The Agent of Creation - Venus (AST-008) and the Mystical Shine Balls (AST-004)

Been a while since I did one of these, and so I decided I'd do one over a card I recently started using and enjoying.

The Agent of Creation - Venus
(LIGHT/Fairy/3/1600/0)
Pay 500 Life Points to select 1 "Mystical Shine Ball" from your hand or deck, and Special Summon it to your side of the field.

Mystical Shine Ball
(LIGHT/Fairy/2/500/500)
A soul of light covered by a mystical shine. When you see its beautiful shape, your dreams will come true.

I used to actually shun this card for use in a fairy deck. I thought "There isn't any way in Hell that I'm about to pay 1500 life points just to summon those useless things." Ah, how naive I was. Actually, this notion of mine inspired me to use Venus and her Balls (perverts) in a weenie-rush deck. The strategy was simple:

Summon Venus, 3 Shine Balls, activate Thousand Energy and Delta Attacker (or just one of the two), attack with Shine Balls and Venus.

Usually, this did a good 4600 to my opponent. Combined with Level Limit - Area B, Gravity Binds, or Sword of the Soul-Eater, Shine Balls become quite deadly. But it doesn't stop there. Using Venus in a Fairy deck can actually give you a few advantages. The uses I've found are:

Summon the Shine Balls and attack your opponent with them and Venus, thus putting a good 1600 LP gap between your life points.
Summon the Shine Balls and activate The Sanctuary in the Sky, having a solid stall barrier.
Summon the Shine Balls and have them all be destroyed to give Mudora a good 600 ATK boost.

So really, big things come in small packages, I guess. Too bad you can't summon the Mystical Shine Balls from the graveyard; that would just make them all the more playable. And hey, 1600 ATK is not a low number. That takes out D. D. Warrior Lady, Don Zaloog, a lone Command Knight or unboosted Blade Knight, and many others. What more is that you can always tribute them for Shinato, Joan, Saturn, Airknight, etc.

Rating: (Advanced only, Traditional just doesn't count anymore)
3.7/5 (Fairy Deck). Boosts Mudora, provides a good defense. Kind of bad when you draw the Shine Balls before Venus though...
4.2/5 (Weenie-Rush Deck). Here the Shine Balls and Venus are just deadly. 1600 ATK isn't that bad.
Art:
4/5 (The Agent of Creation - Venus). I like her art. (But why are the Shine Balls different colors?)
2/5 (Mystical Shine Ball). Umm... WTF is it, 'cause my dreams sure aren't coming true when I see it.
Historical Accuracy:
0/5. Venus/Aphrodite had nothing to do with creation. Aphrodite/Venus was the goddess of beauty in Greek/Roman mythology. Maybe she was a maternal one as well, but I'm pretty sure that that goddess is Rhea.

 

[Phred]

And I thought there was some sort of support specific support for Mystical Shine Ball
but that looks like an effective strategy, too

 

[Jathro]

Excellent review, chaos general. I've often overlooked these cards for not wanting to pay the Life Points either. Although the possibility of using them to summon something bigger was always there, just didn't seem worth the cost.

Too bad Venus isn't searchable by Shining Angel . That would really make it something special.

 

[kagadesires]

I never really liked them either, but I can see their applications. It just seems to me that a Spirit Reaper could do their job just as well if you are looking for stall. Or if you want deck thining, head for Thunder Dragons and/or Parshath. Multy monster defense has Scapegoat, and they can be morphed. However...

Venus and the Shinies have a few other things going for them:
1. They do all these things simultaneously.
2. They provide decent tribute fodder all over the place.
3. Mudora, like chaos general said.

I still just don't like them as much as I think I should. It seems to me that the Shine Balls will be dead draws sans Venus, and Venus will just be a 1600 attacker an awful lot if her shiny bretheren are already dead and buried. Not bad, just not awesome either.

 

[chaos general]

Ah, but think of the things a 1600 attacker can do! And also, you can use that old United We Stand combo with 'em. (though Scapegoat is easier) And hey, if ever a good 2-star fusion comes out... OR, you can morph Venus into Doriado... (though thats got nothing to do with shine balls)

The final thing is that they're all chaos food, and unlike Thunder Dragon, Venus you can summon easily, where as Thunder Dragon would be a dead draw if you draw two at the same time.

(and i'm sure you wouldn't want to be standing down the barrel of a fully loaded Mystical Shine Ball equipped with Sword of the Soul-Eater [2500 ATK])

But of course there are alternatives. Heaven forbid that Konami/Kazuki Takahashi make an ORIGINAL effect again!

 

[Jathro]

... OR, you can morph Venus into Doriado... (though thats got nothing to do with shine balls)

You're not seriously gonna try to morph something into a Ritual monster are you ?

Although using them to offer as the necessary stars would work. Another good use for your balls (pun fully intended).

 

[ChaosEmperor12]

u can also use sanctuary in the sky so u dont have to worry about losing life...
i use two shinies and they work quite well for me
sac. em for Airknight Parshath remove them from the graveyard for the spirit of purity and light lots off fun
check my fairy deck below...

 

[chaos general]

You're not seriously gonna try to morph something into a Ritual monster are you ?

Although using them to offer as the necessary stars would work. Another good use for your balls (pun fully intended).

Oh wow, what's wrong with me these days? First I completely overlook that fact that Ben Kei is in the warrior deck, and now this... Okay, you can always TRIBUTE Venus for Doriado... (Or, tribute Venus and all of the Shine Balls for Shinato!) You can morph Venus into Charubin the Fire Knight, Flame Ghost, Dragoness the Wicked Knight, or Fusionist. You can't morph the Shine Balls into anything because there are no 2 star fusion monsters. You can equip either Venus or a Shine Ball with Demotion and morph them into Thousand-Eyes Restrict, however. ^_^ (Don't know why you'd want to go into all of that trouble, but whatever I guess)

 

[Manta]

I always used this combo to beef up Solar Ray to a good 2400 damage from these mosnters alone.

 

[chaosruler]

That works well, as does Life Absorbing Machine to regain half of those paid LPs. I found that Delta Attacker works, as does Non-Spellcasting Area, for the Mystical Shine Balls, anyway. And The Sanctuary in the Sky/Spirit Barrier work well in combination with the Spirit Balls, especially while NSA is active.

-chaosruler

 

[chaos general]

Using The Sanctuary in the Sky and Spirit Barrier at the same time is redundant... I don't know why you'd want to do that...

 

[chaosruler]

I put a slash, as in either/or, lol

-chaosruler

 

[chaos general]

I put a slash, as in either/or, lol

-chaosruler

Uh-huh, suuuure. Thats what they all say.
"But officer, I put a slash!!"

 

[StephenTheDarkBeing]

If you are already using Life Points to "Poop" out Mystical Shine Balls, then you may as well combine Ultimate Offering into the mix.

There is no restriction on the number of monsters summoned this way, as long as you can afford to pay for it. True? Therefore, The Agent of Creation - Venus plus three Mystical Shine Balls plus an extra 2000 LP equals four single Tribute Monsters, meaning your Jinzo, various Monarchs, Freed the Matchless General, what have you. You may have just sacrificed 3500 LP, but it's a nice way to get some heavy-powered fighters.

Heck, you could get two double Tribute monsters, for a thousand points less. If you run it in a Fairy deck, you can have two Guardian Angel Joans out to recover the life points you just spent. I think the combination is useful, regardless of the myriad of defenses against it. I'd run it.... if I had it. Hehehe...