Stats                : Cliff the Trap Remover, although not mentioned in his title, is a member of the Dark Scorpions and all pertinent cards just reference him by his card name.  He is a Level 3 Dark Warrior.  Yesterday I perhaps exaggerated a bit with Menae, because Cliff’s opening stats are roughly tied with hers: it is hard to decide what, if any of the lowest four Levels are the best since you’d think stats would very in accordance with them in a little bit more predictable a way… and if you keep looking, you find weird cards that punish/reward the levels.  In this case, most of you are probably already familiar with Level Limit-Area B and Gravity Bind.  Some may not recall punishing traps like Infinite Dismissal which do punish the lower levels.  Of course, being Dark and being a Warrior is great.

 

Cliff’s ATK is 1200, which isn’t great, but isn’t horrid: he slips under Messenger of Peace, can be searched for by Sangan, and both searched and summoned via Mystic Tomato and Last Will.  The DEF of 1000 isn’t too great, but at least it blocks Sangan and weaker Monsters.

 

Effect(s)            : Cliff the Trap Remover is just that.  When he does battle damage, he gets to choose one of two effects.  The first is the destruction of any Spell/Trap in play, something that has become more useful since his release, or he can discard the top two cards from your opponent’s deck, which will kill almost any kinda trap (as in a clever strategy) they can set up with them.

 

Uses and

Combinations  : As usual, here is where all the little bits of Cliff prove useful.  Cliff slips under the three major attack blocking stall cards (Level Limit-Area B, Messenger of Peace, and Gravity Bind), which means he just needs to do damage to then destroy said card.  Even outside of a Dark Scorpion deck, he has his uses: any Warrior focused deck can easily search him out, and you can even minimize the cost of summoning him by getting him out with Marauding Captain.  Yes, both are small, but this way you truly do gain a lot from him: Cliff attacks first.  If any Spell or Traps in play are a problem (or Set), nuke them.  Your opponent is then forced to burn the card on Cliff (one way or the other) the Trap Remover… or watch it die anyway.  Of course, most of us would rather summon two copies of Marauding Captain for a lock, but it’s still a nice option.  Many combo oriented decks that lead off with Cannon Soldier and Last Will might want to consider a copy of Cliff just in case (specifically, just in case they have a spare Last Will).

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 1/5-It’s called Harpies Feather Duster.  Use that instead.

 

Advanced        : 3.5/5-Slightly misleading as this is for decks that can search and summon him easily.  So Warrior Toolbox, Dark Scorpions, um… and a fairly random assortment of decks that use Last Will and Cannon Soldier?  I guess those that have Mystic Tomato might consider him as well.  On the unlikely chance that you have enough slots to include this with Dark Scorpion – Menae the Thorn, I suppose to could and them to a wider variety of decks.

 

Limited                        : 3/5-His low attack is still low, but not as low in this format.  Now, this is for Magician’s Force.  Add half a point for Dark Revelation Volume 1, as there is Dark Scorpion support in that set.

 

Summary

Cliff the Trap Remover is a solid card that might be a good idea (perhaps along with Dark Scorpion – Menae the Thorn) for decks that find they are constantly getting held up by Level Limit-Area B, Gravity Bind, and Messenger of Peace.  Perhaps even if Sakurestu Armor or Bottomless Trap Hole is problematic, Cliff could be useful.  Then again, in the latter situation Nobleman of Elimination might be better.  So Cliff has his uses; add him to that long list of “really should consider” cards.

 

-Otaku