So… who knew floppy drives were such great musical instruments? Though the range of notes is quite limited (no high pitched tones for you!), the theme is all there, right down to the exact rhythm and melody–with a bit of a twist!
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All posts for the day May 6th, 2012
We’ve gained quite a following over this past week! A few days ago, we kicked off a new category to cover for you: Movies, and luckily, it’s been greeted with some incredible feedback from the UDuelist community–thanks, by the way! In other news, the official release of the newest Yu-Gi-Oh! pack, Galactic Overlord, is released in a couple of days, so if you missed the preview event, you’ll have your chance at getting some of the most game-defining cards soon! IN any case, let’s get on with our Card of the Night tonight, shall we?
Our Card of the Night tonight is Number 32: Shark Drake! If you’ve been following the current Japanese anime series, *spoilers* you’ll remember Number 32 as one of the character’s newest signature card, which is set to have an upgraded chaos version, Number C32: Shark Drake Vice. At 2800 attack and 2100 defense base stat, Number 32 is the strongest Rank 4 monst to date, exceeding that of other rank 4s such as Number 39: Utopia, Number 10: Illumiknight, and Gem-Knight Pearl.
With it’s relatively high base stats, it does come with a slight cost: in order to summon Number 32, you’ll need to overlay 3 level 4 monsters; thankfully, the monsters don’t have to be a specific type or attribute, opening up Number 32 to a variety of decks. Daybreaker, Goblindbergh/Rescue Rabbit, trap monsters (excluding Metal Reflect Slime), and Wind-Up Shark/Salvage can help you summon Number 32 quickly.
In terms of its effect, Number 32 is a great addition to beatdown decks: if Number 32 should destroy an opponent’s monster by battle, you can detach one Xyz material, special summon the destroyed monster back to your opponent’s side of the field in attack position, and attack that monster again. Also, the special summoned monster looses 1000 attack, giving you the opportunity to do additional damage to your opponent. Combine equip spells such as United We Stand or Mage Power, or even Armory Arm, and you can deal some heavy damage! As a note, if you also have other monsters, you can use those monsters to attack the now-weakened monster, as its effect doesn’t require Number 32 to attack the special summoned monster.
Also, if you do plan on using Number 32 in a water-based deck (which is highly recommended), you have an arsenal of spells and traps to help boost its attack. Aqua Jet will grant it a permanent 1000 attack addition, and Umiiruka gives it an additional 500 attack points. Also, a combination of Water Hazard and Inferno Reckless Summon can help you gain the 3 Level 4 monsters that you need to summon Number 32.
To ensure the maximum amount of damage, you may want to consider adding cards such as Final Attack Orders, Windstorm of Etaqua, Enemy Controller, or any position changing cards. Obviously, cards such as Marshmallon or Spirit Reaper (cards that can’t be destroyed by battle), so the battle position change cards can inevitably ensure some damage regardless.
There are some obvious weaknesses and risks when using Number 32, most notably, anti-attack cards such as Mirror Force and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. Luckily, for cards such as the latter, you can utilize Double or Nothing!, which would double Number 32′s attack (5600 if you only have its base attack), as well as being able to attack again with Number 32′s effect, provided that the monster was destroyed by battle. Also, cards such as Forbidden Lance can drastically weaken Number 32, and Fiendish Chain, Darkworld Shackles, and Spellbinding Circle can render Number 32 useless. Prepare your usual counters, and as always, you should be fine.
Overall, Number 32: Shark Drake gets a rating of 8.8 out of 10 for its incredible contribution to beatdown decks and high attack, but its high vulnerability to anti-attack cards. There’s no doubt that its new upgraded version, Number C32: Shark Drake Vice, will have a much stronger effect (though it’s not yet known as of this writing), but if Number C39: Utopia Ray is any indication, it’ll be quite game changing.
