Forum:Deck Guide/Koa'ki Meiru

by Gadjiltron

Intro

In February 2009, war had broken out. Across many tournaments, Dark Armed Dragon and its endless forces was seen clashing with the Lightsworns faction. In between, Gladiator Beasts occasionally found some place in the midst of the carnage. But other than those factions, no other Deck stood a chance.

Then came Raging Battle, bringing a faction designed to end the war of Light against Dark. This newfound strength could only be contained and tapped on from a humble steel core. With this, came the Koa'ki Meiru theme.

Mechanics

The main principle behind the Koa'ki Meiru Deck is Anti-Meta, where it is designed to combat most popular Decks that top tournaments. Since the shutting down of Teleport Dark Armed, and the rise of Blackwings and Synchro Cat, the Koa'ki Meiru theme has evolved from plain countering Light and Dark to fending off many forms of Special Summoning. While they are not as strong against non-tournament-oriented "rogue" Decks they still have an edge in the form of their sheer stats to trump other monsters in battle.

One thing to note is that most of the monsters have a maintenance cost - either send an "Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru" to the Graveyard, or reveal a certain kind of card in hand, at each of your End Phases. (The latter shall be referred to throughout the guide as "alternative maintenance".)

It is to be noted that while the sending of the Core is for individual maintenance, a single card revealed in hand can keep out multiple kinds of Koa'ki Meiru monsters. (e.g. 3 Powerhands require 3 Iron Cores to be discarded, but revealing 1 Normal Trap can keep all 3 out at once)

While this guide will be focusing on how to build a Koa'ki Meiru Deck, keep in mind that the way the monsters function allow them to be used as anti-meta options in other Deck themes.

Analysis

Strengths

• Excellent splashability - Koa'ki Meiru monsters have great stats coupled with amazing effects. As their alternative maintenance often involves other monsters belonging to their Type, this means that individual members can be splashed into other Decks to give said Deck a more offensive edge. See the Rock Stun Deck below for such an example.
• Counters meta - Anti-meta is the theme of the Koa'ki Meiru. Well, at least for the time they were made. A well-constructed Deck would hence be capable of countering some tournament-worthy Decks.

Weaknesses

• Lack of swarming power - Koa'ki Meirus are not particularly designed to swarm. Having too many monsters out means that you'll also need a pretty large hand to maintain them all. However, having too little of the wrong kind of monsters will also make it difficult for the Deck to turn the tides in a pinch.
• Prone to dead draws - A good amount of the S/T support can get rather situational, especially when you don't have the Core in the right location. Even in bad situations, the last thing you'd want to topdeck is the Core, which does nothing on its own.
• Lacking in speed - Koa'ki Meiru Decks don't have a lot of reliable draw power, and as such they would rather drag down the speed of the Deck they're opposing, rather than attempting to outmatch it.

The Basics

To the best of my knowledge there is no notable variation on the Koa'ki Meiru theme, so instead we shall look into and evaluate the various members of the Koa'ki Meiru theme. But first, the core (pun very intended) of the Deck:

• Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru - The basis of the Deck. While it does nothing on its own, it is the all-purpose means of maintaining your monsters as it can be discarded to maintain any Koa'ki Meiru monster. It also can find its way back into your hand, either by forgoing your Draw during your Draw Phase, or by discarding a Koa'ki Meiru monster in your hand that you do not need.

The Monsters

And now, we look at the monsters:

