#spyral dandy

[ygoartreviews]

SPYRAL MISSION - Assault

In a surprise turn of events, this card was reverse "censored" when it was released in the OCG from the TCG. As in, they added in some brass knuckles to the two hands on the left side that likely would have been censored if this card had originated in the OCG. It's a fitting addition, and they also fixed up the complete hand on the left edge when they did it, so definitely an improvement happened here. But otherwise, the overall sense of action in this scene was untouched (which those handy dandy speed lines help define). My favorite part of this is the expression of the guy on the left. He just KNOWS he's gonna die after getting hit with that electric fist. Speaking of... Haha for giving a SPYRAL archetype card guy a spiral pompadour. It's insane but I love it at the same time.

Rating: 9/10, SPYRAL Super Agent used ThunderPunch!

[ygoreviews]

SPYRAL Double Helix ———————————————— 2 "SPYRAL" monsters This card's name becomes "SPYRAL Super Agent" while on the field or in the GY. You can declare 1 card type (Monster, Spell, or Trap); reveal the top card of your opponent's Deck, and if you do, and its type matches the declared type, take 1 "SPYRAL" monster from your Deck or GY, and either add it to your hand or Special Summon it to your zone this card points to. You can only use this effect of "SPYRAL Double Helix" once per turn. ———————————————— Can Be Found In: Circuit Break (CIBR-EN099)

The addition of Link Monsters affected the most known mechanics arround the Extra Deck in different ways. Their introduction was to mitigate the abuse of Extra Deck strategies over the recent years, requiring their pressence to bypass the heavy restriction implemented by the new Extra Monster Zone. However, due the majority of them having very simple summon conditions along effects to assist players, Link Monsters themselves will greatly help the user as long they can manage their arrows wisely to swarm the field with powerful creatures.

"SPYRAL Double Helix" is the only Extra Deck creature the SPYRAL archetype provides to their strategy, but undoubtly one of the core cards to achieve most of their setups and goals with. "Double Helix" will be treated as "SPYRAL Super Agent" while in either our field or Graveyard, becoming a substitute of the most important SPYRAL card as many of their effects require his pressence in some way or another. Like many other SPYRALs "Double Helix" has an effect which makes us guess which kind of card is on the top of our opponent's Deck, and if we guess correctly we can obtain a SPYRAL monster from our Deck or Graveyard to either be added to our hand or be summon in an area "Double Helix" points with its arrows. While far from being one of the strongest members in the build, "Double Helix" abilities gratly assists the archetype by either taking the role of the lead SPYRAL card or using its effect to gather key members in some way or another.

Obviously exclusive to work along SPYRALs due its effects and materials needed, "Double Helix" is quickly available to assist us from early to late game. "SPYRAL Super Agent" and "SPYRAL Tough" can let us guess the opponent's top card to Special Summon themselves, and as long the opponent doesn't rearrange it we can make consecutive summons (Specially "Tough" as has no restrictions for this ability) to gather atleast two monsters for the Link Summon. This method is further improved with the help of "SPYRAL GEAR - Drone", banishing itself from the Graveyard to retrieve a "Super Agent" or substitute to our hand to once again try using their Special Summon effect. To further assure materials, "SPYRAL GEAR - Big Red" and "SPYRAL MISSION - Rescue" will revive SPYRALs in mid to late game to work on the arrival of "Double Helix". Remember that "Double Helix" is treated as "Super Agent" while in the Graveyard, assuring its return after being defeated or used as material by the help of cards like "SPYRAL Gear - Fully Armed" or "SPYRAL Sleeper". Also don't forget that "Double Helix" itself can revive its own copies with its effect, providing us more Link Monsters to work with our Extra Deck.

