Masked HERO Dark Law

This is not the trump card that an EHERO deck can base it's entire game on, but its a great Extra Deck option that really punishes (as in totally cripples) graveyard-based decks.  It's not consistent, but since it's not a main deck card, it doesn't have to be.

4/5

We haven't looked at anything Hero related in a very long time.  Having said that, Masked HERO Dark Law is very good for the Hero player.  A Dark, Level 6, Warrior, with the standard 2400 attack and a decent defense of 1800, who can only be Special Summoned with Mask Change, which the Hero player is using anyway.  This guy is very disruptive, and can really ruin some things for your opponent if he stays on the Field long enough.  Save if you're playing against a Return/Removal Deck of sorts.  Any card of your opponent's that leaves the Field is removed from play, instead of going to the Graveyard.  Also, once a turn, if your opponent adds a card from the Deck to their Hand, except the Normal Draw or during the Damage Step, you're able to remove a random card from their Hand from play.  He's nasty, he's relatively strong, and very easy to bring out.  I like him, a lot.
 
Rating: 3.75/5  Honestly, he's one of, if not the best, Masked HERO
 
Art:  5/5  So awesome

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
With Super Poly banned, “Hero” decks were hurt as well, losing an important card that helped them bring out their fusion monsters. Despite that, Masked HERO Dark Law is still a great card for the archetype.
 
The only DARK Attribute “Masked Hero” in the TCG, Dark Law has decent stats for its level. Its Banisher of The Radiance effect for your opponents cards is a great effect to have against your opponent. Many of the Tier 1 decks right now depend heavily on the graveyard. Shaddolls and Burning Abyss become crippled by this monsters effect, and Qil decks lose their monsters to the banished effect rather than have them sent to the Extra Deck. Not only that, all these decks in some way add cards to the hand from the deck, that's where the second effect of Dark Law kicks in. Removing a card from your opponents hand once per turn if they add a card to their hand from their deck is a 1 for 1 during either turn. Taking away resources and disrupting strategies, that's what Dark Law's effects do to most decks.
 
It only being able to be Special Summoned with “Mask Change” takes its playability down to the point where only the dedicated decks can use it. But within those dedicated decks this monster could be a first turn possibility.
 
Advanced-3.5/5- in HERO decks that play Mask Change, 1/5 everywhere else
Art-4/5
 
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Hello, oh fair readers of this website. First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my sizable absence, my life has kept me busy. But, oh man, I couldn't have picked a better card to write an article for. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Dark Law.
 
First and foremost, you can go about summoning this thing through 3 means: Mask Change, Mask Change II, or Form Change. Mask Change and Form Change are both only usable in HERO decks, and Mask Change is by far the better option of the two. In terms of most viable targets, Elemental HERO Shadow Mist is, far and away, the best option, because if you special summon her, and wait until your opponent's turn to activate the added Mask Change, you get to summon Dark Law, and add a HERO from your deck to your hand, at a +1 no less! I must mention other Dark heroes work as well, such as Diamond Dude or Malicious. The most common ways to special summon her are, but are not limited to: Goblindbergh, Summoner Monk, A HERO Lives, Call of the Haunted. In terms of Mask Change Second usage, Burning Abyss and Shaddolls are the most prominent, as they get their effects when sent from the field to the graveyard(Burning Abyss even get their effects when discarded by II), but any Dark deck can theoretically utilize it. Heroes still utilize it best, with Dark Law simultaneously setting up their plays whilst disrupting their opponent's plays.
 
As for this monster's effects, its a two-for-one special. Not only is everything your opponent sends to grave banished, but if they would add anything from their deck to their hand(outside of Draw Phase) you get to banish a free card from their hand. Any search effect triggers this, but drawing a card does as well, such as from Upstart Goblin. This makes this card almost universal in what it is useful against, hitting both graveyard reliant decks and non-reliant ones. I would be amiss if I said you cannot Mask Change Dark Law into another Dark Law, dodging both removal and getting the opportunity to banish another card from their hand.
 
Overall, a complete and total beast of a card, and one of the reasons Heroes stand a chance in the upcoming formats.
 
Advanced:4.25/5

"We don't need another HERO," is what most players would say when one would mention the possibility of future "HERO" support: no other archetype has as many members and supporting cards as "Elemental HERO", and as icing on the cake Konami was so kind to deliver us "Destiny HERO" and "Evil HERO" for those who weren't satisfied by the solely righteous warriors of the elements. As it became too obvious that fusion summoning was far from efficient, along came "Masked HERO", and these days we also somehow have "Contrast HERO", and "Vision HERO", not to mention Hero of the East (this is a joke - Hero of the East does not share his Japanese name with any of the former cards!). Meanwhile, Destiny HERO - Disk Commander and Elemental HERO Stratos are casually chilling on the forbidden/limited card list, which raises the question if a deck that has apparently been so centralizing that contents had to be banned, really needs even more support...
 
