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GeneralZorpa on Yugioh
Flip That Card!-Underrated Flip Monsters
August 2, 2007

Power of the Flip...
 
Well, I have something special for you guys of Pojo today! I have put together a list of 4 flip effect monsters that should see more play, and the reasons why. We already see at least 2 flip monsters played heavily, Dekoichi, Gravekeeper's Spy and sometimes, Gravekeeper's Guard. Why don't other flip monster see more play? Well I am going to be evil and force you to read through the entire article before I tell you! Or you can just skip to the end if you want.
 
The Flip is Strong With You...
 
Old Vindicative Magician
 
He can kill anything of the monster flavor, face up or face down, the only problem is that he is slow and does not protect you afterwards like Snipe Hunter. However, there is a new card coming out in TAEV that will boost this guy's playability as the Apprentice Magician Engine will be revived from the place that it has been hiding for a while. See Metagam.com for more details.
 
Anyway, he does kill anything on the field for a measly flip. But his field presence is bordering on that of Treeborn Frog's and he is very hard to play without Apprentice Magician. He is best when run in a deck where tempo is not as important, like a combo deck. But you should be running the pieces to your combo instead of OVM, so he is left out in the cold. Try him out, you might like what you find.
 
Mysterious Guard
 
Well, he's mysterious, and a guard, so his name makes sense. His stats are ok for a flip monster. 1400 DEF will stop a Searcher or Dekoichi, which can be essential because of his effect. When flipped, he returns a face up monster to the top of the owner's deck, AND if there is a warrior on your side of the field, you can return ANOTHER face up monster to the owner's hand.
 
This is great, as you get the spin effect and bounce effect in one card. Raiza sees play because he is very disruptive to your opponent's draw, forcing them to redraw a potentially useless monster as they try to grapple with a 2400 ATK monster. This guy is not quite as tough as Raiza, but for a flip effect monster, he's pretty good. The bonus effect will rarely be seen, as face up warriors are rare these days. The people that I have talked to don't like this card because of it's restriction on only face up monsters. Well my answer is, aren't the important monsters face up anyway?
 
This is a very frustrating card for your opponent, as a play like flip this, spin monster and tribute for Raiza to spin another card. If your opponent doe snot have an answer in their hand or on the field, they won't get one for a while. Give it a spin and you might just like it.
 
Night Assailant
 
One of my favorite all time monsters. Broken at three or even two, we now only have access to one. He has even worse stats than OVM, but an added effect on top of the monster destruction. If he is discarded, then you return a flip effect monster from your graveyard to your hand. That turns your 1 for 1 from Snipe Hunter into a free discard in order to get a likely more valuable Dekoichi or Gravekeeper's Spy.
 
I have been pleased to see this card in the decklists of the top players recently, and I hope that it is part of a trend that will continue. He is a versatile little monster that will rarely be a bad draw. Try him and be amazed by the tricks he has up his bony sleeve.
 
Guardian Sphinx
 
I know that he is not "technically" a flip effect monster, but I could not sit still about this guy. He is part of the family of monsters that can flip themselves face down for another flip the following turn. Des Lacooda is the most famous of the bunch because he nets you a card. Guardian Sphinx returns all of your opponent's monsters to their hand.
 
Yup, when he is flip summoned all of your opponent's creatures are bounced back to their hand. This is HUGE. You can use him to clear up for a Trooper Duplication combo or simply to give yourself some breathing room to set up for the win. He has good stats, but he IS a tribute monster, so a dump and revive actually might work, since he flips himself face down. I have yet to think of a good deck to play him in, so anyone with ideas, please come forward!
 
Why I Made You Read That
 
The answer to the question of why these monsters are not played so much is simple. The other cards like Dekoichi will net you an option to take care of anything that your opponent throws at you. They also do not hold field presence like a Gravekeeper's Spy. This is the simple fact. I do believe that these cards are very playable when put in the right decks and used by people that actually know what they are doing. However, I encourage everyone reading this article to simply try them out for a match or two. It doesn't even have to be these cards. Just try out some cards people view as garbage. Monarchs, Chaos Sorcerer and even Confiscation were once viewed as trash cards. You might discover the next big thing...
 
Aside:
 
I try to base my articles on experiences that I have had, either with cards or with decks. Sometimes I have relied on the teachings of the great players of the game to understand the game better. I don't have multiple SJC top 4's, but I do have a unique perspective on the game that I think that other people can learn from. I love this game very much, and no one should be driven away from it because no one thought their opinions mattered. Just thought you guys should know that just because I am a Pojo Featured Writer does not mean that I automatically know more about the game than you. I am simply lucky enough to try and make my voice heard.
 
If you wanna duel, trade, ask advice, propose decks, ask for fixes or just chat about Yu-Gi-Oh! I am raptor1k@hotmail.com
 
Thanks for reading!
 
GZ