One Card Review: 

Goddess of the Treasured Mirror, Ohirume

Oracle Think Tank, Grade 3

Firstly, may I preface this review by telling you what a fan I am of the Oracle Think Tank clan. I've suffered in the trenches, back in the days when Amaterasu carried the clan, Coco threatened to steal focus, and Tsukiyomi just went ahead and stole it.

These days, with the advent of G-Set 1, Oracles have finally been given some much needed support (although still, not quite enough), and it makes you wonder: How is CEO Amaterasu doing?

In answer to that question, she's doing okay, but not great. It pains me to say it, but while Ohirume gives Amaterasu most of the toys she needs (a 11000 Power body, a soul charging mechanic and the slightest chance of an (essentially) free couple of draws) these toys are inherently flawed.

The soul charge isn't all that helpful anymore, as it's main usage is clearly to set you up for the Amaterasu MegaBlast, but it doesn't make a lot of difference. By the time you're able to set up the 5 draws, you'll most likely be approaching deckout. Think about it, with the 2 Trigger Checks per turn (3 if you're striding- hell, 5 cards taken from the deck if you're striding Takemikazuchi) and the 3 Soulcharges from Amaterasu and Ohirume, and you're draining resources, pushing you to Legion more...and for what? A situational Megablast? Soul cards that are either outclassed by Susanoo, or cards that the deck simply has no room for (Euryale)?

Another aspect to consider is the starter. Imperial Shrine Guard, Hahiki supports the soul, uses up one of the counterblasts you have an abundance of, and lets you dig a little into your deck for a card, while Little Witch, LuLu sets up Legion, also gives you a card, and forgives the awkward moments when you have to ride a perfect guard, by removing it from your soul, allowing it to become part of the deck when you Legion. Lulu is usually the better choice, so you don't have to drop too many cards in hand early game simply to Legion, but she resets you at 0 soul, so if you're intent on using that megablast, or have some kind of turbo hand refresh strategy that relies on the soul count - Faithful Angel and Oracle Guardian, Blue Eye.

The Unflip is nice, but annoyingly, Oracles find themselves with a drought of generic counterblasting units. Stellar Magus and Diviner, Kuroikazuchi can net you some cards in hand, and with Ohirume's support they can work for longer than you'd anticipate. The Unflip is nice here. As for choosing between Stellar and Diviner, I personally find Diviner to be more reliable, since as long as he's boosted, he's gonna give you that card, long as you get at least one stride in early.

Another aspect that hurts Ohirume is simply a matter of timing. The Stride Step is before the Main Phase, meaning, that you  miss the chance to perform Legion, or you miss out on the Scry Amaterasu gives you. Missing the Legion essentially pushes you back two turns away from getting that Scry, as due to timing again, Amaterasu will not give you that check during the turn you Legion, as you missed the moment. As the check is relatively important for being forewarned (Crits for Silent Tom, useful cards to be drawn with Stellar/Diviner), this hurts the deck.

The 11000 Body, however, is good. Coupled with the +4k boost Amaterasu gains so easily, it makes the Legion hit naturally for 25k, and then hit harder for 32-33k when boosted by a standard 7k/8k booster. As 32k forces at least 25k guard (and when boosted by that Little Cutie, that's a 25k guard on Crossrides), Ohirume &Amaterasu hit pretty hard, and will force Perfect Guards, or will eat your opponent's hand. And this is before the ladies hand off to Silent Tom, who will really put your opponent in a tight spot.

So, to summarize, the Pros and Cons of Ohirume:

Pros
1. 11k defence is staple
2. 25k-33k power, basically for free, is very welcome
3. The unflip in tandem with Stellar/Diviner is fine
4. The odd occasion the draw effect actually works is nice

Cons

1. Soulcharging leads to no real advantage

2. Stride timing hurts the deck, and there's not a great deal that can be done about that

3. Apart from Silent Tom, the deck has no other real pressure- you just have to outlast them

4. The other many occasions where Ohirume's drawing skill falls flat leaves her effectively Vanilla

Final Verdict:

2.8/5

By no means a terrible card, but also, not quite a stellar one.

Compared and contrasted with Amon's Leader, Astaroth, it's clear that Ohirume could have been better.