Remember the days when every player was classified as either an “aggressive” or “conservative” player? When exposing yourself at all was considered an over-extension and you were deemed too aggressive to have a chance at winning? Well that was a long time ago, and the dueling community has come a long way since then. Most players know that you can’t simply stick to one style and expect to be competitive. There’s simply too much variety in deckbuilding, which leads to favorable and unfavorable matchups where your deck will almost always have to function differently than the last match you played.
This is what makes strategies like Perfect Circle and Machine burn so good. They can take on many roles, whether it’s keeping the opponent off balance, threatening huge damage or swings in resources if the opponent makes one mistake, or simply overpowering the opponent with an excellent draw and some key combos. In fact, there are two main roles that most competitive decks can take on.
The first is a “scrum” style, where one player forces the other to commit massive amounts of cards to the field and both players are forced to play aggressively, so that only one of them comes out ahead in what becomes a very simplified game. This was how the Machine deck from last format and the Zombie deck from this format function. Trap Dustshoot, Confiscation, and Mind Crush simplified the game as quickly as possible and there was a quick two- or three-turn scrum where the Machine deck tried to apply as much pressure as it could while the opponent attempted to fight back. Zombies, on the other hand, will come out on top in the scrum because their cards are constantly being replaced by Card of Safe Return.
The second style is a “grinder” approach, where one player will commit very few cards to the field while chipping away at the opponent, and will always be in a position to threaten massive damage or card presence swings. His or her opponent has to try to guess what moves will come next and counter them before they happen. If the opponent guesses incorrectly, he or she is doomed, and even if he or she guesses correctly, there will usually be an alternative route to cause some damage anyway. This is usually how Gadgets and Perfect Circle play out.
Today’s preview card is for those players who like to take the grinder approach, and who are very careful about how they spend their life points. With so many cards committed to the field by both duelists, it’s very easy for one player to swing for big damage. As such, those players try to keep life point costs to a minimum. Grinder players, on the other hand, are much less worried about being destroyed in one turn. They’re willing to play cards like My Body as a Shield or Solemn Judgment. While today’s preview card doesn’t actually require you to pay any life points, its minor drawback has virtually the same effect for the two play styles.
Soul Taker
Spell
Destroy 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Then, your opponent gains 1000 Life Points.
Soul Taker is one of the five new Shueisha promos being introduced in the TCG version of the set. It’s an old card in Japan, and it’s finally being made available for the international dueling community. Soul Taker has a pretty cool effect, allowing you to destroy one monster regardless of battle position so long as it’s face up on the field. Obviously such flexibility comes with a drawback, but it’s not one you’d expect.
Instead of paying your own life points to shoot down any face-up monster your opponent controls, Soul Taker gives your opponent 1000 life points. There aren’t very many cards like this available to players these days. Upstart Goblin is the most similar, but sees little play because it doesn’t accomplish much of value. Soul Taker is a far bigger deal: clearing an opponent’s monster out of the way can be more than worth the donation.
When examining the effects of a specific card for competitive play, the first thing to do is to see how useful the effect is and how the drawbacks can be minimized. Soul Taker has an amazing effect. Being able to freely destroy any face-up monster is why players loved Smashing Ground so much. With Smashing now Limited, there aren’t any cards that players can confidently substitute for it. Hammer Shot can’t be played if you have a monster that sports more ATK than the opponent’s, and Fissure can be beaten by cards like Scapegoat, or Call of the Haunted targeting Sangan or Card Trooper. Other cards like Offerings to the Doomed have qualities that make them difficult to play at best.
Soul Taker’s downside is that your opponent gains 1000 life points, but how much of a drawback is that really? Sometimes 1000 life points can make or break a game, but more often than not the winning player would not have lost if he or she began the game with 7000 life points or if the opponent started off with 9000. This is the same rationalization for Confiscation and Premature Burial, except that this card can be justified even further because it won’t ever be a dead card due to your own life points being too low.
Furthermore, by ridding the opponent of a monster from the field, you are saving your own life points by preventing that monster from attacking you next turn. Chances are that Soul Taker will actually result in a positive net life point change by saving you more than 1000 damage. Looking at it from an aggressive viewpoint, Soul Taker can also cost your opponent more life points than he or she gains. If Soul Taker destroys your opponent’s only monster on the field, you’re open to attack him or her directly. Assuming you attacked with anything over 1000 ATK, Soul Taker will be the card that resulted in your opponent losing life points.
The play style where Soul Taker really shines is the grinder type. Being able to constantly apply pressure means that the opponent’s field is usually reduced to one monster on any given turn. Packing a couple of Soul Taker cards will allow the grinder player to destroy that remaining monster and neutralize the life points the opponent gained. Field position will be improved, and that’s all that grinder players really care about.
Gadget decks will benefit the most from Soul Taker. They have been missing the simplification Smashing Ground offered, and have been waiting for a broad card such as this for some time. Since Gadgets can apply a lot of life point pressure with their relatively disposable 1200-1400 ATK monsters, dishing your opponent 1000 life points in order to break his or her field open would be an excellent trade-off.
Scrum players care about field position too, but whether or not they use this kind of card will depend on the metagame and if their decks can afford to have the opponent begin at 9000 or 10000 life points. Machine and burn decks are unlikely to risk it, but Zombies and Warriors (especially those with Don Zaloog) may be willing to make such a sacrifice to allow for the extra control over the field.
Do you like to take the grinder approach, leaning on your opponent with powerful Monarchs or an infinite line of Gadgets? If so, I’d highly recommend testing out Soul Taker: it’s one of those cards that will provide tremendous leverage for players who can properly wield it. Be sure to check out your local Gladiator’s Assault Sneak Preview event!