughts on [907] Breakers of Shadow Pt. 2

[Blake]

Been about 2 weeks since BOSH hit, and some of my opinions have changed, so I figured "why not".

 

Less thoughts written out, though I'll cover important stuff. More ranking.

 

Card order isn't by best to worst in their brackets, but by set order.

 

Also, the Other ranking is for, well... weird cards or cards I'm unsure about.

 

Top: 3 Cards

• Ariadne the Absolver
• Twin Twister
• Solemn Notice

Good to Great: 11 cards

• Tuning Magician
• Performapal Monkeyboard
• Performapal Guiturtle: This card is far better than I gave it credit for. Setting it as the high scale is a steady stream of drawing that enables you to find your goodstuffs instead of just your archetypal cards, and that is the difference between a win and a loss. Also, Lizardraw is Pot of Greed.
• Twilight Ninja Shogun - Getsuga: This card seems like it has a lot of potential in Kaiju, A good level for Rank 8, gets back Hanzo/Upstart Ninjas (Cairngorgon is insane in Kaiju, if you can make it),  has RotA for more Kaiju counters, and just all around solid card, with potential in a deck that is still getting support. Ninjitsu Art of Duplication exists, after all, and it can sack 1 Hanzo for another, and that's an average play.
• Majespecter Toad - Gama
• Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon/Odd-Eyes Advent (2): There is a LOT of assorted Odd-Eyes support that seems to be on the horizon. Of note, 3 Odd-Eyes in the manga, 2 Performapal Odd-Eyes in the anime, and more to come by sheer fact it's the MC's ace. Given Sky Arc exists, this card is definitely good, even if it doesn't have a home yet.
• Goyo Defender
• Clash of the Dracorivals
• Dragon's Bind
• Pendulum Reborn: I don't think it shines yet, but the D/D structure is on the way, and I'll be damned if it doesn't shine in that deck. Very, very good card with lots of potential.

Decent: 34 cards

• Timesword Magician
• Performapal Trump Girl: Lot of potential right here, but her level seems like a real drawback.
• Superheavy Samurai Magnet
• Superheavy Samurai General Hisui
• Superheavy Samurai General Sango
• Solo the Melodious Songstress
• Score the Melodious Diva
• Blackwing - Harmattan the Sandstorm
• Twilight Ninja Chunin - Nichirin: Not good now, at all, but it has some potential for the future, depending on how Ninjas go, seeing as it has good effects.
• Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer: Generally a 1-of, but not a bad one. It just makes Ignister more versatile and gives more targets to all of the Dracoslayers.
• Dinomist archetype (8): While I still think these cards were handled incredibly poorly and aren't great, they at least somewhat function and have cute plays, at times. Boring, not good, but not the worst ever... Though definitely worse than Igknights and Majespecter. Not Dynamic Powerload, though, and the Level 4s bar Ptera are on my sheet list.
• Cursed Katana Shiranui: Fine card, but the level is an issue in its type, at present, and... its archetype did not carry it.
• Illumi'raj: It's definitely NOT a good card, but it's the type of card that may see play eventually. We had a format where we needed things like Exiled Force and Bull Blader. Sure, those are searchable, but this has utility as a Tuner, as well, so it could see play sometime.
• Deskbot 007
• Deskbot 008
• Dinoster Powerful, the Might Dracoslayer: It's not as good as I thought, like... at all. But it's not terrible, either, as it certainly has a niche and a good level, and it can be annoying to get past.
• Enlightenment Paladin
• Hi-Speedroid Mach Hagoita: I really don't think this is what the deck needed or wanted. It's good at what it does, but... it's just not.
• Buster Dragon, the Destroyer Dragon: It's a really, really good card for a deck that just did not get enough. I'd put Pet Dragon here, but I feel like this is the only one really worth noting, as there was effort put in.
• Katanagami - Shiranui: It's not terrible, but it's just not good enough, and its archetype... Being either player's turn can shut down Ignister/Pendulum turns somewhat, which is a definite plus. Pseudo-generic zombie card.
• Pendulum Storm
• Majespecter Sonic: It makes getting over Majespecters more difficult, which is relevant when that's their only major weakness (bar Notice) and you have to punch them to get Tempest to not resolve.
• Mistaken Charges: I'm not willing to give up on this card. I really do feel like it's going to see play at some point, even though it does feel a little underdesigned.
• Reject Reborn: Overrated, but worth remembering. 
• Majespecter Supercell: The deck needed this. It's not great, it's not bad, it was just needed, at least for pure. It's MOAR TEMPEST and rewards you for Xyzing, while also getting you past Skill Drain, Nekroz of Unicore, etc.
• Shiranui Style: Swallow Sword: I considered putting this under good, but the problem is that it's tied to Shiranui.
• Burying Mirror Force

