Number 106: Giant Hand: A YCS PRIZE CARD?

Hey guys, it's NUN back from the dead with a brand new article and it's quite interesting if you're interested in the TCG at all.

Apparently, Konami decided that it would be a great idea to make Number 106: Giant Hand a YCS promo card. Now, if you couldn't already tell from the apparent sarcasm in the first sentence of this paragraph that this is not the greatest of ideas. Actually, I have a few words about this card and trust me, they aren't violent this time. I haven't gotten the chance to rant about Konami's bad decisions in quite a while, but I won't go overboard like I usually do. Just bear with me and you'll understand why I think this isn't a smart thing to do and what they probably should have done.

Let's get an overview of this card very quickly...

• Number 106: Giant Hand
  Rank 4
  
  -ROCK/XYZ/EFFECT
  2 Level 4 monsters
  During either player's turn, when a monster effect is activated on your opponent's side of the field (except during the Damage Step): You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card, then target 1 Effect Monster your opponent controls; while this card is face-up on the field, that Effect Monster's effects are negated, also it cannot change its battle position.
  
  ATK/2000 DEF/2000
  

Now it's not THAT bad of a card. In certain situations, this card actually is pretty okay. It's not better than Veiler because, let's be honest, Veiler is something your opponent can't REALLY anticipate Game 1. This card can do something things that Veiler can't do, though. For example, it provides some sort of field presence since it's at a decent 2000 attack and defense. It CAN activate during the Battle Phase with the exception of the damage step, something that Veiler lacks (Though, I will point out that if you had the opportunity to activate Veiler and your opponent enters Battle Phase without you doing so, KNOWING that it would've given you significant advantage, that is your own fault). Also, it can activate TWICE in one turn since it doesn't have the "Once per turn..." clause, whereas Effect Veiler is a one-time deal. Also, the monster targeted by Hand's effect can't change it's battle position either. But even with all of this being said and with all the XYZ monsters that have been released now, I honestly can say that there are so many better options that one can go for other than this. Now, why does this seem to be an issue with me? Well, I'll explain it very simply:

It's a YCS Promo card, so it's is going to be unreasonably over priced.

By unreasonably, I meant UNREASONABLY.
(This is lack of better expression, btw, but I can't swear and be as flagrant as I'd like to be..... cockadoodledoo, the cow goes moo)
Seriously, just because you can only get this card by doing well in a YCS, it's going to be a sought-after card. Not because people are going to use it, but because it costs a lot of freaking money. But I honestly don't think it deserves a spot like that. I could see Shock Master being a promo card. I could see Blackship of Corn as a promo card. Lightning Chidori, Diamond Dire Wolf, and even Abyss Dweller were all good options for something like this. Yet, these cards aren't prize cards, or at least prize cards to be won. These were all already printed in sets and people have already gotten their hands on them. But you should know that all of these cards are better Rank 4 options than Giant Hand and yet these never made the cut. I don't thoroughly understand it. What they should have done was print this in a set like JOTL or Number Hunters. I mean, really, they couldn't make something a little better than this and leave this hand-thingy somewhere else? It only makes sense to me. This seems to be like a card someone just starting up in the game can use and learn with. I don't know, maybe I'm all wrong, you tell me. I don't think it's a terrible card at all, but to be a YCS promo? Konami, Y U DO DIS?

Though, if by some miracle this card comes out to be less money than we anticipated, then card pricing will officially make no sense to me at all. Short print cards are usually over 10 dollars, if this card doesn't strike at least 10, then I will be very upset.

Whatever. At least this was something to talk about for me and I'm glad I got to rant a little. You guys can definitely give me your opinions in the comment section below and we can all discuss this a little more.

Until next time, NUN signing out!

Have YCS prize cards EVER been good? Let's see, we had Blood Mephist which sucked, the Dark Lords which sucked, and Dark End Dragon...he was pretty good I guess, especially for how good dark synchro was then. But usually they're not very good. Don't remember any others. And I'd rather it be this way than if they made something really good a prize card, because basically no one could play it. Plus they'll be reprinted in a year or so anyway. Which begs the question why offer them at all but yeah they've always  made them suck, so I don't know why you're mad...

Not what I expected when I saw the title, actually.

I'm of the opinion that prize cards should be iconic anime cards or something that are awful (Des Voltsgalph comes to mind) - something people will show off, but not actually use in their decks. I never liked that the YCS winners would get massive advantage over the competition with stuff like CCV or Gold Sarc.

This cards fits that criteria quite well. I dislike the prize card choice for another reason - I know a lot of people that collect all the Number cards, and with this being a prize card, that's an impossible task. It's never come up before, but I guess I also don't want prize cards to be part of certain themes / archetypes.

Maybe I'm overly picky. Effect-wise, this is a perfect prize card to me. But being a Numbers card was a bad move, in my opinion.

RubberDucky wrote:

I never liked that the YCS winners would get massive advantage over the competition with stuff like CCV or Gold Sarc.

I totally forgot about Crush Card. That was one broken card.

RubberDucky wrote:

I know a lot of people that collect all the Number cards, and with this being a prize card, that's an impossible task. It's never come up before, but I guess I also don't want prize cards to be part of certain themes / archetypes.

Yeah good point it kinda takes away from the uniqueness too if it's just one of many other cards in the theme. Just another Number...literally.

RubberDucky wrote:

I'm of the opinion that prize cards should be iconic anime cards

You know how anime ace monsters have names for the attack like "Shooting Sonic" and "Absolute Power Force"? If this card was in the anime, its attack should be called "Giant Bitch Slap" xD

See, the issue is not that it's bad. It's a perfectly fine card that's reasonably balanced. It's just, after all the effort to win a YCS, I would think that it's be nice to get something that everyone already has, maybe just in a different foil. You know, sorta like hobby league cards. It really is just another Number card, but it's just gonna be pawned off for cash, and Konami KNOWS that. If it was something much more useful in the slightest, people wouldn't be quick to get rid of it. On top of that, what they SHOULD have done (which I totally left out) was put this card in the Number Hunters set. I mean, it IS number Hunters for a reason....

NoUserName wrote:

See, the issue is not that it's bad. It's a perfectly fine card that's reasonably balanced. It's just, after all the effort to win a YCS, I would think that it's be nice to get something that everyone already has, maybe just in a different foil. You know, sorta like hobby league cards. It really is just another Number card, but it's just gonna be pawned off for cash, and Konami KNOWS that. If it was something much more useful in the slightest, people wouldn't be quick to get rid of it. On top of that, what they SHOULD have done (which I totally left out) was put this card in the Number Hunters set. I mean, it IS number Hunters for a reason....

People don't win YCS for the prize card, unless it's really really good like CCV. Why does it matter how much it costs? It WILL be reprinted in a year max, and they'll have a new prize card. If you buy one now especially with how meh it is, you're dumb. If you had bought CCV way back when...I'd still think you were dumb. But it would make more sense since it got banned for being too broken before anyone could really use it.

Agreed, but I just think it should be something a little better. I'm not saying it should be broken, but something worthwhile. Yeah, people do win YCSs for other reasons, but this card is just more money, basically. That's all I'm saying. I know it'll eventually get a reprint, but it's pointless to reprint something bad, which Konami tends to do a lot.

It's just weird man. Idk, maybe Giant Hand will be better in the future or something, who knows? I just feel like it needs to be something worth the effort. Not like I'm going out and winning YCSs or anything, but that's just my opinion.