Duel! - Thing's will never be the same again!

From today, things will never be the same again. Comic book fans have heard this phrase so many times it is meaningless. But we’re not talking about comic books here, we’re talking about Yu-Gi-Oh. And when you hear people saying Crossroads of Chaos is going to change the card game forever, they mean it.







Firstly the promo card – which is possibly the card that made me want to go to the sneak preview, held in Chatsworth a few weeks ago. It’s Rose, Warrior of Revenge, and it’s a level 4 tuner. The first level 4 tuner to be released. Why is it so awesome? Because now level 8 synchros (like Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend) can be summoned with only two monsters. Previously you needed at least three monsters – either the tuner and two low level monsters, or the tuner, a high level monster, and a tribute.
Promo Card – Major Victory!

Along with this is the first level 7 synchro monster, Black Rose Dragon, and a variaity of level 6 synchros. Like increasing the tuner’s level, decreasing the syncro’s level makes synchro summoning a lot easier. Again, you only need two monsters – a level 3 tuner, and a level 3 or 4 monster. Black Rose Dragon may be geared towards plant decks (you need plant monsters to activate its second ability) but its still excellent in other decks, with its 2400 attack, and its field-clearing first ability. Its certainly in my deck. Did I mention I was one of only two players who got this card at the sneak preview? I was very happy, to say the least.
Cover Card – Major Victory!

The most obvious game-change that CSOC brings about is to plants. Previously plant decks were in the same boat as aqua, fish and sea serpent decks. They existed, but you couldn’t do anything with them. With one booster set plant decks are catapulted into the realm of warrior and dragon decks. They now have searchers, revivers beatsticks, tuners, synchros, control effects, lockdown effects, swarm effects…pretty much everything. And at the sneak preview, it showed – plant decks were the decks to beat, and they came away top.
Plants – Major Victory!

The other decks I came up against were, of cause, Morphatronic. They are machines with the gimmick of having a different effect depending on if they’re in attack or defense position. Visially they look like robuts that can change into gagets like radios, cellphones and flash drives. Think Soundwave from the Transformers movie. And while its an interesting idea, in practice they don’t really work – their attack and defense are too low.
Morphatronic – Minor Loss.

I played neither. Instead I built an Iron Chain deck, the only person who did. I kind of had to, seeing as how I got two Iron Chain Dragons and an Iron Chain Repairman, and it worked quite well with Black Rose. Somehow I netted a runner-up place and a Black Rose Dragon t-shirt. Granted, we were only playing 20-card decks, and it won’t be easy to make a 40-card Iron Chain deck work, but I still think IC has potential. A 2500 attack / level 6 synchro, and a 1600 def / level 3 tuner searchable with Giant Rat are not to be sniffed at. Now if only I had a deck with lots of level 3 special-summonable monsters in it. Oh, wait. I do.
Iron Chain – Minor Victory.

Despite the fact that only three types of deck were played at the sneak, there are some game-changing cards set to revitalise some other decks. First up – spellcaster. There were only two spellcaster monsters in the set, and both were highly sought after at the sneak. Night’s-End Sorcerer is a level 2 tuner. Tempest Magician is a level 6 synchro. That would be good just in itself, but both cards meld perfectly into general spellcaster strategy. Spellcasters have some of the best special summoning in the game – and if you special summon Night’s-End you can remove two card from your opponent’s graveyard. In this day and age, where people rely on having certain cards in their graveyard, this effect can be a game-winner. Secondly, spellcasters like putting spell counters on stuff. Temepest Magician likes putting even more spell counters on stuff, and it can remove all spell counters from the field to deal 500 damage for each one. There’s your win condition right there.
Spellcasters – Major Victory.

On the flip side, if your opponent has Hanewata, you won’t be throwing a spell tempest at them. Hanewata can be discarded to negate all effect damage for your turn. Bad for burn decks. But what if your opponent doesn’t have a burn deck? Then just summon it for a synchro – it’s a tuner. Although, it’s a level 1 tuner, so I’m not sure what you’re gonna summon with it. It might work in a Valhalla deck if you’re special summoning level 6 or 7 fairies a lot. Then there’s Plaguespreader Zombie. Everyone wanted it at the sneak. No one got it. Why is it so good? It’s a tuner you can bring back from the graveyard by adding a card from your hand to the top of your deck. There are so many ways to use this – but the most promising is in a Lightsworn deck. Lightsworn spends all its time sending cards to the graveyard, so it was hard for them to use tuners. Not anymore. Send that useless wulf in your hand to the top of your deck, special summon Plaguespreader. Then, in your end phase, Wulf goes to the graveyard, and is summoned by his effect. Sweet. Plaguespreader is, of course, Ultra Rare. And lastly there’s the White Stone of Legend. I myself have not heard of the legend about it, but it would seem it’s a pretty good legend. Its only a level 1 tuner again, but that’s hardly necessary. Cause when it is sent to the graveyard you can add Blue-Eyes White Dragon to your hand. It doesn’t specify how its sent to the graveyard, as long as its sent there. I’ll have to check up that it will actually work, but I’m thinking Foolish Burial…
Assorted Tuners – Major Victory!

There's a lot more card I haven't mentioned, but I think I've gone on long enough.

Best Card Name: Tytannial, Princess of Camellias
Best Card Artwork: Iron Chain Snake
Best Card: Black Rose Dragon