Doom of Dimensions Roundup: Last Cards of the Set

As with every end of a set, Konami likes to pepper the final slots with some free agents, cards that normally don’t fit the mold of standard archetypes. 

They’re not necessarily meta-defining, but they offer some fun little options to pet decks, and sometimes there may be some surprising interactions depending on the deck they’re slotting in.

VARefar the Kick Deity

Credit: Konami

^{Level 11 Earth} 

^{Fiend/Effect Monster}

^{When your opponent activates a monster effect on the field that targets a monster(s) you control, or when your monster is targeted for an attack by an opponent's monster (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this card from your hand, then you can reveal 1 card in your hand, then apply this effect to that opponent's monster based on the type of card revealed.}

^{Monster: Change it to Defense Position.}

^{Spell: Its ATK becomes doubled.}

^{Trap: Banish it.}

^{You can only use this effect of "VARefar the Kick Deity" once per turn.}

As far as Level-11s go, VARerfar is exceedingly small. It does have a pretty good battle trick by banishing an attacking monster, but we do have to wonder what Konami was thinking with the Spell effect. 

Battle tricks are heavily power crept now because players would rather use the ones that preempt the situation than rely on the opponent to instigate the situation.

That said, this could be Konami testing a design for another monster down the line. Because of Yu-Gi-Oh’s, there may come an archetype down the line that could make use of VARefar and its abilities. 

Chakravartin Sphinx

Credit: Konami

^{Level 8 Earth} 

^{Rock/Effect Monster}

^{Once per turn, if the battle position of another monster(s) on the field is changed: You can target 1 card on the field; return it to the hand. You can only use each of the following effects of "Chakravartin Sphinx" once per turn. If the battle position of a monster(s) is changed: You can banish 1 Spell from your GY; Special Summon this card from your GY (if it was there when the position changed) or hand (even if not). During your Main Phase: You can Set 1 "Book of Taiyou" and/or 1 "Book of Moon" from your Deck and/or GY.}

Chakravartin Sphinx has clear synergy with the ‘Empty Jar’ mill strategy. Alternatively, some adventurous players may try to fit a copy or two of this card with Mimighoul.

A targeted bounce is a pretty powerful effect. This card can also easily bring itself back out from the graveyard if your deck’s game plan already revolves around battle position manipulation.

It also helps that Chakravartin Sphinx allows a player to get both a Book of Taiyou and Book of Moon, two standard but still powerful board interruptions. 

Intentionally or not, Chakravartin Sphinx’s 2,500 stat also allows it to become a vector for the Regensis monsters. 

Tri-Headed Behemoth

Credit: Konami

^{Level 4 Wind} 

^{Dragon/Effect Monster}

^{If a face-up card(s) you control is destroyed by card effect, even during the Damage Step: You can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can only use this effect of "Tri-Headed Behemoth" once per turn. If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You activate this effect; during the End Phase of this turn, Special Summon 1 Wind monster from your GY, but its ATK/DEF become 1000. You can only use this effect of "Tri-Headed Behemoth" once per Duel.}

Early Magnifistorm support was not expected. As far as its overall design, it’s a surprisingly versatile combo starter or extender as long as your deck focuses on Wind-attribute monsters. Tri-Headed Behemoth is basically a two-for-one special as it can retrieve a body back from the graveyard, most likely to be used for extra deck fodder.

That said, if the translation of this card’s abilities is accurate, Tri-Headed Behemoth does not in any way negate the effects of the monster that’s brought back. That aspect is exceedingly rare.

There’s definitely going to be a home for Tri-Headed Behemoth for any deck running that uses key cards of the Wind attribute.

Taotao the Chanter

Credit: Konami

^{Level 2 Earth} 

^{Illusion/Tuner Effect Monster}

^{You can only use the (2)nd effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) If this card battles a monster, neither can be destroyed by that battle.}

^{(2) If you take battle or effect damage: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or higher Illusion monster from your hand or GY, or, if you took 2000 or more damage, you can Special Summon it from the Deck or Extra Deck instead.}

With Taotao the Chanter, Konami appears to be seeding the card pool for the future. Taotao the Chanter can easily synergize with the upcoming Hecatoncheire archetype due to the focus on the Illusion monster type.

Unfortunately, Taotao’s overall ability package suffers going first due to the need to crash into an opposing monster. 