"Double Helix" pretty much works similarly to "Super Agent" while on the board, but with the big extra of allowing us to search of summon SPYRALs from the Deck and Graveyard. While being treated as "Super Agent", "Double Helix" will gain the assistance of cards like "SPYRAL GEAR - Utility Wire" and "SPYRAL GEAR - Fully Armed" to heavily disrupt the opponent's board. Otherwise its mere pressence will let us revive "SPYRAL Quik-fix" and obtain both a SPYRAL GEAR and a material for other summons (Preferably Xyz Summon to ignore his banishing demerit). Like other SPYRAL effects "Double Helix" might require some luck to guess the opponent's top card in their Deck, but if we haven't used other excavating effects beforehand to know the answer shouldn't be difficult to guess correctly as many Decks carry more Monster cards than any other type. Once we guess correctly pretty much every other SPYRAL monster becomes available for any position and purpose, ranging from summoning or reviving their heaviest members like "SPYRAL Master Plan" and "SPYRAL Sleeper" to adding to our hand "SPYRAL GEAR - Last Resort" and "SPYRAL Super Agent" to either help with their effects from the hand or in case we run out of arrows to summon them. This summoning ability can also be of great help to work along "Double Helix" so we can Link Summon a creature with a higher Link Rating.

"SPYRAL Double Helix" is far from being a tough creature despite its position as a Link Monster, but its abilities greatly assist the whole archetype on their setups from early to late game. Being treated as "SPYRAL Super Agent" gives "Double Helix" the same supporting tools to improve its pressence on the board, including being revived by its own copy if we need to. Its second effect might rely in some luck to obtain it, but once we guess correctly we will gain one of the strongest searching effects in the game by letting us obtain any SPYRAL monster from anywhere to be used in any way needed. But despite its many possibilities "Double Helix" is more limited than it looks as summoning the SPYRALs we'll look by its effect can only be brought close to one of its arrows, and in most cases only one or none of them will become available due their positions in the card. Yet although has some small shortcomings, with the great flexibility of its effects as well easily becoming material for bigger Link Monsters makes "Double Helix" a powerful card to strength board with little to no effort.

Personal Rating: A+

+ Is treated as "SPYRAL Super Agent" on the field or Graveyard + If we guess the card on the top of the opponent's Deck we can summon or add to the hand a SPYRAL monster from our Deck or Graveyard + Several setups and options to work arround its effects

- Below average ATK - We will rely on luck or other effects to guess the opponent's card to obtain its effects - Its summoning effect is dependant of a single arrow if any

[bigskydreaming]

For the record: I fucking adore pre-Crisis Dick and Bruce and always have. And would have ZERO problems whatsoever with people focusing on the version of events surrounding Dick’s leaving home in that last reblog…if not for how often this is paired with the reactions and attitudes Dick was written as having in direct response to the OTHER version of events in which he was fired. Its literally just the mixing and matching that’s the problem for me. 

(And additionally for the record, this has absolutely nothing to do with that reblog or its OP or anything other than the fact that I’ve been trying to write this particular post for like two months and could never muster the spoons before now. But seriously, not really about that post at all, it just finally got the gears working in the direction I wanted them to go).

Anyway. Like I said, its the mixing and matching of cause and effects that are inherently just not MEANT to match up and go together, because the effect was not referring back to a specific cause, but rather a different one altogether....that’s the issue. That’s always been the issue.

Because when you leave out the key fact that Dick’s hostility in later stories is written with the explicit intention of referring back to stories in which Bruce instigated their estrangement, you make it look like Dick is just a spoiled brat who throws temper tantrums when things aren’t about him, when that is literally not the scenario he was being characterized that way in response to. 

My problem has never been with Dick and Bruce having a good relationship or Bruce being a good father who loves his eldest and expresses that in a myriad of ways. Its with the narratives that twist a specific sequence of cause and effect to shift the focus away from any possible reason Dick could have for being upset with Bruce….to spotlight SOLELY Dick’s upset, with all actual relevant context deliberately stripped away and replaced with the context of ��Bruce is a good father who loves his eldest and never fails to express that in a myriad of ways.” 

