In what appears to be the default now, I won’t be breaking this card down into sections because Spells and Traps basically have an effect and one single stat, making it pretty silly.  I’ve only stuck with it so long because I liked having a generic template for reviewing.

 

Today’s card is Level Conversion Lab.  Given the nature of the card, I’ll start with its effect: you select one Monster card in your hand, and roll a six-sided dice (d6).   If you get a one, the Monster is destroyed… ouch.  Still, I suppose in a pinch that could help certain decks that need Monsters in the discard.  It is a draw back, but on a very rare occasion, it could be useful.

 

If you roll anything above one, the Monster becomes that level.  Since we are rolling a d6, it means the most the Monster can become is a Level 6.  As such, I’d assume you’d usually want to use this on a Level 7+ Monster: then there is a five in six (roughly 83%) chance you’ll make said Monster easier to Normal Summon.  A Level 5 or 6 Monster only has a 50% chance of being helped out by Level Conversion Lab.  If you roll a two or three (one in three odds or approximately 33%), you’ll be able to slip under Gravity Bind and Level Limit-Area B for the turn.

 

I can think of one other use for this card: Ritual Monsters.  Unfortunately, the Ritual Spells needed for the Ritual Monsters cite the exact amount needed, so you can’t shrink something into a more affordable version.  You can, however, attempt to pump something up to help pay for the cost.  Sinister Serpent becomes an ideal candidate: on a result of one, big deal, it’s destroyed; you’ll just get it back next turn.  Any other result allows it to fill more of the requirement for the Ritual Summon.

 

Unfortunately, this card is a Trap.  It really needed to be a Spell, since all of the uses I gave require it be your turn.  This instantly relegates this to something of a “desperation” move.  Normally, you’d think about using it with cards that have to be Normal Summoned and are high level.  Given the two huge drawbacks (possibly nuking the Monster and the difficulty of keeping the Trap alive long enough to go off), this card becomes something of a novelty.

 

Ratings (Specialized)

 

Traditional       : 2/5-Only because the cards this helps need all the help they can get.  So in decks with big, Normal Summon only Monsters, it’s pretty useful.  Remember, if you do nuke the Monster, you can use Monster Reincarnation to get the destroyed card back.

 

Advanced        : 3.5/5-Here it might make a real difference: a one in three chance of a no Tribute Normal Summoning Ancient Gear Golem?  Sweet.

 

Limited            : 4/5-One in three chance of Normal Summoning Ancient Gear Golem sans Tribute?  Sweet… so long as you’re desperate.  If you already have the lead, just build up the Monsters for a normal Tribute Summon.

 

Summary

In Yu-Gi-Oh, there are certain things that can really hurt cards: consider them “strikes” a la baseball.  For Level Conversion Lab, it doesn’t look good.  Strike one: it is a Trap that is only as useful on your turn.  Strike two: it is a random result.  Strike three: it can backfire (destroying the selected Monster).