Secret rares have always been near and dear to my heart. Back when cards like Jinzo and Imperial Order were new to us, pulling one was an indescribable experience. I was incredibly saddened back when we lost them starting with Soul of the Duelist, so you can imagine how excited I was when I found out they were back in Strike of Neos. Furthermore, I was thrilled to see that the secret rares continued in Force of the Breaker. Sure, personally I thought that the counter-Fairy monsters were clearly superior, but there’s no denying that there are some real powerhouse cards sitting in Force of the Breaker’s secret rare slots. This is where the little tagline from last week comes into play. “What do Greek mythology, a classic Super Nintendo RPG, and Yu-Gi-Oh! have in common?” The answer is in the name of one of the new secret rares.

Prometheus was, in Greek mythology, the titan who stole fire from the gods and brought it to mankind. As is often the case in these myths, things didn’t go so well for the titan as soon as Zeus found out what he had done. The immortal Prometheus was chained to a rock: fated to have his liver eaten by an eagle every day for eternity. In the classic Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger, the name Prometheus cropped up during one of the endgame side-quests you could undertake once you reached “The Fated Hour.” In this case, Prometheus was the true name of one of your party members: one of a number of secrets revealed in that particular quest. (Any more than that would spoil a great part of a great game, so for all of you out there who haven’t played it, I’d really recommend doing so.)

Finally, we come to the reason why all of this is relevant: the new secret rare from Force of the Breaker, Prometheus, King of the Shadows. This incarnation of Prometheus has basically nothing in common with the other two except for the sweet name, but he has an incredible effect that makes him more than worthy of our consideration. Whenever Prometheus is normal summoned, you can remove any number of Dark monsters in you graveyard from play to give Prometheus a 400 ATK buff for each monster removed until the end of the turn. Get enough Dark monsters into the graveyard before you drop Prometheus, and he can swing for the fences for a turn, attacking through a weak defensive link such as a Card Trooper for massive damage. More importantly, however, is all the fun combinations and strategies that this effect enables . . . along with all the excellent monsters that you get to play with Prometheus by virtue of their attribute.

Monsters: 23

3 Cyber Dragon

3 Prometheus, King of the Shadows

3 Giant Germ

3 Mystic Tomato

1 Sangan

2 Dark Ruler Ha Des

2 Snipe Hunter

1 Night Assailant

1 Dark Magician of Chaos

1 Jinzo

3 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

Spells: 10

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Snatch Steal

3 Brain Control

1 Dimension Fusion

1 Book of Moon

1 Premature Burial

1 Nobleman of Crossout

Traps: 7

1 Call of the Haunted

3 Return from the Different Dimension

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Mirror Force

Similar to last week’s deck, this week I’ve built another deck that focuses on Return from the Different Dimension as a win condition. Unlike last week’s deck, however, this one is built to maximize speed and efficiency rather than style points. Admittedly, Prometheus is pretty stylish in his secret rare glory. Regardless, the ideal combo that you’ll be looking to pull off is a normal summon of Prometheus followed by the removal of at least four monsters from play. Then you attack with Prometheus and activate Return from the Different Dimension to bring all those other monsters back into play and wipe your opponent out in one turn. It’s steeped in the constant aggression and explosive potential that has characterized this format.

Specifically, I’d like you to note the full set of Brain Control cards included in this deck. In case you hadn’t noticed, tons of games are decided by that particular spell card, and you’re more than welcome to check out the coverage of U.S. Nationals if you’d like some examples of just how powerful it can be. Part of what made Brain Control so deadly there (aside from the obvious clearing of the opponent’s monsters and setting up for Monarch summons) was the ability to steal an opposing Card Trooper for use with Machine Duplication. As you can see, there are no Troopers in the above deck, mainly because I’d rather it be as accessible as possible for those who wish to play it. It also gives you the advantage of forcing an opponent running Trooper with Duplication to actually draw both cards rather than setting him or her up by playing Troopers of your own.

In this case, while stealing a Trooper won’t allow you to pull any Machine Duplication shenanigans, it will allow you to dump more Dark monsters into your graveyard if they aren’t getting there fast enough. Without Card Trooper, the best discard outlets right now are Destiny Draw and Snipe Hunter. The former requires quite a bit of dedication to Destiny Heroes, but the latter is a splashable card in any deck, which especially excels here. As a Dark Fiend monster with 1500 ATK, you can search it out with Mystic Tomato and Sangan, in addition to removing it with Prometheus or giving it the ability to negate monster effects with Dark Ruler Ha Des. That’s right—for those of you who may have forgotten, Ha Des doesn’t just negate the effects of monsters it destroys. It also extends that ability to all other Fiend-type monsters you control! You also shouldn’t underestimate the capacity of Ha Des to take down all the Monarchs along with Jinzo in battle. At worst, Ha Des is a bigger Dark Balter the Terrible that actually has a chance to be re-summoned through Dimension Fusion or Return from the Different Dimension. It’s an all-around solid tribute monster . . . though it would be a very bad thing if you let this card get taken by Brain Control while you have another important effect monster on the field.

With this deck, your opening turns should be dedicated to amassing as much field presence as you possibly can. Mystic Tomato is the ideal turn 1 play, though Giant Germ is also more than acceptable. Dekoichi is fine too, and even if the Locomotive gets nailed by Nobleman of Crossout, that’s still three 1400 ATK monsters in your removed-from-play pile for later. It also cuts your opponent off from the card as well, which is always a bonus. Giant Germ will likely give your opponent a lot of problems, especially if he or she unknowingly attacks the first one. Like Nimble Momonga, the Germ multiplies itself by fetching the other copies out of your deck when one is destroyed and sent to the graveyard as a result of battle. This presents a nasty predicament: should your opponent attack and take the extra damage from destroying the rest of the Germs or hold off until he or she finds removal? It’s especially unpleasant when you can continue to press the attack with the Germs thanks to removal of your own. If your opponent seems reluctant to do anything about your Germs, keep them out for as long as possible before summoning any tribute monsters. Every Brain Control and other piece of removal you can get your opponent to use on something smaller like a Germ or Tomato is one that he or she can’t use on your more important monsters.

When it comes time to win the game, Snipe Hunter is quite possibly the most important card in your deck. Bringing it down with Mystic Tomato after the last attack of your opponent’s battle phase should be a sign that you’re either in very deep trouble or ready to win . . . a distinction that’s sometimes difficult to make given the presence of three Brain Control cards in the deck. From there, the ideal situation would be to dump some large Dark monsters into the graveyard to fuel the Hunter’s ability. Assuming you hit your rolls, you then want to drop Prometheus and use Return for the win. Most games won’t be this cut and dried, but many of them likely won’t require you to even use Dimension Fusion or Return if you can get enough Dark monsters into the graveyard for a massive Prometheus swing. Just keep in mind that Prometheus loses his ATK at the end of the turn and only works when he’s normal summoned. Careful play focusing on exploiting any openings you can find is the key to this deck, and if you can land yourself a set of Prometheus cards (much easier than landing a set of Card Troopers), I would highly recommend giving it a try. Until next time, play hard, play fair, and most importantly, have fun!

Jerome McHale

jcmchale@andrew.cmu.edu

 NEXT WEEK: Do I like The Transmigration Prophecy? Why yes, I do!