And with the way this pattern has then been mirrored over the decades since it was initially applied by fandom to avoid dealing with the earliest stories where Bruce was written as abusive….and with the ripple effect consequentially being that it has become a fandom staple for the focus to be put entirely on what Dick’s doing at all times and never on WHY, so that he constantly keeps getting upheld as the problem even in situations where he was clearly the victim. Like with Spyral, like with Ric Grayson, like Mirage and tons of other times throughout this character’s history because once you establish a precedent and uphold it to the degree that we’ve so often seen with “Dick is really the mastermind of his own misery, because none of the things that he’s miserable about really happened to him, look see, Bruce is a fabulous father and always was”.....like, you get a lot of repetition at that point.

Because that, right there, ESPECIALLY when paired with the reality that the stories that this tendency is most commonly used to distract from, like Dick’s firing and NTT #55 and NW #30 and other issues where there were clear and obvious instances of abuse in how Bruce was written......intentionally or not, that replaces these narratives of abuse, but NOT with stories where everything’s all fine and dandy.....but rather, with a narrative of abuse apologism, even if it is largely unintentional.

Because when an abuse victim’s behavior in specific moments is called into question AT THE SAME TIME as the root cause of that specific behavior in those specific moments is shuffled offstage and KEPT out of focus, so that the abuse victim’s specific behavior is upheld as the ONLY issue at hand, leaving the abuser who they’re reacting to free to just keep on walking while no one pays them any attention now.....this is a fundamental cornerstone of abuse apologism in real life as much as in fiction. And it has nothing to do whatsoever if its INTENDED that way, its simply the reality of what results.

And its that last part that usually gets me and a lot of other fans so worked up because just like a lot of people turn to Bruce as their emotional support character because they relate to either his trauma or his coping mechanisms or a million other things about him.....there’s a shit ton of us who turn to Dick Grayson as our emotional support character because we relate to HIS trauma....which, like it or not, for many of us INCLUDES his at-times extremely shitty relationship with his parent.

The way people condescend about this in particular, acting like the ONLY POSSIBLE REASON anyone ever has for writing Bruce as abusive or writing fixes or codas or transformative response-takes on actual literal canon stories where he was written as abusive.....like, treating the situation as though people ONLY do this for the sake of angst porn or to smear Bruce’s character, like, they’re just in it for the drama and there’s absolutely no other possible reason to engage with those particular stories.....its aggravating as hell. 

Especially when this is paired with stuff like “oh, sorry I’m not addicted to making Bruce an abusive shithead, I have taste and am above click-bait angst lolol” like.....people really think they’re saying something there, but its probably not what they think they’re saying when you hold it up against the fact that most people saying this have ZERO problem with excessive angst and misery in literally any other context EXCEPT for ones where Bruce is to blame.

I like to refer back to the fact that people disparage any focus on Dick being fired as being ‘just a retcon’....because of how that coincides with the fact that Jason’s pre-Crisis stories were largely (though not completely) retconned as well. Because its not just the fact that Jason’s origin as an acrobat was retconned to him being a street kid that’s significant here....but rather, the fact that HOW he became Robin was retconned as well. Since originally, pre-Crisis, just like it was Dick who chose to move on from Robin himself, it was Dick who chose to make Robin the name Jason used as Batman’s partner as well. 

So I’d be fine with people being like “oh I don’t engage with the retcon of Dick being fired because it was just a retcon” except for the fact that they DO engage with a huge part of that retcon still. They engage with the part where Dick is bitter and resentful of not being Robin anymore, just not the REASONS for it, because they’ve supplanted all the history for the version of events where Dick is resentful with the history from when Bruce was nothing but supportive. And then ADDITIONALLY, they still engage with the part where it was Bruce who made Jason Robin, not Dick, as this is then linked in fanon to WHY Dick is allegedly so resentful of Jason as Robin.....even though that too is a retcon, and if they just went with the original story where Dick gave Jason his name and costume before Jason ever debuted as Robin for the very first time.....voila, no resentment or bitterness from Dick towards Jason would ever exist.

