DPKB Part 2: Behind Blue-Eyes...

The mighty albino dragons may be the strongest Normal Monsters in the game, but let's face it: They won't get very far by being a two-tribute, 3000 ATK beatstick. That's why a number of support Cards where used to support these elusive beasts. Not all of them were used by Kaiba, but I'm sure he would have no problem affording them if he wanted them.

Let's start with a true classic, Lord of D.:

While this card remains face-up on the field, all Dragon-Type monsters  cannot be targeted  by Spell Cards, Trap Cards, or Effect Monster's effects.

This is one of the first Effect Monsters ever released. It only has one short but powerful Continuous Effect. Most of it rulings are dedicated to list a few Cards that it can and cannot negate. We already have an article about targeting effects, so we don't need that. An important note about this effect is that this effect only prevents targeting effects from targeting Dragons, but once they have already been chosen as targets, Lord of D. can't do anything about them. In other words, Lord must be face-up in order to prevent the targeting, and it won't touch already existing effects.

EDIT: Invalid: The other important note is that Lord of D.'s effect prevents Dragons from being targeted ANYWHERE. Ages ago, when it was first released, it was common to believe that it only protected face-up Dragons. Many years later, with the release of Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid, we found out that Lord, who works exactly the same as Aurkus, protects not only face-up Dragons, but also, Dragons in the Graveyard and Removed from Play Zone. Well, actually it works everywhere, but other locations can't be targeted Q_Q

One cannot discuss Lord of D. without discussing its magical instrument, The Flute of Summoning Dragon:

Activate  only while "Lord of D." is face-up on the field. Special Summon up to 2 Dragon-Type monsters  from your hand.

This Normal Spell Card seems simple enough, which usually means that there's some dirty secret about it. The first thing we notice is that Lord of D. can be on any side of the Field, and it can even be treated as an Equip Spell Card (Plasma/Relinquished/etc.). You are also forced to Special Summon at least 1 Dragon. Of course, you can't target Cards in the Hand, so you don't need to declare how many or which monsters you will Summon (and Lord of D. won't prevent its own Flute, of course).

The problem with Flute is that, like some Cards, its text is somewhat incomplete. Lord of D. must actually remain on the Field until Flute starts resolving. So, not only it must be face-up to activate Flute, but also, to resolve it properly. This is similar to what happened to Zombie Master.

Moving on, we have Kaiser Sea Horse:

This card can be treated as 2 Tributes  for the Tribute Summon of a LIGHT monster.

Obviously, it's function is to Tribute Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon with only 1 tribute. This effect is pretty weird, but one could think of it as a Continuous Effect. You choose whether to apply it or not at the time Sea Horse is going to be tributed. This is one of the few effects that work while the monster is face-down. This effect can be negated by Cards like Skill Drain, too.

Next, we have a Ritual Monster dedicated to the theme. Paladin of White Dragon:

This monster can only be Ritual Summoned with the Ritual Spell Card "White Dragon Ritual." You must also Tribute monsters  whose total Levels  equal 4 or more from the field  or your hand. When this monster attacks a face-down  Defense Position monster, destroy  the face-down  monster with this card's effect without flipping it face-up  or damage calculation. You can Tribute  this card to Special Summon 1 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your hand or your Deck. ("Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cannot attack during that turn.)

Its Summoning Condition and its Ritual Spell Card are very average, so let's focus on its two effects:

When this monster attacks a face-down  Defense Position monster, destroy  the face-down  monster with this card's effect without flipping it face-up  or damage calculation.

This first effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It activates at the Start of the Damage Step. This effect is very similar to that of Mystic Swordsman LV2, or to a lesser extent, Neo-Spacian Grand Mole. As its text suggests, FLIP Effects won't activate, and neither would effects like the D.D. Warriors or Legendary Jujitsu Master. The attacked monster must be face-down at the Start of the Damage Step, so if the opponent flips it face-up with Desert Sunlight or similar, Paladin won't activate.

You can Tribute  this card to Special Summon 1 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your hand or your Deck. ("Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cannot attack during that turn.)

This is an Ignition Effect. Tributing Paladin is a cost, and this effect doesn't target (so you don't have to choose a location to Summon Blue-Eyes upon activation). During this turn, no monster named "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" can declare an attack, not even other Blue-Eyes, or even a Phantom of Chaos that gained their name. A common question is whether you can "reverse engineer" restrictions like this, and the answer is no. This means that you can't declare attacks with a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then activate this effect. If you wish to Summon the legendary dragon, you cannot declare an attack with any of them, not before, nor after this effect's activation.

Now, a brief note about Dragon Master Knight:

"Black Luster Soldier" + "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon"
This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. This card gains 500 ATK for each Dragon-Type monster on your side of the field except this card.

One of the strongest monsters in this game, yet, its abilities are quite lacking. The first sentence tells us it is a Nomi Monster. The second one is a Continuous Effect that doesn't count Dragon Master Knight. Very lame indeed, but at least it does something more than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon Q_Q

Our last Card is the newest support Card for the Blue-Eyes theme, The White Stone of Legend:

When this card is sent to the Graveyard, add 1 "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" from your Deck  to your hand.

A very practical Tuner Monster that searches for Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Its only effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. Certianly, it doesn't target. The best thing about this effect is that, unlike others with the same trigger, this one cannot miss the timing, so White Stone will activate if you discard it as a cost, if you tribute it as a cost, if it is destroyed in the middle of a chain, etc. Being mandatory also means that you will activate White Stone's effect no matter what, even if an effect prevents it (like Thunder King Rai-Oh), or if you have no more Blue-Eyes in your Deck.

And with this, we end part 2 of this pack's review. Stay tuned for part 3! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.