Speaking of Snatch Steal, it’s no longer going to give your opponent free wins if you go on the offensive and it’s sitting on top of his or her deck. A card like this was a bane to aggro strategies everywhere since it very rarely came back to its owner’s control (they would dispose of the monster quickly as a tribute, or it would be flipped face down thanks to Tsukuyomi or Book of Moon).

Of course, while Snatch Steal might be out of the format, a similar card is still legal. Oh, and you can run three copies of it too. Brain Control will never fulfill the precise role Snatch Steal did since you cannot permanently take control of the monster. However, that does not make it a bad card by any means. In fact, in some strategies, Brain Control is actually much stronger!

The card’s effect is easy enough to follow. You pay 800 life points when you play it and choose a face-up monster on the field. At resolution, if that monster is still face up, you gain control of it until the end of the turn. What you do with that monster is entirely up to you, whether you attack with it, send it straight to the graveyard by attacking into a bigger monster (say, if you took control of D. D. Assailant), or tribute it for a monster of your own.

It is the versatility of Brain Control that makes it one of the more powerful cards in this format. With Chaos Sorcerer put down, the Monarchs will likely become one of the larger powerhouse monster line-ups. Cards such as Mobius the Frost Monarch and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch create a heavy demand for tribute support. Brain Control fits this role perfectly. It saw play in some Monarch-based decks even before Snatch Steal was Forbidden, since it could be more well-rounded and useful at times than Soul Exchange. In this current format, where more monsters are bound to be face up unless it’s one of the few relevant flip effect monsters or a Nimble Momonga, Brain Control becomes even more important for Monarchs.

Unlike the much slower Soul Exchange, Brain Control can do more than feed tributes to the monarchs. It also has the ability to make massive dents in the opponent’s field presence if he or she has multiple monsters out with the same ATK power (Double Dark World 2300 ATK monsters might be more common now), or if the opponent has D. D. Warrior Lady or D. D. Assailant out with another monster (another possibility since Warrior builds tend to be strong decks in an unknown environment). Brain Control also offers you a chance to get some easy damage in against an opponent, since most players in a tournament will be hesitant to use their own destructive trap cards against monsters that may come back to them at the end of the turn. Attacking first before tributing for a Monarch forces more decisions upon the opponent and increases the chances that he or she will make a mistake during the duel.

Okay, so Brain Control is good for tributing your opponent’s monsters for your own big bruisers. That fact was established long, long ago. I bet you want to know something else that Brain Control can do. After all, you are allowed to run three copies of it. Three copies. Three! A card like this is powerful at one as is, but being able to run three copies in your deck can be downright deadly.

What Brain Control can do very well is allow aggro decks to shine in this format. Currently, there are many level 5 and 6 monsters that heavily favor an aggro strategy. Majestic Mech - Ohka is a solid 2400 ATK beater that is more versatile than most tribute monsters, while the Sillva, Warlord of Dark World and Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World combo can be used effectively with Brain Control (and also stand tall against annoying cards such as Don Zaloog).

However, what if you aren’t using Brain Control to tribute off your opponent’s monsters for your own? Perhaps, instead, you summon Majestic Mech - Ohka, and then play Brain Control on your opponent’s 1600-2400 ATK monster? You’re scoring at least 4000 damage to your opponent’s face with this play, which puts him or her below the ever-annoying Cyber-Stein range if he or she is running that specific combo deck. It also forces slower decks to do something productive during their next turn, or else risk losing the duel. This is what aggro is all about in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Committing yourself to a play such as this can give you more good cards to draw, since it increases the relevance of specific cards in your deck. It can also help you set a nasty trap for your opponent. If he or she is reluctant to activate anything to stop a 4000-damage onslaught, you may be expecting him or her to play Smashing Ground and to go on the offensive during the next turn. This is what you want to see, since you could have Magic Cylinder and Reflect Bounder in hand. If the opponent falls for this sort of ploy, he or she could go down below 2000 life points with just two attacks and a trap card, and the Reflect Bounder you summon next turn will immediately put any plans he or she had of winning to a halt for a few turns.

Not entirely convinced that Brain Control can help aggro deal damage quickly? Check this deck out.

Monsters: 19

3 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World

1 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World

3 Brron, Mad King of Dark World

3 Hydrogeddon

2 Majestic Mech - Ohka

3 Cyber Dragon

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Injection Fairy Lily

2 Reflect Bounder

Spells: 16

3 Brain Control

3 Dark World Lightning

1 Card Destruction

1 Graceful Charity

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Heavy Storm

3 Enemy Controller

3 Rush Recklessly

Traps: 5

1 Mirror Force

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Ceasefire

1 Torrential Tribute

Three Brain Control cards in a single deck is very, very mean. If it’s not feeding my tribute monsters with my opponent’s cards, then it’s helping me dish out absurd amounts of life point damage, effectively making all of my burn cards, Brain Control cards, and Enemy Controller cards incredible top-decks.

This is not the only deck that can abuse three copies of Brain Control either. There are plenty of other options out there, and I’ll explore one of them next week. You won’t want to miss it!

As always, if you have any questions or comments regarding this or any previous articles of mine, feel free to e-mail me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com.