Card 050 from Flaming Eternity might intrigue you. It’s a continuous trap, and its effect will influence monsters on both sides of the field, like Bottomless Shifting Sand. While it’s face up on the field, the monster with the highest ATK (regardless of controller) is not affected by spell cards. When the trap is removed from the field, the monster with the highest ATK monster is destroyed. Hmm . . . think it’s got a place in your deck? Let’s take a look at what it might do for you. It sounds simple and almost unimpressive, but there’s a lot of power in this one little trap.
Generally speaking, this trap is going to interfere with three different types of spells. First, it’s going to keep the monster with the highest ATK from being directly destroyed by a spell card, like Hammer Shot or Tribute to the Doomed. It will prevent the effects of spells that switch control of a monster, like Change of Heart and Snatch Steal. Then there’s a host of annoying kinds of spells like Book of Moon, Creature Swap and Mask of the Accursed that interfere with the game in general; this trap deals with those, too. Short version—today’s preview card is here to prevent destruction, control shift, and manipulation.
Sounds good! Who doesn’t want to prevent those? Well, it’s important to remember that these threats will vary in intensity and seriousness as the game moves along. As the game opens, this card is great with either a self-replacing monster that can maintain board presence (such as Mystic Tomato or Mother Grizzly), or just a high-ATK wall. This is the only time a weaker monster like Mystic Tomato or Mother Grizzly is likely to benefit from this trap’s effect—just summon the monster face up (preventing it from being taken out by Nobleman of Crossout) and set the trap to activate on your opponent’s turn. He or she will need to summon a monster with a higher ATK before attempting to use a spell to meddle with your plans. Since a lot of decks tend to open with lower-powered monsters, the only option will often be attacking, which is essentially fruitless since your monster will replace itself.
If you’ve opted to open with a high-ATK monster, the same holds true—your opponent will need to get a bigger monster out or get rid of the trap card in order to target your monster with a spell. If that’s not possible, battle is the only option
If either of these tricks works, you’ll likely end up with two monsters on the field facing down your opponent’s one (once you’ve summoned a monster on turn 2). That’s a good start on field advantage. If you can keep that advantage locked in over your opponent while resisting his or her attempts to retaliate, you’re putting on a game-breaking amount of pressure.
In the early game and onwards, the trap is more of a metagame card than a card that’s at the core of a strategy all its own. It exists primarily to protect your monster from Hammer Shot, Change of Heart, and Snatch Steal. It’s going to lose utility in the late game or in any situation where you’re topdecking. When the game depends on the next draw, battle tends to make the most significant difference in field presence, so effects that could be negated by this trap are far less common. If you don’t see it by turn 7, it’s probably not going to be much use.
Now remember, if this trap is removed from the field, the monster with the highest ATK on the field is destroyed. That can work in your favor if your opponent gets the jump on you with a bigger monster, and you’ve got a piece of spell or trap removal. If you’ve got the beatstick, then watch out—despite Mystical Space Typhoon’s current limited status, there are still many available ways to wipe out spells and traps.
It might see more play in duelists side decks rather than in the main deck because it’s useful to have if you’re facing Lockdown Burn. In fact, it’s a great side deck card against anyone playing Hammer Shot, regardless of what his or her central strategy is. When left unchecked, Hammer Shot can be a brutal spell, toppling the mightiest of monsters at an even card-for-card ratio. This trap card makes that monster basically invincible to all means of spell-based destruction. It literally turns the opponent’s Hammer Shots into dead cards.
In Limited, the card will not be quite as useful as it is in Constructed, because there aren’t as many spells you’re going to need to protect yourself against. It will depend on the card pool you’re using, so keep that in mind when you draft. It might not always be a first pick. Know the sets you’re using as well as you can, and use that knowledge to decide whether this card will be worth running in that particular format. For instance, if you’re using both Flaming Eternity packs and Rise of Destiny packs, this card might really be worth playing due to the threat of Back to Square One.
Card 50 isn’t going to protect against monster or trap effects, and the options are going to change when a monster with higher ATK joins the fray. Its use is situational and doesn’t remain consistently strong as the game progresses, but go ahead and test it out. It might make more sense to try it in your side deck to begin with. There are a few really good uses for the card, and once it’s actually entered the card pool, we’ll see what duelists make of it.
