Drill Warrior (ABPF-EN041)

Card:  ABPF-EN041
Card Name:  Drill Warrior
Attribute:  Earth
Level/Rank:  6
Type:  Warrior/Synchro/Effect
ATK:  2400
DEF:  2000

Card Text:
"Drill Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can halve this card's ATK (permanently).  If you do, it can attack your opponent directly this turn.  Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can discard 1 card and remove this card from play.  During your next Standby Phase, Special Summon this card, if removed by this effect.  Then, add 1 Monster Card from your Graveyard to your hand.

Personal Comment:

Drill Warrior is a very tricky card to play and needs a strategy in place to be successful.  So the following comment will be slightly hard to follow if you are new to dueling.

The requirement of "Drill Synchron" to Synchro Summon this card makes it a little difficult to bring into play but adding "Quickdraw Synchron" will definitely speed this up.  Once on the field, the first part of Drill Warrior's effect is pretty self explanatory.  Halve the ATK of this card (it becomes 1200 ATK permanently) and attack your opponent directly.  In most situation, I recommend activating this effect right away (Main Phase 1) and taking full advantage of it.  Now that he's weakened (1200 ATK and 2000 DEF) it is more important to utilize his second effect than keeping him on the field.  So during your Main Phase 2, send 1 card in your hand to the Graveyard to remove Drill Warrior from play (note: the card you sent to the Graveyard can be one of the cards you bring back to your hand and is not considered a cost).  The success of the second part of Drill Warrior's effect will depend on what monsters you have in the Graveyard and what the current situation dictates.  You need to think carefully about what monster(s) your opponent has on the field or what monster you want to put in play.  During your next Standby Phase, you can now Special Summon Drill Warrior back to the field and return a monster from the Graveyard to your hand (adding the card to your hand is a trigger effect that is part of the Special Summon).  Because he was removed from play, Drill Warrior's stats reset and he comes back with 2400 ATK and 2000 DEF.  This means you can start the whole process all over...halve his ATK and attack your opponent directly again.  If used properly, Drill Warrior can eat away an opponent's life points and strengthen your hand at the same time.  A very fun and challenging card.

Here's what I just talked about simplified:

- Your Turn
- Draw Phase
- Standby Phase
- Main Phase 1 (Synchro Summon Drill Warrior, halve his ATK, attack opponent directly)
- Battle Phase
- Main Phase 2 (Send 1 card from hand to the Graveyard, remove Drill Warrior)
- End Phase

- Opponent's Turn

- Your turn
- Draw Phase
- Standby Phase (Bring back Drill Warrior with full stats, return card from Graveyard to hand)
- Main Phase 1 (Halve Drill Warrior's ATK, attack opponent directly)
- Battle Phase
- Main Phase 2 (Send 1 card from hand to the Graveyard, remove Drill Warrior)
- End Phase

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 8/10
Power - 7/10
Easy To Play - 6/10
Collectable - 7/10
Overall Score - 7/10

Il Blud (TAEV-EN088)

Card:  TAEV-EN088
Card Name:  Il Blud
Attribute:  Dark
Level/Rank:  6
Type:  Zombie/Gemini
ATK:  2100
DEF:  800

Card Text:
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard.  While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it be treated as an Effect Monster with this effect:
* Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster from your hand or from either player's Graveyard.  When this card is removed from the field, destroy all Zombie-Type monsters Special Summoned by this effect.

Personal Comment:
This is one of the tougher cards to successfully duel with and isn't for a beginner.  The negatives need to be listed in order to fully understand how difficult Il Blud is.

1.  He needs to be run in a Zombie deck (and it also helps if your opponent has some Zombie cards).
2.  He's a Gemini monster which means he needs to be double summoned for his effect to kick in.
3.  He's a level 6 monster so on your first summon you have to tribute a monster to Normal Summon him.
4.  After your first Normal/Tribute Summon you have to hope your opponent isn't able to remove him (2100 ATK and 800 DEF isn't very spectacular).
5.  If he survives and your are able to perform the second summon then the effect will finally activate.

*** The difficulty of a double summon is true for all Gemini monsters.  To make it easier use the Trap card "Ultimate Offering".  This lets you summon and active the Gemini monster's effect in the same turn.

So why go through all the trouble?  It's because Il Blud's card effect is sinister.  Once per turn you can Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type monster from your hand, Graveyard, or your opponent's Graveyard.  That is a game changer.  On top of that, all cards Special Summoned by this effect is destroyed once Il Blud is removed from the field.  Some duelist will use this as a way to fill the Graveyard with Dark Monsters to bring out a card like Rainbow Dark Dragon.  If that happens victory is sure to follow.  So if you're looking for a fun little challenge try running Il Blud and see how successful you are with him.

One more thing.  I highly recommend holding the card and admiring the artwork in person.  It is one of the coolest looking cards.  A picture on a computer screen just isn't the same.

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 9/10
Power - 7/10 (all depends on if you can get his effect to kick in...then it's 9/10)
Easy To Play - 5/10
Collectable - 8/10
Overall Score - 7.25/10