Stats                : This is a “normal” Spell card.  Not much else I can say about it-if it were an Equip or a Permanent, it’d be worse (unless the effect was re-useable), if it were a Quick-Play it’d have a good Defensive application, and as a Trap it’d be just a little worse (Trap hate/delay versus use on opponent’s turn).

 

Effect(s)            : The effect of this card is pretty spiffy.  You chose one of your monsters, your opponent chooses one of their monsters, and you swap them.  Note that Battle Positions can’t be changed the turn of the swap (so you can’t pull a lot of Change of Heart tricks like nabbing a seemingly spent Goblin Elite Attack Force or activating a Flip Effect Monster you just swiped).  Still, the effect, on its own, is solid.  It can hurt you, but usually it will help.  Note that the actual choosing occurs when the card resolves.  This is bane and a blessing.  Why?  You can chain a lot of cards to Creature Swap that will ruin the card’s effect.  If your opponent chains something like a Call of the Haunted, your opponent can stick you something less damaging or even advantageous for them, instead of your expected target.  Be careful since you can’t select a “target” (the card isn’t considered targeting, just using it for want of a better term) that would be immune to the effect.

 

Uses and

Combinations  : Here’s why it will usually help.  For what will probably be the tenth time, this card has some simple but effective rules and combos to make it work great.  Rule number one is to make sure your opponent only has one monster on the field.  This means you know what you’ll be getting.  Rules number two and on are… well, all the normal stuff you must do: make sure your opponent can’t take advantage of what you give them, carefully consider your move, make sure you don’t waste it unless you think your opponent has some hand destruction that will “waste it” for you, etc.  Okay, now for the combos:

 

1. Trade a Sangan, as you will get their effect when you kill them, and if you have it in ATK mode, you will also score some damage.
2. Trade a search and summon Monster like a Mystic Tomato and not only can you attack Mystic Tomato (and probably for damage if you have it in ATK mode), you will end up with an extra Monster to attack with who was Special Summoned more or less safely in the Damage Step.  It’s fantastic if you have your own Tomato ram into the one you just Swapped: double Don Zaloog.
3. Trade them something like Giant Germ or Nimble Momonga to get some extra monsters on the field and do some burn damage or healing, respectively.
4. Summon a Spirit Monster like Tsukuyomi and trade it.  This is a mixed bad though-you can’t attack it without killing it, so unless they had something else that was puny, you effectively spent your Battle Phase on getting a Monster.
5. Send over some stupid tokens like Scapegoat.
6. Use something that either Summons a Monster only temporarily (Return from the Different Dimension?) or else just give them something that is not longer all that useful to you (and won’t be to them), like a spent Breaker the Magical Warrior or an Injection Fairy Lily when their LP is already 2000 points or less.
7. Use another control card and then give them back their own monster.  This is really only effective with Brain Control though, as say Snatch Steal would still give them LP gain while it existed.

 

There are probably some I have forgotten, but just read the other reviews. ;)

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 2/5 – I am possibly going out on a limb here.  I am really uncertain, and if it wasn’t required I submit a score here, I wouldn’t.  Still, I think with Snatch Steal and more importantly, Change of Heart combined with the incredibly short lifespan of Monsters, it doesn’t matter that it isn’t limited to one turn.  Moreover, top is such a common occurrence.  Even with all the added combo possibilities, I just think it would be limited to specialized (and thus likely not so strong) decks.

 

Advanced        : 4/5 – This is what I like to think of as the “one staple too many”.  In terms of effect, it really belongs in any deck in this format.  It actually is a broken card, and I’ll explain later how.  It is just that there simply isn’t room in most decks for it.  Those that need it the most though run it and abuse it like mad.

 

Limited            : 3.5/5 – Mixed bag here.  If you are losing, your opponent probably has multiple monsters out: doubtful they can’t spare one of them or that they are low enough on LP that the attack you get will matter.  If you are winning, it’s only good if you can summon something bad, swap it for something better, and if you couldn’t do better just summoning what you had in hand.

 

Summary

Creature Swap is a broken card, but not one that every deck has room for.  Why is it broken, you ask?  The entire mechanic of “I get your guy” has long been overpowered.  Change of Heart was broken because for that immediate turn, you not only removed what is likely your opponent’s only Monster, but get something to hurt them more.  After all, you only get one Normal Summon a turn.  Moreover, with Change of Heart, you could “steal” a flip effect.  One of the reasons Magician of Faith had fallen out of favor, at least in my meta, back in the pre-Advanced days was it always seemed like she’d be summoned in one of two situations: you have no Spell (or at least useful Spell) she can fetch, or the opponent uses Change of Heart, Flip Summons her and reclaims Change of Heart at worst, and at best uses her as Tribute for Jinzo, Airknight, etc.

 

Given many recent cards, I think Konami has learned that shifting Monster control for more than a turn (even Snatch Steal with its LP gain for opponents isn’t enough) or being able to do anything more than remove a Set Monster is too much.  Set Monsters are supposed to be a safety net.  Finally, given how many key decks can combo with the secondary effect (swapping Sangan, Mystic Tomato, etc.) and turn it into a significant advantage instead of a slight drawback, it’s just too much.  Compare this with my last review: the list is shorter for really exploiting it, but its still there with so many other cards Banned or Restricted.

 

-Otaku