DM7FGD's Look Into the Future

Article #19 - Cards of the Bandit

For today’s article, we’ll be taking a look at two cards used in the show by Bandit Keith. Let’s start off with a review on Zera the Mant.

Well, Zera doesn’t have too much going for it, other than the fact that it looks pretty cool. It’s just like any other normal Ritual Monster, being Level 8 with no actual Effect and stats of only 2800/2300. Unless you’re going for a specific-themed Deck, the Masked Hellraiser (Masked Beast) would be a better choice for a Ritual Monster over this one, or more effectively Dark master Zork or Shinato (Check Reliable Ritual Monsters).

Note: I’ve seen some confusion from my Futuristic Fiends article as to the Demons/Fiends thing. Well, to put it simply, for those who don’t know, “Demon” is just the Sub-Type used in the Japanese cards, and it’s the same as the English “Fiend.”

There’s really not too much to say about Zera. One way to make it better would be to equip it with something like Big Bang Shot, making it a 3200 ATK Monster with a Trample ability. Such a Monster could be very destructive and effective to and against your opponent.

Zera the Mant was released in Japanese in the Dark Ceremony promotional packs, and also in Premium Pack 2. Therefore, there’s no telling when it might be released in English. Overall, I’d give Zera the Mant a rating of 5.5/10. Moving on, we have Sphere Bomb, known to some as “Blast Sphere.”

Basically, the sole purpose for this Monster is to hope to have it attacked while it is face down. Now, with all the Monster removal cards and things like Nobleman of Crossout, the usual Raigeki, etc., and Sasuke Samurai, for example, a majority of the time, your Blast Sphere just won't get attacked while it's face down. But if and when it does, your opponent's in for a big surprise once this thing detonates. (Sasuke Samurai would be able to get rid of Sphere Bomb without Sphere Bomb attaching to the Samurai, for those wondering)

Does your opponent have an Airknight or Spear Dragon on the Field that they're repeatedly Trampling you with? Well, setting a Sphere Bomb for them would be a nice surprise. They'll attempt trampling you, but they'll run straight into Sphere Bomb, taking 1900 damage and losing their Monster during their next standby phase if they can't get rid of it. (Yes, Magic/Trap removal like MST can get rid of Sphere Bomb once it‘s equipped on a Monster) Plus, since Battle damage is negated, or "ignored", if it were to be attacked by an Airknight, the drawing Effect of Airknight could not go through, either.

In my own opinion, Sphere Bomb is one of the most fun Monster cards to play in the entire game. It's great to see the look on your opponent's face when they see what they've encountered after attacking a face-down Sphere Bomb. The thing is, though, its Effect is rather hard to pull off, since it must be attacked, and it must be attacked while face-down, then it‘ll have to stay equipped on the Monster for another full turn. There's not really too many cards that can help w/ getting that done for you, but any simple Magic/Spell negation cards could certainly help. You just have to hope it happens how it‘s meant to, and it will, surprisingly, happen more times than you might think. It just won't happen as often as you'd like it to, based on my own personal experience with the card.

I've been trying out Sphere Bomb in a few fun decks of mine over the past few months, and although it hasn't worked as much and effectively as I would have wanted it to, when it does work, it's just awesome, and well-worth the trouble. That's why I continue to play it in a couple of my fun decks, and why I continue to believe that it is one of the most fun cards to play in the entire game.

Not to mention that Sphere Bomb / Blast Sphere is a Dark/Machine-type.. It can fit into some Dark-type Decks, even some Chaos Decks if you wanted to try it out for fun, and of course, it’s very effective in Machine Decks. Though its stats are rather low, it certainly has its advantages if you can get it to work. It can be easily searched out by the Witch or Sangan, as well. A Ring of Destruction-like Effect at no cost to your own LP can be quite devastating.

Overall, I’d give Sphere Bomb a rating of 7/10.

Now for a rushed attempt at an example of a Bandit Keith-based Character Deck (Mostly just in the Monsters area as I can not remember too many of his Magic or Trap Cards that he uses in the show). This is not meant to be competitive. It’s strictly a Fun Character Deck.

1x Barrel Dragon

1x Zoa

1x Metal Zoa

1x Zera the Mant

2x Cannon Soldier

2x Mechanical Chaser

2x Sphere Bomb

1x Reflect Bounder (Check Mechanized Monsters of Mayhem)

1x Drillago (Check Mechanized Monsters of Mayhem)

1x Cyber Jar

1x Black Forest Witch

1x Sangan

1x Sinister Serpent 

2x Limiter Removal

2x Cyclone (MST)

1x Ritual of Zera

1x Scapegoat

1x Thunderbolt

1x Dark Hole

1x Harpy Feather Sweep

1x Heavy Storm

1x Monster Reborn

1x Early Burial

1x Painful Choice

1x Pot of Greed

1x Angel’s Gift (Graceful Charity)

1x Change of Heart

1x Snatch Steal

1x Magic Jammer

1x Metalmorph

1x Solemn Judgment

1x Imperial Order

1x Mirror Force

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Time Machine (Check at the end of the Deck list for translation)

*Following translation from Edo’s Yu-Gi-Oh Page*

Type: Normal Trap

Effect: When a Monster is sent to the Graveyard due to Battle, return that Monster to the Field in the same mode. (This is not considered a Summon.)

You could throw other cards of Keith’s in the Side Deck, such as Bladed Pendulum Torture Machine (1750/2000, Dark/Machine, Level 6, Normal Monster), Ground-Attacker Bugroth, Seiyaryu, Slot Machine, 7-Completed, Launcher Spider (Fire/Machine, Level 7, 2200/2500, Normal Monster), etc., or switch some of those into the Main Deck for some of the other cards that are already in the Deck, to make it even more of a Keith-based Deck.

As I said, it’s not a competitive deck, nor would it be too Effective.. It’s just a rough idea for a Bandit Keith (Fun) Character Deck to try out for some fun-play.

That’ll do it for today’s article. Until next time..