Putting Pendulum Summoning to Work For You!
Yesterday we introduced Pendulum Monster Cards and the Pendulum Summon! You’ll be able to get your first Pendulum Monster Cards this Friday when Super Starter: Space-Time Showdown launches. Yesterday we talked mainly about the phenomenal power that Pendulum Monster Cards and Pendulum Summoning gives you. But power on its own is nothing without the wisdom to put it to good use, so today we’ll be going over some of the strategic implications of Pendulum Monsters and Pendulum Summoning, and how to make them work for you! For a video tutorial on how to Pendulum Summon, check here.
Pendulum Summoning is a Source of Reusable, non-Effect Based Special Summoning
You can Pendulum Summon once every turn. It’s a Special Summon, all the monsters are Special Summoned simultaneously, and it doesn’t start a Chain. There are many powerful monsters that have an effect that activates when the monster is Summoned, but with only 1 Normal Summon per turn, it can take a long time for strategies based on these monsters to go anywhere. Furthermore, some monsters can only use their ability when they’re Special Summoned, but don’t have any built in method to Special Summon them making it extremely difficult to claim their effects. Both of these problems can be alleviated by Pendulum Summoning. Here are some old favorites and newcomers from Duelist Alliance that can benefit from this!
You already know Ra’s Disiciple and Mecha Phantom Beast Coltwing, but Satellarknight Alsham and Aria the Melodious Diva are members of new monster families from Duelist Alliance. “Melodious” monsters are Fairy-Type monsters, many of which get special abilities when they’re Special Summoned. Aria’s power is to make all your “Melodious” monsters, including herself, indestructible by battle and untargetable by card effects. The “Satellarknight” monsters all have effects that activate when they’re Summoned, regardless of method. Alsham throws out 1000 damage when he’s Summoned, so having lots of different ways to Summon him throughout a Duel can wipe an opponent out when they least expect it. Both of these new themes are bolstered by Pendulum Summoning power!
Other monsters, like Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo or the currently popular Traptrix monsters, have effects that vary depending on how they’re Summoned. With access to Pendulum Summoning, you can pick and choose which effect you use at any given time without relying on one-shot effects like Call of the Haunted or giving up your Battle Phase and Life Points with Soul Charge.
Pendulum Summoning Gives You a Second Chance to Field a Monster Each Turn
One of the common play patterns in Dueling is for the first player to Set numerous Trap Cards, the second player tries to Summon a monster, and then the first player destroys that monster with a Trap and gets multiple free direct attacks. With Pendulum Summoning, even if your Normal Summon for the turn goes wrong, you can get another chance to put a monster on the field. Or you can Pendulum Summon first to force a response, and Normal Summon later. Of course, the key to using this particular strategy is ensuring that you have access to your Pendulum Monster Cards early on in the Duel, and that’s when Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from Duelist Alliance comes in handy!
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon helps you in two big ways. First, it lets you grab a Pendulum Monster Card from your Deck. Currently, it would be able to get either Timegazer Magician or Stargazer Magician from Super Starter: Space-Time Showdown, but of course there will be more Pendulum Monsters with 1500 or less ATK created as time goes on. The second way it helps you is by being a Pendulum Monster itself! When you destroy it and add a Pendulum Monster Card from your Deck to your hand, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon goes to your Extra Deck, where you can Summon it back by Pendulum Summoning! And with 2500 ATK and its effect to inflict double damage while battling a monster, your opponent has to respect its power and think about using their Trap Cards on it. Once they do, you can Normal Summon with a lot less risk than normal!
Having Both Pendulum Zones Occupied Threatens to End the Duel at Any Moment
As long as you have a card in each Pendulum Zone, your opponent has to think about the possibility that you can defeat them right then and there. When those Zones are occupied, or even if one of them is occupied and your opponent thinks you might have another Pendulum Monster Card, your Pendulum Spells become the primary target for Spell and Trap destruction cards. That means that you can play your regular Spells and Trap Cards, especially Continuous, Equip, and Field Cards, with less fear of seeing them destroyed.
And don’t forget, if one of your Pendulum Spells is destroyed, it goes into the Extra Deck instead of the Graveyard, so the next time you start to fill your Pendulum Zones, the threat of defeat becomes even more real for your opponent!
Come this Friday, Pendulum Monster Cards and Pendulum Summoning will be here to stay (except at the World Championship Qualifier!) so get a head start now and think about what they can do for you!