Duel Devastator Review: A Beginner’s Kit for Competitive Yu-Gi-Oh
Crunch$G
Duel Devastator
Have you ever wanted to own a suitcase of very powerful cards like you were Kaiba? Well, it’s not a suitcase, but this box has a lot of strong cards in here. Hello Pojo Readers, Crunch$G here to talk about the new Duel Devastator product and what it offers to players purchasing the product. This product was made to give players access to powerful cards that are useful in most to all decks to help you achieve tournament success, and today I’ll try to briefly discuss how good those cards are and if they are staple worthy of being thrown into any deck. So let’s see what this product has in store for players who purchase it.
The Field Centers
With Master Rule 4 came the emphasis on the importance of card placement in Yu-Gi-Oh. Therefore, old mats without card zones on them felt like they were harder to use, so Konami decided to create Field Centers to show where the Extra Monster Zones are while at the same time helping you give an idea of your card placements, and in this box you get 4 free Field Centers out of an assortment of 12. This is the only random part of Duel Devastator, as you don’t know which Field Centers you will get out of a Yugi, Kaiba, Joey, Mai, Pegasus, and Ishizu along with the 6 hand traps that are in this product.
The Ghost Girls
First things first, you got reprints for every Ghost Girl hand-trap that was previously printed, alongside a new card that works in a somewhat similar style. Not only were the Ghost Girls reprinted, but each of them got alternate arts, meaning you can now have a different artwork of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion, and Ghost Sister & Spooky Dogwood. Each of these makes for some solid reprints, especially for Ghost Sister & Spooky Dogwood, who just recently was released as a Secret Rare in Dark Neostorm and now you already get it guaranteed with the other Ghost Girls. The new hand-trap in this set is Red Blossoms from Underroot, which is a Level 1 DARK Fiend that can banish a Spell/Trap from both graveyards to Special Summon herself from the hand and then she can later tribute herself to target and banish a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link from your graveyard in order to revive a monster of a different type (Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link).
The Synchros
After the Ghost Girls, we get to the 20 Extra Deck cards, starting off with the 9 Synchro monsters guaranteed in here. Ally of Justice Catastor is the first Synchro, and while it is generic and still an ok Level 5 Synchro, it feels a little outdated considering it was near staple many years ago and not as much now. Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is next and despite the errata, it is still a pretty good card and still one of the best generic Level 6 Synchros we have in the game. Metaphys Horus is another Level 6 reprinted in here, and it is pretty cool since it gets effects based on using a Normal, Effect, or Pendulum monster as Synchro Material, but I wouldn’t call it a real staple for most decks running Synchros. Black Rose Dragon is reprinted in this set and while it is still a great generic Level 7 Synchro, the reprint didn’t feel necessary, though I guess this was meant to give us good cards for nearly any deck and BRD still fits the bill for decks that can use Level 7 Synchros. Clear Wing Fast Dragon, while a good card and a needed reprint, is kinda odd to be in here since it needs a non-Tuner WIND monster to even summon, meaning it isn’t exactly generic for any deck to use. Stardust Spark Dragon is the first Level 8 Synchro in here and it’s a pretty good option for players to have if they weren’t going to add the original Stardust Dragon. Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend is the other Level 8 Synchro and it’s still one of the best Level 8 Synchros in the game due to how powerful the effect is and how generic the card is in general. Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is reprinted in here for a Level 9 generic Synchro, though one that needs at least 3 materials, and is still one of the best Synchro monsters of all time and one of the best in the game, and recently unlimited from the F/L List. Vermillion Dragon Mech is the last Synchro in here to give you a good Level 9 Synchro that’s a little easier to summon than Trishula since it requires 1 less material.
The Xyzs
Next up is the Xyzs and despite being one of the better Extra Deck mechanics in recent years, there’s only 4 Xyz monsters in this set and all of them are Rank 4s, giving for little variety. Abyss Dweller is the first Rank 4 reprinted in here and is always going to be one of the best Xyzs in the game since graveyard effects probably won’t be going away anytime soon. Number 101: Silent Honor ARK, while not the staple Rank 4 it once was, is kinda better under Master Rule 4 considering Link Monsters can only exist in Attack Position, making this card a good counter. Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer is the third Rank 4 and is the best removal option in the Rank 4 toolbox that we have and is a card that won’t really go out of style for Rank 4 users anytime soon. Tornado Dragon is the last Rank 4 and it’s a great one for Spell and Trap removal specifically.
