Well, it’s now Saturday, and with many Sneak Previews winding down and many more gearing up to begin tomorrow, the top-secret Sneak Preview promo has been unveiled! The long-awaited Ancient Lamp has been released to duelists worldwide, given to all Preview competitors on a first come, first served basis! Check it out!

Ancient Lamp

Spellcaster/Effect

WIND – Level 3

900 ATK / 1400 DEF

When this face-down Defense Position card is attacked by your opponent's monster, you can make 1 opponent's monster (except the attacking monster) be attacked instead. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Special Summon 1 "La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp" from your hand.

I attended a Sneak Preview myself earlier today, and I’ve got to admit, the rumors about this awesome card were part of my decision to go. I’ll be heading to at least one tomorrow, too. This card is so good that I wouldn’t mind having a few extra kicking around for multiple decks. Here are the reasons why I think it’s so great.

First, let’s look at its stats. 900 ATK is enough to put a decent dent into your opponent, even though this monster isn’t really made for attacking. Its DEF is a respectable 1400, meaning that even when it is attacked, it’ll be able to repel things like Don Zaloog, Mystic Tomato, and several other popular monsters with mid-level ATK values.

I really like that it has the Wind attribute, because once Ancient Lamp does its trick, it might not be sticking around very long. If it gets destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I could remove it from play to special summon one of my all-time favorite sleeper cards, Silpheed. Silpheed is an utterly mean special summon-only monster, and if the opponent destroys it in battle, he or she has to discard a card. It’s a key card for any Wind deck.

Of course, the Lamp doesn’t necessarily have to go down in battle. Once it’s attacked and its effect is used, you can tribute it away for Spiritual Wind Art – Miyabi. The Wind Art bumps any card of my choice on the opponent’s side of the field to the bottom of his or her deck, sealing it away in the most permanent way possible. The Lamp probably wasn’t going to stick around for very long anyway, so tributing it is practically free.

Blocking Attacks

Of course, the Lamp’s stats aren’t the only things that make it so amazing. Just look at the Lamp’s effect. The ability to redirect an attack aimed at your monster, sending it back at one of your opponent’s monsters, actually accomplishes several different things. The Lamp’s first major function is blocking attacks.

Ancient Lamp can protect your life points from up to three attacks per turn. If the opponent has two potential attackers, and he or she attacks with the biggest one first, you can redirect its attack to destroy the smaller one. You’ve prevented not only the declared attack, but also the potential one you would have suffered from the secondary monster. You’ve even gained a card of advantage in the process!

If at that point the opponent has a third attacker, it can attack the face-up Lamp, probably destroying it. But at that point, you’ve succeeded in blocking three attacks with a single card, and though you’ve lost your Lamp, your opponent has lost a monster as well. For a 1-for-1 trade, you’ve shut down a really promising turn with just one card. That’s pretty incredible, and it puts you on the fast track to recovering control of the field.

Card Advantage

In the right situations, the Lamp can actually rob your opponent of two cards instead of just one, earning you card advantage no matter what eventually happens to the Lamp. For instance, if your opponent attacks with a monster that has 1700 ATK or more and controls a D. D. Assailant, you can send the attacker into the Assailant with Ancient Lamp’s effect and both monsters will be removed from play.

In addition, if an opponent has two attack position monsters with equal ATK values, attacking the Lamp with one of them dooms both. You can just send the attacker into the other monster and both will be destroyed in battle. With multiple copies of D. D. Survivor, Don Zaloog, and D. D. Assailant all seeing play at an increasing rate, this situation can come up more often than one would anticipate.

Doing Damage

If you don’t feel like engineering your stolen attack to earn card advantage, you can always aim to damage the opponent instead! Cyber Dragon followed by Spirit Reaper is one of the most devastating second-turn plays out there. The Dragon usually takes out the opponent’s single face-down monster and the Reaper then swings directly, forcing its victim to discard a card. But, if the face down monster that Cyber Dragon attacks turns out to be Ancient Lamp, the Lamp’s controller can sic the Dragon on the Reaper, cutting off both potential attacks and dishing out 1800 damage. That’s utterly brutal.

Random Fun Stuff

Tsukuyomi and Book of Moon just make Ancient Lamp even more devious. If the Lamp survives a turn on which its effect is triggered, either of these cards will let you turn it face down again, and there isn’t much the opponent can do about it. If you’ve got Tsukuyomi on hand the average opponent has three options if they ever want to attack you again. One, they’ll have to wait to draw into Nobleman of Crossout, Mystic Swordsman LV2, or Dark Hole. Two, they’ll have to gather three monsters to bring down the Lamp in battle. Three, they’ll have to discard the Tsukuyomi because of Confiscation. Other answers, like Card Destruction and Skill Drain, just aren’t seen in many decks. If the opponent can’t disrupt your combo, he or she will be incapable of attacking you ever again.

The really cool thing about Ancient Lamp is that it’s highly splashable! You can throw it into virtually any deck, and it lends a ton of power to the mid-game. Its effect isn’t very useful in topdecking situations, though. The opponent may only have one monster to attack with, and in that case, the Lamp’s effect doesn’t do anything. But during the mid-game, where most decks try to attack with multiple monsters to take control of the game and work towards a win, the Lamp is invaluable.

Because of that fact, you can give a deck that performs weakly in the mid-game an instant power boost by adding an Ancient Lamp or two. Any strategy that tries to create a slow tempo and attempts to draw into combo components in order to score a win will love this card. When faced with a deck like Cyber-Stein One-Turn Kill, most duelists will immediately try and over-extend to achieve a win as soon as possible. That means they’ll have multiple monsters on the field, which in turn renders them vulnerable to the Lamp. In some senses it’s not even a card so much as it’s a deckbuilding aid for slower concepts.

Ancient Lamp is by far the best Sneak Preview promo card yet. I snagged a copy today, but I’ll be heading out again tomorrow to pick up another! If you went to a Sneak Preview today, consider checking the event listings to find more Sneak Preview action in your area. If you weren’t able to attend an event, it’s not too late! Try and head to one tomorrow. With almost 400 Sneak Previews worldwide, you might be surprised at how many are within driving range!