(Now Less OP) The GazettE Cards: Banishing Facedown for Floodgates [Song Cards]

[Snatch Steal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btY69BtNXo8

 

 

 

The coolest part of these cards so far is that the art all lines up.

 

[spoiler=Malum] 

Quickplay Spell

Excavate the top 10 cards of your Deck, add 1 to your hand, then banish the rest facedown. You cannot summon monsters with level less than the number of cards that are banished facedown during the turn you activate this effect. While you control no cards: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Set as many monsters your opponent controls as Spell Cards in their Spell/Trap Card Zones, with the following effect.

• When this card is activated: You take 500 damage.

 

~Revised~

 

Excavate the top 5 cards of your Deck, Add 1 excavated card to your hand, also banish the remaining cards, face-down. During the turn you activate this effect, You cannot Summon any monsters whose level is less than the number of cards banished by this effect. During either player's turn, while you control no cards: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Set monster(s) your opponent controls up to the number of face-up Spell Cards in your opponent's Spell/Trap Zones. After this effect resolves, If your opponent flips those monster(s) Set by this effect (by Flip Summoning or by effect): inflict 500 LP Damage to your opponent.

 

[spoiler=Dogma]

 

Level 10 DARK Fiend 0/0

Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. While you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing the top 10 cards of your Deck facedown. This card gains 100 ATK and DEF for each card that is banished. While none of your cards are banished: Shuffle this card into the Deck, banish all cards in your hand facedown, then draw 4 cards, also set 1 "Depravity" or "Malum" from your Deck, but it cannot be activated this turn. 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Depravity]

Continuous Trap

Activate only at the end of the Main Phase. When this card is activated: destroy all monsters on the field, and if you do, banish them facedown. Neither player can Normal Summon monsters with level less than the number of cards that are banished facedown. During each of your Standby Phases: Both players shuffle 1 of their cards that is banished facedown into its owner's Deck, or if a player cannot, destroy this card. When this card is destroyed: Send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard.

 

~Revised~

 

Activate only at the end of the Main Phase. When this card is activated: change all monsters on the field to Defense Position. During each of your Standby Phases: Both players shuffle 1 of their cards that is banished facedown into its owner's Deck, or if a player cannot, destroy this card. When this card is destroyed: Send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard.

 

[spoiler=Inside Beast]

Level 1 EARTH Beast Tuner 0/0

While you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only use one of the following effects of "Inside Beast" per turn, and only once that turn.

•You can Tribute this card: Special Summon 1 "Dogma" from your Deck, then Banish the top 5 cards of each player's Deck facedown. 

•You can Banish this card from your Graveyard: Banish the top card of each player's Deck facedown. 

 

~Revised~

 

You can only use one of the following effects of "Inside Beast" per turn, and only once that turn.

•You can Tribute this card: Special Summon 1 "Dogma" from your Deck, then Banish the top 10 cards of your Deck facedown.

•You can Banish this card from your Graveyard: Banish the top card of each player's Deck facedown. 

 

 

Looking forward to balancing these to make them either more archetypal or less OP.

[Bellringer Angel]

(Shortest review ever! ;D)

 

1. Malum's last effect doesn't even work properly since the Set cards can't even activate (because they have no effect). The other effects are fine (sort of).

 

2. Dogma's ATK and DEF need to be increased slightly. The other effects are fine.

 

3. Depravity with Dogma pretty much locks Normal Summoning in general, but the cost kind of balances it.

 

Tbh, the cards are kinda niche since it won't really do anything great (other than lockdown).

[Snatch Steal]

(Shortest review ever! ;D)

 

1. Malum's last effect doesn't even work properly since the Set cards can't even activate (because they have no effect). The other effects are fine (sort of).

 

2. Dogma's ATK and DEF need to be increased slightly. The other effects are fine.

 

3. Depravity with Dogma pretty much locks Normal Summoning in general, but the cost kind of balances it.

 

Tbh, the cards are kinda niche since it won't really do anything great (other than lockdown).

 

I'm not sure why the set cards wouldn't work, since the card clarifies they are given an effect as set cards. 

