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Name
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Seven Tools of the Bandit |
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Rarity
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Ultra Rare |
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Effect
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Send, from your
hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard, Fusion
Material Monsters that are listed on a Machine-Type
Fusion Monster Card, and Special Summon that Fusion
Monster from your Fusion Deck. (This Special Summon is
treated as a Fusion Summon). Increase the ATK of this
Special Summoned Fusion Monster by an amount equal to
its original ATK. During the End Phase of this turn, the
player who activated this card takes damage equal to the
original ATK of the Special Summoned monster.
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Type
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Counter Trap |
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Card Number
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MRD-129
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Card Rating
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Advanced: 2.25 |
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Date Reviewed
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12.04.06
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Hmm.....Seven Tools of the Bandit...The very first ultra rare I
ever pulled in my Ygo career. I was so happy, I decked it
immediately, it was such an amazing card. With it you
could negate mirror force, trap hole, magic jammer, ultimate
offering, and the like. So the question is, is it viable in
current meta tournament play, and type 1 worthy? Well,
lets take a look at some close substitutes... When this card
first came out, it had a monopoly on the market. In
monopolistic competition, there are no close substitutes so this
card had a strangle hold on the market and was very valuable
being the only ultra rare of its kind, so it was a price maker
not a price taker....Anyway, as with all monopolistic
competition, the profit advantage of under production and
overpricing is only applied to the short run, as eventually
substitutes see the success and enter the market.
Now, Seven Tools exists in a perfectly competitive market,
with many substitutes. Lets take a look at some of the
competitors products.
1) Mystical Space Typhoon : This is a quick play spell making it
more versatile then Seven Tools. It can be played as
soon as you draw it, and does not cost life points.
However, you can only destroy a target, not negate it. It
is much safer having Seven Tools set, so if mirror force is
chained to an attack, you can quickly negate it, not having to
worry about picking one of your opponents face down's to destroy
before you attack. If you have Seven Tools down, you have
piece of mind for 1000 life points
2) Trap Jammer: This basically is Seven Tools without the
life points... The downside is it can ONLY be used during the
battle phase. Seven Tools can prevent the call of the
haunted tribute main phase 1 combo, as well as the select other
main phase 1 trap users. It is not as good as Seven Tools
with a straight out watered down effect, however, you save 1000
life points
3) Jinzo: This, like Mystical Space Typhoon, is a
preventative measure. The idea is that you will stop your
opponent from activating the trap, so you need not worry about
Seven Tools. A different type of card that can be used in
the same relative way.
4) Mobius and Breaker: Mystical Space typhoon in the form of
Monster effects. These guys both destroy face down cards,
but the cards can still be activated in a chain. In the
current Meta, these guys succumb to goats as well as bottomless
trap hole.
5) Royal Decree: Probably the best substitute for Seven
Tools. Much like Seven tools, this card can be chained any
time and be used to counter most commonly used trap cards
(mirror force, sak armor, call of the haunted, bottomless trap
hole, torrential tribute, dust tornado). However, it must
remain on the field potentially hurting you in the future should
the tide of the game turn. It does not require the 1000 lp
cost though. It also may not be used to chain against
spell speed 3 cards, making it lose to Seven Tools in a head on
collision.
So basically what we find is that in this new perfectly
competitive market (meta game) there are a variety of other
cards that have pro's and con's to good old Seven Tools.
What you will notice is, that none of those cards do the job of
shutting down trap cards better, they just have other uses
making them more versatile over all, just not as versatile in
trap negation.
Still after all this time, when I do happen to have Seven Tools
down, nothing can really beat that feeling of safety when
launching an attack at your opponent for the win, even if they
have 4 traps down (not counting quick play spells), there is
nothing they can do to stop the attack... Not unless they have
there own Seven Tools down to counter yours!!
