Hi there everybody, Dan here with the first of hopefully many reviews to come.
For this particular article, I am going to take a look at quite a powerful Machine-type monster when it comes to defense, Gear Golem the Moving Fortress.
Here's the lowdown on it:
AST-018
Gear Golem the Moving Fortress
Earth/Machine/4/800/2200
Pay 800 Life Points. This card can attack your opponent's Life Points directly this turn.
Ultra Rare
Now then, on a basic level, Gear Golem has an incredibly high DEF stat for a level 4 monster, especially considering the fact that there's no drawback to that DEF, so even if you're just looking for a decent defender for your deck, this is the card to look out for. But when you delve a little deeper into the machinery that makes up this little guy, you'll see just how powerful he can be on the offensive too.
The effect of this card is simple, you may pay 800 Life Points during your turn, to allow Gear Golem to attack your opponent directly, but with a mere 800 ATK, it probably won't be able to do much without any support, and there are quite a few cards that come to mind.
The first card worth mentioning is Weapon Change. Now this Continuous Spell Card allows you to pay 700 Life Points during your turn in order to swap the ATK and DEF values of a Warrior or Machine-type monster on your side of the field, until the End Phase of your opponent's next turn. This makes Weapon Change a much better card to use on Gear Golem than Shield & Sword, because that way, you'll have a 2200 ATK monster with the capability to attack directly, all the way until your next turn, where you can then either pay another 700 LP to keep Gear Golem's ATK at 2200, or you can switch it back into defense position. It's a handy little combination, especially considering the fact that you'll end up doing 2200 LP of direct damage for a mere total cost of 1500 of your own LP, and if you can offer a slight boost from a card such as Limiter Removal, the damage could end up being incredible. So there's much more to this nasty little card than meets the eye.
Another card that works well with Gear Golem is Labyrinth of Nightmare, and for anyone who doesn't know, this Continuous Trap Card forces the player whose turn it currently is to switch the battle positions of all of his or her face-up monsters at their End Phase. This can easily be used to your advantage, for you can just switch all of your monsters into an undesirable position, and then they'll get switched right back to safety at the end of your turn. You can probably already see how this will benefit Gear Golem... ... ... still haven't got it? Well, lemme' help you a little... you simply switch Gear Golem into attack position while Labyrinth of Nightmare is face-up on the field, pay 800 LP and directly attack your opponent with it, and then at the end of your turn, LoN will switch it back into defense position, where all 2200 DEF of it can sit there and pull faces at your opponent's pathetic offense, lol.
The final thing to look at is the uses of Gear Golem as a basic defender, because it can pull this off incredibly well. Cards such as Chorus of Sanctuary and Yellow Luster Shield can boost the DEF of all of your monsters on the field, and Gear Golem is no exception, so you can boost it past the already decent total of 2200 to phenomenal levels. Also, perhaps you could use some of those long forgotten cards such as Horn of Light, The Reliable Guardian, or even Castle Walls, just to bring it to a point where not even your opponent's most powerful offensive force will break through Gear Golem's shiny metal coating.
So, all-in-all, Gear Golem the Moving Fortress is a powerful level 4 defender with great potential that even allows it to take the offense when required. Sadly though, what with it being an ultra rare, you may have a hard time pulling it from a pack, but if you do, treasure the little metal dude, for he'll be able to serve you very well in any duels to come.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10
I gave Gear Golem 8, because even though it works very well with the above strategies, it can still be quite reliant on other Spell and Trap cards for it to be effectively used to the fullest potential, so some planning in advance to make sure that any combos that you try to pull off end up being successful might be required. But in the end, this card is a solid level 4 defender which will prevent those annoying Berserk Gorillas or Dark Elves from gaining access to your Life Points.
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Next week I'll review another card, so if you leave any comments behind on this one, perhaps you could also help me choose a card by voting on one of the following:
Blade Knight
Big Shield Gardna
Z-Metal Tank
Thanks in advance people, see you next week!
