Back again to talk about some more cool stuff you can do in Battle Pack 3: Monster League, using the special All-Monsters-Are-All-Types rule!

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Trident Arsenal

Arsenal Bug is a Level 3 monster with 2000 ATK & DEF. His only drawback is that you need another Insect in play, or his stats are cut in half.

Fortunately, in Monster League Play, this turns into just needing another monster on the field. Easy to do!

For a fantastic opening combo, Summon Trident Warrior. This 1800 ATK monster lets you Special Summon a Level 3 monster from your hand, like Arsenal Bug. Since you have another monster on the field (Trident Warrior), Arsenal Bug keeps his original 2000 ATK, and you have 3800 attack points on the field.

(One of the most specialized strategies in Monster League is a focused Level 3 strat. We’ll talk about that another time.)

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Type-Based Monster Removal

Shreddder and Airorca let you use cards in the hand to get rid of monsters on the field.

Normally, Shreddder requires you to send a Machine from your hand to the Graveyard. But of course, everything’s a Machine in Monster League, so you can send any monster from your hand to the Graveyard, then destroy 1 opponent’s monster with a Level less than or equal to the monster you got rid of.

Most monsters in Monster League are Level 3 or 4. The one that trumps them all is the Level 6 Stegocyber. This is a great combo with Shreddder because you want Stegocyber in your Graveyard, so you can use his effect to Special Summon it and stop your opponent’s Battle Phase.

(Be sure and pronounce that extra D in Shreddder’s name! Every put something in a shredder that wasn’t supposed to go in there? The shredder will eat it, but sometimes complains and makes extra churning noses. Shreddder’s name mimics that. If I’m using a high-Level monster to pay the cost, I make sure to put even more D’s in the name to show the extra trouble Shreddder’s blades have digesting such a feast! Shred-ded-ded-ded-ded-der for Stegocyber!)

Airorca also lets you use a monster in the hand to destroy one on the field. You have to banish from the hand for this one, so you lose the combo with cards like Stegocyber and Friller Rabca, but it has no Level restrictions so you can get rid of anything on a 1-for-1 basis. Airorca also destroys face-up cards, not just monsters, so it works against Equips and Continuous cards.

After using its effect, Airorca also banishes itself until your next Standby Phase. This is usually a good thing because re-usable monster removal is a precious commodity in draft play, so the ability to keep it safe during your opponent’s turns is priceless. The only drawback is that you can’t use Airorca and attack with it the same turn.

On the flip side, there are also cards in the set you can use to defend against this kind of removal. Look for cards like Forgotten Temple of the Deep and Time Escaper. You can chain these effects to the activation of effects like Shreddder and Airorca, making the target disappear at resolution so your monster is safe and sound.

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Type-Based Spell/Trap Removal

Just like with monster removal, you’ll also find cards in the set that help you get rid of Spells & Traps, which can normally be problematic to use because of their Type restrictions.

Destructotron is the easiest and fastest way to destroy your opponent’s entire Set back row. Pay 1000 LP and destroy 1 Set Spell/Trap your opponent controls. You can do this as many times as you want each turn. While expensive, a powerful Trap can easily do a lot worse than 1000 LP in damage to you, like giving control of the field to your opponent and ultimately losing you the Duel!

Destructotron’s only weakness is that you’ll need another monster on the field in the End Phase in order to keep him alive. But even if he winds ups self-destructing, you’ll have all the opportunity you need to destroy your opponent’s Set cards, first.

Battlestorm only destroys 1 Spell/Trap per turn, but he does it for free. He can also destroy face-up cards like Equips and Continuous Spells/Traps. The only requirement for Battlestorm is that you have at least 2 other monsters (total of 3+ monsters, including Battlestorm himself).

As a bonus, Battlestorm also gains +100 ATK for each monster you control, including himself! So he’s a minimum 1800 ATK.

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Our Monsters Can’t Repel Firepower of that Magnitude!

The ultimate removal card, though, might be Golden Flying Fish. Tributing monsters from the field requires a bit more set-up, but this card has so many advantages that it’s worth the price.

Golden Flying Fish’s advantages over other removal cards include:
1. You can use it any number of times per turn.
2. You can destroy any CARD on the field (even if it’s a trap!).
3. You can destroy face-up and face-down cards.
4. You can combo with monster-makers like Scapegoat or Trap Monsters.
5. Its 1700 ATK is higher than most other removal cards.

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Graveyard Building

Some cards in Battle Pack 3 reward you for having lots of monsters in the Graveyard. Other cards reward you for thinning out your Graveyard.

One great combo to try and draft is Card Trooper + Mudora. Mudora starts at 1500 ATK but gains 200 ATK for every monster in your Graveyard (since everything is a Fairy). Card Trooper is a great way to get extra monsters in the Graveyard, and pump its own ATK in the process. Jain, Lightsworn Paladin is another good way to load up the Graveyard, although it’s a bit slower than Card Trooper.

You can also get a similar benefit for ALL your monsters from Closed Forest, which gives all monsters you control +100 ATK for each monster in the Graveyard.

Closed Forest is a great card to drop near the start of a Duel, but see if you can save your Mudora until he’s needed, so his ATK will be as high as possible.

Raging Mad Plants is another example of a Graveyard-building card. It gives all your monsters +300 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard, until the end of the turn, but it destroys all your monsters in the End Phase. This is a great card to use for a final push to win the Duel, or if your opponent has created a monster that’s so strong you need a massive boost to destroy it. (This is also another situation where Forgotten Temple of the Deep really shines. After pumping a monster with Raging Mad Plants and attacking with it, banish it using Forgotten Temple. In the End Phase, FIRST resolve the effect of Raging Mad Plants, destroying all your Plants. THEN resolve Forgotten Temple and Special Summon your banished monster.)

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vs. Graveyard Thinning

Other cards reward you for banishing the monsters from your Graveyard, or shuffling them back into the Deck. If you decide to go heavy on Graveyard-building cards, you’ll want to avoid these. Also, having too many Graveyard-thinning cards is a bad idea, because after you use 1 or 2 of them, you probably won’t have enough monsters left to activate any other ones you might draw.

So when drafting, try to keep Graveyard-thinning cards to a minimum. On the other hand, they can be very powerful.

One example is Royal Firestorm Guards. Abilities that draw cards are hard to find in Battle Pack 3, so a 1700 ATK monster that draws 2 cards is a pretty amazing deal. You do need 4 monsters in your Graveyard to shuffle into the Deck, so this is late-game card. (Of course, that’s when you most often need to refill your hand, too.)

Bazoo the Soul-Eater is an old favorite. You can banish up to 3 monsters from your Graveyard to give Bazoo +300 ATK for each. This can make him a 2500 ATK Level 4 monster! Even better, your big baboon buddy Bazoo’s boost lasts all the way through the end of your opponent’s turn, so he’ll be safe against attacks from your opponent, too!

Diskblade Rider works similar to Bazoo, but banishes a Normal Trap Card to become 2200 ATK. His pump also lasts until the end of the opponent’s turn, just like Bazoo. Some of the nice things about Diskblade Rider:
1. His 1700 ATK is pretty high, even if you can’t boost.
2. You only need to banish 1 Trap (vs. up to 3 monsters for Bazoo), so you can sustain this over a longer period.
3. Since Diskblade Rider consumes Traps, you can actually use him alongside a Graveyard-building card like Mudora or Closed Forest. Or even in tandem with Bazoo!

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There are many more examples of cards that have their potential unleashed in Monster League. Open your mind and expand your horizons, because with everyone working together, a ton of your monsters just got a lot stronger!

Next week we’re talk some about basic drafting strategies, so stay tuned!