Bill: Well, Tom, it appears that I have seriously owned you again!

Tom: Oh, shut up! Darn it, that stupid XYZ-Dragon Cannon is insanely powerful.

Bill: It certainly is, and Night Assailant only makes my big mechanical nightmare even more destructive.

Rob: Hey Bill, you do realize that Night Assailant will be limited to two copies per deck starting on April 1, right?

Bill: What? Aw, man . . . like a million god card ruling questions thrown at an Upper Deck employee, that was news I didn’t want to hear.

Rob: The restriction only hurts your consistency a little. Night Assailant is still a great addition to the Dragon Cannon’s ammunition.

We’re finally returning to our regularly scheduled run of Bill and Tom’s Binder. For the past three weeks, I’ve been focusing on the new Yu-Gi-Oh! set, Flaming Eternity. The hype has finally settled down, and now we can look at a card I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time, XYZ-Dragon Cannon.

What are the origins of XYZ-Dragon Cannon in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series? Kaiba first used this monster in his duel against Yugi during the semi-finals of the Battle City Tournament. Of course, Kaiba didn’t know that people were at risk of losing their lives to Marik’s dark side, but ignorance is bliss, right? While XYZ-Dragon Cannon didn’t show off its effect at the time, its ammunition-firing effect was seen in the Dragon Cannon’s later duels against opponents such as Allister and Pegasus (you can see the Pegasus duel in the Yu-Gi-Oh! movie). But that’s enough talk about the background of one of Kaiba’s latest trademark monsters. Let’s get into the analysis of this underrated, dust-collecting Fusion monster.

The Basic Breakdown

Before analyzing the big daddy Fusion monster itself, let’s look at the pieces that make up XYZ-Dragon Cannon. X-Head Cannon is self-explanatory—it’s an 1800 ATK Machine without an effect. Shining Angel can special summon Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank, because each of these Union monsters has 1500 ATK and the Light attribute.

Union monsters have a unique effect that is primarily used in the Magician’s Force set. Its effect lets you attach a Union monster to other monsters specified in the Union monster’s card text. In this case, either Y-Dragon Head or Z-Metal Tank can be attached as equip spell cards to X-Head Cannon, giving the already solid level 4 attacker enhanced stats and some protection in battle. However, these Union monster effects shouldn’t be a large concern of yours—you also shouldn’t be concerned with other Fusion monsters that are related to the X-Y-Z monsters. Your best possible fusion option and primary goal is to summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon, unless a smaller Fusion monster can win the game for you if your opponent’s field is currently vulnerable to one of your cards.

Unlike other Fusion monsters, XYZ-Dragon Cannon can’t be fusion summoned with Polymerization. This makes summoning the monster both easier and more difficult. The good part of this is that you don’t need to run situational spells like Polymerization and Fusion Gate, so you have space for more useful cards like Limiter Removal in your deck. The bad part of this is that all of the X-Y-Z monsters need to be on the field to special summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon from your deck. The summoning of the Dragon Cannon isn’t considered a fusion summon, so there isn’t any way to summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon “normally.” Therefore, the only way to special summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon is through its effect. Cards like Premature Burial, Call of the Haunted, and Cyber-Stein can’t ever summon the Dragon Cannon.

What do you get for taking the time to bring out XYZ-Dragon Cannon? You get a 2800 ATK monstrosity! Plus, the its effect also allows you to load up its cannon, fire upon, and destroy any card on your opponent’s side of the field. This ability allows you to remove any potential threats on your opponent’s field at the cost of a card from your hand. Unrestricted, unconditional removal is never a bad effect, especially when that effect is on a powerful monster. In addition, since you have to remove the X-Y-Z monsters from play to special summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon, you can abuse cards like Dimension Fusion to return all of those monsters to your side of the field at once.

