My favorite thing about Tournament Pack 8 is that it has something for everybody. It has a new ultra rare that’s sure to be highly sought after in the upcoming months, a previously unreleased alternate art card, and all sorts of exclusive cards that collectors will go crazy for. Today, though, I have something for all the tournament players out there. For the past six months, the Monarch cards have been the monster kings of swing in card presence and momentum at the highest levels of play. Not a Shonen Jump Championship has gone by where we didn’t read about the trap-blasting exploits of Mobius the Frost Monarch ruining the best-laid plans of mice and men. The thing is, even though Mobius has been a mainstay of tournaments for quite awhile, it’s often difficult to lay your hands on one. I’ve seen some pretty unbalanced trades involving Monarchs—even the common variants of Mobius and Thestalos—so it’s good to know that we now have another way to get these powerful cards. What, you didn’t know? The four Monarchs are the four rare cards in the new TP8 set!
The most popular Monarch is usually Mobius the Frost Monarch. Spell and trap destruction is at a premium in the current environment, and Mobius is excellent at providing it. Whenever you tribute summon Mobius, you get to pick up to two spell or trap cards on the field and then destroy them. Afraid of Mirror Force or Sakuretsu Armor? That Treeborn Frog you’ve got doesn’t look like it’s doing anything useful, so why not tribute it for Mobius? Barring a chainable trap or quick-play spell, chances are that you just cost your opponent the only way to stop an attack this turn. Mobius wins games, and that’s a fact.
While not quite as popular as Mobius, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch has also seen a ton of play in recent months. Like all the Monarchs, Zaborg does nasty things when you tribute summon it. In this case, you destroy one monster on the field, regardless of its position. Zaborg’s ability to take out any monster makes it an excellent play in nearly any stage of the game. In fact, about they only time you don’t want to summon Zaborg is when your opponent has no monsters to destroy . . . and if that’s the case, you’re probably winning anyway. Zaborg has historically been difficult to find, given most players’ tendencies to avoid any foil cards from Ancient Sanctuary that aren’t Enemy Controller. Fortunately for you, the supply just went way up, and while demand is growing even higher, you have a much better chance of pulling Zaborg now than you did a few weeks ago.
Granmarg the Rock Monarch has seen a near-zero amount of play since its release, and every time I think about it, it confuses me more and more. It was originally dismissed as being too weak compared to any of the other Monarchs, but what Granmarg lacks in raw power, it makes up for in versatility. When Granmarg is tribute summoned, you choose and destroy once face-down card on the field. The key here is that you destroy any face-down card. While Mobius is restricted to destroying spells and traps, and Zaborg is limited to taking down monsters, Granmarg can eliminate either. Sure, it can’t destroy face-up monsters like Zaborg does and it doesn’t get quite as much mileage as Mobius, but think about what you usually destroy with those effects. A set Sakuretsu Armor? A set Magician of Faith or Spirit Reaper? The key is that Mobius and Zaborg are usually used on face-down cards anyway, and it’s often frustrating to have Mobius in hand when you really need a Zaborg to clear out the Morphing Jar that your opponent just topdecked. The more you think about it, the more sense it makes to give Granmarg a shot.
Finally, we come to Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch. When you tribute summon it, you randomly discard a card from the opponent’s hand. Then, if it’s a monster, you deal 100 points of damage to him or her for each of the monster’s level stars. Hand disruption is very powerful in this game, and it becomes even more powerful when it’s attached to a 2400 ATK body. So why hasn’t Thestalos received any face time recently? I’d attribute that to the increase in play of random Dark World monsters. Goldd and Sillva have been popping up as “tech” in decks that have no reason to run them, just because they make great discards to Graceful Charity and great Spirit Reaper deterrents. Spirit Reaper is amazing. I get it, but the fact remains that 90 percent of the time, Goldd is a dead card that can cost you the game if you draw it. Even so, I can’t recommend Thestalos to you right now. While copies of Goldd and Sillva are generally a really bad idea (unless you’re playing Dark World), if you hit one with Thestalos, you’re probably going to lose. As long as Goldd and Sillva keep winding up in Top 8 decks, I’m not going to play Thestalos in my main deck.
To complete our little refresher course on Modern Yu-Gi-Oh! Monarchies, let’s take a look at some of the most popular ways to summon them to the field. Running a pair of Gravekeeper’s Spy cards has been a popular trend since the 2005 Nationals, as a successful flip provides you with an extra monster to do whatever you want. Often, “whatever you want” has been “tribute for a Monarch so you can wreck somebody.” More recently, players have turned to the limited Treeborn Frog as a constant source of tribute material for decks running upwards of eight high-level monsters, most of which are often Monarchs! As long as you can keep your back row clear (and if you can’t, your opponent will often be glad to help), the Frog can return to you during your standby phase to effectively make your Monarchs level 4 monsters. Speaking of levels, did you know that all but one of the Monarchs are level 6? For some unknown reason, Zaborg is only level 5, which makes it convenient Metamorphosis material if you’re looking for Dark Balter the Terrible.
My personal favorite strategy for bringing out Monarchs is the use of Apprentice Magician, along with Old Vindictive Magician and Magician of Faith. The goal is to have your opponent attack the Apprentice Magician. Then, you pick whichever of the two flip effects would wreck your opponent more, and search it out with the Apprentice. On your turn, you flip your monster to claim its effect and then tribute it off for a Monarch to create a more-massive-than-usual swing in momentum and card presence.
Everyone can use some extra Monarchs in their binders. Even if you don’t need any more for your various decks, Monarchs make great trade material anywhere that tournaments are held. Next time the guy who runs your tournament asks what pack you want for signing up, pick TP8. It’s good stuff.
Until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!
Jerome McHale
jcmchale@andrew.cmu.edu
NEXT WEEK: Silly TP8 week, getting in the way of tricks. Tricks that are not for Gilford. Tricks are for Kids.