The Featured Card
With the upcoming
September 2012 banlist
now confirmed, and having hit a horde of threats from last format, the
game is now moving in a newer, perhaps slower direction. Only time will
tell how the new format will shape up, but with the return of
Synchro-centric Decks such as "
Agents" and
Plant Synchro,
old Decks are already reinventing themselves to take them on. This has
brought upon a new surge of popularity to a variety of cards, one of
them being "
Snowman Eater".
An oldie but a goodie, "Snowman Eater" was first released years ago in the
TCG with the coming of
Raging Battle and received considerable
Side Deck use since, being a great answer to big monsters that are otherwise hard to deal with such as "
Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En" and "
Evolzar Laggia". For such a popular card, though, it has a very simple effect.
First off, let's talk about its stats - "Snowman Eater" is a
WATER monster who sits at
Level
3, bringing a range of advantages that we'll be covering later on in
this article. Its effect is what makes it really shine, however. When
"Snowman Eater" is
flipped face-up, it must
destroy
1 face-up monster; but if it is the only monster on the field, it will
have no option but to target itself. It's an effect that's akin to other
popular monsters like "
Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter"; however, what sets it apart from these monsters is its impressive 1900
DEF, and the ability to destroy in the
Damage Step, where only a few cards can
negate it.
With Synchro Monsters projected to rise up once again, "
Thunder King Rai-Oh", another popular Side Deck card, has become a useful addition to many a Main Deck. Run in multiples, it threatens "
HEROes", Plants, "Agents" and even
Rabbit-based
Decks with its Special Summon negation and search-blocking
capabilities. With many of these Decks unable to get over it without
excessively wasting important cards such as "
Dark Hole",
"Snowman Eater" is a ray of hope. Its 1900 DEF prevents "TKRO" from
running it over, and when flipped up, it removes the formidable card
from the board altogether.
Its bulky DEF also allows it to survive attacks from most other
Normal Summonable monsters, letting it stay around to assist in bigger plays, such as
Xyz Summoning. With the Semi-Limiting of "
Tour Guide From the Underworld", players are finding themselves having to run unorthodox monsters to bolster the
Rank
3 engine, or deal with only being able to reliably Summon a Rank 3
monster once per game. "Snowman Eater" helps rectify this problem,
becoming the perfect Xyz Material to bring out monsters like "
Wind-Up Zenmaines" and "
Leviair the Sea Dragon" after it has used its effect.
In Plant Decks, "Snowman Eater" becomes a force to be reckoned
with - on top of its vigorous effect, it joins an exclusive group of
elite members that can be Special Summoned by one of Plant's ace
monsters, "
Debris Dragon". As a Level 3 monster, "Snowman Eater" becomes yet another material for the
Synchro Summon of "
Black Rose Dragon", enhancing the Deck's already efficient ability to nuke the field. It also grants access to the almighty "
Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier", a powerful card that can allow many plays, especially when the discarded cards can be used when they go to the
Graveyard.
With Rabbit-based Decks still likely to be used in abundance,
"Snowman Eater" also continues to perform its ability of reliably
disposing of "Evolzar Laggia" with limited hassle, as well as other
problematic monsters. All in all, get used to enjoying seeing this
little critter's face, because you may be seeing it a lot this format.
