DM7FGD's Look Into the Future

Article # 23 - Deck-Drainers

To start, let me point out that I made a mistake in my last article, that seemed to have confused quite a few people. In the Magic Cylinders / Curse of Pain example that I gave, Magic Cylinders’ would, in fact, negate the Chaos Soldier’s attack, but the damage would be deflected back at the opponent. Sorry about that.

For today’s article, we’ll be looking at 2 interesting “Deck-Draining” Trap Cards. Let’s begin with a look at Skill Drain.

Skill Drain can be a pretty good card, but the thing that makes it not so good is, for one, the 1000 LP activation cost. Quite a hefty amount of LP to be paid for such a card that could easily be gotten rid of by any M/T destruction such as Cyclone (MST), etc. But then again, it stops Monster such as Breaker from using its Effect, so when you have Skill Drain out on the Field, Breaker won’t be a card you’ll have to worry about getting to your Skill Drain.

Here’s an interesting little something about Skill Drain.. Skill Drain vs. Jinzo..

* If Skill Drain is in play before Jinzo is Summoned, Jinzo’s Effect would be negated by Skill Drain when it comes into play. This is because Skill Drain is the active card, so when Jinzo is Summoned, its Effect is automatically negated by Skill Drain, since Skill Drain was in play first. May seem a little odd at first, but that’s how it goes.

* If Jinzo is in play before Skill Drain is activated, then quite simply, the Skill Drain can not be activated, as it is being negated by the Jinzo. Jinzo’s Effect was active first, so therefore it negates the Skill Drain.

Skill Drain also negates your own Monsters’ Effects, so you’ll sometimes want to be careful when using it. It simply makes any and all Monsters into nothing but simple Monsters with a certain ATK/DEF strength, and nothing more. Skill Drain negates the Monsters’ Effects only when they’re on the Field, though.. If any Monsters have Effects dealing with the Graveyard, such as Black Forest Witch or Critter, Skill Drain is able to get to those Monsters, as well, and their Effects will not be able to go through, and they would not be able to search for a Monster.

Skill Drain can be good with your own Monsters, sometimes, as well. Like if you’re using Berserk Gorilla or Goblin Strike Team, those are some situations in which Skill Drain could benefit your own Monsters.

Overall, Skill Drain can be a pretty useful card, and it’s pretty fun to use. It’s just that most of the time, it simply won’t last long enough on the Field. I’d give it an overall rating of 6.8 / 10.

For the second card of today’s article, as said in my last article, we’ll be taking a look at the Deck Destruction Virus of Death, a.k.a. Crush Card.

DDVD.. Quite an interesting and what-could-be devastating Trap card. For starters, you see that to activate it you need to Sacrifice a Dark main-type Monster with an ATK strength of 1000 or less to activate DDVD. Some Monsters more commonly used that can be used with the Effect are Critter (Sangan), Magical Scientist, Spirit Reaper, Cyber Pod, and Kuribo.

After activating DDVD, you actually get to see your opponent’s hand to see if they have any Monsters to be Destroyed by the Effect, even if they don’t have any Monsters in their hand. That’s a pretty nice benefit from using DDVD. Not to mention you then actually get to see the next 3 cards your opponent draws, whether they be Monsters affected or not.

Draw cards activated while DDVD is active, such as Angel’s Gift (Graceful Charity) or Pot of Greed, would also be affected by DDVD. Say your opponent activates a Graceful Charity while DDVD is active, and they draw 3 Monsters of 1500+ ATK. All 3 of those Monsters would be sent to the Graveyard, and your opponent would have to discard another 2 cards due to Graceful Charity’s Effect. That could be pretty devastating to your opponent.

Another thing is, that if a Fiber Pod gets flipped while DDVD is active, DDVD’s Effect still carries over for the full 3 turns. You’d get to see what your opponent gets from the Fiber Pod, and they’d still have to get rid of whatever Monsters they draw with 1500+ ATK strength.

Some Monsters to watch out for when playing DDVD, though, are Vampire Lord, and Fear and Despair from Darkness.

Also, if Revival cards are used by your opponent while DDVD is active, the Monsters revived would not be affected by DDVD’s Effect. This is because DDVD only affects Monsters on the Field when it’s first activated, and afterwards, only Monsters drawn by your opponent are affected by DDVD.

And no, in case you’re wondering, Jinzo would have no effect on DDVD, as DDVD is a Normal Trap card, and it does not stay on the Field.

DDVD’s usually best in Dark-based Decks, or Deck/Hand Destruction Decks using a few Dark-Type Monsters with 1000- ATK. It’s a very fun card to use, and it can be devastating at times, yet at other times it may just set up your opponent for their own recursion of Monsters. Another thing you’ll need to watch out for when playing DDVD is the opponent’s Chaos Monsters, if they’re running any. You may only end up fueling their Chaos Monsters that they may draw after DDVD’s Effect is complete.

I’d give the Deck Destruction Virus of Death an overall rating of 7.6 / 10.

And that’ll do it for my 23rd article. You can contact me with any questions or comments at dm7fgd32@hotmail.com

Until Next Time..