Card Review: Compulsory Evacuation Device

Here is another simple yet effective card. (well, on the surface it is simple, yet for some reason certain duelists tend to over complicate this piece of text. More on that later.) Compulsory Evacuation Device is 1 card with 1 effect. It is very useful and often it isn't very hard to come across one in a trade folder or in a duel.

So let's examine this trap card. As it's text would suggest it returns 1 Monster on the field to it's owner's hand. This means that you can choose either your own or your Opponent's Monster to "bounce" back into their hand, since the card does not specify. But why is this so good? Wouldn't you rather want to destroy your Opponent's Monster instead? Well, in most cases that you would use this card, Destroying one of your Opponent's monsters may not be one of your available options. Even in some cases it may benefit you more to "return your opponent's monster back into their hand". Certain Monsters may require more effort and resources to summon than to revive. Imagine that your opponent Tributes 2 of their Monsters to Summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon or uses certain Spell Cards or Card Effects to summon the beast. If you DESTROY (and send to the Graveyard) that Blue-Eyes your Opponent can easily use Monster Reborn to revive it; however, if you use Compulsory Evacuation Device on that dragon, the monster is back in their hand, which means that they will have to expend more of their resources just to summon that Blue-Eyes White Dragon... AGAIN! This card is highly effective against Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, and Xyz monsters, since those kinds of monsters require either a Spell Card and/or certain Monsters to Special Summon them. [Monsters that Originate from the Extra Deck like Fusions, Synchros, and Xyz's will return to the Extra Deck instead of the Hand.] Compulsory Evacuation Device can even be used to "waste" your Opponent's Normal Summon or Set for the turn. (just like that Blue-Eyes White Dragon Example.) So, your Opponent Normal Summons a Level 4 Monster that can defeat your Monster in Battle. If you'd like to keep your monster safe, you can "bounce" back that freshly summoned monster back into their hand, and they will not be able to Normal Summon until the next turn. (Unless they activate Double Summon, which permits 1 Extra Normal Summon or Set for the turn.)

Now, how does this card become over complicated? Well, it mostly happens when a Monster activates its Effect upon its Summon. (Monster Summoned, Effect should activate, but this card is activated.) I am still looking into this ruling, but I have encountered duelists with different opinions on this cards ruling. Some debate that this card can even nullify (Not Negate, but Nullify... as in, the effect just simply disappears and is unable to resolve) a Monster's Effect.

Overall, this is a simple but awesome card. You can be a real jerk using this card, as it is easy to throw off an opponent with this card. Be aware though, you may never know when this card is set, just waiting to throw you away. Like the previous card, this card is also considered a "Staple", although many decks are not built to include this card.