Today we look at a few of our bonus cards from The Duelist Genesis: cards that were previously released in Japan as promos, but weren’t included in the Japanese version of this set. We begin with the secret rares Splendid Venus and Toy Magician, followed by the old-school trap card, Kunai with Chain.
Splendid Venus
Splendid Venus’s first effect is a continuous effect that isn’t hard to follow. Its second continuous effect is a bit more problematic.
"All non-Fairy-Type monsters lose 500 ATK and DEF. The activation and effects of your Spell and Trap Cards cannot be negated."
While you control Splendid Venus, you can activate spell and trap cards without having their activations negated by other card effects. When you activate a spell or trap card, your opponent cannot negate its activation with Dark Bribe, Prime Material Dragon, or Solemn Judgment. They can’t even negate the effects of your spell or trap cards with Imperial Order or Royal Decree. This includes any type of effects your spell and trap cards have, including continuous effects.
Example:
Reggie has Splendid Venus in face-up attack position. Her opponent Russell has Gladiator Beast Heraklinos in face-up attack position. When Reggie activates Smashing Ground, Russell cannot use Gladiator Beast Heraklinos’s effect because the activation of Reggie’s Smashing Ground cannot be negated.
Splendid Venus has an odd relationship with Jinzo. Jinzo doesn’t actually negate the activation of trap cards: he prevents them from being activated at all. He will negate the effects of trap cards on the field, sure, but you can’t say that he negates their activation. When Splendid Venus meets Jinzo, the trap cards controlled by the player with Splendid Venus still cannot be activated. The effects of any trap cards activated before Jinzo was summoned or flipped face up will not be negated, because they were activated before Jinzo was around to stop them.
Example:
Reggie has a face-up Splendid Venus in defense position and her opponent Joey has a face-up Jinzo - Lord in attack position. When Joey attacks Splendid Venus with Jinzo - Lord, Reggie cannot activate Sakuretsu Armor because neither player can activate trap cards while Jinzo - Lord is face up on the field.
Put Your Toys Up
Toy Magician does something tricky that is quite uncommon, and it certainly enjoys surprising your opponent.
"You can Set this card face-down in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Spell Card. If this face-down card in your Spell & Trap Card Zone is destroyed by an opponent’s card effect and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon it during the End Phase. When this card is Flip Summoned, destroy Spell or Trap Cards on the field equal to the number of ‘Toy Magicians’ on the field."
Toy Magician’s first line says that you can set it like it was a spell or trap card, which is exactly what it will pretend to be. You can’t actually do anything with it while it is set in your spell and trap card zone, because you can’t "activate" it. The action isn’t allowed because Toy Magician wouldn’t do anything. Instead, Toy Magician sits in the spell and trap card zone as bait for your opponent’s card effects. If the Toy Magician set in your spell and trap card zone manages to get destroyed by a card effect your opponent activated, it is special summoned from the graveyard during the end phase of the turn.
You can’t save this special summon for any end phase you feel like. It must be used during the end phase of the very same turn it was destroyed by your opponent’s card effect. Also, if you special summon Toy Magician from the graveyard after it is destroyed by your opponent’s card effect, it will not special summon itself in the end phase. It needs to remain in the graveyard, like Stardust Dragon.
Toy Magician’s final effect activates when it is flip summoned, but it is not a flip effect! Flip effects always start with the term "Flip:" which we do not see in Toy Magician’s text. In this case we have a trigger effect that activates when the Toy Magician is flip summoned. When it resolves, you will destroy spell or trap cards on the field equal to the number of Toy Magician cards that are face up on the field. This includes the flip summoned Toy Magician, so you can plan on hitting at least one card with its effect.
Old School Yu-Gi-Oh!
Kunai with Chain is a new addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, but it’s certainly not new to anyone familiar with the lore surrounding the game.
"Choose 1 or both of these effects:
• Activate only when an opponent’s monster attacks. Change the attacking monster to Defense Position.
• Equip this card to a monster you control. It gains 500 ATK."
Kunai with Chain has two separate effects that are chosen when you activate it (flip it face up). The second effect can be activated at just about any time, including the damage step, but the first effect is more specific to when your opponent’s monster declares an attack. Since you are free to decide which effect(s) is used, you have some flexibility.
If your opponent is attacking your life points directly, you can activate Kunai with Chain to shift the attacking monster to defense position. It can be useful to use the first effect of Kunai with Chain when you don’t have a monster, because it still prevents the attack from reaching your life points. This is especially useful against Gladiator Beasts, because their attacks need to reach the damage step and this won’t happen when their attack is stopped in the battle step by Kunai with Chain.
If you have a face-up monster you can also equip it with Kunai with Chain to boost its ATK. Kunai with Chain’s effects target, so you will need to declare which monster is being equipped when you activate it. While Kunai with Chain is equipped to the monster, it is treated as both an equip card and a trap card. Cards that gain effects when they are equipped with equip cards, like Maha Vailo, will apply their effects. Cards that negate the effects of trap cards will negate the effect of Kunai with Chain while it is equipped to a monster.
Until next time, send all comments and questions to Curtis@Metagame.com!
—Curtis Schultz