by Phoenix Desertsong, Old School Duelist ![]() Foucault’s Cannon is a Normal Pendulum Monster from the Duelist Alliance expansion set for the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. This is a Level 5, DARK-attribute Spellcaster-type monster, meaning it also requires a Tribute to be Normal Summoned. While 2200 ATK isn't great for a Level 5 Monster, it's at least respectable. It was one of the first of a few Pendulum Normal Monsters released, along with Flash Knight and Dragon Horn Hunter. It's also a Normal monster that has a Pendulum effect, something that had never been seen before! During the End phase that this card is played in a Pendulum zone, you can target one face-up Spell/Trap Card on the field and destroy it. This, of course, includes other Pendulum Monsters. When this card was released, there were also tons of relevant face-up Spell and Trap cards in play in the metagame. Overall, this is a fairly good effect. With Spellcasters a fairly viable archetype all of their own, it seemed this monster might have some potential. But, as more of the ARC-V sets were released, it quickly became outclasses. Still, in a vacuum, this isn't a bad monster at all. Spell & Trap destruction is certainly very splash-able and Pendulum Normal Monsters certainly would get better and better. Foucault’s Cannon also has a Pendulum Scale of 2, making it a great lower-end scale in a Pendulum-heavy deck. Due to seeing basically zero competitive play, it’s a very inexpensive super rare card. Still, it's worth looking at for its place in the early history of Pendulum monsters. It's certainly not the worst monster out there.
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by Phoenix Desertsong, Old School Duelist ![]() The first of the Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V expansion sets, Duelist Alliance, introduced a brand new card type to the card game: Pendulum Monsters. After players were introduced to the Pendulum Summoning mechanic with the Space Time Showdown Super Starter Deck, we got to see the mechanic in full force in the Duelist Alliance set. Here we’ll take a look at the Sneak Peek Participation Promo, Dragon Horn Hunter. It would turn out to actually be a decent monster! What’s particularly interesting about Dragon Horn Hunter is the fact that he’s a normal Monster, a Level 6 DARK-Attribute Warrior with 2300 ATK and 1000 DEF. These stats are nothing special. However, as a Pendulum Monster, when he lives in one of your two Pendulum Zones he has a Pendulum Scale of 3 and gains this effect: “All Normal Monsters gain 200 ATK. You take no battle damage from battles involving Normal Monsters you control.” That’s a very good effect. Dragon Horn Hunter really pushes you to play Normal Monsters. As it turns out, there’s an easy way to search out this card: Summoner’s Art from Tactical Evolution. Also, being a DARK-type monster is good, as it can provide the necessary DARK component for many other cards. It also means that playing classic Normal Monsters such as Summoned Skull - also a potential target for Summoner’s Art - becomes far more plausible. The greatest con to this card is obviously the fact that he relies quite heavily on the Pendulum mechanic. You’re going to need to push out high-level Normal Monsters to simply overpower your opponent if this guy is going to make much of a difference. The ATK boost he gives isn’t much, but taking no battle damage from battles involving your Normal Monsters could make a Normal Monster based Pendulum Summoning deck a realistic option. As it turned out, Pendulum decks with Normal Pendulum Monsters would turn out to be competitive. As we saw with the Space Time Showdown Starter Deck, Normal Monsters were being pushed with the advent of the Pendulum Summoning mechanic. In 2016, this card was good enough to appear in some competitive Pendulum Magicians decks at a single copy. While it didn’t stay relevant in competitive play for long, as it would become outclassed with future sets, there were a couple of lists that took full advantage of this creature’s power. Overall, Dragon Horn Hunter was a good role player for a time in some builds of Pendulum Magicians, a deck that would go on to evolve into one of the better deck archetypes in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! For a Sneak Peek promo, that was a pretty good time in the spotlight. by Phoenix Desertsong, Old School Duelist ![]() While Flash Knight may simply be a rare card from Yu-Gi-Oh’s Duelist Alliance expansion set, this Pendulum Monster would prove himself to be rather useful. He’s a Level 4 Light-Attribute Normal Monster with 1800 ATK and 600 DEF, easily search-able with Reinforcement of the Army. The most important part about the Flash Knight is the fact that he has a Pendulum Scale of 7. Combined with a creature like Dragon Horn Hunter in your opposite Pendulum Zone, you then have the ability to summon Level 4 to Level 6 monsters with ease at the beginning of each of your turns. Was Flash Knight going to be a good option for a deck based around Pendulum Summoning high-level Normal Monsters? While the range is a bit limited, topping out at Level 6 as previously mentioned, there are plenty of strong Normal Monsters that fall in between those levels. In fact, the Knight did see some competitive play, including some Regional Top 8 Draco Performapals decks like this one. For only a mere rare, the Flash Knight actually proved himself to be a fairly useful monster. He was useful enough just as a scale, and having 1800 ATK isn't too shabby, either! As one of the first ever Pendulum monsters, the Knight held his own for awhile before being outclassed by flashier, badder Pendulum monsters. But let us never forget the exploits of this brave Level 4 Knight! |
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