Puppy eyes, kitten-like nose, squeaky chatter, tiny ears . . . let’s face it. Most people cannot resist cute creatures. And nobody can resist a cute creature that can smack someone silly. Today’s The Lost Millennium card preview is a creature that nobody can turn away from. Say hello to the cute, cuddly, and deadly TLM-EN031!

Attribute: EARTH
Type: Beast
Level: Three
ATK: 1600
DEF: 300
Effect: If this card is face-up on the field, its controller takes 0 damage from card effects.

This card is certainly a nice option in Sealed Pack events. If you’re participating in a Sealed Pack flight, then you will appreciate 031’s 1600 ATK, which is incredibly impressive for a level 3 monster. Any duelist who has ever participated in a Yu-Gi-Oh! Sealed Pack event knows the importance of pulling a few low-level monsters that have a decent ATK value. This gives you the ability to destroy some of your opponent’s low-level monsters before they can be used for tribute summons of high-level monsters.

The adorable wombat known as EN031 possesses a strong ATK and an effect that can be useful in just about every Sealed Pack event. Flaming Eternity possessed a small handful of burner monsters, and I have no doubts that The Lost Millennium will contain a few cards that could inflict damage on your life points . . . oh, wait. EN031 makes those effects useless against you. This means our monster for today not only has a reasonable ATK value, it also has a protective ability for any random threats that could be used against you!
           
If you’re participating in a Booster Draft, then you should consider EN031 as a third or fourth round draft pick. While it’s not a good idea to draft this little wombat if you’re going for a specific theme, it can be fine filler if there are no cards to select that would help with your strategy. EN031 still possesses a decent ATK value and a great effect.

EN031 truly shines in the Advanced format, where the presence of Stall decks that focus on burning away the opponent’s life points is threatening to many duelists. Many duelists have prepared against these sorts of Stall decks with cards such as Mobius the Frost Monarch and Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment. EN031 not only acts as a major obstacle for these Burner decks, but its level also allows the little wombat to attack under the Stall deck’s major barriers like Gravity Bind and Level Limit - Area B. You can expect EN031 to be a strong side deck option for Beatdown and Burner decks everywhere.

If you’re looking to utilize this burn-halting beast in a different deck type altogether, consider EN031 as a strong main deck option for the ancient, yet potent, Clown Control theme. A variety of cards have been released over the past year that aid the Clown Control deck’s strength of using Gravity Bind and Level Limit - Area B in a number of ways. EN031 not only attacks under the deck’s barriers, but it also provides the deck with an ability to shut down any burn theme. This is in addition to the field control it possesses, with Dream Clown and Crass Clown completely disrupting whatever the opponent summons!

If you’re an old-school duelist and you want to find a way to utilize EN031 in the Traditional format, then consider this little guy one of your strongest side deck options. While EN031 will not help against standard hand control, it can be one of your strongest weapons against the dreaded Catapult Kill deck that uses Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle in order to defeat your opponent on your first turn. There’s also the option to combine of Ring of Destruction with EN031, which gives you protection from your own trap card as long as you’re destroying something other than your favored critter.

That’s all from me for this batch of sneak peeks. However, the analysis of The Lost Millennium doesn’t end after next weekend. Check Metagame after the upcoming fun-filled weekend for a few weeks of support and analysis for the new cards you’ll see at the big event. Wait a minute—are you still not sure about attending the Sneak Preview event near you? What about if we remind you that for entering Sealed Pack events during the Sneak Preview weekend, you’ll receive a brand-new Amazoness Chain Master promotional card! You know you want a few of these monsters. There are all sorts of other free goodies that are given away at these events, too, so be sure to check one out!

For folks in the San Diego area, I’ll be working as a judge at The Lost Millennium Sneak Preview on Saturday at the San Diego Convention Center. Stop by and enter a few side events, or you can check out the main event. The last Sneak Preview event here in San Diego brought in over 1000 duelists, and you can certainly expect this one to be larger and even more entertaining. If you drop by the convention center on Saturday, be sure to say hi to this friendly, Tsukuyomi-obsessed Metagame writer!