Card of the Week #21: Number 101: Silent Honors Ark Knight
Effect :
2 Level 4 monsters
You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card, then target 1 face-up Attack Position Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; attach it to this card as an Xyz Material. You can only use this effect of "Number 101: Silent Honors Ark Knight" once per turn.
If this face-up card on the field would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead.
You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card, then target 1 face-up Attack Position Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; attach it to this card as an Xyz Material. You can only use this effect of "Number 101: Silent Honors Ark Knight" once per turn.
If this face-up card on the field would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead.
As it is one of the many good cards released in Legacy of the Valiant, I personally cannot wait to see Silent Honors Ark Knight released in the TCG. As you can see, it has a very powerful effect, a medium-high ATK stat and it can defend itself. In an actual game, it will help with the removal of almost any troubling monster and can also be used as a defensive play. Overall, it is a very useful card. And if that hasn't sold it already, check the acronym. SHAK. Sounds like SOAK. And it's a water card. Coincidence? Or pure awesomeness? Most likely me being derpy and seeing things.
The first thing this card will do? It'll be replacing Symphony Djinns in the extra deck worldwide. That poor Maestro currently has a space in almost any valid deck that can go into Rank 4 Xyzs, but with the coming of Ark Knight that shall change. Let's do a quick comparison:
Both cards require 2 Level 4 monsters and can be used generically.
Both cards protect themselves by detaching a material.
SHAK has a higher ATK but a lower DEF than Maestro.
Maestro can switch a monster into face-down defense position at the cost of a material.
SHAK can steal an opponent's monster and take it as material at the cost of 2 materials.
Essentially, the only meaningful differences are that SHAK has a higher attack and can completely remove any one threat, whereas Maestro has the potential to turn 2 cards face down if it can survive over 2 turns. This means that SHAK is much better for faster plays, as complete removal is obviously better than turning face-down. This raises the matter of how much better SHAK is at Maestro's job, and will inevitably see him out of the runnings in the future. All poor old Maestro wanted to do was play music, but now he'l be facing it after failing to reach SHAK's
In that comparison with Maestro, I outlined what his effects do. If you cannot see where those effects will be useful, you're most probably blind. The main advantage of attaching a card as Xyz Material to remove it from yor opponent's field is that it gets past destruction blocking effects. This can get past those cards that have built in protection, such as the previously mentioned Maestro, another SHAK, or Dracossack, and this can completely change games after the card that instantly removed your opponent's defensive play can still attack and works defensively as well. SHAK is perfect for going straight from defensive to aggressive and right back to defensive again, and that is one of the things that makes it great in such a fast format. While it's a shame about Maestro, out with the old and in with the new.