For this particular article, I am going to take a look at quite a powerful Machine-type monster when it comes to defense, Gear Golem the Moving Fortress.
Here's the lowdown on it:
AST-018
Gear Golem the Moving Fortress
Earth/Machine/4/800/2200
Pay 800 Life Points. This card can attack your opponent's Life Points directly this turn.
Ultra Rare
Now then, on a basic level, Gear Golem has an incredibly high DEF stat for a level 4 monster, especially considering the fact that there's no drawback to that DEF, so even if you're just looking for a decent defender for your deck, this is the card to look out for. But when you delve a little deeper into the machinery that makes up this little guy, you'll see just how powerful he can be on the offensive too.
The effect of this card is simple, you may pay 800 Life Points during your turn, to allow Gear Golem to attack your opponent directly, but with a mere 800 ATK, it probably won't be able to do much without any support, and there are quite a few cards that come to mind.
The first card worth mentioning is Weapon Change. Now this Continuous Spell Card allows you to pay 700 Life Points during your turn in order to swap the ATK and DEF values of a Warrior or Machine-type monster on your side of the field, until the End Phase of your opponent's next turn. This makes Weapon Change a much better card to use on Gear Golem than Shield & Sword, because that way, you'll have a 2200 ATK monster with the capability to attack directly, all the way until your next turn, where you can then either pay another 700 LP to keep Gear Golem's ATK at 2200, or you can switch it back into defense position. It's a handy little combination, especially considering the fact that you'll end up doing 2200 LP of direct damage for a mere total cost of 1500 of your own LP, and if you can offer a slight boost from a card such as Limiter Removal, the damage could end up being incredible. So there's much more to this nasty little card than meets the eye.
Another card that works well with Gear Golem is Labyrinth of Nightmare, and for anyone who doesn't know, this Continuous Trap Card forces the player whose turn it currently is to switch the battle positions of all of his or her face-up monsters at their End Phase. This can easily be used to your advantage, for you can just switch all of your monsters into an undesirable position, and then they'll get switched right back to safety at the end of your turn. You can probably already see how this will benefit Gear Golem... ... ... still haven't got it? Well, lemme' help you a little... you simply switch Gear Golem into attack position while Labyrinth of Nightmare is face-up on the field, pay 800 LP and directly attack your opponent with it, and then at the end of your turn, LoN will switch it back into defense position, where all 2200 DEF of it can sit there and pull faces at your opponent's pathetic offense, lol.
The final thing to look at is the uses of Gear Golem as a basic defender, because it can pull this off incredibly well. Cards such as Chorus of Sanctuary and Yellow Luster Shield can boost the DEF of all of your monsters on the field, and Gear Golem is no exception, so you can boost it past the already decent total of 2200 to phenomenal levels. Also, perhaps you could use some of those long forgotten cards such as Horn of Light, The Reliable Guardian, or even Castle Walls, just to bring it to a point where not even your opponent's most powerful offensive force will break through Gear Golem's shiny metal coating.
So, all-in-all, Gear Golem the Moving Fortress is a powerful level 4 defender with great potential that even allows it to take the offense when required. Sadly though, what with it being an ultra rare, you may have a hard time pulling it from a pack, but if you do, treasure the little metal dude, for he'll be able to serve you very well in any duels to come.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10
I gave Gear Golem 8, because even though it works very well with the above strategies, it can still be quite reliant on other Spell and Trap cards for it to be effectively used to the fullest potential, so some planning in advance to make sure that any combos that you try to pull off end up being successful might be required. But in the end, this card is a solid level 4 defender which will prevent those annoying Berserk Gorillas or Dark Elves from gaining access to your Life Points.
---
Next week I'll review another card, so if you leave any comments behind on this one, perhaps you could also help me choose a card by voting on one of the following:
Blade Knight
Big Shield Gardna
Z-Metal Tank
Thanks in advance people, see you next week!
its your review