One of the most surprising trends I have seen over the past few months in the nationwide Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG metagame has been the rising popularity of a tech Cyber-Stein. I do not quite understand the benefits of running a single Cyber-Stein in decks most of the time, especially when some of those decks don’t even run Mystic Tomato. However, it seems that some players want to benefit from an occasional easy game win if they can draw all the right cards at the right time.
It’s not like I’m going to argue against tech I don’t agree with. It makes Ceasefire even better. Oh, and I heard Ceasefire was really good against Return from the Different Dimension, too! In fact, I’ll go so far as to state that Ceasefire is probably one of the best cards a player can tech at a regional or Shonen Jump Championship right now.
Why exactly is Ceasefire so good? What makes this card something worth running over a solid alternative, such as Sakuretsu Armor?
At first glance, Ceasefire is just another burn effect. Early in a duel, you will probably be able to activate this trap card and deal around 1000 points of damage to your opponent’s life points. However, it is late in a duel where Ceasefire really shines. When both players have taken the opportunity to put more monsters onto the field in order to win the game, Ceasefire can easily deal around 2000 to 3000 points of damage. Who cares if this card doesn’t provide any hand control or tempo control late in the duel? It’s dealing enough damage to warrant it as a game ender!
However, this is not the reason why you should be playing Ceasefire right now. The real reason why Ceasefire is so good is because of its ability to effectively negate every single Return from the Different Dimension that your opponent is playing. While the Recruiter Chaos decks with Royal Decree have become very popular, the Return-Chaos variants are still floating around. Still, if Ceasefire was only good for this one purpose, then it wouldn’t be that amazing.
Ceasefire is one of the reasons I am happy to see so many players using the one tech Cyber-Stein. The only reason that the monster is being run in the first place is because it can provide players with a quick and easy win if they draw a multiple card combination that will usually come into play once every six to ten duels. If you’re running Ceasefire, though, the chances of pulling off that “lucky Stein” win drop rapidly, and suddenly your opponent may as well tell you that he or she is running 39 cards in his or her deck. You see, when opponents hit the 5000 life points or lower mark, their Cyber-Stein effectively becomes a three-digit ATK and DEF monster with no other effects. The worst part about this for your opponents is that they’ll typically see your activated Ceasefire when they either waste a Mystical Space Typhoon or, even worse, waste Heavy Storm on your face-down card or possibly their own cards.
A play like chaining Ceasefire to Mystical Space Typhoon could effectively make for a very powerful trade. If an opponent already has Cyber-Stein in his or her hand, then it is no longer of use. You’ve virtually robbed the opponent of two cards, and you’ve still generated damage in the process. Cyber-Stein might as well not be in the opponent’s hand, because it’s not going to serve him or her any purpose for the remainder of the game save a random discard.
Ceasefire also does a fantastic job of setting the tempo of the game, rather than your opponent. If, within the first two turns, you can reduce your opponent’s life points below 5000, then you will be forcing him or her to play ultra-defensively for the remainder of the duel. If your deck is designed to be aggressive, such as John Hletko’s Hydrogeddon-Aggro deck, then you will often be forcing your opponent to concede the duel to you. After all, there will be very few chances for him or her to strike back when you start the game by immediately lunging for the throat.
In fact, John Hletko’s deck is a perfect example of a build that can efficiently tech Ceasefire. Not only will it easily shut down Cyber-Stein, but it also combos well with your field-rushing Hydrogeddon cards to inflict even more damage to your opponent’s life points!
However, you could splash Ceasefire in a Recruiter-Chaos deck, too. When you open your duel with a set Recruiter monster, such as Mystic Tomato, you will most likely be devastated if your opponent has a turn 1 Nobleman of Crossout. After all, this will shut down any sort of tempo your deck would be able to generate through the searching and thinning capabilities of that initial recruiter monster. Ceasefire effectively acts as a counter trap to your opponent’s Nobleman of Crossout. By activating Ceasefire in response to Nobleman of Crossout, you will flip your monster face-up. Then, once Nobleman of Crossout tries to resolve, its initial face-down target will no longer be legal for your opponent’s spell card to remove from play, since the monster targeted by Nobleman of Crossout needs to be face down at resolution! This is also an incredible combo with Spirit Reaper, since it will either stop the opponent’s attacks for his or her turn or force him or her to dedicate another removal card for your lone monster. At this point, the other recruiter monsters, Spirit Reaper cards, and threats such as Chaos Sorcerer are looking a whole lot safer to play.
The tech Ceasefire also has many more subtle uses. If you don’t expect your opponent to Stein you out of the duel, but are concerned about a possible face-down Magician of Faith to return an annoying spell card such as Graceful Charity, you can use Ceasefire to negate that flip effect, since flip effects don’t trigger when Ceasefire flips the effect monster face up. Even though you’re costing yourself a card to pull off this play, your opponent would be getting an extra card if you let the effect happen anyways. At least with this play, you can seriously hinder your opponent’s tempo, and that can give you the time you need to aggressively take control of the duel. Oh, and it can ensure that your Hydrogeddon will be destroying a monster, and not just bashing its head into a Spirit Reaper.
With the advanced format changing, will Ceasefire still be the best card to tech? Maybe not, but it’s always a reasonable option, especially for side decks. Ceasefire succeeds in shutting down flip effect monsters, it punishes the use of heavy life point payment cards, it can make Premature Burial a painful card for the opponent, and it is great in any aggro deck. If you are looking to take out a couple of Stein-reliant decks in your local tournaments or a Regional event, then add Ceasefire to your main deck. It is easily the best card you can ask for.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this or previous articles of mine, feel free to e-mail me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com.