Aussie!  Aussie!  Aussie!  Oi! Oi! Oi!

If I did that wrong I am so sorry.  >_<

Stats                : First and foremost, Master of Oz is Fusion.  This helps it a lot, as Fusions can be “cheated” into play pretty easily now unless they have a restrictive effect… and this isn’t an Effect Monster so we don’t have to worry about that.  It is Level 9, which hurts since that more or less rules out Metamorphosis.  Earth is good: that means not only do we have solid Attribute support but said support includes The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion, a much easier way to get a card like this into play.  First, let me explain why you’d want to run Master of Oz: it’s a huge Beast!  Beast Monsters have good support, and ATK 4200 DEF 3700 means its quite nasty for brute force.  However, it’s the combos that make it worth while.

Uses and

Combinations  : Cyberstein OTK can consider it.  Why?  Well, of course, after using Cyberstein to get it out you can equip a Megamorph to make it into an 8400 ATK beast.  If you have an Enraged Battle-Ox (a solid Monster on its own) we add in Trample.  Now, why run this over Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (slightly bigger and can use a Trap for Trample) or Cyber End Dragon (200 ATK smaller but built in Trample)?  Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, as we know, can only use Megamorph to pump itself up.  Cyber End Dragon can use Limiter Removal to double its ATK…. but Limiter Removal is Restricted.  Wild Nature’s Release isn’t.  That card turns Master of Oz into a 7900 ATK Monster.  It is completely unrestricted.  So you could have six cards that would probably let you do enough to pull off a OTK.  That is why it isn’t a clear choice: the other two candidates are just a hair better at it.  Still, I think it is worth it.

Now, the other two ways to run this probably aren’t as effective, but they are fun and can really surprise people.  Obviously, you can do a deck using the actual components.  A properly Fusion Summoned Fusion has some nifty tricks (like revival cards) and the actual Beast support can get you the win.  Big Koala is far from great, but you can possibly leave it out or only run like a single copy with Fusion Substitutes and Des Kangaroo, which isn’t a good Monster but isn’t too bad either.  Your best bet is probably to run a The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion deck.  I have been toying with such a thing; not just for The Earth but for The Light and The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion as well.  Des Kangaroo being a Dark Monster hurts since the rest of the deck can use Earth cards, but it still works out fairly well: Giant Rat fetching The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion from the deck then on your turn you Normal Summon Des Kangaroo and get a huge Beatstick with little loss in the way of immediate card advantage.  Why?  Well, Giant Rat brought The Earth from the deck so that really didn’t cost you a card and of course Fusions themselves really don’t count as card advantage (at least with respect to the hand) so its only its -1 hand for +1 on the field.  Of course, you really are putting more into it (Giant Rat could fetch Exiled Force or another great Monster instead of The Earth and Des Kangaroo could be changed into a useful Monster period) but as a whole, it’s a pretty inexpensive way of getting out such a huge beatstick.   There’s also the joy of a well timed Inferno Reckless Summon on a revived The Earth – Hex-Sealed Fusion, and hand with 2-3 compatible Monsters, and Fusion Gate on the field.  Not too likely to happen, but fun.

Ratings

Traditional       : 1/5 – Better OTK options, and I can’t recommend such fun decks here.  If you’re playing here, you either don’t care about viability or are all about “power” cards.

Advanced        : 3.5/5 – It’s a solid Fusion that can be used in some decent decks and as a second/third string option for Cyberstein OTK.

Limited            : 1/5 – Only for bluffing since I didn’t see a way to get it into play in the set.

Summary

A good, fun card that like so many, just needs a metagame that is both balanced and compliant with how this game appears to be intended to run (unless you think the game is designed so that 10% or less of the cards are playable).

-Otaku