Number 16: Shock Master
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3 Level 4 monsters
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to declare 1 card type (Monster, Spell, or Trap); that type of card (if Spell or Trap) cannot be activated, or (if Monster) cannot activate its effects, until the end of your opponent's next turn.
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Can Be Found In: Collectible Tins 2012 Wave 2 (CT09-EN014), Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha April 2012 (JUMP-EN060)
In a card game where even the simplest plays can lead to powerful setups, negation effects are of big importance to stop them before is too late. A Deck with the proper hand and resources can easily achieve their best outcomes from the very first turn, going from summoning powerful creatures to achieving an OTK. Negating effects and other actions is the best way to deal with most strategies, stopping vital cards of the opponent's plans so we can be on the lead afterwards as they try to recover from the losses or restrictions.
"Number 16: Shock Master" was the first Xyz Monster to gain a banned status in the Forbidden List, as the card alone is able to shut down entire builds with its mere pressence on the board. By detaching a material "Shock Master" allow us to declare a card type, and until the oponent's next turn the chosen targets will be unable to use their effects. This goes from nullifying the activation of Spells or Traps, to negating the use of monster effects no matter what player is using them. So overall "Shock Master" will most likely aim towards the opponent's cards even though affects our own, allowing us to perpetually restrict the use of a particular type of card and thus efficiently stop entire strategies at cost of a single material detached.
The only true obstacle "Shock Master" has to deal with is that requires three materials for its arrival, but as a Rank 4 monster there's really no much difficulties to be summoned right from our very first turn thanks to the many Level 4 creatures with very simple summons of their own. "Photon Thrasher" Special Summons itself if our field has no monsters becoming a great way to start the setup, "Tin Goldfish" comes to the field along another monster from our hand, and "Kagetokage" summons itself when a Normal Summon happens. Other cards like "Summoner Monk" and "Rescue Rabbit" instead summons monsters from our Deck with their effects, only requiring a third material afterwards. There's also other options which allow us to swarm the field with materials, going from Pendulum Summon monsters from our hand or Extra Deck to cards like "Soul Charge" bringing several monsters at once from our Graveyard. Some archetypes have it even easier to bring "Shock Master" on time, like Harpies assisted by cards like "Harpie Channeler" and "Hysteric Party", to Six Samurai gathering together as Special Summon each other without any difficulties. In resume, despite its slightly expensive Xyz Summon, "Shock Master" has more than enough opportunities to be on the field without much effort required.
All the work "Shock Master" needs to do is to predict the opponent's cards at the moment to completely stop any options until our next turn. Even though the opponent is still able to summon monsters and use permanent effects, shutting down cards' effects of a particular kind can and will completely cripple entire Decks and allow us to play freely without any counters for as long "Shock Master" is on the field. In most circumstances we will choose Spells and Monsters as they are more prominent for all sorts of purposes, but if the opponent's field has a heavy backrow choosing Traps will place us in a safe position once we need to finish them off. Obviously "Shock Master" effect will affect ourselves, but in most circumstances we will activate it once we played our own cards and shut down the opponent's turn until our next turn starts, or play along continuous effects like "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" and "Imperial Order" as they won't be affected by the Xyz Monster. Be aware that since the opponent is still able to summon freely might be able to bring out a stronger monster than "Shock Master", so try to have countermeasures like "Compulsory Evacuation Device" or "Honest" depending of the type of card we choose to negate its effects.
With a slightly expensive yet easy to obtain Xyz Summon, "Number 16: Shock Master" comes to the field without any difficulties yet with three materials able to stop entire Decks for atleast three turns. Even though stops our own cards there's really no problem if we play normally and use "Shock Master" afterwards, making the opponent struggle for their whole turns as we repeat the cycle for as long this monster has materials. With several materials gathering together for its summon and the high potential to ruin entire strategies as soon we know the opponent's Deck, "Shock Master" has all the reasons to remain banned from the game.
Personal Rating: S
+ Negates the effects of a type of card until our next turn
+ Very easy to summon
+ Able to shut down entire Decks with the correct choice
- Our own cards will also be negated unless we play them before using its effect
- Below average stats
Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his,[a] and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. 6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” 8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. 13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” 15 And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.”
31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.
36 [b] Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38 As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses.
41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” 42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.
Footnotes
a. Numbers 16:5 Septuagint 'The LORD knows those who are his'
b. Numbers 16:36 Ch 17:1 in Hebrew
Numbers 16
Numbers 16:1 Then Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.
