It looks like Konami is starting to wind down as we’re reaching the tail-end of reveals for the upcoming Doom of Dimensions expansion.
Not to be left behind by its peers from Justice Hunters, K9 is getting its own second wave of support while Konami tries to breathe new life into an older archetype.
Tri-Brigade Additions:
Tri-Brigade Arms "Mouser"
Link 2 Earth
Beast/Link/Effect Monster
Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right
2 Beast, Beast-Warrior, and/or Winged Beast monsters
If this card is Link Summoned: You can send 2 "Tri-Brigade" cards with different names from your Deck and/or Extra Deck to the GY, except "Tri-Brigade Arms "Mouser"", also you cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast monsters. If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; change it to face-down Defense Position. You can only use each effect of "Tri-Brigade Arms "Mouser"" once per turn.
The newest addition to the Tri-Brigade Link monster roster, and it’s basically a double Foolish Burial; Konami seems to be making this a habit when it comes to new support.
Thankfully, Tri-Brigade Arms Mouser’s effect is hard locked specifically to its Link summon. This makes it a less enticing target to be cheated out via the main deck monster cards or effects.
This aspect is mitigated by Mouser being a Link-2 card, so it’s not that difficult to hard summon this. You’d just have to sequence your plays a little if you want to get two cards into rotation via Mouser’s Link summon effect.
Like all of its siblings, Mouser sports the usual Tri-Brigade summoning lock for Bests, Beast- Warriors, and Winged Beast monsters.
This keeps the usual combo play lines or some new ones with the K9 extra deck monsters falling into the monster types Tri-Brigade likes to play with.
As a mill target herself, Mouser becomes a Book of Moon for board interaction. It’s a simple but effective effect if going second just to temporarily turn off problem cards.
If you happen to run Ultimate Slayer in your deck list, then Mouser’s value jumps up. You not only spin back a card to its source but also turn off another card on the field as a 2-for-1 special.
Mouser is a much-needed expansion to the list of Extra deck targets since the most common choices are either Ferrijit the Barren Blossom’s card recycling or Shuraig the Ominous Omen’s targeted search.
Tri-Brigade Hammer
Quick-Play Spell Card
Activate 1 of these effects (but you can only use each effect of "Tri-Brigade Hammer" once per turn);
- Add 1 "Tri-Brigade" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand, except "Tri-Brigade Hammer".
- Banish any number of "Tri-Brigade" cards from your GY; Special Summon 1 "Tri-Brigade" Link Monster from your Extra Deck, with Link Rating equal to the number banished, ignoring its Summoning conditions, also you cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast monsters.
Between this card and Mouser, Tri-Brigade Hammer drew the short straw when it came to its design package.
That said, Konami made sure to give this card a soft once-per-turn clause so that a drawing second copy in the same hand doesn’t necessarily mean it's a dead card on arrival.
As for its overall capabilities, Tri-Brigade Hammer can function as a second copy of any of the Tri-Brigade backrow support in the deck should you be running any of them at a single copy.
It’s overall good consistency, but it paints a bullseye on Hammer’s proverbial back for staple hand traps like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring.
As for Hammer’s second effect, it’s a good contingency plan. Considering that Hammer is a Quick-Play spell, getting a body out when your board gets wiped could be handy.
Hammer can even bring out Tri-Brigade Arms Bucephalus II, one of the archetype’s more difficult-to-summon Link monsters.
Tri-Brigade Hammer suffers from being just an “ok” card. It won’t bring Tri-Brigade to the forefront of the meta, and is most likely considered a tech choice by the player in general.
Second Wave of K9:
K9-04 Noroi
Level 5 Earth
Machine/Effect Monster
You can only use the (2)nd and (3)rd effect of this card's name each once per turn.
(1) If your opponent has 2 or more cards in their hand, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing.
(2) If this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 non-Machine “K9” monster from your Deck, and if you do, you cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck while you control that face-up monster, except “K9” monsters.
(3) You can send 1 “K9” card you control to the GY; look at your opponent’s hand.
We saw this coming as there was no way that Konami would leave out the K9 archetype after giving both Yummy and Dragon Tail some new cards.
For this first card, it looks like Konami is laying the foundation for more pure K9 decks with K9-04 Noroi. This underscored how Noroi’s second effect can only be triggered by a normal summon.
As far as expenditure of a precious turn resource goes, Noroi’s effect isn’t bad. It can bring out another K9 body onto the board straight from the main deck, and that already bypasses some handtrap staples.
Noroi does have a pretty harsh lock on the extra deck if you do bring out that extra body, but you can easily go into any of the XYZ K9 bodies no issue, or just use Noroi's third effect.
Said third effect is the most eyebrow-raising capability Noroi brings to the K9 archetype.
Hand information is extremely valuable when used by a skilled player. Just knowing the potential board-breaker tools or responses the opponent has before you start your own combo can already influence how you go about your play lines and end boards.
Noroi does this much more easily than her XYZ sibling, K9 - EX "Werewolf", does.
We don’t know if Noroi will be the card to influence players to run K9 more than just a disruption engine, but it’s a good step in promoting the K9 units as the main archetype to build around.
K9-666 “Jacks”
2 Level 5 monsters
You can only use the (1)st effect of this card’s name once per turn.
(1) If this card is Xyz Summoned, or if your opponent activates a monster effect in the hand or GY: You can detach 1 material from this card, then target 1 monster on the field; destroy it.
(2) A “K9” Xyz Monster that has this card as material gains this effect.
● Any battle damage this card inflicts to your opponent the turn they activated a monster effect in the hand or GY is doubled.
K9 finally gets another XYZ body to float into, and it’s a pretty standard body. That said, there’s nothing wrong with getting targeted destruction from just summoning and as a form of board interaction.
An opponent would have to be wary if they lead their combo with a monster card while K9-666 “Jacks” is already on the field.
As for Jacks’ second ability, it’s a little improbable that a scenario making use of the double battle damage would happen.
That said, if the opponent does leave the door open for you, then Werewolf’s OTK (One Turn Kill) potential might be easier to accomplish with this card attached.
An archetype doesn’t always need to have every card to be some meta-defining powerhouse.
Sometimes, just having an alternative body to bring out with a useful, if a little standard, effect is enough to push it to more competitive levels.