Today’s article has gone fishing . . . fishing for one of the biggest nasties this side of a giant squid! Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth is one king who knows how to raise an army. Their life expectancy is questionable.

Must Have Used the Wrong Bait . . .

When Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth rises from the depths of the ocean, it doesn’t come alone.

"Once per turn, you can discard 1 card to Special Summon as many Level 4 or lower Fish-Type monsters as possible from your Deck. A monster Special Summoned by this effect cannot declare an attack and its effect(s) is negated while on the field. If this card is targeted by a Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster's effect, you can Tribute 1 other Fish-Type monster to negate the effect and destroy that card."

After you summon Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth, you can activate its ignition effect during your main phase by discarding one card. When the effect resolves, you special summon as many level 4 or lower Fish monsters as possible from your deck. If you want this effect to work properly, you need to make sure your deck is ready with Fish-type monsters. You don’t get much by "splashing" the Deepsea King into a deck that isn’t ready to work with it.

The Fish-type monsters you special summon with Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth have a condition placed upon them that prevents them from attacking. It also negates their effects while they remain on the field. So if they can’t attack and they can’t use their effects, they must be a wall, right? They’re a rather un-sturdy wall, and the Deepsea King is inclined to take them apart brick by brick.

Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth can tribute one other Fish-type monster when it is targeted by a spell, trap, or effect monster’s effect. This effect is a multi-trigger effect that is chained to the effect that targets the Deepsea King. You can use this effect multiple times during the same turn, and even multiple times during the same chain, as long as you have Fish monsters you can tribute.

Example: Throw It Back! Throw It Back!

Madison has Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth in face-up attack position. She also has Space Mambo and Cure Mermaid in face-up defense position. Her opponent Allen has Sakuretsu Armor and Magic Cylinder set in his spell and trap card zone.

Madison declares an attack with Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth against Allen’s life points. Allen activates Sakuretsu Armor. Madison chains the Deepsea King’s effect, tributing Cure Mermaid. Allen chains Magic Cylinder. Madison chains the Deepsea King’s effect again, this time tributing Space Mambo. When the chain resolves, the Deepsea King negates both Magic Cylinder and Sakuretsu Armor.

Even if Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth is flipped face down or removed from the field, any Fish-type monsters summoned with its effect will still not be allowed to attack and their effects will remain negated while they remain face up on the field. The Fish-type monsters will be freed from this condition when they are flipped face down or removed from the field, similar to how you can save a monster special summoned by Return from the Different Dimension.

If a Fish-type monster special summoned by Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth has an effect that activates in the graveyard, its effect won’t be negated by the condition of the Deepsea King. Furthermore, if you can activate the Fish’s effect and then remove it from the field in a chain, the effect will resolve because the Fish is no longer on the field when its effect resolves. Let’s examine what this means for some of our Fishy allies.

from Tactical Evolution has two effects, but only one of them will be negated by Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth. The "piercing attack" effect is a continuous effect and is negated, but since Ocean’s Keeper can’t attack, it honestly doesn’t matter. The Keeper’s second effect is a trigger effect that activates when it is destroyed in battle, but this effect doesn’t activate while it is on the field. It activates at the end of the damage step, when monsters destroyed in battle are sent to the graveyard. Since Ocean’s Keeper is worded like Apprentice Magician, it won’t matter if Ocean’s Keeper is removed from play or sent to the graveyard when it is destroyed in battle. Either way, you will get the effect and be able to search your deck for the Thousand-Eyes Jellyfish or Cranium Fish.

This allows Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth to join forces with the Ocean’s Keeper quite nicely. If you can special summon two or three of them from your deck, when one is destroyed in battle it can acquire a Cranium Fish that can be special summoned by tributing one of the remaining Ocean’s Keeper you special summoned with the Deepsea King’s effect. Combined with Salvage, you can have some fun with that Cranium Fish.

 Deepsea Macrotrema and Golden Flying Fish from Phantom Darkness can also work well with Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth, although not quite in the same way. The Golden Flying Fish’s effect is negated if you special summon it with the Deepsea King, but if you can summon it without the Deepsea King’s help you will be able to use the Fish monsters special summoned by the Deepsea King as tributes for the Golden Flying Fish’s effect. It will help you punch through a few of your opponent’s cards and hopefully you can then finish him or her off with attacks from the Golden Flying Fish and the Deepsea King.

Deepsea Macrotrema’s effect activates when it is sent from the field to the graveyard, regardless of circumstance, increasing the ATK of every face-up Water monster you control by 500 points. If you tribute it to pay the cost for Golden Flying Fish or Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth’s effect, the Macrotrema will activate its effect when it hits the graveyard. It won’t actually chain to the effect of either monster, though. Instead, it will start a new chain after their effects have resolved.

Steve has Golden Flying Fish and Treeborn Frog in his hand. He also has Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth in attack position. His opponent Ned has two monsters in face-down defense position and one card set in his spell and trap card zone. Steve discards Treeborn Frog to activate the Deepsea King’s effect, special summoning three Deepsea Macrotrema cards from his deck in defense position. Next, he normal summons Golden Flying Fish.

Steve tributes one of the Deepsea Macrotrema to activate Golden Flying Fish’s effect. This activates Deepsea Macrotrema’s effect, but it cannot be added to the chain just yet, so it must wait until after the Golden Flying Fish’s effect resolves. Steve selects Ned’s face-down spell or trap card. He chains it, revealing Ring of Destruction, and selects Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth as his target. Steve chains the Deepsea King’s effect, tributing another Deepsea Macrotrema. Its effect also wants to activate, but it too must wait until the chain resolves.

Their chain: Golden Flying Fish

Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth resolves first, negating Ring of Destruction and destroying it. Ring of Destruction is negated, so its effect does nothing. Golden Flying Fish tries to destroy its target—the very same Ring of Destruction—but since its target is already destroyed and removed from the field, its effect disappears.

Now that the chain has finished resolving, the effects of both Deepsea Macrotrema start a new chain with two chain links, one for each Macrotrema tributed. When this chain resolves, the ATK of Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth and the remaining Deepsea Macrotrema increase by 1000 points. Steve can now tribute the remaining Deepsea Macrotrema to destroy one of Ned’s face-down monsters, which will again result in the activation of Deepsea Macrotrema’s effect and a further increase in the Deepsea King’s ATK.