The 2014 Mega-Tins launched last Friday, bringing a loaded arsenal of the top cards from Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy through Legacy of the Valiant back for another round of action! This week we’ll take another look at one card brought back from each of those sets that are still making a big impact on the game today, starting with standout Secret Rare from Legacy of the Valiant, Evilswarm Exciton Knight!

Evilswarm Exciton Knight has long battled against Number 101: Silent Honor ARK in the hearts and minds of Duelists across the globe. It’s one of those cards that takes a moment to wrap your head around, but once you do, you have no idea how you ever lived without it. The Knight wipes the board of everything but itself as a Quick Effect during your Main Phases or your opponent’s Main Phase, but you can’t use the effect unless you have fewer total cards than your opponent between your hand and field.

The mental trap that most players fall into when they read this card is the idea that you have to be losing the Duel or just in a generally bad position that you don’t want to get into in the first place in order for this card to be effective. That’s simply not the case. While Evilswarm Exciton Knight is certainly there to help bail you out if things go south, you can still use it even if you have just 1 fewer total card available than your opponent. And the easiest way to make that happen is by Xyz Summoning while you have the same total number of cards as your opponent, that is, when neither player has an advantage.

In that way, Evilswarm Exciton Knight can break up stalemates, initiate comebacks (though you won’t be able to inflict damage during the same turn you use its effect), and force specific actions from your opponent to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In the high-octane post-Duelist Alliance world, Exciton Knights see the most success in Infernity Decks and Hand/Artifact/Traptrix Decks, giving them the ability to even the field after strong opening plays from Decks like Stellarknights or Burning Abyss.

Speaking of Stellarknights, they’re the master of Rank 4 Xyz Summons, and while they always tend to have a lot of cards available, they also have the easiest way to drop Exciton Knight out of nowhere with Satellarknight Altair. Altair revives another Satellarknight from the Graveyard, which can then use its own effect, so it’s possible to draw Altair off the top of your Deck, use it to get Satellarknight Deneb back, use Deneb to search another Altair for next turn, then Xyz Summon Evilswarm Exciton Knight and wipe the board.

If you’re playing with a significant number of Level 4 monsters and you’re looking to Rank 4 monsters for your Extra Deck, you can’t go wrong with Evilswarm Exciton Knight, and now you have another chance to get your hands on it in the Mega-Packs in each 2014 Mega-Tin!