Axe of Despair
Equip Spell Card
SYE-035, Common

"A monster equipped with this card increases its ATK by 1000 points. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, if you offer 1 monster on your side of the field as a Tribute, this card returns to the top of your Deck."

Axe of Despair is still the best "normal" equip card in the game -- by this I mean cards which simply give a constant increase to a monster's statistics, and not special-purpose equips like United We Stand or Ring of Magnetism. These normal equips didn't see much play in the Traditional format due to rampant mass removal of both monsters and spells, but in Advanced they are unquestionably much more playable. I predict more and more decks will include cards like this one now that they have the room.

Axe of Despair grants a hefty 1000 extra ATK points to the monster who weilds it. This is the highest such increase from a general equip that can be given to any monster, and the only other "normal" equip that beats it is Fusion Weapon, which I previously reviewed. This makes it as flexible and usable as possible at all times during a duel. 1000 ATK is a great amount, turning beatsticks into horrible beasts and turning tributes into near gods. A Slate Warrior, after hitting its Flip Effect, would have 3400 ATK points when equipped with this card, and the already hefty Summoned Skull increases to a scale-breaking 3500 immediately. If combined with other cards like Limiter Removal or Megamorph, it's possible to break all limits of reasonability.

Axe of Despair works especially well with cards which have some caveat that limits their ATK power in certain circumstances. For example, equipped to Zombyra the Dark, it makes him live on the field significantly longer. Equipped to Dark Elf, it allows her to attack for 3000 damage at the cost of 1000 LP, which is much more worth it. This card helps break down dependence upon less reliable Tribute monsters to hold the field, and it helps break down opponents who depend upon one beatstick with exceptional ATK (like Giant Orc), since it is easy to surpass the ATK stat of all Level 4 beatsticks using this card.

It is worth making special note of the Axe's secondary effect, as well. At the price of one monster on the field, you can return this card to the top of your deck instead of sending it to your Graveyard. If you have spare monsters on the field and are going to lose control of the field without this card, then it is oftentimes worthwhile to do this. Combined with cards like the one above (Scapegoat), you can practically negate the cost of a monster.

I give this card a Great rating. It is just flexible and powerful enough to weasel into this catagory, and it is the only normal equip I would classify this way -- most others would fall into the Fair catagory or worse. This is the only one I ever consider running now, and I almost always run it. It is also great that this card was reprinted in Starter Deck Yugi Evolution, because I doubt I'd ever have gotten one otherwise!