Today I'd like to talk to you about a new card from Starstrike Blast called Heat Wave:
Heat Wave, like its earlier incarnation Cold Wave, locks down an entire mechanic for your turn and through your opponent's turn; however, where Cold Wave locks down Spell and Trap Cards, Heat Wave locks down both players' Normal and Special Summons, forcing your opponent to Set their monsters. The most obvious use for a card like this is in a Normal Monster beat deck, since Heat Wave does not stop Normal or Special Summons of Normal Monsters, but this card has considerable uses in other decks:
-Gemini: Gemini decks use monsters that are counted as Normal Monsters while on the field or in the Graveyard. While they cannot Normal Summon from their hand while Heat Wave is active, Gemini users can still Special Summon their monsters from the Graveyard. Since Gemini decks already use a lot of Graveyard recursion (such as Supervise, Knight of the Red Lotus, Blazewing Butterfly, Swing of Memories and Birthright, along with the usual Monster Reborn and Call of the Haunted), Graveyard-heavy Gemini builds can still abuse Heat Wave by swarming from the Graveyard after activating it! Gemini Monsters can also be Gemini Summoned while face-up on the field, since they count as Normal Monsters while on the field, so you can still use your Normal Summon for the turn to gain a Gemini Monster's effect. A popular play could be to activate Heat Wave, then Special Summon Evocator Chevalier and equip it with Supervise; use Chevalier's effect to destroy a card by sending Supervise, using Supervise's effect to Special Summon another powerful Gemini, and swing for damage! Even with Heat Wave on the field, Gemini decks can explode out of the Graveyard and prevent your opponent from responding!
-Bushi Solidarity (specifically Gemini Bushi): Warriors have a lot of ways to get around the drawbacks of Heat Wave. For instance, The Immortal Bushi, which Special Summons itself from your Graveyard in the Standby Phase, gets around Heat Wave by Special Summoning itself before your Main Phase, when you activate Heat Wave. If your monsters get destroyed before your next turn, you can Special Summon Bushi again during your next Standby Phase, since Heat Wave expires on your Draw Phase, just before a Standby Phase Special Summon would occur! Solidarity also makes Bushi stronger, turning it into a freely recurring 2000-ATK beatstick, which is fierce when your opponent's Summons are locked!
Bushi decks also take advantage of Gemini monsters (specifically, Elemental Hero Neos Alius and Evocator Chevalier) for thee beatdown capabilities and as fodder for Gemini Spark. Gemini Bushi decks (as they have been coined) often use The Immortal Bushi as Tribute Fodder for Knight of the Red Lotus, which Special Summons from your Graveyard any Normal (or Gemini Monsters) you might have! If Knight of the Red Lotus is out the turn you wish to activate Heat Wave, you can't take advantage of The Immortal Bushi's Special Summon, but you can activate Red Lotus' effect to Special Summon Neos Alius or Chevalier from your Graveyard! These cards can then be used to attack, or to pay the costs of Gemini Spark or White Elephant's Gift, allowing you to destroy and/or draw!
-Gladiator Beasts: While Gladiator Beasts don't directly benefit from Heat Wave (as all commonly played Gladiator Beasts are Effect Monsters), Gladiator Beasts do benefit from the disrupting effect it has on your opponent. After activating Heat Wave, Gladiator Beast players can Set monsters they would otherwise have difficulty Normal Summoning (such as Gladiator Beast Murmillo, Gladiator Beast Bestiari or Gladiator Beast Retiari), then set the necessary protection and end. Since virtually every competitive deck plays only Effect Monsters, their opponent is forced to Set during their turn as well. This is the critical part here: Gladiator Beast monsters only get their effects after successfully attacking or being attacked, which can be bothersome against monsters with high ATK values. Not only does Heat Wave stop your opponent from Synchro Summoning or dropping their high-ATK boss monsters, but it forces them to Set monsters, allowing Gladiator Beasts to attack into the typically weaker DEF stat, and preventing them from being destroyed by battle even against a monster with high DEF (since attacking monsters can't be destroyed by battle against Defense Position monsters)! If the Gladiator Beast player Normal Summoned another Gladiator Beast and flips the first one face-up before attacking, then a smart Gladiator Beast player can turn one momentum-halting Heat Wave play into two advantage-generating tags, and even a Contact Fusion!
-Blackwings and Flamvell: Again, although these decks don't directly benefit from Heat Wave (all Blackwings monsters, and all but one Flamvell monster, are Effect Monsters), they benefit indirectly from having your opponent forced to Set monsters. Blackwing players can Set an unpopular monster from their hand, or one that is better served in the Graveyard (such as Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor) the turn they activate Heat Wave (or even just leave the field open for the opportunity to use Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn next turn), and then let their opponent Set a monster. Then, on the next turn, the Blackwing player can explode! One popular play might be to activate Black Whirlwind, then Normal Summon Sirocco the Dawn, grabbing Blackwing - Bora the Spear to your hand with Black Whirlwind's effect (or Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow if Bora is already in the hand). Special Summon Bora, then pump it with Sirocco's effect to swing into your opponent's face-down monster for massive damage! Another play might be to Normal Summon Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame. During your Battle Phase, you can attack the face-down monster, most of which have low DEF in this metagame, and, if it destroys it, Special Summon a Blackwing Tuner from the deck to perform a Synchro Summon off your Heat Wave play!
Flamvell decks can also abuse the same mechanic Blackwings abuse with Shura through Flamvell Firedog. Flamvell players can activate Heat Wave, forcing their opponents to set (and setting their own Flamvell Poun for insurance, or Gravekeeper's Spy, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster or Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter to explode with next turn). On their next turn, after Heat Wave has expired, you can Normal Summon Flamvell Firedog, attacking over the opponent's Defense Position monster and grabbing a Tuner from your Deck for a Synchro Summon! Flamvell players even have a miniature Kalut in Flamvell Baby, which they can use to get over problem monsters. The Flamvell player can then Tune their freshly acquired Flamvell Tuner with Firedog, or with a flipped Gravekeeper's Spy or Super-Nimble Mega Hamster that was activated during this turn, allowing you to keep your Firedog for later use and abuse. The Flamvell monsters that you summon can also be used to set up Rekindling plays, allowing you to explode from the Graveyard on future turns.
With the disruptive power of Heat Wave at your disposal, you can enable yourself to make destructive plays and swing the momentum of the game in your favor!
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