Cyber Dragon

What's shakin' duelists? The Coach is back, and today, we're gonna Dragons. Actually, we're gonna discuss Cyber Dragons. Technically, they are Machines, but they are really cool looking mechanical dragons. This archetype was made famous by Zane Truesdale from the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX era, and I became quite fascinated with it myself. Cyber Dragon is one of the most versatile monsters in the game, and is used in a variety of decks because of its ability to quickly get more powerful monsters in play.

This card isn't bad for a Level 5, with 2100 ATK and 1600 DEF. Its special ability allows to Special Summon him if your opponent has monsters and you do not. For example, if your opponent goes first in the duel, this card can even the odds, and give you some options. Here are some of your choices for making full use of Cyber Dragon:

- You could Normal Summon a Tuner monster after Special Summoning Cyber Dragon for a Synchro Summon on your opening turn.
- You could offer Cyber Dragon as a tribute to Normal Summon a stronger Level 5 or Level 6 monster.
- You could activate a Spell card that calls for a tribute of a monster such as Cyber Dragon to resolve its effect.
-You could tribute Cyber Dragon to summon a Blackwing monster, and then Special Summon other Blackwings in the same turn due to their effects.

These are some of the many options you have for this one monster card. I'll let you choose which of these might work for you, and also let you figure out some of the other options that are out there. Now let's take a look at some of Cyber Dragon's other forms. These can be achieved by Fusion Summoning, or by the activation of certain Spells and Traps.

Cyber Barrier Dragon is a Level 6 monster with 800 ATK and 2800 DEF. This card is Special Summoned by "Attack Reflector Unit". If you Special Summon it in ATK mode, its special ability will negate one attack during each of your opponent's turns. If you Special Summon it in DEF mode, its 2800 DEF will protect you from a fair number of attacking monsters. (6/10)

Cyber Laser Dragon is another Cyber Dragon variation. This monster is a Level 7 with 2400 ATK and 1800 DEF. Its special ability allows it to destroy a monster each turn with ATK or DEF equal to or higher than its ATK. Combine this with attacking a monster on the same turn and wipe out your opponent's monster in half the time. (8/10)

Next up is Cyber Twin Dragon, which is a fusion of two Cyber Dragons. It has the special ability to attack twice during each of your Battle Phases. Combine this with 2800 ATK, and the duel could be over sooner rather than later. Slip a couple of these in your deck for a guaranteed victory. (8/10)

Cyber End Dragon is a fusion of three Cyber Dragons. This 4000 ATK powerhouse can inflict Piercing Damage during an attack. Combine this with a Twin Cyber Dragon or two and you've got the duel in the bag. (10/10)

Moving on to cards that support Cyber Dragon, we start with Evolution Burst. This card allows you to destroy a card your opponent controls, providing that you have a Cyber Dragon in play. Use this to wipe out a stronger monster than yours, or to take out a face down card. There are better cards than this with a similar effect and not in need of another card for activation. (5/10)

Cyber Valley is a Level 1 monster with 0 ATK and DEF. It has not one, not two, but three special abilities. You can use it to end a Battle Phase early, banish it along with an opponent's monster, or banish this card and one in your hand to recycle a card in the graveyard back to the deck. It's good to have options. (6/10)

Next up is Cyber Dragon Zwei. This card gains 300 ATK during damage calculation. It can be treated as "Cyber Dragon" until the end of your turn if you reveal a Spell Card in your hand. It is also treated as "Cyber Dragon" while in the graveyard. This is good for Fusion Summoning if you pull materials from the graveyard rather than your hand or the field. (4/10)

Cyber Ouroboros is a low level monster whose special ability allows you to draw a card when this card is banished. The only catch is you must send a card from your hand to the graveyard. Combine this with Cyber Dragon Zwei or another Cyber Dragon and you'll perform a Fusion Summon a lot quicker. (5/10)

Proto-Cyber Dragon is another low level monster that can be treated as "Cyber Dragon" while it is on the field. It only has 1100 ATK and 600 DEF, but can be another option for Fusion Summoning Cyber Twin Dragon or Cyber End Dragon. (4/10)

Cyber Eltanin is a Level 10 monster whose attack is determined by the number of LIGHT Machine-type monsters used to summon it. In order to summon this card, you must banish all LIGHT Machine-type monsters from your field and graveyard. So, the more monster you can banish at the time, the this card will be. Cyber Eltanin gets 500 ATK and DEF for each monster, so this will add up pretty fast. Get at least 16 banished, and score a one hit knockout against your opponent if there field is bare. That's easier said than done, but I'll give some pointers on that topic in a future post. (10/10)

The last card we'll be looking at is Power Bond. This card is a real game changer, if you play it at the right time. I prefer using it at the end of a duel to guarantee victory. This card allows you to Fusion Summon a Machine-type monster with double its normal ATK value. The catch is, at the end of your turn, you take damage equal to the original ATK of the monster summoned by this card. This is a another good way to get an 8000 ATK monster such as Cyber End Dragon.

Once again, this concludes another installment brought to you by Muramasa the Coach. Until next time, keep those Machine-types in tip top shape.

Monster Mechanics: Part 2

Hello Again Duelists,

     It's that time again! I'm here to give you the second half of my look at Monster cards. Today we're going to look at Attributes and Types. Duelists who wish to make decks that specialize in a particular Attribute or Type may want to pay attention to this.
     There are seven Attributes: Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind and Divine. Let's take a look at them:

Light - The pure and virtuous monsters that the good clean duelists like to use. They tend to favor Fairy-type monsters and Thunder-type monsters over all others. The Lightsworn monsters are one of the more famous groups of Light monsters. Another group is the Worm monsters. Some others worth noting are Blue-Eyes White Dragon (one of my favorites), Elemental Hero Neos and Marshmallon.

Dark - The bad boys of dueling. These tend to be quite popular with a lot of duelists out there. Most of the bad guys in the different Yu-Gi-Oh! series favored these. Some of the most famous Dark monsters include the Gravekeepers, Exodia the Forbidden One, Dark Magician, the Blackwings, and a lot of the Fiend-types.

Earth - Quite a few monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! were of the Earth attribute. Most of them are either Beast-types, Warrior-types or Rock-types. Some notable Earth monsters include the Karakuris, Man-Eater Bug and the Ancient Gears.

Fire - These monsters will leave you feeling the burn. Mostly Pyro-type monsters make up this attribute, and include some lethal choices such as Flame Swordsman and Lava Golem. Some popular groups of Fire attribute monsters include the Volcanics and the Flamvells.

Water - Monsters of the high seas make up this group. Aqua-types and Sea-Serpents make up the majority of this attribute. Some personal favorites include Number 32: Shark Drake, the Ice Barrier monsters and Nightmare Penguin.

Wind - These monsters will blow you away! Mostly containing Winged Beast-types, these creatures can come together fast, and hit you pretty hard. The cream of the crop includes Stardust Dragon, the Harpie Ladies, Mist Valley monsters and Dragunity monsters.

Divine - Perhaps the most powerful and sacred of all monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!, this attribute is a very small group. They tend to be hard to get your hands on, and even harder to build a deck around. When the word Divine is mentioned, the name that goes along with it is the well-known Egyptian God Cards.

So there you have it, the seven attributes revealed. Think about which attributes appeal to you, and how you'd like to build a deck around one or two of them. This is the Coach, signing off!