Reverse the Tide of Battle with Torrential Reborn!
There are few feelings worse than Summoning forth the perfect aquatic army, only to get to have the seas turn against you as you’re blasted by Torrential Tribute. If that sounds like a problem you monsters regularly face, take a look at Torrential Reborn!
When a face-up WATER monster you control is destroyed by battle or by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard: Special Summon the monsters destroyed and sent from the field to your Graveyard at that time, then inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each of those Special Summoned monsters. You can only activate 1 “Torrential Reborn” per turn.
First, let’s get one misconception out of the way. Torrential Reborn isn’t justt for WATER monsters. Let’s say you’ve got Mermail Abyssleed, Number 11: Big Eye, and Ally of Justice Catastor on the field. You attack directly, but you run into Mirror Force. Here’s where Torrential Reborn gets awesome: Since a WATER monster, Abyssleed, was destroyed, you’ll Special Summon ALL of your destroyed monsters! You’ll deal 1500 damage as well, and since it’s still the Battle Phase, you can even attack with them all.
One could make some comparisons of Torrential Reborn to Starlight Road. Both cards are used to counteract destruction, but in two very different ways. While Torrential Reborn won’t give you a free Stardust Dragon, it’s got some huge advantages over the Road.
You don’t have to have multiple cards to use Torrential Reborn
Starlight Road only protects you from mass removal. If you’re about to lose a single monster to Atlantean Heavy Infantry or Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear, or just a bigger monster beating it in battle, Road can’t be played. With Torrential Reborn, you’ve still got insurance against mass removal, but it’s just as helpful for saving a single monster.
You can lose a battle without losing a monster
Possibly the most useful thing about Torrential Reborn is that it’s not just for responding to destruction effects – it’s any destruction. If you lose an important WATER monster in battle, Torrential Reborn can bring it straight back to the field. That’s a huge boost for Duelists who are tired of drawing a negation Trap Card when they just need to keep their monster safe from something bigger.
Torrential Reborn lets monsters be destroyed
Usually, players use negation to prevent their cards from ever leaving the field. Torrential Reborn is different in that it actually lets the monsters be destroyed, then Special Summons them back. That’s an important distinction for a couple of reasons. First, if your monster has an effect like Mermail Abysslinde’s, you could use it an extra time. Second, it’s a great way to put the hurt on your opponent after a field wipe, even if the wipe is self inflicted by your own Torrential Tribute, or just the expiration of Abyss-squall’s effect!
Think of it like this. You and your opponent each have two monsters on the field. You Summon a third monster, and your opponent decides to play Torrential Tribute, destroying everything. If you use Solemn Judgment or Starlight Road here, your monsters would be safe, but so are your opponent’s monsters. Torrential Reborn allows the whole field to be wiped out, then replenishes only your side! You can use this same trick offensively, with your own Dark Hole or Torrential Tribute acting essentially as a Raigeki!
Direct damage is useful
Many Duelists might argue that dealing a little burn damage isn’t an important part of Torrential Reborn’s effect, but honestly, every point of damage you can throw at your opponent counts.
Don’t be fooled – returning your monsters to the field is bad enough for your opponent, but throwing anywhere from 500 to 2500 damage at the same time? That’s awesome. If your Torrential Reborn is saving your monsters from Mirror Force, that extra damage might just be enough to win the Duel when you weren’t about to before!
Torrential Reborn is a great new way to bolster the defenses of WATER Decks everywhere. Give it a try when Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy hits this weekend!