Gagaga Cowboy, one of the best Xyz Monsters of 2012, is now readily available in every Blaster, Dragon Ruler of Infernos Collectible Tin. The key to Gagaga Cowboy’s popularity? It can help out nearly any Deck that can put together 2 Level 4 monsters to Xyz Summon it.

If you aren’t familiar with Gagaga Cowboy yet, he’s got two great effects you can use in any point of a Duel. Both of these are Ignition Effects, activated during your Main Phase by detaching an Xyz Material. The effect you resolve will depend on your Cowboy’s battle position.

-Attack Position: If Gagaga Cowboy battles a monster this turn, it gains 1000 ATK, and the opponent’s monster loses 500 ATK. With Cowboy starting off at 1500 ATK, that means you can take out any monster with less than 3000 ATK and trade of in battle against anything with 3000 ATK. So look out Blue-Eyes White Dragon!

-Defense Position: Gagaga Cowboy will deal 800 damage directly to your opponent’s Life Points. Since Cowboy has a hefty 2400 DEF, you can safely play him in Defense Position and fire on your opponent without having to declare an attack. This effect is also very useful for finishing off a weakened opponent after making some direct attacks with your Level 4 monsters. This tactic appears a lot in Fire Fist Decks.

So where can I use Gagaga Cowboy?

The short answer: Everywhere! Gagaga Cowboy has no requirements on its Xyz Materials, so you can play it in any Deck that can use Rank 4 Xyz Monsters. There are a few places where it especially shines, however.

The first place you should consider is in a dedicated Gagaga Deck. The Gagaga monsters are great at throwing together Xyz Summons of any Rank. That leaves them free to use all kinds of cool Xyz Monsters, including Gagaga Cowboy. By playing Cowboy, you’ve still got a great Xyz Monster, but you can also still use your Gagaga Spell and Trap Cards, like Gagagabolt and Gagagarush. If you use two Gagaga monsters as your Xyz Materials, once Cowboy hits the Graveyard you’ll be perfectly prepared to play Gagagadraw!

While it’s not every day that a gunslinger takes up a sword, Gagaga Cowboy is a great fit in Noble Knight Decks! They’re awesome for throwing down Rank 4 Xyz Monsters, so having more options is something they’ll appreciate. Since Gagaga Cowboy is a Warrior, you can even equip it with any of the Noble Arms! Power him up even more with Noble Arms – Gallatin, and you can triumph over nearly any monster! Or, you could play Cowboy in Defense Position. Since you aren’t attacking anyway, use Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr to destroy Set cards while you blast away for 800 damage per turn!

Rock Decks can use Gagaga Cowboy to take out monsters that Gem-Knight Pearl can’t deal with. Cowboy also plays well with Block Golem – since Cowboy is an EARTH monster, it won’t interfere with Block Golem’s effect. In turn, Block Golem can be used to instantly bring Cowboy’s Rock-Type Xyz Materials back to the field so you can Xyz Summon a second Cowboy!

It’s difficult to name just a few Decks that can use Gagaga Cowboy, because it really does fit well into almost any Extra Deck. If you can use Rank 4 Xyz Monsters, give Gagaga Cowboy a shot!