Pook's Place

The Most Underrated Cards (and the Combos in which to use them)
By  Pook

5.04.04  Whenever I read postings online, it always bothers me when people say that you must play certain staple cards in each deck. Decks for games like Yu-Gi-Oh are supposed to be very personalized, that’s why there are so many cards out there to choose from. It almost feels like if you don’t have a Raigeki, Jinzo, or Harpie’s Feather Duster, you are to be shunned from society. However, there has been some encouragement recently from players to try out new strategies and new types of decks, and personally, I’m jumping on that bandwagon. I play theme decks that are fun, and I play cards that I like to play. During my experimentation with new ways to annihilate my opponent, I turned to a lesser-played cards into implements of victory. Here are just a few:

DNA Surgery
Continuous Trap Card
Select 1 Type of Monster. As long as this card remains on the field, all face-up Monster Cards will be treated as the Type you selected.

Because more and more people are moving away from staple decks, Trap cards, especially Continuous Traps, are less likely to be countered by a Jinzo. Naturally, this card has been getting more play lately because of this, but also due to many of the effect monsters that benefit from one type. For example, I am currently playing a Dark Paladin deck, and since Dark Paladin gets a whopping 500 ATK points for every dragon on the field and in both graveyards, naturally I use DNA Surgery to my advantage. The best thing to do is once you get Dark Paladin out is to dump as many actual Dragon cards into the graveyard first, because DNA Surgery only works for monsters on the field – no sense in wasting a space on the field.

But alas, Dark Paladin is very difficult to summon, so I do carry a backup, as to not waste my DNA Surgery. Kinetic Soldier seems like a pretty mediocre card at first glance, because you can only use its +2000 ATK/DEF boost against a Warrior-type. What’s that you say, you’ve played DNA Surgery and now everything on the field is a Warrior? So I can use its effect on every monster? Wow, you don’t say. This combo is much easier to use than the Dark Paladin strategy. Throw in a Mage Power and at minimum you add another 1000 to its ATK and DEF (DNA Surgery comes through again), and maybe even a Fairy Meteor Crush. You’re now looking at a 4850 trample monster (another 500 from FMC) and a relatively easy victory.

Another card that benefits from DNA Surgery is Fairy King Truesdale. This card has a lot of good potential, if only there were more Plant-type monsters to begin with. Oh well, we’ll have to make due with what we’ve got. Make all monsters Plant-type with DNA Surgery, giving them each a nice 500 ATK and DEF boost. Sure, it’s a 1 Tribute monster, but that isn’t that big of an issue if you build your deck around it. Besides, that’s why Change of Heart is always good.

Next, we have one of my favorite cards:

Paladin of White Dragons
Light/Dragon/Ritual/Effect, 4 Stars
1900/1200

This monster can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card "White Dragon Ritual". You must also offer monsters whose total Level Stars equal 4 or more as a Tribute from the field or your hand. When this monster attacks a face-down Defense Position monster, destroy the face-down monster immediately with this card's effect without flipping it face-up or damage calculation. You can Special Summon 1 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your hand or your deck by offering this card as a Tribute during your Main Phase. (Blue-Eyes White Dragon cannot attack that turn.)

Ok, I fell for this card immediately when it first came out. Something about this card cried “Build a deck around me!” and so I did. Long story short, ritual cards are not worth playing – most of the time. This is one exception (along with Relinquished) that I will make. This card is not impossible to play effectively, plus leads to one of my most all-time crushing victories. Plus, with the release of Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, it is easier than ever to play. Here’s what you do. Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands is a combination of both Sonic Bird and Senju of a Thousand Arms – When this card is Normal Summoned or Flip Summoned, you can select 1 Ritual Monster Card of 1 Ritual Spell Card from your Deck and add it to your hand. This is a great way to save your Witch/Sangan, or search for White Dragon Ritual.

So you can play Manju if you need either Paladin of White Dragons or White Dragon Ritual, unless you are lucky enough to already have the two halves. In that case, play White Dragon Ritual and use Manju as the Tribute – Paladin of White Dragons is only 4 stars, making it much easier to summon. Then during Main Phase 1, use PoWD’s ability to Special Summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon from your Deck or hand. This BEWD cannot attack this turn, so here’s what you do. Luckily for you, you did have a chance to use Witch/Sangan’s effect, and now in your hand is a Great Maju Garzett. Tribute the BEWD and you now have a 6000/6000 Great Maju Garzett in your control in just one turn! Just for fun, throw in a Monster Reborn or Premature Burial and revive your BEWD. 9000 ATK. Congrats, you just won.

Lastly, we’ve got a few bugs for you. Gross, I know:

Swarm of Scarabs
Dark/Insect/Effect, 3 stars
500/1000

You can flip this card into face-down Defense Position once per turn during your Main Phase. When this card is Flip Summoned, destroy 1 monster on your opponent’s side of the field.

4-Starred Ladybug of Doom
Wind/Insect/Effect, 3 stars
800/1200
FLIP: Destroys all face-up Level 4 monsters on your opponents side of the field.

Insect cards have some of the best effects, but are often overlooked. Now that Man-Eater Bug has all but gone the way of the dodo, few people are taking chances with flip effects, all thanks to Nobleman of Crossout. But because MEB has been phased out, I really don’t see too many people playing Nobleman anymore. Perfect for an insect revolution.

Swarm of Scarabs is a very interesting card. Your best bet with it is to get it summoned for free, such as by way of The Shallow Grave or Cyber Jar’s effect. The fact that you can keep reusing it to destroy your opponent’s monster (notice it is specific about that, so you can flip it and not have to destroy one of your own monsters like with Man-Eater Bug), plus it is essentially Mirror Force-proof (but not Dark Mirror Force-proof). Just set it and forget it, just like the Showtime Rotisserie Grill! It’ll take out any monster, and is a lot more effective than wasting a summon with Exiled Force. If you have some added protection from your own Mirror Force or Magic Cylinder, you can get quite a few turns of flipping it face-up and then immediately face-down, taking out every monster on your opponent’s side.

And then there is the hilarious-named 4-Star Ladybug of Doom. This card can be a godsend when facing beatdown decks. Last year at the World Championship at Madison Square Garden, I was playing an exhibition match against the national champ from Belgium and he was destroying me with a pair of Mechanical Chasers and a Goblin Attack Force. It’s a good thing most of the beatdown staples are level 4, otherwise I would have been in serious trouble. He attacked my face down Ladybug and the look on his face was priceless when I flipped it. Again, this is another card that works will with trap protection. Flip it on your own turn, take out your opponent’s powerhouse monsters, tribute it for anything else. It seems so simple, yet no one seems to use it. I don’t really use this too much anymore, but I keep it in my side deck for sentimental reasons though.