I'll try and make a full article on this monster but don't shoot if I miss out some things because it's my first article ever...

So one of the monsters the Yu-Gi-Oh! players have awaited for a long time is Marshmallon

Marshmallon
PP01-EN003
Type: Fairy
Attribute: LIGHT
Level: *** (3)
Attack: 300
Defense: 500
Effect:

The controller of a monster that attacks this face-down card takes 1000 damage after damage calculation. This card cannot be destroyed by battle. (Damage calculation is applied normally)



This card will become a staple card for each deck from highly competitive to low scrap decks. The reason of this is because of his Stall-effect AND you get a Burn side-effect aswell, that jus makes this card even better. Plus he's searchable through "Sangan" and "Shining Angel". He'll be played in any kind of Burn, Fairy and Stall decks along with, as mentioned above, any other deck.
Couple of downsides thou. First of all his low stats so Pierce monsters will be highly effective against him and second, and this is why "Spirit Reaper" is still the best Stall monster, he can be switched to the opponent where "Spirit Reaper" can't (he's destroyed immediatly).

So playability in Burn deck is very likely since his side-effect is Effect Damage, it can be a very dangerous combo and take a huge bite out of your Life Points. But since he and "Book of Moon" are both Limited it won't be used that often but thank God "Tsukiyomi" is still banned (in Advanced Format) else he'd be overused and it would've been very ugly...

Fairy deck is pretty obvious since he's a Fairy so he can serve as food to Summon, and power-up "Voltanis". And in the most narrow situation where you're being swarmed by your opponent he can be searched by "Shining Angel". The only down-side is that you don't get he Burn efect, but then again "Book of Moon" can come the next turn , and that if your opponent uses a Pierce deck he won't be such a great help...

Stall deck has the same 'problems' as the use in fairy decks (the Pierce down-side) along with some others. He's not such a great Stall monster as he may seem. I admit he's low stats help him since the most Stallers are high DEF monsters but still a target by "Smashing Ground" as to where "Spirit Reaper", "Treeborn Frog", etc USUALLY evade. But if you play a LIGHT based Stall deck he can come in handy since his *** (3) Stars slip right under "Gravity Bind" or "Level Limit - Area B", so with the right equipment he could destroy some monsters.


Now to talk about his only Support card (which aplies specifically to him) "Marshmallon Glasses"

Marshmallon Glasses
PP01-EN004
Type: Continous Spell Card
Effect:

While this card and "Marshmallon" are face-up on your side of the field, your opponent cannot select a card other than "Marshmallon" as an attack target.

Will this card see competitive play, probably not. Why you ask because it's to situational I mean you could add 3 copies of "Marshmallon Glasses" but there's only 1 copy of "Marshmallon" allowed in the deck. The only sort of deck I might see the Combination of both is in a "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" ("Crystal Beast" based) deck or a "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" ("Marshmallon Glasses" based) Stall deck




Rating:
Advanced 8/10
Traditional 9/10 (thanks to "Tsukiyomi" i believe)





So guys what do think of this article??
Please tell what I forgot or should change next time!!


Greets Don Tom

Card Name: Dark Magician Girl
Card Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 6
Attack: 2000
Defense: 1700
Text: Increase the ATK of this card by 300 points for each "Dark Magician" or "Magician of Black Chaos" in either player's Graveyard.

My Review: Dark Magician Girl with an atk of 2000 and 1700 def being a six-stared monster is a monster that most people would think makes it weak. The people that thinks its weak disregard its effect to gain 300 atk for each Dark Magician and Magician of Black Chaos, which powers it up just a tiny bit. Right now our little beauty is weak without Magician of Black Chaos so for TCG it deserve a 5.8/10 for the OCG which has the Magician of Black Chaos is deserving a 8.6/10.

Alright this article is about my new favorite monster Brain Crusher. So what is this card exactly well here are his stats.

Card Name Brain Crusher
Card Type Monster
Monster Type: Insect/Effect
Attribute: DARK
Level 7
Attack 2400
Defense 1500
Text
Once per turn, if this card destroyed an opponent's monster by battle and sent it to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 of those destroyed monsters from the Graveyard during the End Phase.

Well I know what u first see in this guy. Its level 7, which means 2 tributes. Then u look at his attack power and say "I can get that with a Monarch with only 1 tribute." But wait there is good news ahead, his effect. Any time that this monster gets a whack at an enemy monster, if Crusher overpowers and kills it, u get to summon that monster in the end phase to your side of the field to do with as u see fit.

There are no rulings on this card yet but what matters is the monster that you destroy. If the monster you destroy cant be special summoned, then guess what, u dont get it. This isnt too much of a bother as few monsters in the format commonly appear with that restriction. Another thing to be aware of is that when a monster that you got through Crusher's effect is destroyed it goes back to the owner's grave. In other words, searchers (Mystic Tomato, Giant Rat, etc) and the like monsters that activate their effects in the grave will NOT benefit you and their effects will be at your opponent's disposal. So dont go failing everywhere with this monster as it can come back to bite u in the ######.

Now with that out of the way, what hope is there that he will be seen in more competitive play. Truly not much. There is only one type of deck currently semi-popular that will be able to incorporate Brain Crusher and that would be a Reasoning or Monster Gate deck. Most duelists will see the 2400atk and 2 tribute cost and toss it aside but the effect is quite nice. This is probably going to be one of the more specialized type of cards that some duelists use. So in the competitive environment, Brain Crusher gets a 3/10 and this is true in both formats.

In terms of the art of this card, it would leave u wanting. Not real good imagery on it and the colors conflict highly in design. Hmm for those with the card foil folders might want to keep this card image from the front of the folder.

Well, that does it, not much else to say. I'll add rulings on it when or if they appear.

KING DRAGUN
"Lord of D." + "Divine Dragon Ragnarok"
As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent cannot target Dragon-Type monsters for the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Monster Card. Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster from your hand to your side of the field.
ATK: 2400 DEF: 1100

Rulings
The first effect of "King Dragun" is a Continuous Effect. The second effect of "King Dragun" is an Ignition Effect.

Your opponent cannot target a Dragon-Type Fusion Monster with "De-Fusion" while "King Dragun" or "Lord of D." is on the field because "De-Fusion" targets.

"Divine Wrath" is NOT a card that targets, so "Divine Wrath" may be used against Dragon-Type monsters while "King Dragun" or "Lord of D." is on the field.

You can chain "Divine Wrath" to the effect of "King Dragun" that Special summons a Dragon-Type monster.
[Re: Divine Wrath] "Divine Wrath" is NOT a card that targets, so "Divine Wrath" may be used against Dragon-Type monsters while "King Dragun" or "Lord of D." is on the field.