Bad: 17 cards

• Performapal Big Bite Turtle: Mostly because it's just worse than Archfiend Eccentrick. It's more teetering between Decent and Bad, though, considering what archetype its in.
• Superheavy Samurai Steadfast
• Twilight Ninja - Shingetsu
• Buster Blader support (9): It got too little, and what it got was too focused on OG Buster Blader. It got a couple good cards, and it can work with Magicians, but it's too subpar as a usage for that, and just was not good enough, sadly. Not to mention the needless restriction on the Fusion. Buster Dragon is seperate.
• Goyo Emperor/Goyo King (2): These cards are stuck in the past. They do not keep up with complexity creep. King is moreso on the border between decent and bad, like Big Bite Turtle, due to having the potential to make it out one day... but Emperor is too hard to summon for too little payoff. 
• Superheavy Samurai Beast Kyuubi: why the funk wasn't this buffed
• Dynamic Powerload: The buff is cute, but not worth dead draws that don't advance your game.
• Chasing Wings

Awful: 11 cards

• Performapal Raingoat: Main Phase only, albeit either, sucks. Needed to be buffed like Damage Juggler, not this.
• Shiranui archetype (5): The worst part of the set. These cards were handled so poorly, with no means to set up, bosses that don't help that out, and cards that... simply do what zombies already do but worse. The fact that they don't help their level 2 tuner just shows how poorly it was handled, and 2 usable maindeck cards + 1 usable boss does not a deck make.
• Toon Buster Blader
• Zebrascal: why are you not scale 1
• Performance Band Hurricane: Saying "monsters" killed it completely.
• Hi Speed Re-Level
• Unlucky Blast: seriously wtf

Other: 4 cards

• Dark Doriado: A card with some potential, considering she stacks 5 of your deck's cards on top of it... just idk how MUCH. Most of the stuff is just cutesy.
• Arbiter of Seals: Just... weird. Weird as funk.
• Magical Sea Castle Aigaion: See Arbiter of Seals, though it seems like it could have potential.
• The Unspeakable Grimoire: It can break locks like CDI/Rafflesia if used in response to the Ptolemaeus/Cyber Dragon Nova's summon, but... I dunno, it feels like a really out of place and inconsistent card, but I can't put it down.

While the set isn't as disappointing as I felt on release, it still feels very weak on the whole.

 

TCG side has more cards of note in it, as we've seen already, and I'm definitely exicted to see both what TCG brings to the table. Kozmo are strong as they are, though Notice hurts a lot, and Kaiju really do seem to benefit from the Ninja engine with Getsuga.

[The Warden]

In regards to Shiranui, I've found they work best when used alongside a general Reptile-Zombie deck, with just 2 Swordsmith, 2 Chief Priest, and 1 Cursed Sword. They work best at making Sword of Swallow live, and Cursed Sword is pretty decent for a level 6 Synchro, or banishing for Archfiend Zombie Skull. Their synchros suck, I make no bones about that. Plus in times of need Chief Priest can be used to SS Swordsmith for a quick Rank 4.

 

In all, I think it's worth expending 5 slots on the Shiranui just to make their Icarus Attack live.

[BlackBeartic]

I really hate how majespecters got a card that doubles their attack.

 

They honestly do enough as it is ("you can't play), they didn't need a way to be able to power through stuff too

[Lizardonx]

Whenever I use magic castle I end up hitting their rhapsodies and emerals.

 

When I get it used on me they snipe my novas and base form utopias.