Nov 4, 2010
Monster effects that activate from the hand have been around for a long time now, and the majority of them have seen lots of action at the top tables of big events. In 2008 we were introduced to Honest and D.D. Crow, 2 cards whose effects are still incredibly useful today. In recent times there has been Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow, and the increasingly popular Effect Veiler from Duelist Revolution. With Starstrike Blast on the horizon, we’ll soon be adding 2 more cards to that list, and we’re going to take a first look at them today!
Whenever your opponent activates a card effect from their Graveyard, you can send Skull Meister straight from your hand to the Graveyard negate it. Several top Decks use cards thatSkull Meister can stop, so it’ll be a useful card to have in your Side Deck. Skull Meister’seffect can negate lots of nasty search effects like that of Sangan and XX-Saber Darksoul to prevent your opponent from getting a free monster. Skull Meister can even prevent your opponent from Special Summoning a monster with Scrap Dragon, Dandylion Special Summoning 2 Fluff Tokens and Wulf, Lightsworn Beast from Summoning itself, so you’ll be able to use Skull Meister against almost any Deck!
One thing you need to watch out for are cards that can activate their effects while already lying in the Graveyard , as your opponent can just try to activate them again after you’ve negated them the first time. For example, Blackwing Duelists like to get around their opponent’s Royal Oppression by using the effect of Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor. As Vayu only removes itself and the other Blackwing monster from play when it’s resolving, the monsters stay in the Graveyard if the effect is negated. When that happens, your opponent can just use the effect again. The same applies to Treeborn Frog, so be careful not to useSkull Meister against it. Fortunately, there aren’t many of these types of effects being played in decks right now, so you won’t have to worry about them too often.
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Droll & Lock Bird can stop your opponent from setting up huge combos. |
Droll & Lock Bird is another monster with an effect you can use from your hand. Instead of stopping one thing, this card stops players from drawing or adding several cards to their hand in a single turn. At the start of every turn of a Duel, a Duelist draws 1 card from their Deck to add to the cards they already have. Decks that can add more than 1 card to their hand in a turn often set up explosive combos that are difficult to stop. With Droll & Lock Bird though, your opponent won’t be able to get all the cards they were planning to this turn. Whenever your opponent adds cards from their Deck to their hand outside of their Draw Phase, you can send Droll & Lock Bird to the Graveyard. For the rest of the turn neither player can add cards from their Decks to their hands, and this includes drawing cards too!
Against decks like Blackwings and X-Sabers, this could shut down several cards they’re already holding, as they like to get as many free cards as possible. Blackwing Duelists won’t be able to use Pot of Duality, Cards for Black Feathers, Allure of Darkness, Reckless Greed or Black Whirlwind once Droll & Lock Bird’s effect kicks in, and X-Sabers are deprived of their all-important XX-Saber Darksoul searches. Even Quickdraw and Plant Synchro Decks aren’t safe, as Formula Synchron, Sangan, Card Trooper and Tuning all trigger Droll & Lock Bird’seffect, preventing them from setting up more combos down the line.
Just like D.D. Crow and Effect Veiler, these 2 cards are very difficult to stop, and come out of nowhere to shut down several popular strategies. You’ll only find these cards in Starstrike Blast, so be sure to watch out for them at your local Sneak Peek!
