Back in the day, one of the most popular Yu-Gi-Oh! cards that was designed to interact during the Battle Phase is Mirror Force. What's cool about this card is that it can destroy more than 1 monster on the opponent's side of the field, and it does not target (meaning that you don't necessarily have to commit, if your opponent responds in a way that still lets you resolve the effect). What is it good for? It is most useful when your opponent has already built up a field full of monsters (5 monsters in the regular game, 3 monsters in Duel Links), and they're ready to beat your life points (LP) down to zero, or close to zero, that turn. Then you can respond, maybe putting them off-guard for the next turn, and it can be a game-changer. It's nice that it doesn't target, but the big downside is that it only affects Attack-position monsters, so if your opponent plays around this card and switches at least 1 monster to Defense mode, they're not blown out of the water and they'll live another turn, probably. Also, it's not used nearly as much anymore simply because cards that could remove things in the Spell/Trap zone at the end of your turn, if you go second, are more prevalent nowadays (Cosmic Cyclone, Twin Twisters, Mystical Space Typhoon, etc). How can you counter it? Well, I mean, if you really want to, you could counter this in multiple ways. Here are some options that come to mind:
Indeed, there are plenty of ways to counter Mirror Force, if you really had to. Now it doesn't sound so good, does it? So, one thing you might want to ask yourself is, what else can I use instead? Well, that's what I'm covering next! What alternatives are there? When we say alternatives, we shall restrict ourselves to cards that function similarly to interrupt attacks, i.e. cards that could replace it, but not necessarily have more use than it. Some of the Traps that come to my mind are Wall of Disruption and Negate Attack. Both of these are only able to be activated upon attack declaration, so they are probably the most immediate options. Wall of Disruption arguably is more useful because for one, it scales with the number of monsters they have. Also, perhaps you have a monster that can attack more than once, but only if it destroys another monster by battle first, like Chimeratech Overdragon, or cannot attack directly, like Vision HERO Trinity. Negate Attack is more of a stalling card, or a way to protect a useful monster for, say, a Synchro Summon or an Xyz Summon next turn. Depending on your overall strategy, this can be an option though, especially if your monsters can stand fairly well on their own against destruction effects. Swift Scarecrow and Battle Fader (which both activate from the hand) also are great options that come to mind, although they don't destroy. Instead, what's really nice about these cards is that because they activate from the hand, your opponent can't really predict them if they haven't dueled you before. They also end the Battle Phase, so if they go through, you are probably safe for next turn. The downside is that they do respond only to direct attacks, not just any attack. Also, Battle Fader is probably better, because you get an extra monster on the field for next turn, whereas Swift Scarecrow will give you 1 less card in your hand. Closing remarks In the end, Mirror Force, while a good card back in the day, has been superseded by other, better alternatives.
There are yet more options that I haven't gone into, such as Traps that change your opponent's monsters' battle positions at any time (like Windstorm of Etaqua or Curse of Anubis), Spells that keep your opponent's monsters face-down (like Swords of Concealing Light), and Monsters that lock your opponent into not being able to attack at all (like Dyna, Hero Fur Hire). If you liked this, please click the Like button below, and feel free to share with your Yu-Gi-Oh! friends. See you next time!
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Truong-Son N.I am often known as timaeus222, or simply Timaeus, on the internet.
Currently, I'm pursuing a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, and frequent OverClocked ReMix, a site for video game music appreciation through remixing and re-arrangement. I am also an avid Yu-Gi-Oh! gamer, so I like to have fun playing the online card game. Archives
May 2019
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