The Links
The last Extra Deck monsters in here are the 7 Link monsters that are in here. Underclock Taker is a great generic Link-2 with arrows good for either Monster Zone you put it in, as well as a solid effect overall. LANphorhynchus is a good Link-2 monster just for the generic summoning requirements and the arrows, despite having no effect. Gaia Saber, the Lightning Shadow feels extremely outdated considering Knightmare Unicorn is a thing and there being a ton of better generic Link-3 monsters. Decode Talker is in here for a good Link-3 at least, so that’s a solid choice. Decode Talker Extended is in here, which makes it seem we won’t get the 2019 Starter Deck, so for those that don’t know this card basically has Decode Talker stats, becomes Decode Talker on the field, gains 500 ATK for monsters it points to like Decode Talker, and can make a second attack during the Battle Phase if a monster it points to was destroyed in battle or sent to the graveyard in the same Battle Phase. Topologic Bomber Dragon is the first of two Link-4 monsters and has a good field nuke deck for many different decks to take advantage of. Finally, Saryuja Skull Dread is in here and is one of the best Link Monsters today, especially generic Link Monsters.
The Main Deck Monsters
The next batch of cards in here are a bunch of Main Deck Monsters that can be useful in either the Main Deck or the Side Deck. D.D. Crow is the first card in here and makes for a great hand-trap to have against decks that rely on the graveyard for making plays. Effect Veiler is still a very strong hand-trap for many players to have on hand for monster effect negating needs. Gate Blocker is a cute card for people to have for Field Spell hate, anti-Counter options, and to give your other monsters targeting protection. Denko Sekka is one of the best cards in the game to lock down backrow considering it’s basically a Cold Wave on legs that’s in effect while she’s face-up on the field and you have no Set Spells/Traps yourself. Inspector Boarder is a great card for locking down monster effects if there are a lack of different types of Extra Deck Monsters and such on the field. Spell Canceller is one of the best anti-Spell cards in the game since it negates every Spell with its biggest cost being that it’s a tribute monster. Artifact Lancea is a great hand-trap against banishing strategies. Vanity’s Fiend and Majesty’s Fiend are two great tribute monsters that can shut down Special Summoning and Monster Effects respectively. Dinowrestler Pankratops is a great monster to get a free body on board as well as easy spot removal. Finally, Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju is a great card to out literally any boss monster in the game, though it could of been nice to get the other Kaijus.
The Spells
Next up are the few Spell cards that are in here. Mind Control is the first one and is a great way to help you get rid of a problem by stealing it and letting you use it for a Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon potentially. Wave-Motion Cannon is here for a burn option as it gets stronger for every turn it’s on the field, but arguably is in here because it was needing a reprint more than it being in here for being a staple card, but at least it’s a burn staple. Super Polyermization is a great way to remove monsters as long as said monsters meet requirements for a Fusion Monster’s materials, though it’s odd to have no Fusions in here to use with Super Polymerization. Book of Eclipse is a great card to disrupt the opponent since it flips all their monsters to face-down Defense Position where they can’t be used for Extra Deck summons or use their effects. Silent Graveyard is a great card for negating graveyard effects. Cosmic Cyclone is one of the better Spell/Trap removal cards in the game that go in the Main Deck and one of the few that a reprint was kinda useful for still. Finally, you got Called by the Grave to stop the effects of many monsters, especially hand-traps.
The Traps
The final batch of cards I’ll look at are the Traps in here. Different Dimension Ground is the first one and is a great Normal Trap that really hurts graveyard reliant decks since it banishes every monster that goes to the graveyard for a turn. Typhoon is a great Trap for removing face-up Spells and Traps since it can be used from the hand if the opponent has enough Spells and Traps on their field while you have none. Forbidden Apocrypha and Dimensional Barrier are still two good options against certain Extra Deck mechanics, even if they still don’t counter Link Monsters. Lost Wind is a strong Trap against Special Summoned monsters since it’s reusable if the opponent goes into the Extra Deck for a summon. Heavy Storm Duster is a great Trap card for Spell/Trap removal in general since it destroys 2 Spells and Traps, no matter what their position. Royal Decree is a strong Trap against many decks that use Traps since it negates all other Traps. Anti-Spell Fragrance is great at slowing down decks reliant on Spells and shutting down any Pendulum Deck in general. There Can Be Only One is an amazing floodgate against decks that use monsters of the same type. Wiretap is an ok Counter Trap to stop Traps, though it feels a little outdated. Solemn Strike is still a great Counter Trap to stop monsters. Finally, Red Reboot is an amazing card to have against Trap decks since it negates a Trap and basically shuts the opponent down from using Traps for the rest of the turn.
In Conclusion
While it does feel some of these cards are out of date for the current meta and there could of been better cards to put in here, there are still cards that are amazing to have for any player looking to get into competitive Yu-Gi-Oh considering there’s a bunch of good Extra Deck staples, hand-traps, and cards worthy of Main/Side Deck slots to counter other decks. Considering the only thing not guaranteed are the Field Centers, you could get three of these and have playsets of very useful cards in tournament decks. Though $120 for three of these does seem like a lot, it’s better than what it probably was before this came out.
