Opening the week, we have Void Ogre Dragon, a Level 8, Dragon-type Synchro Monster, with 3000 attack and defense, of the Dark attribute, who is Synchro Summoned with a Dark-Tuner and one or more non-Tuner type Monsters.  Now, once a turn, during either player's turn, you can negate the activation of a Magic or Trap card your opponent activates, and destroy it.  That's certainly a good effect, and it doesn't have to be the first card activated, and the effect IS optional, Now, the effect of Void Ogre Dragon here is only able to be used if you have NO cards in your Hand.  Obviously that isn't a good thing, but this Monster DOES scream for abuse in an Infernity Deck.  (Or any other place where you want to have no Hand, that's just the immediate one that came to mind.)

Ratings:

Traditional:  1/5  No Hand is a bad thing. 
Advanced:   3/5  Potential for sure 
Infernity:     5/5
Art:  5/5

Just when you thought it was safe to Xyz summon.....they pull you back in with more Synchros! Void Ogre Dragon is pretty much another tool for the Infernity archtype. It's pretty easy for them to bring out and it likes your hand to be empty too, so you can negate a spell or trap once a turn. All it needs is a DARK tuner and 1 or more non tuner monsters. Yes 3000 ATK and DEF is very Boss, but it still could fall for Bottomless Trap Hole, Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute(s) if you are caught with at least one card in your hand. A good card, just gotta play it at the right time.
 
Traditional: 2.5
Advanced: 3.5
Tomorrow: Time for an Acid trip....again...

Monday:

Void Ogre Dragon
Lv 8/DARK/Dragon-Synchro/3000A/3000D
"1 DARK Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn, during either player's turn, when your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card while you have no cards in your hand: You can negate the activation and destroy it."

Not too hard to get out and with an amazing effect, VOD can be splashed into any deck that uses DARK Tuners. He's at his best in the late game, or in an Infernity or Fabeld deck, when the hand will most likely be empty when he comes into play. Bringing him out at the right time can easily net you a win. Not only that, but he has some of the best stats I've ever seen in a high-Level Dragon.

Traditional: 4
Advanced: 4.25

Continuing "Recently Released Classic Manga Cards: Week II"

Like The Shining, all cards this week are Extra Deck cards. The only difference is that Tuesday's and Wednesday's are from GX D:

Level 8 Dark Dragon with 3000 ATK? Bring in instant comparisons to Red Dragon Archfiend and Infernity Doom Dragon!

Purgatory Dragon's effect is identical to the infamous Six Samurai Shi-En. The catch? You can't have anything in the hand. That is a condition you generally want to avoid, but in a heated-Duel scenario, it happens sometimes. Given that, it's not too unlikely you'll be in the handless condition.

Comparison to RDA: I assume my readers have Synchro Summoned before, at least on Dueling Network? Now, when a player Synchro Summons for Level 8, what's the usual target? Nowadays, it's Scrap Dragon when he or she intends to go offensive or Stardust in a milder situation. Red Dragon Archfiend comes out when the opponent has Marshmallon ramparts up or has a wall of sets. In either case, RDA is a reliable choice many people enjoy using in their Extra Decks just to blow stuff up.

Comparison to Infernity Doom Dragon: Both IDD and VOD have the same Synchro requirements of a Dark Tuner, so in any Deck that runs IDD, VOD has an equal chance to be playable (Kalin Kessler indeed ran this card in the manga). Infernity Decks run IDD for its ATK and destruction effect. Infernity Decks, obviously, can easily whittle away their hands to meet IDD's activation requirements, especially considering IDD can help activate Phantom Hand to temporarily remove their own Hand. That being said, VOD is a counterpart for IDD to shut down Traps/Spells. Of course, assuming you're using an Infernity Deck, Phantom Hand can't work if VOD is your only monster out (easily remediable by activating Phantom Hand right before you summon VOD).

VOD and IDD have equally powerful abilities. I used to splash IDD into Decks on occasion on the off-chance I got Handless and could summon it. Similarly, VOD is a powerful card, and it's not too hard to make your Hand Size 0 if you want.

Niche Decks: Infernity, any Deck with Dark Tuners and don't intend to load up their Hands

Traditional: 2/5 (being handless isn't exactly something you'd WANT happen if you know your opponent has Yata-Garasu, and it's easy to kill VOD with the likes of Raigeki, Ring of Destruction, or CED [both Compulsory Evacuation Device and Chaos Emperor Dragon])
Advanced: 4/5
Aesthetics: 5/5 The Hunchback of Dragon Dames
 
Philosophy Corner: Freedom is not free.
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