Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Finally, King Arthur!


I'm not sure when was this card previewed, but I just saw this a moment ago and man was I hyped. Normally, I don't pay attention to TCG exclusive because it won't affect the OCG meta unless its as broken as TGU. This card, Artorigus, King of Noble Knights, is far from being another TGU. And I doubt its gonna do anything to the meta game because how underpowered he and his fellow knights are currently. But theres just something I really like about this card. 

(1) He is King Arthur. I really wanted an archtype based on the legend of King Arthur for years now. I know the Noble Knight archtype had been out for a while now. But without King Arthur as the ace, it just isn't appealing to me. The other Arturigus, no matter how cool that card is, is far from being an ace. 

(2) His effect is unique among aces and XYZs in general. 

"2x Level 4 Noble Knight monsters

When this card is XYZ summoned : You can target up to 3 Noble Arms equip spell cards with different names in your graveyard; equip those targets to this card. Once per turn, you can destroy Spell/Trap cards on the field, up to the number of Noble Arms equip spell card you control.

2000 / 2000"

Not the best of effects and definitely not a game ender. But that effect is very very cool, fitting of the king of knights. Nothing broken and requires some amount of planning to really get it to work. I really like cards that aren't spoonfed, and this is one card (and archtype) that is no way in hell autopilot. 

2000 may seem a bit small for an ace monster, I agree. But that just adds up to more fun in playing this card correctly. Since it equips up to 3 Noble Arms from the grave, it instantly boost itself up to 3500 if everything goes well. Also, Noble Arms - Arfeudutyr lets you destroy a set card by decreasing this cards attack by 500. So, if you have something like Trap Stun set up, this card can come out, destroy 4 backrows and still be at 3000.

(3) The artist really did a good job here with the card. It really looks cool and not generic like how YGO cards are drawn. Konami really need more non-Japanese artist in their design department cause I like these cards more than the more anime styled art of the rest of the cards.

The problem now is to get the equip spells from your deck. Sure, that dude based on Lancelot can search your deck for a Noble Arms, but he needs you to tribute another Noble Knight, making this effect a bit of a chore early in the game. Hidden Armory can be useful, but you need to sacrifice your normal summon, which may be a very heavy price to pay. 


Noble Knight Medraut is another very interesting card. Its treated as a normal monster on the field, similar to a gemini monster despite not being one. It only gets its effect when its equipped with a Noble Arms. And when it does, its actually quite good. You could special summon another knight from your deck if you have no other monsters on the field, when this cards is equipped with a Noble Arms. Also, its treated as a level 5 with a Noble Arms. Best part is, you get to destroy that Noble Arms after the other knight was summoned. 

Why is the last part good? Because all Noble Arms lets you attach itself onto a Noble Knight when it is destroyed (up to once per turn). So, you could attach it back to Medraut if you were to summon Laundsalliyn and make a Rank 5 XYZ; or attach it to another level 4 Knight to make a Rank 4. You could also attach the Noble Arms onto Laundsalliyn, tribute Medraut to get another Noble Arms, and make a 3000 beatstick with 1 card.

If you open with Medraut and a Noble Arms, you can get all 3 Noble Arms into your grave or hand pretty easily and set up for the king of knights. Really needs a level 4 knight that searches for Noble Arms thou, something like, "Once per turn, you can destroy a Noble Arms equip spell card you control; search your deck for a Noble Arms equip spell card and add it to your hand". That would make King Arthur so good. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm psyched for these two as well. I'm hoping Konami doesn't stop with them at this set, since they are finally getting a game plan and some synergy together.

And there's certainly plenty more Arthurian lore to make cards out of. :D