• Koa'ki Meiru Boulder - It has relatively low stats for a Koa'ki Meiru monster, but it can search out an Iron Core or a Koa'ki Meiru monster from your Deck and add it to your hand when it is destroyed by battle. Coupled with the fact that it has no maintenance cost and this allows the Deck to quickly pick a Core up for the other cards to use or find an immediate solution to an impending problem. A must for the Deck.
• Koa'ki Meiru Tornado - For a LV4 monster, it presents average stats of 1500/1200, but it also has no maintenance costs. Its effect is where it shines - by tossing a Core from your hand ot the top of your Deck you get to wipe out all of your opponent's Special Summoned monsters. With all the Special Summoning going around, this card can quickly take care of Synchro monsters and other swarming tactics.
• Koa'ki Meiru Hydro Barrier - Once again, no maintenance costs. It has a lackluster ATK of 1000, but a rather impressive DEF of 1900, allowing it to function as a temporary wall. In addition to this its effect, at the cost of tossing a Core to the top of your Deck, functions as a Skill Drain across the board, with your Koa'ki Meiru monsters being exempt from it. Very useful, considering that it extends into your opponent's turn and the importance of monster effects in the present day.
• Koa'ki Meiru Powerhand - As his name implies, Powerhand's stats are massive for a LV4, as few monsters of its level can trump 2100 ATK. Its effect sees little use, though, for few Light or Dark monsters have threatening effects when engaging in battle. He's quite easy to maintain, with the mere revealing of a Normal Trap in hand as an alternative maintenance cost. You can side him in for stall decks - his effect allows him to best common "cannot be destroyed by battle" cards such as Marshmallon, Spirit Reaper and Arcana Force 0 - The Fool.
• Koa'ki Meiru Drago - Considering how often Special Summons are performed by the meta Decks, Drago is a force to be reckoned with. 1900/1600 is enough for the Dragon to hold its own, and its effect stops Light and Dark monsters from being Special Summoned, period. This cripples many Decks, like Blackwings, Lightsworns, and DAD, while the Koa'ki Meiru theme, having no Light or Dark monsters of its own, gets around this completely. His alternative maintenance cost requires a Dragon in hand - thankfully, other copies of him or Koa'ki Meiru Maximus will suffice.
• Koa'ki Meiru Guardian - He can beat face with stats of 1900/1200, and furthermore, his effect is a nifty one: Tribute him to negate a monster effect activation and destroy the monster. The fact that this guy is no longer on the field after negating said effect also means that you don't need to maintain him after he has served his purpose, but should you need to, there's always Boulder or other Guardians to support him.
• Koa'ki Meiru Ice - Like Guardian, stats of 1900/1200 allows him to hold his own. His effect puts him at odds with Tornado, though - rather than topdecking a Core to nuke all of the opponent's Special Summoned monsters, he sends a card in hand to the Graveyard to destroy a Special Summoned monster. While he does not possess the magnitude of destruction that Tornado has, he does not disrupt the next Draw and does not require any specific card. Note that his maintenance alternative of a Continuous Spell is a little hard to achieve, as even Core Transport Unit is something you'd not want to run too many of.
• Koa'ki Meiru Doom - At LV3, 1700/800 is pretty decent. His effect negates the effects of Light and Dark monsters, but only if said effects activate in the Main Phase. His alternative cost of a Fiend in hand is a little hard to play with, too, considering that Fiends are underlooked at the moment. Perhaps best in a Side Deck, should the need arise.
• Koa'ki Meiru Crusader - His great stats complement his effect - when he destroys a monster by battle he can recover a Koa'ki Meiru card from the Graveyard, be it the Core or a fellow monster. Good for getting the Core back from the Graveyard without needing to sacrifice hand count, and sometimes you can even fish the right monsters you need to maintain whatever Koa'ki Meirus you already have on the field!
• Koa'ki Meiru Speeder - 2200 DEF is very hard for LV4 or lower monsters to bypass, and it is clear that this guy is designed to work in tandem with the monsters that involve topdecking a Core for their effects. Should you draw a Core during the Draw Phase, which is always the case after you use one of said effects, you get an extra draw. His maintenance cost allows for Powerhand to support him, but considering that you're not going to get his effect off very often, he's better off Tributed or something.
• Koa'ki Meiru Seapanther - He holds the standard 1900 ATK, and a flexible maintenance cost of revealing any Water monster in hand. His effect, however, is not as good - at the cost of sending a Core to the Graveyard, a Spell Card can be placed on the top of the Deck. Maybe useful with Speeder by topdecking the Core itself, but it is often better for a Spell to be in the hand.
• Koa'ki Meiru Urnight - One word: siiick. This beast holds deadly stats of 2000/1500, something not to be trifled with, and by revealing a Core in hand it can pull out a LV4 or lower Koa'ki Meiru monster. With Urnight, you have an instant toolbox. Does your opponent have a set monster, or are you worried about Honest or Kalut? Pull out Guardian to trump their flip effect monster/searcher, or to take out their ATK booster. Maybe they're telegraphing Mirror Force? Special summon Sandman. Do you have a clear shot at their life points? Special summon Drago to lock down their copies of Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Tragoedia, and Battle Fader. This is a must-run in threes. Its maintenance cost can be covered with itself or Crusader.
• Koa'ki Meiru Sandman - Introduced in TSHD, this is a similar clone to Guardian, but rather, it cancels the effects of Traps. Helpful in any general Koa'ki Meiru Deck, since he blocks off anything that can ruin your day, like Mirror Force or Dimensional Prison. His alternative maintenance involves Rock monsters, making him very useful in Rock builds as he puts pressure alongside Guardian.
• Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak - Now available for OCG and TCG, Bergzak has 2000 ATK, and the ability to attack again if it scores a kill, which it would most of the time. He's good for crowd control, provided you can maintain him by revealing a Warrior in hand, and protect him from effects that threaten to stop him from rampaging.
• Koa'ki Meiru Valafar - Don't let his Level fool you - he can be Summoned just by Tributing only one Koa'ki Meiru monster. And for 3000 ATK, Trample, and being unable to be destroyed by Traps, he's a fearsome beatstick. However, many other Traps can circumvent his indestructibility, and he has no alternative maintenance other than discarding a Core.
• Koa'ki Meiru Rooklord - Like Valafar, Rooklord can be Summoned by Tributing one Koa'ki Meiru monster. In addition to this, on summon he can take out 2 of your opponent's cards in exchange for a Koa'ki Meiru monster in the Graveyard. Definitely worth running if you can keep a monster out for Tribute, and his alternative maintenance allows for monsters like Bergzak to support him.

