There are a lot of good Earth monsters out there. While the Light and Dark attributes get the bulk of most players’ attention, due in part to their involvement with a little fellow named Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, you won’t generally hear people talking about “those awesome Earth monsters.” You know what? They should be.

 

Berserk Gorilla, King Tiger Wanghu, Giant Rat, Pyramid Turtle, Injection Fairy Lily, Marauding Captain, and the mighty D. D. Assailant are all great, while many second-tier Earth monsters such as Nimble Momonga and Enraged Battle Ox also see a great deal of play. Quite frequently, a bothersome Earth monster can mean the difference between the sweet taste of victory and bitter defeat . . .

 

 . . .and that’s where today’s preview card comes in! Card 026 from The Lost Millennium is a level 3 Spellcaster with 500 ATK and 1500 DEF. There’s nothing special there, right? The flip effect is what makes it a gem—when 026 flips, you can take control of one of your opponent’s Earth monsters until 026 is no longer face up on the field!

 

This card’s strength in Sealed Pack play at your Sneak Preview event will depend on the composition of the rest of the set and what your opponents happen to crack, so in that situation, it’s an interesting wild card. But in Constructed, this card is very interesting, and it can be incredible in the right metagame!

 

This card’s level of utility is obviously affected by its matchups, and the composition of your metagame is going to decide whether this card goes in the side deck or main deck and in what quantities. Let’s look at those matchups.

 

Against a conventional Chaos or Chaos Warrior deck, 026 will have a shot at grabbing Berserk Gorilla, Injection Fairy Lily, King Tiger Wanghu, and D. D. Assailant. You may also find Marauding Captain and rarely, Goblin Attack Force. The main concerns are D. D. Assailant and Berserk Gorilla, both of which can deter pushes to attack position with their effects and raw ATK, respectively. Either of these monsters can be exceptional to swipe, as both are good on the attack and both explode rather easily. Even just stealing a Gorilla and shifting it to defense position to destroy it can sometimes be a great move, and using D. D. Assailant to take out two of your opponent’s monsters at once is awesome.

 

Against Beastdown this card shines even more, stealing anything—from the deck’s bigger attackers to its frustrating aggression-blockers like Nimble Momonga. The substantial defense of 026 lets it stand up to an attack from Giant Rat or Nimble Momonga and then steal either pesky monster, preventing you from having to attack through it and deal with its effect. Taking control of an opponent’s Enraged Battle Ox is also a nice defensive play, albeit perhaps a short-lived one, given 026’s fragility.

 

This card is also great in the Zombie matchup, and for similar reasons as those for the last two matchups. Like in the more conventional Chaos matchups, 026 can deprive an opponent of D. D. Assailant, but at the same time it can also remove Pyramid Turtle from your path of attack without permitting an opponent to grab Vampire Lord, Spirit Reaper, or Ryu Kokki. Despite this being one of this card’s weaker matches on paper, the effectiveness of being able to disrupt Pyramid Turtle can’t be overstated. Yes, the opponent might then attack into 026, but that will set him or her up for certain repercussions.

 

Along those lines, a deck using 026 will need a certain amount of defensive options. In particular, Sakuretsu Armor is promising, as the moment you steal a monster the first thing an opponent will look to do is attack and get it back. If you steal a Giant Rat, Pyramid Turtle, or similar card, then any opponent is going to be looking for an attack opening even more. Baiting an opponent is an important part of any play strategy, but this awesome card from The Lost Millennium makes an age-old tactic even more powerful!

 

Check out your metagame now before The Lost Millennium hits your area. Figure out how good 026 might be, and if you can, take advantage of it the moment it comes out. Good cards are always more effective when backed by the surprise factor, so this might be a great card to trade for when you attend your local Sneak Preview event!