Abyss Rising Set Review (Part 1)

Welcome to the first part of the Abyss Rising Set Review!
Since I'm going on a card-by-card basis, this review will probably end up running in 10 parts, with 10 cards per part. Hopefully, my work will be able to hold a candle to the fabulous work Jason Grabher-Meyer does, on TCGPlayer.com. I know that reading his reviews has always been a treat, and I hope you'll feel the same way about mine. Since this is just as much for me to get practice as it is for you to enjoy, I'm doing every single card. That isn't the best approach - it'd be better to write a shorter review, like Jason does. It holds interest better, and gives you more time to focus on what you do review, and to do background research. But... yeah. I'm not doing that. I'm going to do this to increase my ability to critically analyse any single given card. It also helps me, as a duelist, to find new 'tech' cards and strategies. So without any further ado, let's kick things off with our sneak preview card!
Note: Click on the names for their entries in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Database, or the Yu-Gi-Oh Wiki if the Database hasn't been updated yet. The link will have their effects, etc. Also, as English pictures keep surfacing, the images will be updated.


Ignoble Knight of Black Laundsallyn

Right off the bat, two things jump out at me in this cards text: the phrase "add 1" and "Noble Knight." Whenever a card has the phrase "add" it usually ends up being integral to it's archetype. The ability to search out cards you need can't be overstated. Looking at the rest of the card, we can see that it's a Warrior with a  Dark-attribute. That in and of itself isn't strange, but when you compare Laundsallyn to his brothers in nobility (or ignobility, in Laundsallyn's case), Gawayn and Artorigus, you can see that they're Light-attribute, with a differing level (4, as opposed to Laundsallyn's 5) to boot. What does this mean? This card fails to receive some of the support that the others get (like Honest, and much of the "Photon" support), but also opens up an interesting avenue for the Noble Knights: Chaos monsters. Considering the sheer power of Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, that's no small thing. In addition, Black Luster Soldier is a Warrior-type, adding consistency to any strategy geared towards taking advantage of that. Moving on from that, we see that to summon Laundsallyn, we have to release a Light-attribute normal monster. Luckily, that's not a sparsely populated category, and there's at least one tournament level card in that category - Elemental Hero Neos Alius. In addition, the popular Rescue Rabbit can fetch us two normal monsters, including Noble Knight Artorigus. You'll want to most often summon this card from the graveyard, so that you're only giving up your on field monster for a monster from the graveyard. Otherwise, you risk losing two cards (Laundsallyn, and whatever you tributed) to only one of your opponents (cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, and Torrential Tribute). There are only two "Noble Arms" cards right now, and we'll be looking at one later on in the review. As more Noble Knights and Noble Arms cards are released, this card's place in the overall scheme of things will start to become clear (the level 5 hints towards a series of Ignoble Knight cards that support the Noble ones, while making Level 5 Xyz summons).You'll want to keep your eye on this card in the future, especially whenever a new "Noble Arms" is released!


Gagaga Caesar

More and more, it seems like Photons and Gagagas are mirroring each other. Photon Caesar, meet your Gagaga twin. He's a Warrior-type, Earth-attribute monster. Warrior and Earth are both heavily supported, if we wanted to utilize any outside support. Sadly, he isn't a Spellcaster like Gagaga Magician (who'd have guessed?) and Gagaga Girl. As more cards are released, the Gagagas keep on getting better and better. They may not be YCS level yet, but I could definitely see someone topping a Locals or even a Regional with them. Gagaga Caesar has the nearly-unique ability of making all of your monsters (assuming you're playing Gagagas) the same level. Without a restriction on what level the monster in the graveyard has to be, this lets you conceivably Xyz anything from Baby Tiragon to Gustaph Max. It's also possible for Gagagas to throw high Level monsters into the graveyard without straying from their theme - Gagaga Gardna has a conveniently costed effect in the form of a discard, which also ensures Gardna will survive till your next turn. The amount of synergy between Gardna and Caesar is incredible. I'm tickled pink to see such a good card join the ranks of the Gagagas, who already have fantastic support in the form of cards like Gagaga Bolt, and the upcoming Gagagadraw. And Caesar's got a strong attack to top it off! And he's only a rare!
Also, a side note about the PSCT: there actually are monsters without Levels: Xyz. I thought the PSCT was hilarious too, until I realized that.


