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[Anime] Judgement Arrows


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JudgementArrows-JP-Anime-VR.png

 

If a Link Monster this card points to battles, its ATK becomes double its current ATK during damage calculation only. When this card leaves the field while it points to a monster(s), destroy all those monsters. You can only control 1 "Judgment Arrows" in your Spell & Trap Zone a Link Monster points to.

 

So in VRAINS this week we got our first look into Link Spells where with this having 3 arrows up and doubling a Link Monsters ATK during damage calculations is crazy but does have the odd line of saying you can only control 1 of this while theirs a Link Monster pointing to this.

 

I do have to say it will make for some interesting co-link plays and I wonder if Konami will implement it more as Continuous Spells or make them their own thing with their own Link Symbol since this in the anime as a Normal Spell would mean it leaves after its played.

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It is not a Normal Spell, it having arrow makes it an own type of Spell Card, meaning common Spell Card rules do not necessarily apply to it and that is how they should handle these.

As for the card itself ... it is just ridiculous and turns (e.g.) a troymare lock into a lock with monsters with 2600 atk upwards ... yikes.

 

The card itself is ridiculous and due to being a new type potentially down the road searchable (but hey we never got that RUM searcher, sure s0 makes that debatable, however if that happens I would argue it should get the banhammer if it turns too problematic, in general I feel like cards which add nothign to the game and are limiting design should go).

 

Still, given how Vrains seems to head the same direction as 5ds (including a shocking strategy appearing in the first new episode, first ghost now this) could mean that the protagonist counters that playstyle with his own answer, ZEXAL did introduce Rank-Up-Magic cards, which fit this card as an upgrade button for the main summoning mechanic, yet that was directly made to enable the summon of monster upgrades, which these cards do not directly do, so I cannot say if these cards are the twist link monsters get (I feel that cannot be the case, given that these are both in the main deck and less flashy than an extra deck ace to turn it around, given that is what all series ever since Gx did).

 

I would be interested in when we get these cards, if it takes too long (similar to ZEXAL), if we get them at all as they are (5ds) and/or if we get situational crap (ZEXAL and its CXyzs, with a few exceptions), whihc direction their design is supposed to take and if these Zones are actually linked Zones, meaning non-link centric decks like D/D could use them instead of link monsters (and thus with this card get out 4 Extra Deck monsters without a single link marker).

 

Edit: To be fair I like the design behind these, though hopefully they are not the full extend of twists behind link monsters (and we finally get link 5 and higher monsters (seriously Yusaku's final ace should be a link 8 or 9, similar to the variants of Delta Accel Synchro/Limit Over Accel Synchro/Whatever Synchro and the S0s, Arc V does not count due to having a completely different premise in using its mechanic to support the earlier Extra Deck mechanics)).

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I think there's a chance these turn out like a similar concept as Dark Synchros (as in, we didn't get the mechanic IRL).Though it is interesting. I think they could be a thing.

 

It wouldn't be a Normal or Continuous Spell, since we already have Pendulums as precedent that Spells don't need to fall back into pre-established icons.

From what I see, the Spell/Trap Zone needs to be Linked to by a Link Monster in order to activate them (which is the clause that got mixed in with the hard OPT clause).

However the arrows are much more limiting. Mainly down arrows which sound currently useless. Arrows to the sides would be fine for some sort of higher ceiling activation requirement or an effect based on Linked cards.

 

Then there's the subject of evolution of Links, which I think this is the solution. Even the anime characters are at a level where they can have 2 or 3 Link 4s pretty early on the field no problem, so to achieve the flavor of "this is a new ceiling I previously couldn't get to" there HAS to be an extra condition for Link 5+ cards. Either:

-Requires to be pointed at by a Link Spell, which would make these Spells high-end catalysts like Synchro Tuners were for 5Ds.

-Requires a certain amount of arrows pointing to it. In the case of Firewall for example, would require to have 100% of its arrows co-linked to overload with data or something. Something only possible in the Main Monster Zone with 3 Links pointing to it plus a Link Spell pointing up.

 

Either way it's an interesting concept and the requirements aren't all that cheap, yet can be dead enough to not make a deck full of them. I think it's neat.

