Stats                : Batteryman AA is a Level 3 Monster, allowing it to not only be dropped into play easily, but also to slip under two common stall cards: Level Limit-Area B and Gravity Bind.  Being a Light Monster is pretty good: while their support isn’t the best, it’s up there.  Being a Thunder Monster has little meaning, at least at the moment, and may matter with later Batteryman card releases.  The base ATK and DEF are… zero.  Needless to say, this card better have a good effect (though at least zeroes make it highly searchable: Last Will, Sangan, and Shining Angel can all fetch it).

 

Effect(s)            : Okay, for each Batteryman AA in play, the ATK or DEF of all Batteryman AA are boosted.  There are two important restrictions, though.  First, they must all be in the same Battle Position (face-up ATK or DEF) for the stat increase to occur.  So if one is in DEF mode and one is in ATK mode, there’s no bonus.  If two are in are in one position and the other is in the opposite, still no bonus.  If there is one, well it’s going to get only a small bonus, but at least it doesn’t have to worry.  The second restriction isn’t very important given the first: while all Batteryman AA are in DEF mode, they boost each of their DEF scores by 1000 and while all are in ATK mode they boost their ATKs by 1000.  The boost is cumulative, so while a single Batteryman AA is a puny 1000 ATK or DEF Monster, two (so long as their Battle Position is the same) are respectable 2000 ATK (or DEF) Monsters, given their low Level.  When you have a trio all in ATK mode, they are each 3000 ATK Monsters, and that is most impressive.

 

Uses and

Combinations  : Batteryman AA needs a deck built around it.  The thing is that isn't as hard as it might sound.  Since they are so low Level, as I implied earlier, you can have them hide under Level Limit-Area B and Gravity Bind (very important when they are small and puny).  Most important, they have a support Spell called Battery Charger.  For a mere 500 LP, you can Special Summon a card with Batteryman in its name from the Graveyard.  You should use this you’re your opponent has a single face up copy of a restricted card in play.  Why?  You see, after the summoning resolves, you will chain a copy of Inferno Reckless Summon, resulting in no more Monsters for them and two more Batteryman AA for you.  Congratulations, this three card investment yielded 3 Level 3 3000ATK Monsters.  Ideally, you should clear the field of Spell and Traps before hand (Heavy Storm and Giant Trunade make this fairly easy) then use a Snatch Steal, Smashing Ground, etc to clear out that lone Monster we mentioned.  The oft maligned Lightning Vortex actually is useful to clear out their field if you had to do this with a non-restricted Monster in play.  Now you can easily attack for game.

 

Sound too hard?  Well, it really isn’t, and there are many tricks to make it even more effective.  With all you have in the deck already, it’s quite easy to run it as a “not-quite” OTK.  Scoring a One Turn Kill is still pretty easy, (especially since you can combine other OTK cards with these guys), but you’ll also have a decent amount of brute force and fairly recyclable swarm going.  After all, Battery Charger is unrestricted, just like Inferno Reckless Summon.  So you can pull the trick of three times.

 

Of course, there is the extreme vulnerability to control change and position shifting cards, since the former weakens the trio a little and the latter instantly makes them all 0/0 Monsters again.  Small price to pay though and a Final Attack Orders can protect against the problem.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 1/5 – Too many real OTK decks for this to be taken seriously.

 

Advanced        : 3.75/5 – A score that reflects their deck… though with the format change, it might go up just because it can function as a OTK and many others of that deck type are now gone.  I don’t think Batteryman AA decks will become a common sight, but one randomly popping up at major tournaments might be able to place high because it can be hard to prepare for them.

 

Limited            : 2/5 – Even if you get multiples, its tricky getting them into play in the same position at the same time.

 

Summary