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Cashing In On Kasha
Jason Grabher-Meyer
10/28/2009  this article! - or -
[Article discussion now available to all readers!] 
Talking to vendors at SHONEN JUMP Championship Austin, there were a number of stand-out cards that they just couldn't keep in stock. Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor, Destiny Draw, “Anything Lightsworn” – most of the top-sellers weren't surprising. But one standout got my hopes up – Kasha. Vendors were selling out of it all day long, and I headed into Day 1 ready for some hot Zombie action. And I mean that literally, since Kasha is a big ol' wheel on fire.
But that hot Zombie action never materialized. It's not that Kasha was failing in the field, it just seemed as if virtually no competitors were actually playing it. My guess is that sales of the card were made to prospectors, loading up before the anticipated Zombie boom that will come with the release of Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary in Hidden Arsenal. And I don't blame those prospectors. Kasha's currently available for as little as $12 online, and that's a steal for what this card offers. Having clocked some experience with Kasha myself, both playing in the OCG overseas and in recent testing stateside, it's kind of mind boggling that so many people are disregarding the potential in this card. Don't believe the naysayers. You might hear people talking about how Kasha's “hard to summon”, “a dead card”, “can't get you card advantage”, or that it “works against what the deck wants to do.” It just isn't true. In reality the card is exceptionally easy to get out, and thanks to some handy rulings it's actually exceptionally difficult to counter. Let's look at what makes it so good, starting with how you can summon it. Setting Up The Summon In order to summon Kasha, you need to have at least two Zombie-type monsters on the field. Once the summon is successful, you'll shuffle those Zombies back into your deck. It's easy to look at that condition and compare it to a double tribute summon, but since Kasha itself is a special summon, it's totally different. The combos that can let you unleash Kasha generally fall into two categories: ones that require your normal summon, and ones that require a special summon instead. For instance, Pyramid Turtle, Spirit Reaper, and even larger Zombies like Ryu Kokki or Malevolent Mech – Goku En can, when summoned, easily ensure that you have a Zombie on the field headed into your next turn. When that happens, all you need to do on the turn that follows is normal summon any Zombie, and you'll be locked and loaded to Special Summon Kasha. Alternatively if you control Zombie Master, you can discard a monster to special summon a second Zombie. Doing so is especially sweet if the Zombie you special summoned was Bone Crusher, in which case you'll destroy a spell or trap card for free, then Kasha back the Crusher before you lose it in the end phase. You can remove Mezuki, use Book of Life, resolve Il Blud's effect, or swipe a monster with Paladin of the Cursed Dragon or Doomkaiser Dragon's effect, to get those two Zombies you need. Plaguespreader Zombie will let you turn any card in your hand into a second Zombie for Kasha, and when you resolve Kasha's effect you'll shuffle that card off of the top of your deck while placing Plaguespreader Zombie back into your deck – instead of removing it from the game. Actually summoning Kasha isn't a challenge in the slightest. The real trick is ensuring that Kasha makes as big of an impact as possible, either winning you the game when it drops, or creating a big swing in card presence. The fact that Kasha can do both is what makes it so deadly. Playing For Card Economy If you're going to play Kasha as a mid-game card then you probably won't be aiming to attack for game then and there. Instead, you'll be looking to send back the minimal number of Zombies from your side of the field (that's two, if anyone needed a reminder), while shipping as many monsters as possible from your opponent's. If you can send two monsters back to your opponent's deck, you're likely breaking even in card presence while seriously messing up your opponent's tempo. If you can send back more than two monsters, you start racking up those sweet, sweet +1s. Since your opponent can control up to five monsters at any given time, and you only need to give up two monsters to send them all back to the deck, you can really make out like a bandit if the cards fall in your favor. And they often will. Back in the days of Monarchs and Thousand-Eyes Restrict, it was uncommon to see three or more monsters on one side of the field at a given time (Sheep Tokens really don't count). But the times have changed, and with plays like Lumina + Garoth leading competitive metagames it's actually quite common to encounter fields that you can take advantage of with Kasha. Confronted with walls like Pyramid Turtle or Necro Gardna, many opponents will throw down multiple monsters just to try and break through your defenses. Attempts at making game can be rebuked by Threatening Roar as well, leaving your opponent wide open next turn. Playing for Damage Sometimes though, card presence doesn't even matter. If an opportunity for a win is there, then victory is your main concern, and Kasha's ability to open the doors for huge damage (and its potential to stymie defensive plays) becomes your main priority. If you're looking to chalk up a win with Kasha there are generally two ways to do it: plays that have you committing extra Zombies early to buff Kasha's ATK, and plays that flood the field after Kasha clears the way. With cards like Book of Life, Mezuki, Plaguespreader Zombie, and Zombie Master in dedicated Zombie decks, you can stack on a lot of damage after you wipe away the opposition. Even less themed-out builds can pack Dark Armed Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer, and throw them down after clearing defending monsters. The damage each