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Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh! Card of the Day
Daily Since 2002!

Draw Muscle
- #SECE-EN057

Target 1 Defense Position monster you control with 1000 or less DEF; draw 1 card, also that monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn. You can only activate 1 "Draw Muscle" per turn.

Card Ratings
Advanced: 2.08

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 is Horrible. 3 is Average. 5 is the highest rating.

Date Reviewed:
Feb. 19, 2015

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Baneful

Draw Muscle

It's requirements for which monster you could target are so steep as most weak monsters you set in defense position are monsters you want the opponent to destroy in battle to trigger effects. So, I don't see the point. It does just about nothing at best and is a total waste of space at worst.

1/5

Dark
Paladin

Draw Muscle is a fun little card. This is a great example of a balanced 1-for-1 that can possibly lead to more next turn, and benefits wonderfully from being a Quickplay Magic card. Target a Monster you control with 1000 defense or less, Draw a card, and that Monster can't be destroyed by Battle this turn. So if your opponent wants/needs to destroy it, they're gonna have to use an effect or a Magic/Trap card, so ideally they're giving up a card there. It's a nice little piece of tech, something some Decks will be able to tech in and use for advantage, while others just won't have enough fiting this criteria to do so. The rating reflects that

Rating: 3/5
Art: 4/5

T-REX

Draw Muscle

The limitations of only being able to activate 1 Draw Muscle per turn as well as the fact that you must first control a monster in DEF position with 1000 or less DEF tend to make people stay away from this card, but there are also advantages to using this card.

And while the ability to be able to use Draw Muscle to protect a monster from battle is what I believe many consider to be this cards most useful ability, I believe its true strength comes from the fact that it is a Quickplay Spell, meaning that you can use it either like a Trap or during your own turn.
You can also chain it to removal (either of itself or the targeted monster) and get to Draw a card, thus increasing the overall strength of this card by just a little.

While this will not find a home in many Decks, and for good reason, it does lend itself to be useful in Decks that cannot afford to gift their opponent with 1000 Lifepoints from Upstart Goblin, as well as Decks that are less “Mainstream.”

Frog Monarch Decks clearly can very easily use this as they have not just Treeborn Frog, but also Swap Frog as monsters that can be Special Summoned in DEF position as well as Battle Fader, so here it is very easy to successfully activate and benefit from.

Tokens can also be used with Draw Muscle, so Mecha-Phantom Beasts can easily use this as either a Draw a card straight away, or as a way in which to protect their Tokens for use later.
Scapegoat and Dandylion Tokens can equally benefit in this way, and can possibly gain an additional opportunity to be used for a Synchro or Tribute Summon.
Plus it can simply be a nice way in which to block an opponents attack after they have selected their attack target… Essentially making them waste an attack.

Satellarknights could also use this quite successfully as Unukalhai and Deneb can be easily Special Summoned in DEF position via Altair proceeding an Xyz Summon, and I really think that Draw Muscle is completely discounted for use here.

Plant –type Synchro Decks also can use this to give them a boost as giving away 1000 Lifepoints to an opponent via Upstart Goblin is also rather a negative for them.
Dandylion, Spore and Glow-Up Bulb all provide incredibly easy ways in which to fulfil the activation requirement of Draw Muscle here.

As well as those Decks, Ojama’s, Racoons and “Alternate” strategy’s such as Burn and Exodia may also benefit from Draw Muscle as an additional or alternative Draw card.

Rating: 3.25. This card is better than it receives credit for, and certainly is worthy of testing out at least in lesser played Decks, it may just surprise you how handy it can actually be.