Welcome back, readers, to my second set analysis. Last time, I focused on Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon (LOB) and how it was the basis for a variety of sets and decks that are created today. Despite LOB being a popular set, the set after it succeeded in becoming more popular due to an incredibly high number of usable cards. This set is called Metal Raiders (MRD), and while the title implies that the set is based purely on machines, it contains a lot more than just that. It contains incredible monsters with a variety of effects, along with the first counter traps and many new spell cards.
Thunder Dragon: Basically, you discard this Thunder monster to get two more level 5 low-attack Thunder monsters. It doesn't sound like it's worth it does it? Of course, that's without considering the fact that it thins your deck and gives you hand advantage, which can be useful with a variety of cards. Examples would be Card Destruction, defending against a White Magical Hat's effect, or using the searched-out monsters as ammo for Tribute to the Doomed.
White Magical Hat: Metal Raiders brought forth the first hand control cards, and they weren't too bad. White Magical Hat has always been a candidate for inclusion in Light decks, and with the current sets, it can be seen in Gravity Bind decks. Its attack is rather weak, but some equip spells can change that. The ability to destroy an opponent's hand is always a plus, though it's become very boring at tournaments.
Tribute to the Doomed: Fissure had the useful ability of destroying most face-up monsters. Tribute to the Doomed provided more monster destruction. Whether the opponent's monster was face-up or face-down, it would not escape this spell. The cost of discarding a card from your hand isn't a bad thing either, especially if you discard monsters made for these effects (Thunder Dragon) or high-level monsters so that you can revive them.
Sangan: Sangan is one of those monsters that you'll see in numerous tournament decks. Not only does this Fiend thin your deck, but it also gives you a good selection of monsters to add to your hand from your deck. Monsters like Magician of Faith, White Magical Hat, Marauding Captain, and Witch of the Black Forest are only one dead monster away from being added to your hand. This card should be pretty self-explanatory.
Witch of The Black Forest: The basic summary for the Witch is that it's Sangan, but better in almost every way. Being able to search for monsters of 1500 DEF or less gives you a larger range to choose from, including Summoned Skull, Vampire Lord, or even Jinzo. This is one card that should be in about 95 percent of the decks you create.
Magician of Faith: LOB didn't have many Effect monsters, so obviously monsters with flip effects were scarce as well. Magician of Faith makes up for that lack of flip effects with its own special effect--that Magician of Faith, when flipped face-up, basically allows you to slap your opponent's face with a large club. With the ability of returning any spells in your graveyard to your hand, you may restore the restricted Pot of Greed, Raigeki, Dark Hole, or Monster Reborn for another use. Of course, people frown on this card due to the constant presence of Change of Heart.
Change of Heart: This card has been (and still is) one of the most frequently used spells in the game. One turn may not seem like much at first, but it's really all you need half of the time. You can use this on your opponent's face-down monster, allowing you to reap the benefits of its flip-effect, or you can use it on an opponent's powerful monster and royally smack them down for some good damage. Of course, you can also tribute that monster to an effect or for the summoning of a stronger monster.
7 Colored Fish: The only reason this monster was popular because it was the level 4 beatstick at that time. It has grown too old and obsolete to be seen in many decks, with the release of cards such as Gemini Elf, Archfiend Soldier, or even Gagagigo. However, it may still see play in Water decks.
Rare ATK increase monsters: I'd prefer just to list all of these monsters in one group, as they all have the same effect with their own type and their rival type (light against dark, fire against water, and so on). These monsters include:
Star Boy
Witch's Apprentice
Milus Radiant
Little Chimera
Bladefly
Hoshiningen
While these monsters start off with small boosts, they can get increasingly larger over time, using field spell power-ups or duplicates of the monsters themselves. One on the field makes their attack value 800 - 1100. Summon another, and it's another 500 ATK boost. Play a field spell to support them, and they're at 1800 - 2300 ATK for a level 2 weakling. That's not bad, though a basic equip spell would most likely be easier.
Roaring Ocean Snake, Empress Judge, and Punished Eagle: These cards officially made Magical Scientist evil. Enough said.
Dark Elf: Spellcasters have seen tremendous support with sets released after Metal Raiders, but MRD gave the game its first very powerful spellcaster. Sure, 1000 life points may seem like a steep price to pay, but it's not a requirement to attack every turn. A 2000 ATK monster can still easily plow through many monsters in the current tournament metagame, as 1900 ATK, non-Effect, level 4 attackers are still dominating.
