Card Spotlight: Ultimate Slayer
Ultimate Slayer: a new anti-Extra Deck staple!
The newly released Selection Pack: Mysterious Labyrinth, in addition to introducing the long-awaited "Labrynth" and "Runick" archetypes, has brought along a card from TCG set Power of the Elements against expectations. Ultimate Slayer has seen success in TCG formats. but its effectiveness in the Master Duel meta remains to be seen.
Ultimate Slayer has a short but very powerful effect:
Your opponent cannot activate monster effects in response to this card's activation. Send 1 monster from your Extra Deck to the GY, then target 1 monster your opponent controls with the same card type (Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link); shuffle it into the Deck.
Acting as powerful removal against a variety of meta decks, or even allowing the player to send monsters they need in the GY, Ultimate Slayer has consistent applications against the Master Duel meta.
Of particular note is how Ultimate Slayer does not target Ritual Monsters. This makes Ritual Decks such as Drytron which have fell off in recent times have a slight advantage over other decks as they will not be vulnerable.
Below are some uses for and against the current meta (and not) decks, divided into categories:
- Fusion
- Synchro
- Xyz
- Link
- Pendulum
Fusion is a hot Summoming type in the current meta, with Despia and the newly released and popular Runick in the crosshairs of Ultimate Slayer. Fortunately, there are a variety of Fusion targets that can benefit the player in a variety of ways. here are a few:
Elder Entity N'tss
An obvious pick, turning Ultimate Slayer into a two for one that hits any second card on the field. Until the release of Garura, Wings of Resonant Life, N'tss will be the most common Fusion target. Potent against Despia decks as the common end field of Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon and Branded in Red as it forces an early activation, making the opponent miss out on the summon of Guardian Chimera.
While Branded in Red can be activated in response to Ultimate Slayer, N'tss will be able to destroy whatever is summoned, and additionally requires the opponent to have an additional monster in the hand to use as material (which is likely but not certain).
Fossil Fusions
Similar to Elder Entity N'tss, these two Fossil Fusions have the disadvantage of only being able to target one card type apiece; Knight for monsters, Wagon for Spells and Traps.
However, unlike N'tss, these Fusion Monsters are Ignition Effects, not Trigger Effects, allowing the player to choose when to activate them. You are able to let them sit in your GY for as long as needed as a looming threat, or just to deal with a future problem.
El Shaddoll Apkallone
More of a set-up card, Apkallone allows virtually any deck that plays DARK monsters to Summon the powerful El Shaddoll Winda by adding Shaddoll Schism to the hand. This investment only requires a single Main Deck and two Extra Deck cards. Winda is an exceptional floodgate that many decks cannot play under, but playing this tech with Ultimate Slayer means you are likely going second, so the effectiveness is not guaranteed.
Albaz Dragons
These targets are more for the player and not for breaking the opponent's field, but are also deck specific. While Albion is usable only in decks using Branded cards, Alba Lenatus is able to search for any "Fusion" or "Polymerization" card. While Brigrand and Titaniklad, and Sprind are usable in any deck that plays Fallen of Albaz, they are also support for a second archetype; Tri-Brigade for the first, Dogmatika for the second, and Springans for the third. While they have the ability to add or Summon ANY archetype card, this happens in the End Phase, so applications are not particularly powerful most of the time.
Predaplant Chimerafflesia
While more prone to disruption, Chimerafflesia can search any Fusion Spell, including the all-powerful Super Polymerization!
Synchro Summoning is fairly popular in the current meta, used primarily by Swordsoul decks, often by Dragon Link, and rarely by Runick. Luckily, much like Fusion, there are a variety of useful Synchro Monsters that can be sent by Ultimate Slayer.
Herald of the Arc Light
If you played Master Duel on release you probably never wanted to see this card ever again. While a gigantic boost for Ritual decks with a massive search pool, Arc Light can also add Sauravis, the Ancient and Ascended, a handtrap Ritual Monster that negates a targeted activation against any monster you control!
Wind Pegasus @Ignister
A very popular target that does nothing on the offense but forces your opponent to play around an incredibly disruptive return to deck effect in a location that is untouchable by most cards in the game.
