Vennominaga The Deity Of Poisonous Snakes (TAEV-EN013)

Card:  TAEV-EN013
Card Name:  Vennominaga The Deity Of Poisonous Snakes
Attribute:  Dark
Level/Rank:  10
Type:  Reptile/Effect
ATK:  0
DEF:  0

Card Text:
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.

Personal Comment:

This is my 50th post so I wanted to feature a card that truly is one of the best in the game and rarest to own.  With the release of Legendary Collection 2 everybody can now afford to run this card (LCGX-EN191) but having the 1st Edition (TAEV-EN013) makes it that much more special to my collection.  This post is going to be longer than most because it is one of my favorite card to duel with.

Deck Type:

Vennominaga The Deity Of Poisonous Snakes needs to be ran in a Reptile-Type deck specifically built around her.  In order to maximize the deck's potential it has to accomplish two key objectives: (1) the deck needs to be able to easily summon her and (2) it needs to get large amounts of Reptile-Type Monsters into the Graveyard quickly.  If you are successful at doing both it will be one of the most competitive decks you can bring into a duel.

Archetypes That Are Reptile specific:
- Alien
- Reptillianne
- Worm

Summoning:

To bring Vennominaga into play (initially) you need to set the Trap card "Rise of the Snake Deity" and have "Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes" destroyed for it to active.  This isn't a very hard summoning requirement and the fact that she can be summoned from your hand or deck makes a significant difference (no need to search your deck for this card).  The text for the Trap card "Rise of the Snake Deity" is the following...

Active only when a face-up "Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes" you control is destroyed.  Special Summon 1 "Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes" from your hand or deck.

Here are two (of many) ways to accomplish this Special Summon...

- Use "Damage = Reptile" to get Vennominon onto the field.  Active "Offering To The Snake Deity" to destroy Vennominon which then activates "Rise of the Snake Deity".

- Use "Snake Rain" to get Vennominon into the Graveyard.  Special Summon Vennominon from the Graveyard with "Viper's Rebirth" which automatically destroys it during the End Phase.  Activate "Rise of the Snake Deity".

Once In Play:

Vennominaga can't be targeted and is immune to the effects of other Monsters, Spells, and Traps.  This makes it nearly impossible for your opponent to remove her from the field using other methods besides ATK brute force.  Because of this, ideally you want Vennominaga to hit the field when your Graveyard has about 6 (or more) Reptile-Type monsters to boost her ATK to 3000 (at a minimum you want her ATK to be greater than any of your opponent's monster currently in play).  That should be enough to hold off your opponent a few rounds so you can keep dumping Reptile-Type monsters in your Graveyard to keep powering her up.  Also activate the Trap card "Imperial Iron Wall" to prevent these cards from being removed from play which would weaken her ATK.  Even if your opponent is successful at destroying her in battle, her effect lets you remove a Reptile-Type monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon her back onto the field (this won't work if you still have Imperial Iron Wall activated).  But if you use this effect she will come back 500 ATK weaker than before because a Reptile-Type monster was removed from the Graveyard.

The final part of Vennominaga's effect is so powerful that very few cards in the Yugioh dueling world can match its might (besides Exodia The Forbidden One).  The ability to automatically win a duel gives you a chance at victory no matter what kind of deck your opponent is using.  On top of that, this is a lot easier than gathering the 5 pieces of Exodia.  When you inflict Battle Damage to your opponent, place 1 Hyper-Venom Counter on Vennominaga.  When she has 3 Hyper-Venom Counters you win the duel.  Done!

Cards Essential For A Vennominaga Deck:

- Rise Of The Snake Deity
- Viper's Rebirth
- Snake Rain
- Damage = Reptile
- Offering To The Snake Deity
- Snake Deity's Command
- Snake Whistle
- Venom Shot
- Card Destruction
- Imperial Iron Wall

Personal Rating:
Artwork - 10/10
Power - 10/10
Easy To Play - 7/10
Collectable - 10/10
Overall Score - 9.25/10