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| - We're certain that plenty of you have been wielding the new weapons of the deep with the Realm of the Sea Emperor Structure Deck. For all aquatic-lovers, though, things get even better in Abyss Rising with the introduction of the "Mermail" archetype. "Mermails" have a variety of abilities, most of which are accessed by using WATER monsters as cost, which is just what your new "Atlantean" monsters need to trigger their tactical abilities, and the centerpiece of the "Mermail" archetype is "Mermail Abysslinde". First, let's take a quick look at "Mermail Abysslinde" on her own. She's a Level 3 WATER Aqua-Type Monster with 1500 ATK and 1200 DEF. Her low ATK makes her an excellent target for the effects of both "Mother Grizzly" and "Salvage". If she's destroyed by battle or by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, she can search out another "Mermail" monster from your Deck. She laughs off "Torrential Tribute" and "Dark Hole", and takes all attacks in stride. Because of this, she acts as the oil that keeps the "Mermail" engine running. When she's destroyed, you have a multitude of options from your deck to choose from, but it boils down to a choice between two: Use an "Atlantean", or Summon a massive beatstick. "Mermail Abysspike" and "Mermail Abyssturge" discard a card to activate their respective effects, meaning that if you have an "Atlantean" in hand, you can get their effect off while simultaneously performing a search (in the case of "Abysspike") or a recycle (in the case of "Abyssturge"). If" you have no "Atlanteans" in hand, or simply want to gain some massive field presence, then you can always bring out the 2400 ATK "Mermail Abyssmegalo" or the monstrous 2700 ATK "Mermail Abyssleed", who makes his premier in Cosmo Blazer. They might not have much in the way of destructive or defensive capability, but when your opponent's "Gear Gigant X" is staring down a giant beater that just swooped out of the deck, their confidence will quickly wane. You can also use her to play mind games with your opponent. If you use "Snowman Eater" in tandem with "Abysslinde" (both can be searched by "Abysspike" and recycled by "Abyssturge" and "Salvage"), you can set one, making your opponent have to decide between attacking or destroying your unknown monster, with a 50% chance of making the wrong choice. There are a multitude of Trap Cards that can work in tandem with "Abysslinde". As is the famous strategy with "Sangan", you can chain "Call of the Haunted" before it is destroyed to revive "Abysslinde", then gain her effect upon destruction. More specific, though, are two "Mermail" support cards in Abyss Rising, "Abyss-squall" and "Abyss-sphere". "Abyss-squall" summons up to 3 "Mermail" monsters from your Graveyard, negating their effects and destroying them on the End Phase. Because the effect of "Abysslinde" can only be used once per turn, you can't Special Summon 3 copies of "Abysslinde" and expect 3 searches when they're destroyed. However, you can still Special Summon an "Abysslinde" to be destroyed at the End Phase, as well as either two Level 4 "Mermail" monsters for a Rank 4 Xyz Summon, two Level 7s to summon "Mermail Abyssgaios", or two Level 3 "Mermail" monsters to overlay all three Summoned monsters and Xyz Summon "Mermail Abysstrite" (who also premiers in Cosmo Blazer). Even more potent, however, is "Abyss-sphere", which Summons any "Mermail" monster from your Deck; however, the monster's effect is negated on the field, and it's destroyed on your opponent's End Phase. While it's possible to Summon "Abyssmegalo" to make an offensive push, it's clear that this card is intended to be used with "Abysslinde", seeing how she appears in the card's artwork. If your opponent performs a direct attack, use "Abyss-sphere" to Summon an "Abysslinde" from the Deck, who will then Summon another "Mermail" monster upon destruction. Or, if your opponent doesn't attack, trigger "Abyss-sphere" before their End Phase so she can be destroyed. Then, you can use your new monster's effect to discard "Atlantean Marksman", destroying whatever Trap Card they may have just set before it has a chance to go off. Or, if they set a monster, you can summon "Abysslinde", then activate "Torrential Tribute" to destroy all of your opponent's monsters, while getting a "Mermail" monster out of the Deck. Or, if your opponent tries to destroy "Abyss-sphere" with "Mystical Space Typhoon" or "Heavy Storm", you can trigger it, summoning "Abysslinde" and getting a free summon when she's destroyed by the Trap Card's effect. There are a ton of fantastic ways to utilize "Mermail Abysslinde", and she is the driving force that will make the "Mermail" archetype a force to be reckoned with. Keep an eye out for her and other "Mermail" monsters in Abyss Rising! Date: November 1, 2012
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