I hope those of you who attended a Sneak Preview event this past weekend had a great time. I'm sure many of you are also looking at some of your new cards and thinking to yourselves, “Hmm . . . how can I use these great new cards in an Advanced format tournament?”

 

These next few weeks are going to be dedicated towards helping you answer that question. The Lost Millennium provides duelists with sixty new cards. You can bet that plenty of new deck options have become viable. This includes new deck themes and ancient deck themes as well. One of those deck themes is “bounce,” or the ability to return cards on the opponent's field to his or her hand. Some of you may also know it as that mechanic that I've made look like month-old pizza when compared to the spin mechanic. A deck based on bouncing will almost never earn card advantage, but this doesn't mean that using a few cards that use bouncing, such as Abyss Soldier, will necessarily hurt you. Heck, I've lost to Abyss Soldier while dueling against some overseas opponents many times, so the bounce mechanic certainly isn't weak.

 

Wait a second—did I just say that bouncing monsters will not provide overall card advantage? How silly of me. I guess I forgot about a new card from The Lost Millennium that costs the opponent cards when monsters of theirs are bounced. Criosphinx is an exciting option that was released last weekend. I believe it's also one of the most innovative monsters to be released in a while . . . next to Amazoness Chain Master, of course, which I'll be analyzing next week. For now, let's take a closer look at Criosphinx!

 

 

In a way, Criosphinx can be seen as a less forgiving Guardian Sphinx. Instead of simply bouncing your opponent's field on a giant trampoline, our new Sphinx actually destroys cards. Those Sphinxes are pretty cruel, aren't they?

 

Criosphinx is a level 6 Rock-type monster. Similar to most Rock monsters, he possesses the Earth attribute, and much like a massive rock, Criosphinx has a sturdy 2400 DEF. This is also the only statistic you should truly be looking at for this new Sphinx as well. Instead of labeling its low ATK value as a downfall, duelists should look at it as the incentive to summon it much faster. Criosphinx's 1200 ATK allows it to be easily special summoned from the deck with cards like Last Will or, a more practical choice, Giant Rat. This makes running the new Sphinx a lot easier, since you won't often have to rely on tribute summoning it, and recursion isn't the only option for getting your Sphinx on the field quickly.

 

Criosphinx has a continuous effect that activates whenever a monster is bounced. When a monster is returned to an owner's hand, then that duelist must discard a card from his or her hand. Allow me to elaborate on this effect. Criosphinx removes the downside that was attached to bouncing monsters. Cards like Compulsory Evacuation Device already had their uses before this new Sphinx was released, and now, they're even better!

 

Monsters with summoning requirements also found a new enemy in Criosphinx, though these sorts of monsters were already prone fall to the bounce mechanic. When a monster like this meets its requirements and is summoned to the field, bouncing it would require that monster to go through its summoning requirements once more, whether a player needs to remove cards in the graveyard from play or tribute a certain monster. With Criosphinx on the field, if the opponent were to discard a monster with a summoning requirement, then that monster will be prohibited from being revived, as it was not properly summoned again! If they don't want to discard their powerhouse of a monster, then they may need to discard an important spell or trap card. You're certainly not complaining, right?

 

Criosphinx also makes Book of Moon pointless for your opponent in many situations. If you are able to bounce a monster during the opponent's turn, then your opponent's Book of Moon may become a dead card. Even if they were to chain Book of Moon to the triggered effect of Criosphinx, they'd still lose one card from their hand. Oh, and Criosphinx would be in its preferred defense position.

 

 

Criosphinx can work with plenty of great cards in order to take full advantage of the bounce mechanic. This new Sphinx also has a variety of deck types it can fit into.

 

One of the best cards to combine with Criosphinx, whether you're playing casually or competitively, is Ordeal of a Traveler. Not only does Criosphinx fit in with the theme of this potent continuous trap, but the Sphinx turns your trap card into an incredibly annoying electric fence that your opponent may or may not try to cross. This puts your opponent on the spot, because if they don't attack, then you can create enough field presence to where bouncing your opponent's cards off of the field will allow you to attack directly for a win. However, if your opponent does try to attack, then he or she risks losing overall card advantage!

 

Pairing up Criosphinx with Guardian Sphinx almost seems too good to be true, and sometimes, it's too good to be realistic and consistent. However, these two cards can make for one incredibly twisted form of overall card advantage. The theme can be assisted with Guardian Statue as well, which is a miniature form of Guardian Sphinx. This would also justify the use of Arsenal Summoner, who could fetch any key bouncing Rock from your deck when flipped.

 

Though the link seems unrealistic in reality, the combination of the desert-loving Criosphinx and the bounce-loving Water monsters can allow a duelist to create a beautiful oasis of a deck type. The combination would be royally annoying for any opponent to play against—maybe even more annoying than some of my puns. Abyss Soldier not only has the ability to create combos out of your own cards, such as Premature Burial, but it can also provide consistent removal through discarding Sinister Serpent or Water monsters you are not currently using. When combined with Criosphinx, Penguin Soldier can force your opponent to discard two cards. You're not even losing card advantage, making Penguin Soldier a solid zero-for-two advantage in this deck type!

 

In reference to the saying, “Live by the sword and die by the sword,” Criosphinx's largest weakness is bounce cards. This excludes standard removal, which can still be chained to with cards like Compulsory Evacuation Device. Criosphinx's continuous ability, unfortunately for the sphinx's user, applies to all duelists while it's face-up on the field. This means that if the opponent is carrying around a nifty bounce monster such as Abyss Soldier, there's a good chance Criosphinx's effect will be used against you. Bounce also hurts the Sphinx itself, as tribute monsters are a royal pain to summon to the field if they can be so easily returned to your hand. This effectively makes Abyss Soldier one of the Sphinx's greatest friends and greatest enemies. It's the Brutus to your Caesar of a monster.

 

 

Criosphinx has an ability that can be abused by a mechanic that wasn't all that bad in the first place. Its ability, along with the cards that it can be used with, make it a great choice for both competitive and casual duelists. The combos that are possible with Criosphinx may even give this card a fighting chance at a large Regional or a Shonen Jump Championship!

 

As mentioned earlier in today's article, I'll be analyzing Amazoness Chain Master next week. In case some of you haven't been reading my previews of The Lost Millennium, in which I probably mentioned this card's name a dozen times in anticipation of its release, this new monster was the promo given out to participants of the events held over this past weekend. Be sure to check back next week for a breakdown of her usefulness.

 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com. I try to get back to anyone who emails me, and I'd be more than happy to respond to any emails, whether they're questions, comments, or requests for help with a deck or combo.