Today we have Green Erlking Zomba, the Wood Noble!

As you would expect from one of the Nobles, Zomba is quite a diverse and powerful card. 6HP and an Attack Power of 3 make is resilient and strong enough to take out most low-level cards in a single hit, but what really makes this card interesting is its special abilities. When you play Zomba, you are forced to make a choice: playing him on a Non-Wood Field gives him the Lancer Attack Pattern, allowing him to cause even more damage to enemy cards, while playing him on a Wood Field forces him to use the Standard Attack Pattern, but gives him the Field Bonus, and a very potent discard ability. As long as you keep Zomba alive on a Wood Field, every time one of your other cards is destroyed your opponent has to discard a card. This by itself is a very useful ability, as it forces your opponent to either concentrate on destroying Zomba himself, which might take some time with the 8HP he’ll have on a Wood Field, or accept the discards he’ll have to make, which will quickly add up and limit his options quite severely. However, if used in a deck specifically designed to force your opponent to discard cards, Zomba becomes their worst nightmare. When used with cards like the Leapfrog Bandit, your opponent can find themselves discarding their entire hand is just a couple of turns – a very bad position for him to be in.

If you should find yourself in the unfortunate position of having your opponent play Zomba against you, you should endeavour to destroy him as quickly as you can, as he is a very dangerous card regardless of which function he is being used for. The best way to neutralise him is to use a Fieldquake against him (or alternatively, a Field Exchange), in order to rob him of the discard penalty and his Field Bonus – if you can get him onto an Earth Field in the process, this will make your life much easier too. The Elven Death Dancer is especially well suited for this job.
You might also consider using a Beguiling Fog (or some other method) to rotate him so that he’s facing the board edge – his Activation Cost is low enough that your opponent might last out with him while you are trying to destroy it, and this might end badly for you if Zomba is using his Lancer Attack Pattern.
Once you’ve neutralised him, hit him with the most powerful cards you have to dispose of him quickly – remember, your opponent can just as easily Fieldquake/Beguiling Fog as you, to turn him back into a threat.
That said, if your opponent is running a Mana-heavy deck, he probably won’t have the Mana to spare to using activating Zomba, so in that case, a single Fieldquake to block his discard ability should be sufficient. You’ll just have to use your own judgement to determine whether or not it’s worth it.

If you want to ensure that Zomba keeps his discard power active, try placing a Lesser Granvenoa next to him to protect him from Fieldquakes. This will force your opponent into trying to tackle his full 8HP.

So, there you go. Green Erlking Zomba can easily become a very large thorn in your opponents side, either through damage or through discards. With some careful planning and some good timing, he can very easily help you win the game.

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Trade for this card at the Eye of Judgment Card Manager

Out of all of the nobles, which is considerd to be the most poerful/best?

Does anybody know where any actual official information about the February expansion for the Eye of Judgment is?

The one card I've been wanting from the set, and I don't have it yet. I'm anxious to see what kind of discard tricks will be available with the next expansion. The meta game will be heating up.

If the Guardian Watchtower is any indication, there should be new Ancients in the expansion...

Has anybody else noticed that all of the Nobles are ridiculously large, in comparison to other creatures? When Crucible King Dios IV magic attacks, there are frame-rate problems!

Green Erlking Zomba is superb with Leapfrog Bandit and as I have personally found with Blackhood Dwarf Vulitra. The majority of the time, the bottom wood field is flipped to destroy the effect/monster of Samurai Nagirashu which in itself weakens the usability of further Samurai with only 1 wood field remaining, as well as Elven Rider, however gives BDV a discard ability of 3 cards when he is destroyed. This combo with GEZ discards four, and it is excellent to suicide some monsters e.g. skeleton soldier to gain 2 mana and make opponent discard a card. Good card all round once tried out properly!

I am quite fond of this little beast- high defense, reasonable offence and a great ability to boot! Obviously used in conjunction with a discard deck is the main tatic with this baby, but it's usable even as a place holder, and the lancer attack while on a non-wood field makes this a terrifically versatile card.