See what I’m saying? Its frustrating hearing over and over that people don’t like the firing retcon just because it was a retcon and they like the original....AT THE EXACT SAME TIME as they continue to interact with and engage with literally every part of the retcon EXCEPT for where Bruce did stuff that Dick understandably could be upset about.

And that people claim this is to avoid the more negative aspects of things between Bruce and Dick and make for a more positive family dynamic....except then they still KEEP Dick being estranged and not coming home and sniping at Bruce as WELL as keep Dick being resentful and bitter about Jason so its like.....Error 404, More Positive Family Dynamic Not Found, its almost like you’re totally fine with Dick being the fly in the family togetherness soup, just so long as Bruce comes across fine.

And this is the pattern we see over and over, and that’s why the frustration Dick Grayson’s fans have with a lot of the rest of fandom are not directly interchangeable with the frustrations fans of any character have when its their favorite character in the hotseat. Because its not the simple fact of other fans not liking his character or stories about his character, its the HOW and WHY of the reasoning, and how often that’s telling people who relate to parts of Dick’s narrative that include the uglier bits with Bruce, that like....the stories we’re upset about don’t matter, or aren’t relevant, or didn’t happen, lmfao.

Because here’s the thing: nobody has to engage with parts of canon they don’t like. We all come to these stories and characters for different reasons and if Bruce written abusively is totally counter to everything you love about the character, OF COURSE you don’t want to engage with those takes! Of course you find that out of character and view it as shitty writing that should never have happened. And that’s FINE!

But its not about whether or not you just choose not to engage with these stories or ones based on them.....its about how often people then TALK OVER the people who DO choose to engage with these stories or ones based on them.....and belittle their validity in existing at all, try and paper over the stuff that people are directly trying to address by way of fic by arguing points that aren’t in contention.....because we’re not disputing that there’s a version of events where Dick left home happily, we’re literally just saying THAT’S NOT THE STORY WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.

Like, if I go on a post where people are just having a good time with good wholesome father and son interactions between Bruce and Dick and say something like “wow wish this was real and that Bruce wasn’t actually an abusive shithead”....I’M THE ASSHOLE THERE. Lol, make no mistake. But the flip side of that is when people go on posts where people are talking about times and places and ways the dynamic between Bruce and Dick is shittier, and say stuff like “wow good thing this isn’t real and everyone with taste knows that this is just angst bait and Bruce is actually the Best Father”.....uh....what exactly is the difference here?

(Especially, and I CAN NOT stress the hilarious irony of this enough....when they then just go back to making another Whumptober entry. LOL that’s fine! The part that’s hilarious though is condescending to people who write abusive Bruce Wayne takes as just being in it for the misery business when like......umm. Like I have a point here, but I’ll let people reach it on their own. The dots though. They’re extremely connectable).

Also also, I would just like to point out that Batfandom in particular has always leaned heavily on the “sometimes people write things to cope” in regards to rape and incest fic, etc........so as long as certain corners of fandom are willing to lean heavily into that argument to defend any and all kinds of sexual content in fic, they might consider extending that very same logic to “sometimes people write things to cope” in regards to abuse survivors writing about abusive dynamics within the Batfam to work through their own shit with abuse.

But I’m just extremely tired with the “but its a retcon/its bad writing” arguments rearing their heads anywhere people are like “here is a canon story I would like to engage with because hey I thought fanfic was supposed to be about us being able to fix shitty canon or address shitty canon or just lampshade that shitty canon is shitty”.....particularly when that awareness of things being a retcon seem to be devoid of any awareness of how retcons WORK.

Because the thing is, we all know and get how retcons work. We understand that retcons act as an insertion point for a second version of events that later stories can refer back to or act upon INSTEAD of the original version of events.

