Gearfried the Swordmaster
(Effect Monster - LIGHT/Warrior - 7-stars - ATK: 2600, DEF: 2200)
"This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Release Restraint". When this card is equipped with an Equip Card, destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field."
We keep NOMI week rolling with the wonder that is Gearfried the Swordmaster, one of the more hyped cards from FET. I like this card. Although I'm not wild for it, it can be quite useful.
LIGHT/Warrior means support out the wazoo. 2600 ATK is good, although not outstanding for a 7-star monster and 2200 DEF means he's pretty safe against Book of Moon/Tsukuyomi. When he's equipped to, you can destroy a monster of your opponent's. This is nice because you can use multiple equips to clear the field of monsters and then attack directly with a likely booster Swordmaster. It's nice that he can be summoned from the deck and the hand (although the deck is clearly the better choice). And Gearfried the Iron Knight is a useful monster in and of himself - so far, so good.
However, like all NOMIs, he has his downsides. The most obvious of which being that you need to have Gearfried the Iron Knight and Release Restraint together to bring it out. To take advantage of the effect, your opponent must have a monster. While this isn't a downside, it's not a guarantee either. Plus, with Ben Kei being released at the same time as this guy, his being able to attack several times a turn and ability to OTK is more useful than the Swordmaster.
And like most other NOMIs (of this type at least), Gearfried the Swordmaster must have a deck built around him. If you use even just 1 copy of him, include at least 2 Iron Knights and 2 Release Restraints. If you use 2 or 3 Swordmasters, then max out on his summoning requirements. You could use Serial Spell with Release Restraint to get 2 Swordmasters at once - always a plus. Throw in plenty of equips to take advantage of his effect. And don't use just the popular ATK boosters like Axe of Despair, Mage Power and United We Stand (well, basically the same spell lineup as the Ben Kei deck). Smoke Grenade of the Thief (which is great with Gearfried the Iron Knight) and Fusion Sword Murasame Blade are both nice choices as well.
Clear your opponent's Spell/Trap zone (and yours maybe) if possible when you get this guy out. Slap as many equips on him as you need to destroy monsters and then use him to attack directly, hopefully for the game or at least close.
Overall, there are a few better NOMIs than this guy, but there are far, far worse ones, too. He has solid stats, a decent effect, and his Iron Knight version fits in well with him. Take a look at my sig (Gearfried Unleashed) for an example of a Swordmaster deck. You may want to try a deck like it out, it's pretty fun.
Ratings:
Advanced: 3.5/5 - Good, just not great.
Traditional: 2.5/5 - less useful here for sure
Limited: --/5
(Effect Monster - LIGHT/Warrior - 7-stars - ATK: 2600, DEF: 2200)
"This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Release Restraint". When this card is equipped with an Equip Card, destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field."
- If you Tribute 1 "Gearfried the Iron Knight" to activate "Release Restraint", then chain "Serial Spell", you can Special Summon 2 "Gearfried the Swordmaster" cards from your Deck.
- The Equip Card must be successfully equipped to "Gearfried the Swordmaster" to activate his effect. For example, if "Mystical Space Typhoon" is chained to the activation of an Equip Card, it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard before resolving, so the effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" does not activate.
- If your opponent equips "Snatch Steal" to your "Gearfried the Swordmaster", the effect of "Snatch Steal" resolves first and control changes. Then the effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" activates and your opponent gets to select which monster is destroyed.
- The effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" activates when 1 or more Equip Card(s) are equipped to him. So even if "Collected Power" equips several Equip Cards to him simultaneously, you can only destroy 1 monster with his effect.
- The effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" is a Trigger Effect that can be chained to, starting a new chain after the current chain resolves. You can chain "Divine Wrath" to the activation of this effect.
- The effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" can activate even in the Damage Step. For example, if "Brain Jacker" is attacked by "Gearfried the Swordmaster", and "Waboku" was activated earlier in the turn, "Brain Jacker" will equip to "Gearfried the Swordmaster" and the effect will activate. In this case, the effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" will activate after the effect of "Brain Jacker" resolves, and the controller of "Brain Jacker" will select which monster to destroy.
- This is a targeting effect that targets 1 monster.
- The effect of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" will activate even if a Trap Card is equipped to him (such as "Metalmorph" or "Blast with Chain").
- [Re: Release Restraint] If you do not have any copies of "Gearfried the Swordmaster" in your hand or Deck, you can still activate this card to Tribute "Gearfried the Iron Knight", but you will need to show your cards to your opponent to confirm.
We keep NOMI week rolling with the wonder that is Gearfried the Swordmaster, one of the more hyped cards from FET. I like this card. Although I'm not wild for it, it can be quite useful.
LIGHT/Warrior means support out the wazoo. 2600 ATK is good, although not outstanding for a 7-star monster and 2200 DEF means he's pretty safe against Book of Moon/Tsukuyomi. When he's equipped to, you can destroy a monster of your opponent's. This is nice because you can use multiple equips to clear the field of monsters and then attack directly with a likely booster Swordmaster. It's nice that he can be summoned from the deck and the hand (although the deck is clearly the better choice). And Gearfried the Iron Knight is a useful monster in and of himself - so far, so good.
However, like all NOMIs, he has his downsides. The most obvious of which being that you need to have Gearfried the Iron Knight and Release Restraint together to bring it out. To take advantage of the effect, your opponent must have a monster. While this isn't a downside, it's not a guarantee either. Plus, with Ben Kei being released at the same time as this guy, his being able to attack several times a turn and ability to OTK is more useful than the Swordmaster.
And like most other NOMIs (of this type at least), Gearfried the Swordmaster must have a deck built around him. If you use even just 1 copy of him, include at least 2 Iron Knights and 2 Release Restraints. If you use 2 or 3 Swordmasters, then max out on his summoning requirements. You could use Serial Spell with Release Restraint to get 2 Swordmasters at once - always a plus. Throw in plenty of equips to take advantage of his effect. And don't use just the popular ATK boosters like Axe of Despair, Mage Power and United We Stand (well, basically the same spell lineup as the Ben Kei deck). Smoke Grenade of the Thief (which is great with Gearfried the Iron Knight) and Fusion Sword Murasame Blade are both nice choices as well.
Clear your opponent's Spell/Trap zone (and yours maybe) if possible when you get this guy out. Slap as many equips on him as you need to destroy monsters and then use him to attack directly, hopefully for the game or at least close.
Overall, there are a few better NOMIs than this guy, but there are far, far worse ones, too. He has solid stats, a decent effect, and his Iron Knight version fits in well with him. Take a look at my sig (Gearfried Unleashed) for an example of a Swordmaster deck. You may want to try a deck like it out, it's pretty fun.
Ratings:
Advanced: 3.5/5 - Good, just not great.
Traditional: 2.5/5 - less useful here for sure
Limited: --/5
