Dimension Fusion is a potent Normal Spell that would be horribly broken if it were a Quick-Play.  As is, it is a very solid card and quite handy for certain decks, like the VWXYZ series and most Fusion decks anymore given all the “Remove-from-play” based shortcuts.  You pay 2000 LP and can Special Summon as many of your Monsters that have been removed from play as you can.  The catch is so can your opponent.  The LP payment is high enough it can’t be shrugged off (like the 800 LP for Premature Burial) and if the opponent has their own Monsters that were removed from play (say D. D. Warrior Lady, D. D. Assailant, or their targets if you used them yourself), you might not get much out of it, at least without deck specific combos.  Compare that with Return from the Different Dimension.  Granted that’s a Trap and there is a lot of Trap hate, and the Monsters are removed again at the end of the turn, but technically you can always pay half your LP.  In most decks, it’s pretty easy to find a useful card that can remove Monsters from play and work it in alongside Return from the Different Dimension.  In general, there are cards like Bazoo the Soul-Eater and Skull Lair, or if you’re deck is the right attribute, you could consider Monsters like Strike Ninja, Soul of Purity and Light, Gigantes, etc.  Obviously, all those work with Dimension Fusion as well.  You just can’t activate Dimension Fusion after you’re opponent’s burned all their protective Spells and Traps during the Battle Phase like you can Return from the Different Dimension.  You can also use Return from the Different Dimension defensively if you must (though generally you’ll only do that if you’re about to lose otherwise).

 

So if Return from the Different Dimension beats it in so many areas, why is Dimension Fusion the one that’s down to one?  Because as I rather lamely had to be reminded on the boards, Dimension Fusion can combo with Chimeratech Overdragon, and as early as your first turn.  While you could chain Return from the Different Dimension to the effect of Chimeratech Overdragon which nukes everything on the field… but then the Monsters you just Special Summoned would be destroyed by that effect.  So Dimension Fusion means the Chimeratech Overdragon player can Overload Fusion to get it out at its obscene strength, then bring back the best of the Machines he removed, like Jinzo to stop Traps, Spell Canceller to negate Spells, and generally several other useful Monsters that make your odds of survival against it drop from like 10% to 0%.  Even if you can survive the initial onslaught, they’ve just given themselves total or at least near total control of the field.

 

So it scores high because it can be abused in a very obnoxious deck, where it’d be merely “average” elsewhere even with a little preparation.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional: 2/5

Advanced: 4/5

 

-Otaku