Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 13!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations, where ancient Egyptian card games are going to help us celebrate our Christianity.

Day 13! We're more than halfway to Christmas!

Today's card is a real scorcher! It's Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!

General Observation:

The Sacred Phoenix is quite a powerful card. An 8-star Monster with 2400 attack points, it also has the ability to come back on the next Standby Phase after it's destroyed by a card effect. As an added bonus, all Spell and Traps are also burned to cinders upon its return. This card is most played in a Fire King deck, especially with the Field Spell Fire King Island, which allows you to special summon the Phoenix directly from your hand if you control no Monsters. It's the perfect Monster to get out early in the game to quickly overwhelm your opponent while shaking off their destruction effects.

Trivia Observation:

This card was originally printed in the TCG set, Flaming Eternity, where it was even the Monster featured on the pack! Despite being a kind of famous Monster due to its numerous spin-off cards and strategies in the card game, the Phoenix has yet to make any appearances in Yu-Gi-Oh! canon, only in video games like the World Championship series and Duel Links. On another note, "Nephthys" might seem like a strange name to you, but it's actually the name of an Egyptian goddess pertaining to death and rebirth, much like a Phoenix is prone to do in legend. She was even Anubis' Mother!

Personal Observation:

Heh, I actually have a bit of history with this card. I actually pulled it out of my first ever pack of Flaming Eternity back in the day and that wasn't even the only time I got it randomly! We just keep finding each other. Wonder if it's my little Winged Kuriboh/Ojama spirit or something? Anyway, this is another odd pick for an Advent Calendar, unless they're referencing Chestnuts roasting, a Hanukkah Menorah, or the death and rebirth of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Card game sets, always making you think, amirite?

Tank's empty for today, but come back tomorrow for another turbo-charged edition of Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 12!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations, where we've got just under two weeks to unearth the rest of this trading card Advent Calendar's treasures!

We've reached 12/12!

Well, we got pretty much the most appropriate card for an Advent Calendar. It's Santa Claws!

NOT THAT GUY!!!

General Observation:

Santa Claws is a very interesting card. While lacking in attack strength despite being a 6-star Monster, you can use its effect to special summon it to your opponent's side of the field in exchange for one of their Monsters and at that turn's End Phase, you can draw an extra card. This can be particularly useful if your opponent has out a powerful Monster and you can just tribute it away and draw a new card for your troubles. Think of it as Lava Golem lite without the damaging effect or absurd attack points. Even without using the effect, though, for one of your own Monsters as a tribute, 2500 defense is nothing to sneeze at.

Trivia Observation:

Santa Claws was originally printed in the TCG set, Premium Gold: Return of the Bling. (Yes, that's really what it's called.) It never appeared in any of the franchise's multimedia, but here's an interesting bit of information for ya: its original Japanese name was "Satan Claus." (You can probably guess why they changed it from an anagram to a pun.) Another cute detail: notice Santa Claws' ATK and DEF stats? Doesn't the correlation of those numbers remind you of something...seasonally appropriate?

Personal Observation:

Wow, yet another one I've never heard of! Kinda surprised they didn't save this one for later on instead of half-way through. In traditional Advent Calendars, Santa doesn't show up until Christmas Eve!

God rest ye merry gentlemen...until tomorrow, that is, when a new episode of Astral's Advent Observations will await you!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 11!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations where I'm decking MY halls with a few fresh new Yu-Gi-Oh! cards courtesy of this Advent Calendar.

We took our first step into the double-digits yesterday and now we're in the heat of the action! Day 11!

We made out like a bandit today! We not only got yet ANOTHER manga card, but also our first XYZ and Number card! It's Number 82: Heartlandraco!

General Observation:

Heartlandraco's decent attack points as far as XYZ Monsters go are backed up by an even more powerful effect! NOT ONLY can your opponent not attack it if you currently control ANY Spell on your field, but you can ALSO detach an XYZ material to make it possible for it to attack them directly! Comboed with cards that increase Heartlandraco's XYZ material count, attack strength, or number of attacks per turn, this effect can be VERY potent in the right hands. Of course, keep in mind that if you use its second effect, none of your other Monsters can attack that turn.

