#gravity lash

Gravity Lash

Gravity Lash ———————————————— Target 1 face-up monster on the field; it loses ATK equal to its DEF until the end of this turn. ———————————————— Can Be Found In: Code of the Duelist (COTD-EN063), 2018 Mega-Tin Mega Pack (MP18-EN077)

While most cards follow the same rules that applies to their respective types, there are some exceptions that makes them more efficient under certain moments of a Duel. The best example of this are effects that changes the stats of a monster, often saved during a Battle Phase to obtain the best results at the best opportunity. But while other chainable effects have a certain moment to be played, these cards can wait until the start of damage calculation to turn a battle in our favor. With practically no counters to deal during this brief part of a turn, stat changing effects will provide an unavoidable outcome, this small yet important detail makes these cards a solid choice for Decks interested on leading any Battle Phase.

"Gravity Lash" is a Spell Card able to turn a monster's stats against itself, often used for a positive outcome in any battles. When activated, "Gravity Lash" will weaken a monster's ATK by the same quantity as its DEF until the turn ends. The DEF of a monster is often underlooked designwise given how aggro friendly the card game is, and mist cases is the lowest stat of a monster unless on a defensive role. Yet, given the liberties of weakening effects in the game, "Gravity Lash" might not be a prominent card to depend on but does its job well against monster monsters out there.

The uses of "Gravity Lash" won't be that different from many similar cards available in the game. As a Quick-Play Spell "Gravity Lash" can be either played from our hand or Set to be used during the opponent's turn, ready to answer anything that happens during a Duel. Obviously the best option is to use it during a Battle Phase, as thanks to weakening effects' liberty to be played before damage calculation makes "Gravity Lash" and others very difficult to answer against. But while the uses of this card are the same as many others, its effect will vary depending of the monster we're targetting. Often "Gravity Lash" will make a monster lose arround 1000 ATK as its the average DEF of most monsters out there, with some few exceptions where lead monsters shares similar ATK and DEF. From a small reduction to making the opponent's strongest monsters lose most or all their ATK, "Gravity Lash" ranges from an easy kill to completely stealing a game. Keep on mind that "Gravity Lash" can also target our own monsters if needeed, making interesting interactions arround cards like "Amazoness Swords Woman" or "Reverse Trap" so we don't rely on the opponent's monsters alone.

While "Gravity Lash" has a solid effect due the average DEF of most monsters dominating the game, it has very obvious issues that makes it not a must have for any Deck. Given its efficiency relies on the target monster's DEF its results will vary considerably, and in some cases like Link Monsters of simply monsters without DEF (Like the majority of Zombies) it becomes completely useless to depend on any Battle Phase. Including that other options like "Shrink" and "Forbidden Lance" have a more predetermined result against any monster, "Gravity Lash" best performance comes from targetting the opponent's strongest non-Link Monsters. But instead of waiting or even hoping for the right monster to use this card on, "Gravity Lash" is easily ignored given the better choices we can depend on any Battle Phase.

Personal Rating: B-

+ Weakens a monster's ATK equal to its DEF + In average will make a monster lose 1000 DEF or more + Can become hard to counter due the special rules on this kind of effects