As usual, the TCG's adding stuff to the archetype. If you're looking for any of them in the OCG, check the Extra Packs. Usefulness may vary.

• Koa'ki Meiru War Arms - For a Koa'ki Meiru monster, he has an unusual effect, which allows him to equip fallen LV3 or lower Warriors in order to raise his ATK. Considering this and his alternate maintenance cost of revealing of Warriors, it would be safest to run him in a Warrior Deck, rather than a Koa'ki Meiru Deck.
• Koa'ki Meiru Ghoulungulate - At LV5 with 2500 ATK, he can beat the crap out of any Monarch any day. He can protect other Koa'ki Meiru monsters from destruction in battle or effects by removing Koa'ki Meiru monsters in the Graveyard, but his level and Type makes him hard to summon and maintain. Pyramid Turtle can search it easily and help provide the maintenance cost.
• Koa'ki Meiru Gravirose - Her effect of sending a LV3 or lower monster to the Graveyard does not seem to fit much in a Koa'ki Meiru Deck, though, and seems to go better with War Arms or Plants (its maintenance cost).
• Koa'ki Meiru Beetle - This bug scrambles the battle positions of whatever LIGHT or DARK monster that has been Special Summoned into Defense position, often leaving them vulnerable to a counterattack as they can't beat your face in. But it does not stop their effects from setting off... this one is not always so useful in Koa'ki Meirus, but it works in Insect decks, particularly Spider Decks that want monsters in Defense Position.
• Koa'ki Meiru Maximus - It's a Semi-Nomi, where you banish an Iron Core from your hand to Special Summon it, and each turn you get to destroy a card your opponent controls. Not bad for breaking the opponent's setup, but the alternative maintenance calls for a Koa'ki Meiru monster to be sent to the Graveyard, not to mention the loss of the Core that would have helped to keep your other monsters out. Play and maintain at your own risk. One strategy is to only summon it for a game-winning push, or when you really have no other option to take their cards out.
• Koa'ki Meiru Prototype - It boasts fair stats of 1800/1800, but doesn't have any maintenance cost at all. Instead, during the End Phase, it can either get destroyed in place of one of your Koa'ki Meiru monsters if you don't/can't maintain it, or it can generate a Koa'ki Meiru Token (which is the same size as Prototype) if you don't/can't maintain that monster. Perhaps you can use this to maintain field presence, especially if you're building up monsters for an OTK with Core Overclock (see below). The best part about it is that it also fits right into place with Rock builds too!
• Koa'ki Meiru Wall - It shares the same stats as Sandman and Guardian, though this time it Tributes itself to negate Spell activations from the opponent. As usual, alternative maintenance is a Rock-Type monster, allowing Wall, Sandman, and Guardian to mesh well into a lockdown Rock build.

