The Enlightening Of Banisher Of The Light
The Card: Banisher Of The Light (BotL)
Level: 3 Light / Fairy
Atk/100 – Def/2000
Effect: As long as this card
remains face-up on the field, any card sent to the graveyard is removed from
play.
Effect Explained: The effect
sends all and any cards that enter the Graveyard, regardless of the means (ie.
Discarded, Sent, Placed, Destroyed are removed from the game instead. Cards that REQUIRE themselves to be actually
be sent to the Graveyard don't get their effects. Cards that state to be discarded though (ie.
Kuriboh and Thunder Dragon) work because it’s the action of it leaving your
hand to go to the graveyard and not it actually landing in the graveyard.
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! CCG environments, both
tournament and internet, I’ve seen BotL as the most overlooked and under-rated
effect monster out in the English game for sometime now. Most duelists see his effect as just a double
edge sword, removing anything from play before it gets to either players
graveyards, thus not only hindering recursion such as Monster Reborn and
Magician Of Faith/ Mask Of Darkness, but its true potential is the ability to negates
other card effects that REQUIRE themselves or other cards to be “Sent To The
Graveyard” (SttG), such as Giant Germ and Giant Rat. The most poplar of these SttG required cards
is Sangan and Witch Of The Black Forest, two of if any of the staple monsters
is most decks. There is also magic and
trap cards that require to be SttG, but I will get into a detailed list further
into this article.
The biggest reason this card doesn’t see
much play is its’ 100 Attack strength, sure its got 2000 Defense but Giant
Soldier Of Stone does too along with 1200 more Attack strength. This card certainly doesn’t go with the average
Beatdown and should never be seen in an Exodia deck, but goes extremely well
against Exodia and any deck that relies on heavy recursion. All it really takes is a bit of protection to
keep BotL effect going long enough to make an impact on your opponent. Besides the average stall cards like
Messenger Of Peace, Gravity Bind, Waboku and Swords Of Revealing Light, cards
like Chorus Of Sanctuary and Heart Of Clear Water can help out allot, but you
don’t have to build a deck around protecting BotL, quick moves like summoning
him in atk mode then playing any pre-emptive strike card(s) like Confiscation
or Delinquent Duo to banish cards right from their hand can be pretty
mean. The only card out in English right
now that can get back cards that have been removed from play is Miracle Dig,
and it can’t even be activated while BotL is face-up on the field because the
cards are to return to your graveyard but BotL will just send them right back
out of play in the same instance.
Besides completely stopping certain SttG effects
and hurting Monster Reborn, Call Of The Haunted, Premature Burial and Shallow
Grave, it also puts a damper on cards like Shadow Ghoul and Chaos Necromancer
that completely rely on having many cards in your graveyard, and Marie The
Fallen One only does any good if she lands and stays in the graveyard. Card Of Safe Return can become useless as
well as the king of monster removal Skull Lair won’t have much or any material
to work with, same with Bazoo The Soul Eater witch both cards have become
sickly more powerful in the English version, being able to remove more that
just monsters from the grave. Some other
cards that don’t see much play but BotL can screw with are Numinous Healer,
Attack And Receive, Deal Of Phantom and Backup Soldier witch is really only use
in Exodia decks but is usually the way I’ve been beaten with Exodia. BotL also makes it hard to get element-spirit
monsters out such as Soul Of Purity And Light, Garuda The Wind Spirit, Spirit
Of The Flames and the Aqua & Rock spirit. One of the best cards to get
removed from you opponent is Sinister Serpent, stopping it from coming back
over and over can be VERY useful. There
are a few good cards that are coming out (or are out as you read this) that
require to be SttG such as Helpoemer, witch if you already know is hard enough
to get onto the field then destroyed in battle, BotL makes it even harder to
get it in your graveyard for its effect to activate. Same goes for Dark Necrofear, first BotL will
make it hard enough to get three fiends into your graveyard, but BotL will also
stop her from coming back equipped to a monster when she’s destroyed.
With the release of Fiber Jar, Deck
Destruction has become a little harder as well as making Skull Lair and Bazoo riskier
to play, but if you already don’t rely on recursion and play a slightly taller
deck than the average duelist, say between 50-60, then Fiber Jar and BotL can
make a good team-up, it just takes allot of timing and control. A couple good cards to use with BotL are the ones
that come right back like Ekibyo Drakmord and Bait Doll, they become very
useful until they get negated and don’t come back, and I wouldn’t recommend
playing more than 1 each. BotL also
works as good Creature Swap material, and if you play Mask Of Restrict you can
keep him on your opponent’s side of the field for some good time. As well as
Mask Of Restrict helps Ekibyo Drakmorded monsters on the field for the two
turns, it keeps the high level monster off the field that can push through
BotLs 2000 (2500 w/Chorus Of Sanctuary) defense.
I took some time to put together a slightly
detailed list of the cards that require to be or other cards to be SttG or just
end up in the Graveyard. Certain magic
and traps CANNOT be activated due to BotL where as others just loose an effect.
The cards are grouped by effect(s)
rather that alphabetical order. Any card
names that come after Legacy Of Darkness are subject to change.
Monsters:
Sangan - Won't
search/retrieve a monster from your deck
Witch Of The
Sinister Serpent - won't come
back
Twin-Headed Behemoth - Won't
come back
Revival Jam - Won't come back
Dark Necrofear - Won't return
equipped to monster
Nimble Momonga - Won't gain
1000 lp or special summon another Nimble
Giant Germ - Won't inflict
500 damage or special summon another G.Germ
Troop Dragon – Won’t special
summon another Troop Dragon
Flying Kamakiri #1 - Won't
special summon another monster
Mother Grizzly - Won't
special summon another monster
Mystic Tomato - Won't special
summon another monster
Shining Angel - Won't special
summon another monster
UFO Turtle - Won't special
summon another monster
Giant Rat - Won't special
summon another monster
Cockroach Knight - Won't
return to your deck
Red-Moon Baby - won't Revived
killed monsters
The Unhappy Maiden - Won't
end the battle phase
Penguin Knight - Won't return
your graveyard to your deck
Electric Snake – Won’t draw 2
cards
Minar – Won’t inflict 1000
damage
Fairy Guardian – Won’t return
a magic card
The Forgiving Maiden – Won’t
return a monster
Lady panther – Won’t return a
monster
Crimson Sentry – Won’t return
a monster
Supply (kinda) – Won’t return
fusion material – Depends on when they were sent
Spear Cretin – Won’t special
summon monster(s)
Woodland Sprite – Won’t
inflict 500 damage per card (note: this is the only card that’s uncertain)
Not released in English when this was
written:
Helpoemer – Won’t sit in
graveyard forcing discards
Bird Face – Won’t retrieve
Harpie Lady
Cruel – Won’t flip
coin/Destroy monster
Pyramid Turtle – Won’t
special summon monster
Nyudoryua – Won’t destroy a
monster
Jackal Paladin – Destroyed
monsters don’t return to top of deck
Ship To The Sunset – Won’t
destroy the monster that it’s destroyed by
Wiseman Of Many Wings Farcos
– Destroyed monsters don’t return to top of deck
Cat-Mimic King – Won’t end
current turn
Pixie Knight – Won’t return a
magic card to top of deck
Guardian Baou – Won’t
increase strength for destroying monsters
Guardian Toraisu – Won’t
special summon monster
Ruler Of Heaven Shinato –
Won’t inflict damage on defense monsters
Black Flare Knight – Won’t
special summon monster
Kaiser Glider – Won’t return
a monster to owners hand
Lost Dog Malon – Won’t be
shuffled back into deck
Death Rook Fiend – Won’t
special summon monster
Keldo – Won’t shuffle cards
