304-019 BERSERK DEAD DRAGON Dark/Undead/8/3500/0 This card can only be Special Summoned by the effect of a [Bargain With a Demon]. This Monster can attack each of your opponent's Monsters on the Field once. During the End Phase of each of your turns, reduce this card's attack strength by 500. Normal Rare

This card is the week deals with one of the Monsters in the "hefty" are of the attack strength chart -- Berserk Dead Dragon. This card was recently released in the English Dark Crisis Set, under the name "Berserk Dragon" (dropping the "Dead" from the name).

The Berserk Dead Dragon was the final obstacle for Yugi and Jounouchi to overcome in their two-on-one duel against the body of Honda that was possessed by all members of the Big Five.

With a massive 3500 attack strength, the Dragon can go toe-to-toe with some of the biggest. The 0 defense strength is abysmal.

First of all, you can't Normal Summon this card. In that respect, Dragon needs a bit of setup to get it running correctly. Though it's not a Ritual Monster, it still needs an Instant Magic card to play it: Bargain with a Demon.

What happens is that when a Monster of Level 8 or higher goes from your Field to either player's Cemetery, you can activate the Bargain with a Demon to Special Summon this card from your hand or deck. It simply has to "go to the Cemetery" for this card to work. For example, you could sacrifice a Blue Eyes to play a Vampire Lord, then activate Bargain to Special Summon the Berserk Dead Dragon. Or, to be really mean, get a Level 8 or higher Monster onto your Field, play Black Hole, then use the Bargain.

According to the Japanese Expert Rules Page, Monsters of Level 8 or higher that are Trap Monsters (Metal Reflect Slime) won't trigger the ability to use this card. And if you're trying to be silly, don't; you can only Special Summon 1 Berserk Dead Dragon per Bargain.

For your price of admission, the first effect that this card has is the same as Ashura. It can attack each of your opponent's Monsters one time per Battle Phase. Somewhat like Tyrant Dragon, if this card attacks your opponent's only Monster on the Field and destroys it, you can't attack your opponent directly, since the Dragon already attacked. With a Meteor Strike, Dragon is a nightmare, especially against those that like Scapegoat. In addition, when researching on the Japanese Expert Rules Page, if Dragon attacks your opponent directly, and your opponent later uses Compensation of Blood to Normal Summon a Monster during that Battle Phase, the Dragon can't attack it. On the other end of the spectrum, if Dragon destroys something like a Killer Tomato, it can attack the newly Special Summoned Monster.

The second ability will hurt you after about two turns. Yes, the reduction is permanent, as long as it remains on the Field. Dropping its attack strength by 500 after your first End Phase won't hurt "that" much, except by those 2400+ attack strength Monsters with a Power of Teamwork Equipped. After your second and subsequent End Phases, you better find a way to get rid of this guy from your Field, as it can be a liability. The 0 defense strength doesn't help much. Some still use Perseus in their decks, so the 0 defense is also a liability. However, there aren't many trample Monsters that are currently used widely, so you're basically "safe." Sealing Swords of Light hurts this card a lot.

The one thing that you should note about this card is that it is, yet again, one of those Monsters that can't be Special Summoned from a Cemetery, even if legally Special Summoned. This is due to the wording on the card. Too bad.

As well, remember that this card is a Special Summon that is played through the effect of another card. This means that [Declaration of God] and [Ascending Horn] can't be used to negate the Special Summon itself. Rather, you would have to use [Declaration...] to negate the Bargain.

Edo's Rating: 2 out of 5. I wanted to give this card a 3, but I've been "trying" to be a little more realistic is some of these ratings. You need to have the Bargain AND you need to get access to a Level 8 or higher Monster on the Field AND you need to get it into a Cemetery. All of those add up to a lower rating, since it's not a reliable combination to use on a regular basis. Though its attack strength and ability to attack nultiple Monsters is high enough to warrant serious thought, with that drop in attack, it's hard to use correctly. At best, it's a Monster that is used to create a path for your other Monsters to attack.