Hey Guys today we are going to be doing two cards for the day. First off is Bottomless Trap Hole (We'll call it BTH for short). BTH is a really good card, no really, I mean a REALLY good card. This card is able to banish up to five monsters if summoned the exact same time (this rarely happens I just thought I should say to make it seem

better) as long as the card is over 1500 atk! This may be 500 off from Trap Hole but sense most monsters are 1600+ this card still fits the bill, also being able to hit special summoned monster is a must in this and any format. This card is possibly one of the best trap cards in the Advanced circuit.
 
Trad: 3/5
Adv: 3.5./5

We continue Limited Cards Week with a two-fer-one special. We have two cards today since Pojo is busy Friday. Our first card is one of the most popular Traps of all time, Bottomless Trap Hole:
 
Normal Trap Card
When your opponent Summons a monster(s) with 1500 or more ATK: Destroy that monster(s) with 1500 or more ATK, and if you do, banish it instead of sending it to the Graveyard.
 
This card has always been a controversial one, mainly because it falls into a similar boat as Solemn Judgment; early in the game’s history it was a balanced 1-for-1, and its Semi-Limiting was considered a poor choice.
 
However, like Solemn Judgment, Bottomless has become a lot more powerful as the game has become a lot more combo based. Particularly because so many combos rely on the summoning of a monster, Bottomless can easily screw up an entire play. In a format where Heavy Storm does not exist, I think a Limiting of Bottomless was a good choice, as a perfectly timed one can completely change the tide of the game.
 
Traditional: 4/5
Advanced: 5/5
 
Art: 5/5 (Well, it’s a creature falling into a bottomless pit. Pretty accurate)
 
Next: Pegasus liked doing this to people.

Bottomless Trap Hole is another card even I remember, and so I’ll weigh in on it.  A Normal Trap, it was vulnerable to S/T removal because it could only be activated in response to your opponent summoning a Monster or Monsters, at least one of which must have 1500 or more ATK.  If that requirement is met, the effect of Bottomless Trap Hole destroys and then banished that Monster (or those Monsters) instead of sending them to the Graveyard.  Something important to note is that it explicitly states it “destroys” the Monster(s) before banishing, so it can’t bypass the effect of a card like Stardust Dragon.  At least Bottomless Trap Hole doesn’t technically “target” cards. 

This card was oddly nostalgic even when it was new, because in the earliest part of the game in the U.S. Trap Hole had been a powerful play, but by the time Bottomless Trap Hole followed up, mass S/T removal, mass Trap negation, and increasing Special Summons had caused Trap Hole to be left behind.  The play and potency of Bottomless Trap Hole has varied over the years (at least when I was paying attention), but at worst it was a “suboptimal” play.  It can also be tricking to get the timing down for this card; as you can’t interrupt a resolving chain for it… I think. ¬_¬ 

Trading a Trap for a Monster is a good deal.  Usually you’ll at least trade cards and often you can pull ahead in the deal.  If your opponent uses a one-for-one piece of removal, like Mystical Space Typhoon, you’re still breaking even, and the exact circumstances can make that a more valuable “loss” for the opponent than any Monster you might have been planning to destroy.  So was this a good card to Restrict? 

Definitely; like I said trading a Trap, a card you could set up to five of in a turn (and circumstances permitting, have Activated all before your next Main Phase) only costs you more than the card itself if that is a part of the effect.  When you Normal Summon a Monster, you burn a once-per-turn-your-turns-only action plus lose a card.  If you Tribute Summoned a Monster, you might be out two or more cards plus that Action.  Even if you were making use of a Monster with an easy Special Summon requirement, it’s no longer there to pay for other things. 

Cards like Bottomless Trap Hole are a major part of the power creep that has hit Yu-Gi-Oh so hard over the years; easy removal that makes you a “chump” for investing in more intricate strategies that aren’t OTKs or similar power plays.  The Trap portion of those cards has often been part of the justification then for other unbalancing cards like mass S/T removal, which in turn force S/Ts to be more powerful and make those that don’t remain on the field more useful than those that do and… it becomes a big, big mess.  It is just more effective (and as far as I am concerned, more fun) to get rid of these problem cards so that when you want to kill a monster, the most obvious solution is to attack it with a monster of your own. 

Ratings 

Traditional: This card actually doesn’t perform as well here.  While there are still plenty of Monsters to remove with it, this format has Harpie’s Feather Duster, Heavy Storm, and three Mystical Space Typhoon that are pretty much a given in most decks, and that is before deck specific cards that might clear the field.  It also can’t protect you against a FTK deck when you go second. 3.5/5 

Advanced: Looks like I finally have to give a “real” score as this card isn’t simply “Banned” here.  I am quite torn; there are a few different answers to the abundant Special Summons in the game, as well as raw power monster removal like Mirror Force, and running it all can make a deck rather Trap heavy.  Unlike some of those other options, this has its own unique strengths, but also weaknesses. 4/5 

Summary 

Bottomless Trap Hole is a strong pieces of Monster removal; too strong in the end though with so cards that are as powerful or even more so, it is easy to forget how good it actually is and for the same reason why even rating it high, it might not make it into your deck.  This was the last Ban Week List card I was comfortable reviewing.  I hope you enjoyed reading my reviews for their brief, temporary return, and as this might be the only Yu-Gi-Oh CotD I submitted over the last two weeks that will actually be received and posted on time, feel free to check out the others if you missed them.  There were quite a few I wasn’t comfortable looking at, and I definitely don’t know enough to comment on anything newer. 

Regardless, happy dueling!