[Re: Divine Wrath] You can chain "Divine Wrath" to the effect of "King Dragun" that Special summons a Dragon-Type monster.

[Re: Last Turn] "Last Turn" does not target so you can select monsters like "Tyrant Dragon" and "Fiend Skull Dragon" for its effect or a Dragon-Type monster while "King Dragun" or "Lord of D." is on the field. You can select "Spirit Reaper" and it will not be destroyed by its effect.

With the rulings out of the way, allow me to guide you all through the uniqueness of King Dragun! Firstly if anyone plans on running Dragun, you should obviously run a dragon deck because both of his effects only work with dragons. The game plan is that I will first talk about his special abilities, then move on to the various methods of special summoning Dragun out to the field and finally talk about his competitiveness, art and amine appearances.

Ok, Dragun's first ability is very similar to lord of D and cyber phoenix, however there are key differences! Firstly Lord of D sais that whenever EITHER player targets a dragon on ANY side of the field, the card automatically fails to work. With Cyber phoenix when ever EITHER player specifically designates a machine with a spell or trap that card is instantly NEGATED. King Dragun has some similarities and differences to those effects. Dragun’s effect applies only when the opponent specifically designates a dragon which means feel free to use cards like rush recklessly or whatever to pump up your dragons ATK. This is different to Lord of D and cyber phoenix because they negated your own spells and traps too. Also unlike cyber phoenix, King Dragun can also negate pesky monster effects that target dragons like that warrior monster that most decks run a pair of. What was it called again? Oh yeah exiled force! Your opponent can forget about blowing up Dragun or any of his dragon comrades with exiled force. While we are on the subject, old vindictive magician won’t be destroying any dragons while King Dragun is out on the field either. Sak armors won’t be doing too much either except just sitting there preventing the opponent to bring back their treeborn frog from their graveyard. Also ring of destruction won’t be doing too much either. How about the versatile Enemy controller? Neither effect will work on any dragon type monster while Dragun is out. Also book of moon won’t be negating any attacks from dragon type monsters. However there is a way around this. Bottomless trap hole, smashing ground and D.D warrior lady (Trap, spell and monster respectively) do not target and King Dragun and any other dragon type monster are venerable to those cards. Ok that’s probably enough for his first effect, now lets take a quick look at his second ability.

This secondary effect allows King Dragun to summon any dragon type monster from the hand to the field once per turn providing that the dragon monster can be special summoned. This second ability is pretty useful too for bringing out high level dragons for free, which can save you having to lose cards sacrificing for Dragon type monsters. I especially like special summoning hours LV6 then levelling up to 8 during the endphase. That’s all there is to that ability, no need to explain it any further than that.

Ok for a fusion monster that’s not so bad considering he packs 2 decent abilities. But there’s just one slight problem. Having to bring him out onto the field. There are a few ways of doing this. Firstly you can go with fusion subs with either lord of D, divine dragon ragnarok and/or the dark hex sealed fusion. Those 3 cards are not exactly very great on their own. Divine dragon is a vanilla monster with a mere 1500 ATK, he won’t be doing too much. Lord of D has a special ability but with his low 1200 ATK he really won’t be staying on the field for long to abuse that effect. The dark hex at least has 1600 DEF so he can withstand blows from hydrogeddons but not enough DEF for the mighty cyber dragon. Now if you wanted to run the dark hex and lord of D, feel free to throw in a trio of mystic tomato as he can search out either one of them. Also throw in a Dragon’s mirror or 2 to RFG the fusion materials from the graveyard for a free Dragun. If you really wanted to run divine dragon ragnarok and the dark hex, then throw in a future fusion to dump the 3 ragnaroks and 2 additional dragons to the graveyard for a F.H.D. The only problem is that fusion subs take up too much space for my liking. This is where the second method comes in.

Using metamorphosis on a fusilier dragon can give you an instant Dragun. Fusilier is easy to summon to the field anyway so it’s all good. The only problem is consistency. With this strategy you are only going to be able to bring out one King Dragun if you pull it off. With the first tactic you can essencially pull 2 and more consistently but then it takes too much space for my liking (then again I am running a deck that is trying to fusion summon both Dragun and F.H.D so there you go). Its times like these I wish metamorphosis weren’t limited…

Let’s move on to the competitive world. King Dragun has yet to see any competitive play… I believe this is mainly because he requires too much of an investment in space in a deck for him and players need to make every card as versatile as possible. Hopefully one day I might be able to make a competitive dragon deck but for the time being I don’t think its going to happen.

Enough on that, finally I will talk about his art and anime appearances. I personally think the picture for King Dragun owns even though some people think that they just used a glue stick to create him… King Dragun has only appeared in one episode and that’s in yugioh GX when one of Chazz’s older brothers uses King Dragun.

Well I hope you enjoyed this article and thanks for reading.

We haven't had a COTD for a while, so i decided to do three cards that are currently played a LOT.

First, we start with Cyber Dragon:
[MACHINE/EFFECT]
If there is a monster on your opponent's side of the field and there are no monsters on your side of the field, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.
Attribute: Light
Level: 5
ATK (Attack Points): 2100
DEF (Defense Points): 1600

An obviously formiddable card, Cyber Dragon can be used for it's versatility. It's effect is much like a VERY upgraded Fiend Megacyber, your opponent needs only one monster to special summon it. Being a light, this means that it is excellent in decks alongside Chaos Sorceror. Being a machine, this card also gains a lot of support. It can double it's attack via Limiter Removal or be used in a fusion via Power Bond for the other cards today.

Some of the best ways to use this card are:
1) A quick Special Summoned Beatstick on the first turn.
2) A quick Tribute Summon, special summon it then sacarfice it for Mobius the Frost Monarch, a very good tradeoff.
3) Fusion!
4) Quick direct attack, special summon it, normal summon a second monster, then wreak havoc with the two! A direct attack by it and Mechanicalchaser will bring the opponent down to 7900 if you use limiter removal!

Ratings:
Traditional: 3.5/5 Since you will constantly have monsters destroyed, this will be a first draft pick here, be careful of Yata though, dead card if they don't keep a monster on the field. Light for Chaos like Wh0a!
Advanced: 4.5/5 Aggro is VERY popular now, use these to help counter the mass rush of Berserk Gorillas and Zombyra the Darks.
Art: 3/5 Looks more like a Cyber Snake to me, still pretty good though.

Next up is the formiddable fusion, Cyber Twin Dragon:
[MACHINE/EFFECT]
{Cyber Dragon} + {Cyber Dragon} A Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above Fusion Material Monsters. This card can attack twice during the same Battle Phase.
Attribute: Light
Level: 8
ATK (Attack Points): 2800
DEF (Defense Points): 2100

Oh geez....a 2800 attack double attacker1 WHAT A RIOT! This card on it's own can cause a MASSIVE 5600 damage if it can get off two direct attacks, thow in a limiter removal and you call that GAME!

