St. JoanLight, Level 7, [Fairy/Fusion]
ATK: 2800, DEF: 2000
LON-045, Common
"'The Forgiving Maiden' + 'Marie the Fallen One'"
Here's the first Fusion monster I've reviewed, and it's one of the ones I happen to like AND actually own. My favorite and probably the most playable is Black Skull Dragon. But like most nice cards I like, it costs $50 as a single and is out of print otherwise.
St. Joan is actually rather remarkable for a common card. I pulled two complete fusion sets for her out of back-to-back Labyrinth of Nightmare boosters. Getting two Lv 4 defenders, two cards with some burn deck potential, and two powerful fusion monsters that use those two cards together is a pretty nice pull, I think.
Let's take a moment to talk about St. Joan's material monsters, since those are usually what determine a Fusion monster's playability. The Forgiving Maiden is a level 4 defender, with 2000 DEF and a searchable ATK. She's a Light Fairy, and her effect allows you to Tribute her in order to bring one of your monsters that was destroyed during the same turn to your hand. Even if you don't use her effect, her other properties can be useful. Marie the Fallen One is fairly poor for use as a monster, as she is Level 5 with only 1700 ATK. However, she's a Dark Fiend, and her effect, which gives you 200 LP at each standby phase when she is in the Graveyard, has immense combo potential. Also, her DEF of 1200 is searchable.
Both of these monsters (as well as St. Joan herself) are fodder for the ever-popular but soon to be banned-out-of-existence Chaos decks, and Marie the Fallen One has potential for use in LP-gain-based burn decks. Get two or three Marie the Fallen One in your Graveyard while Fire Princess is in play and your opponent is going to really feel the heat. So, it is these kinds of decks that might consider throwing in St. Joan when playing casual. She's also good for Fairy decks, being one of the more powerful monsters of that Type (though perhaps now partially eclipsed by her Effect Monster cousin, Guardian Angel Joan).
Fusion is slow, but very fun. I'll give St. Joan a 4.5/10 general rating for being powerful, fitting into a lot of decks, and for actually being accessible to the low-budget player (at least before LON was discontinued). For decks where her material monsters can tightly integrate, she probably deserves at least a 5 or maybe even as high as a 7. Eh, I'm not very good at rating cards. Just give her a try some time, I guarantee you'll enjoy it.