The Lost Millennium Sneak Preview Weekend has come and gone. A few hundred people came by the San Diego Convention Center that weekend to give this new Yu-Gi-Oh! set a test run. Many duelists walked away with good memories and new cards. Many of those same duelists also walked away with a bunch of free goodies that were handed out throughout the day, including extra booster packs and The Lost Millennium t-shirts! If you were there, you may have seen me, the judge who was helping out with main event entries and the Sealed flight.
All right, I'm kidding. I wasn't much help during the Sealed flight.
However, there was a generally positive attitude among all those duelists who attended this event. It was great to see so many people enjoying the Yu-Gi-Oh!
Trading Card Game. Now that many of you have gone back to your lives as they were before the Sneak Previews, you may be wondering how to make use of some of those cards you picked up from
The Lost Millennium. Today's edition of
Bill and Tom's Binder will not be analyzing any cards from the new Yu-Gi-Oh! set, but will instead look at the promotional card that was handed out to attendees of the big event. Duelists who entered any sort of event received (while supplies lasted) a copy of
Amazoness Chain Master, an exciting new Amazoness Warrior. This fighter possesses a devastating ability when it's destroyed, and will certainly be used in future decks that seek to take advantage of one of the most disruptive trigger effects in the game.
The Basic Breakdown
Amazoness Chain Master looks relatively similar to its wild partners from
Magician's Force. Its ATK is relatively average, and its DEF won't keep it alive for long. However, it's a Warrior-type monster with the Earth attribute. Both of these traits have a great deal of support, including
Reinforcement of the Army, which is undoubtedly the best character-search utility in this game . . . well, next to
Witch of the Black Forest. That's why the Witch was forbidden from Advanced format tournaments.
Amazoness Chain Master is a nice addition to the available line of Amazoness Warriors. However, its effect is what makes this chain-loving fighter such a beast. When
Amazoness Chain Master is destroyed and sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, you may pay 1500 life points. If you do, you may look at your opponent's hand, select one monster card from there, and add it to your own hand.
Some of you may be thinking that 1500 life points is a pretty steep cost for the Chain Master's effect. In order to see why the Chain Master is so beneficial, you'll need to understand a few basic ideas about overall card advantage.
The Not-So-Basic Breakdown
In the Yu-Gi-Oh!trading card game, as well as in various other TCGs, number values can be assigned to each card in order to determine a player's overall card count. I could go into detail and use complicated math to show you how each card provides a plus or minus to your card advantage, potential advantage, or brain-cell bursting advantage . . .
. . . but I'm not exactly the most patient or knowledgeable math user. We're going to make this a lot simpler. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, each card represents one point for either you or your opponent. When both duelists begin a duel and draw their first card, they should begin the game with six points, as they will be holding six cards.* When a duelist summons a monster, he or she will still maintain that one point of value that the monster represents¾until the monster leaves the field, in which case, its one point of value will be subtracted from that duelist's overall card total. This results in a loss of card advantage.
However, whenever a card is successfully able to either add cards to your field or hand or remove cards from your opponent's field or hand, that card gives you card advantage. For each card you add to your hand or field from your graveyard, deck, or removed from play zone with another card, you can add one point of value to that card. Whenever one of your cards removes a card from your opponent's combined hand and field, you can add one point of value to that card.
Are you confused yet? It can be difficult to grasp a system like this at first, so let's use an example.
I'm dueling Evan Vargas, who is making a habit of saying “savage” as much as possible during our duel. We both have three cards in hand, and Evan has a monster on the field. I have a card total of three, and Evan has a card total of four. It's my turn, so I draw a card (bringing my card total to four), and the only thing that Evan has on his field is a Giant Soldier of Stone in attack position. (We're having fun with normal monsters only.) I summon Battle Ox, which attacks and destroys Evan's Giant Soldier. Evan has lost one card from his card total, so I'll assign a value of one to my Battle Ox.
In this example, I gained a +1 advantage over my opponent, because I destroyed one of his cards without losing any cards of my own. Next, here's an example that we'll apply to
Amazoness Chain Master.