Numbers 16:2 And they rose at the face of Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, chosen from the collection, well-known men.
Numbers 16:3 They collected themselves together against…
Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them."
Cloak of Humility | Pride & Humility by C. H. Spurgeon
A Sermon (No. 97) Delivered on August 17, 1856
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark
Proverbs 18:12 | Before his downfall a man’s heart
is proud, but humility comes before honor.
INTRODUCTION:
Almost every event has its prophetic prelude.
It is an old & common saying, that "coming events cast
their shadows before them;" the wise man teaches us
the same lesson in the verse before us.
When destruction walks through the land, it casts its
shadow; it is in the shape of pride.
When honor visits a man's house, it casts its shadow
before it; it is in the fashion of humility.
"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty;"
pride is as surely the sign of destruction as the change
of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain, &
far more infallibly so than that.
"Before honor is humility," even as before the summer,
sweet birds return to sing in our land.
Everything hath its prelude.
The prelude of destruction is pride, & of honor, humility.
There is nothing into which the heart of man so easily
falls as pride, & yet there is no vice which is more
frequently, more emphatically, & more eloquently
condemned in SCRIPTURE.
Against pride, prophets have lifted up their voices,
evangelists have spoken & teachers have discoursed.
Yea, more; the everlasting GOD has mounted to the
very heights of eloquence when he would condemn
the pride of man;
& the full gushing of the Eternal's mighty language has
been most gloriously displayed in the condemnation
of the pride of human nature.
Perhaps the most eloquent passage of GOD's WORD
is to be found toward the conclusion of the book of
Job, where, in most splendid strains of
unanswerable eloquence,
GOD hides pride from many by
utterly confounding him;
& there is another very eloquent passage in the
14th chapter of Isaiah, where the LORD's holy
choler seems to have risen up,
Isaiah 14:1-5 | For the LORD will have compassion
on Jacob & choose Israel once again. HE will settle
them on their own land. The foreigner will join them
& be united with the house of Jacob. The nations will
escort Israel & bring it to its homeland.
Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as
menservants & maidservants in the LORD’s land.
They will make captives of their captors & rule over
their oppressors. On the day that the LORD gives
you rest from your pain & torment, & from the hard
labor into which you were forced, you will sing this
song of contempt against the king of Babylon:
How the oppressor has ceased, & how his fury
has ended! The LORD has broken the staff of the
wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
& HIS anger to have waxed hot against the
pride of man, when HE would utterly &
effectually condemn it.
HE says concerning the great & mighty
king of Babylon,
"Hell from beneath is moved
for you to meet you
at your coming [Isaiah 14:9]
it stirs up the dead for you, even all the
chief ones of the earth;
Numbers 16:29-33 | If these men die a natural death,
or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has
not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something
unprecedented, & the earth opens its mouth &
swallows them & all that belongs to them so that they
go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these
men have treated the LORD with contempt.”
As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the
ground beneath them split open, & the earth opened its
mouth & swallowed them & their households—all
Korah’s men & all their possessions. They went down
alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed
over them, & they vanished from the assembly.
it has raised up from their thrones all the kings
of the nations. All they shall speak & say to you,
● Have you also become weak as we?
● Have you become like us?
Your pomp is brought down to the grave, & the
noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you,
& the worms cover you.
How have you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning!
● How you have been cut down to
the ground, which also weaken
the nations?
For you have said in yours heart, I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of GOD:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,
in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet you shall be brought down to hell,
to the sides of the pit.
They that see you shall narrowly look upon you,
& consider you, saying, Is this the man that made
the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms."
Mark how GOD addresses him, describing hell
itself as being astonished at his fall, seeing that
he had mounted so high;
& yet declaring, assuredly, that his height &
greatness were nothing to the Almighty, that
HE would pull him down, even though, like
an eagle, he had built his nest among the stars.
I say there is nothing more
eloquently condemned
in SCRIPTURE than pride,
& yet there is no trap into which we poor
silly birds so easily flee, no pitfall into which,
like foolish beasts of the earth,
we so continually run.
On the other hand, humility is a grace that
has many promises given to it in SCRIPTURE.
Perhaps most promises are given to faith,
& love is often considered to be the brightest
of the train of virtues;
Yet humility holds by no means
an inferior place in GOD's WORD,
& there are hundreds of
promises linked to it.
