Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel - DAY 6!

Welcome back to Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel, where we're ringing in the holidays with trading cards. It's not your typical yuletide celebration, but we like it.

The door to Day 6 reveals...

...probably the most unexpected card yet! It's Sabatiel - The Philosopher's Stone!

General Observation:

Sabatiel is an interesting card, both because its only Kuriboh connection is that you need a "Winged Kuriboh"-related Monster in your graveyard in order to activate its first effect and because you won't receive its full benefits unless you have three copies of it in your deck. 

Normally, a single copy of Sabatiel allows you to pay half of your life points to add a Fusion support card (such as Polymerization or Fusion Recovery) to your hand, so very handy for Fusion-heavy decks like Elemental Heroes and Cyber Dragons. However, if there are THREE copies of it in your graveyard, you can banish all three to increase the ATK of one Monster on the field by the same amount as the total ATK of the Monster in play with the HIGHEST ATK until the end of the turn, so this could potentially be quite the game changer. 

You may think it risky to stack your grave with copies of Sabatiel due to the LP cost of each one, but you can easily save your points by sending them there in another fashion, such as the hand cost to activate cards like Tribute to the Doomed and Spell Reproduction.

Trivia Observation:

Sabatiel - The Philosopher's Stone was first printed in the TCG set Dragons of Legend. (A set that was most noteworthy for finally bringing a lot of formerly anime-exclusive cards to print including the Legendary Dragons of Atlantis and their related cards.) 

Sabatiel made its anime debut in Episodes 48 and 49 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX as essentially a deus ex machina provided to Jaden Yuki by Professor Banner to use in his climactic battle against Duel Academy's power-hungry superintendent (yes really) Kagemaru. 

Unlike a lot of anime cards, Sabatiel's effect was essentially the same as what eventually saw print with the exception of it being a single magical card that could be used four times rather than requiring multiple copies in the grave and it multiplying the ATK of one Monster by the number of Monsters on your opponent's field rather than by a single value. (Resulting in the ridiculous 14500 ATK for Electrum above.)

Personal Observation:

This one definitely took me by surprise! Interested to see if there are any other cards in this box with smaller connections to Kuriboh that I've forgotten about.

Day 6 has come to an end, but come back tomorrow for the conclusion of the first week of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!

Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel - DAY 5!

Welcome back to the fifth installment of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel, a catalogued December journey through the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG 2019 Advent Calendar rife with less-than-basic strategies and bonus trivia largely culled from the YGO Wiki.

Less than twenty doors to go!

We've got another curveball today! It's our first GX era Kuriboh, but one that was introduced a bit later in the manga. It's Winged Kuriboh LV9!

General Observation:

Unlike the previous effect Monsters we've seen in this Calendar, this guy can't just be normal summoned right away. You have to either tribute summon him by offering other Monsters or special summon him using either a general card with that ability or by using his very unique effect. Said effect allows him to be special summoned from your hand by activating it as part of a Spell/Trap/Effect chain composed of either your or your opponent's cards. (Said chain also has to encompass at least two cards before Winged Kuriboh LV9 comes in.) 

He's also unique among Kuribohs in that his ATK and DEF are question marks and their true values are decided by the number of Spell Cards in your opponent's graveyard. (He gains 500 ATK/DEF for every one.) However, as long as he's face up on the field, Spell Cards are banished rather than sent to the graveyard, so it's best to only bust him out after your opponent has activated quite a few Spells. Also keep in mind that only one copy of this card can exist on both sides of the field at the same time, so best not to count on special summoning multiple roided-up fuzzballs.

Trivia Observation:

Winged Kuriboh LV9 was originally printed as an included promo card with Volume 3 of the GX manga. His appearance in said manga was in Chapter 21, where Jaden Yuki uses him to turn the tables on Seika Kohinata's snake deck fronted by Evil Dragon Ananta. (Ananta the Snake Dragon in the manga.) 

Interestingly, his effect was completely different in the manga, being special summoned by banishing Monsters using a separate Spell Card, Alchemical Experiment. (His ATK and DEF values were also determined by the banished Monsters rather than the opponent's Spells.) The manga version was also destroyed at the end of the turn, creating obvious parallels with another member of the Winged Kuriboh lineage I'm sure we'll be seeing by the end of December.

Personal Observation:

Whoa, definitely wasn't expecting to see this guy first in the GX era cards. Makes me very interested in seeing who's next.

That's all I've got on LV9, but come back tomorrow for a different fuzzball or fuzzball-affiliate on Day 6 of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!

Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel - DAY 4!

We're moving right along with Day 4 of the series affectionately dubbed Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel! You read, I open an Advent Calendar door, and I yammer on about fuzzballs for way too long. It's a magical process.

Today's door brings us back to the "Winged Kuriboh" side of the box. What could be floating just above his head?