Jurai Gumo: This monster is very similar to Dark Elf, except it only really appeals to gamblers. Getting 2200 ATK on a level 4 monster is really nice, but is it worth it? It makes a fine wall, but early in the game, life point costs might be too high for you to risk a coin flip.
Stim-Pack: This was the first massive boost equip spell released in Yu-Gi-Oh! The 700 ATK bonus certainly gives your monster a supreme power-up, but the downside to this effect is that it decreases your monster's attack power over time. Actually, that isn't much of a downside. Most likely your monster will be destroyed before its ATK increase disappears. It was a great card for its time.
Kazejin/Suijin/Sanga of the Thunder: The three Gate Guardian pieces are some of the few level 7+ Effect monsters in MRD, and their effects can prove to be more than useful. The effects can easily create a stall situation, as the opponent will mostly likely not want to attack a Gate Guardian piece if it means his or her monster's destruction along with massive damage. However, if you wanted your opponent to attack your Gate Guardian piece, you could always try trap cards like Shift and Staunch Defender.
Mirror Force: The almighty Mirror Force is one of the most feared traps in Yu-Gi-Oh! Its effect should be enough to explain why people fear it, and that's why you should play this card if you own it.
Barrel Dragon: This is considered one of the best level 7+ monsters in the game. Its effect gives you a 50 percent chance of destroying an opponent's monster, giving you good field advantage over your opponent. For Machine decks, it can be the ultimate weapon, if you don't mind bad puns . . .
Time Wizard: Time Wizard is another example of a great way to achieve field control, except this one can take itself and blow a hole right through you if you're unlucky. Obviously its effect is best used when you have no other monsters on the field. There are many ways to get Time Wizard into your hand or onto the field as well, with the help of Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, Apprentice Magician, or Shining Angel. It's a threat if you are lucky, but if you're not, you'll regret ever touching this card.
Kuriboh: The ability to negate life-point damage from an attack is a life-saver, without a doubt. Unless your opponent can force Kuriboh to be discarded through hand destruction, there's no real way to counter it.
Heavy Storm: It's mass removal of spells and traps. Expect to see this at almost every competitive tournament you go to.
Magic Jammer: The most popular counter trap of its time, Magic Jammer was included in almost every deck. The ability to stop Raigeki, Dark Hole, or Change of Heart got the attention of many. Of course, Imperial Order shut down the use of this card easily, but it's still the ultimate in sure-fire spell negation.
Seven Tools of the Bandit: The counter trap for trap cards, Seven Tools also found its way into many decks. Of course, that was before Mystical Space Typhoon, Harpie's Feather Duster, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Jinzo, Dust Tornado . . .
Solemn Judgment: The ultimate counter trap, Solemn Judgment is popular for stopping everything and anything. The cost is very high, but the ability to counter any card activation/summon makes it worthwhile if used correctly. Otherwise, it's commonly known for stopping a summon at the cost of 4000 life.
Horn of Heaven: The counter trap . . . well, I've been using this pattern for the past three cards, so you get the idea. Exodia decks love this card, especially if they have a Witch of the Black Forest or Sangan on the field. It proves itself to be very useful in many situations.
Harpie Lady Sisters: It's a shame to see many people overlooking the Harpie Ladies, thinking that they have no use or power. The specialty of Harpie Lady and the cards that support it is fast, aggressive attacks. You can end up bringing a lot of monsters on the field just through one seemingly weak winged beast. Those who underestimate it tend to feel its wrath, and then those who are lucky tend to counter the speed summons really easily. However, that's just part of the game.
Mask of Darkness: This card is very similar to Magician of Faith. The problem is that opponents will then expect you to use that trap, and they can easily plan for it. Spells are a bit harder to counter so quickly. Unfortunately, that's why the Mask sees less play than its spell partner.
Summoned Skull: As one of Yugi's most popular monsters, Summoned Skull attracted a lot of attention. Then people realized that Summoned Skull is the ultimate in beatdown monsters, so it saw a surge of usage. It still does in certain places. There's not a lot to say about a demon of pure muscle.
Metal Raiders also had some small burner cards like Tremendous Fire and Princess of Tsurugi, which add to the usefulness of those decks. Direct attackers like Jinzo #7 and Mystic Lamp can be found in Metal Raiders as well, adding to the list of powerful Effect monsters seen in this set.
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