Greetings, I thought I would give you all a few of my thoughts on another one of those seldom used cards due to the fact it is not considered "staple", the (Shadow Ghoul). This card, in my honest opinion is a very powerful and often looked over card. Now, with the addition of the Magic Ruler it holds even more potential. You often hear people talk about the short life span of monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh, and I couldn't agree more. The life span of monsters IS short, which by their own admission makes this card great not only near the end of a evenly matched or long game in a clutch situation, but a card you might possibly want to include 2 or 3 of in a deck suited for it. So I will mention a few cards that can reinforce or supplement him.
With everyone already playing Card Destructions and Robbin Goblins, and less used but still often played cards like White Magical Hat that make you discard randomly from your hand, this card was already decent enough to include one of in your deck. There are also other cards that let you sac creatures to your advantage like Share the Pain, Catapult Turtle, Cannon Soldier, Tribute to the Doomed and Magic Jammer, which are all very playable cards (not to mention the turtle and soldier go well with a nice Ultimate Offering) as well as creature cards you already WANT in the graveyard, such as Magician of Faith, Mask of Darkness, Man Eater Bug, Princess of Tsurugi, Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, Big Eye (another great, cheap and seldom seen tourny card, at least in my area) the list goes on and on ... if your opponent is even half decent you will most likely get those effects from those cards being beaten down more times than not. There is also
The Cheerfull Coffin that lets you discard up to three monster cards from your hand to the graveyard. Now with the addition of a few cool (albeit quirky and awfull looking at first) cards now available in Magic Ruler, the Shadow Ghoul is a real threat. Without even mentioning creatures in the graveyard, a Shadow Ghoul equipped with an Axe of Despair or a Magamorph can automatically compete with a Summoned Skull (since that seems to be everyones comparison for monsters) imagine that ! Next up on the Shadow Ghouls wishlist is Darkness Approaches, which lets you discard 2 cards from your hand to flip one face up monster face down, which = 200 extra points for your Shadow Ghoul and getting the effect from a card such as the afore mentioned Magician of Faith, Man Eater Bug ... etc etc etc back to kill that Summoned Skull everyone likes to talk about so much.
There is Cyber Jar which is like a combined Raigeki/Pot of Greed/and well ... it can be a great card and I dont even need to really go on about what it does, if you play Yu-Gi-Oh or pay any attention whatesoever to this site you already know, and used by either player can strengthen a ghoul and if you happen to draw a ghoul for one of your creatures ... hey your in business ! Final Destiny can also get monsters out of your hand, into the graveyard and is like a Dark Hole for the whole field. So .... should you use Shadow Ghoul ? Like with any card it's a matter of taste, are there disadvantages ? Yes there are, you lose cards into your graveyard which could go for defense and other things and have a small or nonexistant hand (after laying trap cards etc). This can also work in your advantage, it confuses your opponent, gives you a wider selection of monsters you can grab with monster reborn, not to mention helping ones that are high cost into the graveyard and pulling them earlier. It also makes Flash Assailant , which would normally be a mediocre card into a possibly devestating deck choice, if you have no cards in your hand he is a 2000 attack 2000 defense monster with no strings attached !!
To wrap it all up, Yu-Gi-Oh is a game of situations and with that said you hear lots of this "Well this could happen and this can happen, so you should use this instead" it's that talk that leads to people making the same "cookie-cutter" decks that you see in many of the tournies. You should of course be vigilent of what your opponent is going to play, but you shouldn't let that limit your ability to make fun and new decks. I myself use Raegeki, Summoned Skull's (with as much as i rag on them) etc etc, but I always try and put originality and suprises in my decks. Everyone is looking for that new deck to devestate their opponent and get them recognized as a standout player, so why not use 2 or 3 Shadow Ghouls in your deck, at the VERY LEAST use 1 for clutch. So continue cranking out those original decks and dont let these "power deck clones" limit your free thinking, alot of overlooked cards can be decent if played right Thanks for your time and patience, if you have any questions about the game or any other nifty little combos with Shadow Ghoul I have not mentioned you can email me at Abrush@cfl.rr.com , I am always looking for apprentice games ;) Cardshark