It's one of the more recent additions to the Kuriboh family, Clear Kuriboh!

General Observation:

Clear Kuriboh is very much like its original counterpart in that you can discard it to avoid damage. However, Clear Kuriboh deals exclusively in Monster effect-inflicted damage, negating said effect upon being dropped. This guy also has an additional effect on top of that: if you're about to take a direct attack and he's resting in your grave, you can banish him to draw a card. If said card is a Monster, you can then special summon it and change the attack target to that card. Quite handy for tight spots. (Especially if you run something like a Blue-Eyes deck with scores of easily special summoned Monsters.)

Trivia Observation:

Clear Kuriboh was originally printed exclusively in the Dark Side of Dimensions Movie Pack and its Gold equivalent released around the time of the actual film in the West. Given that information, you'd probably assume he was part of the film as well. You'd be correct, as his effect-cancelling and monster summoning abilities were put to good use by Yugi during his and Kaiba's little duel against the Millenium Ring-corrupted Diva in the film's climax.

Personal Observation:

Ha! Honestly forgot about this guy. Should be fun to see what other members of the Kuriboh family my mind blanked on as we continue.

20 days to go, so be sure to report back here tomorrow for more of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!

Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel - DAY 3!

Give it up for Day 3 of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel, a little series where a box gives me a Kuriboh-related card and I have to do my best to talk about it. Also Christmas is involved.

What awaits behind that little green paw?

Oooh, quite a unique one, actually! It's our first Token Card in Advent history, the Kuriboh Token!

General Observation:

The Kuriboh Token can only enter the duel by way of an effect that special summons a Token. It can be used in place of any Token called for by said effect, but the stats and such of this particular card are custom-made for easy use as a Kuriboh Token summoned by yesterday's card, Multiply. 

As fully outlined yesterday, Tokens are mainly useful as either a temporary shield or part of a combo with certain Spells and Traps like Token Thanksgiving and Token Feastevil. You could also use them in place of a tribute needed for an effect of some sort. (Though, not a tribute summon in a lot of cases depending on the card. Multiply in particular states that you can't tribute your Kuriboh Tokens to summon other monsters.)

Trivia Observation:

We already went into Multiply's (and by extension, the Kuriboh Token's) famous roles in the anime/manga yesterday, so we'll stick to TCG factoids today. 

Interestingly, as far as I can tell, this Advent Calendar is the very first TCG release for a specifically Kuriboh Token. Tokens WERE released before with the same Kuriboh art as today's card (as well as the alternate art seen above) within the Legendary Collection 3: Yugi's World boxes, but those were all treated as generic Tokens with only the artwork differing. Whereas, today's card has both the name AND specific stats of Multiply's Kuriboh Tokens. Pretty cool and very fitting for this Calendar.

Personal Observation:

I'd say this is our first curveball! I NEVER expected a Token Card to be included in any of these boxes, let alone a specifically-branded one, so this is a treat!

That's everything I've got on the Kuriboh Token, but be back here tomorrow for another card and another tangent on Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!

Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel - DAY 2!

Hello again and welcome to our second helping of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel, a series where I deal out daily trading card offerings from an adorable and festive box.

This door's on the other side of the box. What could it be hiding?

Another perfect early pull, that's what! It's the Spell Card Multiply!

General Observation:

Multiply is a quick-play Spell that allows you to tribute a Kuriboh to fill the field with Kuriboh Tokens with the exact same specs. This could be useful either as a stalling measure for when you're in a jam or as a piece of a larger combo involving cards that utilize Tokens. (Cards like Token Thanksgiving when you need a life fill-up, last year's Token Feastevil for when your preference is picking apart your opponent's points with small damage, or another Spell that specifically calls for the use of Kuriboh Tokens that I'm sure is somewhere in this box.)

Trivia Observation:

Multiply was first printed in the TCG set Crimson Crisis, nearly a decade after it was originally printed in Japan. (It shares this distinction with Time Machine.) Of course, it's best known in the anime/manga for being a part of Yami Yugi's strategy to take down Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in Duelist Kingdom by absorbing every one of his attacks with an endless Kuriboh shield. (A strategy that would NOT WORK IN THE SLIGHTEST utilizing the same cards in the actual game, but hey, anime/ manga Duelist Kingdom. They hadn't ironed much out yet.)

Personal Observation:

ANOTHER classic! Had a feeling this would be following up the OG Kuriboh yesterday. They're like Peanut Butter and Jelly.

That's everything on Multiply, but come back tomorrow for another dose of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!

Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel - DAY 1!

Welcome back! It's December again, which means it's time for the start of the follow-up to that pulling-cards-out-of-a-box thing that I did last year! It's Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel! In case you don't know how this works: every day in December I'll pull a card out of the 2019 Yu-Gi-Oh! Advent Calendar and do the best of my very limited abilities to provide strategies and trivia for each and every one! Without further ado, let's get started!

