We’ve spoken before about Masked Chameleon, a cool card from Judgment of the Light that gives Debris Dragon a run for its money.  When you Normal Summon the Chameleon, you can target a 0 DEF monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it.  Whatever you revive will hit the field in Defense Position with its effect negated, but since Masked Chameleon’s a Level 4 Tuner, you can immediately make a powerful Synchro Summon.  If the monster you brought back was Level 4, you can even overlay for a Rank 4 Xyz, too.

Chameleon’s really good right now, because the monsters it unleashes are awesome at taking on some of the most popular Decks:

 

With Heavy Storm Forbidden in the Advanced Format, many Duelists are setting more cards.  That’s made Black Rose Dragon one of the most feared sights in competition.  Summoning it’s really easy if you use Masked Chameleon to bring back a Level 3, clearing the entire field with just one card from your hand.  Stardust Dragon swings things the other way, letting you protect your field over and over in exchange for just one Chameleon.

 

Turning from Synchro Monsters to Xyz, Maestroke the Symphony Djinn is great at turning monsters like Evilswarm Ophion face-down to shut off their Continuous Effects, and it’s really tough to destroy.  You can even steal games with a surprise Gagaga Cowboy, or search out another Masked Chameleon with King of the Feral Imps.

 

So Masked Chameleon’s a really useful, really flexible card!  But where can you play it?

 

 

To play Masked Chameleon effectively, you want two things: first, you want to make sure you play enough monsters with 0 DEF.  If you draw Chameleon with nothing to Special Summon, it’s not very good.  Decks that can run lots of 0 DEF monsters are ideal.

 

At the same time, if your Deck can play 0 DEF monsters at more than one Level, that’s a big asset, too – you can make a wider range of Synchro Summons when you play your Chameleon.  Which decks can do that?  The three cards above represent some of my favorites: Archfiends, Mermails, and Agents.

 

An Archfiend Duelist can choose between Archfiend Cavalry at Level 4, and Archfiend Heiress at Level 3, both from Judgment of the Light.  These monsters are especially good with Masked Chameleon, because each have effects that trigger in the Graveyard: you’ll yard them really early, and if you don’t want to make a Synchro or Xyz Summon you can always just leave them on the field for their effects.  The Chameleon’s really good here.

 

Mermails have Atlantean Dragoons at Level 4, and Atlantean Marksman at Level 3.  Again, both monsters have powerful effects when you send them to the Graveyard, so you’ll quickly get them into position for Masked Chameleon.  Dragoons can even search Marksman from your Deck.

 

Finally, Agents can use Masked Chameleon to Special Summon back The Agent of Creation – Venus for a fast Black Rose Dragon, or add Gellenduo to the mix for Level 8 Synchros and Rank 4’s.  Gellenduo’s not a common choice, but it’s a great pick with Chameleon and it works with popular Agent cards like Archlord Kristya and Honest.

 

Beyond those three, any deck that runs multiple 0 DEF targets for Masked Chameleon could be pretty good.  You could beef up your Photon and Galaxy Deck by pairing the Chameleon with Photon Thrasher and Photon Crusher.  Or, upgrade your Steelswarm strategy by reviving Steelswarm Sting or Steelswarm Caller.  The Chameleon works really well with several Decks you may have never tried.

 

 

 

Some Decks only have one target for Masked Chameleon, but they can still use it because they get to those cards really quickly.  You can search Machina Gearframe with Gear Gigant X, and once Gearframe hits the Graveyard you can revive it later for big Synchro or Xyz plays.  A Battlin’ Boxer Duelist will always send Battlin’ Boxer Glassjaw to the Graveyard as early as possible to trigger its search effect, and once it’s in place you can make more combos with it by playing Masked Chameleon.  Gem-Knights load their yard aggressively for Gem-Knight Fusion, too, and the 1900 ATK Gem-Knight Garnet is a prime target for Chameleon.

 

Zombies can bring Zombie Master back from its undead sleep; Psychics have Silent Psychic Wizard; and minions of Grapha can revive Snoww, Unlight of Dark World.  You could even build an entire Level 4 Deck focused on Special Summon effects, since Goblindbergh, Gogogo Ghost, and Gogogo Giant all have 0 DEF.

 

Debris Dragon’s tearing up tournaments with its powerful Special Summon and Tuner combos, but don’t overlook Masked Chameleon!  It works in strategies where Debris Dragon wouldn’t, so figure out if it could be helping out any of your Decks.