Abyss Rising Set Review (Part 3)

Hello! Welcome back to our Abyss Rising Set Review! Today's review will cover slots 20-29, including the final installment of Prophecy and Madolche monsters! You'll have to wait a moment for that, as we still have one more Mermail monster to review...

Mermail Abyssmegalo

This monster is a... monster. Seriously. He looks to be the main man in Mermail and Atlantean strategies. He'll set off two of your Mermail/Atlantean effects, and then, after he's summoned, he'll run over two of your opponents monsters, while letting you trigger another one of your monsters' effects, and adding an Abyss spell or trap card from your deck to your hand! Summoning then attacking with Abyssmegalo will leave you with a much larger pile of cards than your opponent.
Abyssmegalo features several of the things that make monsters extremely good: it searches cards out from your deck to your hand, it has a large body (2400 for a Level 6 is pretty normal), he can special summon himself with little or no cost (assuming you're using Mermail/Atlanteans), and he futhers the goals of your deck while providing aggression. There's a reason this card's a secret rare. It's going to be one of the best cards in Mermail/Atlantean decks, so don't be surprised when it stomps all over you. Moreover, you can even search it from your deck using Atlantean Dragoons! Tip: don't get carried away with all the power Abyssmegalo will provide; remember to tribute your attack-position Water monster after you attack with it.


Stoic of Prophecy

I like Stoic of Prophecy. He's a search card, and we all know how we should feel about search cards. He has the clause "when this card is sent to the Graveyard," which is excellent. That means that regardless of how he gets there, as long as he ends up in the Graveyard we get his effect. And that's just fantastic. What's less than fantastic however, is his Level. Level 1 is not very friendly towards Xyz summoning, which is the prime way to get monsters like Stoic into the graveyard now-a-days. The only Xyz we currently have at Level 1 are the three-material Baby Tiragon and Number 83: Galaxy Queen. Of course, even if we had a Rank 1 that required only 2 materials, it's doubtful that we'd ever summon it. The inherent issue with a Level 1 Stoic is that there aren't any other Level 1's in the Prophecy strategy. If it were a different Level, it'd mesh with the others. Of course, Spellbook support can actually make that low Level a benefit, but looking at Stoic on his own - it just doesn't cut it. While it's Level gives it a bad mark, the effect is more than enough to pull that up - and then some. There are several key Prophecy monsters that Stoic can search, and it's still extremely easy to set off, qualms about Xyz summoning aside. Overall, it's an excellent card for a fun archetype.


Hermit of Prophecy

Next up in our review is Gandalf Hermit of Prophecy. Hermit of Prophecy is another monster geared towards making Xyz summons of awkward Levels - in his case, 5,7,9, and 11. In a Prophecy deck, you should usually have several Spellbook cards at your disposal. It's difficult to justify blowing through several of your Spellbook cards just to raise Hermit's Level - you'll almost never use his attack boosting effect, outside of boosting him up, swinging over an opponent's monster, then performing an Xyz summon in Main Phase 2. A Prophecy deck will have difficulty making anything of Rank 7 though, and to get Hermit to a point where he can attack over commonly played monsters, he'd have to go up to 2100 - meaning you can't use him for an Xyz summon, outside of situational combos. Note that the boost to Hermit's attack doesn't go away at the End Phase - it's permanent. I could see Hermit of Prophecy being useful for Xyz summoning the biggest monsters of the Prophecy archetype. In most strategies, it requires too much of a commitment to be useful.


Justice of Prophecy

Disclaimer: Justice of Prophecy's effect will only work if you can add both a Level 5 or higher Light or Dark-attribute Spellcaster-type, and a Spellbook card. Now that we've got that ruling out of the way, onto the card. Justice has an Earth-attribute, which weakens the whole Chaos vibe, (remember, Justice searches Light and Dark-attribute monsters). If this card had a Level restriction for the monster it searches, it would be vastly less useful. Luckily, it doesn't! Justice has a low attack, but that's okay, since Justice banishes itself in the End Phase. It'd be nice if the attack was higher, because then you could run over a monster in the Battle Phase, then use its effect - which successful resolution of which would leave you with not 1, but 2 more cards than your opponent than you began with. Plays like that win duels. Since this card activates in the End Phase, your opponent will have a chance during their turn to guard against your new cards, which lowers the power of this card a bit. But sometimes, the added strength of a powerful Spellcaster-type and a Spellbook can just be too much. On a side note, if you aren't in a position to use Justice's effect, it's Level 3, which is a good level for Xyz summoning. All in all, a good card.


Emperor of Prophecy

Emperor of Prophecy, the card in the slot following Justice of Prophecy, just so happens to be searchable by that very same card. What an interesting coincidence. Emperor has an effect that reminds veteran players of currently-Forbidden cards like Change of Heart and Brain Control. For newer players, its effect is a Mind Control that only works on face-up monsters, but has no restrictions on what you can do with those monsters. That effect ups the utility and power at your disposal, and is extemely powerful. In a Prophecy deck, this card's effect requires little set-up. The hardest part will be having a Spellcaster-type on your side of the field, and that shouldn't prove to be a problem. Temperance of Prophecy can special summon this fellow straight from the deck, which is just straight-up awesome. 2300 attack is good for a Level 5, and Level 5 is good for Xyz, provided you have other Level 5 monsters (such as Hermit of Prophecy). Empress of Prophecy is an on-theme Rank 5 Xyz, who's effect can be extremely powerful as well (we'll talk about her later). Dark-attribute is Chaos friendly, and Spellcaster-type is Spellbook friendly, among other things. All the Prophecy monsters are Spellcaster-type, FYI. The only major restriction Emperor suffers is his inability to attack the same turn he uses his effect. If he could, then you could (almost) garuantee a healthy amount of damage each turn. Nonetheless, his effect is killer. I could see Prophecy decks being built around Emperor of Prophecy.