Spells and Traps

With the Core and monsters explained and evaluated, let's look into the other support Spells and Traps:

• Ability Absorption Core - This seems like a response to the Gladiator Beast War Chariot phenomenon. Its activation situation is very easily fulfilled, seeing that the Core is often thrown to the Graveyard to maintain some Koa'ki Meiru monsters. This essentially makes it a free monster effect negation, which is very handy. Try not to run too many of these, though - since Guardian does the same thing for less hassle.
• Automatic Laser - By revealing a Core in hand when the opponent Normal or Special Summons monster(s) with 1000+ ATK, you can destroy them all. Perhaps good for taking out multiple monster swarms, but Bottomless Trap Hole seems to be better, considering more people playing bigger monsters more often.
• Core Blaster - A recyclable Koa'ki Meiru-only equip, it allows for monsters to skip damage calculation when they engage in battle with Light or Dark monsters and emerge immediately victorious. It's good for evading threats like Honest and Blackwings, but most of time the opponent will find a way to circumvent this when their turn rolls around. Maybe a copy or two is fine in a Koa'ki Meiru Deck, but no more.
• Core Blast - Konami's gotten aware of the most efficient way to play the Koa'ki Meiru theme now. During each of your Standby Phases, if your opponent's monsters outnumber your Koa'ki Meiru monsters, you can even the field by choosing and killing off monsters until the numbers on both sides are equal. Since you're only keeping one or two Koa'ki Meiru monsters out, this will crush a swarm if they somehow don't finish you off. If they do clean up your monster zone, you can still spring Core Reinforcement during the Draw Phase and flatten their field.
• Core Compression - The draw card for the Koa'ki Meiru theme, which is always helpful. However, in addition to discarding a Koa'ki Meiru monster you also need to reveal a Core in hand. Generally, it will need careful handling of where the Core is going to end up next.
• Core Overclock - A simple Continuous Spell that gives 500 ATK to all of your Koa'ki monsters. While 500 may not seem like much, when added on to the Koa'ki's high base ATK it allows them to take on many more monsters that are a little higher Level than them. Furthermore, you can toss out a Core in hand to give them a 1000 ATK boost until the end of the turn - something best used with a temporary swarm to finish the opponent off, since you no longer need maintenance once you've won the Duel.
• Core Reinforcement - Call of the Haunted for Koa'ki Meiru monsters. Good for surprising the opponent by calling up a Valafar to stop their attack, or quickly pulling up a Koa'ki Meiru monster to Tribute for one of the bigger ones. If you're going to use said monster for its effects, maintain it carefully, lest you risk burn on your end.
• Core Transport Unit - Wow, the TCG just gave the archetype major support. This is a Continuous Spell with no maintenance cost, and it has a simple yet powerful effect - toss a card in hand for a Core from Deck. Amazing when combined with the monsters that send a Core to the top of the Deck, and it makes many cards that call for a Core in hand easy to play. The best part is that it's still useful while you have the Core in your hand - just discard that core and search another, for no loss of card advantage and good deck thinning (you usually don't want to draw a second Core). Run as many as you like - generally, you should run more if your deck uses more Iron Core-specific effects. Be careful, though - it's generally a terrible topdeck.
• Iron Core Armor - Another Koa'ki Meiru-only equip. It reduces the ATK of the monster the equipped monster battles by 100 x the equipped monster's level, which, under most circumstances would be by about 400 ATK or so. However, it also allows the equipped monster to last one extra turn without any efforts to maintain it, as the equip can send itself to the Grave to pay for the maintenance.
• Iron Core Immediate Disposal - Dumps out an Iron Core into your Graveyard, from which you can then proceed to manipulate its location to pick it back into your hand, or use other cards that need it in the Grave. This card has been rendered somewhat obsolete by Core Transport Unit, which can get Cores to your hand and the graveyard.
• Iron Core Luster - A Counter Trap that negates a Spell or Trap activation in exchange for revealing a Core in hand. Extremely useful, as S/T negation at nearly no cost is always welcome.
• Iron Core Specimen Lab - The Koa'ki Meirus now get their own field spell, and each time you lose a Koa'ki Meiru monster during the End Phase, often by not maintaining them or through other effects, you get to add a Koa'ki Meiru monster from your Deck to your hand. Very good effect to maintain hand size and keep your options available. You will need to reveal a Core in hand to maintain the field, but since you're letting the monsters destroy themselves, chances are you want to keep your Core there rather than discard it. You can also use this Field specifically to spite Earthbound Immortals or Malefic monsters, since you can voluntarily destroy the field, forcing those monsters to disappear with it.
• Koa'ki Meiru Barrier - If you've got 2 or more Cores sitting in your Graveyard, this will function as a surrogate Mirror Force. Core Disposal can quickly take care of the activation requirements, and it's very good for punishing swarm which the Koa'ki Meirus cannot handle well if it comes all of a sudden. And this card can be recycled by Koa'ki Meiru Crusader.
• Koa'ki Meiru Initialize - By Tributing a Koa'ki Meiru monster you control, you can add a Core from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand. This effect is slightly better than that of Core Transport Unit, since it can search from Deck or Graveyard to easily replace your hand count and get the Core where you usually need it. Furthermore, as it's Quick-Play, you can chain this in response to removal cards targetting your Koa'ki Meirus, or simply Tribute the monsters which you don't even plan to maintain for the turn.
• Koa'ki Ring - By revealing a Core in hand, you get to destroy a face-up monster of your choice and deal 1000 damage to both players. A rather weak attempt to make a surrogate Ring of Destruction for them in my opinion - it'd be better to use other cards like Fissure or Smashing Ground for removal.
• Reckoned Power - By revealing a Core in hand, you get to destroy all of your opponent's Set Spells and Traps. However, this means that the opponent can circumvent this by chaining their S/Ts if they can, so it is best used at the end of your opponent's turn, right after they finish Setting S/Ts. Run no more than 1 if you want to.
• Urgent Synthesis - By returning a Core from your Graveyard to your Deck, you can Special Summon a Koa'ki Meiru monster from your hand or Graveyard. This works fine when combined with Immediate Disposal or Core Transport Unit for a temporary swarm of Koa'ki Meiru monsters, but just be sure that you can maintain them. Alternatively, after your opponent has spent some cards destroying your monsters, you can use this card to special summon Urnight and get another monster, putting your opponent in the same fix.

