It’s finally here! The official release date of Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants is TODAY.

So get together with your friends, at your local tournament store, or wherever you’re going to go, and get ready for a clash of the titans, sealed pack style! Don’t forget all the tips we gave in this article about how to get the most fun out of your War of the Giants packs.

In the meantime, let’s talk about more cards in Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants with the uncanny ability to make the Duel all about them! Let’s get to it…

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Labyrinth of Nightmare

It’s the card that changes everything! (Literally.)

During each player’s End Phase, Labyrinth of Nightmare changes the battle position of every face-up monster the turn player controls. Let’s walk through a few of the repercussions:

1. Any monster you attack with is going to be in Defense Position during your opponent’s turn. For many high-ATK monsters, this means they’re a sitting duck after they attack.
2. Anything your opponent uses to attack your sitting ducks will just be a sitting duck during YOUR next turn. Result = games with a high casualty rate on both sides!
3. Anything you Summon in Attack Position will be in defense during your opponent’s turn, BUT…
4. The reverse doesn’t work. Anything you Set in Defense Position is unaffected by Labyrinth as long as it’s face-down. So will still be in defense.

Basically, there is no way to get a monster onto the field and have it be in Attack Position during the opponent’s turn, UNLESS you can Special Summon it in face-up Defense Position.

And for your existing monsters, if you want them stay in Attack Position, you have to skip attacking. Let’s say you have a high ATK monster. Instead of attacking, your sequence will go something like this:
*During your turn, get it into face-up Defense Position, any way you can.
*During your End Phase, it shifts to Attack Position, where its higher ATK comes into play.
*During your next turn, change it to Defense Position again during your Main Phase. Instead of attacking.
*During your End Phase, it shifts back to Attack Position.

And so on.

So why play with this card? First of all, there’s a huge advantage to the player who actually does the activating on Labyrinth of Nightmare. You can change your existing face-up monsters to Defense Position, THEN activate Labyrinth. Or you can activate it during your opponent’s turn, surprising them and changing their monsters’ battle positions when it’s something they weren’t expecting. By changing their defenders to Attack Position, and their high-ATK monsters to defense, you’ll get in the first turn of glorious sniping at their vulnerable monsters. Of course, then all your attackers shift to defense, and the carnage begins.

It’s also an amazing combo with monsters that shift to defense after attacking (Goblin Attack Force, Goblin Elite Attack Force, Axe Dragonute), or monsters that you want to be in Defense Position after they attack (Submarineroid, Gogogo Golem).

Most of all, Labyrinth of Nightmare rewards the player who can think and plan ahead. Where do you want your monster to be during your opponent’s turn? Take the steps necessary to set things up in advance so that will be how they end up. If you think you’re a better strategist than your opponent, this is a card for you.

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Pitch-Black Warwolf & Mirage Dragon

Two cards with the same effect: Your opponent can’t activate Trap Cards during the battle phase.

These are obviously game-changers because they nullify a significant portion of the Battle Triad. And not just ATK pumps; they also stop battle position changers like Windstorm of Etaqua and Zero Gravity, revival cards like Rope of Life and Time Machine, and cards that work off damage like The Golden Apples and Sinister Seeds.

There are ways to play around this, of course. Some battle-oriented cards, like Waboku and Threatening Roar, can be used before the Battle Phase. And you’ll still be able to fight back with Quick-Play Spells and monster effects.

But some other cards, even though they can be used before the Battle Phase, lose their effectiveness. If you change all your opponent’s monsters to Defense Position with a Trap Card before the Battle Phase, they’ll just change them right back to Attack Position manually, then enter the Battle Phase and attack.

Despite their 1600 ATK, don’t use these cards as front-line attackers! They’re much more valuable for their effects. Keep them on the field as support for your other monsters. Don’t take chances. Yes, their effects make it less likely that attacking the enemy monster will result in a surprise loss, but something like Shrink or Rush Recklessly can still destroy these monsters unexpectedly.

(Oh, and remember, YOUR Trap Cards can still be used just fine. So protecting these monsters from your opponent’s attacks is pretty easy.)

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Splendid Venus

Splendid Venus is one of the strongest monsters in the set, because of her blanket effect reducing all monsters (except Fairies) by 500 ATK & DEF.

Since Venus is a Fairy herself, this effectively boosts her to 3300 effective ATK when comparing her to most other monsters.

There are still a few heavy hitters that can take Venus down, though: all 3 God Cards, Darklord Desire, and Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür can all defeat Venus in a one-on-one fight , while Super Conducutor Tyranno, Guardian Angel Joan, and Darklord Zerato can all equal her ATK.

The only drawback of Venus is that she lowers your own non-Fairy monsters’ ATK, too. Which usually isn’t a big deal, although it does reduce the damage you can do to your opponent’s Life Points, by a significant amount.

Even if your opponent can shift Venus to Defense Position, her 2400 DEF will be tough to get over. If they’re attacking with something that isn’t a Fairy, that -500 modifier still applies, so they need to be attacking with something that has an effective ATK of more than 2900, on top of having a battle position changer.

Venus’ second ability, preventing your Spells & Traps from being negated, is largely meaningless in sealed play, since it only comes into use against Big Shield Gardna and White Night Dragon. (For now…)

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Mausoleum of the Emperor

Playing this card can be a big gamble, since your opponent can use its effect, too. You’ll get first crack at Summoning with it, but that might not mean much. Normally, the advantage of getting the jump on your opponent is that you can take out their Tribute fodder before they can Tribute Summon. With Mausoleum in play, though, they don’t NEED Tribute fodder anymore.

You might play Mausoleum, pay 2000 Life Points, and plop down a big monster. But your opponent can do the same right back at ya, on their turn. So it’s a double-edged sword.

One thing’s for sure: the moment this card is played, especially if it’s early in the game, things will start hitting the fan. The Life Points will drain away and the massive monsters will start slugging it out. Like Injection Fairy Lily and Pyrotech Mech – Shiryu (which we discussed last time), Mausoleum can cause games to end quickly, one way or the other.

One more thing: The limited amount of Spell/Trap removal we talked about before can’t get rid of your own Mausoleum of the Emperor. Once you play this card, it’s virtually impossible to get rid of it without your opponent’s help. So think long and hard about whether you want to take the risk of opening this Pandora’s Box!

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Curse of Anubis
It’s not quite monster removal, but it’s the next best thing. And so much more.

Curse of Anubis shifts all effect monsters to Defense Position, prevents changing their battle positions manually this turn, and makes their original DEF’s zero.

This card has two uses, and both of them are incredible. First, you can use it as a battle stopper, just like No Entry!! and similar cards. If your opponent attacks, use this to change their monsters to defense.

But the other – and much more powerful – use is as an offensive card. Change your opponent’s monsters to defense during your own turn, make their DEF 0, and then crush them all.

The only trick is that Curse of Anubis will also change your effect monsters to defense, and lock them there. Assuming, of course, that they’re actually on the field. So Activate Curse of Anubis first, THEN summon your monster(s) to do battle.

Note that Curse of Anubis is useless against Normal Monsters, so Luster Dragon, Gene-Warped Warwolf, Frostosaurus, Alexandrite Dragon, Embodiment of Apophis, and Token Monsters are unaffected. This makes them very powerful combo cards with Curse of Anubis, since you can attack with them after using it, even if they were already on the field. On the other hand, this also makes them a powerful counter-measure if your opponent is packing this card.

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These are just a few examples of the powerful cards in War of the Giants that you have to look forward to. When evaluating your cards, remember to look at them in the environment of sealed pack play.

Keep in mind: Duels are slower, battle is all-important, and Spells & Traps are going to stick around.