monster contributes will range from 800, 1100, or 1200 on the low side (in the case of Plaguespreader, Goblin Zombie, or Pyramid Turtle respectively), to 1700, 1800, or 2000+ on the upper end (Mezuki, Goblin Zombie, or any number of big hitters). You'll also diversify your total ATK to play around Necro Gardna. You unlock that potential by reserving as many summons as possible for after you resolve Kasha's effect. This should be pretty obvious. However, you can always summon up to four of those monsters before you Special Summon Kasha too, and the benefit there might not be quite so easy to spot. Committing Zombies to the field just to send them back to the deck will only result in 1000 damage per monster (as each Zombie contributes just 1000 points to Kasha's total ATK), but sometimes that's the right move. If you're sure that your plays can be made safely, and your opponent is at or below the 4000 or 3000 Life Point thresholds, then juicing up Kasha's ATK instead of throwing down more monsters after resolving Kasha's effect, is actually the way to go. The reason? If your opponent is holding Gorz the Emissary of Darkness or Tragoedia, then an attack with a 2000 ATK Kasha and a supporting cast of other Zombies might not be enough to win the Duel. Finishing your opponent off in one swing is far cleaner, and removes the possibility of an out that you can't predict. This ability to play around cards like Necro Gardna or Gorz leads into one of Kasha's biggest strengths, which we'll discuss in depth later on: it's really good at playing around defensive cards. Sticking it Where The Summons Don't Shine But before we touch on that, let's reflect first on the third big advantage of playing Kasha. Not only can Kasha set you up to deal huge damage and kick out big swings in card presence, but it can also just mess up some of the most popular special summon tricks in the game. Take Lightsworn: sending Lightsworn monsters back to your opponent's deck is infinitely better than destroying them for two reasons: Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner and Judgment Dragon. Keeping Lightsworn monsters out of your opponent's graveyard means fewer targets for Lumina's effect, and can keep Judgment Dragon out of the game. If your opponent has an on-field copy of Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn or Blackwing Armed Wing, sending them back to the deck will keep them from becoming graveyard fodder with Vayu later on. This can force your opponent to chain Icarus Attack (clearing the back row and leaving him open to an immediate Zombie rush), or it can just wipe the field and weaken the Blackwing player's mid-game. Icarus Attack as a whole is very interesting when we're examining Kasha, because while Icarus Attack can destroy Kasha or destroy the Zombies that would allow it to be Special Summoned, such plays are almost always a 2-for-2 or a 3-for-3 at worst, and Zombie decks love to see big numbers of cards taken out of the game like that. With fewer cards on the table or in players' hands (what we call a “simplified” game state), their ease of access to big attackers courtesy of Mezuki and Book of Life gets even better. Can't Stop The Hot Ride! But with all that said, my favorite thing about Kasha may be the one factor Duelists have overlooked the most – it's virtually unstoppable. If your opponent has Solemn Judgment set, Kasha is like the world's greatest Synchro monster. Like in the case of a Synchro summon, Solemn Judgment can be activated to negate the summon of Kasha. But the difference between a Synchro summon or tribute summon, and the special summon of Kasha, is that if Kasha's summon gets negated you keep the monsters you would've given up. Sending monsters back to your deck is an effect, not a cost, so if your opponent activates Solemn Judgment they pay half their life points and give up their best counter card in what amounts to nothing but a 1-for-1 trade. You can still normal summon, you can still special summon other monsters, and winning just became twice as easy. Bottomless Trap Hole can't even touch Kasha, because its ATK isn't determined until its effect resolves. That effect starts a chain with priority when Kasha's successfully summoned. Since chains resolve backwards, the effect that would determine Kasha's ATK won't do so until after the point at which Bottomless checks Kasha's attack points. When Bottomless would make its check, Kasha's ATK is still going to be a Question mark, so Bottomless won't do anything. Even Torrential Tribute gets hosed. If I special summon Kasha controlling two Zombies, and you control two other monsters, then responding with Torrential Tribute means we'll each lose three cards. I'm then free to pound you with further normal or special summons. If you controlled more than two monsters, I'm scoring a plus in terms of card presence. Not even powerful defensive Synchro monsters like Blackwing Armor Master, Colossal Fighter, or Stardust Dragon can stand up to Kasha's effect. While all three Synchros defend themselves in different ways, none of their abilities protect them from being sent back to the extra deck. Kasha cleaves through them like butter. I think once people figure out how good this card is, it's going to make a big impact. It definitely won't be a $12 card anymore, so if you're a Zombie fan, pick yours up now. It even works with Trade-In since it's Level 8, and as Zombies become more and more popular (and the Zombie mirror match becomes more relevant), it's going to get even stronger. Remember, Kasha's effect grants it 1000 ATK for every Zombie monster it sends back to the deck – including your opponent's Zombies. Thanks to Goblin Zombie, playing Kasha is as simple as adding just a single copy to your Zombie deck, so give it a try. As long as you can spot the right times to use it (or create those opportunities yourself through clever play), it can be a truly earthshattering card. -Jason Grabher-Meyer |
   
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