is one of the most misunderstood cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Its unique spell negation effect can create some complicated scenarios in conjunction with effects that manipulate ATK, and that’s confused a lot of players to the point where people just disregard it. The good news? The most common cards capable of creating these loops are no longer played in tournaments. As long as you understand the basics of Pole Position, and have the skill to handle it, both of its effects can be invaluable in the current format. Today I want to show you why Pole Position is so good, where to use it, and how you can use it to outwit your opponents.
Basic Care and Feeding Of Your Trap Card
Let’s look at this card on the most basic levels first, so that you can understand what it does. Here’s the most current text for Pole Position:
The face-up monster(s) with the highest ATK on the field is unaffected by the effects of Spell Cards. When "Pole Position" is removed from the field, destroy the face-up monster(s) with the highest ATK on the field.
Both of these lines of text denote continuous effects. That means that the monster protected by Pole Position’s spell negation can change as a chain of effects resolves. It also means that Pole Position’s destruction effect won’t start a new chain—instead, Pole Position will destroy a monster whenever the trap card is destroyed, even during the middle of an ongoing chain.
The most basic guideline for playing Pole Position successfully is to never set it until you anticipate using it. Pole Position can destroy your own monster, so having it set on the field may not always be in your interest. At the same time, you shouldn’t actually flip Pole Position until it’s going to negate a spell card. You want to chain Pole Position to your opponent’s spell, so that he or she loses a card to the negation effect before realizing that Pole Position was down.
If you run the right deck and follow those two basic rules, it’s easy to destroy a monster or negate one spell card. The challenge comes when you negate a spell card and Pole Position is then left face up, protecting the biggest monster. At that point, the card’s presence on the field turns the duel into a power struggle. If you can control the biggest monster on the field, then your opponent won’t be able to use spell cards on that monster. But if you don’t, your own Pole Position could help your opponent. In addition, if you do control the biggest monster, remember that Pole Position will destroy it when the trap card itself is removed. Alternatively, a clever player may be able to destroy his or her own Pole Position to destroy an opposing monster instead.
Generally, playing a deck with a high average ATK across your monster lineup is good when playing Pole Position—it means you’ll negate opposing spells more often. Playing Pole Position against a deck with lots of monster-oriented spells is also good, since it means you have more to negate. From there, it can be good or bad to go up against a deck with lots of spell and trap removal, depending on where their removal effects are coming from. If your opponent runs simple cards like Dust Tornado, then he or she could destroy Pole Position at an inopportune time and cost you a monster. But if that spell and trap removal is largely in the form of monster effects, well, you’re in a good position. Those monsters will wind up destroying themselves.
So, let’s recap:
—Don’t set Pole Position until you plan to use it.
—Don’t flip it until you’re negating a spell.
—Play it against opponents with lots of monster-oriented spells.
—Play it against opponents with big monsters that may destroy Pole Position.
—Run it in decks with higher average ATK than the decks you plan to face.
Five simple points. Let’s apply them, starting with the number-one reason to run this card right now . . .
It’s no secret: this format is dominated by these three monsters. Each has high ATK, and comes into play swinging a mass-removal effect that can destroy both monsters and back-row cards. Usually that’s a winning combination, as evidenced by the number of Shonen Jump Championship Day 2’s these three power cards have between them. But in the face of Pole Position, big ATK with a high-impact removal effect adds up to nothing more than a lost monster. These monsters are almost always the biggest thing on the field when they hit play, and if any of them destroys Pole Position, they bite the dust instantly. Pole Position is great tech against three of the most feared cards out there.
The same destruction effect is good against other cards as well: removal monsters like Snipe Hunter, Gladiator Beast Bestiari, and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress may not be the biggest monsters out there, but they often hit the field alone, which means that Pole Position will have no other choice when looking for a monster to destroy. Caius the Shadow Monarch and Mobius the Frost Monarch have similar abilities, but also face the issue of being very large, meaning that they’re a shoo-in for Pole Position’s destruction effect.
Where to Play It?
Pole Position can be teched into virtually any deck, provided you manage it carefully. As I mentioned earlier though, that spell negation effect is going to be more useful if you yourself have a higher average ATK across your monster spread than the decks you plan to face, and the shape of the average competitive metagame right now presents a big opportunity along those lines.
Gladiator Beasts are currently the most successful strategy in competitive play, taking eight of the sixteen Day 2 spots at Shonen Jump Championship Philadelphia
just eight days ago. Despite being far less successful, Dark Armed Dragon also continues to see tremendous play, largely because people who invested in the deck are unwilling to play anything else. Their popularity makes them the baseline for measuring the average ATK you should expect to face, and each deck commands very few easily playable monsters with more than 1700 ATK. Both use relatively small monsters and few actual beatsticks, so anything that can reliably beat 1700 ATK is going to be at an advantage with Pole Position.
That means that the Lightsworn have an edge, and Monarch duelists can too if they get a big monster on the field consistently. These are the top two places I’d personally consider running Pole Position.
What Should You Play It Against?
Gladiator Beasts become increasingly vulnerable as Gladiator duelists begin playing more quick-play spells for you to negate. Pole Position is a huge trump card in the face of Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and if you ever simply set Pole Position to an empty field, you can make a strong bet that your opponent will take a shot with a Gladiator Beast next turn and immediately tag out for Bestiari to try and earn some quick card advantage. When he or she does, Pole Position destroys Bestiari and leaves you with an opening.
Gadgets are an incredible matchup for Pole Position, as very few of their monsters have an ATK over 1400, while the deck is usually packed with monster-destroying spells that you can negate. Sure, Bottomless Trap Hole and Dimensional Prison can threaten your big monsters, but a Gadget deck isn’t designed to deal with every one of your monsters through just traps—eventually it runs out of ammo if it can’t use spells effectively. You’ll have to watch out and make sure that you don’t inadvertently turn the Gadget opponent’s spell and trap removal into a free destruction of your biggest monster, but few Gadget decks these days are running such cards anyway. Removing Smashing Ground, Enemy Controller, Book of Moon, and Soul Taker from your opponent’s arsenal is a huge blow.
Finally, Monarchs can suffer hugely when you flip an early game Pole Position. While I listed Monarchs as a good place to run Pole Position yourself, it’s only good for the Monarch duelist if he or she decides when it’s activated. If it’s played after a Monarch hits the field, awesome: that Monarch will probably be sticking around. But if Pole Position is chained to Soul Exchange or Brain Control, it may be impossible for the Monarch duelist to play even one tribute monster. At that point, the Monarch player needs to rely entirely on his or her defensive monsters, something an aggressive deck like Lightsworn will have no problem dealing with.
Pole Position is one of the most skill-testing cards in the game. It’s easy to get a single advantage from, but tricky to manage across the long term. Experiment and you’ll find that some opponents lose to it simply because they don’t know what it does. It’s an awesome fit for most metagames right now, and even if you can’t justify main-decking it, siding Pole Position against the right deck can be devastating.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer