Obelisk the Tormentor is the most powerful card you’ll likely ever see in Sealed Play. It’s got the highest original ATK and DEF of anything in Battle Pack: Epic Dawn, it’s got several effects that protect it from opposing cards, and can destroy all of an opponent’s monsters at once. It’s almost an invincible monster, and if you want to win a big Sealed Play tournament like the Ultimate Challenge or the upcoming YCS in Sheffield you’ll have to learn how to deal with it or else this could happen to you!

In order to defeat Obelisk the Tormentor, first we need to know which cards will and will not work against it. Obelisk’s Normal Summon can’t be negated, which prevents Solemn Judgment from being used against it. Obelisk also can’t be targeted by Spells, Traps and card effects, which protects it from Offerings to the Doomed, Ring of Destruction, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and more.

So what are we looking for then? Quite simply, a card that does not target Obelisk, yet can either destroy it or get it off the field.

First up is Cyber Jar. When Cyber Jar’s flipped face-up, every monster on the field is destroyed, including Obelisk the Tormentor! Cyber Jar then lets both Duelists reveal 5 cards, Summon all the Level 4 or lower monsters revealed, and add the other cards to Duelists’ hands. It’s one of the most powerful Flip Effect monsters ever created, and a great addition to any Sealed Deck.

D.D. Assailant is a 1700 ATK Level 4 monster with an effect that can get rid of Obelisk for good! When D.D. Assailant is destroyed by battle, its effect banishes itself along with the monster that destroyed it! When you draw this you’ve got 2 options; Set your Assailant and hope Obelisk attacks into it, or Summon Assailant and take Obelisk head-on! If you decide to attack with D.D. Assailant, you run the risk of losing 2300 Life Points, but it’s worth it to get rid of Obelisk the Tormentor! D.D. Assailant’s useful in most sealed Decks simply because it’s difficult to stop and has enough ATK to take down smaller monsters before a big one gets banished.

Blast Sphere is the ultimate sneak attack monster! If an opposing monster attacks Blast Sphere while it’s face-down, it’ll equip itself to that monster. The equipped monster is then destroyed during your opponent’s next Standby Phase, and they lost Life Points equal to its ATK. It works great against any high ATK monster, but is especially powerful when your opponent’s Obelisk the Tormentor attacks into it, as they not only lose their most powerful card, but 4000 Life Points along with it!

Sometimes returning a powerful monster to your opponent’s hand is as good as destroying it, since they’ll have to spend a lot of tie setting up another Tribute Summon. If you were to return Obelisk the Tormentor to your opponent’s hand, your opponent might not get another chance to Summon it over the course of the Duel, since it requires 3 Tributes instead of the normal 1 or 2. Hyper Hammerhead is a good defensive option for getting rid of Obelisk and other high ATK monsters. After battling with Hyper Hammerhead, if the opposing monster wasn’t destroyed, it returns to their hand. Much like with D.D. Assailant you can either Set Hyper Hammerhead and wait for Obelisk to attack, or Summon it and take the loss in Life Points to get rid of it.

Finally there’s Prideful Roar. Prideful Roar can be activated when one of your monsters battles with higher ATK ones Obelisk the Tormentor. You pay Life Points equal to the difference between both monsters’ ATK, and in turn you gain that much ATK, along with another 300. When battling Obelisk this makes your monster have 4300 ATK in total, which is just enough to take the Egyptian God down!

These are just 5 of the useful cards that can get your opponent’s most powerful card off the field, while also being handy to use in Sealed Play in general. There’s more cards like these which can be just as helpful, so whenever you open a pack of Battle Pack: Epic Dawn, be sure to check all of the cards you get to see what’s possible!