Now 99.9% of this game is card effects. With the exception of maybe the upcoming Qliphoth archetype using Qliphoth Tool, or potentially the power plays of Rescue Rabbit for a quick Rank 4 XYZ, not many normal monsters see play in the current meta. Somewhat inevitably, as a result, you're going to want to pack a couple of cards that can stop effects before they get too out of hand. However, there are several different options, and which one you pick is down to a number of factors. The deck you play, the cards you side, the current meta and... well, personal preference.

But let's face it. Most of us are here to learn, no? An academy is designed to teach people the ins and outs of the game, and many of you won't know about the tools at your disposal, and why you may wish to run them over other cards.

Whether or not that's you, I'm sure that it could at least be entertaining or possibly educational to learn about the advantages behind certain cards that you may have seen as useless, or potentially never even heard of before.

Everyone still here? Let's go over some options, then:

Option 1: Effect Veiler

The fact that this card never hits the field is enough to make it good in it's own right, to be honest. Effect Veiler is activated by being sent from the hand to the graveyard, which makes him (Yes, him) ideal for catching an opponent off guard. Cards such as Mystical Space Typhoon, which would take care of the other options, can't touch Effect Veiler, so he's ideal if you need to wait a while before you negate the effect in question. However, be warned: This card can only be used during your opponent's Main Phase, so it's possible to avoid Effect Veiler using some cards with Quick Effects, such as Constellar Pleiades.

The fact that he's played directly from the hand means that your opponent could attempt to make a large play trying to catch you off guard whilst you have no spell/trap cards set, and end up losing the game due to this card being dropped at a key moment. Unless added to the hand with a card like Pot of Duality, Effect Veiler is almost impossible to see coming, so your opponent will often put everything they have into a large play, then lose the game due to Veiler stopping that play entirely, leaving them with almost nothing to fight back against your counter-play the next turn.

He's also a Level 1 Tuner, which makes him ideal for... well, anything synchro-related. Almost every deck in the game has Level 4 monsters, so summoning Effect Veiler allows you to make a quick and easy Ally of Justice - Catastor, Armades, Keeper of Boundaries, Reincarnation Dragon - Samsara or (In a more heavily synchro-oriented deck, such as Yang-Xing) T.G. Hyper Librarian. Also a viable target for One for One, though only a select few decks run that card.

Option 2: Breakthrough Skill

Breakthrough Skill is a good option in a lot of cases. It's a trap card, so it's not as subtle or fast as many of your other options, but it's certainly a reliable card. The reason for this?

It has two uses.

Breakthrough Skill can be banished from the graveyard to do the same thing it did when it was on the field. On the field, you activate it to target a monster, and upon successful resolution of it's effect, it will negate that monster's effects that apply on the field until the end of that turn. However, after it's been sent to the graveyard, you can banish it from your graveyard to do the same thing again. The drawback to this is that you can only banish it during your turn, but it's a reliable, versatile card, and it certainly pulls its weight.

Your opponent has El-Shadoll Midrash on the field, and you need to special summon several times to get rid of it? Breakthrough Skill it.

Your opponent summoned Constellar Pleiades, and they're trying to get rid of your monster before you can finish your play? Breakthrough Skill it.

Your opponent is about to attack with Fire Hand and use it's effect to destroy your monster? Erm... yeah. Not much Breakthrough can do about that, I'm afraid. It doesn't stop effects that activate in the graveyard, sadly.

Just watch out for Wiretap.

Option 3: Forbidden Chalice

My personal favourite. Now most people I talk to have never heard of this card, which I find a shame. The few that HAVE heard of it usually only know of it's existence because they searched "Forbidden", and read Chalice briefly whilst adding 2-3 Lance to their deck. This card gets a lot of neglect, but I personally don't see why. So let me buff it up a bit:

Reason 1: It's unbelievably fast

The fact of the matter is that Forbidden Chalice is a quick-play spell card. On your turn you can use this card directly from the hand to negate anything your opponent might try and play. During your opponent's turn, this set card can be used in the same fashion as Breakthrough Skill, negating your opponent's monster's effect until the end of the turn, which can be a serious play-stopper. You'd be surprised how much of a difference not needing to set a card can make. A lot of the time, your opponent going first is enough to get an established position on the field, getting something like Constellar Pleiades or Shooting Quasar Dragon on the field. You may need to negate their effects that turn, or risk forfeit. You may not have time to set and wait a turn for Breakthrough Skill to become usable. Sometimes you have to be able to negate and destroy a threat immediately, and for times like that, Chalice is your best friend.