Taotao the Chanter may not be a powerful board builder or combo extender, but it makes for a very powerful tool for the grind game if the match extends further than the first couple of turns.

If not in the main deck, a player can easily slide in a copy, maybe two, in the side deck. Cheating out monsters from the extra deck for 2,000 lifepoints isn’t a bad deal, all things considered.

Cerzebuth, Laimargia of the Ebon Irons

Credit: Konami

^{Rank 7 Dark} 

^{Beast/Xyz/Effect Monster}

^{Materials: 2+ Level 7 monsters}

^{You can only use the (3)rd effect of this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) Gains 700 ATK for each material attached to it.}

^{(2) Once per Chain, when a Normal or Quick-Play Spell Card is activated (Quick Effect): You can attach that card on the field to this face-up card, and if you do, this card is unaffected by the activated effect.}

^{(3) During the End Phase: You can Set 1 Spell attached to this card.}

A generic Rank-7 XYZ that just slurps up any Normal or Quick-Play Spell is the type of tool that you can only find in ‘Free Agent’ cards. 

Cerzebuth isn’t oppressive by nature, but if summoned early in your combo, you can protect your play lines from at least one-third of potential interactions from the opponent.

At the very least, you can turn off Called By the Grave, and Cerzebuth can surprisingly maneuver around Gordian Slicer if you run into the odd player who uses it.

To rub salt in the wound, if this card makes it to the end phase of any turn, any Spell Card it has eaten can eventually be used by Cerzebuth’s controlling player.

Miasma Necromancer

Credit: Konami

^{Link-2 Dark} 

^{Spellcaster/Link Effect Monster}

^{Link Arrows: Left; Right}

^{Materials: 2 monsters, including a DARK Spellcaster monster}

^{You can only use the (1)st and (2)nd effects of this card’s name each once per turn.}

^{(1) If this card is Link Summoned: You can add 1 Level 5 or higher Dark Spellcaster monster from your GY to your hand, and if you do, you cannot activate the effects of cards with its name for the rest of this turn.}

^{(2) You can send 1 Spell/Trap from your hand or field to the GY; immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon 1 Spellcaster monster.}

Miasma Necromancer just screams Dark Magician support in its design, but it can also be used with any Spellcaster deck that’s looking for a way to make use of their Continuous Spell cards once they’ve outlived their usefulness.  

It also helps that Miasma Necromancer can easily bring back a Dark attribute spellcaster used in its summon, though the effect of the said card is negated till the end of the turn. 

It’s nothing too crazy, but players are always going to be looking for consistency tools, and Miasma Necromancer can easily slip into that role, and can help Link climb to boot.

Apocaries & Miss Okiku's Dishrithmetic

Credit: Konami

^Apocaries

^{Continuous Spell Card}

^{You can only activate a card with this card’s name once per turn.}

^{(1) When this card resolves, place C Counters on this card equal to the number of cards your opponent controls.}

^{(2) You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls and remove up to 4 C Counters from your field; apply this effect to that monster based on the number removed.}

^{● 1: It loses 500 ATK.}

^{● 2: Change its ATK to 0.}

^{● 3: Negate its effects.}

^{● 4: Destroy it.}

^{Miss Okiku's Dishrithmetic}

^{Continuous Trap Card}

^{(1) Once per Chain, when your opponent activates a card or effect: You can place Dish Counters on this card equal to the Chain Link number of this effect.}

^{(2) Apply these effects based on the number of Dish Counters on this card.}

^{● 9 or less: Your opponent cannot target this card with card effects, also it cannot be destroyed by your opponent’s card effects.}

^{● 10 or more: Send this card to the GY.}

^{(3) If this card is sent to the GY by its own effect: You can send the top 10 cards of your Deck to the GY.}

We’re putting these two together as both of these cards share a similarity in that they are beholden to the opponent’s movement.

Apocaries could be used in a variety of ways, so it can get around certain protections if need be. It’s not the most efficient Spell card, but its versatility could be its strength. 

Unfortunately, we highly doubt even the most willing of deck builders would slot this card in the main deck from the start.

As for Miss Okiku's Dishrithmetic, there are some decks, like Infernoids, that could benefit from such a strong self-mill effect. If timed right, that goal of 10 counters can easily be bridged.

This is more or less the shallow end of the ‘Free Agent’ pool of cards. Not all cards are created in equal strength, but sometimes it feels like Konami might be purposefully making cards that don’t really push much for a win condition.

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