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However the arrows are much more limiting. Mainly down arrows which sound currently useless. Arrows to the sides would be fine for some sort of higher ceiling activation requirement or an effect based on Linked cards.

Depends on if they make Link Spells that turn into Monsters that have effects that work with pointing to cards Spell/Trap Zones it points to. Also some Link Spells may have Left, Right and Up Markers for effects that worth with Pointing to Spell/Trap Zones that also has another effect point to a Monster.

 

Its defiantly something to look and experiment on since is a new Link based concept Konami has brought to a mechanic like how we got Extra Deck Pendulums during Arc V.

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I recall someone making a template for Link Spells already, if anyone can find that, Photoshop preferably, I would like that.

 

Not sure what that last part even means, but seems like it's meant to balance it? I really don't think that this is such a bad thing, we had no Extra Monster Zone before, we have Link Monsters to make you able to Summon more monsters, that slowed the game down in some ways, having Link Spells is kind of just like having the old system back, as Link Monsters provide a whole monster as well, where Link Spells are most likely going to have hard conditions as well, and they are also easier to get rid of with MST like cards, and if they are going to destroy the monsters they point to like this card does, that is really going to suck.

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I can see how at first glance someone would say "now you can unlock zones just with a spell, how cheap".

Though you need to get a Link to the MMZ pointing down for this card to be live, and I have the hunch that they'd make that an inherent feature of this kind of spell instead of an isolated clause for a single card. Getting a Link on the MMZ means you either revived/controlled it, or that it is Linked to another Link from the EMZ to even be there.

It is having setup or jumping through hoops.... and that's only to start benefiting from the Spells arrows.

 

 

 

I at first thought "Link Spell" would refer to using the Link mechanic to produce a Spell instead of a Monster, although granted other mechanics never keep that up (Hermos Fusions and Armory Arm are monsters with equip effects), but at the same time, it not being part of the Extra Deck Link Mechanic and still having a Link-exclusive feature (arrows) makes me question the potential for other things about the game.

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I wonder why it has arrows pointing down at all... and no, don't say "SPELL MONSTER!!"

 

I'm surprised this is a thing, even in the anime, and I have no idea if it's coming to the real game at all. Time will tell on that.

 

Obviously on this card, I think it has so many restrictions because it points 3 zones up, which is pretty dang good for a cost-free spell. IF they were to lean into this mechanic, I don't think it takes away from the Link Monsters in the ED at all. A lot of decks benefit greatly from Link Summons and the effects of the Link monsters, and while having a one-and-done spell is efficient card-wise, it won't have the potentially much greater value the Link monsters provide instead. This isn't to say that people wouldn't use both at the same time, but it IS to say that Link Monsters still have a place and a use.

 

The other potentially good thing about this mechanic is that it gives a lot more breathing room for decks that are more focused on other summoning mechanics and, especially with more xenophobic decks, gives them a much easier time to work with.

 

There are downsides to this sort of mechanic, but I don't think it would be a bad addition to the game at all. It all depends on the how the cards are executed and what they do, and I don't think a card like this would just be released as-is without changes. It's an anime card, people.

 

Finally, to say that this takes away from the "investment of ED monsters" is... an ignorant statement. As I said, there are still many benefits to a Link Monster over a Link Spell when a deck can move into them, and to act like the Link Monsters are the "investment" into ED summons is assuming that both A: Link Monsters are exclusively or even majorly used as stepping stones to allow multiple other ED types on the field, and that B: one is buying into the age-old and long-since debunked myth that "Link Rules Slow Down the Game".

 

It should be long since evident by now that Link Monsters are taking a much more center stage roll in a lot of decks rather than the supporting roll a lot of us have assumed they would, and we need to look at them as such. A Link Spell, on the other hand, would be much more of a supporting roll. Taking the design standards of spells into mind, barring a couple exceptions, spells in recent years have not netted as much on-field value and presence as monster plays and effects have, so with that in mind I find it very unlikely that the effects of Link Spells would realistically eclipse Link Monsters in any practical way.

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Man... I made a "link spell" early last year when the mechanic was first revealed, but then I scrapped the idea thinking it wouldn't really be a thing...  I know this is anime only so there's no telling if this'll actually hit the physical game, but I am just glad that they're exploring the concept at all.

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