Review - Cyber Dragon: The Ultimate Beatstick.

We all know the drill. Character Cards based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime suck. Blue-Eyes is pathetic, Dark Magician is a fool, Red-Eyes languishes in the gutter. Yet somehow, Konami created a Character Card that is actually good. For a while it slipped under duelists' noses, but not for long. Now it is one of the most expensive Super Rares in the history of the game, right up there with Raigeki.

So, what is it that makes Cyber Dragon so great? It's a Tribute Monster with a measly 2100 ATK. Its only effect has to do with making it easier to summon. Sounds pretty boring at first glance. However, the simplicity of Cyber Dragon is what makes it so great. Its level is negligible, as it will only ever be Special Summoned through its effect. This makes Cyber Dragon essentially a level 4 monster that doesn't use up your Normal Summon for the turn. A level 4 monster with 2100 ATK is very impressive. Few monsters can match or exceed that, and they all have detrimental effects whilst Cyber Dragon has none. Zombyra the Dark, Berserk Gorilla, Terrorking Archfiend, and all the 1900 Vanilla monsters have been rendered obsolete by Cyber Dragon. Only Chainsaw Insect, Goblin Attack Force, Indomitable Fighter Lei-Lei, Elite Goblin Attack Force, and Giant Orc can handle a Cyber Dragon, but in most cases will accomplish only that before being killed by something as tiny as a Spirit Reaper. And that only takes into account Cyber Dragon's stats. The fact that it's a Special Summon is even more interesting as it allows for a large field presence to come into play in a single turn. A Cyber Dragon alongside another monster can deal tons of damage in one turn and activate annoying secondary effects; or a Cyber Dragon could even be Special Summoned and then Tributed for an even more powerful monster.

Cyber Dragon is the current leader in Field Advantage. Its effect, which was presumably meant to be detrimental, actually allows for quite a bit of versatility. It's no wonder the clamoring of tournament players has driven the price of Cyber Dragon up to $40.

Rating: 4.3/5