This is why literally nobody in fandom writes stories about Jason as the Red Hood and tries to like....use them to make points about Jason’s childhood as a circus acrobat. Because everyone gets that the issue there isn’t whether or not Jason’s early childhood was retconned, and there only being ONE TRUE VERSION of that you can go with......no, people get that it doesn’t matter IF they for whatever reason prefer Jason’s original story.....literally no canon story about the Red Hood has been written with the intention of referring back to THAT origin instead of the street kid Jason origin. No story about the Red Hood is attempting to SAY anything about or DO anything with Jason the child acrobat instead of Jason the street kid.

So why does that awareness vanish the second that stories about how Dick RESPONDS to the retcon of being fired come under scrutiny....with people acting like they just don’t get how retcons work all of a sudden, and its fine to argue the point about how that second inserted sequence of events isn’t relevant and everyone knows this so clearly there’s no problem treating Dick’s reactions to those events as though they’re just reactions to Bruce and Dick fighting over college?

Every character has at least two versions of themselves, tbh. A canon version and a fanon version. And obviously with a shared universe as old and having passed through as many hands as DC has....you could argue that there are many canon versions of Dick’s character. 

I would argue however that there are two distinct fanon versions of Dick’s character as well. And to be clear, each of these fanon versions encompass a spectrum unto themselves, there’s a wide range of varying DEGREES of these two fanon takes.....but there’s two specific fanon Dick Grayson STARTING points.

One of these of course is the happy-go-lucky, air-headed, never worried about anything in his life, cereal-munching, fashion disaster, sails through everything without a care in the world other than his care for everyone but himself Dick Grayson. 

I mean, I don’t particularly care for that one, but it is what it is, and like I said, every character has that fanon take that has a lot of their fans going Lol wut a mess, like plz just no.

The fanon starting point I’m usually more concerned about is this one: the Dick Grayson who grew up in the lap of luxury but never really appreciated it or what he had, who is territorial and possessive, prone to fits of anger with very little provocation prompting people to walk on eggshells around him, who cares about other people but is often oblivious of his effect on them because he’s just so reckless, so impulsive, that frequently he jumps into situations without thinking about how other people will be impacted by what he says or does, and then is too proud to take it back.

The reason I’m bothered so much by THIS fanon Dick Grayson is because I flat out don’t believe we get to him by looking at canon....but rather by extremely selectively AVOIDING looking at canon, but only specific PARTS of canon.

And thus we get a Dick Grayson who never really appreciated his childhood or what he had.....as evidenced by the Dick Grayson who at times takes shots at Bruce for how he raised Dick......but without ANY examination of or awareness that the way those shots are written in canon, are with the intention of referring back to specific stories in which Bruce DID fuck up in certain ways while raising Dick....rather than a Bruce who was nothing but supportive and nurturing and did no wrong ever.

And thus we get a Dick Grayson who is territorial and possessive....as evidenced by the way he’s been less than graceful about ‘sharing’ Robin with certain of his siblings, or even Bruce himself......but without ANY examination of or awareness that the reason he’s written as ungracious about these things in these specific moments is because they were written with the intention of referring back to specific stories where something he built from the ground up - Robin - was stripped from him and given away without consulting him, or when he had to watch others enjoy a specific aspect of their relationship with Bruce that he was never (or at least not yet) ever offered himself......rather than just because Dick’s spoiled and selfish and never learned to share because he has only child syndrome.

And thus we get a Dick Grayson who is prone to fits of anger with very little provocation prompting people to walk on eggshells around him.....as evidenced by the way he blows up at certain people at certain times....but without ANY examination of what they said or did to him just BEFORE he blew up at them, or awareness that the reason he said awful things or displayed such anger is because he was specifically being written as reacting to things that very understandably PROMPT such anger, or he was written standing up for himself in the face of people saying or doing shitty things as well, or even outright attacking him......rather than just because Dick has a hair-trigger temper and anger management issues, and nobody’s ever said or done anything that justifies him getting angry at them ever.

