Card of the Month December 2009: Starlight Road!

Starlight Road

Normal Trap

"Activate only when an effect was activated that destroys 2 or more cards you control. Negate that effect and destroy that card. Then, you can Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Extra Deck."

Starlight Road. A heavily hyped card since it's release, with many players willing to offer high end prices for this very card, and for good reason, too. Why? For one, it completely changes the state of the game, in which you take for granted.

In what sense? Well, you see, the existence of this card completely ruins a major part of the game which we all take for granted. And what mechanic of the game is it? I'd like to call it, the Heavy Storm mechanic.

You see, most good players tend not to dedicate their entire hand of spell/traps to the field, in the 15% chance that the opponent draws Heavy Storm in the opening hand, and plays it. This forces all players to be careful of how many cards they set, and the risk vs payoff in the event that the opponent does have the Heavy Storm.

However, with the release of Starlight Road, everything has changed. Players are now able to dedicate their entire hand on the board, without fear of getting punished for overextensions. This allows the person playing the Storm, even though it would be a perfectly fine play back in the day, to get punished for it.

I'm sure we all remember saving your Torrential Tributes or Mirror Forces while playing with less experienced players as you know for sure they will just summon whatever they have, without thinking of the consequences. This results in a plus for you, and their downfall.

The best part about Starlight Road is that only need to play a single copy to experience it's advantages, or maybe even none at all! Why? The fact that this card exists forces players to second guess whether they should punish you for your overextensions or not. The confusion it creates for certain players forces them to make misplays, which is all good for you.

What's more, is that it's such a versatile card, capable of being used in both offensive and defensive ways. Imagine, you amass a huge amount of monsters on the field and are about to attack for huge damage. Your opponent flips up his cleverly saved Mirror Force, ready to destroy all your monsters and punishing your overextensions. However, enter Starlight Road! Your opponent in turn gets punished for wanting to punish you, and with the extra 2500 attack power on the board that your Stardust grants you, you push for game. Simply horrifying.

However, in spite of all these, the Road is not undefeatable. While it all sounds great in theory, the Road is a horrible draw in far too many scenarios and matchups. There are also many many ways one can increase his or her chances of not getting hit by the Road. The examples of cards you can use have already been gone through by the whole world by now, so I'll go on into how you adapt your playstyle when you face an opponent packing multiple copies of the Road.

Firstly, do not look to simplify the game, and do not fear the complicated game state. Imagine, your opponent goes first and sets 5 to his/her backrow. Then play passes to you. If it were back then, people wouldn't really mind opening the Heavy Storm ASAP, as it forces out negation at worst, and utterly punishes your opponent at best. Seeking to eliminate every card your opponent has on the field isn't really the best course of action at the moment.

So what do you do? Play as per normal. Let your opponent use up his/her removal on you. Afterall, the most the opponent is going to set is multiple copies of removal along with multiple copies of negation. If you don't play anything that triggers the negation, all that's left is the removal you've gotta play out of. Yes, back in the day you could waste their negation, as both Solemn and Bribe would grant you a form of advantage if the opponent were to open it. But now, to be safe, I urge most players to hold their Heavy Storm, as Starlight Road a form of negation that generates a plus for negating you instead, which punishes you for wanting to waste their negation.

All in all, just imagine the Road is invisible, since it kinda is, when you're not playing into it. Though the fact that it slows you down by making you hesitate playing your Heavy Storm is simply priceless, and is what makes it a such a great card.