PSY-Framelord Omega
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The least flashy of the bunch, Omega has a niche in being able to return itself and another card from either GY back into the deck. This allows him to be reused for Ultimate Slayer multiple times if necessary.
Deep Sea Prima Donna
Your key card is banished? Not anymore. Prima Donna is positioned really well as a Synchro Monster as cards like Swordsoul Supreme Sovereign - Chengying and Swordsoul Sinister Sovereign - Qixing Longyuan specialize in banishing cards, allowing you to remove them from the field while also returning a much-needed card back to the Deck.
Xyz Monsters unfortunately do not have any generically useful targets to send until the future release of Mereologic Aggregator. Noteworthy targets are specific to an archetype or playstyle that is not particularly powerful.
Toadally Awesome
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Useful in WATER decks naturally, but lacks utility anywhere else. The most utility you will get out of this is in Marincess or Umi Control strategies, or adding back a Swordsoul of Mo Ye to the hand.
More useful is the knowledge that Toadally Awesome can target itself, enabling infinite ammunition for Ultimate Slayer. With such little competition in the Xyz category this is the most likely target you will play.
Ghostricks
These cards can return other Ghostrick cards to the hand. The fact that these cards are even mentioned is a showcase of how poor the Xyz pool is. Worse than Toad generically as they cannot return themselves, but the Ghostrick player is probably happy.
Number 71: Rebarian Shark
Lets you stack your Deck for a Rank-Up-Magic Spell. This card has dubious utility as you are usually firing Ultimate Slayer at the start of your turn, and will likely shuffle your deck at some point during your turn. Play draw cards if you want to take advantage of this in whatever deck you are brave enough to include Rank-Up-Magic cards in.
Link Monsters are absolutely everywhere in Yu-Gi-Oh!, and the excellent news is that there is a powerful suite of Link Monsters that can be sent for Ultimate Slayer. Relevant decks that end on Link Monsters include Swordsoul, SPYRAL, Phantom Knight, Scareclaw, Pendulum Magician, Dragon Link, Marincess and Tri-Brigade.
Examples of popular Link Monsters that are impactful to remove include Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess, I:P Masquerena, Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres, Borrelend Dragon, and Ancient Warriors Oath - Double Dragon Lords.
Evil★Twin's Trouble Sunny
Perhaps the most powerful Ultimate Slayer target in the game, with the ability to send any card on the field to the GY as a non-targeting, non-destroying effect. The downside is the required Main Deck dedication outside of dedicated Live☆Twin decks; players are forced to run Evil★Twins Ki-sikil & Lil-la to send as cost which will inevitably wind up as a deck card in your opening hand in some duels. With great power comes great risk, so include at your own peril.
Tri-Brigades
Ferrijit is a completely generic hand fixer, and as a result is a popular choice. Shuraig and Beabrumm are more deck specific, but have targeted searches, making them more powerful in decks you would play them in. Take note that while there are generically useful Tri-Brigade cards, Bearbrumm locks the player into Tri-Brigade monsters for the turn.
Paleozoic Cambroraster
Very useful for backrow decks, Cambroraster provides an additional layer of protection. As the effect does not activate and sits in the GY, it is almost impossible to prevent outside Called by the Grave which players will likely opt to hold for something more significant.
Salamangreat Balelynx
Useful only in Salamangreat decks, Balelynx provides extra insurance in getting your plays off. While it is a suitable target, other examples listed above will likely be more useful.
While you are able to send face-up Pendulum Monsters for Ultimate Slayer, you can include an array of multiple type monsters in your Extra Deck to hit those card types as well as Pendulum strategies. While this gives a wider utility against opponents, the targets themselves lack useful effects. It would not be recommended to play any targets for this type.
The only relevant deck which Ultimate Slayer can send Pendulum Monsters for is Pendulum Magicians which often are playing an FTK strategy, rendering it useless.
Anything You Want
Chosen solely for their low rarity. No multiple type monsters have useful GY effects, so if you are including them solely for fun or to hit a wider range of monsters, stick with lower rarity targets.
How do you feel about Ultimate Slayer? Let us know in the comments below!
