We continue our Limited Cards week with a card that has gained quite a lot of infamy since its release. Today’s card is Rescue Rabbit:
 
Level 4
EARTH
Beast / Effect
300 ATK / 100 DEF
Cannot be Special Summoned from the Deck. You can banish this face-up card you control; Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters with the same name from your Deck. Destroy them during the End Phase. You can only use the effect of “Rescue Rabbit” once per turn.
 
This furry little critter was, quite obviously, intended to be a balanced alternative to the Forbidden Rescue Cat. Well, it certainly didn’t turn out that way; this card has had a history of abuse.
 
The first instance in which the poor bunny got abused was in the very infamous Dino Rabbit Deck. Combined with Sabersaurus or Kabazauls, Rescue Rabbit made turn 1 Evolzar Laggias and Dolkkas horrendously easy. What made it worse was that since Rabbit banishes itself to use its effect, you could use Tour Guide From the Underworld to make Leviair the Sea Dragon, bring Rabbit back, and use it again. This Deck could easily shut down any play the opponent made, since Laggia was a walking Solemn Judgment and Dolkka covered what Laggia couldn’t. The Deck dominated the latter half of September 2011 and the majority of March 2012 (only falling off towards the end when Chaos Dragon became a thing), and even after having both Rabbit and Tour Guide Semi-Limited, remained relevant through the latter half of September 2012 and the early half of March 2013.
 
Rabbit has seen play in other Decks too. Early Fire Fist builds used Rabbit to summon either Gene-Warped Warwolf or Vorse Raider to make turn 1 Tiger Kings easier (the latter also made Deck Devastation Virus usable in the Deck). Some Fire Fist builds even teched in Sabersaurus over one of the Beast-Warriors in order to have access to Laggia. Evilswarm builds use it with Heliotrope to quickly summon Ophion. Even Noble Knights, which are supposed to get a lot more support in November, can use it to quickly get out Noble Knight Artorigus to make one of the many Rank 4 Warrior monsters.
 
In a slower format especially, Rabbit can create a lot of advantage quickly. It’s not the most broken card on the planet, but its power has definitely shown since its release late in 2011. I think it’s Limit was definitely justified.
 
Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 5/5
 
Art: 5/5 (It’s an adorable little bunny. Too bad this bunny is quite the nuisance)
 
Tomorrow: Summon Big Eye, set 1, go.