Mist Valley Thunder Lord …
 
I like him. I like him a lot. Rockin picture. Level 7. 2600 ATK. So he’ll be one of your stronger and better Level 7 Synchros, but mostly only if u are playing a Mist Valley deck (cuz of his synchro requirement) Once per turn u can return one card u control to your hand to increase his ATK by 500. The best part is that it can be done on either players turn. It shouldn’t be any surprise to someone who knows what he can do, but if he gets attacked by something stronger than him, around the 3000 ATK range – return a spell or trap back to your hand. The amount of monsters on the field haven’t changed, so the attack can’t be recalled, and MVTL just jumped to 3100. Boom. Smack into a wall goes your opponent’s monster. Again – this shouldn’t come as any surprise to opponent’s, so if nothing else, it will just keep them from ever attacking. But  the very BEST part of MVTL is his bouncing. Him returning things to your hand lets u reuse cards or spells that just have limited durations. Monarchs … Swords of Revealing Light … whatever!
 
With the right combo of cards – your opponent will have a very tough time getting around this bruiser.
 
Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 4/5
 
- FREEZA

Mist Valley Thunder Lord is today’s card.  A Level 7 Synchro Monster, at least he isn’t squeezing into a more crowded “slot”, though being higher level means demanding more out of him.  I’ll mention right now he requires a non-Tuner Mist Valley monster be part of the Synchro materials, which hurts its general usage but does keep it on theme.  It is a Wind/Thunder Monster like a few of it’s kin; it’s a mixed bag that the Mist Valley monsters are fairly evenly split between Winged-Beast and Thunder (with a few random things tossed in).  It makes it hard to rely on type-support that would really help the deck.  This can’t use Icarus Attack but it can use Judgment of Thunder.  The ATK is just 2600, which is large enough to mow down a Stardust Dragon or Brionac but the heavy hitters tend to clock in over that (even some smaller Synchro Monsters like Goyo Guardian).  The 2400 DEF is actually pretty solid: with just 200 points of difference, few things can kill it in DEF position that couldn’t in ATK position.  At least this makes flipping it with Book of Moon or shifting it with Enemy Controller less useful for your opponent. 

The effect… has potential.  Again it follows the pattern of its kin: once per turn you can bounce one card you control back to your hand for +500 ATK.  It limits itself to one card but can use its effect on either turn!  The increase lasts until the End Phase.  Since it can be used on either turn, it goes from “meh” to “ooh”!  Running down the rulings:

1. The effect targets one card to be returned to the hand.
2. You cannot activate this card’s effect by selecting itself as a target.
3. During the Damage Step, if before Damage Calculation you return your battling monster to your hand via this effect, you do not perform Damage Calculation.
4. If you cannot return the card targeted to your hand (say it gets destroyed before resolution), then you don’t get the ATK boost.
5. You can’t bounce a card that does not remain on the field after activation: e.g. no salvaging a spent Mirror Force with this effect.  The exception is if they actually would stay in play, like Swords of Revealing Light.
6. If you target a card that can’t go to the hand, it bounces to the appropriate place but you get no ATK bonus.

So what all can you do with it?  Cards like Swords of Revealing Light, Level Limit – Area B, Gravity Bind, Nightmare Steel Cage, etc. can all be abused to prevent your opponent from ever attacking.  Monster’s snagged with Brain Control and Mind Control can be used to turn them into long term removal and get a 500 ATK bonus.  There are several good control cards that can backfire that you can bounce back to hand: Royal Oppression, Curse of Darkness, and Chain Energy spring to mind.  Since the effect is Spell Speed 2, you probably will always use it to save another face-up card from destruction.  Last one to pop into my mind uses an oldie: Big Bang Shot.  As long as Mist Valley Lord remains on the field, you’ll have the option of removing a face-up opposing Monster once a turn. 

Ratings (Mist Valley deck) 

Traditional: 1/5 

Advanced: 3.5/5 

I’d also like to add I’ll be selling quite a bit of my soon-to-be-former possessions on eBay.  You can take a look here to see all I am selling.  As of writing this, I have some American comics, English language manga, and action figures for sale.  Just a reminder, Pojo is in no way responsible for this and was merely kind enough to let me mention the auction here. ;)