Madolche Croiwanssant

What a cute puppy! But is it all looks, or does it have a bite to its bark? ...actually, it does, appearances to the contrary. It lets you cycle through monsters that the Madolche run that gain benefits upon summon. Without complicating things, Croiwanssant essentially lets you re-use monsters like Madolche Magileine, who is one of the best cards in the Madolche archetype to search out key cards every single turn. In Madolche decks, they lack the high number of good monsters they need, so Croiwanssant is a welcome addition. This card's attack doesn't go back to normal at the End Phase, so it will continually increase every time you use its effect. By using Madolche Mewfeuille, you also have an easy way to create Rank 3 Xyz in one move. Under its own effect, Croiwanssant becomes a capable attacker. When combined with Madolche Chateau, the archetype's Field Spell, he becomes a veritable monster. There are lots of intricate tricks you can perform with Madolche Croiwanssant; I dare you to find them all!


Madolche Marmalmaide

Madolche Marmalmaide is representative of an oddity that exists in the current format: monsters like Snowman Eater, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter see popular play alongside monsters like Mystic Tomato. What makes this strange is that these cards should be less effective this format, with easy access to destruction in most top decks. Yet despite this, most players are foregoing this, instead choosing to blindly attack into face down monsters, which makes cards like Marmalmaide better than they should be. That's something to keep in mind whenever you're building a deck - especially since Madolche Marmalmaide fits squarely into the category of "cards that are good during certain formats." That's not to say that Marmalmaide's effect isn't a good one; it's actually excellent for the Madolche game plan. They need to keep Madolche Chateau out as long as possible, or else they just cant maintain enough advantage. It's the utility from Chateau that makes this card good. It's a good thing it has 2000 attack, otherwise it wouldn't be worth playing. With a defense that high, it has a good chance of surviving for an Xyz play next turn.  Even better, Marmalmaide's effect will balance out the usual loss of card presence that occurs when you Xyz summon.


Madolche Messengelato

There are only 3 Beast-type Madolche thus far. That means that Messengelato's utility is low. It becomes lower because he has to be special summoned, and in a deck that can't run 3 copies of Call of the Haunted (because of the Madolche being all about returning themselves to the deck) that becomes a problem. Messengelato does have a good attack under Madolche Chateau, but we're in a bad place if we start running monsters just for their attack points. The obvious way to use Messengelato's effect is to pair him with Mewfeuille. That is a strong combo, and searching out any Spell/Trap is powerful - especially when you're adding Madolche Chateau to your hand. Chateau is the best card Madolche have, and anything that searches it deserves a critical eye. Since the Madolche Beast-type's are good picks for a Madolche deck, Messengelato becomes a bit better. All in all, his benefits outweigh his weaknesses. A certain Madolche card makes him much, much better... but that's for later in our review!


Abyss Warrior

Look! Another Abyss card! If it weren't for Mermails and Atlanteans, Abyss Warrior would be relegated to the "neat, but not really usable" pile. But, they do exist, which makes Abyss Warrior a boss! Abyss Warrior accomplishes 3 main things:
1) He provides an easy way to activate the effects of the afore-mentioned Water-attribute monsters.
2) He provides a large body to those strategies, which they often lack.
3) His own effect will help make problem match-ups with decks that rely on the graveyard much easier.
Apart from those things, I like how Abyss Warrior has a ridiculous amount of utility. Have a monster in the Graveyard you'd rather have in your hand? Use Abyss Warrior and put it on top of your deck to draw next turn! Perhaps your opponent has a copy of Inzektor Hornet, or Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World in their Graveyard? Put it at the bottom of their deck, where they'll struggle to retrieve them! Maybe your opponent even has the mighty Obelisk the Tormentor in their Gaveyard. Kudos for defeating it! Now put it on top of their deck so that they'll draw a monster they can't summon (assuming they can't replicate those conditions). I really like Abyss Warrior. It's extremely high-utility, and what it lacks for in pure power it makes up for by supporting powerful archetypes. It has lots of neat tricks to it, and supports some neat archetypes.


Snowman Creator

This card is a Water-attribute Machine-type, which is a rare combination. It may not be super relevant right now, but it's nice to keep rare type/attribute combinations in mind. The Water-attribute is the thing that matters, since it guarantees Snowman Creator will distribute at least one Ice Counter. This card is all about pushing forward the Ice Counter strategy; it'll drop one for every Water-attribute monster you control, meaning you should be dropping at least 2 Ice Counters (more on that in a second!). If you build three snowmen, they'll gang up on an opponent's card and destroy it! Gnarly! Snowman Creator doesn't specify normal or special summon, which increases its utility in a given strategy. I don't have a ton of experience with the Ice Counter strategy yet, but they're looking to be a fun group of cards. Knowing they have several high-Level monsters, the strategy might benefit from Call of the Haunted, and if it does, Snowman Creator will be even better. A moment ago, I said you should always be dropping at least 2 Ice Counters. Why? Because, in ideal circumstances, you'll distribute 5 Ice Counters (I said, "ideal." Realistically, 2 or 3) then Xyz summon into Rank 4 monsters like Number 16: Shock Master, (or, if you're keeping with the Water theme, Number 32: Shark Drake) and Gagaga Cowboy. Personally, I look forward to reviewing the other Ice Counter monsters. They look like they're going to be a fun, casual theme.

And that wraps up Part 3 of our review! Tune in next time for slots 30-39, including an Elemental Lord, and the second Chaos Number!