Some of you may remember my Power of the Duelist previews on the alien cards that were about to make their debut in that set. Cards like Alien Grey, Alien Mother, Cosmic Horror Gangi’el, and Brainwashing Beam gave us a first look at these otherworldly monsters and their effects. Today I would like to discuss the alien theme further by highlighting some other cards from this set that I didn’t cover in my initial preview.

First up in our exhibit of extraterrestrial nastiness is Alien Skull. Its 1600 ATK and 1800 DEF is respectable for a level 4 monster, but we have to look past the numbers and admire its potential value in our arsenal of alien tricks. You can choose to special summon Alien Skull by tributing a level 3 or lower face-up monster on your opponent’s side of the field. There is a slight catch to all this, since your Alien Skull will be summoned to your opponent’s side to do as he or she wishes. If you do special summon it this way, an A-Counter is automatically placed on Alien Skull. Remember, A-Counters reduce the attack and defense of a monster they’re placed on by 300 points while that monster in engaged in battle with another alien. Sick and tired of your opponent hiding behind tokens generated by Scapegoat? Go ahead and tribute one of them to special summon Alien Skull. (You could also use Ojama Trio.) It takes a bit of a set-up to fully use Alien Skull to your advantage. If you’re not careful, you will have given your opponent a free monster that could possibly hurt you later in the duel. Be aware that you won’t be allowed to normal summon or set the same turn you special summon Alien Skull in this manner. If for some reason your opponent does manage to swing at you with your own Alien Skull, you can always activate Brainwashing Beam to stop the attack and temporarily gain control of it for a little while.

After giving your opponent Alien Skull, we come to our next question: what are we going to use to destroy it? This is a good time to introduce Alien Hunter, which can attack twice in a row if the first monster it destroyed had an A-Counter on it. That makes Alien Skull a prime target. While both cards have identical attack values of 1600, don’t forget that Alien Skull will lose 300 points of that during damage calculation from battling Alien Hunter. Afterwards, the Hunter’s triggered ability will kick in, and you can attack again: its 1600 ATK is nothing to scoff it. Remember, Alien Hunter loves to attack monsters with A-Counters on them, so don’t be shy in utilizing the counter-producing effects of cards like Alien Grey or Cosmic Horror Gangi’el.

While we are on the topic of A-Counters, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Alien Warrior. With an ATK strength of 1800, it can definitely hold up against other level 4 monsters. However, you could also use it to attack monsters that are bigger than it. You may lose a few life points, but you’ll get to infect your opponent’s monsters with those debilitating A-Counters. When Alien Warrior is destroyed as a result of battle, you put two A-Counters on the monster that destroyed it. Even your opponent’s mighty Cyber Dragon won’t look so tough when its attack is being reduced by 600 points while battling an alien. If you can set it up with Alien Hunter, then you’ll also get an additional attack as well. If you want to be especially devious, you can use Staunch Defender when your opponent starts to attack one of your more vulnerable monsters and have him or her attack Alien Warrior instead. You’ll put two A-Counters on the offending monster (assuming it was big enough to take down your warrior) and, due to the effect of Staunch Defender, your opponent’s remaining monsters will be unable to attack. Feel free to abuse Brainwashing Beam at this point if you have a chance; those A-Counters are contributing themselves to a good cause.

I don’t know about you all, but when I think of aliens, I naturally think of UFOs and flying saucers. Of course, these aliens have their own nifty spacecraft as well: Flying Saucer Muusik’i. I’m sure some of you are a little skeptical about the worth of this card, since for a level 5 monster it only has a 1000 ATK. However, the Flying Saucer allows us the option of putting an alien card in our hand instead of going through with our normal draw. I’m sure that you must see the advantages in that. How many times have you fervently wished that your next draw was a monster to continually apply pressure to your opponent when a spell or trap would not be useful? Flying Saucer Muusik’i turns our prayers to reality by letting us choose what would best serve our strategy at the time. Since it’s a Light attribute monster, you could use the effect of Shining Angel to quickly bring the Flying Saucer out. Also, due to its low ATK score, it’s a prime candidate to special summon via the effect of Last Will.

Crop Circles is a great card during the mid-game that can surprise your opponent as you tribute your monsters to special summon an alien directly from your deck. It’s even better if you took one of his or her monsters with Creature Swap or Brain Control. Of course, make sure you do your math correctly, since the alien you special summon has to have a level exactly equal to the levels of the monsters you tributed. Finally, you can use Orbital Bombardment to destroy one of those sneaky spells or traps your opponent may have set for protection. Ideally, the alien you discard to power Orbital Bombardment should be ready to be special summoned with Call of the Haunted or Premature Burial.

Well, that wraps up this article about the interstellar menace. As always, I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed it. Please feel free to email me at baldnbeautifuljudge@yahoo.com. Thank for tuning in here at Metagame.com, and please keep checking back for more on tips, tricks, and strategies!!!