Variants

Iron Core

This is an attempted version of a pure Koa'ki Meiru Deck. As such, the presence, location, and support given by the Core is more important than its variants.

Rock Stun

See also:Rock Guide

Since the Koa'ki Meiru archetype has a fair number of Rock members that offer excellent effects with decent ATK scores, a Rock variant can be built. The Rock Stun Deck uses almost purely Rock monsters to maintain the members on the field, thus clearing away the need to use the Iron Core.

Rock Stun

Main Deck Monster Cards Koa'ki Meiru Boulder x3 Koa'ki Meiru Sandman x3 Koa'ki Meiru Guardian x3 Koa'ki Meiru Wall x3 Gigantes x2 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo x2 Block Golem x2 Gaia Plate the Earth Giant Spell Cards Mystical Space Typhoon x3 Dark Hole Book of Moon Solidarity x2 Pot of Duality x2 Rockfall Area x3 Terraforming Trap Cards Mirror Force x2 Torrential Tribute Core Reinforcement Bottomless Trap Hole Compulsory Evacuation Device Call of the Haunted Extra Deck Xyz Monsters Gem-Knight Pearl Daigusto Emeral Number 106: Giant Hand

How Do I Play It?

Piloting a Koa'ki Meiru Deck is not easy. Here are a few tips to keep mind of when using the Deck:

• Considering that the Koa'ki Meiru monsters usually have problems when present in numbers, it is best that you avoid trying to swarm with them, unless pushing for a win. One or two monsters with maintenance costs at a time should suffice.
• Alternatively, build the Deck such that you do not have a such large variety of alternative maintenance costs. This means that you have the ability to swarm with multiple monsters while needing to keep them out with revealing one or two different cards in your hand.
• Sometimes, it is best to let your monsters blow up. Those with one-shot effects would have served their purpose to get rid of something in your way, and so you can conserve your resources and let them leave the field.
• Keep the next few turns ahead in mind. There are several times when the location of your Iron Core is crucial to how you are going to play. Sometimes it is okay to skip that next draw so as to recover that Iron Core from the Graveyard.
• When in doubt, Set. You conserve resources in avoiding the need to maintain your monsters.

Other Tips

The Koa'ki Meiru Deck, being of anti-meta nature, can synergize with other cards of similar nature:

• Dimensional Fissure - With a lot of meta decks greatly involving monsters and the Graveyard, Dimensional Fissure is there to remove the monsters from play, whilst still allowing the Koa'ki Meiru Deck to function as it will not remove the Core if it hits the Graveyard. Just note that your revival will be sealed off, too.
• Thunder King Rai-Oh - Another beatstick which prevents cards from being added from Deck to hand, and can also Tribute itself to negate a Special Summon. Just note that this will prevent you from searching for your Core if you ever need to.
• Burden of the Mighty - Weakens your opponent's monsters so that your opponent has a harder time trying to deal with your already strong Koa'ki Meiru monsters in battle. It also allows you to take out bigger monsters which your opponent might somehow have managed to Special Summon.
• Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer - He removes your opponent's monsters in the Graveyard, and prevents your opponent from taking out the Koa'ki Meiru monsters that you need in yours.
• Neo-Spacian Grand Mole - This little guy can return what your Koa'ki Meiru monsters can't take down to the owner's hand, and with no Battle Damage being risked. And it maintains Koa'ki Meiru Guardian, Koa'ki Meiru Sandman, and Koa'ki Meiru Wall.
• King Tiger Wanghu - It has a large ATK and has an effect that can take down smaller monsters before their effects can trigger. This allows the Deck to suppress Synchro Summons which rely on summoning the little monsters to make larger ones.
• M-X-Saber Invoker - A Rank 3 Xyz Monster is a little difficult to Summon in a pure Koa'ki Meiru Deck, and probably needs its own variant. However, by detaching an Xyz Material, you get to Special Summon a LV4 EARTH Warrior or Beast-Warrior from your Deck, though that gets destroyed at the end of the turn. A popular choice would be to Special Summon Urnight, and then use Urnight's effect to get what you need. There isn't even any pressure to preserve Urnight since he'll get destroyed one way or the other at the end of the turn.
• Royal Oppression - At 800 LP, it negates a Special Summon or an effect that Special Summons. Definitely handy in stopping swarming from getting out of the Koa'ki Meiru's control. Be careful about this, because you get locked out of using Koa'ki Meiru Urnight, Koa'ki Meiru Maximus, Core Reinforcement, and Urgent Synthesis when using this. As of September 2011, this card is Forbidden.
• Gigantes - It's a level 4 monster with 1900 ATK, which can be quite good. And even if your opponent can take it down, then it destroys all spells and traps on the field. Besides the slow Reckoned Power, and the sometimes difficult Maximus and Rooklord, the Koa'kis have no inherent spell and trap destruction. And it's nice to have a big monster on your side of the field without having to maintain it. Its removal cost is easy with Boulder, Guardian and the others, and Gigantes can help to maintain Guardian, Wall and Sandman.
• Chiron the Mage - A beatstick with an effect to take out one of your opponent's cards. You can use this card to discard useless copies of cards like Core Transport Unit or Iron Core Immediate Disposal if you already have a Core in-hand. And this card maintains Urnight and Crusader, too.
• Goblin Marauding Squad - The newest addition to the Goblin family comes with a decent 1900 ATK and a very powerful ability that prevents your opponent from activating any effects while it attacks. Of course, it switches to Defense at the end of the Battle Phase like every other Goblin card, but what counts is that GMS is a Beast-Warrior for supporting Urnight and Crusader.
• Pot of Duality - Chances are, you're not Special Summoning. So, why not dig through your Deck for something you'll need now/real soon?
• Infected Mail - A new card from GENF, which allows you to pick a LV4 or lower monster, grant it the ability to attack directly, at the cost of sending it to the Graveyard at the end of the Battle Phase. Naturally, you'd use this on the Koa'ki Meirus which you know you can't maintain, doing large chunks of damage in the process.
• Fire Formation - Tenki - Though it would normally fit best in Fire Fist, this Spell simply specifies Beast-Warriors without pinpointing any names, allowing Tenki to be freely used as a RotA for Beast-Warriors in Decks where they can be crucial. What can this search for? Crusader and Urnight. The 100 ATK boost may seem negligible, but it allows Crusader to punch through Thunder King Rai-Oh and the like.
• Grave of the Super Ancient Organism - A Continuous Trap that prevents all LV6 or higher Special Summoned monsters from ever attacking or using their effects. Since a good deal of LV6 or higher monsters played today are Special Summoned, this will definitely shut them down while you are free to go to town on them with whatever removal you have. Be wary that in the current game these monsters are more likely to be used for high-Rank Xyz Summons, which are not restricted by this card.
• Royal Prison - Another Continuous Trap that prevents both players from Special Summoning from the Graveyard. Very damaging to opponents that love to dump and revive, like Lightsworn, Synchron, and Infernity Decks.
• Gozen Match - Preferably played in Rock Stun where almost all the monsters are EARTH, this card forces both players to keep one Attribute on the field. Lately, this card has been seeing some time in the side deck to counter things like Wind-Ups and Six Samurai which run a large variety of Attributes.