Every grace seems to be like a nail on which
precious blessings hang, & humility has many
a mercy suspended from it.
"He that exalts himself shall be abased, &
he that humbles himself shall be exalted;"
"Blessed are the poor in spirit;"
& in multitudes of other passages, we are reminded
that GOD loves the humble, but that HE
"brings down the mighty from their seats, &
exalts the humble & meek."
Now, this morning, we shall have a WORD to
say concerning pride & humility.
May the HOLY SPIRIT
preserve us from the one,
& produce in our hearts the other.
I.] In the first place, we shall have something to say
concerning the vice of PRIDE.
"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty."
Pride, what is it?
Pride, where is its seat?
The heart of man.
And pride, what is its consequence?
Destruction.
1.] In the first place, I must try to describe pride to you.
I might paint it as being the
worst malformation of all
the monstrous things in creation;
it has nothing lovely in it, nothing in proportion,
but everything in disorder.
It is altogether the very reverse of the creatures
which GOD has made, which are pure & holy.
Pride, the first-born son of hell, is indeed like its
parent, all unclean & vile, & in it there is neither
form, fashion, nor comeliness.
In the first place, pride is a groundless thing.
It stands on the sands;
or worse than that, it puts its foot on the billows
which yield beneath its tread;
or worse still, it stands on bubbles, which soon
must burst beneath its feet.
Of all things pride has the worst foothold;
it has no solid rock on earth whereon to place itself.
We have reasons for almost everything, but we
have no reasons for pride.
Pride is a thing which should be unnatural to us,
for we have nothing to be proud of.
What is there in man of which he should glory?
Our very creation is enough to humble us;
what are we but creatures of to-day?
Our frailty should be sufficient to lay us low, for
we shall be gone to-morrow.
Our ignorance should tend
to keep pride from our lips.
What are we, but like the wild ass's colt
which knows nothing?
And our sins ought effectually to stop our mouths,
& lay us in the dust.
Of all things in the world, pride towards GOD, is
that which has the very least excuse;
it has neither stick nor stone whereon to build.
Yet like the spider, it carries its own web in its
bowels, & can, of itself, spin that wherewith
to catch its prey.
It seems to stand upon itself, for it has nothing
besides whereon it can rest.
Oh! man, learn to reject pride, seeing
that you have no reason for it;
whatever you have, you have nothing
to make you proud.
The more you have, the more
you are in debt to GOD;
& you should not be proud of that
which renders you a debtor.
Consider your origin;
look back to the hole of the pit where
you were dug from.
Consider what you would have been, even now,
if it were not for Divine grace.
And, consider, that you will yet be lost in hell
if grace does not hold you up.
Consider that amongst the damned, there are
none that would have been more damned
than yourself, if grace had not kept you
from destruction.
Let this consideration humble you, that you
have nothing whereon to ground your pride.
Again, it is a brainless thing
as well as a groundless thing;
for it brings no profit with it.
There is no wisdom in a self-exaltation.
Other vices have some excuse,
for men seem to gain by them;
avarice, pleasure, lust, have some plea;
but the man who is proud
sells his soul cheaply.
HE opens wide the flood-gates
of his heart, to let men see how
deep is the flood within his soul;
then suddenly it flows out, & all is gone-and
all is nothing, for one puff of empty wind,
one word of sweet applause-the
soul is gone, & not a drop is left.
In almost every other sin, we gather up the ashes
when the fire is gone; but here, what is left?
The covetous man has his shining gold,
but what has the proud man?
He has less than he would have had without
his pride, & is no gainer whatever.
Oh! man, if you were as mighty as Gabriel, &
had all his holiness, still you would be an
arrant fool to be proud, for pride would sink
you from your angel station to the rank of devils,
& bring you from the place where Lucifer,
son of the morning, once dwelt, to take up
your abode with hideous fiends in perdition.
Pride exalts it head, & seeks to honor itself;
but it is of all things most despised.
It sought to plant crowns upon its brow, & so
it has done, but its head was hot, & it put an
ice crown there, & it melted all away.
Poor pride has decked itself out finely sometimes;
it has put on its most gaudy apparel, & said to others,
"how brilliant I appear!" but, ah!
Pride, like a harlequin, dressed in your gay colours,
you are all the more fool for that;
you are but a gazing stock for fools
less foolish than yourself.
You have no crown, as you think you have,
nothing solid & real, all is empty & vain.
>> If you, O man, desires shame, be proud.
