ST-01 Evo-Crushinators of Doom

DM-01 + DM-02

This is the beginning! This is where we all get started!

The first two sets of Duel Masters just go so well together, man.
DM-01's establishes a phenomenal aesethic with great base gameplay,
and then DM-02 introduces creature Evolution, a living, breathing mechanic.

Anyone who hasn't played the game before really can't go wrong with DM-01 and 02;
everything in here is a solid mix of simplistic but bearing the potential for interesting combos,
and they feature so many classic mainstays like Deadly Fighter Braid Claw, Bronze-Arm Tribe, Holy Awe, Crystal Paladin and Chaos Worm.

The biggest missed opportunity as I see it was having both of a Civ's evolutions be for the same race;
Had they been different, it would've necessitated taking inventory of a wider variety of Creatures as potential evolution-bait.
Obviously more races get Evolution cards in later sets, but it's a flaw that limits ST01's potential to be self-conclusive,
as anyone going by DM02 alone will likely wonder what else could be done with the mechanic when applied to other races.

Just Right

The first thing that leaps out to me about this combined set is a healthy lineup of 1-cost Creatures.

Braid Claw there is an iconic turn 1 play for Fire's rush strategy,
and Marrow Ooze and La Ura Giga are both perfect means of early defense,
characterised very nicely to their Civilization.

Artisan Picora and Black Feather then demonstrate an understanding of non-Mana requirements,
helped along by Black Feather having more power for the tradeoff of a harsher cost.
Artisan Picora can be summoned on turn 1, whereas Black Feather can't, lest it self-sacrifice.

Emerald Grass and Senatine Jade Tree are the next steps up from La Ura Giga,
rightfully stepping up in 10-power increments relative to their cost.
Personally I'd have preferred this build be a race thing for Guardians, but it's fine.

Speaking of which, by complete chance, Gran Gure's amount of Power is perfect:

Speaking of sensible continuations, Onslaughter Triceps has the correct power for its cost(s),
bearing in mind that non-Blocker 1-cost Creatures start at 0 Power,
3-costing Triceps starts at 30 and gains 20 more from burning Mana.

Rothus is an extension of Black Feather's sacrificial effect,
with an additional effect that it does on-summon.
Checking the ups and downs in Power:
50 ¦ 4 cost
80 ¦ Sacrifice
70 ¦ When Summoned...
40 ¦ ...opponent sacrifices

Can we check if the opponent having to make a sacrifice is priced correctly?

...Yes, we can! And it's perfect - checks out at 30 Power from a (non-trig) 3-cost.
Oh yeah, I suppose I didn't establish that yet, but luckily DM-01 has sound examples.

Miele does Solar Ray's effect when it is summoned,
which checks out in the same way I described on Rothus.

"Shield Trigger on Spell adds 1 to cost" isn't outright proven within these sets,
but it's alluded to given that, like Crimson Hammer, Tornado Flame's cost when accounting for Shield Trigger
corresponds to the amount of Power it can destroy - 2 for 20, 4 for 40.

This gets confirmed way later via Phantom Dragon's Flame.

Deck-searching effectively establishes a couple of things;
Terahorn identifies the When Summoned price as a strict 10 and then further costs relying on the effect itself,
and the distinctions between the three Spells shown here show that the Creature/Spell distinction doesn't differ in cost,
and removing that distinction in favour of any type of card costs an additional 1.

You can see much of the same thing at work here with Graveyard access.
Phal Eega is costed as if it did Dark Reversal on summon, only with Spells instead of Creatures.
A Creature that moved a Spell from Graveyard to Mana would have the exact same stats as Thorny Mandra,
and a Spell that retrieved any kind of card from your Graveyard would cost 3.

My boy Bolzard happens to be the perfect example for an effect happening on Attack;
It's slower than When Summoned and so doesn't pay any additional cost,
just that of the effect as it is, made apparent through Mana Crisis.

Bronze-Arm Tribe is just a classic card - absolutely perfect and indesputably iconic for the game.
Fighter Dual Fang I like because it's not only a natural extension of Bronze-Arm Tribe, cementing mana ramp as a Beast Folk thing,
but it also happens to be perfect for my interpretation of how evolutions work.

My own evaluation is that Evolutions that come from a specific Race equate to a standard Creature that costs 2 more than they do.
Fighter Dual Fang costs 6, meaning his starting costs equates to 8 on a standard:

He taps into Advantage Tax as well - the black piano keys that come between stacking effects,
costing 1 Mana or 10 Power for every cumulative effect, be it the same one multiple times or different ones.
Speaking of which...

