Stats                : This is a Continuous Spell.  The downside is that its effect will end if it is destroyed.  The upside is that the effect this card places upon the field will last until the card is negated or destroyed.

Effect(s)            : When a Monster is Normal, Flip, or Special Summoned, it gets kicked into DEF mode.  This is a simple effect, neither to powerful nor too weak.  Obviously, it will slow down the pace of the game, making it so only cards with effects like Total Defense Shogun (don’t know if anything else has his effect, mind you), can attack the turn they are summoned with out using a position changing card.

Uses and

Combinations  : A solid stall tactic, Stumbling thus works best in a stall deck.  It can by time for weaker attackers that would still themselves be locked into DEF mode.  Even in a “normal” deck, it can be useful since many, many strong attackers have horrid DEF scores, thus giving your own beatsticks time to kill opposing ones.  Oh, did I mention it makes Berserk Gorilla go boom?  Finally, as a general use, it makes manually flipping Flip Effect Monsters much nicer, since they’ll be forced into DEF mode afterwards.  Ninja Grand Master Sasuke should love this card, since it set sup for his effect to destroy the Monster.

Ratings

Traditional       : 1/5-It won’t survive long enough here… and Chaos Emperor Dragon usually doesn’t need to attack.

Advanced        : 3/5-Useful in some decks, useless in others.

Limited            : 4/5-Here I think it’s pretty good, forcing beatsticks into their weaker DEF mode, so you can pick them off will defeat many decks in this format.

Summary

Stumbling is a very solid card that can fit into most decks, but works best when used with a solid theme.

-Otaku