There are three cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG that can provide you with an automatic victory once their conditions have been met. These alternate win conditions were released to provide players with different strategies for victory besides life point reduction (or deck-out, to a lesser extent). The cards are Exodia the Forbidden One, Destiny Board, and Final Countdown, and each can be played using different strategies. Exodia’s win condition arrives through a slew of card-drawing and deck-searching, and was beyond ridiculous when Painful Choice, Witch of the Black Forest, and Sangan were all legal in the same format back before Labyrinth of Nightmare was released. Destiny Board never took off because its win condition left you completely defenseless, and Final Countdown rarely saw a lot of play, despite its potential. Yet whether popular or not, all three of these cards were unique in that they allowed you to win the game when you played them.

Then there are cards that do see a lot of play, such as Return from the Different Dimension, which some players feel should read: “Pay half of your life points. You win the game.” While Return from the Different Dimension isn’t that powerful, it makes for a great path to victory if you plan carefully and play it right . . . especially for aggro and control decks.

The Basic Breakdown

Before Return from the Different Dimension, a spell card with a similar effect (and name) was released back in the Invasion of Chaos booster set. Veteran duelists shouldn’t be surprised that the original concept of such an amazing trap card came from Invasion of Chaos, since it brought forth more than its fair share of tournament-quality cards. That spell was called Dimension Fusion, and while its effect was very similar to Return from the Different Dimension, it was by no means the same card. Dimension Fusion had a solid life point cost that prevented you from activating it if your life points were too low. It was also a spell speed 1 card that special summoned all monsters removed from play (including any in your opponent’s removed from play pile) to their owners’ fields. While the restrictions and downsides were high, you also had the chance to use your monsters first. The special summoned monsters also stayed on the field.

I’m going to be blunt and say right now that Return from the Different Dimension was everything that Dimension Fusion couldn’t be. While I thought Dimension Fusion was a fantastic card when combined with removal-engine monsters such as Strike Ninja, the release of Return the Different Dimension converted me over to the trap variant within a day. Having a spell speed 2 card with the same effect as a spell speed 1 card makes the spell speed 2 card so much better. When you are stuck with a spell speed 1 normal spell card, you can only activate it during one of your main phases. Return from the Different Dimension does not suffer from this drawback, since it’s a trap . . . meaning that you can activate it during your main phases or (preferably) during your battle phase after your opponent wastes a trap card such as Mirror Force. This gives Return from the Different Dimension the versatility needed to make it an over-the-top win condition.

While Return from the Different Dimension only keeps your special summoned monsters around for a turn, that point is pretty irrelevant. Not only can you play the card during your turn in order to win the duel, you can also activate it during your opponent’s turn if you are in danger of losing. Special summoning two to four extra monsters during your battle phase will usually end a duel too, so most of the time you will just win the game before you lose all your newly summoned monsters.

Its Place in the Metagame

Return from the Different Dimension is especially unique because of the place it has in the current and future US national environment. There are plenty of remove-from-play effects in a lot of decks. Many players are running two to three Chaos Sorcerer cards in their decks if they have the Light and Dark monsters to support the strategy, which is huge fuel for your win-condition trap card. Most decks also run D. D. Warrior Lady, and a few others also run D. D. Assailant. Both of them add to the number of monsters that are synergetic with Return from the Different Dimension.

One of the most popular combos with cards such as Return from the Different Dimension has been Strike Ninja, which is easily one of the best level 4 monsters. It possesses the same spell speed 2 versatility as its Return from the Different Dimension counterpart, allowing you to remove the Ninja from play if it is destroyed. This lets you decide whether or not your monster leaves play, and it also makes your Strike Ninja practically invulnerable to removal effects such as Snatch Steal and Sakuretsu Armor.

The level 4 Warrior is also an efficient attacker that can fuel your removed zone. Many of the best Dark monsters in the game that can be removed through Strike Ninja’s effect have excellent synergy with Return from the Different Dimension. Dark Magician of Chaos gives you a free spell card when it’s special summoned (usually a spell card that allows you to win the game in a bigger blow-out), while Mystic Tomato is simply great fuel for Strike Ninja and an efficient small attacker that can help occupy all five of your monster zones once you activate your win-condition trap card.

However, Jinzo is probably one of the best cards used with Return from the Different Dimension, whether you’re running a Chaos Sorcerer deck or a Strike Ninja Tomato Control deck. You can activate Return from the Different Dimension during your battle phase in response to an opponent’s trap card, such as Sakuretsu Armor, while Jinzo is removed from play. This allows you to special summon Jinzo, along with any other monsters you removed during the game. Jinzo’s continuous effect will become active the moment it hits play, negating any trap cards on the field (including whatever your opponent activated before you responded with Return from the Different Dimension). This is the kind of play that turns Dimension from a solid power card to a blowout win condition.

It’s also worth noting the synergy between it and D.D. Survivor. If you have a couple of D.D. Survivor cards in your removed zone when you activate this trap card, then they can be special summoned during the end phase in which they are removed from play through Return from the Different Dimension’s effect. It’s a neat little trick, though it’s not the optimal use of Dimension since you usually want to win the turn it is activated. Otherwise, the life point cost may allow your opponent to win during the following turn if you’ve used up all of your defenses.

Final Thoughts

Return from the Different Dimension is one of the most powerful cards in the game. It can be played in aggressive Chaos decks, or in reactive control decks. Either way, it allows you to royally smash your opponent in a flurry of monster attacks that suddenly come from nowhere. If you plan on attending a premiere event, be ready to see this card. Test against it and test with it. If you don’t, I assure you that you will struggle through the tournament.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this or previous articles of mine, feel free to email me at Mrosenberg at Metagame dot Com.