This card takes two Cyber Dragons and a Polymerization (or Power Bond!) to make, you cannot use any sort of fusion subs such as Goddess with a Third Eye, which could restrain this card a bit. However, it states this card cannot be FUSION summoned with the above monsters, this means you are still free to special summon it via The Light-Hex Sealed Fusion, Cyber-Stein, or Metamorphosis.

Ratings:
Traditional: 5/5 It's a fusion, theres no reason not to draft a fusion! If you run metamorphosis run this! Might snatch a level 8.
Advanced: 5/5 See above
Art: 5/5 Looks MUCh cooler than the other two, the red lightning works for me.

Finally, the last of the set...The CYBER END DRAGON:
[MACHINE/EFFECT]
{Cyber Dragon}+{Cyber Dragon}+{Cyber Dragon} A Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above Fusion Material Monsters. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points.
Level: 10
ATK (Attack Points): 4000
DEF (Defense Points): 2800

...wow...just....wow. a MASSIVE 4000 attack WITH trample. The new OTK with Cyber-Stein, Megamorph, Dark Hole, and Heavy Storm. This card is just awesomeness in paper form. If you use Power Bond and 3 Cyber Dragons, you have a 4000 attack monster with trample. Throw down a limiter removal on top and you have a 16,000 attack with trample! This card could put many people into misery and defeat.

This thing is the ULTIMATE anti-Scapegoat. It takes them and SMASHES them for anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 to 16,000 damage...heck even more! If you can get this monster out, you've basically won.

Congratulations to those who have. (I have ^^)

Ratings:
Traditional: 5/5 It's a fusion...no bad point in running it.
Advanced: 5/5 See above
Art: 4.5/5 I like Cyber Twin better...but this still looks mad cool on it's own.

Morphing Jar

ATK: 700
DEF: 600
Type: Rock/Effect
Attribute: EARTH
Set Name: Tournament Pack Series 4
Card Num: TP4-002
Rarity: Super Rare

FLIP: Both you and your opponent discard all cards in your hands and draw 5 cards from your respective Decks.

Rulings
If there are fewer than 5 cards in the Deck of either player when this card's Flip Effect is activated, that player will lose the Duel, since the text of this card says "draw".

[Re: Desert Sunlight] If you have a face-up Flip Effect monster, you can activate "Desert Sunlight", and chain "Book of Moon", another "Desert Sunlight", and another "Book of Moon". When the chain resolves, you will flip the monster down, then up, then down, then back up. The Flip Effect activates twice, and they wait to create a new chain after the current one resolves. For example, if the Flip Effect monster is "Morphing Jar", its effect will activate twice in a chain, as Chain Link 1 and Chain Link 2, they resolve in reverse order, and both players will discard and draw 5 cards, then discard and draw 5 cards again.

[Re: Divine Wrath] Another example: if "D.D. Warrior Lady" attacks a face-down "Morphing Jar", and activates her effect to remove both cards from play, "D.D. Warrior Lady" is Step 2 because she has an optional effect, and "Morphing Jar" is Step 1 because its effect is mandatory. So "Divine Wrath" can be chained to the effect of "D.D. Warrior Lady" to negate its effect, but not to the effect of "Morphing Jar" to negate its effect.

[Re: Gravekeeper's Watcher] You cannot activate "Gravekeeper's Watcher" during the Damage Step (such as against a "Morphing Jar" that is flipped by an attack).
[Re: Gravekeeper's Watcher] When "Morphing Jar" is Flip Summoned, you may chain the effect of "Gravekeeper's Watcher", negating the Flip Effect of "Morphing Jar" and destroying it.

[Re: Magical Thorn] The effect of "Magical Thorn" is applied when the opponent discards during the End Phase to make their hand size 6, discarding for the cost of cards such as "Tribute to the Doomed", "Cost Down", or "Judgment of Anubis", and discarding for card effects such as "Delinquent Duo", "Confiscation", "Robbin' Goblin", "Morphing Jar" and "Mefist the Infernal General".
[Re: Magical Thorn] The effect of "Magical Thorn" inflicts damage after an effect resolves. So if the effect of "Morphing Jar" is activated, the damage will be dealt after the new cards are drawn. This means if your opponent has 100 Life Points, and you have "Magical Thorn" active on the field but only one card left in your Deck, you will lose the Duel before the effect of "Magical Thorn" can deal damage to reduce your opponent's Life Points to 0.

[Re: Night Assailant] "Night Assailant"'s effect activates when sent to the Graveyard by "Morphing Jar" or "Card Destruction".

[Re: Null and Void] You cannot chain "Null and Void" to "Disturbance Strategy", "Graceful Charity", "Card Destruction", "Morphing Jar", "Mind Wipe", "Dragged Down into the Grave", or "Reload".

[Re: Peten the Dark Clown] If "Peten the Dark Clown" is discarded because of "Morphing Jar" or "Card Destruction", the last thing that happened was that both players drew cards. So the effect of "Peten" does not activate.

[Re: Protector of the Sanctuary] Most cards that would cause the opponent to draw outside of the Draw Phase, such as "Card Destruction", cannot be activated, even by the controller of "Protector of the Sanctuary". However, effects that are forcibly activated, like "Morphing Jar", can be activated (but results may vary; see below).

[Re: Protector of the Sanctuary] If "Protector of the Sanctuary" is on the field, then Flip Effects like "Morphing Jar" will still activate because they must activate when the monster is flipped (whether it was Flip Summoned, flipped by an attack, or flipped by "Book of Taiyou", etc.).

[Re: Protector of the Sanctuary] If "Morphing Jar"'s effect activates, then both players discard their hands, but if you control "Protector of the Sanctuary", your opponent does not draw a new hand.
[Re: Regenerating Mummy] "Regenerating Mummy"'s effect will activate when sent to the Graveyard by the effect of "Morphing Jar" or "Card Destruction".

Right now that all of that is out of the way, I would like to personally give my overview of this sneaky little jar. Firstly you can't just shove a morphing jar into any old deck, this monster benefits and works better in some decks than others (Obviously works well in a dark world deck) but also in other decks where dumping monsters into the graveyard (such as treeborn frog and sacred phoenix) can be beneficial. The general idea of using this card is to neutralise the cards that each player owns. So the way to maximise this monsters potential is to have fewer cards than the opponent in your hand and to also have a more cards on the field than your opponent so that when/if you are successful of launching the jar's effect, you will have a greater number of cards than your opponent, therefore having an advantage against them. There are a few combo's that you can use with morphing jar such as discarding your own treeborn frog or phoenix, or dumping monsters into the graveyard for chimeratech overdragon or dark necrofear. These decks can definitely benefit from the use of morphing jar. Also you can combine morphing jar with appropriate or forced requisition for deadly results, the latter can result in the opponent having no cards in hand. However this is not easily pulled off...

