Finally, after an era of ultra-aggressive Dragons special summoning themselves, conservative players are given a perfect wall to hide behind to avoid taking damage. Dragon Ice is the card I’ll be previewing today, and it could have some distinct effects on the game. Winner of the “Design Your Destiny” monster design contest several months ago, it has a very unique effect.

Dragon Ice  

Water / Dragon

Level 5

ATK 1800/ DEF 2200 

When your opponent special summons, you can discard a card to special summon this card from your hand or Graveyard. There can only be 1 face-up “Dragon Ice” monster on the field at a time.

To begin, the answer to your question is yes: you can discard Dragon Ice for its own effect. When your opponent plays Cyber Dragon, returns Treeborn Frog to the field, or tries any other special summoning shenanigans, you can respond by bringing this 2200 DEF wall onto your field. This should save you the trouble of taking a direct attack, soften a blow, or give you just the tribute you need to win the game.

Dragon Ice’s stats are just big enough to do the job. Its 1800 ATK can trade with your opponent’s Zombie Master and its 2200 DEF can stop Cyber Dragon, or even foil a Smashing Ground that your opponent would rather use on a different monster. Also, it’s level 5. While that doesn’t currently mean anything in Advanced format play, you’ll be able to activate Metamorphosis and trade him for Balter when playing Traditional.

If you really want to take advantage of this card, play Card of Safe Return. You’ll get to draw every time you bring Dragon Ice back from the graveyard, effectively turning his discard cost into a cycling engine. Add in The Shallow Grave and things get even better. Both you and your opponent will special summon a monster and you’ll get to draw. Then, you can discard the Dragon and draw again.

Playing this in Zombies or Dark World could yield some fast and crippling results. Consider a deck that runs an Apprentice engine, multiple copies of Magical Merchant to fuel Pot of Avarice, Dark World monsters, and the Dragon next to Card of Safe Return. Crystal Seer will give you the cards necessary to make a dead hand into an explosive one while Old Vindictive Magician will give you monster removal. All these flip effect monsters (as well as Morphing Jar) can be brought back from the graveyard with The Shallow Grave. Remember, you draw cards for Safe Return when a Dark World monster is discarded. A deck like this should be able to tear through itself rather quickly, special summoning monsters and drawing cards at the same time.

Even an otherwise dead hand that consists of the Dragon and a Card of Safe Return can punish an opponent quickly. It’s amazing how little most decks can do if their players refuse to special summon monsters. If your opponent’s hand has Mystic Tomato, Treeborn Frog, and a Monarch, you’ll be able to either lock the hand down quickly or draw multiple cards. In this situation, your opponent will likely be punished no matter what he or she decides to do, which is just the situation I like my opponents to be in.

Also, Dragon Ice can help replace the slots left open by Snipe Hunter’s Limited status, discarding dead cards for a purpose. Players have been experimenting widely, with the use of Phoenix Wing Wind Blast seeing much success (it creates utility in a similar fashion to their previous copies of the Hunter). Playing Dragon Ice with Destiny Hero - Malicious and Destiny Hero - Disk Commander in Perfect Circle decks helps make the deck more consistent, giving you the ability to special summon the Disk Commander without wasting a summon. Also, it’ll help the deck stave off unwanted aggression in the early game (one of the deck’s difficulties).

Dragon Ice also offers itself as an easy tribute if it survives a turn. Should you play The Shallow Grave, you’ll be able to tribute and summon a Monarch just afterward. While this isn’t the ideal way to summon a Monarch, it’s an easy and convenient one. Oftentimes, an easy Monarch is all it takes to win a game.

Also, few people out there have mentioned the support Dragons have been given. Super Rejuvenation will allow you to draw a card once Dragon Ice is discarded from your hand, an effect that could often prove devastating. Stamping Destruction gives Dragons another three copies of Mystical Space Typhoon that also deal 500 damage to your opponent. Splashed in a Horus lockdown deck, this card could be very successful. Often, the Horus lockdown strategy has an alternate win condition: Five-Headed Dragon. You can drop Dragon Ice into your graveyard with Future Fusion and discard whenever your opponent special summons.

Remember this doesn’t only trigger when your opponent special summons from the graveyard. If your opponent is playing an Apprentice engine, Mystic Tomato, Hydrogeddon, or any other recruiter, you’ll be able to discard for the effect. Often, an opponent who thinks an attack will mean a victory will overextend so far that discarding the Dragon will not only foil the attack, but win you the game. Better yet, pressing with Dragon Ice when you’re attacking a recruiter can provide more force than your opponent is prepared to deal with, or trump plays like Mystic Tomato searching out Snipe Hunter.

Dragon Ice is an incredibly unpredictable card against Demise OTKs as well, giving you a blocker when your opponent special summons what would have been a game-winning Doom Dozer. Some Demise players have experimented with the potency of Cold Wave and Royal Decree. While these can stop defensive cards like Waboku and Threatening Roar that could be side decked, they can’t stop the Dragon from keeping you alive.