Of course, today is also the start of Metagame.com’s sneak previews of the Shadow of Infinity set. What better way is there to kick off the next two weeks of looking at new cards than with a new card that’s big? And I mean really big.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames

Ultra Rare/Ultimate Rare

Attribute: FIRE

Pyro/Effect

Level 10

ATK: 0

DEF: 0

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by sending 3 face-up Trap Cards from your side of the field to the Graveyard. This card gets +1000 ATK for each Continuous Trap in your Graveyard. Once per turn, you can destroy 1 of your opponent's Set Spell or Trap Cards. Spell and Trap Cards cannot be activated in response to this effect.

First of all, is that not one of the coolest names you’ve ever seen printed on a Yu-Gi-Oh! card? Uria, Lord of Searing Flames. That rolls off the tongue so nicely! The art for this card is also pretty amazing.

The origins of Uria, Lord of Searing Flames can be found in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX animated series.* Uria is one of the three Sacred Beast cards that Duel Academy’s headmaster is currently keeping secure on the island. It’s said that these three cards contain tremendous power, and if they were to fall into the wrong hands, the world would be in danger. This is why some of the students and professors of Duel Academy were requested to protect pieces of the key that would unlock this great and terrible power. Of course, the students that accepted this opportunity were none other than Jaden Yuki and his friends. You won’t actually see the Sacred Beasts played in the series for a few weeks, but all three will make an appearance in the same deck.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames is gargantuan. This fiery behemoth is a level 10 monstrosity that can only be special summoned by sending three face-up trap cards from your side of the field to the graveyard. This task is quite possible, although I will admit that it’s definitely daunting. However, it causes you to wait at least a turn before you can summon Uria, which may give your opponent a chance to wipe away any trap cards that you’ve set with some form of spell or trap removal.

On the other hand, there are a variety of cards that can be utilized effectively to summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flames to the field. Gravity Bind and Wall of Revealing Light are continuous trap cards that can hold back most of your opponent’s attacks until you manage to summon Uria. The powerful synergy here can be found in the fact that you’re stopping your opponent from attacking, but once you summon Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, you’re no longer bound by your own continuous trap cards and your monsters will be free to attack your opponent and his or her monsters. Your Uria, Lord of Searing Flames will also be at least 3000 ATK.**

Of course, there is the chance that you may attack into some dangerous trap cards, such as Sakuretsu Armor. This is where Uria’s second ability comes into play. Once per turn, Uria has the ability to burn away one set spell or trap card on the opponent’s field. This allows you to remove potential threats immediately when Uria comes into play. The taxing cost to summoning Uria, Lord of Searing Flames sets you back by three cards. However, you have the ability to trigger Uria’s effect immediately once it hits the field, allowing you to even out the loss that you suffered by blowing up some of your opponent’s back row surprises. In a few turns, Uria’s effect will be able to replenish what you lost in summoning it through its spell and trap destruction effect. Once your opponent runs out of traps that he or she can set face down, you will have the opportunity to perform an all-out blitz with all of your monsters without the worry of losing your army to your opponent’s surprises!

Uria’s effect also prevents the opponent from chaining spell or trap cards. When it’s summoned, the turn player can keep priority and use Uria’s effect to destroy a set spell or trap. That means the opponent cannot chain Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, Divine Wrath, and many other cards. After the set card is destroyed, the opponent can’t activate those cards, because the timing is no longer correct!

Uria, Lord of Searing flames is just 1 of 60 new cards to come from the new Shadow of Infinity booster set. You can check out a newly revealed card every weekday for the next two weeks here on Metagame.com. But is seeing only a portion of the set good enough? Of course not! Be sure to check out the Sneak Preview event near you. You can be the first in your area to be playing with the new cards. Whether you are a competitive or casual player, Shadow of Infinity will have something just for you. 

*The second season of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is currently airing on Cartoon Network’s Miguzi block on weekdays at 5:00 EST/PST. They made Red-Eyes Black Dragon look awesome last week, didn’t they?