Stats:
Rank: 4
Attribute: Water
Type: Sea Serpent/Xyz/Effect
Attack: 2800
Defense: 2100
Summon Condition: Overlay 3 Level 4 monsters
Effect: Once per turn, when this attacking card destroys an opponent’s monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard: You can detach 1 Xyz material from this card; special summon the destroyed monster to your opponent’s side of the field in face-up attack position, but it loses 1000 attack, and if you do summon this way, this card can attack once again during this battle phase.
Set Name: GAOV-EN042
Set: Galactic Overlord
Current Price: N/A
Preview: Are you ready to meet the king? Don’t fly too close to the sun, or else you’ll burn your wings and fall!
Caution: Spoilers
Theatrical Poster by themadbutcher
One of the highest anticipated movies of the summer has finally arrived! This movie has been in the making for years now, as most of the Avengers have had their own movies preceding this movie: Iron Man (Robert Downy Jr.), The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton in the Avengers prequel, Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America (Chris Evans). The other members of The Avengers, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) have appeared in the Iron Man and Thor movies, respectively, so technically, we were all introduced to each member of The Avengers prior to this movie!
Also starring in the movie is Samuel L. Jackson, who continues his role as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Tom Hiddleston as main villain Loki, and, for you How I Met Your Mother Fans, Cobie Smulders (Robyn) as Agent Maria Hill!
In either case, let’s get on with the basics: The Avengers gathers all of your favorite Marvel superheroes to fight an imminent war instigated by a revenge-fueled Loki (if you want to know why, I direct you to watch Thor). After losing an important artifact known as the Tesseract, which, as other elements have, preceded the movie. Now under the threat of global war, the guys over at S.H.I.E.L.D. set out to gather the members of a now-broken Avengers Initiative. Unfortunately, Loki has taken control of a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s assets, including Hawkeye, leaving The Avengers at an early disadvantage.
Overall, the story is quite fascinating and worth the years of waiting. Action is plenty throughout, though the most intense action is saved for the last parts of the movie. Humor also follows the same formula as its predecessors: you may have heard of some of the most famous quotes from the trailers, such as:
Loki: “I have an army.”
Tony Stark (Iron Man): “We have a Hulk.”
Granted, most of the humor does come from Tony Stark, however, all of The Avengers have their fair share of humorous remarks, comebacks, and actions, especially the Hulk.
Speaking of the Hulk, many of you may have been worried about the replacement of Edward Norton as Bruce Banner with Mark Ruffalo: though Edward Norton may have been able to play a better Bruce Banner in some opinions, Mark Ruffalo captures the essence of his character and integrates it with The Avengers universe. It should also be noted that the Hulk has become quite the favorite among fans who’ve seen the movie, as his character integrates a sense of humor with his usual rampages.
Back to the story, it was mentioned before that the main action is saved for the last bit of the movie, 30 minutes as a guess. The action isn’t overdone (as some have complained about Transformers: Dark of the Moon), and the story provides good tension leading up to the climax. The Black Widow is as impressive as always, and even Agent Marie Hill, who’s actor is most commonly associated with Robyn from How I Met Your Mother, has a few action scenes as well (speaking of which, it was phenomenal seeing Cobie Smulders play as Agent Marie Hill!).
It does help quite a bit to watch all of the preceding movies: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America. Each of these movies do help flesh out the characters in The Avengers. The movie does do some explanation for each character, as well as giving some more background information on Black Widow and Hawkeye, but as for the majority of the Avengers, the movies give both a deeper story behind the character, as well as setting up elements for the movie, such as introducing the Avenger’s Initiative or how each hero came to be recruited. Also, it’s quite funny how Stan Lee’s cameos appear in each movie, and he continues this tradition with The Avengers (you’ve gotta look closely though!). In either case, even if you didn’t see any or all of the other movies, the movie is great on its own, but it’s highly recommended that you do watch the other preceding movies.
