The Grand Creators has dropped, and with it the brave token engine is finally legal in the TCG. Almost everyone will want to get their hands on this engine due to how powerful it is and how easy it is for so many decks to include it. But what makes this engine so special—and so expensive?
The engine had a very dominant presence in the OCG, and while it was touched in the recent OCG ban list, it remains a menace to be feared. The main engine consists of five cards, which I am introducing one by one below. I'm not discussing the other cards of the archetype as they are irrelevant to the engine, at least for the time being.
Water Enchantress of the Temple
is the one that searches your enabler. The card is a level three water spellcaster monster. You can banish it from either hand or graveyard to add from your deck or graveyard to your hand. It has a couple of other effects, the most relevant one that you can special summon this card from hand if you control an adventurer token. The last effect, which currently is irrelevant, allows you to place one field spell that mentions adventurer token from your deck face up into your field zone.
The fact that the Enchantress is a level three means that can send the card to the graveyard. So take note if you are playing a deck with a lot of level three monsters, such as Phantom Knights, Burning Abyss, or even Prank-Kids.
Rite of Aramesir
The second, and most important, card in the engine is the normal spell card . If you do not control a brave adventurer token, you can summon one to the field. The token itself has 2,000 attack and defense, making it a big token that is nothing to scoff at. Afterward, if you do not control , you can activate one directly from your deck, which helps you dodge cards such as . You can only activate the card once per turn, and it comes with another downside. You cannot activate the effects of monsters you control on the field, except those special summoned during the turn you activate Rite of Aramesir.
Water Enchantress and Rite are the only two cards of which one must run the maximum copies. They are the starting point of your engine and you want to see them as much as possible. If you start with Water Enchantress and meet a negate, at least you have baited out an answer and the rest of your deck can still do something.
Fateful Adventure
The continuous spell card is actually the heart and soul of your engine, even though you only want to play a single copy of it. Its first effect aims to help your adventurer token but could also be used for any other monster that has an equip card. The first time this monster would be destroyed by battle, it is not destroyed.
The card has two other very strong effects as well. The first one is an ignition effect. It allows you to add one monster that mentions the adventurer token in its text from deck to hand before sending a card from hand to the graveyard. The second effect triggers if a monster is normal or special summoned, allowing you to either add to your hand or directly activate an equip spell card from your deck that mentions the adventurer token.
Wandering Gryphon Rider
The myth, the legend, the omni-negate. is the monster you want to search via Fateful Adventure. If you control the adventurer token or no monsters at all, you can special summon it from your hand. It is a level seven winged-beast monster with 2,000 attack and 2,800 defense, but its stats rarely matter. While you control the token, when a card or effect is activated, you can negate and destroy that card by shuffling Gryphon Rider back into the deck. You can search for it again next turn with Fateful Adventure, which you will try to keep on the field to set up the recurring negate.
The effect to special summon itself is a quick effect, meaning that you could use it during the opponent's turn to dodge or after the opponent commits to a card on the field. Another thing to keep in mind is that you now control two 2,000 attack monsters without burning your normal summon. That is 4,000 damage if you can attack with them directly. Alternatively, you can go into link plays with these cards.
Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon
The last card needed in the engine is . You can equip it to a monster you control, and you can only control a single copy of the card. If it is equipped to a noneffect monster, for example the adventurer token, you can target and bounce one card the opponent controls. This effect is very relevant as it helps you outplay some floodgates such as , , and many other cards that do not let your deck do what it wants to do.
The card itself is difficult to get rid of as long as you control an adventurer token. Let's say your opponent manages to destroy it and send it to the graveyard. In that case you can simply equip it back to your token. Both effects of Dracoback are limited to once per tun, same as with the rest of the cards mentioned above. However, a recurring card that can keep bouncing the opponent's cards is something that your opponent will need to worry about a lot as it comes in addition to the omni-negation of Gryhon Rider. After all, this is also something that you can establish again and again.
How to Stop the Engine?
One way is to stop the effect of from resolving and searching . Personally, I would not negate the Enchantress at this point as it could be a bait. Since players want to run three copies of each card, there is a probability that Rite of Aramesir is already in the opponent's hand. It is kind of the same dilemma with , , and . You can negate any of the first two and the opponent will have the other pieces in hand anyway.
It would be better to negate the effect of to search . The opponent would lose out on an omni-negate but could still search for Dracoback to have a potential bounce. On the other hand, because it is not a small engine, there are some players who decide to cut down on Rite of Aramesir and use just a single copy in a bid to both save deck space as well as limit future potential bricks.
What Decks Can the Engine Fit Into?
Any deck that doesn't need monsters that activate their effects the turn they are normal summoned is a good deck to include the engine. Off the top of my head, Prank-Kids, Phantom Knights, Eldlich, even Dragon Link, and something such as Spirals all qualify. Phantom Knights in particular will be scary this format, while Eldlich can use the engine even though the deck will for sure now run three as they can turn it off on demand. Prank-Kids as a one-card combo deck will be able to protect its fragile plays from hand traps.
Do I Dare Ask About the Price?
The engine is incredible, and I would suggest to pick it up if your deck can play it. However, the price of the engine will discourage a lot of people. Currently Rite of Aramesir and Water Enchantress are both hovering around the €45 mark, which is a lot. You could go for a cheaper and more compact version by only getting one Rite of Aramesir, which will save you a decent amount of money but might somewhat affect the engine's consistency. Only time will tell if the prices go down. If you want to pick up collector rare versions of the card, your wallet will protest even more, and let's just leave it at that.
Let us know in the comment section in which other decks you intend to use this engine!
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily Cardmarket.
