Byser Shock certainly is… interesting.  Being Level 5 means that you can use Metamorphosis on it to summon some nice Monsters, like Dark Balter the Terrible.  Since it is a Dark Monster, it can function as Chaos food, and as a Fiend it can be used for Dark Necrofear’s Summoning requirements.  Of course, on their own, none of these qualities justify using a Monster, but must still be considered.  In this case, if you are specifically searching for a Level 5 Dark/Fiend that isn’t a Fusion, your options are rather limited: only eight others exist, and three of those are Normal Monsters with ATK scores of no more than 2000, and DEF scores of no more than 1300.  Of course, Byser Shock has far weaker stats then those: a mere 800 ATK and 600 DEF.

 

So why bother with it?  It does have a fairly nice effect: when it is Normal Summoned, Special Summoned, or Flip Summoned (which I believe covers all ways to actually “Summon” a Monster), it returns all Set cards to their owner’s hand.  That isn’t very good on its own, now is it?  Fortunately, Byser Shock has options.  Its low stats allow for it to be Special Summoned from the deck via Last Will and Mystic Tomato.  Why does that matter?  If this card is Special Summoned in the damage step, like it would be if you brought it out with Mystic Tomato, your opponent’s can’t activate most cards at that time.  More over, you can chain the oh-so-popular Book of Moon to an opponent’s attack or your own act of suiciding a Tomato should your opponent have more than one face-up Monster in play.  You then bring out Byser Shock and bounce that Monster back to hand.  Granted, you’re not likely to catch an opponent’s Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning this way unless you have multiple Monsters out so that it removed something else, but you are likely to catch at least a few good cards (Jinzo revived via Call of the Haunted will often be accompanied by a beatstick).  Also, when it comes to Monsters, bounce it very nice: sure, you can just re-Set Spells or Traps, but Setting a Monster is usually a once-per-turn affair unless it’s also a Special Summon.

 

There is more: combine this with even “random” hand destruction, and you can really hurt an opponent.  After all, your stuff, if hit, was also just “bounced”, but if you play your cards right, your opponent won’t get the same chance you did.  Obvious combos are Card Destruction and Delinquent Duo, but they can only be used on your own turn.  Trap Dustshoot though is a Trap (d’uh) that isn’t too bad on its own, at least early game, and that’s when it’s likely to be on its own.  Later, you should try to use it with Byser Shock.  Also, you can always Book of Moon it in your own Standby Phase after getting it out via Mystic Tomato on your last turn, then Flip it yourself to clear the field of their set Spell/Traps and maybe a Monster if you are lucky.  After which, you can either Morph or Tribute Byser Shock for a more useful Monster and go on the offensive.  In a Chaos or Necrofear deck, you’re also more apt to get even more Special Summons.  It likely you’ll be able to get at least one, and possible you could come close to filling your field for a blitz… a nice notion since you just cleared any Traps they had set.  I mean, Normal Summon a Giant Orc, Morph the Byser Shock into a Dark Balter, then remove Byser and two other Fiends to Special Summon Dark Necrofear.

 

Now, all these combos are very “sensitive” and unlikely to work frequently, even if you max out on all cards used.  The thing is that isn’t how you should run Byser Shock.  This is a TecH card, I think.  If you are running Mystic Tomato already, you can probably make good use of a single Byser Shock.  As stated, it can work with Chaos Monsters, and more importantly (in this specific case) with Dark Necrofear.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 1.5/5-The nature of the game means you probably won’t be hitting much.

 

Advanced        : 3.25/5-I need to break down this score a bit more.  First, I am talking a single copy for Dark Necrofear decks, or multiples for a kooky “Bounce deck” built around it (which wouldn’t be too good) and also it isn’t that bad as a single TecH copy for Chaos decks that a) run Mystic Tomato and Metamorphosis – reasonably common – and b) can make room for it – much less common.  All of these factors got it to that level, so individually it doesn’t score so well (maybe a 2/5 for Cookie-Cutter Chaos).

 

Limited            : 2/5-Final blow field clearer.  Not understanding what I mean?  You have multiple beatsticks in play.  Your opponent keeps setting Monsters to block your attacks, and may even have a few set S/Ts.  Summon Byser Shock to “safely” go for the kill.  Very useful to an uncommon scenario, hence the score.