Card Review: Ultimate Offering
The advanced play format is in place and it's obviously created uses for cards that have previously seen little play. Most of the big monster killers are gone, Dark Hole, Mirror Force, and Raigeki. It's a monster friendly environment in advanced play and the card Ultimate Offering can help you take advantage of that.
First lets review the card's ability and rules.
Card text: At the cost of 500 Life Points per monster, a player is allowed to extra Normal Summon or Set.
Ultimate Offering is a spell speed two continuous trap card that can be used during the controller's main phase one or two and during your opponent's battle phase.
Ultimate Offering cannot be used in response or chain to it's own activation.
Ultimate Offering can be chained to it's own use.
Now lets take a look at how to use Ultimate Offering in some of the most effective ways. Obviously we all love to have as many monsters on the field as possible to attack with but first we have to have them in our greedy little hands! Cards such as Warrior Returning Alive, Reinforcements of the Army, Heart of the Underdog, Pot of Greed, etc. help to either select or add options of monsters to use with Ultimate Offering. Offensively these are great weapons.
Some of the most powerful monsters in the game take a tribute summon. It's often a difficult decision as to weather to risk the tribute monster only to have it thrown back in your hand or destroyed leaving you with not only no monster on the field but the one you previously had in the graveyard. Sinister Serpent and Ultimate Offering are close friends if you like to be able to tribute summon those five and six star monsters with the great effects.
One of the most opportune times to use Ultimate Offering is when you're opponent is ready to leave his battle phase. At this time paying the 500 life points seems a small price to pay to set a strategic monster such as:
Fiber Jar
Cyber Jar,
Swarm of Scarabs
Swarm of Locusts
Slate Warrior
Penguin Solider
Great tribute moves can be used during your opponent's battle phase as well. Try the combination of Magical Hats, searching your deck for Black Pendants, and then activating Ultimate Offering for the two Black Pendants (inflicting 1000 lp damage) and tribute summoning for your favorite seven star or higher monster, or on a side note if you don't have Ultimate Offering in play send those temporary face down "Monsters" back to your hand with Compulsory Evacuation Device. Great results can come from using the tributes for Guardian Sphinx or Mobius the Frost Monarch. No doubt you have your own flip effect or effect monsters that you'd love to set or summon but seem to often get them destroyed before you can use their effect on your own turn.
Other interesting strategies can be used with Ultimate Offering. Consider Ultimate Offering in use with Pineapple Blast, Jowegen the Spiritualist., or Royal Oppression
Remember that monsters summoned via Ultimate Offering are considered another normal summon. Maruading Captain + Goblin Attack Force, then Ultimate Offering for another Maruading Captain + Goblin Attack Force = four monsters on the field for the cost of 500 life points!
In the traditional format perhaps the most wicked combination involving Ultimate Offering involves D.D. Warrior Lady and the "Dreaded Bird" <shudder> Let's not go there shall we? It's bad enough I'm dispised because I'm a judge, no sense adding fuel to the fire <laffin>