And thus we get a Dick Grayson who is oblivious to his effect on other people because he’s just so reckless and impulsive that he jumps into situations without thinking about how they’ll be impacted....as evidenced by the way he does things like fake his death without thinking through what this will do to others......but without ANY examination of the fact that the stories in which he’s originally written MAKING the decisions to do these things, he DOES think through how others will be impacted, like how in NW #30 he did nothing BUT argue how it would affect his siblings and Barbara, or awareness of the fact that the reasons these arguments don’t change the outcome of events is because they’re deliberately written as not being ALLOWED to change the outcome, as Dick’s objections and concerns for other people are actively overriden and over-ruled.....rather than because he doesn’t make these objections in the first place or think through how other people will be impacted by things.

And thus we get a Dick Grayson who is just too proud to take things back when he fucks up.....as evidenced by the way that he either doesn’t apologize for certain things, or his apology seems hollow or insincere, or his apology doesn’t preclude him from doing something similar again later down the line....but without ANY examination of the fact that the reasons for all of these more often have to do with the fact that the crimes aren’t his to apologize for in the first place, its often him that’s owed the actual apology, and he simply won’t be ALLOWED to not get into the same situation in the future because the entire reason this pattern persists so frequently is because there’s zero sincere examination of what the pattern actually consists OF and just WHY it is that Dick in specific is so frequently stuck in this particular pattern....rather than just because Dick’s simply too proud to ever acknowledge when he fucks up.

Does that specific fanon interpretation of Dick Grayson sound at ALL familiar to anyone else?

And can you understand how the frustration with it could stem from not simply the fact that it exists, or that its not canon based....but rather the fact that it in order to exist at all, it REQUIRES building upon a foundational cornerstone of abuse apologism and outright ignoring and disregarding stories where he is the one victimized in order to prioritize that no blowback for the canon instances of abuse impact or reflect badly upon the actual victimizing characters in fandom conversations about these things?

Because speaking solely for myself now....this is and ALWAYS HAS BEEN, the ONLY issue I have in this matter. I have zero problems with good dad Bruce Wayne content, with prioritizing takes where Dick wasn’t actually fired, with simply not wanting to engage with canon or fan content where Bruce is abusive....none of these things have EVER been my problem or ever will be....as long as they like....don’t go hand in hand with making an abuse victim his own victimizer and everyone else his hapless victim whenever the specific instances of when he’s been a victim of other characters in canon comes up either in fic, headcanons, meta or just casual conversation.

[kiragecko]

Batfamily Fake Deaths, Murders, and Assaults

I've notice people saying things like, 'Cass and Duke are the only people who haven't tried to kill Tim,' or, 'I guess only Alfred hasn't died/'died' on Tim now.'

These statements are well meaning, but not quite factual. While Duke DOES seem to be a good kid who hasn't attempted anything awful, almost everyone else has. Here's a handy-dandy list to help you keep track of all the awfulness characters have done to their family!

Assaults

Multiple times, Bruce has been brainwashed and forced to attack his Robins. In Teen Titans Year One, it was Dick. In Batman/Superman, it was Tim. I'm sure there have been others. And there have been LOTS of Poison Ivy/Scarecrow/Mad Hatter stories!

Steph attacked her father and was ready to murder him before Batman and Robin talked her down. (Her dad may have later tried to kill her, as well?)

Jason attached a bomb to the Batmobile, ready to murder Bruce.

When Jason told Bruce he had to either murder the Joker or kill Jason to stop him, Bruce sliced open Jason's neck and failed to stop him from falling off a building.

Jason assaulted Tim at Titans Tower, left him in a pool of blood, and wrote 'Jason Todd Was Here' with said blood on the wall.

Cass got drugged and brainwashed by Deathstroke and her dad, tried to kill Tim. Stayed evil for quite a while.

