Back in September 2002, the Spell Ruler Yu-Gi-Oh! set was released in the United States. With it, a handful of deadly cards were made available—though some of these cards were not immediately used. Snatch Steal and Delinquent Duo quickly began to see play, and even Relinquished was a popular choice!

However, and quite surprisingly, Mystical Space Typhoon was relatively overlooked by many duelists. Perhaps it was because this quick-play spell was an ultra rare card, which made it difficult to obtain three copies of it. Maybe it was because duelists wanted more out of its ability than a simple one-for-one trade, especially considering its rarity. However, within a few months, the card’s popularity skyrocketed, and everyone began running three copies of the versatile Typhoon (prior to its restriction last October).

One other spell card has also been overlooked since its release in Spell Ruler. As a super rare that provided no actual removal at the time, Giant Trunade remained in most duelist’s trade binders. However, this spell’s field-clearing utility allowed a duelist to press an all-out offensive against the opponent. Giant Trunade is also a solid optional combo piece with certain cards that definitely make this spell more than playable. Let’s take a look at today’s binder favorite.

The Basic Breakdown

Giant Trunade is a normal spell card that returns all spell and trap cards on the field to their owners’ hands. This excludes any non-continuous spell and trap cards that were activated. For example, cards such as Scapegoat will not return to an owner’s hand or deck if they were already activated. This ruling applies to cards like Phoenix Wing Wind Blast as well.

This effect may seem like nothing when compared to Heavy Storm, but Giant Trunade serves a greater purpose than simply clearing the field for a turn. Unless you plan to defeat your opponent that turn, such a move often leaves you with a -1 advantage. However, Giant Trunade also acts as a way to return cards to your hand that you no longer want on the field. For example, let’s say you draw a Graceful Charity and no longer need that Messenger of Peace and Nobleman of Crossout on your field. Play Giant Trunade to return those two cards to your hand, then play Graceful Charity and discard both of those cards to its effect. This allows you to keep cards that you value in your hand over cards that were on your field.

The other general purpose of Giant Trunade is to be a key in specific combo decks. One of those combo decks is the increasingly popular Armed Samurai – Ben Kei deck, in which Giant Trunade acts as a way to remove the opponent’s last line of defense before Ben Kei goes to work on the opponent’s life points. Giant Trunade also works in an Exodia deck as a method of reusing Call of the Haunted and Premature Burial on crucial monsters, such as Sangan and Emissary of the Afterlife.

Combos and Counters

Giant Trunade is the centerpiece to a few entertaining and effective combos. One of my personal favorites is a combination of Giant Trunade with Different Dimension Gate and either D. D. Scout Plane or D. D. Survivor. This combo allows for an effective one-for-one removal of any monster on the opponent’s field, regardless of its position. In this current national environment, standard removal can only go so far, since monsters are easily utilized even if they’re in the graveyard. However, monsters that are removed from play cannot be used for sacrifices to Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, nor can they be returned by monster effects, such as that of the increasingly popular Night Assailant.

Big Bang Shot also makes a nice “removed from play” combo with Giant Trunade. While Big Bang Shot’s effect is typically looked at as a weakness, it becomes a versatile combo when combined with today’s spell card. Equip Big Bang Shot to an opponent’s monster, and then follow up with Giant Trunade. Not only will this clear the opponent’s back row of cards, but it will also remove one of his or her monsters from play! This is what allows Ben Kei decks to be a competitive force, as Giant Trunade and Big Bang Shot both give the deck versatility and extra methods of monster removal.

One of the best combos with Giant Trunade is Premature Burial. While Premature Burial has the weakness of destroying the equipped monster when the equip spell itself is destroyed, the equipped monster will remain alive if Premature Burial is removed from the field by other means. Giant Trunade is no exception to this rule, as it safely returns Premature Burial to your hand. At this point, there are no spell or trap cards that can disrupt your battle phase, and you can activate Premature Burial once more to resurrect another monster from your graveyard! Talk about an aggressive rush.

Giant Trunade also acts as a strong method of gaining absorbed monsters back from the deadly Thousand-Eyes Restrict, though it still does not remove the threat of that lockdown Fusion monster from the field.

There are no inherent counters to Giant Trunade other than standard negation or cards like Waboku, which can be chained in response to the activation of this spell card. If your opponent is abusing Giant Trunade in a combo deck, then be prepared to side deck in more than just one or two cards to deal with it. There’s not a lot that can actually stop an opponent from achieving his or her combo deck’s goal once Giant Trunade resolves successfully.

Final Thoughts

Giant Trunade is still regarded as a trade bait card in today’s environment, despite the fact that this card has existed in the United States for nearly three years. However, some duelists have given this card a try in their main deck or have used this spell in a combo deck, and it has brought them some actual success. Chad Justice thoroughly abused Giant Trunade with his Armed Samurai– Ben Kei deck in Houston, and Giant Trunade also saw some play at the New Jersey Shonen Jump Championship. It’s been slow in gaining popularity, but it seems as though Giant Trunade is starting to get the respect it deserves.

If you have any questions or comments regarding any of my articles, or if you just want to talk or ask for help with a deck, feel free to email me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com.