Also you want to be wary when setting your morphing jar, it is true that you want to generally empty your hand as much as possible, however at times your opponent may be able to guess your face down morphing jar due to the fact you emptied your hand... So some situations it might be better to leave a card in your hand incase your opponent noblemans, or exiles your morphing jar then follows through with a heavy storm, the probability of this happening is not huge it can still happen. Also by doing this you might be able to deceive your opponent so that they won't try to empty thier hand too which will prove useful if you do pull the jar off. There is also a bit of a mental game that you can play with your opponent, by bluffing that you have a morphing jar face down. Ok I'm not saying that you should try to empty your hand and set a random face down monster, however in specific situations a good bluffer is able to manipulate the way thier opponent's think, therefore they are able to get the maximum benefit out of morphing jar.

Morphing jar is a very tactical card to use. You need to be a very experianced duelist to know when to set a morphing jar down. If your not careful it will be the opponent who will benefit from the effect of morphing jar. In some of my dueling experiances control decks are not the type of decks you would want to throw a morphing jar into because a control deck generally tries to conserve thier resources, therefore morphing jar would theoretically be less effective in a control deck. However agressive decks that like to do plenty of duel simplifications might find a use for a morphing jar to refresh his/her hand with a reload of 5 cards. However you will most likely be giving your opponent a lot of cards too due to the constant one for one trade offs. Decks which have a lot of cards that discard from the hand (like decks that run multiple copies of lightning vortex with diamond dude or decks which run phoenix wing wind blasts in a bounce control deck and of course dark world decks) can truly abuse morphing jar because generally speaking they should be burning resources in thier hands more often than the opponent. Normally this is considered to be very bad because a lack of cards will most likely lead you to losing the duel. This is where morphing jar comes in! After using a lightning vortex set your morphing jar and when it gets flipped you refresh your hand while your opponent will hopefully be a little upset that they lost some of thier resources to the card graveyard.

For competative play, during the first duel in a match, you should be able to figure out what kind of deck your opponent runs. If your opponent is running a deck out strategy, or is running sacred phoenix or dark world, after the first duel, you should throw morphing jar out into the side deck, because you will have an increased chance of helping your opponent out when you use morphing jar. I mean it is bad enough they also get to draw 5 cards but what if you forced them to discard a bunch of dark world monsters or a sacred nephythys or even vampire lord. You will be helping out your opponent more than yourself most of the time in these scenarios. So the smart duelist will know when to side out morphing jar during tournament play.

Finally for all of those bakura fans out there who perhaps like to run a bakura themed deck, don't forget to throw in morphing jar, trusted and loyal friend of bakura! Morphing jar has had a few anime appearances in the yugioh anime, but the only episodes I remember him being in was when bakura summoned him to ''take care of these insolent fools'' and he also used three of them against yugi which was quite cool to watch.

Well this is my first article so if it is really bad or something don't go pouncing on me like a pack of wolves or anything. Thanks and I hope you enjoyed my article.

Skill Drain: Continuous Trap

Effect: Pay 1000 Life Points. As long as this card remains on the field, the effects of all face-up Effect Monsters on the field are negated.

Rulings
Paying 1000 Life Points is a cost.

"Skill Drain" negates the effects of face-up Effect Monsters on the field, but does not negate effects that activate in the Graveyard, such as "Witch of the Black Forest", "Sangan", "Mystic Tomato", "Giant Rat", "Exiled Force", "Sinister Serpent", and "Vampire Lord".
If your "Dark Flare Knight" is sent to the Graveyard while "Skill Drain" is active, its effect activates in the Graveyard so you can Special Summon "Mirage Knight" (but "Mirage Knight"'s effects will be negated once it is in play).

If your "Neko Mane King" is sent to the Graveyard by your opponent's card effect while "Skill Drain" is active, its effect is activated.

If your "Twin-Headed Behemoth" is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard while "Skill Drain" is active, its effect activates and it is Special Summoned.

"Skill Drain" will not negate an Ignition Effect or Trigger Effect if the Effect Monster is not face-up on the field when the effect resolves.

"Skill Drain" does not stop you from activating Ignition Effects, but it does negate their effects as long as the Effect Monster remains on the field. If you Tribute "Cannon Soldier" to itself while "Skill Drain" is active, "Cannon Soldier"'s effect is not negated because "Cannon Soldier" is in the Graveyard, but if you Tribute a different monster for "Cannon Soldier"'s effect, then the effect is negated and your opponent takes no damage. Likewise, if you activate "Winged Minion"'s effect while "Skill Drain" is active, "Winged Minion" is no longer on the field and its effect resolves. If you activate "Exiled Force"'s effect while "Skill Drain" is active, "Exiled Force" is no longer on the field and you can select and destroy 1 monster on the field. If you Tribute "Paladin of White Dragon" to activate its effect while "Skill Drain" is active, it is no longer on the field and you can Special Summon "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". If you Tribute "Great Dezard" while "Skill Drain" is active, it is no longer on the field and you can Special Summon "Fushioh Richie".

"Skill Drain" will negate Flip Effects, and you can chain the activation of "Skill Drain" to the activation of a Flip Effect, but you cannot activate "Skill Drain" in the Damage Step because it does not specifically modify ATK or DEF, so you cannot chain "Skill Drain" to a Flip Effect that is activated because a monster was attacked while face-down.

If you Flip Summon "Spear Cretin" while "Skill Drain" is active, "Spear Cretin"'s effect is negated when it is sent to the Graveyard because it is a Flip Effect and "Skill Drain" negates Flip Effects.

"Skill Drain" negates Multi-Trigger Effects such as "Dark Paladin" and "Ryu Senshi".

While "Skill Drain" is active you cannot Tribute a face-up "Kaiser Seahorse" to Tribute Summon a Level 7 or higher LIGHT monster. However, you can Tribute a face-down "Kaiser Seahorse".

While "Skill Drain" is active, "maintenance costs" are not negated so you still have to pay for "The Unfriendly Amazon", "Armor Exe", Archfiends, etc. However, all other costs are negated, so you do not have to pay to attack with "Dark Elf" or "Jirai Gumo".

Restrictions are also lifted, so you can attack with "Ultimate Obedient Fiend" even if you have other cards on your side of the field.

Spirit Monsters are not returned to the owner's hand while "Skill Drain" is active.

