Sufficiently Advanced M. Maestro - Quantum Mech

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"Sufficiently Advanced M. Maestro - Quantum Mech" is

* DARK/Level 9/Machine/Effect/ATK 2800/DEF 3200

Must first be Ritual Summoned by a "Sufficiently Advanced" card/effect. Your opponent cannot Tribute this face-up card on the field, and cannot target it with card effects. Up to twice per turn, if this Ritual Summoned card has remained face-up on the field: You can reduce this card's ATK by the ATK of 1 face-up monster on either field until the endphase, then Tribute that monster to activate 1 of these effects; ~This card gains ATK equal to the ATK of 1 monster in your GY or banished until the endphase. ~Special Summon 1 monster from your GY or banished. Once per turn, if this card was Summoned by the effect of "Sufficiently Advanced M. Maestro - Cryptic Mech", or using that card as Ritual Material, you can activate this effect with no cost.

## Design Notes

"Sufficiently Advanced M. Maestro - Quantum Machinist" has nearly the same name as "Sufficiently Advanced M. Maestro - Cryptic Mech". Additionally, it has the attribute, level, and original stats of Dark Sage, while Cryptic Machinist has the same attribute, level, and original stats of Dark Magician. The previous names "Cryptic Machinist" and "Quantum Machinist" were meant to evoke the same sense of name as "Dark Magician" and "Dark Sage" in the same way all Advanced M. pairs are meant to evoke the name of famous Spellcaster monsters throughout the series. The current names of "Cryptic Mech" and "Quantum Mech" are a slight retreat from this previous position to enable "Sufficiently Advanced M. Maestra - Cryptic Mechanist" to have a longer name in the manner of Dark Magician Girl.

Quantum Machinist is the only "Sufficiently Advanced" Ritual monster to have a level two higher than that of its listed precursor monster.

It can be summoned in conditions similar to those Dark Sage, though it is not limited to being summoned in this manner, and the conditions are described on the precursor monster instead of itself. In a reverse manner, summoning Quantum Machinist in this manner requires the player to have the precursor monster destroyed in a manner that leaves the user's field empty, as opposed to using such an effect on the opponent.

### Effect

Quantum Machinist has a form of built-in protection, but it is required to have been Ritual Summoned and have been kept face-up to obtain and maintain use of its activated effects. This prevents some easy manipulation, such as with its own effect resurrecting another monster and then tributing and resurrecting itself, or refreshing such as with Book of Moon.

The effect of Quantum Machinist features the same sort of ability as Cryptic Machinist has, to tribute the opponent's cards as the cost to activate an effect. Whereas Cryptic Magician must target the tributed card (and so is prevented from tributing cards that cannot be targeted, such as Quantum Magician) and necessarily requires you to have at least one other card in your possession, it has a bit more latitude in some ways, in that it can target any type of card for tribute, including a Spell or Trap card, and can add a card from the deck to the hand. However, its effect can only be activated once while it is face-up, and only adds or returns cards to the hand.

For comparison as to the effect's length, "Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing" has an effect past 7 lines (with a more awkward justify, albeit) in the standard template's margin in visual edit mode if you exclude its Synchro material text line.

### Wording

#### References

"Must first be Special Summoned by" allows the use of Monster Reborn and other cards after the initial Ritual Summon. As a matter of balancing and reuse, Quantum Mech does not have access to its activated effects if summoned by Monster Reborn, but Quantum Mech is nonetheless a beatstick and a wall that cannot be tributed or targeted by the opponent's cards regardless of the method of summon.

"Your opponent cannot Tribute this face-up card on the field, and cannot target it with card effects" - This is the same effect and wording as found on Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair.

"You can reduce this card's ATK by the ATK of 1 face-up monster on either field until the endphase, then Tribute that monster to activate 1 of these effects" - an incredibly powerful effect in the right circumstances, in which Quantum Mech can eliminate weaker monsters the opponent controls without an attack and in a manner the opponent can't prevent once the effect is activated, and, if the effect resolves, the player's field or Quantum Mech itself can actually become stronger in the process! As well, the effect can be activated twice a turn! The wording also allows Quantum Mech to tribute itself to use summoning effect.

"if this Ritual Summoned card has remained face-up on the field" - This effect requirement is a slightly changed version of what is found on Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing. (If I understand it correctly, Book of Moon resets Chaofeng's restriction effect particularly because it erases the referents of Chaofeng's summon. The wording is meant to create and enforce a similar restriction on Quantum Mech.

"Special Summon 1 monster from your GY or banished" - an incredibly powerful effect, and arguably so is "This card gains ATK equal to the ATK of 1 monster in your GY or banished until the endphase", but the effect is kept mostly in check by the Sufficient Advanced deck's strict constraints.

## Strategy Notes

Quantum Magician can be very powerfully augmented regardless of which Sufficiently Advanced Ritual Spell is used to summon it.