Wow… the poll was very close but Safe Zone has triumphed! Cardcar D has come second in 3 weeks which I find quite amusing. Anyway, let’s start the review.



Activate by selecting 1 face-up Attack Position monster. That monster cannot be targeted or destroyed by your opponent's card effects, or be destroyed by battle. It cannot attack your opponent directly. When this card is removed from the field, destroy that monster. When that monster is removed from the field, destroy this card.

Safe Zone is in my opinion, is the most unacknowledged trap card at the moment. Safe Zone has been used as a tech in some YCS decks but it has never caught on. It is a very flexible card that can be used for both offense and defense. Safe Zone is a continuous card that targets an attack position monster and once it resolves, it continues to target that monster until it is destroyed. There are two main ways this card is used today.

Many argue that in a Meta with 3 MSTs and 1 Heavy causes this card to die. It’s not wrong but most duelists only think of this card as a defensive option and forget its offensive capability. Should your opponent use any backrow removal (except Night Beam) and try and destroy this card, just chain it to your opponent’s monster and watch as their card ends up destroying their monsters. Here is a hint that not many realize, should Safe Zone be chained to your opponents Stardust Dragon or even Shooting Star Dragon and be destroyed; your opponent CAN’T negate its destruction. This is because when Safe Zone leaves the field it doesn’t create a new chain (kind of similar to Call of the Haunted). It also gets rid of cards like Spirit Reaper, if that’s not cool enough, what is? (Say bye to Hyperion, DAD)

The most obvious use for this of course is defensive. Activate Safe Zone on your own attack position monster; it can’t be destroyed by card effects or battle. You can just change your monster to defense position to have a near-invincible wall. Yes, you cannot use that monster to attack directly, but it’s a very small price to pay.

Here are some mistakes I’ve seen people make:

1) Should Safe Zone be used on your opponent’s monster, it doesn’t stop them from attacking you directly.
2) Safe Zone does not protect your monsters from your own card effects.

This may be a bit confusing but even though Safe Zone stops a monster from being targeted, it won’t stop a monster from being targeted should it’s chained to a card that already targets. For example, should your opponent use Mind Control on your monster, using Safe Zone won’t stop them from gaining control as it has already been targeted. What it can stop is cards that destroy your monster (e.g. Bottomless).

So what decks can use Safe Zone? Safe Zone is an interesting tech that can fit into just about any deck, but it works best in Decks that summon the most threatening monsters. Cards such as Naturia Beast, Shi-En, Bamboo Shoot, Malefic, or even Thunder King Rai-Oh (You can still negate should you wish) are some cards Safe Zone can prove very useful. I remember dueling Valkyra while she had Safe Zone + Zanji out using her Six Samurai deck; like you can see from this example, there are endless possibilities with this card, and it’s up to you to take advantage of it.

To summarize, Safe Zone is a very flexible card which not many duelists will anticipate. If you use a Deck that runs monsters worth protecting, I will recommend having a look at Safe Zone. Just because a card is under-used doesn’t mean its bad, in contrary, if you can use it properly doesn’t it make you better than others?

Now… let the discussion begin!