ABC-Saber

It sure is easy to make jokes about X-Sabers >_>

Another article I've been delaying is about XYZ monsters and Unions in general.

Union monsters are identified by the text [.../Union], next to their Type. Despite taking up the space where it explains whether these monsters are Effect Monsters or not, one can tell by being an Orange-colored Card. Some monsters have similar effects to Union Monsters, like Armory Arm, but these monsters won't have the support that Union monsters have like Frontline Base. This is similar to the whole FLIP Effect vs. Snowman Eater example we looked at some time ago.

Union Monsters have an Ignition Effect to treat themselves as an Equip Spell Card. This effect is activated while the Union Monster is face-up on the Field, and it targets a face-up monster you control. Once equipped, the Union Monster has at least two effects, which are considered to be effects from an Equip Spell Card (not Monster Effects), so Skill Drain cannot negate them. The first effect is "Unequipping", which is an Ignition-like effect that you can activate during your Main Phases. Unequipping is considered a Special Summon, so it can be negated by Royal Oppression. The second effect is a substitution effect, which as you should know by now, is a Continuous Effect, and so on. The substitution effect varies according to the Union monster, as some protect the monster from being destroyed in battle, while others protect it from battle AND effects. Other than these, the Union monster may have more effects of their own, as a Monster Card (Machina Gearframe's search effect) or as a Spell Card (Metalizing Parasite Lunatite). The Union Monster must be properly equipped to its target in order to apply its effects, so if you equip it to your Relinquished, you cannot apply any of its effects. Cards like Roll Out!! or Formation Union are considered to equip them properly, though. Finally, equipping a Union Monster removes any conditions set to it as a monster, so if it is affected by an effect like Gale the Whirlwind's, the ATK/DEF reduction is erased.

But in this article we'll look at the XYZ monsters. These were part of the first batch of Union Monsters, in a really unfortunate enviroment were Cards like Harpie's Feather Duster and Raigeki were legal, making it really hard to maintain such strategy. We won't look at V or X, as they are Normal Monsters.

So, let's start with Y - Dragon Head:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to your "X-Head Cannon" as an Equip Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster  by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped monster  by 400 points. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster  is destroyed as a result of battle, destroy this card instead.)

Other than the red effect, everything else has already been explained. Y provides an ATK/DEF boost without using the chain.

With the same ease, we move into Z - Metal Tank:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip  it to your "X-Head Cannon" or "Y-Dragon Head" as an Equip Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster  by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped monster  by 600 points. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster  is destroyed  as a result of battle, destroy this card instead.).

Z is extremely similar to Y, only that it has one more target to equip to, and its ATK/DEF boost is better.

And one again, we can easily look at W- Wing Catapult:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to your "V-Tiger Jet" as an Equip Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster  by this card's effect, increase the ATK and DEF of the equipped monster by 400 points. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster is destroyed as a result of battle, destroy this card instead.)

Much like the other parts, it provides an ATK/DEF boost, only that for a different target.

So far, these monsters have been really boring, so let's move into their Fusion Monsters. All of their Fusion Monsters are Summoned through an Inherent Special Summon, and they cannot be Fusion Summoned. This means that you cannot choose to Summon them with Future Fusion (to dump the various XYZ monsters to the Graveyard), and that in order to properly Special Summon them, you must fulfill their requirements. They all require you to Remove from Play certain monsters, which can be face-down on your side of the Field, or even be treated as Equip Spell Cards (that you control).

Let's start with XY - Dragon Cannon:

"X-Head Cannon" + "Y-Dragon Head"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards on your side of the field. (You do not use "Polymerization"). Discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-up Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.

XY is a Special Summon-only monster. It has an Ignition Effect, which discards 1 Card as a cost, and targets a face-up S/T Card.

As for YZ - Tank Dragon:

"Y-Dragon Head" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play the above monsters on your side of the field; then you can Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck (You do not use "Polymerization"). Discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-down Monster Card on your opponent's side of the field.

YZ is also a Special Summon-only monster, with a similar Ignition Effect to XY. This one targets a face-down Monster Card. If the target is not face-down when the effect resolves, it won't destroy it.

Next, we have XZ - Tank Cannon:

"X-Head Cannon" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play the above monsters on your side of the field; then you can Special Summon this card from your Extra Deck. (You do not use "Polymerization"). Discard 1 card from your hand to destroy 1 face-down Spell or Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.

Another Special Summon-only monster. Similar to the other two monsters, this one has an Ignition Effect that targets a face-down S/T Card. Once again, if it's not face-down when this effect resolves, it won't destroy it.

As for the last two-letter combination, we have VW - Tiger Catapult:

"V-Tiger Jet" + "W-Wing Catapult"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards on your side of the field. (You do not use "Polymerization"). By discarding 1 card from your hand, change the battle position of 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field. (Flip Effects are not activated at this time.)

Yet again another Special Summon-only monster. It has the same old Ignition Effect, which now targets any monster your opponent controls in order to switch its Battle Position. At least this one brings a bonus addition to the effect, preventing FLIP Effects from being activated.

At last, we arrive to the three-monster beast that is XYZ - Dragon Cannon:

"X-Head Cannon" + "Y-Dragon Head" + "Z-Metal Tank"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards you control. (You do not use "Polymerization".) This card cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. You can discard 1 card to destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

There is a small trap in XYZ's text. Despite being a Special Summon-only monster, it cannot be Special Summoned from the Graveyard. Does this mean that it is a Nomi Monster? Not really. You can still Special Summon it if you Summon it properly from one place: The Removed from Play Zone. As for its actual effect, its the usual Ignition Effect, which now is able to target any Card.

And we finally arrive to the ultimate Fusion of all these letter monsters: VWXYZ - Dragon Catapult Cannon:

"VW-Tiger Catapult" + "XYZ-Dragon Cannon"
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by removing from play the above cards you control (You do not use "Polymerization"). Once per turn, remove from play 1 card your opponent controls. When this card attacks, you can change the battle position of the attack target. (Flip Effects are not activated at this time.)

We are back to the usual Special Summon-only monster, without any traps this time.  VWXYZ has two effects. The first effect is an Ignition Effect with no cost whatsoever, that targets one of your opponent's Cards to Remove it from Play. The other effect is an Optional Trigger Effect that you activate upon Attack Declaration, which also targets. And much like VW's effect, it prevents FLIP Effects.

That covers the alphabet monsters and other Union Monsters. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.