Before we talk about today’s card, I would like to make a correction on yesterday’s card; Dark Magician Girl. Apparently she is far worse than I made her out to be. First, she only gets the 300 attack points for the cards that are specified in her text and not any “Dark Magician” monster. Also, she can not use support cards that use “Dark Magician” as their requirement. That drops her to about .5 in both my ratings. Thanks go out to PhilosophicalPsycho for pointing this out to me. Maybe Konami will reprint her with better text in the future to help revive her. One can only hope.
 
Now on to today’s card. Red-Eyes B. Dragon is Joey’s favorite card. The B. stands for Black. I am not sure why they did not print Black on the card. One interesting thing to note is that on the original printed cards, Red-Eyes had 3 claws while the later cards have 4 claws. I guess they just wanted it to look more terrifying. Red-Eyes B. Dragon is also one of the first Red-Eyes monsters to come out as it was printed in the first set; LOB. Sense then, seven more Red-Eyes monsters have been printed with several of them being run in top tier Dragon decks.
 
You will not find Red-Eyes B. Dragon in a top tier deck however, unless Hieratic decks can find a way to use it. Even then, Hieratics only have one monster with level 7 and that is Hieratic Dragon of Asar. Then, if you want to summon a rank 7 monster you only have 3 choices in Gaia Dragon, Big Eye, or Lucky Straight. Hieratic decks are all about rank 5, 6 or 8 so it is doubtful you will find Red-Eyes B. Dragon in it.
 
Red Eyes B. Dragon also has a rather large level that requires two tributes. It has no effect and a low attack for a high level monster. As far as a playable card in this day and age goes it is a resounding – “NOT”. As far as a being a big part of the game and a ferocious monster on the original TV show, it was a force to be reckoned with.
 
Traditional: 1/5
Advanced: 1/5
All time great monsters: 4/5

We're looking at our 2,501 card review today. It's the ace card of Joey "Brooklyn Rage" Wheeler, Red Eyes Black Dragon. A DARK/Dragon of the Normal variety, all three of those are heavily supported. But what about Red Eyes himself? He has his own set of toys as well. Red Eyes Wyvern, Darkness Dragon, Black Chick, Darkness Metal Dragon are a few monsters. Even cards like Double Coston, Tribute Doll, and Fires of Doomsday can work with Red Eyes. But my favorite cards to use are Deck Devastation Virus, Allure of Darkness, Ancient Rules and an interesting card for this Solemn Brigade filled format, Inferno Fire Blast. Red Eyes Black Dragon itself may not seem like much, but it has a wide array of tools at its disposal, and making it a fun deck to play.....maybe even a competitive one if one tried hard enough. One of my most treasured cards is my Red Eyes from the LOB set signed by Wayne Grayson. Some cards you can't put a price on. 
 
Traditional: 2.5
Advanced: 2.5
Red Eyes Deck: 5 (Triple Inferno Fire Blast FTW)
Tomorrow: OBLITERATE!!!!!! 

Reddo-Aizu Burakku Doragon. Dark Mega Flare Attack!
 
I won't sugarcoat how barely playable REBD is. Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon is almost worse than the original Dragon; Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon IS worse for sure.
 
I own one Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, two Red-Eyes B. Chicks, and three of the Dragon itself. Despite such meager support, it still functioned rather...ok-ish.
Now, don't get me wrong: Dark Dragon is perhaps the single most supported Attribute/Type combination in the game, and of course REBD gets all the normal Normal support. So...why even bother using REBD? Well, by using Mystic Tomato or Masked Dragon, you can easily summon Red-Eyes B. Chick (which is in itself the highest-ATK Level 1 monster) and instantly sacrifice it to summon REBD out of your hand. Perhaps if you could Creature Swap a Tomato or Masked Dragon, attack it and summon Chick from your deck, and then summon REBD over Chick, you can play triple of Inferno Fire Blast (a Spell that deals 2400 damage, assuming you did not attack with REBD). That deals at least 8000 damage, but it's just being extremely fanciful to be lucky enough to get that combo down.
 
More recently, new Red-Eyes support cards have been introduced. Red-Eyes Wyvern effectively acts as a Monster Reborn on any Red-Eyes monster (although Wyvern is most commonly used with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, something that is easier to summon than REBD, stronger than REBD, and not only has an effect but an insanely useful one). I suppose a deck could be built around the Wyvern/REDMD revival engine, but Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon AND Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon cannot be revived, and Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon is just worthless to use in a Dragon Deck.
 
Finally, there's Malefic Red-Eyes B. Dragon, a 2400 ATK monster that's played right out of your hand assuming you have a REBD in your deck. That would be highly useful for Synchros and Xyzs, and is also a possible (although strange) inclusion in a generic Malefic Deck.
When actually trying to go for a serious Red-Eyes theme, focus should be placed on summoning the incredibly powerful Fusions: Black Skull Dragon and Meteor Black Dragon. You can go back to my Meteor B. Dragon review a few months back for more details. Of course, generic Dark and Dragon support works too. Typical cards in an REBD Deck also have a tendency to banish their monsters (Red-Eyes Wyvern, REDMD, Dark Armed Dragon, Malefic REBD, Dragon's Mirror, Darkflare and Lightpulsar Dragon), so it could help to include cards like Burial from the Different Dimension and especially Escape from the Dark Dimension. You start to take a dangerous leap from including splashables in your REBD Deck to splashing REBD to a Dragon Deck, though.
 
Funny story... Once I was playing a friend and I went first; I couldn't play any monsters and I think the only thing I could do was set MST, I think. On my opponent's first turn, he used Polymerization with the REBD and Summoned Skull. He then used two revival Spells to summon those same monsters. Total damage was 8200. Five cards were used. Five cards with Chick, REBD, and three Inferno Fire Blasts also deal only 7200. But I'd rather have five cards that win me the game right when I draw them...
 
Trad: 1/5 (lolwhat)
Adv: 2/5
Awesomeness Factor: 4/5 Blue-Eyes' younger sibling is a rather generic-looking "ferocious dragon with a vicious attack," it's still an awesome archetype that deserves more support, given the spotlight it was given in the anime. Blue-Eyes has power and Red-Eyes is supposed to have potential...but...Blue-Eyes has even more support cards. I also find it funny how the English department changed the Black Magician to the Dark Magician but just abbreviated "Black" on this card. It's so random... There are five different artworks of this monster. The first one, the one Joey uses, is flying, has a very nice luster on its ebony hide, and displays its ferociousness best. There's a second very-cool looking one made shortly thereafter that never made it to English, but appearance-wise it looks like a cross between Skarmory and Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon. Two of the artworks are the same: REBD standing and preparing to launch a fireball. The only difference is that one background is black whilst the other is green; I don't think the actual dragon very much, as it looks rather wrinkly. The final one is simultaneously both the creepiest and most majestic, as a skeletal-looking dragon is standing atop a crumbling ground, fire streaming from its maw.
 
Philosophy Corner: Everyone probably missed this, but back for my Gusto Squirro review last Thursday, it should be updated with a whole paragraph explaining "missing the timing." Experienced players should know all about this, but for those who don't know, it's an important game mechanic that sometimes prevents a monster from using its effect. If you don't know how it works, I suggest you read it.
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