Metalmorph – #SBC1-ENF17
Target 1 face-up monster on the field; equip this card to that target. It gains 300 ATK/DEF. If it attacks, it gains ATK equal to half the ATK of the attack target, during damage calculation only.
Date Reviewed: November 7th, 2024
Rating: 1.83
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is awful. 3 is average. 5 is excellent.
Reviews Below:
King of
Lullaby
Hello Pojo Fans,
Metalmorph is our Throwback Thursday choice this week and one that has seen a few different versions of itself over the years.
This was released back in 2002 and the idea of a Trap Card equipping itself to a monster must’ve been so weird. It was also not widely available for the average player until around 2007 unless you bought the Forbidden Memories Bundles and got it there. Normal Trap that can equip itself to the monster and give it the slightest bit of ATK/DEF boost initially. The key with Metalmorph is to attack, and when you do, you gain half the ATK of the monster you are attacking, after which it goes away until you attack again. Metalmorph not needing to be attached to a Machine-Type monster allows for monsters that can attack multiple times per turn or each monster on your opponent’s side of the field to continually reset their ATK to become higher and get in some decent LP damage.
Even today this doesn’t seem like that bad of an effect with the right monster equipped with it. If it would do the ATK gain regardless of you attacking it would be an even better card, but this is its balance. It is a niche card for sure, and needs certain monsters to get the most out of it. It has searchers now and can be directly set to the field but that’s because the better version of the card exists now. While it lacks the ATK boost, it gains a great deal of protection which is what players want.
An OG card that was powerful back then, but was slower than Megamorph or any Equip Spell like Axe of Despair, but still useful.
Advanced- 2/5 Art- 4/5
Until Next Time,
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
For a retrain of Metalmorph this week, Throwback Thursday was fitting for us to look back at the old Metalmorph.
Metalmorph is a Normal Trap you can equip to a face-up monster on the field to give it a 300 ATK and DEF boost, plus when it attacks, it can gain ATK equal to half the ATK of the monster it battles during damage calculation only. The base boost isn’t a lot, especially when that’s all you get to work with if your monsters are attacked. The only thing of value is getting half the ATK of a monster you attack here, which is fine, but you could just run better cards to get rid of more threatening monsters. You could also always tribute a Red-Eyes Black Dragon or Zoa that are equipped with this to summon Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon or Metalzoa from the Deck respectively, but all you get there are vanillas that only have 400 more ATK and DEF from their original counterparts, so it almost just feels better to keep those on the field since they can surpass those stats when attacking monsters, and even if not, they are only lacking 100 ATK and DEF, which I doubt would ever make a difference. The old Metalmorph is outdated and the monsters that specifically needed this to summon them aren’t very good. It’s a classic, but you can pass on playing it.
Advanced Rating: 1.5/5
Art: 3.5/5 Again, not too inspired, but bonus points for having that classic feel all the old school cards do. 3/5 for the alternate art I almost forgot about, I prefer the base artwork more.
Mighty
Vee
Fun fact! Metalmorph and Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon were the first cards I bought singles of! With that out of the way, this week’s Throwback Thursday card is none other than Metalmorph itself, one of Bandit Keith’s (and to a degree Joey’s) signature cards from the anime. Thanks to the new support, you can search it the same ways you’d search Max Metalmorph (IE Metal Illusionist, Incoming Machine!, Fullmetal Dragon, and Labrynth), though why you would is a little dicier. Metalmorph has a single non-once per turn effect on activation, equipping itself to any monster on the field. While equipped, that monster gains a flat 300 attack and defense, and more importantly, gains half of the attack of the opponent’s monster when attacking during damage calculation. It’s an old beater effect for an old beater card, and unfortunately hasn’t been very useful in the meta for much of the game’s history. The most important aspect of Metalmorph is helping you overcome Towers monsters, since most are still vulnerable to destruction by battle. Notably, during Kashtira format in the OCG, Labyrinth did play Metalmorph since they could search it and overcome The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister, which some Kashtira decks made using Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk. Other than that, there are many options to field high-attack monsters in many decks nowadays, and Metalmorph decks themselves would probably rather search Max Metalmorph, which ironically is fundamentally a completely different card. Overall, Metalmorph still has its fringe uses, but isn’t a great card these days. Certainly not worth cheating and stealing over…
+Can help your monsters defeat high-attack Towers
+Accessible in Labrynth and with a Metalmorph engine
-Beater effect attached to a Normal Trap isn’t useful
-Less relevant with Extra Deck beaters like Accesscode Talker
Advanced: 2/5
Art: 4/5 (Anime) It might not look as stunning, but it’s very iconic and menacing in its own way.
3.5/5 (Original) I remember having to buy this version because the anime art was way too expensive for my dad’s taste, so I was a little disappointed. The armor itself looks better than the anime art, though I’m not a fan of the position making it look like a tired metal monster instead of menacing armor.
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