Trivia Observation:

Number 82: Heartlandraco was originally printed in the TCG in the special set Premium Gold. It's used by Mr. Heartland (duh) in a duel against manga-exclusive antagonist Kyoji Yagumo in Rank (Chapter) 33 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal manga. Interestingly enough, the real card's effects are actually inspired by a manga-exclusive Spell also used by Mr. Heartland, Land Power.

Personal Observation:

Wow! Didn't expect to pull a Number out of this thing! That makes me even more excited for what they've saved for closer to Christmas!

We've reached the end of this post, but check back for another very similar one tomorrow in another exciting installment of Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 10!

Welcome back to another holly jolly installment of Astral's Advent Observations, where every day leading up until Christmas provides us with a Yu-Gi-Oh! card and I do my best to tell ya'll about it.

Day 10! We've got exactly two weeks left to open!

What's a Christmas without elves? It's Mystical Fairy Elfuria!

General Observation:

This card has a unique effect to say the least: by revealing one Wind-attribute Monster in your hand, you can prevent anyone from XYZ summoning Monsters using Monsters of that revealed card's level until the end of your opponent's next turn. Handy if your opponent does a lot of XYZ summoning or is clearly setting up for one, but not so much otherwise.

Trivia Observation:

This card was originally printed in the TCG set Cosmo Blazer. It has not made any media appearances as of yet.

Personal Observation:

Honestly have never heard of this one. It's always interesting discovering new cards through something like this.

That wraps up Day 10! Come back tomorrow for the next Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 9!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations, where I'm dedicating myself to remembering to open one of these boxes and pull out a trading card every morning.

Day 9! We've made it to the third row of the Calendar!

We've unwrapped a new toy! It's Wind-Up Rabbit!

General Observation:

While nothing much on its own, Wind-Up Rabbit provides nice support for a Wind-Up deck with an effect that can temporarily banish another of your Wind-Up monsters to protect it.

Trivia Observation:

While Wind-Up Rabbit has yet to make an animated or print appearance, it actually featured in a special voice-acted duel at the World Championship Qualifier in 2013. The featured VAs were Eric Stuart (Kaiba) and Darren Dunstan (Pegasus) with Pegasus using a Wind-Up deck that he borrowed from another duelist.

Personal Observation:

This is actually my first Wind-Up card! I wonder if we'll stumble upon any more before Christmas.

Stick a fork in this Day, but come back tomorrow for Day 10 of Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 8!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations, where I'm finding out one day at a time which Yu-Gi-Oh! cards Konami considers festive to an extent!

We're moving right along! It's Day 8!

Another frosty foe! It's Snowman Eater!

General Observation:

With 1900 defense points and an effect that destroys a monster when it's flipped face-up, think of Snowman Eater as a sturdier version of Man-Eater Bug. (Keep in mind that it can only destroy face-up Monsters, though.) Combo it with Book of Moon after it's flipped the first time to prepare another Monster for destruction!

Trivia Observation:

Snowman Eater was originally printed in Raging Battle. It has not made any anime or manga appearances, but going back to the Man-Eater Bug similarities, this card's original Japanese name is actually more similar to "Snow Man-Eater," which makes a bit more sense than the actual English name.

Personal Observation:

Yep, I've encountered this nasty little bugger in Duel Links before. Haven't actually used it yet, though.

That's all she wrote for today, but come back for Day 9 of Astral's Advent Observations!

Astral's Advent Observations - DAY 7!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations, where we're cracking open this card game Advent Calendar one day at a time.

We're one week in!

Today's card warms things up a bit. It's Fire Cracker!

General Observation:

Fire Cracker has decent offensive strength for a 4-Star Monster, but would be best served in an effect-damage-heavy deck. It gains a counter whenever your opponent takes effect damage which allows it to inflict even more, creating a nice combo. You can also use it to take a chunk out of your opponent's LP by discarding it, but bear in mind that you have to skip your next draw to use it.

Trivia Observation:

Fire Cracker was originally printed in Maximum Crisis. It has made no anime or manga appearances yet, but appears to share a connection to fellow Fiend Monster Blast Asmodian, as the two share an attribute, similar effects, and even a similar design.

Personal Observation:

Wow, talk about an offbeat choice for a Christmas countdown calendar. Unless he's here to represent Pitch from the Mexican film Santa Claus or something.

That's all I've got, but stay tuned for tomorrow's post of the next installment of Astral's Advent Observations!