Reason 2: It's almost impossible to negate

Who do you know that runs Magic Jammer? No? How about Dark Bribe?

Admittedly, some people DO still play Dark Bribe, but for the most part, that card died out after the T.G. Stun era, seeing little to no play. Malefic Stun saw it return, but honestly not that much, as there are more powerful things in the current meta by quite a long way. People like myself still ran Seven Tools of the Bandit, but after Dragons of Legend, even THAT stopped seeing play, being surpassed by Wiretap (I still love both cards, though).

Royal Decree, Trap Stun, Wiretap... Breakthrough Skill's got a tough crowd to please. I love the card, but it's not as reliable when it comes to resolving successfully as you'd hope.

On the other hand... Did I mention that Chalice is a quick-play spell? I think I did. I did, didn't I? Yeah, I did.

What do you know that can negate spell cards? Sure, there's Dark Bribe, but I've already covered that, and that's pretty much the only viable card in the game currently, regards stopping spells. Whereas Wiretap can shut down Breakthrough Skill completely, there's no real effective way of stopping Forbidden Chalice from resolving. The fact that there's almost no way to stop this card once it's activated means it's a great pick, and I find it a lot more reliable than traps or cards like Veiler, that can only activate during a specified window.

Reason 3: The current format

Sooo... the current meta. Hand Artifact Traptrix is rampant. Madolche's deadly. Geargia (At least in my opinion) is the strongest deck of the April 2014 format by miles.

So what do you play? Effect Veiler's always a good choice, but he has no way of stopping Artifact Moralltach, since they trigger during your turn, not your opponent's. Breakthrough Skill is pretty good, but Geargia runs an insane amount of defensive cards, so you'll likely get hit by Wiretap, and Madolche always have a Wiretap or two up their sleeve since the release of the card.

So... something that can be activated during your turn, to stop Artifacts, but something that can also dodge Wiretap, to shut down power plays by Madolche or Geargia? If only such a card existed...

Reason 4: The damage step

Many of you will know that Forbidden Lance can be activated during the damage step, due to the fact that it modifies attack and defence. Forbidden Chalice also does this, so it too is usable in the damage step.

Allow me to repeat that for those of you that don't get how huge a deal that is:

You.
Can negate.
Monster effects.
During the damage step.

That set Ghostrick Kyonshee? No, you can't add a Specter or Jackfrost. That Geargiarmor? I don't have to worry about you getting an Accel anymore, I can attack over it without any fear at all. Ryko? History. Shadolls? Dead. Being able to attack over flip effect or pseudo-flip effect creatures and not trigger anything is huge with things like Lightsworn or Geargia, and we all know how much of a problem THEY are this format.

But anyway, enough talking about Chalice. I love the card (In case you couldn't tell), and I think it should get more recognition, but I think I've talked about it for too long, as it stands.

Option 4: Fiendish Chain

This is a little different to the others, in the sense that it negates the monster's effect permanently instead of just to the end of the turn. However, it's a continuous trap card, so if the creature (Or Fiendish Chain itself) is removed from the field, Fiendish Chain will stop applying instantly. Thus anything that tributes itself as a cost to activate the effect (Such as Cardcar D, Stardust Dragon or Kuribandit) will be able to avoid the effect of Fiendish Chain. (Or the shorter version: Don't use Fiendish on those cards.) This card also prevents the target from attacking. A good defence against cards like Judgment Dragon, but simply chaining Mystical Space Typhoon can make this card null and void, due to the fact that continuous spell/trap cards only last as long as they're on the field.

Well this turned from a discussion on effect negation to "You guys should play Forbidden Chalice" pretty quickly. I honestly think the card deserves it's own article, which I'll probably get around to making at some point, but for now, I'm calling this a wrap. It's been Alice, and I hope you learned something. Bye all ^.^

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