So, the verdict? It was well worth the wait, and one can’t help to wonder what can be done for the imminent sequel. Loki was sort of a weird choice to put as the main villain of the movie, though with the consideration of Iron Monger (who is now dead), Red Skull, and The Abomination, Loki would have been (logically) the best choice for the movie anyways (after all, who can resist a magical trickster?). Clocking in at 142 minutes, it does run quite long for a movie, but it’s 142 minutes that you’ll want to watch over and over again!
Ratings:
Story: 5/5
Soundtrack: 4.5/5
Character Portrayal: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Yukiteru Amano starts out as just a junior high-school student. He has a lot of trouble making friends, and has developed into an introverted personality. Due to this, he has decided to make himself a spectator of life, writing out in a diary on his cell phone about what goes on around him. However, it’s not to say he doesn’t have friends… though they are only imaginary. Their names are Dues Ex Machina and Muru Muru, the former being the god of time and space. One day Dues decides to give Yukiteru something special on his phone, and the next morning Yukiteru realizes something weird was going on… his diary began to fill itself in ahead of time. It records things, just as if Yukiteru were recording in the diary himself. The future of everything around him was being written in advance. Basically, he was given the cheat code on life! The only cost, however, is that if his diary happened to be destroyed then he would also die. To make things worse, he doesn’t seem to be the only one with this gift… as he soon finds out. Dues has given 12 future diarys out, and has set them up for a survival game. Each individual must hunt down the other users and kill them, until only one is left. The prize…? The last one standing becomes god!
Main Genre: Supernatural Suspense
Romance: 10/10
Throughout the series Yukiteru is caught up in an… unexpected type of love. It’s much different than the usual romance found in an anime series, and it gets very interesting as the series progresses.
Action: 10/10
In terms of action, it is very interesting to watch. The fighting focuses more on strategy rather than fist-to-fist types. Also, the action has a much more gory element to it, and it is very bloody.
Story: 10/10
The story keeps you on your heels as you watch, with twist after twist as the series progresses. This has one of the best stories I’ve found in a series, and they always seem to keep it interesting. If you’re looking for a detailed, deep storyline… then you won’t be able to take your eyes off of it.
Comedy: 9/10
The comedic elements in the series are top-notch, however it’s not the best in this aspect. They do keep it interesting, in more than just the complex story. You can find time to smile and/or face-palm too.
Fan Service: 10/10
There is plenty of fan service throughout the series! Delicious babes abound~
Overall score: 10/10
Links:
Funimation’s Future Diary page
Opening: Fantasy Mythology, by Yousei Teikoku
Opening 2: Dead End, by Faylan (Spoiler warning!)
So… LEGO is really stepping up to the video game world, isn’t it? With the popularity of LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Harry Potter, and even LEGO Batman among others, a new petition has finally prompted LEGO to consider LEGO The Legend of Zelda! The idea began from a guy named Michael Ingles, who made the video you see below; so far, it’s gained the support of at least 10,000 people! Interesting concept to say the least… so what do you guys think? Would a LEGO rendition of The Legend of Zelda help/hurt the franchise? What about an official LEGO set? That would make it so much cooler, wouldn’t you think?
Caution: (Potential) Spoilers
So, did any of you enjoy J.J. Abram’s rendition of the Star Trek universe? Well, whether you did or not, it looks like the sequel will bring joy to the most loyal Star Trek fans…
Khan.
Sources have pointed to Benedict Cumberpatch playing the role as Khan, and it’s been relatively confirmed that the new sequel will not be a retelling of the “Space Seed” episode, where Kirk and friends encounter Khan. Also, it’s been noted that J.J. Abram’s Star Trek movies are attempting to mirror The Dark Knight, where Khan will basically be Star Trek’s Joker (not in terms of character, but in terms of how powerfully portrayed the villain was within the movie).
As a special treat, Leonard Nimoy has been confirmed to return as Spock Prime. Klingons will also be a part of the film, rounding this new Star Trek sequel to be every fanboy/girl’s dream movie!