Jason shot at Dick with a gun a lot, while Dick was in New York. Then turned into a tentacle monster and tried to eat Dick. It wasn't very serious, though, this list is just too Tim-centric.

Damian stabbed Tim and threw him off the Batcave's dinosaur, then dropped Jason's Robin undies on his face.

Jason stabbed Tim through the stomach with a batarang during Battle for the Cowl.

Jason shot Damian in the spine? Or in some way nearly killed the tiny Robin. Damian needed special magic science surgery from his mom.

Damian cut Tim's line while they were patrolling. Tim survived and beat him up.

Bruce attacked Jason and beat him up after Selina canceled their wedding. I hate comics. (nu52)

Murders

Jason's mom handed Jason over to the Joker. Turned away while he was getting beaten, but otherwise didn't care.

Lady Shiva forced Cass to agree to a fight to the death in exchange for helping her daughter rebuild her fighting skills. Shiva killed her daughter and resurrected her in a Lazarus Pit.

Talia cloned Damian, hyper-aged the poor child, and had the child kill Damian. (nu52)

In the Injustice universe, Damian and Dick had a game where Damian threw things and Dick caught them. Dick missed once, fell, and somehow broke his neck on a rock? (AU)

Fake Deaths

In the Silver Age, Alfred sacrificed his life to rescue Batman and Robin. He was secretly saved from death and mutated with radiation, becoming the evil Outsider. He sent a lot of villains to attack his former employer, but was eventually discovered and cured.

Bruce convinces Alfred to pretend to be from the future, as part of a horribly messed up 16th birthday present. 'Future Alfred' is 'murdered' in a video Tim is forced to watch. Tim becomes paranoid about everyone as he attempts to solve the murder and save Alfred.

After Tim nearly dies of The Clench, a horrible strand of ebola, Alfred tell Dick he's dead. The 'joke' is revealed after 30 seconds, but STILL!

After the Joker seems to kill Tim, Dick goes wild with rage and kills Joker. Tim arrives and calms Dick down, while Bruce revives the Joker to alleve Dick’s guilt.

After nearly dying, Steph was convinced to take a year off in Africa and rebuild her self confidence. Leslie Thompkins told everyone that she was dead.

Bruce got hit by Darkseid's Omega Beams. He seems to die, but was actually catapulted through time and turned into a living bomb? Tim figures out he's alive and helps fix the bomb situation.

After his heart stopped for a minute, Dick was brought back by Earth 3 Lex Luthor. His secret identity revealed to the world, Bruce convinced him to fake his death and go undercover with Spyral. (nu52)

Tim is seemingly reduced to dust by a bunch of satellite things? He's actually zapped up to a prison outside of the universe, I think? I do not know, but everyone thought he was dead. (nu52)

That's all I can think of right now. Might edit this when I'm a bit more awake. There's A Lot.

[ygoreviews]

SPYRAL Super Agent ———————————————— If this card is in your hand: You can declare 1 card type (Monster, Spell, or Trap); reveal the top card of your opponent's Deck, and if you do, Special Summon this card if it is a card of that type. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "SPYRAL" card: You can target 1 Spell/Trap Card your opponent controls; destroy it. You can only use each effect of "SPYRAL Super Agent" once per turn. ———————————————— Can Be Found In: The Dark Illusion (TDIL-EN086)

The main focus of the SPYRAL archetype is to support a specific monster with all sorts of cards and effects it will provide. Although depending in a single card might seem riskful, SPYRAL not only provides several substitutes to work with but also a powerful card management of other members and tools to be on the lead without focusing on their main goal. From gathering SPYRAL Gear to support their monsters to guessing opponent's cards in their Deck to obtain additional benefits, SPYRAL quickly became target of a banlist update due the powerful results that can obtain without much effort required.

