Card of the Week #16: Michael, Lightsworn Ark
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner LIGHT monsters
Once per turn: You can pay 1000 Life Points, then target 1 card on the field; banish that target face-up. When this card is destroyed: You can target any number of "Lightsworn" monsters in your Graveyard, except "Michael, Lightsworn Lord"; Shuffle all of them into the Deck, and if you do, gain 300 Life Points for each. During each of your End Phases: Send the top 3 cards of your Deck to the Graveyard. This card must be face-up on the field to activate and to resolve this effect.
My first reactions upon seeing this card were partially based around how, upon unveiling, all that was shown were the name and the picture. Therefore, I could only assume 2 things: it's a Lightsworn Synchro, and it's an archangel riding on a Judgment Dragon. This gave me quite a lot to expect. First, I expected a high attack stat to go alongside JD's brutal 3000. I wanted to hope it would be higher, but considering it was a lower Level that was never going to happen. Then, I wanted a similar kind of field nuke. Well, you have to pay 1000 LP for its effect, so close enough I guess. But most importantly, perhaps, I wanted it to actually be a valid option over Black Rose Dragon. It did not disappoint.
Michael's first clear use is as a removal of anything. That banish effect of his? Can target any card on the field. That means you can remove Spells, Traps and monsters alike. The fact that it is a banishing effect makes it so much more worthwhile; it is, put bluntly, an easily summoned removal for anything troubling you. Alongside the new Lightsworn Tuner monsters, and the old swarming classic Lumina, it can be summoned with ease. Even its 2600 ATK stat makes it powerful as a level 7; it is one of the strongest level 7 Synchros by brute force alone.
To talk further about the uses of its banishing effect, you have to take into account the format we are currently in. Banishing effects get rid of most difficutl-to-destroy monsters in the game. Dracossack? Gone. Zenmaines? No more. But perhaps the most interesting is that it can utterly destroy the Master Key Beetle/Safe Zone combo. Because it can target Spells and Traps with its banishing effect, it can remove Safe Zone from play. This triggers Safe Zone to destroy Master Key, and so to keep it alive the opponent would have to get rid of the other card Beetle was protecting. This is where Michael's 2600 stat comes in handy- it is a convenient 100 points over our "invincible" enemy, and so the mighty angel of the light can vanquish a supposedly unconquerable creature of darkness. Poetic justice is achieved.
Even in death, Michael can do great things. It is worthwhile to point out that while his effect of shuffling Lightsworns back into the deck seems like some stupid idea Konami threw in randomly, it is by far preferable to losing the game. Think about this; your mighty angel has just been destroyed by some nasty creature with an unnaturally large attack stat. Your opponent has just set up for an OTK. But you have 3 Lylas, 2 Rykos, 2 Ehrens and 3 Wulfs in your grave! That's still only 4 different Lightsworns, and so JD doesn't give a damn about your duplicates, but by shuffling them into your deck you can gain 1800 extra Life Points. This could be the difference between you losing and you carrying on, drawing a JD and making your opponent rage. And even in a situation where you would have to shuffle in all your Lightsworns to live it is useful; don't blame Michael for how badly you're doing, just go with him when he offers you a chance to sdtay on 200 LP rather than nothing! Even in Lightsworns, shuffling your Graveyard's finest back into the Deck is better than losing, right?
And finally, we have the continuity. This thing mills 3 every turn. Can't argue with that, and it's certainly better than not doing it. But there is one thing that has to be taken into account in terms of its Synchro Summon; it only needs a LIGHT non-tuner monster, and doesn't care about the archetype of the Tuner. This means that Konami, thoughtful as they are, have decided to let you summon this thing with Plaguespreader Zombie, Spore, and many other Graveyard based Tuners that you may happen to mill. Essentially, There's a ton of things you can do to summon this card, and he can remove any one threat you see fit for a meager cost of 1000 Life Points. This is a good card, and one that will see Lightsworns into formats to come. No question about it.
Michael's first clear use is as a removal of anything. That banish effect of his? Can target any card on the field. That means you can remove Spells, Traps and monsters alike. The fact that it is a banishing effect makes it so much more worthwhile; it is, put bluntly, an easily summoned removal for anything troubling you. Alongside the new Lightsworn Tuner monsters, and the old swarming classic Lumina, it can be summoned with ease. Even its 2600 ATK stat makes it powerful as a level 7; it is one of the strongest level 7 Synchros by brute force alone.
To talk further about the uses of its banishing effect, you have to take into account the format we are currently in. Banishing effects get rid of most difficutl-to-destroy monsters in the game. Dracossack? Gone. Zenmaines? No more. But perhaps the most interesting is that it can utterly destroy the Master Key Beetle/Safe Zone combo. Because it can target Spells and Traps with its banishing effect, it can remove Safe Zone from play. This triggers Safe Zone to destroy Master Key, and so to keep it alive the opponent would have to get rid of the other card Beetle was protecting. This is where Michael's 2600 stat comes in handy- it is a convenient 100 points over our "invincible" enemy, and so the mighty angel of the light can vanquish a supposedly unconquerable creature of darkness. Poetic justice is achieved.
Even in death, Michael can do great things. It is worthwhile to point out that while his effect of shuffling Lightsworns back into the deck seems like some stupid idea Konami threw in randomly, it is by far preferable to losing the game. Think about this; your mighty angel has just been destroyed by some nasty creature with an unnaturally large attack stat. Your opponent has just set up for an OTK. But you have 3 Lylas, 2 Rykos, 2 Ehrens and 3 Wulfs in your grave! That's still only 4 different Lightsworns, and so JD doesn't give a damn about your duplicates, but by shuffling them into your deck you can gain 1800 extra Life Points. This could be the difference between you losing and you carrying on, drawing a JD and making your opponent rage. And even in a situation where you would have to shuffle in all your Lightsworns to live it is useful; don't blame Michael for how badly you're doing, just go with him when he offers you a chance to sdtay on 200 LP rather than nothing! Even in Lightsworns, shuffling your Graveyard's finest back into the Deck is better than losing, right?
And finally, we have the continuity. This thing mills 3 every turn. Can't argue with that, and it's certainly better than not doing it. But there is one thing that has to be taken into account in terms of its Synchro Summon; it only needs a LIGHT non-tuner monster, and doesn't care about the archetype of the Tuner. This means that Konami, thoughtful as they are, have decided to let you summon this thing with Plaguespreader Zombie, Spore, and many other Graveyard based Tuners that you may happen to mill. Essentially, There's a ton of things you can do to summon this card, and he can remove any one threat you see fit for a meager cost of 1000 Life Points. This is a good card, and one that will see Lightsworns into formats to come. No question about it.