Dogma's ATK and DEF is so low because you can end up banishing a lot of cards, and when it had 300 I observed it could reach 6000 quickly if you used something like Pot of Cupidity.

[Major's Shadow]

Reviews, oh joy!

 

Malum: So, Imperial Iron Wall + this = Excavate 10 and add 1 for free? Seems like a pretty broken combo, but otherwise it seems the drawback isn't worth running. The Graveyard effect triggering only on Spell Cards your opponent controls is pretty mediocre too, even if it doesn't target, but it is a nice little additional effect. Also, the OCG is wonky in all sorts of places. I'll be providing fixes for each card after its review is over, which should be correct based on the mechanics of the card. Not the most broken card imaginable, but has the potential for easy abuse. Also, the additional effect clause of the Graveyard effect doesn't mechanically work, considering the monsters never activate as cards. I think I made the necessary fixes in the Spoiler.

[spoiler=OCG Corrections]

Original: Excavate the top 10 cards of your Deck, add 1 to your hand, then banish the rest facedown. You cannot summon monsters with level less than the number of cards that are banished facedown during the turn you activate this effect. While you control no cards: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Set as many monsters your opponent controls as Spell Cards in their Spell/Trap Card Zones, with the following effect.

• When this card is activated: You take 500 damage.

Updated: Excavate the top 10 cards of your Deck, Add 1 excavated card to your hand, also banish the remaining cards, face-down. During the turn you activate this effect, You cannot Summon any monsters whose level is less than the number of cards banished by this effect. While you control no cards: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Set monster(s) your opponent controls up to the number of face-up Spell Cards in your opponent's Spell/Trap Zones. After this effect resolves, If your opponent flips those monster(s) Set by this effect (by Flip Summoning or by effect): inflict 500 LP Damage to your opponent.

 

 

 

Dogma: I can see it, I guess? It's required that, at the very minimum, 25 - 30 cards are banished in total in order to make use of this card. Some pretty disguising stuff could be done with Pot of Cupidity, but I'm not sure if burning your whole deck is enough to warrant this kind of semi-archetype. It can be Special Summoned via other means, so you can probably find some milling shenanigans w/ COTH or other summoning techniques, then banishing your hand (no minimum requirement), drawing 4 cards, and setting a "Depravity" or "Malum". Not sure on the potential of a card like this, but Dogma mill deck sounds pretty terrifying in the right hands.

[spoiler=OCG Corrections]

Original: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. While you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing the top 10 cards of your Deck facedown. This card gains 100 ATK and DEF for each card that is banished. While none of your cards are banished: Shuffle this card into the Deck, banish all cards in your hand facedown, then draw 4 cards, also set 1 "Depravity" or "Malum" from your Deck, but it cannot be activated this turn.

Updated: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. While you control no monsters, You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by banishing the top 10 cards of your Deck face-down. This card gains 100 ATK and DEF for each banished card. If none of your cards are banished: Shuffle this card into the Deck and banish all cards in your hand face-down, then draw 4 cards, and if you do, Set 1 "Depravity" or "Malum" from your Deck, but it cannot be activated this turn.

 

 

 

Depravity: Very poorly designed. It forces a response out of your opponent in order to not immediately loose their entire board presence, making it a Bottomless Trap Hole on steroids. It's true that it hits your own field, but again with the Malum strategy, you can just run mill decks and avoid setting board presences for them to play into your win condition. Not a fan of floodgates to begin with, but it's a flood gate you can activate with immediate benefit. The hand discard can be played around incredibly easily, making it a minor downside to such an insane effect. While Dogma was debatable in its potential, Depravity is broken on a conceptual level.

[spoiler=OCG Corrections]

Original: Activate only at the end of the Main Phase. When this card is activated: destroy all monsters on the field, and if you do, banish them facedown. Neither player can Normal Summon monsters with level less than the number of cards that are banished facedown. During each of your Standby Phases: Both players shuffle 1 of their cards that is banished facedown into its owner's Deck, or if a player cannot, destroy this card. When this card is destroyed: Send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard.