Right, so at some point I absolutely would've classed Aqua Hulcus as Too Hot.
The logic of course being that When Summoned costs 10, and then drawing a card costs 10.
It certainly seems logical as Brain Serum is properly priced - if not self-evidently,
then certainly because of its younger brother, Energy Stream.

Nobody under the sun would ever say that Energy Stream needs to be any cheaper;
It's a card that completely justifies itself in just about any deck, let alone Water ones.
Why then is it appropriate for Aqua Hulcus to have a When Summoned effect like this, with only 10 power as an expense?

To my reasoning, it's because a Spell card that allowed you to draw 1 card would be useless;
Whatever you get as a result of it might as well have been in the place of that Spell card, if you get me.
Drawing 2 cards at a time is justified for offering genuine card advantage, hence its pricing being proper at 3.

Two DM01 Creatures kinda related to Aqua Hulcus in some way:
Poisonous Mushroom is easy enough. It's an effect that wouldn't be worth 10 Power + When Summoned tax,
really I have no difficulty imagining a 1-cost Spell with Shield Trigger that does this.

Illusionary Merfolk is interesting because it's the first successful foray into Multipliers.
This would be what it wracks up in cost normally:

My starting Power for 5-cost Creatures is 60, Merfolk has 40,
meaning that it crammed a 60 Power effect into a reduction of 20 Power.
Basic maths can tell you that's a x3 Multiplier for having a Cyber Lord present,
which sets a useful prescedent for fixing the other attempts at it within this set.

These two don't really have comparable Spells to try and derive some other idea of cost,
but honestly they both just seem reasonable on their own.

Saucer-Head Shark starts at 60 Power, down to 50 through When Summoned,
and the remaining 20 matches the amount of Power that's subject to his mass-removal.
Presumably it'd make just as much sense pricing a mass-bounce of 70 or under on summon at 80 Power, if you wanted to.

Crystal Paladin is a 4-cost Evo, which starts him off at 80 Power.
Shimming off 10 for When Summoned means mass blocker bounce costs 20 Power.
I could see a Spell that does that costing 2, sure! 3 with trig is even more believable.
Considering the difference when pricing up Blockers with any old Creature...
Actually, let me show you!

I mean, look at that - a fucking 4-mana difference depending on whether something's a Blocker or not,
I think Crystal Paladin's thing is pretty justified.

All three of these ring true.
Note how Death Smoke is 1 cheaper than a trig-less Terror Pit (which exists!),
given that it only targets untapped Creatures. All good!

Terror Pit in itself is a classic Darkness card
probably the best example of what the Civ can do to turn situations around using the game's signature mechanic.

Light and Fire feature their own iconic reversal of fortune Spells.
I love how well-drawn the Civilizations are at this point and how they have unique methods of shutting the enemy down.
Holy Awe in particular rivals Terror Pit as the most infamous Shield Trigger card - it's just perfect.

Lost Soul is one where... I mean perhaps I could've classed it as Too Hot. Maybe.
I know the Duel Masters browser game knocked it up to costing 8,
but I mean... nah. Maybe I've just seen its worst potential too few times.
I guess there's other takes out there that'd price it at 8, I just say keep it as is.

Teleportation bewilders me since it's appropriately priced...
but they didn't add Shield Trigger and make it Water's definitive Rare Spell trap.
Fine I guess, it's just weird that's not what they went for.
Maybe they figured it'd be too powerful? But I mean they made Spiral Gate OP anyway so I couldn't say.

Alright, just a few more loose ends now for Just Right!

Kipo's effect is interesting since the Rothus-like mutual tithe does nothing to affect his Power.
Heck the only reason Bombersaur isn't also here is because of my creative difference with the original game,
where Duel Masters proper asks 5 as a cost for 50 starting Power, I only ask 4.

We've got these three boys who are all eating well from 10 Power,
varying degrees of usefulness obviously but I doubt anyone would want these effects any cheaper or any more costly.
They're doing fine!

Candy Drop appraises Unblockable at -20 Power,
which makes sense since there's other takes on Unblockable that are more specific,
such as only being unblockable by those with less power, which is priced perfectly at half that for it being unlimited.

And lastly we've got Bone Spider, with a simple +20 for falling to bits after battling.
I know Bloody Squito's the more renowned bearer of this effect, but his maths are off.
I doubt anyone would argue this effect on its own is worth more, considering a sacrifice nets you +30.
You're fine, Bone Spider.

That's it for the ones that got it right!
Next, we'll have a look at what could make the cut under other circumstances.