It’s certainly got an impressive name . . . but what does it do?

Exarion Universe

Beast-Warrior Effect Monster

Dark Level 4

1800 ATK /1900 DEF

You can only activate the effect during a battle step of your turn. Decrease the ATK of this card by 400 points, then during a battle between this attacking card and a defense position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent’s life points. This effect continues until the end phase of the turn this effect is activated.

Let’s go through everything that this bad boy has to offer. First off, it’s a Beast-Warrior, and there’s still a few of you out there who play Enraged Battle Ox, right? Exarion Universe will work quite well with that! You’ll get all the benefit of piercing damage without having to reduce any ATK. If you really feel like dishing it out, throw in Wild Nature’s Release as well, since it’s ideal for this monster. 3700 piercing damage is just plain cruel, and you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking about it.

Exarion Universe has the Dark attribute, an important fact for Chaos players, and it can easily step into Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer’s spot in most current builds. It’s a level 4 monster, so it can hit the field without a tribute. This is always a plus, since most decks don’t like running more tribute monsters than Jinzo and Airknight Parshath.

Exarion Universe’s1800 ATK and 1900 DEF is worthwhile on its own, even without the card’s effect. There aren’t many commonly played monsters that can take it out in defense position—apart from tribute monsters like Jinzo, special cases like Cyber Dragon, or the D. D. girls. Berserk Gorilla has somewhat faded from the scene, and the majority of the other level 4 monsters out there just don’t pack a punch. Exarion Universe in defense position can be a better wall than a row of Sheep tokens if your opponent doesn’t have any high-ATK monsters. It can also force an opponent to use a piece of monster removal that he or she might have preferred to keep in reserve against a bigger threat.

Now, let’s look at its effect. Hmm . . . reduce the ATK to give it piercing damage? That sounds like a fair trade to me. Exarion Universe’s ATK drops from 1800 to 1400 when its effect is activated, which might sound a little weak, but let’s think about it. Look over the decklists of the most popular archetypes, and you’ll see that the bulk of the monsters listed have less than 1400 DEF—at least, for the ones commonly played in defense position. Magician of Faith? 400 DEF. Sangan? 600 DEF. Morphing Jar? 600 DEF. Oh, and that annoying little Spirit Reaper that everyone hates? Only a lousy 200 DEF, and it deserves everything it gets. Do you hate it when your opponent keeps fetching back Sinister Serpent each turn and uses it as a tiny scaly wall? Well, losing 1150 life points each time will be a powerful deterrent for that tactic.

An opponent that likes to clutter up the field with wads of wool won’t like Exarion Universe, either. Goat Control continues to be a very popular deck, and Scapegoat pops up in many other decks as well. Pull up a chair, and have a little lamb! You’ll get the same kind of piercing damage benefit as Airknight Parshath, but you’ll be trading off a reduced amount of damage (and no extra card) for not having to tribute. No Sheep!

If you’re running Book of Moon or Tsukuyomi (and I know that you probably are), you’ll find plenty of good combos with Exarion Universe. Destroying Thousand-Eyes Restrict always feels good, but dishing out 1400 piercing damage feels even better. Wipe out a couple for me while you’re at it—that thing has always given me the creeps.

If you followed Metagame.com’s coverage of the Boston Shonen Jump Championship, you may have noticed that seven of the Top 8 decks ran a copy of Exarion Universe. If you read through the finals coverage, you’ll actually get to see Exarion Universe in action. It worked exactly as described earlier in this article—as an excellent anti-Scapegoat tactic, as a strong defensive wall, and by dealing piercing damage to the predominately low-defense monsters that most players set face-down.

In the current environment, Exarion Universe is a completely valid card choice that will be useful, regardless of your matchup. Decks will change once the new Forbidden list is put into place; but for now, Exarion Universe is definitely a card that’s worth playing. If you’re lucky enough to find this tin still on the shelf at your local store, go ahead and pick it up! You’re bound to get plenty of use out of it. The promo has lots of potential, and your old tin is getting rather beat up, anyway.