In almost every booster set, a new sub-theme is released. While some may revolve around a specific attribute or monster type, they usually have a very different feel than just a standard group of monsters. Over the years, many different sub-themes have been released, and while not every theme has achieved widespread tournament success, some of them have also taken off and become relatively powerful. The level-up mechanic is a good example, since it rewarded players with fast and powerful monsters if they were willing to work the sub-theme into their decks. The Pharaonic Guardian flip-flop monsters (such as Des Lacooda and Swarm of Scarabs) also became successful. However, the one sub-theme that was right at the pinnacle of tournament success was the Spirits.

Oh, how I love those Spirit monsters. Veterans to this game should also remember the Spirit monsters—namely, Yata-Garasu, or my favored Tsukuyomi, which was every control player’s dream. While it was only slightly annoying on its own, Tsukuyomi’s combination with any flip effect monster could create unprecedented stability for a control player. Perhaps it was too much at the time, because its excessive play in Japan led to its limitation to one copy per deck.

The next few weeks are going to be dedicated to some of the lesser-known Spirit monsters. These big guys never saw much serious tournament play, but their power level is high enough that they warrant analysis. Some of them have been toyed with at Regional events, and they border on a level that can be close to tier one. Today’s big Spirit is Dark Dust Spirit, a common card from Pharaonic Guardian.

The Basic Breakdown

Dark Dust Spirit belongs to one of the deepest and most influential sub-themes of the game: the elusive Spirit monsters. This gives it the drawback (or benefit) of returning to its owner’s hand during the turn in which it is normal summoned or flipped face-up. However, one of the other spiritual restrictions on Dark Dust Spirit is that it cannot be special summoned. This is only fair, because being able to use Premature Burial on any of the Spirit monsters would be far too powerful.

As such, despite the fact that Dark Dust Spirit is a Zombie, it does not benefit from any actual Zombie support, since almost all of it reflects special summoning (whether it’s being fetched out of the deck with Pyramid Turtle or reanimated through the Book of Life). Oddly enough, Dark Dust Spirit benefits the most from themes other than the ones it is a part of, both in terms of attribute and monster type.

The effect of Dark Dust Spirit is simple, yet elegant. When it’s summoned or flipped face up, all other face-up monsters are destroyed. Mass removal in any game is respected, and Dark Dust Spirit should be no exception to this rule. Being able to wipe out an opposing force when you tribute summon this monster gives you a nice aggressive turn in which Dark Dust Spirit swings directly. Even if your opponent destroys your Spirit monster with Sakuretsu Armor, it’s still a profitable play. After all, summoning this spiritual Zombie isn’t a benefit for you if your opponent only has one level 4 monster on the field. Usually you want to summon Dark Dust Spirit when your opponent has committed more monsters (or a much larger monster) to the field. This is when the mass removal effect of Dark Dust Spirit shines.

However, many players tend to overlook the wording on Dark Dust Spirit. While you can tribute summon it in order to wipe the field and then choose not to attack if you want to save your monster for a later summon, this causes you to lose precious field presence and makes you particularly vulnerable to the staple-quality Spirit Reaper. However, Dark Dust Spirit has that particular wording on its effect that says you get mass removal when it is normal summoned, flip summoned, or flipped face up.

Tribute setting Dark Dust Spirit is one of the most devastating plays you can make with the card. Unless your opponent has a beefy monster on the field, chances are good that he or she won’t punch through your Dark Dust Spirit without the aid of a spell card or a monster of level 5 or higher. During the damage step, your Dark Dust Spirit’s effect will trigger and instantly blow up all of your opponent’s face-up monsters. If he or she over-committed prior to the battle phase, you will leave him or her without a monster and ready for an attack from your own Spirit Reaper during your next turn. However, even if your opponent was cautious of your removal trick, he or she will be left purely on the defensive during the second main phase.

It is this particular trick that makes Dark Dust Spirit shine as a control monster more than an aggro monster. You cannot get more controlling than having a trigger effect that works in the damage step, and that’s exactly what the big Zombie Spirit does. However, this isn’t to say that Dark Dust Spirit can’t be aggressive. It’s the perfect monster to put in a Macro Cosmos deck, since you will not be left defenseless at the end of your turn if you tributed a D. D. Scout Plane or D.D. Survivor while Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure is face-up on your field.

However, what really works well with Dark Dust Spirit is the powerful Treeborn Frog, which gives you instant access to a Dark Dust Spirit summon whenever you need it (turning your slow mass removal monster into a once-per-turn blowout against your opponent). As if Treeborn Frog didn’t make enough tribute monsters powerful.

Final Thoughts

Despite the power of Dark Dust Spirit, the requirement to play around its effect has left it outside of real tournament success. Some players have successfully used the big Spirit as tech, such as with the Treeborn Monarch deck before Treeborn Frog was limited to one copy per deck. However, it has yet to make a main deck appearance in a Shonen Jump Championship Top 8. Nonetheless, it’s hard not to respect the potential of this ability. My copy of Ceasefire is just begging to be used with Dark Dust Spirit right now.

Dark Dust Spirit is probably the least deep of the three big-time Spirit monsters in the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG. Next week, I’ll take a look at probably the most famous high-level Spirit from the tournament level, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi. I’d normally follow up mentioning that behemoth of a Spirit with a pun revolving around fires, but I don’t want to put you all through such pain and suffering, so I’ll just say it’s a real beast and that you can expect a full-blown analysis next week.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this or previous articles of mine, feel free to email me at Mrosenberg@metagame.com.