Fiendish Chain was reviewed previously in April of 2010, around when it came out in ABPF.  Though it has seen a lot of play in the past 4 years (and has gained more popularity since its review), so why not review it again?

Fiendish Chain

Let's look at some history.  Around FC's inception, monsters were bigger and stronger (like Caius the Shadow Monarch and Black Rose Dragon).  If FC were blasted with some removal, they would still have a big beater on the field.  Probably one with a continous effect like Stardust Dragon too.

During the Tour Guide era, this card started to become more popular as nobody would want to save a 1000-ATK monster who missed the boat on its search effect.  In general, the XYZ format has been about weak monsters with spammy effects.  Most XYZ's are 1500-2200 ATK ; not very big.  And most of the monsters used to summon those XYZ's are weaker.  So the removal of Fiendish Chain became less of an issue.

However, Breakthrough Skill is proving to be a better option, as monsters like Hands, Artifacts, and the like are able to activate on your turn and you need a way to negate them.  Breakthrough Skill also works for the entire turn, so an MST can't undo it.

So monsters becoming weaker gives the opponent less incentive to want to enable their monsters to attack.  But monsters becoming weaker also gives YOU less incentive to want to negate their attacks.

Assessments

Power – 3/5 ; Disables a monster.  Likely a crucial one.  But doesn't affect the duel as a whole, beyond that isolated incident, most of the time.

Versatility – 4/5 ; Granted, not as good mid-game when you're getting stomped, but good mid-game when the opponent is trying to make a comeback.  Best used early game to stop a search of some kind.

Accessibility – 5/5 ; No cost.  No big requirement.  Just effect monsters, which the game is saturated with.  Victim to Wiretap of course, but what trap isn't?

Card Advantage – 3/5 ; Its a 1-for-1.  An educated one at times that can prevent you from minusing.  Not minusing doesn't mean plussing, though.  But you still have to... well... not minus.

Speed – 5/5 ; You can activate it on-summon (or shut down a continuous effect on the Draw Phase).  How faster can an anti-monster trap get?

Ratings

Traditional – 3/5 ; Traps are less good here, but effect negation can certainly help.

Advanced – 3.5/5 ; Breakthrough Skill is showing some competition, but Fiendish Chain will still see some play in 2015, I bet.

Mechanic Design – 3/5 ; Simple and straightforward but balanced.

Artwork – 3/5 – Not as dramatic as I was hoping, but it is dark instead of cartoony.  The chains however aren't binding anything.  They exist as a metaphor, or something.

Verdict

Every collection must own this card, period.  You never know when you might want to use it or what deck you might want to use it in.

Fiendish Chain

For the most part this card could easily be considered inferior to Effect Veiler, Breakthrough Skill and Forbidden Chalice, however it does have one advantage to those other cards… It prevents your opponent from attacking with the targeted monster, and this is the mere fact that I believe makes this card see as much play as it still does.

Being a Continuous Trap card means that this card easily falls to chained destruction such as Mystical Space Typhoon, and common Traps such as Wiretap or Trap Stun can either get rid of it, or disrupt it for the turn.

Also another flaw is that if the monster that was targeted by Fiendish Chain is Xyz or Synchro Summoned with, or is removed from the field by other ways or even flipped face-down, Fiendish Chain remains on the field as a useless Trap card filling up one of your S/T zones. Sometimes this can even be to a players detriment.

Sadly the biggest issue not to face Fiendish Chain is Shadolls as you cannot utilise Fiendish Chain during damage calculation.

While everything I’ve said so far could be considered to be all bad (apart from the Battle prevention), Fiendish Chain has for the most part become staple, and it will still have it’s uses, unfortunately those uses are about to become a little more limited and as such it should be seeing less play overall.

Traditional: 1. Too slow, cards need to have an immediate impact on the game, not a delayed one.

Advanced:2.75. Still good-ish, but becoming more average now because of more monster effect negation options. And this can be played around more easily than other cards if prepared for.

Fiendish Chain
 
Traditional: 2.25/5
Advanced:  2.25/5
 
It’s another Twofer Thursday as we look at two trap cards today, one of which is Fiendish Chain. Fiendish Chain was first used by Jack Atlas in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Anime.
 
Fiendish Chain has been a popular for a while now, mainly due to the two parts of its effect. First the targeted monster has its effects negated and second it can’t attack. So with one card you have effectively crippled a dangerous threat.  Of course there are a couple of problems with Fiendish Chain, first of all, it doesn’t stop the activation of effects so if you target a Stardust Dragon it can still Tribute itself and then get its effect. Also the monster isn’t completely useless, the opponent can still do anything else with it, so it can still change its battle position or he can use it to summon another monster. Finally Fiendish Chain is a continuous trap so it has all the weaknesses of a continuous trap.
 