A monarch has waded through slaughter to
a throne, & shut the gates of mercy on
mankind to win a little glory;
but when he has exalted himself, & has been
proud, worms have devoured him, like Herod,
or have devoured his empire, till it passed
away, & with it his pride & glory.
Pride wins no crown;
men never honor it, not even the
menial slaves of earth;
for all men look down on the proud man, &
think him less than themselves.
Again, pride is the maddest thing that can exist;
it feeds upon its own vitals;
it will take away its own life, that with its blood
may make a purple for its shoulders:
it saps, & undermines its own house that it
may build its pinnacles a little higher, & then
the whole structure tumbles down.
Nothing proves men so made as pride.
For this they have given up rest, & ease, & repose,
to find rank & power among men:
for this they have dared to risk their
hope of salvation, to leave the gentle
yoke of JESUS, & go toiling wearily
along the way of life, seeking to save
themselves by their own works, & at
last to stagger into the mire of despair.
Oh! man, hate pride, flee from it,
abhor it, let it not dwell with you.
If you want to have a madman in your heart, embrace
pride, for you shall never find one more mad than he.
Then pride is a protean thing; it changes its shape;
it is all forms in the world; you may find it in any fashion
you may choose, you may see it in the beggar's rags
as well as in the rich man's garment.
It dwells with the rich,
& with the poor.
The man without a shoe to his foot may be as proud
as if he were riding in a chariot.
Pride can be found in every rank of society-among all
classes of men. Sometimes it is an Arminian, & talks
about the power of the creature;
then it turns Calvinist, & boasts of its fancied security-
forgetful of the MAKER, who alone can keep our
faith alive.
Pride can profess any form of religion;
it may be a Quaker, & wear no collar to its coat;
it may be a Churchman, & worship GOD in splendid
cathedrals; it may be a Dissenter, & go to the common
meeting-house;
it is one of the most Catholic things in the world, it attends
all kinds of chapels & Churches; go where you will,
you will see pride.
It comes up with us to the house of GOD;
it goes with us to our houses;
Let me hint at one or two of the forms which it assumes.
Sometimes pride takes the doctrinal shape;
it teaches the doctrine of self-sufficiency;
it tells us what man can do, & will not allow that we
are lost, fallen, debased, & ruined creatures, as we are.
It hates divine sovereignty, & rails at election.
Then if it is driver from that, it takes another form;
it allows that the doctrine of free grace is true but
does not feel it.
It acknowledges that salvation is of the LORD alone,
but still it prompts men to seek heaven by their own
works, even by the deeds of the law.
And when driven from that, it will persuade men to join
something with CHRIST in the matter of salvation;
& when that is all rent up, &
the poor rag of our
righteousness is all burned,
pride will get into the
Christian's heart as well as the sinner's
—it will flourish under
the name of self-sufficiency,
teaching the Christian that he is "rich & increased in
goods, having need of nothing."
Pride will tell him that he does not need daily grace,
that past experience will do for to-morrow-that
he knows enough, toils enough, prays enough.
It will make him forget he has "not yet attained;" it
will not allow him to press forward to the things that are
before, forgetting the things that are behind.
It enters into his heart, & tempts the believer to set up
an independent business for himself, & until the LORD
brings about a spiritual bankruptcy,
pride will keep him
from going to GOD.
Pride has 10K shapes; it is not always that
stiff & starched gentleman that you picture it;
Pride is a vile, creeping,
insinuating thing,
that will twist itself
like a serpent into our hearts.
It will talk of humility, & prate about being dust & ashes.
I have known men talk about their corruption most
marvellously,
pretending to be all humility,
while at the same time they
were the proudest wretches
that could be found this
side the gulf of separation.
Oh! my friends, you cannot tell how many
shapes pride will assume; look sharp about you, or
you will be deceived by it, & when you think you are
entertaining angels, you will find you have been
receiving devils unawares.
250 leaders in God’s House, renowned men of faith, rose up to assembly themselves against God’s chosen vessel. (See Numbers 16:2). They opted to align themselves with the agenda of one man instead of the agenda of God. These men built up accusations, trumped-up false testimonies against Moses and outright lies concerning Moses’ motives (Numbers 16:2-11).
To read more, visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/notes/newby-dede/aligning-with-korah/215492169636264/.
Num 16:1 Then Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.
Num 16:2 And they rose up in the sight of Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, chosen from the collection, well-known men.
Num 16:3 They collected themselves…
