The evolution of the game is quite fascinating. The mindset of the average player has changed greatly since the Traditional format and even since formats a year to a year-and-a-half ago. As the entire game changes, cards shift in and out of power. The Forbidden list is one primary reason for this. You may recall the strength of Lightning Vortex during the Goat Control format. It was necessary to restrict the card because of its ability to demolish an entire field of Sheep Tokens and open a lethal attack from an army of monsters (usually backed up by Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning and Jinzo.)

As cards change in strength relative to the available card pool, their standing on the Forbidden/Limited list changes too. This is why cards like Mirror Force, Dark Hole, and Ring of Destruction shift in and out of Forbidden status. However, some cards are too strong to be removed from the Forbidden list. One such card (in the opinion of many) is Tribe-Infecting Virus. Tribe was last seen in the Goat Control format, where its ability to abuse cards like Night Assailant or Sinister Serpent and destroy an entire field of Sheep Tokens or other monsters with the same type at the same time made a gigantic dent in the game.

Luckily for us, revamped versions of the most powerful cards are released. Brain Control is a remake of Change of Heart. Pot of Avarice is effectively a more complicated Pot of Greed. In a similar fashion, Snipe Hunter is the new version of Tribe-Infecting Virus.

Snipe Hunter

Fiend / Effect

DARK  Level 4

1500 ATK, 600 DEF

Discard 1 card from your hand. Select 1 card on the field and roll a six-sided die. If the result is not 1 or 6, destroy the selected card.

I expect Snipe Hunter will see a lot of play as soon as it's legal. Its effect is similar to that of Blowback Dragon. Being able to destroy any card on the field is incredible, though there are two drawbacks. First, you must discard a card to use its effect. This means that you're investing an option in the chance to destroy another card. Second, random chance is a factor in its effect. If you happen to roll a 1 or a 6 when using Snipe Hunter, you won't reap any benefit. However, the chance factor is minimal. You've got 4 out of 6 numbers, or a 66% chance to roll successfully. Such odds are favorable enough to make Snipe Hunter pretty reliable.

Returning to the first drawback, discarding a card can be a hefty cost. It's especially devastating when your opponent chains the targeted card if it’s a spell or trap or you miss the roll. However, there are ways to play around this. First, discarding situational cards that you had no use for or graveyard-live cards such as Treeborn Frog, Night Assailant, or Destiny Hero - Dasher will accelerate the usage of those cards rather than wasting them. In this situation, the discard becomes a bonus rather than a cost. As for the opponent's ability to chain cards, other popular cards like Mystical Space Typhoon or Mobius the Frost Monarch run the same kind of risk. The popularity of these cards suggests that such a risk is OK when the benefits outweigh the possible disadvantages.

The advantages to this card are tremendous. Its ability to target any card on the field can prove extremely useful if you're trying to force through the final damage in a game. During the end of the duel, when you know both players are only one draw away from sealing the game, Snipe Hunter can be the best possible topdeck. Assuming you've got one card in your hand, Snipe Hunter gives you good odds on taking any card on the field out of your way. Have you ever been stuck topdecking and wind up drawing cards like Smashing Ground or Nobleman of Crossout when all you really needed was that Mystical Space Typhoon? How about the other way around? Play a couple of Snipe Hunters and you'll soon find yourself enjoying your topdecks a lot more than before.

It can also serve as a means to dump monsters in your graveyard. Several popular deck types like doing that, even from the hand. Fiends, in particular, won't mind dropping extra Giant Germ cards, that Night Assailant, or any Fiends that aren't particularly useful at the time to fuel Dark Necrofear and Return from the Different Dimension, as well as hopefully destroying a card on the field via Snipe Hunter's effect. A Water deck abusing a few copies of Salvage will have plenty of reason to discard monsters. Salvage will let you retrieve the cards you discarded, effectively negating the discard cost completely. How about a tribute-heavy build utilizing Destiny Hero - Dasher and a handful of other tributes? Those decks surely wouldn't mind pitching Dasher to set him up, or some extra tributes that are stuck in hand.

My personal favorite rogue strategy is a control build that makes the most out of Mystic Tomato, Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude, and a good chunk of powerful Diamond Dude targets (Lightning Vortex or Chaos Greed come to mind). Diamond Dude gives you the ability to use these powerful effects if they're on the top of your deck, while Snipe Hunter grants the ability to put them to use if you happen to draw them early.

So it's up to you to decide whether or not you can make the most out of Snipe Hunter. Personally, I see a flexible card with some very good stats. 1500 ATK points is the highest a monster can have while still remaining searchable by a wide variety of monsters (like Mystic Tomato, Last Will, and Sangan). The general rule about DEF is the higher the better. Snipe Hunter only packs 600, but only the highest DEF value can stand up to the attacks of most of today's monsters anyways. In fact, the 600 DEF could prove beneficial when your opponent can’t use Smashing Ground and you've also got Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive on the field.

Will Snipe Hunter see play in the popular decks of today? I believe that any deck built around the “Protect the Deko” philosophy has a great opportunity in this card. Protecting this means the opponent will be unwilling to set a monster that isn’t a flip effect, Treeborn, or Sangan, or a spell or trap that isn’t chainable. As such, you'll have a much greater window of opportunity to deal a hefty amount of damage or seriously impact your opponent's field with the Snipe Hunter. Monarch decks could find use for this card as their game-ender. Imagine tributing a monster for Mobius the Frost Monarch, then using Last Will to special summon Snipe Hunter, then destroying the opponent's remaining monster presence with the Hunter’s effect. That will allow you to punch through at least 3900 damage. Sounds like a good idea to me!

Let's not forget the usefulness of Snipe Hunter in the side deck, too. Against decks like Burn or extreme Lockdown strategies, you'll often have quite a few cards you can’t use in your hand. Snipe Hunter puts these to good use. Its ability to destroy targets on either side of the field means you can attempt to destroy your own liabilities to decrease the impact of Secret Barrel or Just Desserts. You can also destroy pesky monsters your opponent might hand you, such as Lava Golem, or monsters that have become liabilities because of cards like Nightmare Wheel. Snipe Hunter's versatility grows exponentially when you're staring down alternate win condition decks.