Yu-Gi-Oh! – Clash of Rebellion Review

Due for an English release on August 7, 2015, Clash of Rebellion is the set following Crossed Souls.

Clash of Rebellion introduces four new archetypes to the game, whilst also giving support for some older archetypes which were in desperate need, like Red-Eyes!

Here I shall take a closer look at some of the new archetypes introduced to the game.

Aroma

Aroma is an archetype which makes use of female plant type monsters who each have two types of monster effects. They benefit heavily from having a greater amount of life points than the opponent, as their effects only activate when you are ahead.

Having a life point advantage gives your Aroma monsters a continuous effect, which remains active whilst on the field until it is negated either by a card effect or by the user’s life points being reduced to a lower amount than the opponent’s.

The second type of effect these monsters possess is a trigger effect, which activates whenever the user gains life points.

Aromas gain support through means such as “Aroma Garden”, which is a field-spell card which gives the user 500 life points once per turn, during their turn, whilst controlling an Aroma monster.

This archetype has a major weakness against cards such as “Bad Reaction to Simochi”, which is a trap card that, whilst on the field, reverses all life points the opponent gains into damage taken, essentially turning their own abilities against them.

Igknight

Here we have a new Pendulum based archetype, consisting of Fire-Warriors. Nearly all members of this archetype are normal Pendulum monsters with scales of either “2” or “7”.

This archetype focuses on destroying themselves through various means to then set up a mass Pendulum summon to the field.

All Igknight Pendulum monsters have the same Pendulum effect: “If you have an “Igknight” card in your other Pendulum Zone: You can destroy all cards in your Pendulum Zones, and if you do, add 1 FIRE Warrior-Type monster from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.”

This archetype gains support through spell/trap cards like “Phoenix Ignition” and “Igknight Burst”, both of which enable you to destroy Igknight cards you control in order to add other Igknight cards to your hand. “Phoenix ignition” allows you to add one Igknight card from your deck, whilst “Igknight Burst” allows you to add one from the extra deck to your hand.

A good amount of the Igknight monsters are level 4 or below, so using “Reinforcement of the Army” will benefit users of this archetype by allowing the user to add Pendulum monsters of either side of the scale to their hand.

Performage

Performage is an archetype influenced by circus acts, which can be seen within the artwork of the monsters.

Currently revealed monsters within this archetype share abilities that prevent effect damage to you by negating the activation of those effects.

The majority of the monsters so far are level 4 monsters, so they will be easy to normal summon.

Red-Eyes

The highlight from this set for me comes from the support given to the Red-Eyes archetype, which was one of the very first archetypes released in the game. Red-Eyes were in need of some new support, since they haven’t had any for nearly 8 years running.

Clash of Rebellion changes the way Red-Eyes will be used by giving a lot of new cards to this previously underused, yet popular, archetype.

The main focus for these new cards will be fusion summoning the new boss monster “Black Skull Archfiend Dragon”.This powerful monster has 3200 attack with 2500 defence, and if this wasn’t already strong enough, the effects of this monster make him a force to be reckoned with. First of all, during the battle phase and when this card is in battle, the opponent cannot activate any cards or effects until the end of the damage step – this includes effects from the hand, deck and graveyard too. This effect enables this monster to attack without worries of traps such as “Mirror Force”.

“Red-Eyes Archfiend of Lightning” and “Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon” are the new incarnations of “Summoned Skull” and “Red-Eyes B. Dragon”, these monsters are both Gemini monsters. Both of these monsters are normal monsters when on the field, then have very powerful effects when Gemini summoned, yet both still count as effect monsters whilst in the hand or the deck. Because of this, I would advise players to also run the original “Red Eyes B. Dragon” and “Summoned Skull” normal monsters in their decks, as this will be crucial for what is possibly the best card released for this archetype in this set, “Red-Eyes Fusion”.

“Red-Eyes Fusion” is an incredible card that allows you to fusion summon a Red-Eyes fusion monster by using materials from the field, hand or deck! That’s right, it uses materials straight from the deck, which could enable turn one fusion summons with ease.

Other great cards for Red Eyes are “Black Metal Dragon” and “The Black Stone of Legend”, which are both level 1 monsters which help the flow of the archetype.

Other archetypes within this set have been support too, although maybe not as notable as the support given to Red-Eyes.

Non themed cards

This set sees a lot of non-themed cards released for the first time, with some notable examples as follows:

Wrongful Arrest

This is a quick-play spell card which prevents either player from being able to add cards to their hand, with the exception of drawing them, until the end of the owner’s next turn.

This could be very effective to prevent the opponent from searching the deck for specific cards, such as by the effect of “Reinforcement of the Army”.

Bad Reaction?

“Bad Reaction?” is a normal trap card that allows your opponent to pick a number ranging from 1-3 and then draw that amount of cards.In return for this, you gain 2000 life points for each card they drew.

This card could be very good if you are in a tight situation with low life points, or it could save you from losing during that battle phase.

Judgement Scales

If your opponent controls more cards than you have in your hand and on your side of the field combined, then you draw cards equal to the deficit. The maximum amount of cards you can draw from this card is twelve (if your opponent has all their fields filled, including their field spell and pendulum zones), as, at resolution, you still control this card.

This card is good for deck thinning and regaining advantage against any deck which has a large field presence.

Summary

I feel this set will be a very popular release: the new archetypes look interesting, and seeing Red-Eyes burn damage against Aroma’s life gaining abilities will be fun to watch.

Those who have been waiting many years for Red-Eyes’ support will be delighted to receive this set.