GB7-001 FIVE GOD DRAGON Type: Fusion Monster Dark/Dragon/12/5000/5000 Effect: This Monster can only be Special Summoned by a Fusion. This Monster is Fused by 5 Dragon Sub-Type Monsters. This Monster does not receive Battle Damage from Earth, Water, Fire, Air or Dark Main-Type Monsters.

Well, this time we're looking at another popular card that was a reservation card for Duel Monsters 7 in Japan.

The FGD first appeared in the animated series when the Big Five trapped Kaiba in a virtual reality world, and Yugi, Jounouchi and Mokuba went in to save him. The Big Five used the FGD in the final confrontation, and was summarily destroyed by the Master of Dragon Knight.

FGD appeared AGAIN (this time a Ritual Monster with an additional effect) when all of the crew was caught in a Virtual Reality world AGAIN by Noa, and the Big Five that were under him as his cohorts. It was destroyed once again by the combined effort of Yugi's Black Magician and Jonouchi's Flame Swordsman, which fused into the Black Flare Knight, then transformed into the Mirage Knight.

Well, there is an old Magic addage that kids flock to anything with a large attack strength. Older M:TG players like myself know that kids liked the five Legendary Dragons since they were big baddies. Five God Dragon seems to have caught the interest of those kids as well. Heaven knows why.

The Five God Dragon, right now, is tied for the highest basic attack and defense strengths with Master of Dragon Knight, at a whopping 5000. This card (and MDK) knocked Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon off the spot it held for many years.

The FGD is, to say the least, difficult to get out. Well, it IS saved by the fact that it's fused by any five Dragon Sub-Type Monsters. Yes, from your hand and/or from the Field, as long as they are fused. There are a few ways to get the FGD out a "little" easier. You can use Kuribo + Multiply + DNA Operation to change the tokens to Dragon, and fuse them into the FGD. Remember that Fusion is not a "sacrifice to summon" effect; they are just put into the Cemetery. Similarly, you could use Scapegoat in combination with another Monster and DNA. One of the main problems with this Monster is that you CANNOT use a Fusion-Replacement Monster to stand in for one of the Dragons. This is due to the "uniqueness" of the text in which the FGD has for Fusion Summoning.

And, no, it CANNOT by Special Summoned by the Devil Franken, Illusionary Summoner, Metamorphosis, or anything else that brings out Fusion Monsters. You MUST Fusion Summon this critter in order to get it to the Field. That's what the text on the card means.

However, the incidental drawback is that Fusion is the ONLY way that the card can be brought to the Field. This means that even if you DO Fusion Summon it naturally, if it's destroyed and goes to the Cemetery, tough luck: you CAN'T Special Summon it from the Cemetery. Period. You would have to somehow get it back into your Fusion Deck to re-Fuse at a later point.

FGD's effect is rather lackluster -- about the only contenders for destroying it would be BEUD and MDK, and those cards are far more quick to get out than FGD. You'd probably lose before getting the FGD out, if it was a royale battle between those powerful Fusions. It won't be destroyed by Genocide War, if attacked by a non-Light Main-Type Monster...

Edo's Rating: 2 out of 5. Ack. This card is the pits in most ways. It's slow, and difficult to get out. It's prone to be removed by Magic and Traps, so why go through all of the massive trouble, just to be destroyed easily? It's saved by its massive attack and defense strengths, which can easily win games in a single attack.