Gilford the Lightning - CT2-EN001

Gilford the Lightning
Effect Monster - LIGHT/Warrior
ATK: 2800, DEF: 1400
8-Star
"If you Tribute Summon this card by Tributing 3 monsters, destroy all monsters on your opponent's side of the field."

There are no published rulings for "Gilford the Lightning" at the current time.

Gilford the Lightning is sexiness personified. LIGHT is well supported and Warrior support is all over the place, too. He has nice high attack, although his defense is somewhat sub-par. He has a great effect, let's take a look.

Gilford the Lightning requires 2 Tributes to summon normally. You can avoid this however by using Kaiser Sea Horse. But wait, there's more. If you Tribute three monsters to summon Gilford, he gets a Raigeki-like effect. Since Kaiser Sea Horse counts for 2 monsters, if you tribute it and another monster, the effect goes off. This is similar to the Behemoth the King of All Animals ruling. Possible? Yes. Probable? Not really.

A monster with an effect similar to that of a banned card has to have some downsides. Tributing 3 monsters is a rare occurence, even if Kaiser Sea Horse is one of them (and situational too). Having enough monsters (I'd say 2 or more) on your opponent's side of the field to make the effect worth it is also too situational. His 1400 DEF makes him vulnerable to Book of Moon and Tsukuyomi, even with their upcoming restrictions.

Gilford the Lightning works best in either a Warrior deck or a LIGHT deck (with at least a couple Kaiser Sea Horse's). I believe it was Spike Kaiba who awhile back created a deck focused on using the Sea Horse's for both Gilford the Lightning (Raigeki) and Moisture Creature (Harpie's Feather Duster).

To reiterate, Gilford is sexy, I just find him somewhat situational. Best case scenario - Summon Marauding Captain, his effect Special Summons Kaiser Sea Horse, protect them both, next turn Gilford. He's worth a shot, though.

Advanced: 3/5 - Possible, but not probable
Traditional: 1.75/5 - Use Raigeki, monster removal hurts here
Limited: --/5
 
Reviewer's Note: When I say that the ruling is similar to that of Behemoth the King of All Animals, I'm referring to Rule #1 which is as follows:
It is possible to "properly" Tribute Summon "Behemoth the King of All Animals" with just 1 Tribute. For example, you can Tribute Summon it with "Trojan Horse", or use "Cost Down" and then Tribute 1 monster because "Behemoth the King of All Animals" is only Level 5. In cases such as this, either 2000 ATK or 2700 ATK is correct, so the controller can select which ATK it will have.
What I mean by this is that if you tribute summon a Kaiser Sea Horse and another monster in order to summon Gilford the Lightning, you have the option of it either counting as 2 or 3 monsters.

While you do have that option, in that situation wouldn't it just be better to count it as 3 monsters to get Gilford's effect? Why yes, Jathro; yes it would.
 
When I first heard about him back when... well, way back when, I used to like him a lot. I still like him, but not as much. He can still be used very well though.

Nice review, Jath. I do think it was Spike Kaiba that did that deck too...
 
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