Tech Update: Hidden Arsenal, Part 1
Hidden Arsenal has brought tons of playable new cards to competitive and casual Duelists alike, many of which are seeing play today. Taking a look around the tournament floor, six cards stand out for their popularity. Let’s start with the obvious!
“Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier”:
Since Brionac doesn’t require any specific Synchro Materials, it can fit in almost any Deck you can imagine. Clocking in at Level 6 with 2300 ATK, Brionac’s main strength lies in its ease of Summoning and its incredible effect: discard any number of cards to send an equal number of cards back to the opponent’s hand. Face-down monsters, Trap Cards, Synchro Monsters… if it’s in your way, Brionac will get it off the field.
You can activate Brionac’s effect any number of times per turn, too. So if you suspect your opponent may have a card that blunts your potential attacks (like “Threatening Roar”), you can activate Brionac’s ability several times and go card by card until you either clear the field or see the card you’re concerned about. Alternatively, if your opponent has a field full of Synchro Monsters with “Bottomless Trap Hole” Set (in which case you’d only get to use Brionac’s effect once), you can pitch three or four cards in one go as soon as you Summon Brionac, to get rid of all those monsters in a single shot.
Because Brionac allows you to discard so many cards, it sets up big plays all on its own. Lightsworn can be pitched to feed “Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner’s” effect or “Judgment Dragon’s” Special Summoning. Need to destroy more than just 3 cards with “Dark Armed Dragon’s” ability? Brionac can load your Graveyard with DARK monsters again while clearing the way. “Destiny Hero – Malicious,” “Mezuki,” “Plaguespreader Zombie,” and “Necro Gardna” are all useful when they’re in the Graveyard, and Brionac can get them there. This is what makes Brionac special: it can clear the way for your combos, and put the combo pieces where you need them at the same time. Brionac is scoring a lot of wins this weekend.
“Flamvell Magician”:
While some of the most talked-about cards from Hidden Arsenal are Synchro Monsters, some of the Tuners offered in the set are amazing as well. “Flamvell Magician” is a Level 4 Tuner monster that can be Special Summoned with the effect of “Flamvell Firedog.” Just attack with the 1900 ATK Firedog, take down a monster, and you can Special Summon Magician from your Graveyard. From there you can Tune Magician to Firedog for a Level 8 Synchro Summon, trading your Firedog for a big Synchro while destroying one of your opponent’s monsters.
Magician gets even better when you combo it with another card from Ancient Prophecy – “Rekindling.” “Rekindling” will let you Special Summon up to 5 copies of “Flamvell Firedog” and “Flamvell Magician” all at once, setting up as many as two Synchro Summons. When “Rekindling’s” effect hits in the End Phase and would normally remove your Flamvells from play, the ones you used as Synchro Materials are already safe in your Graveyard, and are unaffected.
Because “Flamvell Magician” can be Special Summoned so easily from the Graveyard we can expect to see it in Lightsworn variants this weekend. However, the fact that it has relatively low ATK for a Level 4 Tuner can come in handy – the Magician is the only generic Level 4 Tuner monster that can’t be destroyed by “Bottomless Trap Hole.”
“Mist Valley Soldier”:
Speaking of Tuners, “Mist Valley Soldier” has made “Rose, Warrior of Revenge” almost obsolete. With 1700 ATK, the Soldier has 100 more ATK than Rose, and the Soldier can attack Defense Position monsters and send them back to the opponent’s hand. In the case of a Synchro Monster the Soldier will send its victim back to the Extra Deck. So you can use “Misty Valley Soldier” with cards like “Book of Moon” and “Enemy Controller” to eliminate powerful Synchro Monsters like “Stardust Dragon.”
The Soldier is also a WIND Attribute monster, which is handy when you’re playing “Dark Simorgh” from Stardust Overdrive. If your Graveyard has any DARK monster plus “Mist Valley Soldier,” you’ll be able to remove them to Special Summon Simorgh. The most popular combo here this morning is “Summoner Monk,” Special Summoning “Mist Valley Soldier” to Tune for a Level 8 Synchro Monster, leaving the necessary monsters in the Graveyard for “Dark Simorgh.”