into deck
Agido – Won’t special summon
monster / No dice is rolled
Inferno – Won’t inflict 1500
damage
Fenrir – Won’t force draw
phase to be skipped
Gigantes – Won’t destroy
magic & traps on the field
Sylpheed – Won’t cause
discardation
Lord Poison – Won’t special
summon monster
Guranadora – Won’t loose 2000
lp
Beast Of Gilfer – Won’t come
back equipped to a monster
Magic:
Last Will – Won’t special
summon monster – Cannot be activated
Miracle Dig – Won’t return
cards to graveyard – Cannot be activated
Return Of The Doomed – Won’t
return monster to hand – Cannot be activated
Black Pendant – Won’t inflict
500 damage
Axe Of Despair – Cannot be
returned to top of deck
Malevolent Nuzzler – Cannot
be returned to top of deck
Horn Of Light – Cannot be
returned to top of deck
Horn Of The Unicorn – Won’t
return to top of deck
Sword Of Deep-Seated – Won’t
return to top of deck
Not released in English when this was
written:
Bargain With Fiend – Won’t
special summon monster
Eruma/Dagger Of Butterflies –
Won’t return to owners hand
Baou/Great Sword Of Violation
– Won’t negate destroyed monsters effect(s)
Dimensional Segregation
Machine – Won’t return removed monsters when destroyed
Lair Of The 10,000 Field Lords
– Won’t bring monster(s) to hand
Air Shuriken – Won’t inflict
700 damage
Traps:
Michizure – Won’t destroy
another monster – Cannot be activated
Skull Invitation – Won’t
inflict damage
Fatal Abacus – Won’t inflict
damage
Gust – Won’t destroy another
card – Cannot be activated
Driving Snow – Won’t destroy
another card – Cannot be activated
Not released in English when this was
written:
Golden Pagan Idol – Won’t
special summon monster token
Cursed Coffin – No monster is
destroyed/ No card is discarded
Coffin Seller – Won’t inflict
damage
Lifeline – Won’t special
summon monster/ No cards are discarded
Some really good cards to use with BotL
Monsters:
Needle Worm – Best way to get
any opponent hating your deck.
Hiro's Shadow Scout – Good
attempt to kill 0-3 magic cards.
Morphing Jar – Best played
when you have no cards in hand.
The Immortal Of Thunder –
Gain 3000 lp and don’t loose the 5000 - I wouldn’t really recommend trying it.
Magic:
Gravekeeper's Servant – Works
as blind card banishment for every atk.
Card Destruction – Also best
played when you have no cards in hand.
Confiscation – Pay 1000 lp to
look at your opponents hand and remove 1 card from play.
Delinquent Duo – Just a
little mean.
Trap:
Chain Destruction – Good
attempt to remove 1-2 copies of a monster from their deck.
Graverobber's Retribution –
Can get a pretty good amount of lp damage going every turn.
Light Of Intervention - Just
lets you summon BotL face-up defense instantly.
Drop Off – 2nd
best way to get any opponent hating your deck.
With the release of further sets to come,
especially Controller Of Chaos, witch deals allot with removal and has the Red
Lotus Beast whose atk is 400 times the number of cards removed from play,
Banisher Of The Light is an example of a week monster that’s effect can change
the dynamics of game play. I hope this
article has helped somebody out there, I know it would have helped me out a
year before I wrote it. I am in the
process of writing articles on Jowgen The Spiritualist and Mask Of Restrict so
look out for them soon.
Contact DuelMonster@ leftloose@hotmail.com
Most helpful references in
legal rulings:
:
http://www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/yugioh.htm
Pojo – Most often updated
website and hosts the best communication amongst duelist
:
http://www.pojo.com/yu-gi-oh/
Upperdeck – Even though their
slow and they try to hide the pdf on us, it helps allot
: http://members.rogers.com/cardshop/tourneyrules.pdf