Bull Blader

I was really hoping for a Beast, or Beast-Warrior-type when I saw this guys artwork. In the TCG right now, these types are sorely underpopulated. Instead, this is another in a slew of Earth-attribute Warrior-type monsters. Bull Blader has a lack-luster attack of 1600 (Gagaga Caesar, a Level 3 with a strong effect, tops that!) and a worse defense. So the question is, how good is his effect? It's actually not bad. As long as your opponent's monster isn't in Attack Position with a higher attack, your monster will survive, and your opponent's won't. You know what's even better? You take no battle damage. This card reads as a great way to destroy defense position monsters. However, there are numerous cards that already fill that role. The best part about Bull Blader is that your opponent either has to waste precious monster removal - doubtful - or attack it with a stronger monster, which they'll lose. While most decks have better options than this card, I could see it as a strong pick for a Seal of Oricalchos based deck. Can you imagine their frustration when this card's attack is not only increased by the Seal of Oricalchos, but when it can't be destroyed while you have a stronger monster, like Thunder King Rai-Oh (another good pick for an Oricalchos deck) is out? I bet it tastes better than Madolche desserts.


Achacha Chanbara

Achacha Chanbara joins a series of cards less populated than the Iron Chain archetype - the Achachas. Achacha Archer is a poor effect damage generating monster, with cards like Fire Trooper outclassing him. Let's see how his cousin does! First of all, he gets major points for not only being the same Level, but the same Attribute and Type as Achacha Archer. It's that sort of thing that helps an archetype, as the Achachas may end up becoming, stick together and perform well. Achacha Chanbara sticks to the theme of dealing effect damage, albeit in a slightly different way. His effect is in response to an opponent's attempt to damage you, which is worse than Achacha Archer's being triggered upon summoning. The best part of Chanbara's effect is his special summoning effect. Unfortunately, few duelists use effect damage cards, meaning that Achacha Chanbara will be 'dead' (unable to do anything) in your hand most of the time. Even if they did, there are other monsters who outclass Achacha Chanbara.


Mogumole

More and more Beast-types are coming out, and, as I've mentioned previously, that's a great thing! Mogumole has an interesting niche though. You'll never use it for attacking, with only 800 Attack. So that means it's either a powerful defender, or has an incredible effect. Both are true. Sorta. At it's base, Mogumole can block two attacks for you, thanks to it's recursive effect. The card finds value when you begin using it for other things though. For example, Mogumole's destruction will trigger the effect of Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, and if you chain Mogumole's effect, you'll be left with two Beast-types, one at Level 8 and another at Level 2. Then, you Xyz summon. How, you wonder? The answer is a wonderful common from Return of the Duelist: Galaxy Queen's Light. Using it, you can match your monster's Levels, and Xyz a powerful Rank 8 like Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis (which just received a rather fortuitous reprint). Unfortunately, Mogumole is restricted to shenanigans once per duel.


Grandram

 This card is another one of those situational cards, that depend on your opponent fulfilling certain conditions, like Achacha Chanbara. Luckily, Xyz summoning occurs far more often than effect damage is inflicted. One could argue that Xyz summoning is already integral enough to the game where you should be able to summon this card at any point in the duel. Whether or not that's true, you have to ask yourself how often you'll be Xyz summoning yourself when you summon this card. It's clear that that's this cards only use, since it's summoned in attack position, and has 0 attack points. This card is tailor-made for Rock decks that like to make Rank 4's. Grandram could make a fun tech. There's not much too this card; and sometimes that's what makes a card good. It's clear what this does, and it does it fairly well.


