To recap the ground that Jae already covered, Cybernetic Magician is a 2400 ATK Spellcaster that has the Light attribute. Its strong offensive power puts it in the leagues of game-winning cards like Jinzo and Mobius the Frost Monarch, while its attribute means that it can slide easily into any deck that depends on Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. The Magician’s high ATK makes it a relatively safe investment. Barring a piece of monster removal, it will be sticking around on the field for several turns. That’s important, because the Magician itself requires one tribute to normal summon, and you don’t want to be throwing away your monsters.

Jae mentioned the fact that Cybernetic Magician’s relatively low 1000 DEF makes it a target when it’s in defense position. Indeed, Book of Moon and Tsukuyomi can give it some serious trouble. However, the upshot to its low DEF is that it can neatly dodge the Advanced format’s number-one piece of face-up monster removal.

That’s right! You won’t have to be particularly concerned about losing this precious tribute monster to Smashing Ground, because it will rarely have the greatest DEF among monsters you control. If I had to choose between having a weakness to Tsukuyomi or being vulnerable to the most commonly-seen monster destruction card in the game, the choice is clear. For most decks, it’s easier to stop Tsukuyomi from attacking than it is to negate Smashing Ground.

The final point that Jae discussed was the fact that Cybernetic Magician’s effect allows it to take down virtually any monster that’s larger than itself. The Magician allows you to discard a card in order to change any monster’s ATK to 2000 until the end of the turn. He mentioned Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, but I think that this warrants further consideration.

Provided it’s in attack position, Cybernetic Magician will wreck Black Luster Soldier. Not only can the Magician itself take the Soldier down after reducing its ATK, but you can do some cool tricks like reducing Black Luster Soldier’s ATK and then crashing D. D. Assailant or D. D. Warrior Lady into it, removing it from the game for good. Sure, you could do that without the help of Cybernetic Magician, but its effect will save you from a lot of battle damage. When you consider the fact that the card you discard might be Sinister Serpent or Night Assailant, it’s a pretty great move.

The one big thing Jae didn’t touch on is that Cybernetic Magician doesn’t have to just make your opponent’s big monsters smaller. You can also use it on your own monsters and turn minor threats into huge ones! Magician of Faith, Sinister Serpent, and other monsters that would rarely see attack position can suddenly become powerful enough to take down the likes of Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, Blade Knight, and Berserk Gorilla. While the Magician charges its controller a card to perform its trick, the cost is virtually nullified once you destroy one of your opponent’s monsters in battle. If each player loses a card, it’s an even trade. Since you’re calling the shots and wiping out the opponent’s board, it seems like a safe bet that the scales will tilt in your favor.

There are some neat single-card combos with Cybernetic Magician, too. You can use its effect on Injection Fairy Lily in the first main phase and then send it at your opponent. Pay to activate Injection Fairy Lily’s effect and you’ll be the proud owner of one ticked-off Fairy with 5000 ATK.

If you’re a fan of Thousand-Eyes Restrict Lockdown, then you’ll want to get yourself a copy of this card. How often have you used your Thousand-Eyes Restrict to suck up a face down monster, had a clear board to swing against, but bemoaned its 0 ATK? If you have Cybernetic Magician on the field in that situation, that 0 can quickly become 2000, and you can take a big chunk of life points out of your opponent! The Magician will fit into dedicated Thousand-Eyes Restrict/Tsukuyomi decks because it can easily take the place of Airknight Parshath. While Airknight is powerful, it often becomes a dead field presence once you lock down the board. In contrast, Cybernetic Magician works withThousand-Eyes Restrict instead of falling victim to it. Expect Cybernetic Magician to see serious play in this deck.

Another place where it does well is in Armed Samurai – Ben Kei decks that favor a lockdown engine. Such decks will often have extra monsters hanging around, and what better way to deal with that used-up Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu than to feed it to the Magician? Cybernetic Magician can boost Ben Kei by 1500 ATK, and once that happens, it still benefits from any equip spells that get attached to it. That makes the one-turn KO even easier to pull off, and it tightens up some of the deck’s loose ends.

My favorite trick, though? Turning Scapegoat into a win condition. That’s right—Sheep tokens are legal targets for Cybernetic Magician’s effect, so Scapegoat, Cybernetic Magician, and four cards in hand to discard means you’ll have 10400 ATK at your disposal for the turn. If you can draw into a pair of Night Assailants, that’s even better. You’re losing one in-hand card to arm yourself with the deadliest ovine army known to man. By using this tactic, you can literally pull off first-turn wins.

Not only is the Sheep combo useful in virtually any mainstream Constructed deck, it also breathes new life into the Scapegoat/Monster Gate deck. Pioneered by our own Curtis Schultz and made famous by David “F00b” Simon, this deck reaches new heights when it gains the capability to put forth an unpredictable offense.

The strength of Cybernetic Magician can be difficult to see at first glance. While it might appear unassuming, it actually presents a synergistic opportunity that no other monster can offer. It’s one of the most popular Cyber Revolution cards in Japan, and it’s likely that it will find huge success here in North America as well! It’s a must-use card if you open one at the Sneak Preview event, and if you’re a highly competitive player, you should carefully examine how Cybernetic Magician will interact with your metagame.