Cyber Ogre      Machine / Effect      EARTH      5   1900      1200     

Discard this card from your hand to the Graveyard, to negate 1 battle that includes a “Cyber Ogre” on your side of the field, and the “Cyber Ogre” gains 2000 ATK points until the end of the next time it battles. This effect can be activated during any player’s turn.

Immediately you can tell that Cyber Ogre has one of the most unique effects in the game. In fact, up until the release of the latest wave of Destiny Hero support cards in Power of the Duelist, this type of effect had never been seen before. It’s a multi-trigger attack pump that also basically negates the opponent’s entire battle phase. If manipulating your opponent’s attack declarations without requiring any spells or traps in the backfield sounds like a fun effect to exploit, Cyber Ogre is the card for you!

Of course the designers would be remiss if Cyber Ogre’s fusion companion was not included. Cyber Dragon came into play with two monstrous fusions in the form of Cyber Twin Dragon and Cyber End Dragon to kick up its appeal; in the same vein, Cyber Ogre brings with it a field-dominating behemoth that provides extra incentive to run multiple copies! Let’s take a look at the ramifications of Cyber Ogre, saving its special fusion companion for last.

The Multi-Trigger Effect is Limited to a Scanty Few

Go ahead, you can admit it. I’m sure many of us immediately took a look at the 1900 attack score (which is relatively low for a tribute monster) and had some doubts (shame, shame). Yet popular tribute monsters like Airknight Parshath, Vampire Lord, and Ancient Gear Beast have proven to be some of the best in the game! And while Cyber Ogre has not yet proven itself in this environment, its effect has lots of potential. Let’s break it down.

First it’s obvious that a good Cyber Ogre-based deck will run three copies of the monster. You want to run as many as possible because its effect triggers off having another copy in hand. In this way, it resembles heavily costed cards with powerful effects such as Dimension Magic and Destiny Hero - Blade Master. You’ll need a synergetic, supportive cast of characters to help the theme function smoothly.

Luckily there are many options for getting your Cyber Ogre into play. Two monsters of particular use are Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and Skelengel, floaters that peel a card off the top of your deck then can immediately be tributed for the Ogre. With a deck that keys in on a particular combo such as this one, seeing as many cards as possible early on is crucial.

It might also be a good time to dust off Maharaghi, an underrated spirit monster that I’ve tinkered with in a variety of different builds. The nifty beast will let you look at two cards per turn instead of one in order to get the pieces of your combo. And because Cyber Ogre is an Earth monster, this type of synergetic support lends itself well to the Earth-based monster Gigantes or the field spell Gaia Power, both of which take advantage of Ogre’s capabilities. Remember that, with the exception of Exiled Force (which doesn’t battle anyway), Earth monsters are not too popular. Running a powerful field spell such as Gaia Power is virtually guaranteed to give only your monsters access to the 500 ATK boost, which turns Cyber Ogre’s attack score into a far more impressive 2400 modifier that can swing over virtually everything with impunity.

Of course once you have your Ogre in play with one in hand, you’re granted access to one of the most unique defensive tricks known to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. First of all, there are no monsters that can swing over a 3900 attack-position monster, period. Second, since the effect negates the attack anyways, it’s doubly unlikely. And most important of all, you can use this effect during either player’s turn! Cyber Ogre basically gives the player the luxury of completely forgoing defensive trap set-ups. With your piece of defense in hand, why bother?

The effect would be rather useless if it faded at the end of the turn. However, it actually lasts until Cyber Ogre battles again. This basically means that the Cyber Ogre you discarded from hand is almost guaranteed to pay for itself. Since any monster your opponent tried to swing with is weaker than 3900 attack (guaranteed), he or she will be losing it the very next turn to your battle phase. I daresay negating an opponent’s entire battle phase (via the attack negation) and putting a nearly 4000 ATK one-tribute monster on the field for the cost of one discard is a good trade.

Tribute Monsters Have Almost No Drawbacks if Used Correctly

With the current state of the environment, the tribute mechanic is being exploited by savvy players. Cards like Enemy Controller, Brain Control, Treeborn Frog, Sangan, and virtually every flip effect in the game give easy access to tribute monsters that don’t actually require “real” tributes to be summoned. This naturally has opened up the field to all manner of long-forgotten tributes such as Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, Granmarg the Rock Monarch, and Ryu Kokki. But instead of using the same trite and cliche monsters, why not use an effect that’s never really been seen before? I really like the direction of some of these new tribute cards such as Destiny Hero - Double Dude and Destiny Hero - Dasher (which both work wonderfully well with Ogre by the way).

And Before We Leave, A Super Spectacular Ending Bonus!

If you’re sick of having your powerful monsters beaten down constantly, the new fusion monster that involves two copies of Cyber Ogre might be just what you’re looking for.

Cyber Ogre 2      Machine / Fusion / Effect  EARTH   7     2600      1900      Cyber Ogre + Cyber Ogre

A Fusion Summon of this monster can only be conducted with the above Fusion Material Monsters. When this card attacks, increase its ATK by an amount equal to half the ATK of the attack target monster, for the duration of damage calculation.

We’re looking at a raw attack score of 2600 that will then scale to anything higher than your opponent’s monster guaranteed. But being a machine monster gives it numerous unique tricks that push Cyber Ogre 2 over the edge. Most notably, you can use the famous combination of Future Fusion and Overload Fusion to bring the dreaded Chimeratech OTK to the forefront. But because Cyber Ogre actually works in threes and isn’t just being randomly splashed in, the deck strategy will work! If you don’t draw into the Ogres early with all of your draw power, you can simply send them to the graveyard as fuel for the Overdragon! This is a win-win situation.