Toon Monsters' effects are negated while "Skill Drain" is active and the Toon Monster is on the field, so they can attack the same turn they are Summoned, you do not have to pay 500 Life Points to attack with them, and they are not destroyed if "Toon World" is destroyed, but they cannot attack your opponent directly.

"Jinzo" cannot negate Trap Cards while "Skill Drain" is already active, because "Skill Drain" is negating "Jinzo"'s effect. But if "Jinzo" is already on the field, you cannot activate "Skill Drain" because "Jinzo"'s effect prevents you from doing so.

When a monster's ATK or DEF are changed by its own effect, like "Slate Warrior" or "Berserk Dragon", and "Skill Drain" is activated, that monster's effect is negated and the ATK/DEF are returned to normal. Even if "Skill Drain" is then destroyed, the old adjustment to ATK/DEF does not come back. Any bonuses or penalties are lost when "Skill Drain" effect is applied, and you have to start over from the beginning.

If your opponent uses "Bazoo the Soul-Eater"'s effect to increase its ATK, and you use "Skill Drain", "Bazoo the Soul-Eater"'s ATK returns to normal, even if "Skill Drain" is destroyed after resolving. If "Skill Drain" is negating "Bazoo the Soul-Eater"'s effect, you can still pay the cost and remove monsters in your Graveyard from play, but "Bazoo the Soul-Eater"'s ATK will not increase.

"Goblin Attack Force" and "Spear Dragon" do not change their battle position after attacking while "Skill Drain" is active. If "Goblin Attack Force" attacks and changes battle position, then on your next turn you activate "Skill Drain", you can change "Goblin Attack Force" back to Attack Position because its effect that prevents this is negated.

Monsters equipped to "Relinquished" while "Skill Drain" is active are negated and destroyed because "Relinquished" no longer has an effect that allows it to be equipped with a monster, and "Relinquished"'s ATK and DEF are returned to normal.

Monsters that can hold Spell Counters, like "Skilled Dark Magician", no longer have that effect while "Skill Drain" is active, so they cannot gain more Spell Counters and all Spell Counters already placed on them are removed.

If a face-down "Kisetai" is attacked while "Skill Drain" is active, the effect of "Kisetai" is negated, damage calculation is performed, and "Kisetai" will not equip itself to the attacking monster. But if "Kisetai" is already an Equip Spell Card, and "Skill Drain" is activated, Kisetai is unaffected because it is no longer an Effect Monster.

The effects of "Zombyra the Dark" are negated while "Skill Drain" is active, so "Zombyra the Dark" can attack your opponent directly, and its ATK is not decreased because of its effect. If "Skill Drain" is destroyed, "Zombyra the Dark"'s ATK is not changed.

The ATK and DEF of "Gradius' Option", the ATK of "Maju Garzett", and similar monsters is 0 while "Skill Drain" is active, and is not restored even if "Skill Drain" is destroyed.

If "Skill Drain" is activated after "Hayabusa Knight"'s first attack, "Hayabusa Knight" does not get its second attack.
You can Special Summon "Gilasaurus" while "Skill Drain" is active, but its effect is negated so your opponent does not get to Special Summon.

Do not roll dice for Archfiends while "Skill Drain" is active.

A Union Monster that attached itself to another monster before "Skill Drain" became active is unaffected by "Skill Drain". If "Skill Drain" is active, you can activate a Union Monster's effect to attach it to another monster, but nothing happens and it remains a monster.

"Skill Drain" will not affect lingering effects or conditions that are left over from a previous effect. For example, if you Special Summon a Fusion Monster with "Summoner of Illusions", and then "Skill Drain" is activated afterwards, the Fusion Monster is still destroyed in the End Phase. If you Special Summon a Fusion Monster with "Magical Scientist", and then "Skill Drain" is activated, the Fusion Monster cannot attack your opponent's Life Points directly, and is returned to the Fusion Deck at the end of the turn.

When "Jowls of Dark Demise"'s effect is activated and resolves, and then "Skill Drain" is activated afterwards, it has no effect on "Jowls of Dark Demise"'s effect, so control of the monster does not change until it is returned to the original controller at the end of the turn.

If "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi"'s effect is activated, and then "Skill Drain" is activated later, "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi"'s effect is not negated and the opponent must discard his/her hand during their next Draw Phase. But if "Skill Drain" is active at the time "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi"'s effect activates, then the effect is negated.

Conditions for Summoning monsters is not negated by "Skill Drain", so you still must remove 1 DARK and 1 LIGHT monster to Special Summon "Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End", and you cannot Normal Summon or Flip Summoning "Terrorking Archfiend" if there are no Archfiends on the field.

You can have 2 "Gravekeeper's Chiefs" on the field while "Skill Drain" is active, but if "Skill Drain" is destroyed, select 1 of the "Gravekeeper's Chiefs" and destroy it.

[Re: Amplifier] You cannot activate a card that would cause an infinite loop because its effect cannot resolve completely. Example #1: You activate "Snatch Steal" targeting your opponent's "Jinzo". You then equip "Jinzo" with "Amplifier". You cannot activate "Imperial Order" because it cannot resolve completely (it would negate "Snatch Steal", returning "Jinzo" to your opponent, which would negate "Imperial Order" so "Snatch Steal" would re-activate). If you activate "Imperial Order" by mistake in such a situation, flip it face-down again. Example #2: you control "Jinzo" equipped with "Amplifier" and "Skill Drain". Your opponent cannot activate "Royal Decree".

[Re: Ancient Lamp] If "Skill Drain" is active on the field, the effects of "Ancient Lamp" will be negated. (Attacks will not be re-directed.)

[Re: Anteatereatingant] If you activate the effect of "Anteatereatingant", then activate "Skill Drain", "Anteatereatingant" still can't attack that turn. (Even if "Skill Drain" was chained to the effect.)

[Re: Armor Exe] If "Skill Drain" is active and "Armor Exe" is Summoned, or if "Skill Drain" is activated after "Armor Exe" is Summoned, in both cases "Armor Exe" CAN attack the same turn it was Summoned.

[Re: Atomic Firefly] "Atomic Firefly"'s effect activates in the Graveyard when "Atomic Firefly" is sent to the Graveyard at the end of the attack, so "Skill Drain" will not negate its effect.

[Re: Balloon Lizard] While "Skill Drain" is active, you can't put new counters on "Balloon Lizard".

[Re: Behemoth the King of All Animals] If you Tribute Summon "Behemoth the King of All Animals" with 1 Tribute, and "Skill Drain" is activated, its ATK becomes 2700 points. Even if "Skill Drain" is destroyed, the ATK remains at 2700 points.

