[Written] Catastrophic Crown Virus

[Summer Darj 292]

Catastrophic Crown Virus
Normal Trap
Tribute 1 DARK monster with 3000 or less DEF; look at opponent's hand and all monsters they control, and shuffle into the Deck 1 monster in their field or hand for every 500 DEF that monster had on the field. If you Tributed a monster with 2500 or more DEF to activate this card, look at all cards they draw until the end of their 3rd turn after this card's activation, and shuffle into the Deck all those monsters among them with less DEF than the Tributed monster.

Made this from inspiration on the current situation. Corona means crown in spanish, hence the name. Also the spinning effects are a nod to the quarantine, sending the monsters back home xD

Thoughts?

[Unlisted Member 117]

While the inspiration is inspired by the current, scary pandemic... It take a surprisingly lighter approach on what it does compared to rest of the Virus cards, flavor-wise. It is like it was made with contemporary discretion. XD

Now onto the card's applications...

As far as DARK monsters with readily available 3000 DEF to get the "best" results of the effect, it is surprisingly not a very common occurrence... To name a few: Earthbound_Immortal_Uru , Darklord_Morningstar , Archnemesis_Protos , etc. Just a lot of monsters that aren't easily Summonable... Best target I can think of his Hand-Holding_Genie paired with Ties_of_the_Brethren to pan out it's DEF to be 3000 and even then that is still requiring certain cards.  Perhaps aiming for 2500-2950 mark is much easier, but definitely 2000-2450 for sure.

Now for the actual power of the card itself... It is actually quite frightening as spinning is the 2nd strongest forms of  removal in the game next to banishing, face-down.  Especially considering most archetypes these days aren't known for their high DEF, barring Superheavy_Samurai which even then has a lot of smaller bodied members that susceptible to being put back into the Deck. Hell, you even have to consider that most Normal Summonable monsters these days don't even have 2000 DEF (which would say that is the minimal threshold to do a lot of damage to a lot of Decks with this card). Of course, like all Virus cards the draw back goes with whether you made your opponent exceed your -2 from using it or not. But, I'd wager this card would more often than not screw over a lot of Decks without even trying if you at least Tribute 2000 +.

I myself wouldn't know to balance it... Maybe more Tributes that combine into 3000 DEF? Or maybe shorten the timer? Or maybe make it return monsters instead, but make any monster that they had returned and they drawn stay stuck in the hand (to keep quarantine flavor) until the turn count is over?

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by BGMキャノン

[Summer Darj 292]

So it needs a nerf, I see. And here I thought it be kept in check by the fact that DARK monsters with high DEF are rare, especially with 3000+ DEF, and you cannot even use Link monsters. How about spinning a card for every 750 ATK? That way the maximum you can spin with the first effect is 4, and the card costs 2 in a vacuum for a net of 2 only if you Tribute a 3000 DEF monster.

It occurs to me I can make it require 2000 or more DEF, and apply the effect if you Tributed a 3000+ DEF, or maybe push it down to 2500+. That would make the first effect more potent and net immediate rewards while disabling you from Tributing little critters, but the gradual removal effect is harder to trigger. But then this approach feels like over-nerfing it.

[Unlisted Member 117]

I didn't consider adjusting the multiplier count on the first wave effect... I think that is good way to go. 750 makes it a little less abusable for those 2000 DEF monsters as it would make it -2 on your opponent for the price of -2... It neutralizes the minimal investment fairly. It is good start. The only thing that is bothersome is the drawn monsters being spun into the Deck for not meeting ≥ 2000 DEF... But, I think there isn't much to do about that, except for a different removal method or making Draw Phase check more lenient on the stats of the monsters it shuffles. Although perhaps, it needs to spin to distinguish itself from the other Virus cards.

As far as the changing the range, I would just make the minimal requirement 2000 as you say instead of a 3000 cap... While it would make the first effect potentially more devastating... You are pretty much forced to combo with other cards to raise DEF to increase it's potency which could make the combo a -3 on you at investment at best (in most cases anyways further down the comment I thought of something that could abuse the like of a max. cap with minimal resource usage)...  Considering that anything beyond 3000 DEF in the DARK cardpool is extremely scarce. Best way I can think of that softens the devastation on advantage you would lose while potentially devastating your opponent is with Hand-Holding_Genie and Ties_of_the_Brethren. Still combo heavy though and it really makes your Deck likely to run a lot of DEF oriented monsters. It makes a whole different Deck than conventional Lair of Darkness builds that is for sure. XD

Edited March 28, 2020 by BGMキャノン

[Summer Darj 292]

16 hours ago, BGMキャノン said:

I didn't consider adjusting the multiplier count on the first wave effect... I think that is good way to go. 750 makes it a little less abusable for those 2000 DEF monsters as it would make it -2 on your opponent for the price of -2... It neutralizes the minimal investment fairly. It is good start. The only thing that is bothersome is the drawn monsters being spun into the Deck for not meeting ≥ 2000 DEF... But, I think there isn't much to do about that, except for a different removal method or making Draw Phase check more lenient on the stats of the monsters it shuffles. Although perhaps, it needs to spin to distinguish itself from the other Virus cards.

As far as the changing the range, I would just make the minimal requirement 2000 as you say instead of a 3000 cap... While it would make the first effect potentially more devastating... You are pretty much forced to combo with other cards to raise DEF to increase it's potency which could make the combo a -3 on you at investment at best (in most cases anyways further down the comment I thought of something that could abuse the like of a max. cap with minimal resource usage)...  Considering that anything beyond 3000 DEF in the DARK cardpool is extremely scarce. Best way I can think of that softens the devastation on advantage you would lose while potentially devastating your opponent is with Hand-Holding_Genie and Ties_of_the_Brethren. Still combo heavy though and it really makes your Deck likely to run a lot of DEF oriented monsters. It makes a whole different Deck than conventional Lair of Darkness builds that is for sure. XD

Note that the gradual removal effect  only applies when you Tribute a 2500+ DEF monster, so using a little critter won't apply it.

[Unlisted Member 117]

1 hour ago, Darj said:

Note that the gradual removal effect  only applies when you Tribute a 2500+ DEF monster, so using a little critter won't apply it.

Hmmmm.... That seems fairer considering you still need to boost or Tribute or Special Summon something big enough to boot. The range of monsters is thin so boosting is going to be your best bet to activate this card, but there are a few exceptions to the rule. I do notice that Meklords did recently get this that is pretty accessible to them to pair with your card: Meklord_Emperor_Wisel_-_Synchro_Absorption. But, it is still a 3 card investment. At the very least, Holding Hand Genie.dek is still a potential threat to reckon with  if this card was in existence. XD

Edited March 29, 2020 by BGMキャノン