Who or what could be hiding behind our first box?

Why, it's the best possible start to a Kuriboh-themed Advent Calendar...classic/vanilla Kuriboh!

General Observation:

Setting the template for your typical Kuriboh, this little guy doesn't pack much of a punch in either attack or defense, but more than makes up for it with its damage-blocking effect. Just discard him from your hand, and any incoming damage you're about to take from an attack will be reduced to 0! He's perfect for saving for when you're in a pinch!

Trivia Observation:

The trivia section here should be a little bit obvious to those with a cursory Yu-Gi-Oh! knowledge (how Kuriboh was always in Yugi's deck in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime and oftentimes came off like his mascot and went on to inspire quite a few spin-off cards that may all be contained within this very box), so I'll go for some more off-beat factoids. 

For instance, did you know that "Kuriboh" translated from Japanese is a portmanteau of the words "chestnut" and "boy" or "person" or that he pretty much shares his name with the Japanese name of the famous Super Mario enemy, Goomba? (Kuribo) Goomba ALSO spawned quite a few variations and spin-offs, so I guess Japan is ALL ABOUT the little chestnut people.

Personal Observation:

Ah, classic, and a perfect way to start us off!

Day 1 is officially in the bag! However, we've still got 23 more boxes to open, so come back tomorrow for Day 2 of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!

Hauls: Pre-Holiday Clean-Up

Yo! Back again for another haul post. Not as much to catalog this time, but this is essentially me getting all this stuff out of the way before December hits. What happens in December aside from the obvious, you ask? Well, if you've been keeping track of this little blog for a year, you might already have an idea of what I'm cooking up:

Yup, it's baaaaaaaaack! Astral's Advent Observations will be returning for a second year of holly jolly reveals utilizing the newly-released 2019 Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Advent Calendar! This year's box is a lot smaller than the previous one, but you'll still get 24 whole days of new cards and amateur-level strategies and factoids about said cards! Our new batch also seems to be explicitly Kuriboh-centric, so I'll be calling this a "Kuriquel." Brand it. The fun begins in a little over a week, so stay tuned!

Anyway, on to the rest I've got to share:

PowerA Nintendo Switch Premium Game Card Case (Mario ? Block) (Target)

Since Day 1, I've been using a Mario Kart-themed Switch case to hold my system during travel as well as its various accessories and a selection of games. However, as more and more games come out, I've been getting more and more conflicted about which titles to keep in my case. (It basically comes down to recent games I want to play vs. multiplayer-centric titles that I want to keep in my case at all times to be ready for impromptu social throwdowns.) 

That ongoing internal debate made me think of getting a separate card case to keep in my system case so I could carry more games with me, and after a bit of research, I learned that these PowerA cases were the best of the bunch for an efficient price. After finding a Mario-themed one on Target's site, I grabbed it, and MAN, were they not lying. It is VERY nice. Well-made, sturdy, fits twelve game cards, AND doesn't utilize hard clips that could damage your games. I'd absolutely recommend these if you're looking for more quick game storage.

Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans (Blu-ray Combo) (Walmart)

This was the last thing I pre-ordered with my Birthday cash a couple months back. I am personally heavily entertained by the sometimes-meta but often-absurd antics of Teen Titans Go! and the idea of a crossover film with the 2003 Teen Titans series from my childhood that inspired it was too good to pass up on Blu-ray. 

All in all, it ended up being a fun little ride from start to finish. While not perfect (the non-Go Titans are bit more limited in their movement animation-wise due to adapting to Go-style and some moments like the normally laid back 03 Beast Boy randomly doing sit-ups to showcase him as a more "serious" hero than his Go counterpart struck me as strange), there are plenty of really fun and hilarious interactions. (Especially between the two drastically-different Robins.)

Funko POP! Marvel: Scarlet Spider (Kaine Parker) (Walgreens)

Ohhhhhhhhh yeaaaaaaaaaah. If you kept tabs on both my previous posts AND general Funko Pop news, then you knew that I HAD to add my personal favorite Spider, Kaine, to my collection the second he was announced. Wasn't sure if I'd be able to score him being a Walgreens exclusive and all, but their site happily assisted (well, once the checkout errors finally stopped) and I was able to get him for retail. Now he stands next to the OTHER angsty, manmade, red-and-black character on my Pop shelf.

Incineroar amiibo (Amazon)

Simon amiibo (Amazon)

Capping things off with yet more amiibo! My Alolan starter finishes off the Pokemon roster while Simon joins Snake in repping Konami!

That's all I've got, but be sure to come back here on December 1st for the start of Astral's Advent Observations: The Kuriquel!