[Re: Berserk Dragon] While "Skill Drain" is active, "Berserk Dragon"'s effects are negated. But "Berserk Dragon"'s effect doesn't count turns, so if "Skill Drain" was active for 4 turns, and is then destroyed, do not reduce "Berserk Dragon"'s ATK for those 4 turns.

[Re: Big Shield Gardna] "Skill Drain" only negates the effects of monsters that are face-up on the field, so a face-down "Big Shield Gardna" may still negate a Spell Card that targets it while "Skill Drain" is active on the field. It will still be flipped to face-up Defense Position, and now its effect that changes its battle position when it is attacked will be negated.

[Re: Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning] If you activate "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning"'s first effect, and "Skill Drain" is chained to it to negate the effect, or if "Skill Drain" was active before you activated the effect, you cannot attack with "Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" that turn because the activation of the effect was not negated and the condition that is included will not be negated by "Skill Drain".

[Re: Burning Algae] "Burning Algae"'s effect cannot be negated by "Skill Drain".

[Re: Chainsaw Insect] If "Skill Drain" is active, your opponent will not get to draw, unless "Chainsaw Insect" is destroyed in the battle, then its effect will activate in the Graveyard and your opponent will draw 1 card.

[Re: Chiron the Mage] The restriction that you can only activate this effect once per turn is a condition, not an effect. So if "Skill Drain" is on the field, you can pay the cost once per turn (for no effect), but not pay the cost continuously in the same turn.

[Re: D.D. Survivor] If "Skill Drain" is active when "D.D. Survivor" is removed from play, it is still Special Summoned because its effect activates during the End Phase while it is removed from play.

[Re: Dark Catapulter] If "Skill Drain" is activated, all counters on "Dark Catapulter" are removed for no effect.

[Re: Dark Magician of Chaos] While "Skill Drain" is active, the first and second effects of "Dark Magician of Chaos" are negated, but the 3rd effect is not negated.

[Re: Dark Paladin] "Dark Paladin"'s +500 ATK effect is a Continuous Effect. While "Skill Drain" is active, the effects of "Dark Paladin" are negated.

[Re: Elemental Hero Neo Bubbleman] If "Skill Drain" is active, this card is no longer treated as "Elemental Hero Bubbleman".

[Re: Elemental Hero Wildheart] For "Elemental Hero Wildheart" vs. "Skill Drain", whichever effect was active on the field first takes
precedence. So if "Elemental Hero Wildheart" is on the field and "Skill Drain" is activated, his effect is not negated. But if "Skill Drain" is on the field and "Elemental Hero Wildheart" is Summoned, his effect is negated by "Skill Drain" as long as "Skill Drain" remains on the field.

[Re: Exodia Necross] While "Skill Drain" is active, "Exodia Necross"' ATK is returned to its original 1800 points. Even if "Skill Drain" then leaves play, "Exodia Necross" does no regain any ATK increases it had because of its effect, but it will begin to accumulate ATK points again.

[Re: Exodia Necross] While "Skill Drain" is active, "Exodia Necross" is not destroyed if Exodia pieces are removed from the Graveyard, but it will be destroyed if the effect of "Skill Drain" disappears.

[Re: Fox Fire] While "Skill Drain" is active, you can Tribute "Fox Fire" for a Tribute Summon.

[Re: Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast] If you Summoned this card without Tribute, and then "Skill Drain" is later activated, the ATK and DEF are no longer halved. If "Skill Drain" is later destroyed, the ATK and DEF still remain 2800/2000.

[Re: Gear Golem the Moving Fortress] If you activate & resolve this card's effect and then "Skill Drain" is activated, you can still attack directly because "Gear Golem the Moving Fortress"'s effect is already applied and it's still applied even if "Skill Drain" is activated.

[Re: Giant Kozaky] The effect of "Giant Kozaky" that inflicts damage to the controller activates in the Graveyard or the "removed zone", wherever "Giant Kozaky" goes to after being destroyed. "The End of Anubis" will negate the effect of "Giant Kozaky" if it was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, but "Banisher of the Light" will not (because "Giant Kozaky" does not have to be "destroyed and sent to the Graveyard"). Nor will "Skill Drain" negate the damage if "Giant Kozaky" is destroyed.

[Re: Gora Turtle of Illusion] If "Gora Turtle of Illusion" is equipped with "Snatch Steal", both effects of "Snatch Steal" are negated. But if "Skill Drain" is activated, then "Gora Turtle of Illusion"'s effect is negated, and "Snatch Steal"'s effects will resolve properly.

[Re: Magical Scientist] If "Skill Drain" is activated after a Fusion Monster is Special Summoned with "Magical Scientist", the effect of "Magical Scientist" (that makes the Fusion Monster unable to attack directly and have to go back to the Fusion Deck) has been applied already, and is not negated, so the Special Summoned Fusion Monster still cannot attack directly and must go back to the Fusion Deck.

[Re: Majestic Mech - Goryu] If "Skill Drain" is active during the End Phase, it will negate the effects of a "Majestic Mech" so the "Majestic Mech" will not destroy itself.

[Re: Majestic Mech - Ohka] If "Skill Drain" is active during the End Phase, it will negate the effects of a "Majestic Mech" so the "Majestic Mech" will not destroy itself.

[Re: Majestic Mech - Senku] If "Skill Drain" is active during the End Phase, it will negate the effects of a "Majestic Mech" so the "Majestic Mech will not destroy itself.

[Re: Maju Garzett] If "Skill Drain" is active, "Maju Garzett"'s ATK is reset to 0 even if "Skill Drain" is later destroyed.

[Re: Mataza the Zapper] While "Skill Drain" is active, you can take control of "Mataza the Zapper" from your opponent.

[Re: Megarock Dragon] If "Skill Drain" is active while "Megarock Dragon" is in play, the effect of "Megarock Dragon" is negated and its original ATK and DEF are treated as zero. Even if "Skill Drain" is destroyed later, the original ATK and DEF of "Megarock Dragon" will remain zero.

[Re: Mirage Knight] "Mirage Knight" can be Special Summoned by "Dark Flare Knight"'s effect even if "Skill Drain" is active, because "Dark Flare Knight"'s effect activates in the Graveyard. However, "Mirage Knight"'s effects are negated by "Skill Drain".

[Re: Power Bond] If you Fusion Summon "UFOroid Fighter" with 3000 ATK, and then later in the turn "Skill Drain" is activated, reducing its ATK to 0, you will still take 3000 points of damage during the End Phase. If you send "UFOroid Fighter" to the Graveyard so that its effect resets and its original ATK becomes zero, you still take damage equal to its original ATK at the time it was Special Summoned by "Power Bond".

