A Shell of a Life

Hey, guys and gals

This week's been pretty crazy and I want to thank you all for the incredible amount of support and feedback that I've received on my first post. It's been humbling to say the least, and for those of you who really know me, I'm anything but.

But I digress, let's get right to it.

1. The Current Trend
YCS Toronto decklists were released this past week, one Shaddoll list in particular played an interesting choice for their Light monster, causing an old common to spike to $7+. Of course, I'm referring to Outstanding Dog Marron. Now, I admit that it's cute, and it's neat to never run out of Light targets for Shaddoll Fusion. That being said, I prefer the use of monsters that do something, whether it be the Lightsworn engine, the Artifacts (my personal preference), or the Thunder Dragon route. I'll be addressing my opinion on Marron from a financial standpoint later in this article.

2. Speculation Targets
My target for this week is an older card, Volcanic Shell, I'm only talking about the Ultimate Rare versions though.
This card seems like a good bet because of the November release of The New Challengers and with that, the release of El Shaddoll Egrystal. The card reads:
Level 7
Fire
Rock/Fusion/Effect
ATK 2450 DEF 1950
1 "Shaddoll" monster + 1 FIRE monster
Must first be Fusion Summoned. During either player's turn, when your opponent would Special Summon a monster(s), if you have a "Shaddoll" card in your hand: You can negate the Summon, and if you do, destroy that monster(s), then send 1 "Shaddoll" card from your hand to the Graveyard. You can only use this effect of "El Shaddoll Egrystal" once per turn. If this card is sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap Card in your Graveyard; add it to your hand.
With this card added to the already powerful Shaddoll deck, you're going to need consistent access to Fire monsters. Volcanic Shell gives you that, because once you get one to your grave, for the cost of 500 LP, you have one per turn. This card reminds me of Thunder Dragon, a card that Patrick Hoban has already praised, in the way that it fetches more copies of itself to guarantee that you'll have a fat hand full of fusion material.
This card seems like a safe bet because it's from Force of the Breaker, a set that was released over 7 years ago and has already had Ultimates spike to crazy prices at the mention of future support. (Remember Gravekeeper's Commandant, Harpie's Queen, and Archfiend General?)
You can get playsets of 1st ed. Ultimates for roughly $14 currently and when's the last time you saw one in a binder?

3. What to Dump
You guessed it, this is where I'm addressing my opinion on Outstanding Dog Marron. Like I said, it's cute, but $7+ for a common played as a one-of in one version of a deck that I have to imagine topped on the back of the deck itself and not its pilot's tech choice. But Lyle, what about Vanity's Emptiness, that's a common that's worth upwards of $30? Vanity's is played as at least a two-of in each of the Big Three this format. As I said before, Marron is a one-of. Keep one for yourself if you really feel like playing it. Dump the rest. Immediately.

Keep the juice flowing,
Lyle