One of my all-time favorite cards is Embodiment of Apophis. Ever since I saw it in the duel between Joey and Odion on the TV show, I thought the idea of trap cards that literally became monsters was awesome. It’s easy to imagine how excited I was when Embodiment of Apophis was released as a Sneak Preview promotional card. While devoid of any effect of its own, it had a variety of uses that were largely ignored by the dueling public. Apophis was a great surprise card, since you could wait until the opponent summoned Don Zaloog or something similar to try and take advantage of your “open” field before flipping it and denying the opponent the opportunity. At the same time, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning was still around, and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and King Tiger Wanghu were popular monsters at the time. With 1800 DEF, Embodiment of Apophis held them off while most likely surviving into your turn (when you could tribute it off for a high level monster and start pressuring your opponent). The card left me wanting more trap-monsters and now Cyberdark Impact has answered my call with today’s preview card: Cyber Shadow Gardna.

Cyber Shadow Gardna            
Trap                                    
Continuous                                   
Activate this card only during your opponent's Main Phases. After activation, Special Summon this card; it is treated as an Effect Monster Card (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4/ATK ?/DEF ?). (It is still treated as a Trap Card.) If this monster is selected as an attack target, the ATK and DEF of this card become equal to the ATK and DEF of the attacking monster. This card is Set face-down in its Spell & Trap Card Zone during your opponent's End Phase.

Cyber Shadow Gardna is one of the most beautifully frustrating cards you will ever play against. Like Embodiment of Apophis, you can activate it when your opponent tries to pass from his main phase into the battle phase. Say, for instance, that your opening play is to set Cyber Shadow Gardna and end your turn. Your opponent cannot play Cyber Dragon, so he or she is likely to try a direct attack with something like a Don Zaloog or Apprentice Magician. You then activate Cyber Shadow Gardna when he or she tries to leave the main phase, and, unless your opponent has a Smashing Ground on hand right then, you aren’t taking damage this turn. It turns out that some of the nastiest monsters in the game have more DEF than ATK.

Apprentice Magician, Don Zaloog, Exarion Universe, and even Elemental Hero Wildheart all have to pay a price for their excellent statistics: they can’t attack through a defensive Cyber Shadow Gardna. The effect of the Gardna means that every time your opponent tries to attack it, it takes on the ATK and DEF of whatever attacks it until either the end of the turn or the next time your opponent attacks it. Really, though, the purpose of Cyber Shadow Gardna is to force your opponent to make some rather painful choices. Let’s say you special summon the Gardna in attack mode. That means that by definition, your opponent must trade his or her monster for yours in an attack unless he or she has Rush Recklessly or a removal card. In general, most removal is either reactive or tribute based. Specifically, Sakuretsu Armor, Widespread Ruin, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Exiled Force are popular these days. There is absolutely no way that your Cyber Shadow Gardna can be taken out with the first three cards on that list, because 1) you can never attack the opponent with the Gardna and 2) its stats start at 0 ATK/0 DEF. Exiled Force can still hit you if the opponent hasn’t played his or her normal summon yet. However, one of the big advantages of Cyber Shadow Gardna is that it forces the opponent to make a decision with little to no information on what you have in store, so it’s likely that he or she will have already summoned before attacking. Keep in mind that this sort of decision making all takes place towards the beginning of the duel, before players have had a chance to build up field presence. Cyber Shadow Gardna is a card for the early game and the late game—times when neither player has an overwhelming field presence.

In addition, Cyber Shadow Gardna is considered an effect monster. Whenever a token is created, it’s a normal monster with any effects determined by the card that creates it. Similarly, Embodiment of Apophis is a normal monster despite the fact that it’s still considered a trap. This means that Ceasefire will count a Cyber Shadow Gardna if it’s on the field as a monster. It probably won’t ever come up in game, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind if you need that extra 500 damage to win. It’s also important to note that Cyber Shadow Gardna turns into a Machine-type monster when you summon it. Limiter Removal can work wonders with this card, though you need to be very careful with the timing. Use Limiter Removal only in the damage step after the opponent has attacked your Gardna. That way, your Gardna gains the ATK of whatever is going to ram it and then it doubles. The end result is as if your opponent gets nailed with a one-sided Ring of Destruction. The best part is that during the end phase, you decide the order in which your effects are resolved, so you can choose to return Cyber Shadow Gardna to your spell and trap zone before you resolve Limiter Removal. That lets you save your Gardna to defend another day.

All in all, Cyber Shadow Gardna is one of the most unique and exciting cards in the game and you can only find it in Cyberdark Impact. As a Super Rare with an Ultimate Rare counterpart and an amazing effect, it’s sure to be in high demand, but why wait? You might be one of the lucky duelists who get their hands on one before it’s available in stores. Just go to the Cyberdark Impact Sneak Preview. For signing up, you’ll receive five packs of the all-new Cyberdark Impact expansion along with a Sneak Preview booklet that contains a special Ultra Rare version of the card I previewed last time, Justi-Break! Make sure you get to the Sneak Preview nearest you!

It’s been a wild ride, but Metagame.com’s look ahead to Cyberdark Impact has finally come to an end. Make sure you get to the Sneak Preview nearest you, and until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!