[Re: Proto-Cyber Dragon] If "Skill Drain" is active, this card is no longer treated as "Cyber Dragon". You could not use it for "Attack Reflector Unit", etc.

[Re: Raviel, Lord of Phantasms] If "Skill Drain" is activated, any "Phantasm Tokens" on the field still cannot attack. (Also, while "Skill Drain" is active, "Raviel, Lord of Phantasms" will not generate any more "Phantasm Tokens".)

[Re: Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys] If "Skill Drain" is active on the field, the effect of "Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys" that Special Summons it from the Graveyard is still activated, because it is activated in the Graveyard. However, the effect that destroys Spell and Trap Cards on the field is negated because it activates on the field (so "Skill Drain" and other Spell and Trap Cards on the field are not destroyed in this case).

[Re: Sand Moth] Even if "Skill Drain" is active when "Sand Moth" is Special Summoned by its own effect, its ATK and DEF will remained switched. (2000 ATK / 1000 DEF).

[Re: Silent Insect] If "Silent Insect" is face-up on the field, you can activate "Skill Drain" by paying 1000 Life Points, but its effect will be negated. If "Skill Drain" is active on the field when you Normal or Flip Summon "Silent Insect", its effects are negated and it will remain in Attack Position.

[Re: Skilled Dark Magician] When "Skill Drain" is active, and you or your opponent activates a Spell Card, do not place Spell Counters on this monster. Any Spell Counters that are on this monster are removed when "Skill Drain" is activated.

[Re: Skilled White Magician] When "Skill Drain" is active, and you or your opponent activates a Spell Card, do not place Spell Counters on this monster. Any Spell Counters that are on this monster are removed when "Skill Drain" is activated.

[Re: Sonic Jammer] If "Skill Drain" is activated after "Sonic Jammer"'s effect has resolved, the effect of "Sonic Jammer" is not negated because "Skill Drain" was not active when "Sonic Jammer" was flipped, activated its effect, and applied its effect.

[Re: Spirit Reaper] If "Skill Drain" is active, "Spirit Reaper" can be equiped with Equip Cards, but if "Skill Drain" is later removed from the field "Spirit Reaper" wil be destroyed.

[Re: Spirit Reaper] "Spirit Reaper" can be destroyed as a result of battle while "Skill Drain" is active.

[Re: Terrorking Archfiend] While "Skill Drain" is active, you still need to have an Archfiend Monster Card on your side of the field in order to Normal Summon or Flip Summon "Terrorking Archfiend".

[Re: The Agent of Wisdom - Mercury] When the effect of "The Agent of Wisdom - Mercury" is negated by "Skill Drain", and you have no hand at the end of your opponent's End Phase, and you destroy "Skill Drain" before your "Standby Phase" (such as with "Mystical Space Typhoon" during your Draw Phase), you CAN draw because "Skill Drain" was destroyed. This is because the "when you have no cards in your hand during your opponent's End Phase" is a condition, not an effect, so it is not negated by "Skill Drain". As long as you can make it so that "Skill Drain" is not negating "The Agent of Wisdom - Mercury"'s card-drawing effect by the time the Standby Phase begins, you can draw.

[Re: The Creator] If you activate the effect of "The Creator", and it does not resolve because the opponent chains "Skill Drain", or removes the targeted monster from the Graveyard with "Disappear", you've still used the effect. So you cannot activate its effect again that turn (even if you destroy "Skill Drain").

[Re: The Unhappy Girl] If "The Unhappy Girl" applies her effect to a monster, and "Skill Drain" is then activated and resolves, and "Skill Drain" is then destroyed afterwards, then "The Unhappy Girl"'s effect is re-applied and the monster that battled with her before "Skill Drain" was activated cannot attack or change battle position once again.

[Re: UFOroid Fighter] If "UFOroid Fighter" is on the field, and then "Skill Drain" is activated, the original ATK & DEF will be zero, and will remain zero even if "Skill Drain" is destroyed or negated.

[Re: Winged Kuriboh] Because the effect of "Winged Kuriboh" activates in the Graveyard, it will not be negated by "Skill Drain" but it will be negated by "The End of Anubis".

[Re: Winged Kuriboh LV10] You can activate the effect of "Winged Kuriboh LV10" if "Skill Drain" is on the field, and its effect will resolve normally and not be negated, because it is no longer a face-up monster on the field.


Summary:

Basically Skill Drain is the ONLY card in the game the negates any and all effects of all face-up monsters on the field when it is activated. It is also one of my favorite cards in the game

What deck to use in:

Skill Drain basically has to have a deck completely based around it in order for it to be effective. Just about ALL other decktypes have something to do with a monster effect activating, and Skill Drain would render that effect useless.

How to use in a deck:

In a skill drain deck, your objective is to take advantage of monsters that normally have high attacks, but negative effects. Such monsters include: Goblin Attack Force, Giant Orc, Goblin Elite Attack Force, Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei, Chainsaw Insect, Fusilier Dragon: The dual mode beast, The Majestic Mechs, etc. While you have Skill Drain out with any of these monsters, it negates the negative effects of them, that means a buch of free beatsticks, and the fact that the annoying MoF, CS, Mobius dont work for them.
Win-win situation for you

Disadvantages:

You have to pay 1000 lifepoints. WHOOPDY FRICKIN DOO.

it can be destroyed by m/t removal. for this you might need to pack in a few solemn judgements, maybe even fake trap or two



overall, if used correctly, can be a big help. Not a top tier deck, but effective when needed

3.9/5

TLM-EN036
Elemental Hero Thunder Giant
LIGHT/Warrior/Fusion/Effect/6/2400/1500
"Elemental Hero Sparkman" + "Elemental Hero Clayman"
This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. Discard 1 card from your hand to select and destroy 1 face-up monster on the field with an original ATK that is less than the ATK of this card. You can only use this effect once per turn, during your Main Phase.
ULTRA RARE/ULTIMATE RARE

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant is the second of the two Elemental Hero fusions in the English game. It fuses the other two Elemental Heroes currently available, Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman. What's so nice about these Elemental Heroes? Sparkman has the highest ATK of the non-fusion Elemental Hero monsters (1600) and 2nd highest DEF of the Elemental Heroes (1600), while Clayman has the highest DEF of the Elemental Heroes (2000). The only bad news? Clayman has the lowest ATK of the non-fusion Elemental Heroes (800). That?s fine, though, because if you use Chorus of Sanctuary (Field Spell Card: Increase the DEF of all monsters on the field by 500 points), their DEF values jump to 2100 and 2500, respectively. In other words, they become hard to destroy in battle. That'll help you if you HAVE to play one of the monsters to the field in Defense Position. Sparkman and Clayman also get all the benefits of the other two non-fusion Elemental Heroes, Avian and Burstinatrix, except that Sparkman looses the ability to be searched by Sangan and Shining Angel. However, Sparkman and Clayman get all the other pluses of being Warriors (Command Knight, Marauding Captain, Reinforcement of the Army, The Warrior Returning Alive, etc.). But this review is about Thunder Giant, not the Elemental Heroes, so let's get to it.

