Article # 37 - Devastating Dinosaurs

Looking back at my last poll, we can see that Dinosaurs are in the lead for the type that you guys most want reviewed, next to Dragons that were reviewed in my 35th article, with, as I type this, 589 votes. So let’s begin today’s article with a look at the Dark Tyrano, a.k.a. Dark Gilasaurus.

Dark Tyrano

Earth/Dinosaur - Level 7 - 2600/1800

Effect: When your opponent has nothing but Monsters in DEF mode on their Field, this Monster may attack directly.

Dark Tyrano was an Ultra/Parallel Rare from the Japanese 307 set. It will be released in English in Invasion of Chaos.

Dark Tyrano’s certainly a pretty powerful Monster card when used correctly, and it’d obviously work best in Dinosaur Decks, which, with its release, become more playable.

It’s a Level 7 Monster, so that’s never too attractive, but the 2 Tributes for this Monster would be worth it, if you don’t just dump it in your Graveyard to set up for Revival, which is an easy and effective way to get it out onto your side of the Field. With 2600 ATK, it’s definitely a powerful Monster, and although its ATK strength isn’t too great, its Effect could certainly end up making up for that. But unfortunately, with a DEF strength of 1800, the Tyrano cannot be Searched.

As you look at its Effect, you may immediately notice the Tyrano’s possibilities. It could, in some cases, easily turn out to be a 2600-ATK direct-attacker. 2600 damage, especially when it’s coming directly, even with Monsters out on the Field, is certainly nothing to scoff at. There are quite a few cards that can make the Tyrano’s Effect easier to utilize, as well, making it even more useful.

Its Effect states that it will be enabled to attack directly if your opponent controls nothing but Monsters in DEF position. That’s either face-down or face-up DEF position, it doesn’t matter. (And yes, it can still attack directly if your opponent controls no Monsters at all, just like normal) It can work well with Book of Moon or Enemy Controller, changing your opponent’s Monster(s) to DEF position. It can also work well with a card called Earthquake, which is a Normal Magic card from the Japanese 308 set (Coming in English in the set after IOC) that changes all face-up Monsters on the Field to DEF position. Simply play Earthquake to set up your Dark Tyrano for a nice and easy 2600 direct attack.

Overall, Dark Tyrano can be a pretty effective Monster card. I’d give it an overall rating of 7 / 10. For the second Dino of today’s article, we take a look at the Dark Drikeratops.

Dark Drikeratops

Earth/Dinosaur - Level 6 - 2400/1500

Effect: If this Monster attacks a Monster in Defense position, and this Monster’s ATK strength exceeds the defending Monster’s DEF strength, do damage to the opponent equal to the difference.

Dark Drikeratops was a Common from the Japanese 307 set. Coming in English in IOC.

Dark Drikeratops.. A nice Level 6 Trample Monster. Good for Dino, Earth-based, and Trample Decks, of course. With 2400 ATK, and the ability to be Searched by the Witch at 1500 DEF, Drikeratops is certainly a pretty devastating Monster card.

2400 ATK for a Level 6 is powerful in itself, but add a Trample-Effect onto that and you’ve got a very powerful Monster. Drikeratops is another Monster that can benefit from the use of Book of Moon, Enemy Controller, and/or Earthquake, because the Trample damage is going to come when attacking a Monster in DEF position. You all know how it goes. Same Effect as Spear Dragon, except no drawback of going into DEF position afterwards.

How Dark Drikeratops can be effective should be self-explanatory and pretty obvious. Monsters with Trample abilities are always good, and Drikeratops is the Trample Monster with the highest ATK strength of all the Tramplers.

Overall, Dark Drikeratops can be a very good card in the right Decks. I’d give it an overall rating of 7.6 / 10. For the third and final card of today’s article, we take a look at the Hyper Hammer-Head.

Hyper Hammer-Head

Earth/Dinosaur - Level 4 - 1500/1200

Effect: Any Monsters destroyed in Battle by this card are returned to their owner’s Hand at the end of the Damage Step.

Hyper Hammer-Head is also from the Japanese 307 set, and will be released in IOC.

Hyper Hammer-Head’s certainly an interesting Monster card that can go well into Dinosaur Decks, and a few other Deck-types, depending on whether or not you’d like to try it out or not. Its stats aren’t too nice, but at 1500/1200, it’s able to get the job done, and can be Searched by Witch and Critter (Sangan).

It has an Effect similar to that of Jackal Paladin’s, except for that it only returns the destroyed Monster to the Hand, instead of the top of the Deck, which would be more useful in more situations. But still, Hammer-Head’s Effect can still come in handy in quite a few situations. The only thing is, Hyper Hammer-Head could use a little bit of help in most situations with some Equipment Magic Cards, such as Power of Teamwork (United We Stand) being a good one to use with it. But Equipments won’t always be necessary, of course.

When Hammer-Head destroyed any Monsters in Battle, those Monsters are going back to the opponent’s Hand. It could certainly be handy against Monsters like the Searchers, or some high-level Monsters such as Jinzo in some situations. How you would use this card to your advantage would be up to you in how you’d like to utilize it. This card has possibilities, but I wouldn’t recommend it in anything more than Dinosaur Decks, really.

Overall, Hyper Hammer-Head is a pretty interesting Monster card that can be pretty effective in some situations, but not usually will it be. I’d give it an overall rating of 6.7 / 10.

Now to end today’s article; a Dinosaur Deck example. Super Evolution Medicine allows you to Sacrifice a Reptile Monster to Special Summon a Dinosaur from your Hand, thus the Reptiles (Guranadora, Death Gremlin (Des Feral Imp) + Gagagigo) in the Deck.

Monsters: 15

1x Dark Tyrano

1x Dark Drikeratops

2x Gagagigo

2x Death Gremlin

1x Guranadora

1x Hyper Hammer-Head

1x Fleet-Footed Gilazaurus

1x Tribe-Infecting Virus

1x Spirit Reaper

1x Cyber Pod / Fiber Pod

1x Black Forest Witch

1x Critter

1x Killer Snake

Magic Cards: 21

3x Cyclone

3x Book of Moon

2x Super Evolution Medicine

1x Power of Teamwork

1x Thunderbolt

1x Dark Hole

1x Pot of Greed

1x Angel’s Gift

1x Mirage of Nightmares

1x Harpy’s Feather Sweep

1x Heavy Storm

1x Raise Dead

1x Premature Burial

1x Change of Heart

1x Snatch Steal

1x Painful Choice

Trap Cards: 5

1x Imperial Order

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Magical Cylinders

1x Destruction Ring

1x Waboku

Total: 41

I came up with that Deck pretty quickly, so excuse me if I made any mistakes or it doesn’t look too good. It was basically with cards I thought of off the top of my head besides the ones featured in today’s article =/. You might still be able to get some ideas from it, though, even if you don’t like it too much.

E-mail me with any questions and/or comments at dm7fgd32@hotmail.com

I may be changing my e-mail address again sometime soon, so watch out for that, please.

Until next time..

~DM7~