Tripod Fish

Tripod Fish came to us at the best possible time, for the card's playability. Right now, duelists can use three copies of Call of the Haunted, one of the few cards that can bring back nearly any monster from your graveyard. Since this card's effect relies on being brought back from the graveyard, another good card to run would be Surface. If you run three copies of both of those cards, along with Monster Reborn you'll have a whopping 7 cards to special summon monsters from your graveyard. With so much special summoning power, you're sure to get it's effect off. But is it worth it? Unfortunately, not most of the time. You could use Tripod Fish to change a Level 2 monster you have to Level 3, then Xyz summon, or, in a mirror of that play, increase Tripod Fish's Level to 4, to match a Level 4 monster you already have, then Xyz. But why not just bring back a Level 4 monster from your graveyard? I think Tripod Fish has an interesting design concept, but it fails to deliver something that you'd want to put in your deck over other, more appealing options. If you're running all these recursive cards anyways, you may want something like this. Maybe it's the super-secret tech card for your deck! Well, more power to you. Personally, this card just doesn't cut it.


Deep Sweeper

 Deep Sweeper is extremely similar to his twin brother, Lost Blue Breaker. And is then outclassed in nearly every way. Lost Blue Breaker is far more searchable, through Deep Sea Diva, and even has more attack! It also benefits from support like Surface, which is where Deep Sweeper's level works against itself. The only reason you'd play Deep Sweeper is if you needed a monster like Lost Blue Breaker, except Level 4. That spot isn't highly coveted, but you'll be glad to have this card if the situation does arise. Deep Sweeper is a card for Fish/Aqua/Sea-Serpent builds trying to put out Rank 4 Xyz, similar to our friend Tripod Fish. Overall, it suffers from having a more-searchable, stronger counterpart.


Heroic Challenger - Extra Sword

 Heroic Challenger - Extra Sword is fairly standard for the Heroic cards (Level 4, Earth-attribute, Warrior-type). He boasts less than commendable attack and defense... and an effect that may find itself occasionally useful. For an effect to be truly incredible, it needs two things: utility, and power. For example, Exodia the Forbidden One has an overwhelmingly strong effect: you win the duel! However, its utility is limited (it requires you to assemble five different cards in your hand). The trap card Raigeki Break has an extremely wide utility- for a single discard, you can destroy any card on the field - face down, up, on your side of the field or your opponent's, spell, trap or monster, Raigeki Break doesn't care. Even better, it's a trap card, letting you activate it at any time in the duel. However, it lack a bit of oomph - it requires a discard, but only destroys one card. That means it lacks power. In the case of Heroic Challenger - Extra Sword, it lacks utility and power. A 1000 point attack increase isn't peanuts, but there are other cards that can boost up your Xyz monster's attack, and have far more utility. If Heroic Champion - Excalibur boosted his current attack (as opposed to original attack) then we'd have a fun little combo that boosts him up to 6000 attack. Instead, we have this guy. If you need another Heroic monster for your theme deck, you could do much worse. That said, in any other case, there's normally a better choice.


Heroic Challenger - Night Watchman

Wrapping up Part 1 of our Abyss Rising set review is Heroic Challenger - Night Watchman. He's another one of those cards that only find use in a theme deck. Speaking in that context, he's a great addition. A pure Heroic deck would be all about blasting in as much damage as possible, and that's not easy when your opponent keeps playing defense. Night Watchman automatically destroys those defense position monsters, making it easier for you to get your shots in.
Speaking out of that context, Night Watchman suffers from several of the drawbacks that Deep Sweeper suffered from - better versions of this card already exist, and they do Watchman's job better. Most of them have a higher attack, which is critical to keeping monsters on the field to Xyz summon and attack with. All in all, it's a fun card for an interesting theme, and nothing more. It is Earth-attribute, which is good, and Warrior-type which is not only highly searchable, but well-supported. The main problem with this card, besides its dismal attack, is that duelists aren't setting as many monsters as they used to.


And that's it! Thanks for sticking through the review! You may wonder why some of these cards got so much discussion, despite their 'obvious' uselessness. I discuss each card for reasons I mentioned at the start of the review, and because I believe you should look for the best in each card, and try to see what the design intentions were, and what's different about that card from similar ones.