Looking Forward: Divine Warning

Divine Warning (Solemn Warning) DREV-JP077
Counter Trap

Activate by paying 2000 Life Points. Negate the Summon of a monster, the activation of a Spell or Trap Card with an effect that Special Summons, or the activation of an Effect Monster's effect that Special Summons, and destroy that Spell / Trap / monster.

Divine Warning is a card just out in the OCG set Duelist Revolution, and has been relatively under-hyped. In case you didn't understand its effect, it is able to stop EVERY summon in the game - this includes Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Battle Fader, Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame, Flamvell Firedog as well as recruiters like Mystic Tomato and Giant Rat. As well as this, it has the ability to negate normal summons, rendering cards like Gadgets and Monarchs useless.

However this effect comes at a hefty price, eliminating a quarter of your total life points. This makes the Divine Warning slightly situational - it will be difficult to pay the cost during the later stages of a game, which is when the card is the most game swinging. What made Solemn Judgment so widely played was no matter how many life points you had left, you could still activate its effect - making it a great card for late game scenarios. Divine Warning may see less play due to this.

Looking Forward: Pot of Greed and Modesty

Pot of Greed and Modesty (Pot of Greederosity) DREV-JP062
Normal Spell

Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Choose 1 of them, and add it to your hand. Shuffle the remaining cards back into the deck. Only 1 "Pot of Greed and Modesty" can be activated per turn, and you cannot special summon during the turn this card is activated.

Pot of Greed and Modesty is a card recently released in the Duelist Revolution OCG set, and is one of the most splashable cards released in Yugioh so far. It provides draw power for almost every deck available, and provides a great boost for both top tier as well as less commonly played decks. The ability to dig three cards out of your deck taps into what made the long since banned Graceful Charity such a good card. Statistically, you are three times more likely to draw a card that is useful in your situation than if you played a card like Upstart Goblin. Pot of Greed and Modesty provides the closest effect available in the game to drawing three cards from your deck, which is what makes it so powerful.

However with every great card there are a few drawbacks. The inability to special summon during the turn you activate it, and the fact you can only use one per turn may limit its use in OTK variants, which in my opinion is a good thing. As well as this, you need to reveal the three cards you picked up to your opponent. This may give your opponent a good idea of what cards to look out for in your deck, and assist them when making reads later in the game.

Looking Forward: Ally Genex Birdman

Ally Genex Birdman DT08-JP018
Dark
***
Machine/ Tuner
1400/400

Activate by returning 1 face-up monster you control to the hand; Special Summon this card from your hand. If the returned monster was a WIND monster, this card gains 500 ATK. When this card is Special Summoned by this effect, it is removed from play when it is removed from the field.

Ally Genex Birdman is another cool 'Ally Genex' card just out in the OCG's Duel Terminal. Just like the previously reviewed card Ally Genex Crusher, Birdman is highly searchable using Sangan and Mystic Tomato, however what really makes Birdman shine is its effect. It is essentially a reset button for many monsters, take Machina Gearframe for example. You can return Gearframe to special summon Birdman, then normal summon Gearframe again, search a card from your deck then synchro summon into a Stardust Dragon! This same principle applies to monarchs, allowing you to re-summon them using Birdman's effect so you can use their effects multiple times in the same duel.

However this is just the tip of the iceburg, Birdman can also be used to reset flip effects like Gravekeeper's Spy and Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. Imagine this scenario; you set Spy, your opponent attacks netting you another, then next turn you special summon Birdman, synchro summon X-Saber Urbellum, then set spy all over again - essentially netting you a free level 7 synchro monster.

+ Can easily abuse cards like Elemental Hero Stratos, Machina Gearframe, Gravekeeper's Spy, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Monarchs.

+ Highly searchable with Sangan and Mystic Tomato.

+ Dark Type, so it can be used with Allure of Darkness.

+ A level 3 tuner, which means easy access to cards like X-Saber Urbellum and Black Rose Dragon.

Gold Series 3

Gold series 3 is confirmed, with cards such as Infernity Archfiend, Judgment Dragon, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Plaguespreader Zombie, Blackwing Armor Master, and Blackwing Armed Wing all being reprinted! See the news on the official Konami website here.

Gold Rare Cards are back for another round, with Gold Series 3! Gold Rares are the shiniest, rarest, and most blinged-out cards you can get. And Gold Series 3 brings some flash and flair to more of your favorite cards.

This time around, you can get your hands on Gold Rare versions of cards like Infernity Archfiend, Judgment Dragon, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Plaguespreader Zombie, Blackwing Armor Master, and Blackwing Armed Wing.

As a super-special bonus, Gold Series 3 is the first place you can get a hold of Jack Atlas’ Vice Dragon monster – available for the first time, AND as a Gold Rare!

If you’re looking to hop on board the latest and hottest Decks, Gold Series 3 can help get you started. The 32 Common Cards in Gold Series 3 include most of the Blackwing monsters from 2009, so it’s easy to get your Blackwing Deck together just with Gold Series 3 and the new Blackwing cards available in The Shining Darkness packs.

Gold Series 3 also includes most of the Amazoness cards, originally released way back in 2003, so you can take advantage of the new Amazoness monsters in August’s Duelist Revolution booster set.

Other Common Cards in Gold Series 3 include Destiny Hero – Malicious, Goblin Zombie, Destiny Draw, and many more.

Each box of Gold Series 3 contains 25 cards from this elite 50-card set.

Gold Series 3 Contains:
18 Gold Rare Cards
32 Common Cards

Infernity Barrier

Activate only when your opponent activates a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect, if you control a face-up Attack Position "Infernity" monster and have no cards in your hand. Negate the activation and destroy that card.

Infernity Barrier is a powerful new piece of support for Infernities coming out as a TCG exclusive in the Shining Darkness. Infernities have already been heavily hyped due to their OTK potential, and this card will act as a devastating Solemn Judgment-esque card in the deck, allowing you to make massive pushes with relative security.

For those interested in how Infernity decks work, Cesar Gonzalez gave a great explanation about the deck on his Youtube channel here.

Looking forward: Ally Genex Crusher

Ally Genex Crusher DT08-JP019
Dark
****
Machine
1000/2000

Trigger Effect: Once during either player's turn, when a monster of the same Attribute as this face-up card you control is Normal Summoned to your side of the field, you can select and destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

Ally Genex Crusher is an interesting card that has recently been released in the OCG. The ability to destroy ANY card on the field is extremely versatile, and the card has great synergy with cards like black salvo and mystic tomato. As well as this, Crusher has a hefty 2000 defense, which means it will often be able to stall out your opponent for a few turns until you manage to pull off its effect.

In summary:

+ Has an effect with the potential to net you huge advantage, and eliminate the majority of common threats in the game.

+ Highly accessible from your deck using mystic tomato and Sangan

+ Dark type, so it can be used in conjunction with Allure of Darkness and contributes to the summoning condition of Dark Armed Dragon

+ Machine type, so it can be special summoned using Black Salvo

+ Has great synergy with cards like Ultimate Offering