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Doomkaiser Dragon
Card# CSOC-EN043
Doomkaiser Dragon's effect isn't just for Zombie World duelists: remember that its effect can swipe copies of Plaguespreader Zombie, too!
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I’m back with more of the best cards that you might need to knock some dust off of to play. Today, we’re looking at one of the best trap cards available in the current Advanced environment. A defensive powerhouse that gives an offensive edge and techs some of the format’s best cards, today’s subject is Windstorm of Etaqua!
Windstorm of Etaqua was released as a promo card in the “Power of Chaos: Yugi the Destiny” PC game, so it can be a little tricky to get your hands on. However, it can be purchased relatively cheaply in most stores that have it. Because it’s a misunderstood card, the odds are good that there are several duelists in your area with at least one copy that they’d gladly trade.
What does it do? Windstorm of Etaqua is a normal trap that changes the battle positions of your opponent’s face-up monsters. Defense position monsters are switched to attack position, and potential attackers are stuck in defense mode. You can activate Windstorm whenever you like, so that gives it a great deal of flexibility.
 In fact, flexibility is one of the card’s main strengths—like Waboku, Windstorm is chainable. You generally won’t want to play it until after your opponent has finished summoning monsters and is ready to declare battle. If your opponent uses Mystical Space Typhoon or Dust Tornado on Windstorm of Etaqua, you can activate it and trade card for card while claiming the Windstorm’s effect. One of the major limiting factors for many underrated cards is that they’re narrow in scope and low in utility. That isn’t the case here, because Windstorm can help you at virtually any time in a duel.
One of my problems with Waboku is that even though it saves you from taking a beating, you’ve effectively gained nothing. In fact, you’ve lost a card. While it can rarely buy you a one-for-one trade by allowing one of your 1900 ATK monsters to slam into one of your opponent’s, that’s a rare case. Windstorm of Etaqua is different. Because it changes the battle positions of monsters that have already been summoned, it’s safe to assume that good attackers will be shifted to defense position and good defenders (or just low-stat monsters) will be shifted to attack position. The result is that it leaves your opponent’s field far more vulnerable than it originally was, and provided that you have a monster or two at your disposal, you can probably turn that weakness into card advantage. That’s a good thing, as Yu-Gi-Oh! is all about resource management both on and off the field.
Windstorm of Etaqua can switch monsters to their weaker positions. Taking that idea one step further, the trap can turn defense position monsters into little access points to an opponent’s life points. Reserved play is currently important to a lot of successful players, and there are many cards with good effects that end up sitting in defense position after those effects have resolved. Magician of Faith is certainly the most important example of this principle. Windstorm turns weak monsters that generate effects and then sit around waiting to get picked off into deadly liabilities, and because it isn’t played very often, most duelists won’t see it coming. Windstorm can be a game-winning card because of its ability to turn a great defense on its head. The trap can turn the most impenetrable of steel walls into virtual Swiss cheese.
Of course, let’s not forget that when played correctly, Windstorm completely shuts down an opponent’s offense for an entire turn. You can activate Windstorm of Etaqua in response to the declaration of an attack, and unless the attacker happens to be Total Defense Shogun, the attack won’t resolve. The odds are good that after a wholesale shift in an opponent’s battle positions, he or she won’t have any other good attack options and will be forced to move into his or her second main phase.
Windstorm is a defensive card that takes a bit of skill to play, but it can be far more useful as an offensive tool than Waboku. We’ve established that much. Of course, there are some neat tricks that you can do to make Windstorm even more surprising to your opponent.
 Have you ever played a Zombie deck or anything else that aims to pull out big hitters by crashing monsters like Pyramid Turtle into attack position monsters? Have you ever had an opponent throw everything he or she has into defense position just to slow your strategy down to a crawl? Windstorm of Etaqua forces timid players out of their shells and into attack position. You’ll be free to send as many copies of the Turtle as you like into the fray to claim your copies of Vampire Lord and Ryu Kokki. Is this a conditional benefit? Sure. It’s an extra game-winning trick with a card that’s already worth playing. Remember the “golden rule” of TCGs—options are good.
Better yet, is your opponent the type of player who main decks two or even three copies of Scapegoat? Go ahead, let your opponent build a sheep wall. Then, when he or she least expects it, you can activate Windstorm and turn your opponent’s precious tokens to attack position. You’ll be able to stuff those fluffy little balls of frustration right down your opponent’s throat as your monsters virtually attack your opponent directly. Many players sing the praises of Airknight Parshath or Spear Dragon as side deck options against Scapegoat, and those cards are very good. However, because of its potential to utterly ruin an opponent in a single turn, its ease of use, and its high utility, Windstorm of Etaqua is my choice.
Finally, this card quite literally destroys Berserk Gorilla. Switching everyone’s favorite beatstick to defense position makes it explode because of the card’s effect. While many players have been capitalizing on this by running Enemy Controller instead of Book of Moon, you can achieve a more versatile set of options by running Book of Moon with Windstorm. You’ll have the same Gorilla-bashing potential and a better answer to Scapegoat, and thanks to Book of Moon, you’ll be able to reuse the effects of monsters like Magician of Faith. You won’t get the Change of Heart-like effect, but you will have a far more deadly ability to weaken key defense position monsters. Plus, you’ll have access to a wholesale, single turn, defensive effect. If you have the deck space, running just a single copy each of Book of Moon and Windstorm of Etaqua can give you a lethal host of tricks.
Windstorm is neat because it acts differently in the four parts of a duel. In the opening, it’s a card’s worth of insurance. It can reinforce a poor opening monster by protecting it for a single turn. While that does cost a card, you’ll probably cost your opponent a card as well by attacking on your next turn. Windstorm is a great way to redeem a deck that may have weak opening draws.
 In the early game, Windstorm helps you build momentum quickly by saving your field presence and setting up an opponent’s monsters to be knocked over like bowling pins. It’s a great card for any sort of Rush or Swarm deck, because the trap makes high ATK monsters far more manageable and preserves the presence of your little monsters. Windstorm can help you get the most out of cards like Marauding Captain and Limiter Removal, because it increases the number of options you have for attacking monsters. In other words, your big monsters can attack directly once your little monsters have cleared the way. Windstorm helps you do just that.
In the mid-game, the trap becomes more of a mass-damage tool. As more and more monsters hit the field, Windstorm can have a greater impact on an opponent’s life points. The mid-game is when Windstorm is arguably at its most powerful, because that’s when the card can make the most dramatic swings in field presence and life point totals.
In the late game, Windstorm works similarly to how it does in the opening. As a desperation play, it can hold off big attackers. It can also act as an equalizer, permitting smaller monsters to take down bigger ones and making defense position monsters suddenly give up their duties as shields. Again, Windstorm can be a game-winning card in this scenario.
Splashable and highly versatile, Windstorm of Etaqua is a remarkable card that can shine in the new Advanced format. If you’re looking for up-and-coming hot new tech, this is definitely one card that you should try out!
-Jason Grabher-Meyer
Got a suggestion for a card that deserves more respect? Drop me a line at Jason@metagame.com and tell me about your favorite underplayed cards! |
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