What are the Hieratic Seals?
Ever since we unveiled the new Hieratic monsters on the Galactic Overlord web page and in our first look at them on the Strategy Site, we’ve been bombarded with emails about them and how they work. Here are the most frequently asked questions we’ve received and their answers.
Q: What happens if I Tribute a Hieratic monster as a cost? Can I still Special Summon a Dragon-Type Normal Monster?
A: Yes! You can. The Special Summon effects read as follows. “When this card is Tributed: Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type Normal Monster from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard, and make its ATK and DEF 0.” Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb must Summon a “Hieratic” Normal Monster, but the effect is the same other than that. This is a mandatory effect, so it’s going to activate no matter when or how your Dragon is Tributed.
Q: Does the Special Summon effect Chain to whatever Tributes my Hieratic monster?
A: No, it does not. This Special Summon effect is a Trigger Effect. Trigger Effects are Spell Speed 1, so they don’t Chain to any already activated effects. They have to wait until any current Chain is finished, and then all Trigger Effects that were triggered in the process will begin a new Chain afterwards.
Q: Can Bottomless Trap Hole be used against a monster Summoned with this effect?
A: No, it can’t. The monster’s ATK and DEF are 0 the moment it reaches the field, so Bottomless Trap Hole can’t be used. Of course, if you have a more appropriate card to respond to the Summon with, go for it.
Q: When are you going to tell us about these “Seals” you mentioned in the last article?
A: Right now, actually!
Sealed Awesome in a Can
Here are the basics. In addition to the 9 Hieratic Dragons that serve the Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis, there are 7 Hieratic Seals. One of the Seals acts like three cards in one, however, so it’s more like 9 Dragons, 9 Seals.
Two of them are monsters. Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King is a Level 6 Gemini monster which represents the sealed form of Hieratic Dragon King of Atum. Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord is a Level 8 Normal Monster which represents the sealed form of the Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis. Combining 2 of the corresponding Seal lets you Xyz Summon the appropriate Hieratic Dragon.
Two of the Seals are Spell Cards. These Seals transport the Hieratic Dragons wherever their power is needed. The Hieratic Seal of Convocation moves any Hieratic Monster from your Deck to your hand, while the Hieratic Seal of Supremacy Summons a Hieratic Monster from your hand to the field. By combining these two cards, you can grab any Hieratic Monster from your Deck and Summon it straight away (exception: Hieratic Dragon of Sutekh).
The final 3 Seals are all Trap Cards, and they are devastating. Hieratic Seal of Banishment requires a Tribute of 1 Hieratic monster and banishes any opposing card. Hieratic Seal of Reflection carries the same cost, and it can negate the activation of any Spell Card, Trap Card, or monster effect. Of course, using either of these will activate your Hieratic monster’s effect and let you leave behind a Normal Monster to Xyz Summon with later. With these Traps, you can deal a huge blow to your opponent’s strategy without setting back your own, provided that your opponent can’t bring out another monster to attack your 0 ATK/0 DEF Normal Monster.
The very last Seal, Hieratic Seal From the Ashes, doesn’t Tribute anything, but it can do the work of 3 cards at once. During every one of your opponent’s turns, it can send a Hieratic Monster to your Graveyard (like Foolish Burial). The obvious choice would be one of the Hieratic Seal monsters, especially Hieratic Seal of the Dragon King, as it’s not treated as a Normal Monster while it’s in the Deck. During every one of your turns, it can return a banished Hieratic monster to your Graveyard (like Burial from the Different Dimension). This is useful when you banish monsters to play Hieratic Dragon of Sutekh and want to be able to use them later on, assuming Sutekh doesn’t just make you win. And finally, when your face-up Hieratic Seal From the Ashes goes to the Graveyard, you get to revive any Hieratic monster from your Graveyard. These three abilities work in tandem over to improve the quality of the cards you draw, set up your combos, and offer your opponent a very good reason to hold back on their Spell and Trap Card destruction cards.
Sutekh, the Destroyer
Since I mentioned it before, let’s talk about Sutekh. It’s the one non-Xyz Hieratic monster that no amount of trickery will let you Summon. The Hieratic Dragon of Sutekh demands a heavy price for its power, to the tune of banishing 3 Dragon-Type Normal Monsters from your Graveyard. What you get in return is a 2800 ATK monster with the power to banish a Dragon in your Graveyard to destroy any card on the field. With the help of Hieratic Seal From the Ashes and the rest of your Hieratic monsters, this is an easy condition to fulfill. And thanks to Hieratic Seal From the Ashes, you can also put the monsters you banished back into the Graveyard to fuel further combos.
Sutekh can destroy any card on the field, even your own, so if your opponent has a lot of cards that need to be destroyed and just taking out one isn’t enough, try this combo on for size.
- Summon Hieratic Dragon of Sutekh. Try to banish a Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord in the process.
- Use the effect of Hieratic Seal From the Ashes to return Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord to your Graveyard.
- Banish a different Dragon to destroy your own Seal with Sutekh’s effect.
- Use the final effect of your Seal to revive Hieratic Seal of the Sun Dragon Overlord.
- Xyz Summon Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis and unleash as much devastation as you possibly can.
Even if you don’t have enough Hieratic monsters available for Tribute to eliminate everything your opponent’s got, the Overlord’s effect will likely leave behind some Normal Monsters to Xyz Summon with, and it’s got 3000 ATK. 3000 ATK is nothing to scoff at, and if you get two Level 8 Normal Monsters as a result of your Hieratic effects, you can throw down another 3000 ATK Rank 8 monster (either another Overlord or Thunder End Dragon) alongside it.
Sutekh’s a great closer for when both players have unleashed all their combos and don’t have a lot left in the tank. There aren’t a whole lot of individual cards that your opponent can draw to beat Sutekh, even if it’s all you’ve got.
That’s a lot of information to take in, so I’ll stop here for today. But keep your eyes peeled, because Galactic Overlord is on its way, and the Strategy Site is the only place to be for previews of the upcoming set!