Card Discussion: Hippo

ENTERTAINMENT


Today, I would like to introduce a few cards related to Performapal Hip Hippo.

Hip Hippo may seem underwhelming, but it receives incredible support in the form of a token-spawning card - Super Hippo Carnival.

Special Summon 1 "Performapal Hip Hippo" from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard, then you can Special Summon as many "Hippo Tokens" (Beast-Type/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) as possible, but they cannot be Tributed, and monsters your opponent controls cannot target monsters for attacks for the rest of this turn, except "Hippo Tokens". You cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck while a "Hippo Token" is in a Monster Zone.

Summoning the tokens is optional, and should you choose to do so, it is a card capable of providing an immediate plus four with manageable drawbacks. Tokens can be easily gotten rid of with the help of Kuraz the Light Monarch or even in a Metalfoes deck. The former can turn these tokens into draw power, and even be integrated into a Metalfoes deck. At worst, they are a wall that grants you a nice defensive countermeasure lineup if needed.

You can summon Hip Hippo from the deck, grave or hand, meaning that you can play three copies of Super Hippo Carnival and still be able to enjoy its effect thrice in the game.

Hip Hippo also provides the easy summon of a Level7, if you end up drawing into it and normal summoning it, and since we are on the topic of Metalfoes, another option for Kirin's replacement is the notable Mist Valley Apex Avian which happens to be a Level7. You can also tech it Monarch Stormforth to ease the tribute summon cost of your monsters.





The summoned monster isn't banished at the end of the turn, unlike Emergency Teleport, which is limited. Yet another reason to lean on Super Hippo Carnival. So if you choose not to spawn tokens, then it acts like an Emergency Teleport, free summon from the deck.

Tokens and Hippo itself are all EARTH. This opens up the possibility of them being abused for the sake of summoning the theoretical EARTH counterpart of the True Dracoruler series. Hippo alone, in the absence of the tokens, can also be used for a synchro summon of Naturia Beast, as it fulfills its synchro material requirement.

There also exists a retrained version: Hippo Carnival.

Special Summon 3 "Hippo Tokens" (Beast-Type/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0), but they cannot be Tributed. You cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck while a "Hippo Token" is in a Monster Zone. For the rest of this turn after this card resolves, monsters your opponent controls cannot target monsters for attacks, except "Hippo Tokens".
Hippo Carnival doesn't require the participation of Hip Hippo himself, and thus in terms of deck space required, is a better choice.
It is unlike Super Hippo Carnival as its token can still be tributed, and is a much more better wall since it forces your opponent to attack the Hippo tokens.

It seems that Hip Hippo has the ability to propel Metalfoes into a new direction, away from the norm that players are heading towards, which relies on Guding Ariadne. Together with Kuraz and Apex Avian, it seems possible to rely on Hip Hippo as an engine. While the Gofu tokens do not possess the same restrictions, we have to bear in mind that like Level Eater and Kirin, nothing lasts forever. In another 3 months, Gofu may just bite the dust.

The hippo token engine did gain a bit of traction and fame in the TCG once, back then it was enlisted for the Monarch deck, providing themselves as tribute fodders for the deck.

Hip Hippo and its tokens are capable of allowing the user to experience a spike in field presence and remains as an available engine and option to be exploited when the time arrives. Hence, it might be wise to scout and keep a playset of it before the hype train arises.