TSHD Part 6: Thunderstruck

Brief article time! The Shining Darkness introduces a new theme based on Thunder monsters, called "Watt". The theme further expands in the next set, too. Before we start, it is worth noting that the theme's original name (Ereki) would actually make Oscillo Hero #2 a Watt monster. But until stated otherwise, it will be a sad hero.


The first Watt monster is Wattgiraffe:


This card can attack your opponent directly. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent as a result of a direct attack, your opponent cannot activate the effects of any Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster Cards until the End Phase of this turn.


Wattgiraffe has two effects. The first effect that allows it to attack directly is a Continuous Effect. The effect prevention is a mandatory Trigger Effect, which you activate at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. This effect pretty much prevents ANYTHING that uses the chain, be it a monster effect, the activation of a S/T Card, or the effect of an already-active S/T Card (like Royal Oppression). This powerful effect is a mix of the effects of Angel O7 and Cold Wave, and both being stuck to the opponent only.

Next, we have Wattfox:


If this card is destroyed by your opponent's card (either by battle or by card effect), your opponent cannot Special Summon a monster, or activate  Spells, Traps, Spell/Trap card effects, or Monster Card effects, for the rest of this turn.


Fox has a mandatory Trigger Effect, which is very similar to Wattgiraffe's. In exchange for a slightly more complicated trigger, it also prevents the opponent from Special Summoning, as well as the other prevention that Giraffe offers. Note that Fox is very similar to Vampire Lord in the aspect that the owner must be controlling Wattfox in order to activate its effect.


The last Watt monster is Wattwoodpecker:


This card can attack twice during the same Battle Phase. Monsters that battled with this card cannot change their Battle Position.


Woodpecker's first effect is very common, and its a Continuous Effect. The second effect is where it gets a little more complicated. For starters, the effect doesn't have a classification, but since it doesn't use the chain, you can think of it as a Continuous Effect. In order to apply this effect onto other monsters, Woodpecker must enter remain face-up until you enter the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. As soon as you enter, the other monster is now affected by Woodpecker. But, for example, if Woodpecker is destroyed by Mirror Force, or Ally of Justice Catastor, it is not considered to have "battled" with the opposite monster. An affected monster stays affected as long as it remains face-up, but note that Woodpecker's position lock, like most effects that lock positions, only refers to manual position changes. You can still use Book of Moon and similar Cards.


The last Watt support Card for now is Wattcube:


Equip only to a Thunder-type monster. It gains 100 ATK for each Thunder-type monster in your Graveyard. You can send this face-up card from the field to the Graveyard to have 1 face-up Thunder-Type monster you control gain 1000 ATK.


Cube is a really simple Equip Card. While equipped, it provides a small ATK bonus based on the number of Thunder-type monsters in your Graveyard. But you can send it to the Graveyard (as a cost) to have a Thunder-type monster gain 1000 ATK. The last effect is an Ignition-like effect. The key differences here are mostly from a strategic point of view, as having an instant 1000 ATK bonus is much easier than piling up 10 Thunder-type monsters in the Graveyard, and it doesn't have the vulnerability of having to remain face-up in order to provide the ATK boost. As for some additional notes on the second effect, it targets a Thunder monster (note that it can be ANY Thunder, not just the equipped monster), you cannot activate it if Macro Cosmos is active, and the 1000 ATK bonus remains as long as the targeted monster remains face-up. It should be pretty evident that both effects are incompatible, as once you pay the cost for the second effect, the Equip Card is no longer face-up, so your monster won't gain 100 ATK per Thunder.



That covers the Watt theme so far. Stick around while we look at more TSHD Cards. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.