This week, we look at Vennominon and Vennominaga.

The Snake King

Vennominon is the beginning of the end for your opponent.

Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes

“This card cannot be Special Summoned by another Effect Monster’s effect. This card is unaffected by ‘Venom Swamp’. This card gains 500 ATK for each Reptile-Type monster in your Graveyard. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can remove from play 1 other Reptile-Type monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon this card.”

You should immediately recognize that Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes does not have any of those pesky “I cannot be special summoned except by” limitations that tend to plague the “hero units” of theme-based teams. Vennominon’s lone restriction informs you that he cannot be special summoned by the effect of another effect monster. This limitation means that you cannot special summon Vennominon with cards like Mystic Tomato or The Creator, but you are free to use any spell- or trap-based special summon effects you have at your disposal. Being able to use cards like Premature Burial, Call of the Haunted, Monster Gate, and Reasoning removes a serious amount of strain from playing Vennominon.

Since Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes does not have “Venom” in his card name, he was given an effect to make him immune to the effects of Venom Swamp. After all, it wouldn’t be much fun to have the King of Poisonous Snakes destroyed by his very own territory. Spreading Venom Counters around isn’t even touched upon by Vennominon’s effects. Instead he prefers to focus on the strength he gains from his fallen underlings. Each Reptile-type monster in your graveyard adds 500 to Vennominon’s ATK total, and the Venom monsters have certain ways of making this happen.

Snake Rain serves this purpose quite well, but in an odd sort of way it can also serve as a means of searching out specific Reptile-type monsters from your deck. Yes it places them all into the graveyard, but with the right revival cards, they’ll be right where you want them. If you discard a Reptile-type monster to pay Snake Rain’s cost, you can place five Reptiles into your graveyard and give Vennominon an extra 2500 ATK. You can even use it to put Vennominon himself into the graveyard, making it that much easier to find Vennominon whenever you want him.

Damage = Reptile is another great card for getting Vennominon into play. It doesn’t require much damage to special summon a monster with 0 ATK. You will be able to special summon Vennominon as long as you lose some life points from a battle involving a Reptile-type monster. Vennominon’s ATK-increasing effect doesn’t do anything when he isn’t on the field, so you don’t have to think about how many Reptiles you have in your graveyard until you actually summon him to the field. The Reptile count will not be an issue for Damage = Reptile.

The ATK increase takes on a more important role when Vennominon is successfully summoned onto the field. At this time, you must look into your graveyard and count your Reptiles, so both you and your opponent will know how strong Vennominon is. After completing this, both players get a chance to respond to the summon. If Vennominon is special summoned in the damage step (because of Damage = Reptile or some other card effect), the ability to respond will be very limited or non-existent. When Vennominon is normal, flip, or special summoned in another game phase, both players will have to react according to Vennominon’s total ATK at that time.

I know some players see that Vennominon has 0 ATK and may want to use that as a means to wipe it out with Chain Disappearance, but this plan can fall apart quickly. Since Vennominon’s ATK is immediately increased by his effect, he can easily grow too strong for Chain Disappearance. Cards like Bottomless Trap Hole will be more likely to hit Vennominon where it hurts, but even it won’t stop you from activating Rise of the Snake Deity when Vennominon is finally bested.

The Snake Deity

Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes features an alternate win condition, something we haven’t seen in a while.

“This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except with its own effect or with ‘Rise of the Snake Deity’. This card gains 500 ATK for each Reptile-Type monster in your Graveyard. This card cannot be targeted and is unaffected by the effects of other Monsters, Spells, and Traps. When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can remove from play 1 other Reptile-Type monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon this card. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, place 1 Hyper-Venom Counter on it. When 3 Hyper-Venom Counters are on this card, you win the Duel.”

Vennominaga has the “I cannot be normal summoned or set” and special summon restrictions that normally hinder the play of similar monsters, but in Vennominaga’s case, we can see why it would be necessary. Like Vennominon, Vennominaga gains 500 ATK for every Reptile monster in your graveyard, but she also has built-in protections not seen in most monsters.

It isn’t going to be easy to deal with Vennominaga once she has gotten onto the field. Her immunity to the effects of other monster, spell, and trap cards lets her stick around without outside assistance. As long as you can maintain a collection of Reptiles in your graveyard, Vennominaga will keep on fighting. This effect makes dueling interesting.

When Vennominaga attacks, you won’t find very many effects standing in her way. Sakuretsu Armor and Mirror Force won’t destroy her, Enemy Controller won’t shift her into defense position or take control of her, and monsters like Raiza the Storm Monarch are powerless to remove her from the field. Vennominaga is really only held back by her own ATK value, and the Venom monster deck has no problem taking care of this little matter.

Skill Drain was mentioned by players when trying to find a way to combat Vennominaga. It seems like a good idea, but it all depends on who hits the field first. If Vennominaga is face up on the field, activating Skill Drain won’t do anything to disrupt her effects. If Skill Drain is already face up on the field when Vennominaga is summoned, her effects will be negated and she will be vulnerable. However, if Vennominaga is destroyed in battle while Skill Drain is face up and then returned to the field, Skill Drain will negate her effect. So Skill Drain can work . . . but it will take some luck.

Vennominaga’s final effect is the culmination of all of your efforts. Once she has her three Hyper-Venom Counters, her controller can declare victory. Given Vennominaga’s immunity to other card effects, getting rid of the counters is no easy task. If you manage to destroy her in battle, the counters will be lost when she is removed from the field. It isn’t a permanent solution, but it does buy you more time.

Next week, we examine Gemini monsters. Until then, send all comments and questions to Curtis@Metagame.com.