The answer? Probably! "HERO" might have more support than any other deck in this game, but that doesn't change that most of it is practically unplayable; furthermore while Elemental HERO Stratos did see a ban a few years ago, this wasn't at all because te "HERO" deck was overpowering - one could say that our Konami overlords simply didn't like the way the deck was played, with a monster count as low as possible, detaching Elemental HERO Stratos as an XYZ material to special summon it again right after (spoiler: modern HERO decks play in a way very comparable, and this won't change as long as we have access to Elemental HERO Bubbleman, so talking of scapegoating...). In short, support was badly needed to bring one of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s more popular and famous themes closer to playability, and Konami delivered! But not without reminding us in a not so subtle way that fusion summoning as a mechanic is severely flawed.
 
Masked HERO Dark Law is one of the most important additions the "HERO" structure deck brought to the theme, allowing players to turn any Dark "HERO" monster (or any Dark monster with a lower level if one uses Mask Change II) into a walking Macro Cosmos that punishes any form of searching/drawing: "Elemental HERO" decks were recognized as a decent "anti-meta" choice in the past, and Masked HERO Dark Law supports this approach perfectly, punishing opponents for adding cards to the hand and relying on the graveyard, which almost all popular decks do in one way or another. Masked HERO Dark Law is far from too powerful however, boasting only 2400 ATK, but backed up by a Synchro monster or two it is quite scary, and summoning it from Mask Change chained to the opponent's effect that lets them add a card from their deck to the hand, is simply cruel.
 
Wait what? Masked HERO Dark Law backed by Synchro monsters? "Elemental HERO" doesn't Synchro summon! Well, if Msked HERO Dark Law only supported "Elemental HERO" I probably wouldn't review it, as I cannot care about that theme too much, but we have more Dark "HERO" monsters available, including everyone's favourite edgy anti-hero theme used by everyone's favourite edgy anti-hero Aster Phoenix.
 
Destiny HERO - Malicious is a card that normally sees play in a deck called Dark Synchro: combine it with Plaguespreader Zombie, and you can make the nearly unstoppable Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons! Banish it to summon another copy that you just placed on top of your deck to summon Plaguespreader zombie again, and voilà: Void Ogre Dragon! Now feel free to banish your second Destiny HERO - Malicious to summon a third, set your Mask Change, and watch your opponent throw their hand on the table in disbelief: good game!
 
Needless to say Destiny HERO - Malicious isn't the only "HERO" this deck would run: Elemental HERO Shadow Mist came out in the same structure deck as Masked HERO Dark Law and is a great help, especially when it is summoned by A Hero Lives, Elemental HERO Bubbleman is his old self and makes a fine search target, and Destiny HERO - Diamond Dude works rather well in a deck that can use such a high percentage of normal spell cards, further fueling Destiny Draw. Add Destiny HERO - Doom Lord for a tad more flavour, and you have a cute deck with quite the explosive plays if it draws well enough.
 
Ah yes, about that: don't forget to add Armageddon Knight or something for those hands that force you to set up your plays before you can run over your opponent.
 
In all seriousness, Masked HERO Dark Law will probably make more of a splash in "Burning Abyss" decks playing Mask Change II, but I'm sure other reviews on this page will explain about its utility here in depth!
 
Traditional: 4/5. Very scary! Can derail a good number of decks in such a way that they barely have a chance to win if it's summoned on the first turn, and in this format especially, it will be. I know that no one plays Traditional, but for those that like to theorize about it at least, don't be ashamed to free up a spot in your extra deck for Masked HERO Dark Law, along with the necessary main deck changes obviously.
 
Advanced: 4/5. Masked HERO Dark Law's low ATK lets it down, and so does the deck that he has to be played in as Mask Change II is too costly to be played by any deck other than "Burning Abyss". The card can still be a game changer when it hits the board, preferably with a means to protect him from scary card effects and stronger monsters, so an almost perfect score is certainly warranted.
 
Art: Arawarero, Reido Raputaazu - Reboruushon Farukoooo... You know, never mind; it really doesn't look like a "HERO" card to me - I mean, why has it the head of a dolphin? Konami seems to have a thing for dolphins these days.../5.

Masked HERO Dark Law
 
There is simply so much going on for this card that I could quite probably write several pages on just this one card, however I will be keeping it much shorter than that!
 
This is the newest HERO bad boy to hit the block, and he’ll be making quite the regular appearance, especially for the foreseeable future.
 
While its Summoning requirements seem completely specific to Mask Change only, you can also Summon this with Mask Change II and Form Change, and if using Mask Change II you can Special Summon Dark Law by using any DARK monster that is Level 5 or lower.
 