Combos and Counters

The X-Y-Z monsters have some cool Union combos at their disposal. Playing Frontline Base gives you the potential to swarm the field with Union monsters, and the spell speeds up the summoning of XYZ-Dragon Cannon. Another perk of being Union monsters is that both Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank can escape destruction if you play Limiter Removal. Here’s an example of how this combo could work. After you use the devastating Machine spell, summon X-Head Cannon to the field. If you equip Y-Dragon Head or Z-Metal Tank to X-Head Cannon through its union effect, it will no longer be under the effects of Limiter Removal since it now counts as an equipment spell.

The best cards to use with XYZ-Dragon Cannon’s Ignition effect are Sinister Serpent and Night Assailant. Sinister Serpent works as a free shot at any one of your opponent’s cards once per turn in addition to any card you just drew, because the Serpent returns to your hand during your standby phase. Night Assailant can be used in a similar fashion to its Reptile counterpart. In fact, the Assailant can be more deadly than the Serpent, because if you have one copy of Night Assailant in your hand and another copy in your graveyard, you can use one card in your hand to demolish your opponent’s entire field! When dueling against a Stall deck, the Assailant combo can easily make the effort you spent summoning XYZ-Dragon Cannon worth it.

The simplest and most effective way to bring out XYZ-Dragon Cannon is to summon all three of the X-Y-Z monsters at once. The easiest way to do this is to use cards like Dimension Fusion and Return from the Different Dimension. While removing the lower level X-Y-Z pieces from play may seem daunting, the task is easily completed by summoning the lesser, incomplete forms of XYZ-Dragon Cannon, including XY-Dragon Cannon, YZ-Tank Dragon, and XZ-Tank Cannon. You’ll not only be removing the X-Y-Z pieces from play bit by bit, but you’ll also get a Fusion monster on the field with a decent ATK value and a potentially useful effect.

One of the greatest weapons to use against XYZ-Dragon Cannon is any form of powerful removal. One of the most effective cards is Divine Wrath, a trap that not only makes your opponent waste a card from his or her hand, but also destroys the mechanical terror. While most control effects, such as Snatch Steal, can potentially destroy an opponent’s position, the equip spell card doesn’t remove XYZ-Dragon Cannon from the field. In addition, control of the Dragon Cannon will return to its owner once Snatch Steal is destroyed. Creature Swap is one of the only cards that can permanently switch control of the XYZ terror to your side of the field as long as the monster is on the field.

XYZ-Dragon Cannon’s DEF is far too high to make use of Book of Moon or even my beloved Tsukuyomi without the aid of Nobleman of Crossout, so removal is about the only option you have against the Dragon Cannon. Be careful, though, because your opponent may very well have counters to any cards that can remove XYZ-Dragon Cannon from the field permanently. Since summoning the monster is such a large chore, your opponent will probably have some tricks available to make sure that his or her hard work doesn’t vanish.

The Bottom Line

XYZ-Dragon Cannon can be a difficult monster to summon, but its stats are nothing to laugh at, and the card’s effect can be completely devastating to an opponent’s side of the field. The ongoing loop of Night Assailant combos makes XYZ-Dragon Cannon the complete opposite of Dark Paladin, the other large Fusion monster from the Magician’s Force set. The Dragon Cannon is an offensive force that can destroy anything your opponent has. Try working with this Fusion monster and the “removed from play pile,” special summoning cards such as Return from the Different Dimension. The combination of the X-Y-Z and “removed from play” themes can be a real powerhouse.

Next week, we’ll talk about a seemingly simple spell card that can be used in combos that are anything but simple. It’s a quick-play spell that can save you from losing a duel. Some of the combos with this spell are so good, the card was added to the Limited list, and it can be used in combos worthy enough to cause this card’s minor restriction to two per deck! Next week’s featured binder favorite is Emergency Provisions.

Got any questions, comments, or stories that you want to share about cards featured in this column? I’d love to hear from you. My email address is Mrosenberg@metagame.com. Be sure to drop me a line!