Updated: Can only be activated at the end of either player's Main Phase. When this card is activated: destroy all monsters on the field, and if you do, banish them face-down. Neither player can Normal Summon a monster(s), whose original level is less than the number of banished face-down cards. During each of your Standby Phases: Both players shuffle 1 of their banished face-down cards into their Decks. If one or both players cannot, destroy this card. If this card is destroyed: Discard all cards in your hand.

 

 

 

Inside Beast: So, a way to immediately Special Summon Malum w/o condition, while also being a free SS for a Level 1 Tuner splashable into any deck? Yeah, let's say no to that. It also banishes face-down for each player instead of Malum banishing from your deck exclusively. This could cause crippling effects for your opponent's deck, and possibly cause them to loose the game, just by missing key pieces of their deck. Much like Depravity, this card is incredibly unfair.

[spoiler=OCG Corrections]

Original: While you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only use one of the following effects of "Inside Beast" per turn, and only once that turn.

•You can Tribute this card: Special Summon 1 "Dogma" from your Deck, then Banish the top 5 cards of each player's Deck facedown. 

•You can Banish this card from your Graveyard: Banish the top card of each player's Deck facedown.

Updated: While you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only use 1 of the following effects of "Inside Beast" per turn, and only once that turn:

*You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 "Dogma" from your Deck, then banish the top 5 card of each player's deck face-down.

*You can banish this card from your Graveyard; banish the top card of each player's Deck face-down.

 

 

 

Overall: Effect wise, this is a group of cards which introduce a slew of problematic combos into the game, which all feel incredibly sacky and unfair to play against. None of the mechanics reward you for playing them correctly, rather, just having them and using them whenever possible. This creates game breaking combos that can potentially lock your opponent from playing their deck with Depravity or Inside Beast. However, the cards thematically are really unique. I wouldn't say they'd fit anywhere in any feasible realm of YuGiOh, but as fictional pieces of work, they all have their own pieces of artistic and mechanical synergy that make them some of the most unique cards I've ever seen. Definitely uncomfortable to look at based on their theme, but that's the intention, and it works. OCG was definitely spot on in most areas, with some mishaps that I probably skimmed over in my correction (all minor stuff, really). You nailed the mechanics almost perfectly.

 

Desu~

[Snatch Steal]

ok ok I made them less op

[Snatch Steal]

Bump

[Snatch Steal]

Bump

[Major's Shadow]

Re-reviews, oh joy! I'm just going to bullet-point my thoughts on the changes made, since I already did a more in-depth analysis of the cards previously. Here we go~

 

Malum: While I see you implemented the OCG fixes I gave you. The balance tweak was much needed, as this variation of the card feels more constrained, offering pros/cons to using it. Not sure how many other decks outside Dogma can use this, but it's a much more restrained card now. 

Dogma: Can't really see the changes made here. Pretty sure you kept it the same, which is fine, but some further restraints could have been implemented for safe measure (like adding a min. requirement for hand size to use the banish and draw eff, making it required to be summoned off its own eff, etc).

Depravity: It went from bonkers broken, to pretty much useless. With an effect this mild, you can probably rid of the discard downside. Also, the fact it doesn't restrict battle position, or some other form of continuous effect on the card, nullifies the purpose of it being continuous. Doesn't really feel anything like the old card was, which, it was broken, but there was some stuff you could have done with it to make it better IMO.

Inside Beast: Yeah, this is much better. Gives you versatility with Dogma, while also being splashable as a Tuner for other decks. Still not a fan of the mechanic of "use up whole hand, summon Inside Beast, SS Dogma, then draw 4 cards and set a "Malum" or "Depravity". I think that's more in-line with Dogma than Inside Beast, but still a broken combo. 

 

Keep at it, they're looking better all the time!

 

[Snatch Steal]

bump

[Snatch Steal]

bump

[Snatch Steal]

bump

[Snatch Steal]

11 posts great meme

[Snatch Steal]

if I make too many jokes then it won't become apparent that I'm bumping