I’m sure that every single one of you reading this article has had some sort of dream deck: a deck that looks so fun and potentially amazing that you want to find a way to make it work. Every time I look at a Tyranno Infinity, my mind races with possible ways I can use it. As of now, my Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG dream is to drop a 4000 ATK Tyranno Infinity, equip it with Megamorph, and swing for game.

However, I look at every Dinosaur deck I make and reach the same inevitable conclusion: it’s just not worth it. Anything Dino decks can do, another deck can do better. Why devote my entire deck to creating a 3000-4000 ATK monster when I could simply play with Injection Fairy Lily? Although I could devote my side deck to taking down the bigger strategies (like Monarchs and Gadgets), there’s simply too many cards I’d have to side in for it to work.

This is how many themed decks have turned out. Each deck can bring something new to the table—something potentially game-breaking and sometimes even consistently game-breaking. However, they can rarely take on the less popular strategies that still make waves at Shonen Jump Championships: Demise OTK, Diamond Dude Turbo, Burn, and Chain Burn. Each of these decks attack the game in a different way, and the decks that you see in the Top 8 of SJC tournaments are there because they’re capable of competing with each of them in game 1.

Which brings me to today’s preview card. Some of the most anticipated cards of this set are the Sky Scourge monsters that Mike will be previewing this week. You’ve already seen the effects of Sky Scourge Enrise, whose Chaos Sorcerer-like ability can mean the revival of an old deck. The next Sky Scourge that Mike will preview has an effect so powerful that the card has remained on the Forbidden list since the list’s conception. However, the Sky Scourges require you to play Light Fairy and Dark Fiend monsters, which means that if you wish to abuse these cards, you will have to theme your deck around them. Normally, this would mean weaker matchups against rogue decks, and the entire concept might have been discarded. Enter Sky Scourge Invincil:

Sky Scourge Invincil

Fairy/Effect

Earth/6 Stars

2200/1600

This card cannot be Special Summoned. If you Tribute Summon this card by Tributing a monster of the following type, this card gets an additional effect:

—LIGHT Fairy:  Negate the effects of all Spells.

—DARK Fiend:  Negate the effects of all Traps.

Meet the card that could single-handedly push the Sky Scourge deck to tier 1 status. If Sky Scourges ever had a bad matchup against an OTK or Burn deck, this card completely turned the tables. Negating all spells as long as Invincil stays on the field can completely shut down both DDT and Demise OTK. In fact, both decks will either have to use their copy of Mirror Force to destroy Invincil, draw into Exiled Force, or hope a monster can attack through it. The reason Spell Canceller wasn’t a factor for these decks was because of its weak 1800 ATK. Elemental Hero Stratos could bump heads with it, and Insect Knight could attack over it. With increased ATK power comes less chance of destruction, and since Invincil has 2200 ATK, summoning it can lock down the game completely in favor of the Sky Scourge player.

There is enough reasonable tribute fodder for the card as well. Skelengel will likely be seen in threes for this deck, as its Light Fairy status will trump the extra 500 ATK and 100 DEF Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive offers. Also likely to appear are copies of Shining Angel and Nova Summoner, which can create a six-monster chain of search. Since the recruiters stay on the field and Skelengel replaces itself, both of these are optimal cards to tribute for Invincil, especially when doing so can almost seal a game entirely. Sky Scourge Enrise is also a Light Fairy monster, providing the possibility of special summoning it, removing a monster, and using it as a quick tribute to lockdown all spell cards.

Negating the effects of all spells can take down more than rogue decks though. Monarch decks, for example, often rely on their Brain Control and Soul Exchange combos to summon their Monarchs. Shutting down these options can be the final nail in the coffin for your opponent if he or she is unable to muster a tribute through Treeborn Frog or Cyber Dragon, or keep a monster on the field.

The other effect for Sky Scourge Invincil is the negation of trap cards. We already know how strong Jinzo is: impressive stats and preventing the use of traps while it remains on the field is an incredible ability. It protects all monsters from trap cards, but when it’s destroyed and you’re staring down a big monster yourself, your traps will be available for use. This is the effect that will allow the Sky Scourge player to comfortably play this card in the main deck.

Once again, we see that there are a wide variety of potential tribute monsters to choose from. Mask of Darkness, Sangan, and Night Assailant all make great tribute fodder for Invincil. Since Sangan can be searched for by Mystic Tomato (which can also search for other Dark Fiend tributes like Dark Jeroid or Newdoria) the Sky Scourge player is definitely going to have lots of options.

The trap negation will be very useful against Burn decks—specifically Chain Burn, which usually has to concede a game to a Jinzo summon. Other Burn decks also find Jinzo to be quite a pain, and usually getting one out allows the opponent to tear through the deck’s defenses and prevent any Just Desserts or Secret Barrel cards from taking the game.

Finally, Sky Scourge Invincil can really give Gadgets a hard time. Both the spell and trap negation can force Gadget decks out of their element. They are used to having spell and trap cards to destroy face-up monsters, while Snipe Hunter destroys face-down monsters. Playing Invincil can force the Gadget player to use Snipe Hunter early to take down a spell-negating, non-attacking Invincil. You could also play two copies of Invincil, which will completely dominate the Gadget opponent if he or she is unable to draw a copy of Snipe Hunter, or has used a drawn copy already.