It's the same duel and situation as above. I just destroyed Evan's monster with . I end my turn, and my card total is still four. Evan draws his card, making his card total four again. He summons Rogue Doll in attack position, then sets one face down card and ends his turn. I begin my turn and draw a card, bringing my card total to five. My Battle Ox attacks his Rogue Doll, but Evan activates his trap card, Sakuretsu Armor. This destroys my Battle Ox, causing my card total to drop down to four. However, my Battle Ox still provided me with an overall +1 advantage, because Evan's ox-killing trap was sent to the graveyard upon resolution. Evan's card total is now three and his trap card offered neither a plus nor a minus in overall advantage.
The concept of keeping track of card totals can be a difficult task for beginning players. However, with practice, and perhaps with the assistance of a future article**, a new duelist can use a mathematical system to quickly gain some experience in this game.
What does that card total explanation mean for
Amazoness Chain Master? Well, you need to know that any form of destruction as a result of the Chain Master will result in you gaining a positive advantage¾unless its effect is stopped by a card like
Dark Balter the Terrible or if it's removed from play instead of sent to the graveyard by a card like
Dark Magician of Chaos.
Let's say your
Amazoness Chain Master destroyed nothing at all. In fact, it was swiftly slain by your opponent's monster. You decide to trigger its effect and cough up 1500 life points. You look at your opponent's hand and nab a solid attacker, adding it to your own hand. In terms of breaking this down in order to keep track of card totals, your
Amazoness Chain Master bit the dust, so it leaves the field at -1. You trigger its effect and add one of your opponent's monsters into your own hand, making the effect net +1 advantage.
Wait a minute! Wouldn't it mean the Chain Master breaks even? While you technically lose no card advantage from your own combined field and hand, your opponent is losing one card in the deal as well. Since you lose no advantage and your opponent loses one of his or her cards, your
Amazoness Chain Master gives you a solid +1 advantage. Then, if your Amazoness Warrior has destroyed any monsters as a result of battle that did not replenish your opponent's cards, your advantage over your opponent will be increased.
Don't forget that even if your opponent has no monsters for you to claim,
Amazoness Chain Master allows you to see your opponent's hand as long as you pay those 1500 life points. Seeing your opponent's hand is crucial for knowing any potential strategy that he or she has planned, and it allows you to plan ahead for any dangers your opponent may hold at the moment.
Combos and Counters
One of the best cards to combine with
Amazoness Chain Master is the ever-abusive
Creature Swap. It's not like this card has enough combos already! In terms of counting card advantage, you'll end with -1 advantage if
Creature Swap successfully resolves. However, in this situation, the odds are good that you'll be destroying the
Amazoness Chain Master that you gave to your opponent. Before it rests in peace, you can pay the 1500 life points in order for it to help you one last time. If the Chain Master's effect nabs an opponent's monster for you, then you'll be left with no loss of card advantage on your field. However, your opponent will be down one monster and one card in his or her hand, giving you an overall +2 advantage with this combo! Not even
Lightning Vortex can reliably provide you with an advantage like this, so you can expect this combo to quickly lead you to a victory.
What happens when your opponent has only a few cards in his or her hand and a monster that he or she doesn't want to summon? To put it bluntly, it means you can go all-out and claim victory in the duel.
Exchange puts your opponent under some serious pressure, especially when combined with other cards your opponent won't want to give up.
Nimble Momonga,
Giant Germ, and
Sinister Serpent are great examples of cards your opponent will want the least when you play
Exchange.
Amazoness Chain Master ranks pretty high as well.
Final Thoughts
I would not be surprised if
Amazoness Chain Master sees some play at Nationals this year. I'm honestly hoping for it, as it deserves some respect. The fact that it will almost always provide you with a positive advantage when sent to the graveyard through battle is pretty great. When combined with the Monarchs, cards like
Soul Exchange provide their users with positive advantage. Amazoness Chain Wielder provides advantage with its effect alone, and it can provide even more advantage when used with the right combos!
Do you have any questions or comments regarding today's article or any previous articles? Whether it's a card question or a request to look through a deck, I love to hear from readers. Feel free to email me at
Mrosenberg@metagame.com.
*This excludes the factor of annoying spell cards that throw off how a duelist should start his or her game.
Delinquent Duo falls under the category of “annoying spell cards.”
**Maybe from someone who doesn't stink at math, unlike me- but only time will tell.