Trap Cards got you down? Red Reboot from Flames of Destruction has you covered, as what just might be the best anti-Trap Trap to date!

Red Reboot is a Counter Trap, automatically putting it ahead of nearly all Trap Cards out there – only another Counter Trap can contest it, and few are commonly played that can even touch Red Reboot.

You can activate Red Reboot in response to a Trap Card to negate that card’s activation. Doing so will Set your opponent’s card back on the field, and then they get the option to Set another Trap Card directly from their Deck. Why, you ask, would you want to let your opponent keep their original card and get a new one? Because Red Reboot prevents your opponent from activating any Trap Cards for the rest of the turn! You’ll shut down their play while keeping them locked down, leaving you free to make your moves unhindered. And that’s not all – while Red Reboot normally has no activation cost, you can choose to activate it directly from your hand by paying half your Life Points! This is what gives Red Reboot the edge over similar cards like Wiretap or Trap Stun – this is the first ever Counter Trap that can be activated from the hand! It’ll be playable the moment you draw it, and you can keep it in your hand safe from destruction!

Red Reboot is very much an “all or nothing” kind of effect. Since your opponent gets to keep their first Trap and gets another one, they’ll be in a strong position once Red Reboot’s lockdown wears off at the end of the turn. To fully utilize Red Reboot, it should be for situations where you really need to guarantee your Counter Trap is live. Here’s a few examples where an emergency Red Reboot is worth it:

–Dimensional Barrier – If you can’t destroy Dimensional Barrier in the End Phase of the turn it was Set, you’re likely to lose an entire turn to it. It’s an extremely strong card which can be tough to play around, but Red Reboot gives you a way to power through it and set up your field. Barrier is much less dangerous once you’ve already established your monsters, so the drawback of putting it Set again isn’t as harmful here.

-Trickstars – if they try to pull off the Droll & Lock Bird and Trickstar Reincarnation combo, you can shut down Reincarnation and keep your hand safe. Paying half your Life Points can be dangerous against Trickstar, but it’s very preferable to having your entire hand banished.

-Paleozoics – Against a Paleozoic player (who typically uses a very high amount of Traps), Red Reboot can keep them from using almost all of their cards for the turn. Paleozoic Duelists often fill their entire back row with Traps – if they do this, you can use Red Reboot and they won’t even have the space to get their free card.

–Evenly Matched – Red Reboot is an amazing option against an opponent trying to use a surprise Evenly Matched during their turn – you’ll stop the Trap and you’ll have cost them their Battle Phase! Since most Duelists using Evenly Matched are only using Evenly Matched as their Traps, you won’t mind giving them a free copy – having extras on the field only weakens the effect. You also leave your opponent in a difficult spot. They can try to establish some defense, but adding to their field makes their Evenly Matched effect worse. Or, they can leave themselves open to make Evenly Matched better, risking you wiping out their Life Points or destroying the Trap before they can even flip it.

-Trap destruction – If your Deck can make some aggressive plays while Trap Cards are offline for the turn, you should be able to make up for the advantage you gave your opponent. Playing cards like Black Rose Dragon or the new Topologic Trisbaena into a full back row is super tempting, but dangerous. Red Reboot allows you to safely throw those monsters into perilous situations, and they’ll immediately wipe out the extra advantage your opponent got from Red Reboot. True Draco can pick off the free cards easily with the effects of their Continuous Spells, or destroy the important ones with Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King. SPYRALs can use a SPYRAL Sleeper and SPYRAL GEAR – Last Resort combination to take out the Traps. Other Decks could use Heavy Storm Duster or a variety of other effects. Basically, if your Deck is good at destroying back row cards, you won’t care about giving your opponent free Traps.

If your Deck is looking for an answer to some dangerous Trap Cards, Red Reboot might be exactly what you need! You can find this awesome Counter Trap in Flames of Destruction, in stores now!