Qliphorts made Pendulum Summoning a huge factor in tournament-level Dueling, but ever since the Pendulum mechanic was introduced, Pendulum Monsters have belonged to specialized strategies. If you wanted to run Pendulums you had to build your whole Deck around them. Crossed Souls shook that up a bit, introducing “Zefra” Pendulum Monsters for Decks like Yang Zings and ‘tellarknights, but the Zefra were still geared toward very specific themes.

Clash of Rebellions changes all that by introducing the first truly awesome, theme-independent Pendulum Monster! Archfiend Eccentrick is a Level 3 LIGHT Fiend that clocks in at Pendulum Scale 7, and its two abilities make it useful in virtually anywhere. Why? Because it’s two strong, basic cards in one…

When you play Archfiend Eccentrick as a Pendulum Spell it packs a powerful Pendulum Effect: you can target another Spell or Trap Card on the field and destroy both it and Archfiend Eccentrick. The Archfiend’s generic backrow removal, destroying face-ups, face-downs, Field Spells, Continuous cards, and even other Pendulum Spells.

Summon Archfiend Eccentrick instead, and its Ignition Effect lets you Tribute it to destroy a monster. If you need to get rid of a Spell or Trap, play Eccentrick as a Pendulum Spell. If you need to stamp out a monster, Summon it and Tribute it off. It lets you answer almost any threat.

And since Archfiend Eccentrick is a Pendulum Monster, it goes to your Extra Deck whenever you destroy it or Tribute it. That means no matter which effect you use, you have the chance to Pendulum Summon it back; you can keep using its Tribute effect to destroy a monster every turn. We’ve never seen a removal card that’s so versatile and so easy to play. We’ve also never seen one that can be recycled again and again.

Many decks will just play two or three Archfiend Eccentricks and use them when they draw them. But since it’s a Pendulum Monster you can search it with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Wavering Eyes. Searching it with Odd-Eyes has the advantage of loading Odd-Eyes into your Extra Deck for future Pendulum Summons, while the synergy with Wavering Eyes can help you beat your opponent’s Pendulum strategy. Wavering Eyes will destroy your opponent’s Pendulum Scale once, and grabbing a free Archfiend Eccentrick with Wavering Eyes’ effect will give you another removal card to shatter their scale again later.

Since Archfiend Eccentrick happens to be a Level 3 Fiend, you can Special Summon it from your Deck with Tour Guide from the Underworld. From there you can Tribute it off even though Tour Guide negates its effect, just to get it into your Extra Deck for monster removal later. Since Eccentrick’s also an Archfiend, you can search it by sending Archfiend Heiress to the Graveyard. If you play Tour Guide and Heiress together, you can Special Summon Heiress with Tour Guide, overlay them for a Rank 3 Xyz Summon, and then detach Heiress (as an effect, of course, think Wind-Up Zenmaines) to add Archfiend Eccentrick from your Deck to your hand.

And of course, because Archfiend Eccentrick is a Scale 7 Pendulum Card it can sub in for the high end of your Scale in strategies like Qliphorts and the new Igknights. It might not cover all of the cards you’d want to Pendulum Summon, but it also destroys itself, so when you have a higher Pendulum Scale card ready you can use Archfiend Eccentrick to destroy a Spell or Trap, then play your new Pendulum Spell.

Whether you’re running a Pendulum strategy or not, Archfiend Eccentrick’s incredible removal power is going to be worth considering. Grab it at the Clash of Rebellions Sneak Peek next weekend and try it out yourself!