Tactical Evolution previews are upon us, and that means plenty of new cards are on their way to shape the new Advanced format coming in September. Along with it come a few new treats that we haven’t seen in ages.

First of all, this set has a lot more than the 60 cards and secret rares we have become familiar with from the past two sets. In fact, the amount of new cards you’ll find in Tactical Evolution is surprising! This means that there are now more cards to collect in this set, and that also means more new and powerful surprises will be making their appearance in tournaments everywhere.

One of the more surprising treats in Tactical Evolution is that more than one card in this set is making its world premiere here in North America. That’s right, folks. Instead of simply getting one world-premiere card with each set, like we did with Grandmaster of the Six Samurai and Volcanic Rocket, you’ll be getting more never-before-seen cards then ever before! I’m revealing one of them here today. Check it out!

Mormolith      Rock/Effect EARTH - Level 4 ATK: 1000 / DEF: 900

You can Tribute 1 EARTH monster to destroy all face-up monsters with DEF equal to or less than the ATK of the Tributed card.

Nice little world-premiere card, don’t you think?

Without looking at other Earth monsters just yet, this card would already be a solid removal option in the current Advanced format. There are a variety of top-tier Monarch-based decks right now, and every Monarch is cursed with only 1000 DEF. This means that by tributing away Mormolith to its own effect, you can destroy at least one Monarch . . . and the possibility of destroying multiple Monarchs can be very appealing.

In fact, this is the one strength Mormolith has over the very similar Exiled Force. While Exiled Force can nail face-down monsters with its effect, Mormolith is all about quantity. The more monsters on the opponent’s side of the field you destroy, the happier you are with Mormolith. It’s an excellent piece of removal.

However, its type and attribute also have some solid purpose too. Giant Rat has already gained popularity as the basis for an Earth-toolbox deck. We’ve already seen the deck in a few Top 16s at some Shonen Jump Championships this format, simply because there are a lot of good Earth monsters out there with an ATK of 1500 or less. Mormolith is yet another solid card to run in the Ratbox deck as a reset button for the field in case things get a little rough. It can easily solve problems like multiple Monarchs or a field of too many Machine monsters. After all, it’s not like you are limited to only tributing Mormolith to its effect.

The versatility of what you can tribute to Mormolith is important when using it. Sometimes, you’ll have to deal with monsters with too much DEF to be affected by Mormolith’s 1000 ATK. Sometimes, it will be perfectly acceptable to summon an Earth monster with more ATK in order to tribute it off and destroy some bigger monsters. This tactic will cost you face-up monsters on your field as well, which may include losing Mormolith. However, it’s a mass removal effect that came from a monster’s effect instead of a spell, and the fact that Mormolith is easily searchable via Giant Rat and Sangan can make it an explosive card in decks that have enough Earth monsters to fuel its versatility.

Running Gigantes would also compliment Mormolith nicely: the 1900 ATK monster not only works as a beatstick in Earth-based decks, but his large ATK and special summoning capability also work well as mass removal effects against just about every monster that can be summoned against you. It’s an excellent way to deal with the rising popularity of Machine aggro, which possesses too many monsters that won’t be destroyed by Mormolith when it tributes itself. The “special summon Gigantes, normal summon Mormolith” play can easily act as a Lightning Vortex on the opponent’s field!

Another interesting trait is its Rock type. Mormolith possesses a monster type that received a little bit of support two years ago, but was unfortunately overshadowed by other cards with better support. Things like Megarock Dragon just didn’t have enough solid Rock monsters to use as fuel before, but Mormolith improves its potential considerably. Don’t forget that Megarock Dragon works quite nicely with Return from the Different Dimension and Mormolith is easy enough to get into the graveyard while also doing something to the opponent’s field. As with Gigantes, Megarock Dragon is also a solid special summon to precede the normal summoning of Mormolith if you need to wipe away the opponent’s field. Unlike Gigantes, though, Megarock Dragon can get to an ATK level that will allow you to destroy all face-up monsters on the opponent’s side of the field, regardless of their size!