Hail the King of Counter Trap Monster

(NOTE: I accidentally typed a bit too much for the monster name title. It should only be "Devil King Dragon - Vandalgion")

I HOPE this is correct. That the next YGO card after Dreadroot have been confirmed that this is the next Jump card. And no, this will probably not be the name of the card. "Devil" is bad in English YGO, although they'll probably keep Vandalgion.

Anyway, onto the review.

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Devil King Dragon - Vandalgion

8 Star / Dragon / Dark /

2800ATK / 2500 DEF

Effect: Whenever a card that opponent activate is negate by a Counter Trap, this card can be special summon from your hand. When this card is successfully special summon this way, one of the following effects would be activate depends on the type of the card negated.
- Spell: Do 1500 damages to your opponent
- Trap: Destroy a card on opponent's field.
- Effect Monster: Choose a monster in your Graveyard and special summon it onto your field.

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Simply put, this is the WAY WAY WAY Superior version of Voltanis the Adjudicator. That card had below average effect for a cost of playing a Counter Trap + tribute all monsters on your field.

Well, let's start with the goods.

#1: Can be special summoned from hand. It have a condition, but a free 2800 ATK beatstick is not a bad thing. And it doesn't have any restrictions so you can CotH, Preme, etc. (Although you want it in your hand for the effect)

#2: The effect kicks in when you special summon it from your hand by it's card effect, (By negating something with a counter trap) So another words, you NEED to play Counter-Traps, and alot. or totally not worth your bother of running. Meaning, yeah, this card isn't splashable and need support.

So let's run down the good Counter-Traps

Solemn Judgment: Yeah, the king of all Counter Trap. Running 3x of this is a must if you even bother running this card.

Dark Bribe: the 2nd most flexable Counter Trap. Yeah, it lets your foe draw, but you negate + special summon this bad boy with effect kicks in. Another Must 3x in your deck.

Pulling the Rug. This stops some types of monsters plus negates effects of monsters. (e.g. Monarch, Breaker, Stratos, etc.) I'll say another 2~3x

Forced Back: Slightly inferior to Pulling the Rug although making a comeback cause of all those Light and Darkness Dragon running around. But activating this won't kick in the Vandalgion's 2nd effect, although you can still special summon the monster from your hand. I won't recommend this card for a focused deck around Vandalgion, but you can still run it.

Magic Drain: Before Dark Bribe, this card was the card of choice of spell negation. Still have value.

Seven Tools of the Bandit: A good Trap negator. Although it's inferior to Dark Bribe now.

Divine Wrath: The Ultimate Effect Monster negator. Although it have a cost, but for bringing out the Vandalgion, can be worth it. The effect wise is better then Pulling the Rug, but Pulling the Rug have no cost. Use it at your own choice.

Counter Counter: Well, it can negate Counter Traps for free, which are "traps". But this is only good on a mirror match where both players have nothing but counter traps set.

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There are more, but I'm just going to review these for now. For now, let's see what Counter Trap activates what effect of Vandalgion

Spell Negation: Solemn Judgment, Dark Bribe, Magic Drain,

Trap Negation: Solemn Judgment, Dark Bribe, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Counter Counter,

Monster effect Negation: Pulling the Rug, Divine Wrath,

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First of all, if you even want to run this card in your deck, having a 3x Solemn Judgment and 3x Dark Bribe is a REQUIREMENT. If you don't have those cards, don't even bother running this card IMO.

Now, for negating a spell, you get a 2800ATK beatstick plus an extra 1500LP direct burn damage. Gee, this sounds almost TOO GOOD for a burn decks that runs nothing BUT counter traps and stall/burn cards. Although if your running a Skill Drain Burn deck, it'll negate this burn effect. (But you can still special summon from hand)

For Trap negation, you get to pop a card on the foe's field. Well, 1 negation, 2800ATK beatstick, plus 1 card removal isn't bad. But you already negated an effect you didn't want to go off. Unless your foe have something annoying on the field, this is just an extra icing. Good, but not great.

And finally, Monster effect negation. You get to special summon a monster from your grave. Yeah, Disk Commander will LOVE this effect. (Although not sure if decks that runs alot of counter traps will run Disk in the first place) Well, other then that, there's DMoC, and a couple other monsters you might want. Even if it doesn't have a "when special summoned" effect on the monster, a free Monster Reborn isn't bad at all. If all else, just put that Spirit Reaper/Marshmellon on a burn deck or Big Shield Guardna on the field for Skill Drain burn. (If Skill Drain isn't active yet of course)

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So, what decks will run this. The FIRST thing everybody will think of are Counter-Fairy deck. (This card + Bountiful Artemis are a great combo with a bunch of counter traps) And the 2nd deck people will think is Skill Drain Burn. Both are great with this card. And any other deck that'll run like 6~10+ whatever Counter Traps in the deck will love this card. (E-Hero Ocean Box, Gadgets, etc.) And even with Skill Drain active, you can still at least special summon it from hand, (Just like Cyber Dragon can still be special summoned with Skill Drain) although it's 2nd effect won't kick in. But still, in a Skill Drain deck, it's ALL ABOUT BEATSTICKS. And a 2800ATK beatstick on the field means your foe will be crying in corner. Just don't ram into Malevolent Catastrophe by accident with Skill Drain on the field. (If they even run it in main/side deck)












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Overall, I give this card a

8 out of 10

Need supports on a specific decks. However on those specific decks that needs Counter Traps, this card beefs those decktypes by ALOT. Best Counter Trap support monster ever IMO.
 
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