As November 1 approaches, the dueling world is franticly clicking through forums searching for any tidbit of information it can find on the upcoming Crossroads of Chaos set. The names of every card in the set, including the import and exclusive cards, were released a while back, but since then there hasn’t been any new information about the set! Rumors are flying left and right about the new cards and what they might do. Some people have even taken to making up fake effects and stats to throw the dueling community into even more chaos. It’s been a long wait, but it’s finally over. It’s preview time here on Metagame.com!
One of the toughest tasks to be completed every time a new set comes around is to decide which card should be previewed first. The first card previewed is often the first exposure that most duelists have to a new set, so the card you see in the first Monday preview article needs to set a tone for what the rest of the set has in store for you. Last time, Jason previewed Stardust Dragon and Dark Resonator to introduce Synchro summons, the major new mechanic and card type introduced by The Duelist Genesis and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. It was a tough act to follow, and it begs the question: how can we top that this time around? Traditionally, we preview the card that you’ll receive at the Sneak Preview the night before the event takes place, but this time we’re going to kick that tradition to the curb and show it to you first! Speculation has been wild about the Sneak Preview promo ever since its name first leaked, with players 
guessing left and right as to what it would do, and I’m proud to introduce Rose, Warrior of Revenge!
Rose, Warrior of Revenge
Warrior / Tuner
Fire — Level 4
1600 ATK / 600 DEF
When this card deals battle damage to your opponent, do 300 damage to your opponent.
When I first got the preview text for the card, I didn’t even realize it had an effect. Frankly, I didn’t care. As long as the card didn’t say anything weird like, "you cannot normal summon this card" a la Wulf, Lightsworn Beast I was going to start throwing it in decks left and right. The requisites for playing Rose, Warrior of Revenge are simple. Take this simple quiz to find out if it’s right for you!
Rose Qualification Quiz:
-Are you running Reinforcement of the Army?
-Do you want to summon a Synchro monster?
If you answered "yes" to either or both of those questions, then you shouldn’t leave the Sneak Preview until you have at least a playset of Rose, Warrior of Revenge. Between the 5Ds Starter Deck and The Duelist Genesis, we’ve received fourteen different Tuners to work with, and not one of them has been higher than level 3. For most decks, this is an issue. If you’re not running Teleport Dark Armed Dragon, the only Synchros you’re likely to summon are Goyo Guardian and Magical Android. Now, there’s nothing wrong with those two cards. Goyo is exceptionally good and Magical Android fills an important role as well. The thing is, I’m often forced into summoning one of them when what I really want is one of my level 8s. When I use Mind Control on your Gladiator Beast Laquari, I don’t want to put the vulnerable Goyo Guardian on the field. I want Stardust Dragon or Thought Ruler Archfiend. Before Rose, Warrior of Revenge came along, that simply wasn’t possible. In such a situation I might not even be able to get my Stardust Dragon out due to opponent disruption, but at least I’ll know that the interference occurred because I was going to get Stardust Dragon out. Heck, if the opponent had to prematurely level the field with Torrential Tribute, both Laquaris and a powerful Limited trap card are gone—leaving me to special summon as much as I want for a potential win.
That aspect of the card already makes it ridiculous as an additional Tuner in Teleport Dark Armed Dragon decks, but the real impact of Rose is going to be felt in the decks that don’t play Emergency Teleport. Take Gladiator Beasts for example. Right now, the best they can do is splash Jutte Fighter in to fetch with Reinforcement of the Army, and that’s only if they’re playing an Elemental Hero Prisma engine. Even with Jutte Fighter, that deck is never going to summon a Stardust Dragon or Thought Ruler Archfiend unless it decides that for some reason sending Gladiator Beast Gyzarus to the graveyard for a Synchro summon is a good idea. The chances of that actually happening are slim, but with Rose, Warrior of Revenge replacing those Jutte Fighter cards, a huge amount of tactical space is opened.
Even with Rose’s potential applications in both Gladiator Beasts and Teleport Dark Armed Dragon decks, I can’t help but feel that the real winner here is Lightsworn. Lightsworn are notoriously bad at making use of the Synchro summon mechanic, but with Rose, Warrior of Revenge, Synchro summons are now easily accessible without having to spend an extra card on Lightwave Tuning or adding an unsearchable card like Herald of Orange Light. Breaker the Magical Warrior faked out the dueling world by being more magical than Warrior, but Rose, Warrior of Revenge is exactly what it says on the top. Many players were expecting a Plant-type Rose, but this one can be searched out by Reinforcement of the Army . . . just like Garoth, Jain, and Ehren! Rose makes Avenging Knight Parshath significantly more viable than it used to be, especially in Lightsworn decks that still have to rely on Reinforcement of the Army for lack of owning any Charge of the Light Brigade cards.
All that I’ve done so far is tell you how good Rose, Warrior of Revenge is in the decks you already play. I’d love to tell you about all the new decks that it enables, but quite frankly I don’t even know how many decks become playable just because it’s a level-4 Tuner. Crystal Beast Synchro? Why not! The only things that make me sad about Rose are its Fire attribute and the inability to search it out with Sangan. Oh, that’s right, it has 1600 ATK. It’s a respectable number, and the actual effect of Rose makes for a virtual 1900 ATK monster when you attack directly. Like I said before though, I absolutely wouldn’t blame anyone if he or she stopped reading the card after the first line of the text box.
The Sneak Preview is your ticket to the future of dueling, so get there early on November 1 or 2 to make sure you get your hands on the first level-4 Tuner available outside of Japan! Until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!
—Jerome McHale