As I have yet another two exams to take this week, I will once again go with a simplified review format.  I am sure so many readers are heart broken. ;)

 

Ectoplasmer is somewhat confusing, primarily because even though it is accurately written, its effects are so odd that they just seem wrong when read.  To help clarify, here are the rulings from the Official Yu-Gi-Oh FAQ on UDE’s site, though I have made some formatting changes to match how I write my reviews (namely italics instead of “quotation marks” to indicate a card name):

 

“Ectoplasmer causes the turn player to Tribute during his/her End Phase, but the opponent does not Tribute. So while Ectoplasmer is out, I Tribute in my End Phase, and you Tribute in your End Phase. But I don't Tribute in yours and you don't Tribute in mine.

So 1 Tribute is performed during the End Phase of each player's turn. The Tribute is performed by the turn player. (Both players have to do this during their respective End Phases, not just the controller of Ectoplasmer.)

Tributing a monster for Ectoplasmer is not a cost, it’s an effect, so you can't Tribute monsters unaffected by Spell Cards.

If you have a face-up monster on your side of the field during the End Phase, you have to Tribute for Ectoplasmer’s effect.

You can chain Mystical Space Typhoon or Raigeki Break to Ectoplasmer’s effect, and if there is no Ectoplasmer on the field, then its effect is not applied.

You can activate Soul Exchange during your Main Phase and use its effect to Tribute your opponent’s monster for Ectoplasmer during the End Phase.

If you Tribute your opponent’s monster that you controlled with Snatch Steal or Change of Hear", your opponent takes the damage even though it was their monster.”

 

So, as you can see, Ectoplasmer is a fascinating card.  Not surprisingly given its status as a “Super Rare”, I didn’t know it was even out until roughly a month ago (Ultra Rares tend to hog the spotlight).  As I have a tendency to run decks that either a) Swarm or b) have large Monsters.  Then I catch that line about “original ATK”, until I carefully read it.  This card forces each player to Tribute a face-up Monster.  That, in and of itself is useful for Swarm decks: for every Monster my opponent has, I am likely to have “one and a half” to two.  Using, say, a Gravekeeper’s deck, I like Tributing a spent Gravekeeper’s Spy, unneeded Mystic Tomato, or perhaps repeatedly Tributing Sinister Serpent, since on my opponent’s turn, their lone expected summon will be gone by my next turn.  For Swarm decks, this would have been great removal.  Even though the second part of the card’s effect inflicts “burn” damage, it could be dealt with: the opponent would have to either sacrifice a big Monster (who would normally block most of my Gravekeeper’s in that example), doing roughly 1000 LP’s worth of damage but allowing me to run over anything else they had left or they Tribute something tiny, making it more likely Smashing Ground will hit their big Monster.  Either way, I then get to hit with the remnants of my Swarm to easily stay ahead in damage.  Still, it’s a rather risky gamble since, if Ectoplasmer might not survive long, and might only succeed in merely crippling those Swarm tactics.  In other words, looks nice, but in the end seems too risky.

 

Okay, well, it’d be good with big Monsters, right?  Half right.  Sadly, it says it refers to the original ATK.  So while I do run decks that have big Monsters… they are big after using specific combinations, like Megamorph on a Jirai Gumo when my LP has gotten low, or Chaos Necromancer when my Graveyard is packed.  Unfortunately, I would only be hitting for half of the base attack.  The first combination I mentioned (used in Suicide Beatdown), wouldn’t be worth the risk of giving my opponent so much burn power, where as the second example and cards like it that use effect’s to boost their ATK would sometimes literally be worthless to use for the effect, since their base ATKs are so low.

 

So where does this fit in?  It has to be played in its own deck.  Some Stall/Burn decks might consider it, since they usually shift their Monsters into facedown DEF mode via a built in effect (re: Stealth Bird), but they have better options for that S/T zone.  I guess it really needs its own deck, either with big beat sticks to summon, attack with, and then sac, or with Monsters that can’t be targeted by Spells (forcing your opponent to sack their Monsters).  For the former, I would consider focusing on mostly Level 4 Beatsticks with no effect, since you could then use Two-Man Cell Battle to Special Summon a Normal Level 4 Monster from your hand.  There are quite a few 1900 ATK Level 4 Monsters available-the only downside is your hand likely wouldn’t be able to sustain it as for more than a few turns.  Both options should strongly consider something to gain some extra Life Points repeatedly (easiest way to handle small, persistent burn in my book), like Solemn Wishes.  Also good would be Light of Intervention, given that only players who had other means of setting Monsters could avoid having to tribute on their turn. 

 

All in all, this looks like a fun card that lacks enough turn around to make it worth trying to run.  Perhaps there is something else I am missing; let us hope one of the other staffers found it.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional: 1.25/5-A deck build around it is unlikely to work given all the Spell/Trap removal still available here.  Nothing like having to sac your Monster, only for a Harpies Feather Duster to clear your side of the Field next turn.

 

Advanced: 3/5-Here it looks like some fun, possibly effective.

 

Limited: 4/5-Just make sure you wait until you have a decent lead, or they have some big nasty Tribute that won’t kill you being consumed by Ectoplasmer’s effect.