CDP: Nekroz Zefra, ft. TW02 Support
36New Nekroz Support? Let's make Sophia!
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Welcome back to another extra CDP, this time tackling my first take on the new Nekroz cards revealed last week for Terminal World 02. The Nekroz archetype is a WATER Ritual theme consisting of the husks of various other bosses from the Duel Terminal lore-verse, and they have had their time in the meta sun. Their primary boss monster is Nekroz of Trishula, a Level 9 that when Ritual Summons banishes a card from the opponent's hand, field, and GY, but they also have a great supporting suite of other Rituals. For example, Nekroz of Areadbhair is a Level 10 option that can tribute another monster from your hand or field to negate a monster effect activation. Since this theme naturally tributes a lot, they have a few Main Deck monsters that benefit from Tributing, such as Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz or Ariel, Priestess of the Nekroz. But beyond all else, the power of the Nekroz theme lies in its consistency - with Nekroz of Brionac able to search any Nekroz Monster and Nekroz of Clausolas able to search any Nekroz Spell/Trap (heh), they can grab whatever they need to successfully Ritual Summon.
Now that we've covered the theme, let's talk about the new cards. First up is Avance, Swordsman of the Nekroz, a WATER Spellcaster that when Normal Summoned, Special Summons another Nekroz from your Deck. Typically you'll summon the next new card, Emilia, Dance Priestess of the Nekroz, as that adds any Nekroz Ritual Monster or Nekroz Spell to hand on summon. In addition to their ability to build a field, they both also can serve as the entire Tribute for a Ritual Summon, much like Shurit before them, however, these can only do so if used as Tribute from the field. The last thing I'll note about Avance is that he also has a Trigger effect when tributed, able to add as many banished Nekroz cards with different names back to hand. This can be incredible for the long game, or you can risk banishing your cards away early to empower an early Avance boost to try and seal the opponent's fate. Beyond Avance and Emilia, they also recieved a new Ritual/Pendulum Monster, Nekroz of Metaltron. As a Pendulum Spell, Metaltron can banish a S/T on the field when a Nekroz card is banished, and as a monster, it has a Quick Effect can banish itself and an opponent's monster, like an in-theme S:P Little Knight. The final new card is the most important, as Nekroz Divinemirror is a Quick-Play Spell that offers an effect that Ritual Summons a Nekroz from either your hand or your banishment. Since it is a Quick-Play Spell, this can be used on either turn, Ritual Summoning anything from Trishula to a Nekroz of Unicore in a pinch. Plus, it's GY effect doesn't require you to control no monsters to banish itself and a Nekroz monster to search out a new Nekroz Spell Card!
Alright, now that you've met the new stuff, let's talk about how this theme finally can make good use of the Zefra monsters. First up, the Nekroz have a really cool Level 11 Ritual I've always wanted to use: Nekroz of Sophia. Sophia can only be Ritual Summoned using 3 monsters on the field with different Types. When Ritual Summoned, it can banish all other cards on the field and in the GYs, but you cannot Summon or Set during the turn you used that effect. With their new Quick-Play Ritual option, summoning Sophia during the opponent's turn is easy, so all that's left is amassing those 3 Tributes. So, I've turned to a few great Zefra options, like the Rock Shaddoll Zefracore, the Psychic Ariel and Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica, and the Wyrm Zefraxi, Treasure of the Yang Zing. Combine this with the Spellcaster and Warrior Nekroz monsters, and you should have what you need to unlock Sophia. Even if you don't have the right combination, Sophia can also be discarded alongside a Nekroz Spell to prevent either player from Special Summoning from the Extra Deck during that Main Phase. In many cases, this can entirely shut down an opponent who relies on the Extra Deck to establish field presence, as you'll see in the replays! Anyways, hope you enjoy my initial take on the new Nekroz cards, and if you don't, well I'm sure I'll be covering them again in the future!
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