Clearly one of the easiest and most resource beneficial ways in which to Summon Masked HERO Dark Law is to activate A Hero Lives, Special Summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, add a “Change” Quickplay Spell from your Deck to your hand… Most likely Mask Change, and then Set Mask Change like a Trap… And while this is a totally readable play, it does mean that you are then able to add a HERO monster other than Shadow Mist from your Deck to your hand during your opponent’s turn.
Although of course most of the time, because of both RotA and E-Call, doing this will rarely if ever be a play needed out of requirement.
And myself I would not suggest this as being an “Optimal” play due to the fact that it is simply so transparent and only really a stronger play if you have something to back it up with.
 
Without a doubt, Dark Law is a perfect addition for the HERO archetype, and not just Elemental Hero’s, but also Destiny Hero’s… And almost insulting for Evil Hero’s, this can be used to boost them as well… Sort of anyhow!
 
The effect that Masked HERO will be able to have on the game is what is most interesting of all, as not only does it provide you with a way in which to hit your opponent’s hand when they add a card(s) to their hand, but this is essentially a one sided Macro Cosmos, except on a monster.
 
While Drawing a card by a card effect (Upstart Goblin) is probably the most obvious example of a time when you can use Dark Law’s effect to randomly Banish a card from your opponent’s hand, you can also activate that effect after your opponent uses something such as Qliphort Scout or Reinforcement of the Army.
Essentially, if they add a card from their Deck to their hand, you’ll be able to use Dark Law’s effect… Although only ‘Once per turn.”
 
Dark Law’s biggest boon though is really in the fact that it absolutely cripples Graveyard reliant/ dependant Decks, yet leaves your Graveyard untouched so that Miracle Fusion plays are still available for you to use when/ as you desire.
Getting Dark Law out early game against many Decks can be quite a large obstacle to overcome, and while the Banishing of a card effect from the Hand is random, and thus allows for the opponent to take the risk that the added card will not get taken from the hand, the Banishing of cards rather than them being sent to the Graveyard is much more problematic as it sends Spells, Traps AND Monsters meaning that even if Dark Law is removed quickly, some valuable cards may well be lost permanently, and since Masked HERO Dark Law is actually rather easy to Summon, it can very easily be replaced by another one during the next turn.
 
Thus the biggest way in which to truly “Deal” with it may well be by Summoning a bigger beater, and luckily, Dark Law has only a relatively low ATK, making it easily trampled by many “Boss” monsters.
 
Mostly because of Dark Law, HERO Decks are able to compete at essentially an equal level to any of the Meta Tier Decks as Shaddoll’s Fusion Spells and the Monsters used for that Fusion Summon will be Banished if used to Fusion Summon a monster bigger than Dark Law, either that, or they won’t be able to search out their needed cards in the first place! Burning Abyss’es monsters are all Graveyard reliant for their additional effects, Satellarknights lose the ability to easily drop Deneb into the Graveyard and then Summon it for its search effect via Altair, Necroz cannot use the abilities of the “Djinn” monsters, and to really top it all off, Qliphort’s Pendulum monsters are ALL Banished instead of being sent to the top of the Extra Deck meaning that while they will still be able to Pendulum Summon from their hand, you are able to remove their ability to Pendulum Summon from the Extra Deck.
 
What is quite probably more scary about Dark Law though is at least its potential ability to be included in many of the Tier Decks, Burning Abyss and Shaddoll are primarily Dark Decks and multiple lower Tier Decks that include a healthy amount of Dark monsters can also strongly consider Dark Law, and all that is required is the inclusion of Mask Change II.
And as Mask Change II is a Quickplay it opens up so many possibilities to disrupt your opponent’s plays.
For example when your opponent activates a Draw card, you chain Mask Change II and Summon Dark Law, then as Dark Law’s effect is continuous, once your opponent has finished resolving the effect of Drawing a card, you’ll immediately be able to Banish that 1 random card from your opponent’s hand, and this also makes the discard associated with activating Mask Change II more palpable… And if you’ve discarded a Burning Abyss or Shaddoll monster, you also will be able to gain its effect(s), meaning that ultimately, no advantage is actually lost at all.
 
HERO’s once again have been able to reach the heights of competitiveness, and this time it is without Elemental HERO – Stratos!
 
The only major downside to Masked HERO Dark Law is that you CANNOT revive it from the Graveyard by any means, this is because it is not Fusion Summoned via Mask Change but rather it is only Special Summoned… But that’s not a big problem, as you can then use it as the “HERO” for Miracle Fusion Summoning!
 
And did I say that I’d be keeping this review short?
Well, truth be told I was telling the truth, quite easily I could have made this review 2-3 times longer…
 
Rating: 4.5. If this card has just 1 weakness, it is that its ATK is rather low, otherwise there is really nothing to fault with this monster, especially when you consider that not only is it able to be easily Summoned, but it can be almost as easily Summoned in Decks that are not “HERO” as it can in a Deck that is a “HERO” Deck!
Not being able to Summon it from the Graveyard is actually quite the balancing factor, otherwise it would be more problematic in dealing with it effectively.