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant is similar to Flame Wingman. He's a Warrior with Level 6 and can't be Special Summoned EXCEPT by a Fusion Summon. However, Thunder Giant packs 2400 ATK and 1500 DEF, 300 points higher for each. Assuming you can power up Thunder Giant just a little bit, you can burst through frequently-played Tribute Monsters like Jinzo and Airknight Parshath, while at the same time having a high enough DEF as to protect it from Tsukuyomi destroying it after flipping it to face-down Defense Position. It gets Warrior power-ups, so it's not too difficult to get its ATK higher. "Yeah, I know. I LOVE high ATK values. That means I can attack and destroy just about anything out there." Well, that's true when battling, but this monster when used properly could take out TWO monsters in one turn (one of which IS through battle)? Interested? Read the next paragraph.

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant has the ability to destroy just about any monster by discarding 1 card from your hand! Well, kind of. As long as their original ATK is higher than Thunder Giant's current ATK, you can destroy one monster by discarding 1 card from your hand. So that means if you're looking at a Goblin Attack Force and manage to Fusion Summon this monster, you can discard that Thunder Dragon you?re not using to destroy Goblin Attack Force since 2300 is obviously less than 2400. Original ATK gets tricky. Let?s say your opponent Normal Summons their Fusilier the Dual-Mode Beast with no Tributes. By Fusilier's text, its original ATK becomes 1400. If you can get Thunder Giant out and they keep the monster at an original ATK of 1400, you can discard one card to select Fusilier and destroy it. Normally, though, you?re looking at the printed ATK on the card. For example, if Goblin Attack Force's ATK can get up to 4500, its original ATK is still 2300 and makes him a prime candidate for Thunder Giant's effect. You can only use the effect once per turn during one of your own Main Phases, but that's only fair for so powerful an effect.


Final Thoughts: Beware of cards like Thousand-Eyes Restrict, Fusilier Dragon the Dual-Mode Beast, and Black Luster Soldier ? Envoy of the Beginning. You should be easily able to take care of them, though, as long as you use Thunder Giant after those monsters are Summoned OR you can save Thunder Giant for later (Interdimensional Matter Transporter, anyone?). Just make sure you can get its ATK up above 3000, usually by either Command Knight + The A. Forces (minimum of 3200) or by a single United We Stand.


Ratings:

Traditional Tournament: 6/10. You?ll have Imperial Order to help you against Harpie's Feather Duster, Raigeki, etc. You can easily raise his ATK so you can take out just about any monster. It actually has an advantage over Chaos Emperor Dragon ? Envoy of the End. A Fusion Summon will take 3 cards from your hand and/or field. You put 1 monster on the field. You saved yourself 900 points of damage, but you'll end up adding 300 by Fusion Summoning the monster. You saved yourself 600 Life Points, which MIGHT be enough to keep you alive should Chaos Emperor Dragon?s effect occur. What hurts its tournament rating is how fairly weak the Fusion Material Monsters are, but in a LIGHT-themed Warrior deck Sparkman might prove to be formidable by itself.

Traditional Casual: 10/10. Run this monster and its Fusion Material Monsters and Polymerization in 3s in a Warrior-based Elemental Hero deck. Just make sure you carry at least 2 Magic Jammer and an Imperial Order.

Advanced Tournament: 8/10. You don't have Imperial Order, but you also don't have to worry about Harpie's Feather Duster, Raigeki, etc. Again, raising ATK is easy, especially in this format. It holds no advantages over Chaos Emperor Dragon since Chaos Emperor Dragon is banned. Just watch your timing on activating this card?s effect. This monster gets 2 additional points because none of the 3 monsters (Sparkman, Clayman, Thunder Giant) are easily succeptible to being attacked after Tsukuyomi might flip them face-down, unlike some of the more popular monsters used in Chaos decks.

Advanced Casual: 10/10. See my Traditional Casual rating. Instead of Imperial Order, though, add in 1 more Magic Jammer since Imperial Order is banned.



My next CotD Review: Brain Control, this Friday (7/15).

TLM-EN038
Brain Control
Normal Spell
Pay 800 Life Points. Select 1 face-up monster on your opponent?s side of the field. Take control of the selected card until the End Phase of the turn this card is activated.
SUPER RARE/ULTIMATE RARE

My Card of the Day is one that you're fairly familiar with if you watch the Anime. Yugi uses this enough times to consider it a Yugi card. It's called Brain Control. In the Anime, it was a Quick-Play Magic Card that allowed the player to take control of one monster on the field for the rest of the turn. It was always used on face-up cards, so I don't think anyone expected that the real card would be much different. Turns out some of us were wrong.

The Brain Control found in The Lost Millenium varies from the Anime card in that you must pay 800 Life Points to activate the card. This isn't exactly a steep cost. I mean, people pay 1000 Life Points for Delinquent Duo. It helps you out even more if you use it in a Spellcaster-Type deck that uses Spell Economics (Continuous Spell Card; Effect: You do not have to pay any Life Points to activate a Spell Card). This would essentially give you a free Change of Heart effect. However, you probably won't play Spellcaster/Dark Magician until Dark Magic Curtain comes out in English (Normal Magic Card; Effect: Pay half of your Life Points. Special Summon a Dark Magician from your Deck. You cannot Summon any other monsters during the turn in which this card is activated.) to give you a free Dark Magician Summon. However, in current Spellcaster decks that might revolve around Sorcerer of Dark Magic, the Spell Economics + Brain Control combo makes a great way to get Dark Magician Girl or Chaos Command Magician or the upcoming Cybernetic Magician card out onto the field more easily (Cybernetic Magician; LIGHT/Spellcaster/6/2400/1000; Effect: Discard one card from your hand. The ATK of one face-up monster on the field becomes 2000 until the End Phase of the turn this effect is activated.) for Sorcerer of Dark Magic while at the same time getting rid of an opponent?s monster. You could use it in a Direct Damage deck that uses Toon Cannon Soldier or just regular old Cannon Soldier or even Catapult Turtle to get rid of a monster on their side of the field and do damage to your opponent. At the worst, you might be willing to play this card and pay 800 Life Points to destroy an opponent's face-up Spirit Reaper (Spirit Reaper would be targeted). That's not bad, but there are a few cards to watch out for when using Brain Control.

You migh