Card of the Week #11: Deck Lockdown
Deck Lockdown has always been an under rated card. Up until this format, at least. Deck Lockdown is a powerful check to the top two tier 1 decks this format. Why? For starts, let's look at its first effect. “Neither player can add cards from their Deck to their hand except by drawing them.” It's a continuous Spell card version of Thunder King Rai-Oh. It completely stops Prophecy from searching, and their entire deck relies on searching from the Deck. Against Dragon Rulers, it stops them from using their search effects that activate when banished, which will greatly slow them down. Now for the second part of Deck Lockdowns effect. “Monsters cannot be Special Summoned from the Main Deck.” This part is an extreme pain for Dragon Rulers. So long as Deck Lockdown is active, they will not be able to use the effect of their mini dragon to Special Summon straight from the deck, which is a key part of any competitive Dragon Ruler deck. It may sound as if Deck Lockdown is only good against the two top meta decks, but it's good against plenty of other decks too. Anything that relies heavily on searching or summoning from the Deck will hate to see you activate Deck Lockdown. Examples would be Geargia, Karakuri, and Elemental HEROES, just to name a few. Deck Lockdown is, however, not without its own side effects. It doesn't just effect your opponent, it also effects yourself, so be careful when using it. Another thing is that it's destroyed during your 2nd Standby Phase after activation, so after two turns, your opponent is no longer restricted, tho by then the duel should be far in your favor. The fact that it's a continuous Spell also leaves it vulnerable to S/T destruction like Mystical Space Typhoon. Some decks can take full advantage of it being being a continuous spell tho. Examples being Constellar, Reptile stun, and Falcon anti-meta. Constellar can return Deck Lock down to the hand with Constellar Pleidas at the cost of 1 Xyz Material, then simply activate it back to reset the turns until its destruction. Reptile stun can use Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar to return Deck Lockdown to the hand whenever they want, while also generating A-Counters upon Gol'gar. Falcon anti-meta can return it to the hand whenever Mist Valley Falcon attacks, then just like the others, activate it back to reset the turns until its destruction. Another beautiful thing about returning it to the hand is that while it's in your hand, you are no longer restricted to the effect that stops you from searching from the Deck.
In conclusion, Deck Lockdown is a card a suggest you keep in mind whenever putting together a deck or Side-Deck.
Spell/Continuous
Neither player can add cards from their Deck to their hand except by drawing them. Monsters cannot be Special Summoned from the Main Deck. Destroy this card during your 2nd Standby Phase after activation.
Deck Lockdown has always been an under rated card. Up until this format, at least. Deck Lockdown is a powerful check to the top two tier 1 decks this format. Why? For starts, let's look at its first effect. “Neither player can add cards from their Deck to their hand except by drawing them.” It's a continuous Spell card version of Thunder King Rai-Oh. It completely stops Prophecy from searching, and their entire deck relies on searching from the Deck. Against Dragon Rulers, it stops them from using their search effects that activate when banished, which will greatly slow them down. Now for the second part of Deck Lockdowns effect. “Monsters cannot be Special Summoned from the Main Deck.” This part is an extreme pain for Dragon Rulers. So long as Deck Lockdown is active, they will not be able to use the effect of their mini dragon to Special Summon straight from the deck, which is a key part of any competitive Dragon Ruler deck. It may sound as if Deck Lockdown is only good against the two top meta decks, but it's good against plenty of other decks too. Anything that relies heavily on searching or summoning from the Deck will hate to see you activate Deck Lockdown. Examples would be Geargia, Karakuri, and Elemental HEROES, just to name a few. Deck Lockdown is, however, not without its own side effects. It doesn't just effect your opponent, it also effects yourself, so be careful when using it. Another thing is that it's destroyed during your 2nd Standby Phase after activation, so after two turns, your opponent is no longer restricted, tho by then the duel should be far in your favor. The fact that it's a continuous Spell also leaves it vulnerable to S/T destruction like Mystical Space Typhoon. Some decks can take full advantage of it being being a continuous spell tho. Examples being Constellar, Reptile stun, and Falcon anti-meta. Constellar can return Deck Lock down to the hand with Constellar Pleidas at the cost of 1 Xyz Material, then simply activate it back to reset the turns until its destruction. Reptile stun can use Cosmic Fortress Gol'gar to return Deck Lockdown to the hand whenever they want, while also generating A-Counters upon Gol'gar. Falcon anti-meta can return it to the hand whenever Mist Valley Falcon attacks, then just like the others, activate it back to reset the turns until its destruction. Another beautiful thing about returning it to the hand is that while it's in your hand, you are no longer restricted to the effect that stops you from searching from the Deck.
In conclusion, Deck Lockdown is a card a suggest you keep in mind whenever putting together a deck or Side-Deck.