Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Review: Infernity Barrier

Shining Darkness has proven itself to be one of the best booster sets in the last couple of years (The last two good ones were Light of Destruction and Phantom Darkness. All the others after that have been slighty anticlimactic with their impact on the game.) and with the shining darkness comes the full force of Infernity Archetype.

Infernities have become a powerful One turn killing force since the TCG release at the start of may. The rarity of each card had been increased to make them harder to aquire. But that didn't stop many players fishing out large amounts of money to buy boxes in the hopes of getting a set of each infernity card.

And the Infernity card that is pretty difficult (And the most expensive on the secondary market) to pull from a Shining Darkness booster pack is the all powerful Infernity Barrier.

Perhaps the ultimate barrier...

Released as a TCG exclusive secret rare, this card is a staple in any professional infernity deck. It is currently priced at around £40 ($60) and people who cannot afford them are trading vast amounts of their accumulated rare cards to get them.


Its effect is simple but powerful. While you control a face up attack position infernity monster, while you control no cards you can negate the activation of a spell, trap or monster effect and destroy it.

This card is capable of shutting down your opponent completely when played at the right time. And since its a trap card, it will not stay in your hand for long. It is also a counter trap, so it is very difficult to negate by your opponent. This combination means that it fits the infernities style of play perfectly: Fast and Dominating.

There are a few flaws in this card that can be worked to your opponents advantage:
- You need to have an attack position infernity monster to activate this card. If you dont have one on the field and you draw this card, its dead in your hand and you had wish you had drawn a solumn judgement instead (which has almost the same effect). With this in mind, it makes sense to run 2 infernity barriers in the deck instead of 3.
- Also, infernity players prefer to put their monsters in defence position since there is no reason for them to be in attack mode most of the time (Like Infernity necromancer, which switches itself to defence when its summoned)
- Its a trap, which means its prone to dust tornado, mystical space typhoon, heavy storm and to a lesser extent, bait doll. But the same applies to any other trap in the game.

In conclusion, this card is an essential piece of the Infernity arsenal. It fits its play style, it negates whatever your opponent wants to throw at you, and theres essentially no cost (except for the no hand condition, but infernities usually have no hand anyway).

Would i recommend this card? yes i would. But if you happen to pull it out of a booster pack and you dont have an infernity deck, then i suggest you sell/trade it while its still high!