Overall a very good card and it will stop a monster for a while.
 
Traditional: 3/5
Advanced:  3.75/5

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Fiendish Chain is a staple in many decks and a side deck card in most others. A targeting Skill Drain and Spellbinding Circle in one, Fiendish Chain works very well despite being a Continuous Trap Card. Chain to stop monster effects from activating or use it to stop a monster from attacking you. Fiendish Chain can also target ANY monster on the field, not just your opponents. If you have a monster that has a negative effect that you want negated (maybe going to mill out using one of your Lightsworn monsters), Fiendish Chain it if you have no other options. The negation lasts as long as the monster or Fiendish Chain is on the field, so this is a plus over Effect Veiler and Breakthrough Skill.
 
If the monster is used for an Xyz Summon then Fiendish Chain turns into a dead card on the field, which likely won't hinder your playability, but there's always a possibility that you will need that slot. Most of the time Fiendish Chain will stop an ignition effect, prevent the monster from attacking, and leave the field within one turn.
 
Traditional-3.5/5- More destruction resources, but still a solid option
Advanced-4/5- Needed as it does more than just negate the effect
Art-3.5/5

Today's a dual-day. Let's cut out the prelude. Fiendish Chain and Typhoon.

For the longest while, people played Breakthrough Skill instead of Fiendish Chain. A lot of cards shot backrow pieces, so it is perfectly understandable. However, with the massive weakening of backrow in the TCG, it re-exploded in popularity. That isn't to say this is second to Breakthrough, because it isn't. This also shuts down your opponents' monster from attacking, which can prove to be the difference between winning and losing. If you manage to get an Xyz monster in these chains, there's not much your opponent can do with that monster going forward, short of a Rank Up or tributing it: it's essentially removal for Xyz monsters. Great card.

Advanced: 3.5/5
Traditional: 1/5

Fiendish Chain is another very popular Trap Card that was initially tossed aside upon its release in Absolute Powerforce, but then later skyrocketed in popularity, demanding ludicrously high prices for a Super Rare. The card’s popularity has fluctuated since then, but in recent times has solidified itself as a semi-staple. So what makes this card so good?

Well, a major factor is the absence of Heavy Storm. Fiendish Chain’s first rise happened right around the time Heavy Storm was banned the first time, and it’s easy to see why; Continuous Spell and Trap Cards become significantly stronger when they aren’t constantly under threat of being destroyed. Having the ability to stop attacks and effects helped make the card a major contender in a metagame where it wasn’t under constant threat of destruction; it could even be recycled by Giant Trunade, which was legal at the time.

It is interesting to note that after Heavy Storm was reinstated into the game, Fiendish Chain’s use dropped; while it was still seen, it would only be used in Decks that ran high backrow counts by nature, such as Dino Rabbit, Wind-Up, and Fire Fist. And after Heavy Storm got banned again, Fiendish Chain once again skyrocketed to be one of the most popular Traps in the game, but only after the Dragon Rulers (which are not affected much by the card) got Limited.

In recent times, Fiendish Chain’s use has come into question by the rising popularity of Breakthrough Skill. Comparing the two, Fiendish Chain is stronger defense-wise (as Breakthrough doesn’t stop attacks), but Breakthrough Skill is stronger in terms of negation (since it can’t be stopped by Mystical Space Typhoon and works on monsters that Tribute themselves for their effects) and more versatile (as it can be used in the Graveyard). Which one is the better choice generally comes down to what type of Deck you are playing. Aggressive combo-focused Decks generally tend to go for Breakthrough Skill, as they’re more likely to be locked out by a monster, and therefore find the negation more important. Slower-paced control Decks that focus on grinding out the game may prefer Fiendish Chain due to its multiple uses and ability to also stop attacks.

Regardless of which one better suits your Deck, Fiendish Chain is always a solid pick when trying to decide your Trap lineup.

Traditional: 1/5 (Harpie’s Feather Duster and Heavy Storm? I wouldn’t recommend it)

Advanced: 4/5

The Almighty Pojo cracks the whip and has us giving you a two-for-one before we dive into The Duelist Alliance with Fiendish Chain first. I really like this card. It's a continuous trap that can really give your opponent a real headache, by targeting one effect monster on the field, negating whatever effects it has and, as if that is not bad enough, it can't attack. You hit your opponent with a real double whammy. No effects and it can't attack? Yes please. Played at the right time, it can cause your opponent to re-think their entire strategy, assuming they do not have a Mystical Space Typhoon in hand, a Wiretap in the backrow ready to go, or some other form of Spell/Trap removal. Main deck or side deck, this card is good enough for both.
 
Traditional: 2.5
Advanced: 3.5