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General Description:
Tragoedia is a lot like Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, hitting the field after you take battle damage. Unlike Gorz however, it doesn't have a set attack, and that's a big problem. You can't be sure that it won't hit the field with 1200 or even 600 attack, making it just another card for the opponent to run over. Therefore, it only works in decks that can either maintain a large hand, or have the ability to replenish their hand very quickly. Draw power and advantage are essential to using Tragoedia correctly.

The difference between a simplified and complex game state gives the best contrast concerning Tragoedia and Gorz. In a complex game state, there are more cards on the field and in the hand, benefiting Tragoedia for a number of reasons. First of all, Tragoedia will likely have a higher attack (as long as a player isn't overextended on the field) and secondly, a player can better make use of Tragoedia's effects to take control of opposing monsters or synchro summon.
Conversely…in a simplified game state Tragoedia is about as useful as Kuriboh. With little attack, it can't get much done, let alone turn the tide in the duel like Gorz can. In fact, Gorz thrives on a simplified, clear field game state. The opponent might have nothing at the time to stop two new monsters that have suddenly hit the field at virtually no cost to you. Then again, Gorz ONLY works in a game were you at least have no cards on the field. This is one reason why Gadgets can use Tragoedia so effectively; they are masters of turning a simple game into a complex one by building card advantage quickly. Gadgets are also very effective at simplified game states with strong, versatile monsters like Kycoo and Thunder King Rai-Oh. As mentioned earlier, generating hand advantage is necessary for Tragoedia to be used.

Thankfully, Tragoedia has a few things going for it that make hand advantage easy to come by. First of all, it's a dark, so assuming you have a good number of other darks in your deck, you can easily run Allure of Darkness. Secondly, Tragoedia works in a way that allows you to expend few resources out of your hand to establish field control. Mystic Tomato is particularly helpful; summon it, and watch as your opponent attacks, only to Multiply your card presence by summoning another dark monster AND Tragoedia. Play goes back to you, and you're ready to draw, give Tragoedia and extra 600 attack, and then steal, synchro, or sweep their field.

There's also Cyber Valley to look at, a big advantage generator on its own, but becomes an even greater draw engine with stealing effects like Brain Control, Mind Control, Mark of the Rose, and of course, Tragoedia. It hardly needs to be said that removing an opponent's monster from play for Cyber Valley's second affect is much better than removing one of your own, but I'll say it anyways…or, did. Moving on, Cyber Valley is a great way to stall while gathering cards in the event that your hand is a bit depleted when you need to call upon Trag. Say, you overextended and have only two cards in hand. Cyber Valley can end their battle phase, and put an extra card in your hand during you next turn (and give another 600 attack point to Tragoedia).

Another interesting way to better abuse Tragoedia is to use cards that simply add more cards to your hand. In a previous article I talked in depth about advantage, and especially on the idea of good or bad advantage. That is, having more cards means nothing if those cards are dead or otherwise ineffective in the current situation. When talking about beefing up Tragoedia however, it's all about the numbers and not the cards themselves. Cards like Thunder Dragon, Salvage, and Volcanic Shell become extremely useful. You can easily see the OTK potential in a deck running several of these cards and a full set of Tragoedia. Understandably it's a bit conditional, but still, it's another option if it works with a particular deck.

Finally, it should be mentioned that there is one other draw option that can greatly help any deck running Tragoedia. Imagine facing down a field full of monsters with only three cards in hand. Their first monster attacks, and you immediately summon Tragoedia, with only 1200 attack (two cards in hand)! Normally, this would simply cause you to lose your monster to the next attack, but instead, you flip Reckless Greed, boosting Tragoedia to 2400! Its tricks like these that make Tragoedia less dead draw and a more consistent advantage generator.

Synchro Mastery:

If there's one thing that Tragoedia does best, it's enabling synchro summons. The card is essentially a special summon-able, level changing Brain Control on legs. It's synergy with Mystic Tomato continues when Tomato searches out a tuner like Gale, allowing you to easily get out Black Rose Dragon or Blackwing Armor Master next turn. This of course works the same with all recruiters, but if you don't want to tune off your own Tragoedia, remember you can always borrow one of your opponent's.

OTK stopping power:

If anything can be said about Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness and Tragoedia, it's that they have amazing OTK-stopping potential. In a format rife with big swarms with Lumina, Shura, Vayu, or Mezuki/Zombie Master, it's incredibly important to be able to stop attacks from multitudes of small monsters or synchros. The two best cards for that purpose are Threatening Roar or Waboku, but Tragoedia and Gorz have something else to offer besides simple attack negation. That something is game-changing advantage. Playing Gorz is usually a sure-fire way to end the battle phase…and is the reason people now attack with weaker monsters first. Tragoedia doesn't have quite the same stopping power, but it serves a similar purpose by walling attacks. OTKs can easily be stopped even if Tragoedia doesn't quite have the attack to face up to the stronger attack monsters. If it IS strong enough however, expect the opponent to try and get rid of it immediately after the battle phase.

The ‘other' Gorz:

I've compared Tragoedia to Gorz quite a bit throughout this article, but in the end, it comes down to one thing: whether or not you run too many cards that stick on the field, not doing anything. This includes cards like Dimensional Fissure, Black Whirlwind, Field Spells, or other cards that do nothing to stop attacks, and have a habit of being that one card that prevents you from summoning Gorz. In situations like this, Tragoedia is not the better option, it's the ONLY option, and one of the reasons it works so well in decks like Blackwings and Lightsworns (when they side Royal Decree).

Tragoedia is one of the best cards this format, preventing OTKs, building advantage, and enabling game-changing plays. Its synergy makes it an easily teachable into most decks, more so than Gorz, but that comes with a price: its inconsistencies when faced with low hands or simplified game states. Still, in a smart deck that can maintain hand advantage, and make synergistic use of Tragoedia, it becomes an extremely rewarding card to run. Until next time then.

Ways to counteract it:
Divine Wrath
Doomcaliber Knight

Strengths/Pros:
Solemn Judgment and Thunder King Rai-Oh cannot negate this card.
Good effect.
Easy synchro summon.

Weaknesses/Cons:
If you control no cards in your hand, it's attack is 0.

Variations:
In JUMP

Artwork and aesthetics:
I like it very much.


Overall rating:
8,50.