"SPYRAL Super Agent" is the core card of the archetype, and where most of their effects will go to obtain most of their setups and outcomes. "Super Agent" allow us to guess the type of card on the top of the opponent's Deck, and if we guess correctly he will be Special Summoned from our hand. But no matter if is Special Summoned by this effect or one from another SPYRAL card, as a result "Super Agent" will destroy a Spell or trap on the opponent's field. Therefore, not only we have a chance to Special Summon a monster from the hand but also deal with any dangerous backrow and setups in the process. As the lead monster of the build "Super Agent" is pretty much the most supported member in the archetype, with a variety of resources to not only summon him but also  give him various purposes depending of the situation and focus besides dealing with opponent's cards upon arrival.

While "Super Agent" has his own Special Summon effect, we don't need to wait for him to be in our hand and try to guess opponent's cards. While effects from cards like "SPYRAL Master Plan" and "SPYRAL Resort" will easy add "Super Agent" to our hand, others such as "SPYRAL Sleeper" and "SPYRAL Double Helix" will simply summon this monster straight from our Deck. If not brought by other effects "Super Agent" will arrive on his own, and while relies on some luck to do so is not that difficult to reduce the odds to guess right. Nowadays most Decks have a huge focus on Monster cards so they'll become the most prominent choice to play "Super Agent", while more specialized Decks will have a bigger number of Spells or Traps depending of their strategy (Like the Paleozoic archetype being mostly Trap Cards). A "Super Agent" in our Graveyard is far from being unsupported, as if is not quickly revived by a card like "SPYRAL GEAR - Big Red" or "SPYRAL GEAR - Fully Armed", he can be retrieved by an effect such as "SPYRAL GEAR - Drone" or "SPYRAL MISSION - Rescue" to be summoned once again from our hand by his own effect.

The results arround "Super Agent" will vary from his own arrival to the other SPYRAL cards that will interact with. No matter if is summoned by his own ability of by the listed cards before, "Super Agent" already provides a benefitial outcome by dealing with any Spell or Trap on the opponent's field. The Special Summon effect of "Super Effect" is useful even if we fail to guess the opponent's top card, as will give us the correct answer to follow the effects of other members like "SPYRAL Double Helix" and "SPYRAL Tough" (Both also working as substitutes of "Super Agent"). While the summon of "Super Agent" is enough to work as material of any Extra Deck summons he gains a pool of cards to improve his pressence on the board. Cards like "SPYRAL GEAR - Big Red" and "SPYRAL Resort" will restrict the opponent's options against "Super Agent", while others like "SPYRAL MISSION - Assault" and "SPYRAL GEAR - Fully Armed" will improve our offense with a variety of benefits. But among the cards "Super Agent" will work along with will get the most from "SPYRAL Quik-fix", a monster with not only a searching effect but also able to revive himself under the pressence of "Super Agent" or his replacements.

As the lead monster of the archetype, "SPYRAL Super Agent" obviously has a big importance to run the whole Deck. While has his own Special Summon effect, that doesn't stop us from summoning him by other SPYRAL cards without depending on the opponent's Deck to guess correctly. Then once on the field the route we can take with him will vary from one Duel to another, as if is not taking advantage of his Special Summon to destroy cards and work as material it will be supported by several SPYRAL cards to make him a threatening creature on his own. Obviously with various cards relying on the pressence of "Super Agent" sometimes it can become rough to obtain the full potential of the archetype, but fortunately we have reliable substitutes to play with if this monster isn't available at the moment or we fail to guess the opponent's top card. Compared to other SPYRAL monsters might not be the toughest member, but his mere pressence and all the cards interacting with him assures the best results no matter the conditions of the Duel.

Personal Rating: A

+ Special Summons himself from the hand if we guess the card's type on the top of the opponent's Deck + Destroys an opponent's Spell or Trap if summoned by a SPYRAL effect including his own + Greatly supported as the lead monster of the archetype

- Special Summon effect might rely on luck - Relies on support as well other cards depending on his pressence