Greetings! I’m sure all of you are eagerly awaiting the Rise of Destiny Sneak Preview that’s just around the corner. Again, I’ll be discussing another card that makes its debut in this brand-new set. Without further ado, let’s take a look at one interesting little Warrior.

RDS-EN009: Silent Swordsman LV3, Warrior/Effect

Light, Level 3, 1000 ATK/1000 DEF

Negates opponent’s spells that target it. Level it up during the Standby Phase.

I can’t think of how many times I’ve had an opponent use Change of Heart or Snatch Steal on my monster, and then either beat me down with my own monster or use it for tribute fodder. I’m sure all of you experienced duelists have similar horror stories from being on the receiving end of such strategies. Silent Swordsman LV3’s special effect makes it virtually immune to such tactics. With Silent Swordsman in play, your opponents’ Change of Heart and Snatch Steal are practically dead cards. Having the above cards and not being able to do anything with them is a situation that will baffle many duelists. Most of them will be unable to mentally process the bind they are in, which will allow you to take advantage of an opening. Sometimes it is easy to forget that a large part of the game is mental, and if you are able to catch your opponent off guard, then you’re one step closer to victory. Silent Swordsman LV3 is great for this purpose, as it turns two of the nastiest spells in Yu-Gi-Oh! that are limited to one per deck into dead draws, throwing your opponent off. Knowing that you have a monster such as Silent Swordsman LV3 that can shrug off the effects of those spells can give you additional options when you make your opening plays and give you a decisive advantage over your opponent.

Change of Heart and Snatch Steal are not the only targeted spells that Silent Swordsman LV3 is able to negate. With the introduction of the Advanced format, more players are using cards such as Tribute to the Doomed, Book of Moon, and Enemy Controller in order to gain some sort of board control advantage over an opponent. All of these fall by the wayside to this stalwart Warrior. With Silent Swordsman LV3 in play, you’ll never have to worry that it will suddenly go face down, switch into defense position, or be stolen by your opponent. With Enemy Controller running rampant in the format right now, having Silent Swordsman LV3 out will keep your opponent from relying on these proven tactics. As I mentioned before with the two deck staples of Change of Heart and Snatch Steal, these spells will be sitting useless in your opponent’s hand.

Another vicious aspect to Silent Swordsman LV3’s first ability is that it only negates your opponent’s spells, while you are free to target it with your spells. You can increase its ATK with targeted effects like Rush Recklessly, Axe of Despair, and the potentially game-winning Mage Power. The video game promo card Riryoku also works wonderfully with this card, due to its two-for-one effect of strengthening your Silent Swordsman LV3 at the cost of weakening one of your opponent’s monsters.

I guess I’m recommending some attack-enhancing spells to use with this card in order to balance out its very blatant weakness, which is its low attack power. Let’s be honest—having an ATK value of 1000 really doesn’t cut it. Most of the common elemental battle-searchers, like Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel, and UFO Turtle, can easily mow it down, and that’s just the low end of the competitive attack spectrum. Let’s not state the obvious if it tries to go head to head with some of the bigger competitive monsters, like Breaker the Magical Warrior, Reflect Bounder, Giant Orc, or Goblin Attack Force. The result can be a very splattered Silent Swordsman.

Therefore, the best way to make up for Silent Swordsman’s weakness is to use cards that can easily support it, like the spells I mentioned before. You can also use Command Knight to boost Silent Swordsman’s ATK stat (since it’s a Warrior) or Marauding Captain to protect it. Finally, you can always use the traps you’ve been using, like Sakuretsu Armor and Waboku, to protect Silent Swordsman.

It seems that Warriors are getting another useful card with the addition of Silent Swordsman LV3. Since it’s also a Light monster, it makes ideal fodder for the special summoning of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. As I mentioned earlier you can pair Silent Swordsman with Command Knight to give Silent Swordsman an additional 400 ATK. This, combined with the continuous spell card The A. Forces, can give Silent Swordsman another 400 ATK (200 plus 200 from Command Knight), which will boost it to a respectable 1800 ATK. Silent Swordsman also can be fetched from your deck with a card like Reinforcement of the Army or be returned from your graveyard to your hand with the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. Another excellent card to pair it with is the Light battle-searcher Shining Angel, as this brings out your Silent Swordsman LV3 and thins out your deck at the same time.

When you see this card in your Sealed Pack or Booster Draft tournaments at the Sneak Preview, try it out and see if you can unleash its potential on some unsuspecting opponent. For more information on where you can find the nearest Sneak Preview event in your area, log on to www.upperdeckentertainment.com/yugioh/events.aspx.

Thanks for reading, and may all your packs be lucky ones!