Thunder Hand - The Return of HAT?

Have you ever recalled that somewhere in point of time, anti-meta strategies were a thing and not all archetypes have access to negation effects? That was the good old days of Yu-Gi-Oh!, or at least to some (personally, I think the good old days of Yu-Gi-Oh! was the Pre-Pendulum era). Anyway, back then, there was a deck that effectively prevented massive summoning. That was the HAT deck. It stands for “Hands, Artifact, Traptrix”. A cocktail combination of 3 archetypes whose main purpose is to destroy cards on the field. In this article, we’ll talk more about the “Hand”.



So, why are we talking about some old deck? Well, Konami have revealed a new addition to the “Hand” archetype family in their upcoming latest set “Rise of the Duelist”, namely “Thunder Hand”. So, what does “Thunder Hand” offer for the archetype? Let’s take a look:

Name: Thunder Hand
Level: 4
Attribute: Light
Attack: 1600
Defense: 1600
Effect:
You can only use the effect of this card’s name once per turn.
(1) If a face-up monster(s) you control whose original ATK and/or original DEF is 1600 is destroyed and sent to the GY by battle, or by card effect: You can Special Summon this card from the GY(If it was there when the monster was destroyed) or hand (even if not) (but, in neither case, banish it when it leaves the field), and if you do, destroy 1 card your opponent controls.


Destroying This and That
Back then, HAT users would often use suicide tactics to remove a monster or a spell/trap card on the field. They will crash their “Fire Hand” or “Ice Hand” to a monster with an attack power higher than their “Hand” monster. To their advantage, their destroyed monster gets replaced by a different “Hand” monster. With “Thunder Hand” in the scene, not only they’ll get replaced, but another painful barricade will be summoned to their field, as “Thunder Hand” can destroy any card on the field when summoned by its own effect.



Prominence Hand in HAT
Although HAT users don’t maximize the use of “Prominence Hand” in their deck (they barely use it at all), that card could be a serious recycler of “Thunder Hand”. Examine carefully that “Thunder Hand” is banished when removed from the field. If my memory serves me well, XYZ materials aren’t “removed from the field” when detached or when the XYZ monster is removed from the field.This is great as HAT users could abuse the usage of Rank 4 XYZ monsters with “Hand” monsters.



The only problem I see here is that “Prominence Hand” cannot be Special Summoned with only “Thunder Hand” on the field. It’s either you have “Fire Hand”, “Ice Hand”, or even “Magic Hand” on the field. That could be something HAT users must think thoroughly.

“Thunder Hand” may not be the only support card the “Hand” archetype will get in the upcoming booster set. Konami might bless Anti-Meta decks with more support in the near future.

Catch “Thunder Hand” here at Adilson when the “Rise of the Duelist” becomes available in TCG in August 2020.