Diabolos, King of the Abyss

[Zextra]

I honestly love this card; it's among my top 3 favorite cards of all time alongside White Night Dragon and Light and Darkness Dragon, and I'm glad that I was able to obtain a couple secret rare versions of it way back. I remember using a deck based around it and Fires of Doomsday during my first run-through of the 2011 WC video game, Over the Nexus.

 

It's quite cool-looking in my opinion (and beautiful with the secret rare pattern ^^), and, despite it being terribly over-restricted and impractical, offers a rather unique effect. Too bad the last time it was relevant to the game was...never? -_-

 

DARK l Level 7 l Dragon-Type

ATK: 2800 / DEF: 1000

Effect:

This card cannot be Special Summoned. If you Tribute Summon this card, the Tributes must be DARK. This card cannot be Tributed by a card's effect. During your opponent's Draw Phase, before their draw, look at the top card of their Deck, then put that card on the top or bottom of their Deck.

[Maeriberii Haan]

The no SS kills it tbh.

Though it being supported by Monarch's stuffs are neat.

[Bringerofcake]

If they Reckless in the draw phase, can you look at the first card?

[Trebuchet MS]

Usually, unless cards like this state otherwise, the normal draw is always the first thing that happens during the Draw Phase. After which, other more Chainable things like Reckless can be activated.

[evilfusion]

Ahh, this explains a bit why Lightray Diabolos is awesome by looking at a Set card and putting it on the top or bottom of the Deck. Because the original one did something like that.

 

Yeah...it's just so impractical. Only works with DARK monsters, can't be SSed, and it's only protected from being Tributed by card effects, which is just weird.

[玄魔の王]

In the OCG, this thing's name references that of Eradicator Epidemic Virus for which this card cannot be Tributed. Because that makes sense.

I'd love to see an evolution of this guy as a Dark Dragon Ruler (not like the Derp Rulers, but as in a ruler of dragons).

[evilfusion]

In the OCG, this thing's name references that of Eradicator Epidemic Virus for which this card cannot be Tributed. Because that makes sense.

I'd love to see an evolution of this guy as a Dark Dragon Ruler (not like the Derp Rulers, but as in a ruler of dragons).

 

It can be Tributed for Virus, because Virus Tributes as a cost, not its effect.

 

It can't be Tributed for things like Ectoplasmer.

[Toffee.]

>idiotically restricted summon
>effect you will honestly only get once
K

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

This card is awesome and has impeccable art.

 

Too bad it's *terrible*. 

[Not-so-Radiant Arin]

Has no form of protection. Has no way to actually be usable when Summoning instead of Tributing 2, which is just bad. It's just generally only coaster material. It's pretty much unusable in today's game.

[玄魔の王]

It can be Tributed for Virus, because Virus Tributes as a cost, not its effect.

It can't be Tributed for things like Ectoplasmer.

Oh, right, I was thinking of "cannot be Tributed to activate a card's effect". So basically it was done to prevent use as Ritual fodder, presumably because reasons.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

A Diabolos, King of the Burning Abyss might be interesting. 

[Sleepy]

Another issue with it is that it only disrupts your opponent to a degree. That's not what you want a double Tribute non-Special Summonable monster to do, that's what you'd expect a no Tribute 1900 or lower ATK beater to do. It is a cool card but that's a glaring problem. Bosses are usually the opposite of this card: More synergy with their build, more ease to bring it out, and an effect that furthers your own plays or at least properly hurts the opponent. As is, a well built opponent deck will find that rearranging pointless half the time.

 

I'd probably give its spot to Dark Scorpion Chick the Yellow if I wanted that effect, it might need to hit for damage but it is pretty much the same effect plus a bonus option to return any card on the field to the hand instead, which recycles Call of the Haunted and Fiendish Chain or just spins opponents' cards. 

 

I remember back in the day I got the Japanese deck (because the TCG was on the trend of not giving us Structured Decks anymore and instead making all new cards from them into Secret Rares for regular packs) and it was pretty cool. Some of those cards were pretty fun cards that arrived late to the game like that wolf that was a copy of Karateman, but it was a viable target for both Crush Card and Deck Devastation, and had all the Zombie revival going for it, so on paper that card was my favorite there.... only the equip needed to give 500 instead of 400, and he would have been a flexible card for all 3 viruses.

 

I just got a little off-topic in that last paragraph... 
Diabolos could sometimes be useful but it was reliant on the opponent's luck half the time, regardless, just the fact it has 2800 ATK was pretty great during its time.

 

 

IMO, it should have been Summonable by any means, but not necessarily in need of a self-Summon effect, and it should have had the effect for both players' top decks, and an ability to revive if Tributed by the virus cards. That would have made it a pretty interesting and decent card, I think.

 

It still has the cool points going for it.