Card Review: Gorz, The Emissary of Darkness

Time for another card review, but this time, of one of my personal favorite cards. Seriously, this card has been there for me in so many duels. I can almost associate it as my "duel spirit" or something of such significance since it appears in almost all of my duels. In almost every opening hand, he has volunteered to lead the assault. In fierce duels when I have expended my hand and my other monsters have fallen to other creatures slightly stronger than they, I have drawn him to aid me; and even just when my opponent believes that they can begin to overrun my life points with sheer force when I seem defenseless, he is there for me and comes to the rescue. He is, Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness.

So, let's examine this Dark Legend. Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness is a, DARK Attributed, Level 7 Fiend/Effect Type monster, fighting entire armies with 2700ATK and 2500DEF. Immediately Gorz shows to be impressively powerful Monster Card, and he even looks impressive in the artwork as well! But what really makes Gorz so grand is how he is invoked onto the field. Although you can Tribute 2 Monsters to Normal Summon him like any other card, his effect allows you to Special Summon him from your hand, but only under reckless conditions; this, however, is what makes him so interesting to use, in addition to his 1 of  2 Effects that activate as a result of his unique Special Summon.

While you control absolutely no cards on the field and you take Direct Damage, you can Special Summon Gorz from your hand. There are 2 Effects, and 2 Types of Damage; so each Effect is associated with the type of Damage taken after Gorz is successfully summoned. If you suffer Effect damage, you Gorz will also inflict the same amount of hurt right back to your opponent. If you suffer Battle Damage to Summon Gorz, which is commonly the case, he will not be alone; for the Emissary of Darkness will bring along his most trusted companion: Kaien.

 [There she is... Isn't she beautiful?]

After deducting your Life Points due to Battle Damage, Gorz Special Summons 1 "Emissary of Darkness Tokem". This Monster was named "Kaien, the Emissary of Darkness" in the Yu-Gi-Oh! R manga and an official "Emissary of Darkness" Token Card was printed exclusively for Japan. I will refer to this card as Kaien.

Kaien is a LIGHT Attributed, Level 7, Fairy-Type TOKEN Monster Card with ?/? ATK/DEF. Her ATK/DEF are both determined by the amount of Battle Damage Taken after Gorz hit the field. Because of this, there is strategy into timing the utilization of Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness. Often times waiting for the heavier attack yields a greater reward in the form of a stronger TOKEN Monster, but this tactic increases the risk factor. Kaien being a TOKEN Monster just means that she will be treated as a Normal Monster while on the Field, but she can still be Tributed, Declare Attacks, defend, and even be used as Fusion, Ritual, and Synchro Material. With that said, Kaien can be just as useful, or even more effective, than her Male, Effect-Monster counterpart. Kaien tagging along with the fight only provides more flexibility in your options.

These Scenarios. 

1) IN THE BEGINNING OF THE DUEL:Your first hand, is nothing but Monster Cards: A few too weak to survive the first turn and the rest are too strong to use at the moment, except for Gorz! End your first turn without having a single card on the field. Take a hit from your Opponent on their turn and you instantly have at least 1 Monster with 2700 ATK! 

2) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DUEL: Or this one: You have no Spells or Traps. Your Opponent activates a Card Effect to wipe out any Monsters you would have had on the field. He attacks. Gorz springs into action from your hand! Usually, his high stats may intimidate the opponent from continuing their barrage of attacks. 

3) NEAR THE END OF THE DUEL: Or, how about both of you are engaged in a fierce duel and you are both down to your dwindling decks. A tiny monster is just poking at you for the time being. When you draw Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness (if it was still in your Deck by this point in the Duel), the story completely changes! The possibilities are endless! (Not really...)

So, Gorz can instantly summon himself and another Powerful Monster, he can be easily summoned by other means such as Tribute Summon or by effects of other Cards, and he is practically a two for 1 card under highly risky conditions.  Remember, you must not control ANY cards ON THE FIELD if you plan to instantly Summon it. This is the most important detail to remember when using this card. In many duels, Gorz alone can change the tide of battle. Because of his immense potency, he is on the Limited list which means that only 1 copy of the card is allowed per Deck. (How about that for a "Highlander" card?)

Many times I have used this card because many times he has been there for me. Even when I asked to borrow a deck from a friend at a party, I drew Gorz on my opening hand. Gorz can be fitted into almost any deck, as long has he doesn't compromise the functions of the deck. (Example: If using even 1 DARK monster would kill your deck, don't use Gorz.)

Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness was originally printed as a Promotional Card for the Yu-Gi-Oh! R manga, but is most commonly available in the Dark Legends Booster Blister Set, which includes 2 booster packs of 12 Cards each, as well as Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness itself. Trivia Fact: The Gorz cards included with the Dark Legends packs are all misprinted; since they are promo cards but have a silver seal instead of a golden seal on the lower left corner.

Card Review: Road Warrior

Alright, it is time for another card review! The card I will review today happens to be a cover card, but not just any cover card. This card was the first Synchro Monster I obtained when I returned to dueling, and aside from another special card that I've held in my possession for so many years, this card was also the most powerful card that I had when I started on my "Duelist Genesis". Simply because it is a cover card does not inherently mean that it is one of the best, but it is also not one of the worst. Personally, I find Road Warrior to be an interesting card, however, it is apparent that he is not so recognized as other Synchro Monsters out there.

So let's examine this golden Synchron Warrior. Road Warrior is a, LIGHT Attributed, Level 8 Warrior/Synchro/Effect Monster, fighting with 3000 ATK Points and 1500 DEF Points. (In a normal battle, this card could match the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.) First off, the main thing about Road Warrior that I should address is that it is what I would like to call a "Synchron Synchro", or in this case more specifically, a "Synchron Warrior". Synchron Warriors are Monsters that require a specific Tuner Monster to be summoned. These Tuner Monsters have "Synchron" in their name, implying that they Synchronize with other Monsters to become an even more powerful Monster; the Synchrons are used by Yusei Fudo in the anime. Although the Synchrons are not part of an actual archetype, their similarities do pair them up for some interesting trivia.

Now, about Road Warrior. Road Warrior might not be considered to many as one of the greatest Synchro Monsters available. At the time of its release, Road Warrior might have even been the most difficult Synchro Monster to summon. It requires Road Synchron (Level 4) and at least 2 Monsters to add up to a Level 8 Synchro Summon. In terms of the game, that either means waiting 3 turns to Normal Summon 3 weak monsters or exploiting resources in a single turn to Special Summon the necessary monsters to summon Road Warrior. Road Warrior's Effect is very simple. Because of his Effect, however, Road Warrior is simply not made for just any kind of deck. Road Warrior was made to lead decks that use weaker Warrior-Type or Machine-Type Monster Cards. Unfortunately, many people do not see his Effect as being very useful when they could use the Monster he can Special Summon as potential for further Summoning. Despite boasting 3000 ATK Points, Road Warrior probably would not be the optimal choice for many duelists and would be picked after another Synchron Warrior. (I don't often see many of these being used. I am probably the only person I know that has Summoned this guy.)

Since Road Warrior requires Road Synchron as its Tuner, I might as well make a short review of that card as well. Road Synchron is a, LIGHT Attributed, Level 4 Machine/Tuner-Type Monster with 1600 ATK and 800 DEF. For a Level 4 Monster, 1600 ATK is an adequate amount of strength, but still closer towards the lower end of the stronger monsters. Road Synchron's Effect raises its Level by 1 if it battles until the end phase; this effect is so that it might open more possibilities for Road Warrior's Summoning. Road Synchron is not limited to only being used to Synchro Summon for Road Warrior. Since it is a Tuner without restricting itself to being used only for a specific Monster, Road Warrior can be used for other monsters however, it is essentially treated as a Level 2 Tuner for the Synchro Summon of any Monster other than Road Warrior.

Road Warrior strikes me as a card that looks really impressive. Although Road Warrior probably would not be summoned for many duels, it is still one of the cards I find having fun with. I have Synchro Summoned this card before and used it to my advantage, however I may need to utilize more Level 2 or Lower Warrior-Type or Machine-Type as part of my deck. The little Monster that he was able to summon did provide useful for further Summoning or defenses.

"...And now I Synchro Summon ____________!"

This is a misprinted Road Warrior that I received in a Duelist Pack: Yusei Fudo 2 Booster Pack. Everything about it is fine, except it lacks its name. It would have been a Rare** Road Warrior, but because it lacks the foiling from its name and is not "shiny" at all, I call it the "Common* Road Warrior". Road Warrior is only available in Rare and Ultra Rare*** Rarities.

*Common Rarity is identified by having no foiled qualities about the card. Simply because a card happens to be of Common Rarity does not mean that it is not very valuable.
**Rare Rarity is identified by having only the name foiled and nothing else.
***Ultra Rare Rarity is identified by having golden foiling of the card's name and a holographic picture.