Card Spotlight: Branded Expulsion

Branded Expulsion: What it is and How to Beat it

The newly released Secret Pack: Alba Abyss, in addition to making Branded and Despia decks more accessible, brings with it a suite of powerful new cards, the most infamous being Loading... , a fairly innocuous card that is an enabler of extremely powerful board setups that have the ability to win the duel immediately with little counterplay. The low rarity of involved cards has made this combo extremely accessible, resulting in a lot of coverage by content creators and disdain from the playerbase about what is essentially a more powerful version of the hate magnet that was Loading... .

The effect in question we are interested in is:

Special Summon both monsters, 1 on each field.

Ideally you will target two banished monsters, to grant immunity to the likes of Loading... , Loading... , and Loading... . Fortunately, the deck has methods of accomplishing this.

While your first pick may be the notorious Loading... , it is inferior to a number of other monsters which offer either less counterplay, or more powerful floodgating effects. Here are some alternatives below, and which one is the clear winner. All targets must be targets for Loading... as that is the method for which these monsters are "searchable" as targets for Loading... .

LIGHT Monsters

LIGHT monsters can be used as material for Loading... , these monsters fulfil the desired goal but are are hindered by their awkward attribute. While playable, it is not recommended to do so.

These cards would be playable if not for a variety of significantly better options.

Ra's Disciple

Ra's Disciple can be sent off Loading... to make Loading... . This is awkward, however, as you are unable to set up Loading... without drawing additional cards.

Featuring low stats and the inability to be tributed (by anything) Ra's Disciple will be perfectly capable against virtually any deck in the game outside of Floowandereeze, Yosenju, and an Egyptian God deck, none of which are worth mentioning in the same breath as competitive decks.

Artifact Scythe

One of the largest hate magnets in the community, Artifact Scythe locks only the Extra Deck and activates on the field as a Trigger. While game-winningly powerful, there are far superior options especially considering the awkward Attribute. The activated effect is susceptible to various disruptions and offers no benefits over alternatives. Finally, the UR Rarity is further offputting.

Archlord Kristya

With a gigantic 2800 ATK, Kristya can assist with closing out games very quickly. Unfortunately, the lock on Special Summoning applies to both players, meaning you are unable to further increase the power of your board on subsequent turns. Additionally, Kristya returns to the top of the deck if the opponent outs it, giving the player an almost certainly dead draw next turn. This combined with the UR rarity makes Loading... an overall unappealing target.

Barrier Statue of the Heavens

A meme target that locks your own plays excluding bosses like Loading... . With weak stats and a restrictive effect you are better off playing Loading... or Loading... which have far more encompassing effects.

DARK Monsters

All DARK monsters in this article, can be triggered by the following setup, requiring only a single Loading... or Loading... (and the accompanying discards):

• Aluber activates on Summon to search Loading... .

• Activate Branded Fusion, sending your DARK monster and Loading... to Summon Loading... .

• Loading... Summons Loading... using itself and Loading... .

• Loading... activates, sending Loading... from the Extra Deck to banish Loading... .

• During the End Phase, Loading... sets Loading... from the Deck.