Should you play it in today's game? Probably not....But
you could do worse ^_^
Advanced Score : 2.5/5
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Seven Tools of the Bandit, a very interesting trap card that
seems to have lost some of its spunk. The neat thing about Seven
Tools is that it can stop the activation of any trap with a low
cost of 1000 life points. Back in the old days, This could stop
your opponent's Solemn Judgement, Imperial Order, Mirror Force,
etc. These days, Sakuretsu, Mirror Force, Bottomless Trap Hole
fall victim to the effect. According to the recent theory of
card advantage, lifepoint costs are negligible to compensate
field advantage. This card basically forms an advantage of 0
(1000lp to negate any trap). This lifepoint cost plays a role
just as any cost does. If used early in the game, the 1000
lifepoints seem somewhat insignificant. However, Seven Tools is
a much more valuable card in late game, which applies the effect
of elasticity. 1000lp is a much bigger cost as your lifepoints
are lower (such as in late game).
There are 2 main cards that have replaced this trap. The first
would be Jinzo. When Jinzo is on the field, all traps are
negated. Not only is this card a great substitute for Seven
Tools, but it leaves the opponent open for an onslaught. Seven
Tools only really gives a one-time use, with a hefty cost. Jinzo
can reach the field in many different ways. The other substitute
for Seven Tools would be Royal Decree, a continuous trap that
negates the activation of any other trap on the field. Seven
Tools could counter this substitute, as it is Spell Speed 3 and
Royal Decree is a speed of 2.
back in the early days, this card was a valuable asset for most
decks. However, in today's game there are more valuable cards
that negate traps.
Pros:
Lifepoint cost rather than discarding cost
Counter Trap
Cons:
*000 life point cost for activation
*ubstitutes are becoming more common
*bad topdeck
This card is one of the past. It is rarely seen in competitive
play anymore due to the large quantity of substitutes being
acquired.
Trad: 3/5
ADV: 2/5
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Seven Tools of the Bandit was an old favorite of mine in its
first months. Mirror Force and Imperial Order, time after time
were left useless after I activated this handy Trap Card.
Nowadays it seems we're in even greater need of Trap negation.
So why do we not run it?
There are a few reasons why we have tossed this card aside.
First, it is a horrible topdeck. If you are staring down a
monarch and a Don Zaloog, with nothing on your field but a
Treeborn Frog perhaps, Seven Tools of the Bandit is not the card
you want to see pulled out of your deck next. I'd much rather
have seen a Jinzo on that pull.
Jinzo...this brings us to reason number two. There are many
cards top-tier deck worthy that negate traps much more
efficiently than Seven Tools of the Bandit can. Royal Decree is
another example - a deck with many Quick-Play Spells and Royal
Decrees is going to be a much more powerful deck than one that
merely has STotB splashed into it (since there's no other way to
run it).
Also, remember that Seven Tools of the Bandit is a Counter Trap,
so it cannot deactivate traps already in effect, such as Call of
the Haunted or Nightmare Wheel (which is becoming more popular
because of burn). Finally, let's not forget our 1,000 life point
cost. It may not be much in some situations, but in all of the
others it's the difference between life and death.
Let's recap shall we -
Pros
- Trap negation is becoming more and more valuable
- Spell Speed 3
Cons
- Horrible topdeck
- Not the most effective form of Trap negation
- Drains 1,000 precious Life Points
- No real strategy to base the card around
Overall, this card is no longer suited for the big leagues
anymore. This is slightly decent side deck material, but not by
much. My advice - only run Seven Tools if you have nothing else
to put in, and are paranoid about Trap removal.
ADV: 2/5
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Seven Tools of the Bandit, one of my favorite traps in that it
can stop any trap's activation. It only costs 1000LP which can
make it easier to use than cards like Magic Jammer. There are a
lot of traps out there that are commonly used to make 7 tools
useful such as: Magic Cylinder, Mirror Force, Royal Decree,
Imperial Order (TRAD), Sakuretsu Armor, Bottomless Trap Hole,
and Call Of The Hanted are a bunch of examples. But it can
actually be a burden in terms of topdecking. anyway, here are
some pros and cons
+ Its cost is in the form of LP, not discarding from your hand.
+ Royal Decree can't be chained to its activation
- Can't be used against trap cards that are already active
- It is a trap card itself
- Can make for a bad top decking
While it may sound good, it can hurt in some situations. Most
people would prefer using Royal Decree in its place.
TRAD: 3/5
ADV: 2.5/5
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Last Updated: December 08, 2006
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