Ok, I'm seeing all these people with these cards in thier decks that just don't seem all that great...here are the main two I've noticed:

Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive:
FLIP: Draw 1 card. If you have face-up "Bokoichi, the Freightening Car" card(s) on your side of the field, draw an additional card for each of them.

* Number: RDS-EN032
* Rarity: Rare
* Card Type: Monster / Effect
* Monster Type: Machine
* Attack Points: 1400
* Defense Points: 1000
* Level: 4
* Attribute: Dark
* Password: 87621407


Gravekeeper's Spy:
FLIP: Select 1 monster that includes "Gravekeeper’s" in its card name with an ATK of 1500 or less from your Deck and Special Summon it in face-up Attack or Defense Position. The Deck is then shuffled.

* Number: DR1-EN007
* Rarity: Common
* Card Type: Monster / Effect
* Monster Type: Spellcaster
* Attack Points: 1200
* Defense Points: 2000
* Level: 4
* Attribute: Dark
* Password: 24317029


Now, how do these two cards work in a deck without the cards listed in the text?

Smashing Ground:
Destroy 1 monster with the highest DEF on your opponent's side of the field.

* Number: IOC-093
* Rarity: SP
* Card Type: Spell/Magic Card
* Password: 97169186

How's this better than "Hammer Shot"? It seems only good when a monster is hiding in def and annying you because you can't destroy it, like "Labyrinth Wall"...Otherwise, "Hammer Shot" Is better...

Ok, with Dekoichi, its the strongest Flip: draw 1 monster around. If you have ever flip summoned Skelengal or Dark Mimic L.1 without some way to protect it or remove it, you know you just handed your skillet over for a whalloping. Dekoichi has amazingly better stats.

(I just wish someone would actually try Bokoichi, the Freightening Car. I did, but couldnt pull it off *sad*)

Gravekeeper's Spy was a card who got railroaded (...no pun intended) into popularity by a Regionals winner last year. At 2000 DEF, it is a really good defender against just about anything normally seen. And with the slowing down of draw effects available, deck thinning has proved to be even more valuable. DEF + thinning equals a pretty good card. Especially for those players who count 1s and 2s.

Hammershot looks at and affects every face up monster on the field. Smashing Ground only considers the opponent's field. So what happens when you control the strongest monster on the field and have Hammershot in hand?

A dead card or a huge D'OH~!

Tsk tsk Headcrab. I thought you knew better.

Simply enough, imagine if you actually flip Dekoichi. You get +1. Thats the same as Pot of Greed and thats Banned!

Let's look at spy. 2000 defence, pretty solid. They attack it and not only do they lose some life points but you get a card from your deck thus another +1. It was like if it was another Pot of Greed. Holy crap! 2 pot of greeds! And they are banned!

Smashing Ground is better than Hammer Shot simply because Hammer Shot targets both players.

Dekoichi, Dark Mimic LV1, and Skelengel are all very similar monsters and playable in their own right. Dekoichi, however, is probably the best one even without the monster in its text because it is Dark (Chaos food), it can be abused with Tsukuyomi, it intercepts an attack and speeds your progress through your deck, and it has fairly adaquate stats (1400/1000). You can flip it and attack where your opponent probably won't Sakuretsu it because of Dekoichi's floatiness (if you Sakuretsu it you get a -1).

Gravekeeper's Spy is interesting, but obviously any deck running it must run at least one more Spy if it isn't a Gravekeeper theme (although in a Gravekeeper theme you might use 2 to 3 anyway). Gravekeeper's Spy is a very advantageous monster for sacrifice summon and growth in field position. One flipped Spy brings out a second face-up spy and one can be sacrificed for Mobius, Zaborg, etc. They also are +1s in many situations where they are not destroyed in battle. Destroying them in battle is tough in a metagame where most monsters outside tributes are 1900 or lower.

Smashing Ground is better than Hammer Shot because there is nothing about Smashing Ground that inheiritantly could make it kill your own monsters. If you have the highest attack monster on the field when activated your monster will die. Assuming a player knows this they won't play it at that time, but if you have a Cyber Dragon on the field and your opponent has a defense mode Spirit Reaper you can't get through it with Hammer Shot, but you could with Smashing Ground. There are situations where Hammer Shot would be better and that might be against a Monarch deck since their low defense might be able to hide behind a higher defense lower attack monster, but not too likely.

Hope this long explanation helps.

Ahh...I see...ok, thanks. :grin: