One of the most hotly anticipated cards in the Flaming Eternity set is Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. It has ignited interest in the set and really lit fire under both collectors and players. Before a set is released, it’s often difficult to tell what kind of impact a card will have, but this one seems destined to light sparks in the minds of duelists—it won’t just burn out and fade away.

See? It’s so good, it drives me to using obnoxious puns.

Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys is a Winged Beast monster with the Fire attribute. It’s a Level 8 monster, so it’s going to take some effort to summon, but the rewards are well worth the trouble. Its DEF is a decent 1600, but its ATK is 2400, and its effect is incredibly good.

Remember when Vampire Lord hit the scene, and everyone was putting it into every deck they played? Unfortunately, its ATK just wasn’t high enough. Dark Elf and Goblin Attack Force could always slam it down, and it was soon relegated strictly to Zombie decks.

Well, Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys is Vampire Lord pumped up to the nth degree. It has Vampire Lord’s effect: whenever it’s destroyed by an effect, Sacred Phoenix gets special summoned during its controller’s next standby phase. But, whenever it is special summoned as a result of its own effect, it blows away all the spell and trap cards on the field, too. That allows it to smash the opponent without getting delayed another turn by Sakuretsu Armor or anything similar.

Because it’s a Fire monster, Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys can fuel effects like Ultimate Baseball Kid’s, and it can be lifted out of the offensive range of Jinzo with Little Chimera. With the Chimera’s bonus, it’s going to be near-impossible to destroy in battle, and if an opponent decides to destroy it with Smashing Ground or Hammer Shot, well . . . I hope they like their Phoenixes extra-fresh, cause they’re going to get to enjoy ol’ Nephy again next turn.

Unlike Vampire Lord, Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys’s effect works when it’s destroyed by any effect, not just an effect controlled by the opponent. So if you ever need to clear the field (say, against a Lockdown Burner), you can always blow it up yourself with something like Ring of Destruction or Tribe-Infecting Virus. Given the proper means of destruction, you can destroy the Sacred Phoenix as late as your opponent’s end phase or your own draw phase, use its effect to wipe the field, and then still bring it back onto the field in time for your next battle phase. That’s pretty useful, as it gives you a proactive way to clear an opponent’s entire field. It’s not a replacement for Heavy Storm, but it’s good to have two effects that can clear spells and traps instead of just one.

In Sealed Pack formats, Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys is a total bomb. In draft, it would definitely be a first pick, and it’s a lucky card to crack in Sealed. Such formats tend to exchange monsters at a far slower rate than you see in Constructed, so you usually have more time to gather monsters for tributing. Factor in a shortage of monster removal in Sealed Pack play and the relatively low ATK values of most monsters in a set, and you’ll see that most Sealed Pack metagames are going to be totally skewed in the Phoenix’s favor.

If you’ve been using Fire in the Advanced format, you’ve probably noticed that while recent sets have given these decks lots of new options, tribute monsters haven’t really been showcased yet. Well, this is the name-in-lights Fire deck headliner that Fire duelists have been waiting for. Fire monsters tend to swarm well and feed off of each other’s presence. They tend to be fragile, but give them a turn or two on the field, and cards like Ultimate Baseball Kid and Raging Flame Sprite get very big, very fast. Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys makes the deck more resilient while giving it an answer to Hammer Shot and a method of clearing the field of Lockdown Burn. If a duelist hasn’t yet found the key to making Fire decks viable, then Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys is the last piece of the puzzle. Give it a shot in Sealed Pack if you can get one, and try it out in a Fire deck!

-Jason Grabher-Meyer