[Plant/Synchro/Effect]
ATK/2,200 DEF/1,800
1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner Plant monsters
Each player must pay 1000 LP for each monster Normal or Special Summoned from their hand, except Plant monsters.
Queen of Thorns is a synchro monster from Yu-Gi-Oh!. She supports decks with plants. This synchro monster has a single effect. Queen of Thorns can impact opponents without plant monsters in their decks.
Sets:
| Release Dates: | Set Numbers: | Sets: | Rarity: |
| 11/18/2008 | CSOC-EN042 | Crossroads of Chaos | Super Rare |
| 07/25/2014 | AP05-EN019 | Astral Pack Five | Common |
| 06/04/2026 | BLGG-EN088 | Battles of Legend: Glorious Gallery | Ultra Rare |
Effect:
Queen of Thorns requires each player to pay 1,000 life points to normal or special summon a monster from the hand except for plant monsters. This effect punishes both players if they do not play plant monsters in their decks. This effect has the potential to interfere with an opponent’s strategy because he or she must pay life points to set up combos.
Furthermore, an opponent without plant monsters must carefully manage their life points. Queen of Thorns impacts the opponent’s options from the hand. He or she can afford to pay 1,000 life points for three to four summons from the hand during the early game. A player can easily pay 2,000 life points with many combos to normal summon a monster and special summon another monster. Opponents will want to remove this card from the field to avoid the danger zone of low life points.
Therefore, Queen of Thorns plays a game of pick your poison against many opponents. Most decks set up combos with a normal or special summon from the hand. Then, players can play stronger monsters from the deck or extra deck. Some players will be forced to pay the 1,000 life points or they can slow their decks by setting a card on the field.
An opponent can avoid the effect of Queen of Thorns in a number of ways. An opponent can set a monster from the hand. This tactic is not a normal summon, and the opponent’s face down monster can protect his or her life points. However, this tactic greatly slows down a deck because the opponent cannot immediately activate the effects of his or her monster for their benefit.
Furthermore, you can avoid paying life points from this effect in a pure deck of plants. Queen of Thorns does not inflict damage when any player summons a plant monster from the hand. She does not hinder your deck’s strategy. You can continue to play normally in most circumstances.
Synchro Summon:
Queen of Thorns requires one tuner monster and one or more non-tuner plant monsters as synchro materials. Plants have many tuner monsters. This monster type has a variety of strategies to synchro summon this synchro monster.
Rose Princess and Twilight Rose Black Knight can synchro summon Queen of Thorns in a single turn. You can discard Rose Princess and add White Rose Cloister from the deck to the hand. Then, you may normal summon Twilight Rose Black Knight and Twilight Rose Black Knight special summons Rose Princess from the graveyard. Your field now has these two effect monsters with a total level of six. You may use Rose Princess and Twilight Rose Black Knight as synchro materials and synchro summon Queen of Thorns!
Play these cards to synchro summon Queen of Thorns.
- Rose Princess
- Twilight Rose Black Knight
Support:
Queen of Thorns is a generic card. She fits best in pure decks with plants. First, you will never pay life points to normal or special summon monsters from the hand. Second, plants have generic support and fit in decks with Black Rose Dragon in the extra deck.
Black Rose Dragon is an effective synchro monster to pair with Queen of Thorns on the field. This combination of monsters counters any opponent with the intention to set monsters face down to avoid Queen of Thorns’ ability. Black Rose Dragon changes an opponent’s monster in defense position to face up attack position, and reduces the opposing monster’s attack points to zero.
White Rose Cloister is a field spell card for plants and synchro monsters. This spell may add 1,000 ATK to Queen of Thorns if you correctly guess the type of card on top of your deck. Queen of Thorns will have 3,200 attack points and can overcome strong monsters such as Red Dragon Archfiend.
Play these cards with Queen of Thorns.
- Black Rose Dragon
- White Rose Cloister
Support: Special Summon
Plants have support to special summon Queen of Thorns from the graveyard. An opponent may send this card to the graveyard. You have options to regain access to this card. Many cards can special summon plants from the graveyard.
For instance, Gigaplant, Miracle Fertilizer, and Plant Food Chain may special summon Queen of Thorns from your graveyard. Miracle Fertilizer is one of the best options because it is a spell card and faster than the other options. You may activate Miracle Fertilizer to special summon Queens of Thorns from the graveyard.
Play these cards to special summon Queen of Thorns!
- Gigaplant
- Miracle Fertilizer
- Plant Food Chain
Matchup: Advantages
Queen of Thorns has advantages against many decks. Most archetypes do not have plants. Many decks in modern Yu-Gi-Oh! special summon monsters from the hand.
For instance, Queen of Thorns is an effective monster against decks with Link monsters. Decks such as Dragon Link must normal or special summon monsters from the hand to the field. They require these monsters as material for Link Summons. These players will be paying 1,000 life points for the normal and special summons from the hand to be able to play their strategies.
Queen of Thorns is also an effective card against Six Samurai. Six Samurai normal summons and special summons monsters from the hand for combos. Queen of Thorns will force the player to pay 1,000 life points. The archetype’s fusion monster, Secret Six Samurai – Rihan requires on contact fusion. The synchro monsters from the archetype require synchro materials on the field. Therefore, players with Six Samurai must normal or special summon monsters to the field for fusion summons and synchro summons.
Matchups: Disadvantages
Queen of Thorns has two weaknesses. She does not have an inherent effect for protection from card effects. She is not an effective card against decks with methods to special summon cards from locations other than the hand. Most decks with fusion monsters can avoid damage from her effect. Some cards can special summon monsters from deck or graveyard.
For instance, an opponent can activate an effect from a card to destroy Queen of Thorns or negate her effect. Cards such as Raigeki can destroy this synchro monster. Infinite Impermanence negates the effects of Queen of Thorns and is a great option when your field does not have any monsters at the start of your turn.
Furthermore, Elemental HERO can consistently counter Queen of Thorns. The archetype plays cards such as Polymerization to summon fusion monsters from the extra deck. A player may activate Polymerization from the hand and use fusion materials from the hand instead of the field. Then, the fusion monster such as Elemental HERO Sunrise can destroy Queen of Thorns by battle.
Card Rating:
Overall, Queen of Thorns is an effective card in decks with plant monsters. Her effect punishes the opponent and forces them to pay life points to normal and special summon monsters from the hand. She is a good choice for a synchro summon against particular opponents. Decks with plants can consistently play this card from the extra deck. Therefore, I recommend playing a copy of Queen of Thorns in your deck.
Card Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
