Deck Destruction Virus is a Normal Trap.  At the cost of offering a Dark Monster with 2000 or more ATK points as Tribute, you not only get to eliminate all 1500 or less ATK Monsters from your opponent’s side of the field and hand, but for the next three turns, you also nuke any they draw into.  This has some wonderful side effects: you get to “peak” at any Set Monsters you opponent has (granted most will also be destroyed by the effect), you get to peak at their draws for the next three turns (making it hard to surprise you), and it makes the use of draw power unappealing for the duration of the effect.

 

In the current Metagame, low ATK Monsters are quite commonly played.  Looking at the U.S. National champ’s deck (which I’d like to think is a good example), 11 of his 22 Monsters main decked would be destroyed by Deck Devastation Virus, though the Night Assailant wouldn’t matter if he had a Flip Effect worth retrieving as it does trigger when destroyed in this manner.  Also, this is a good time to point out he had Deck Devastation Virus in his Side Deck.

 

While most decks don’t run a lot of 2000+ ATK Dark Monsters, there are two that are fairly easy to side into most decks: Zombyra the Dark and Giant Orc.  Neither is especially hard to get and both make good, offensive walls: even Cyber Dragon can’t take down Giant Orc, and must kamikaze into Zombyra.

 

Although, like most Traps, Deck Devastation Virus would technically be better as a Quick-Play, as a Trap you can use it to bait out removal.  This matters because by simply waiting for the inevitable low ATK Monster to be in play and waiting for the opponent to try and nuke your set (and legal to activate) Deck Devastation Virus, you ensure the worst that can happen (barring Monster based S/T removal) is evening out the card count (your Trap and Monster for their Spell or Trap and Monster), plus you get the bonus of seeing several of their cards.

 

Well, I am sorry if this review seemed a bit simple, but Deck Devastation Virus is just a strong, obnoxious card.  A single copy and some “food” for it are well worth three or four Side Deck slots.  If you’re running a deck that already has some fodder main decked, then at least one copy of Deck Devastation Virus should be main decked as well.  Now that it is at two per deck, Deck Devastation Virus decks (probably with a few copies of Skill Drain as well) are not only possible, but I think viable.  After all, most decks will still have room for the standard Monster and Spell/Trap removal, so it’s quite likely that once you infect them, you can unload a steady barrage of 2000+ ATK beatsticks hitting directly for three turns.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional       : 2/5 – Potentially useful, but also potentially useless: your opponent doesn’t care if you send D. D. Warrior Lady and Witch of the Black Forest to the Graveyard, because you missed their Chaos Emperor Dragon or Black Luster Soldier.

 

Advanced        : 3.5/5 – That is with respect to your main deck: it’s a 4/5 for the Side Deck, only hurt since you need to include at least two or three of the right Monsters to fuel the effect.