Card Spotlight: Parallel eXceed

Card Breakdown

• Name:
• Type: Cyberse
• Level: 8
• ATK: 2000

• DEF: 2000

• Effect: If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of Parallel eXceed, its Level becomes 4 and its original ATK/DEF become halved. You can only use each of the following effects of Parallel eXceed once per turn.

  • If you Link Summon: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your zone that Link Monster points to.

  • If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 "Parallel eXceed" from your Deck.

Let us break down the card's effect. While there is no restriction whatsoever on normal summoning or special summoning this card in any way, it will only gain its effects if summoned as worded above via its own effect. You have to have one copy in your hand in order to resolve the card's first effect and at least one copy in your deck to resolve its second effect.

The first part of the effect is quite simple, if you link summon a Link Monster that has Link Markers pointing toward empty zones on your side of the field; you may trigger Parallel's eXceed's effect from your hand and special summon it to one of those zones and its level, attack, and defense will be halved. This instantly gives you a level four monster on the field. When this card hits the field in this manner, the second part of the effect activates. This allows you to special summon another copy from the deck as a level four monster.

Without doing anything further yet, you are already in a better position as you thinned your deck by one card and summoned two monsters with matching levels to the field, in addition to the link monster that triggered the first summon. From here you get to decide what to do with these two monsters. You can either use them as materials for a rank four XYZ monster, use them as link materials for further Link climbing into a anything from a Link Two to a Link Four, or even use them as materials for a Synchro Summon.

One can splash the card into any deck that relies on Link summoning such as Salamangreat, Crusadia, or World Chalice, or even decks that use Link Summons as to strengthen their board such as any deck that utilizes . Since it is a Cyberse monster, it also makes sense in Code Talker decks or general Cyberse decks, especially since it can be searched via .

Impact on the Game

Think of this card as an upgraded version of . Malicious needs to be banished from the graveyard to summon another copy of itself, while Parallel eXceed can let you have two copies on the field at the same time. Also, later on in the duel, after you've used up two copies, the last copy doesn't have to be stuck in your hand like a third copy of Malicious — assuming Malicious is unlimited. You can special summon it by its own effect if you link summon again in another turn.

One example of the competitive impact of this card is the Salamangreat deck that took first place in the PPG Weekly tournament on May 31, piloted by none other than Gabriel Soussi, the 2019 European Champion. Not only did he use to summon strong floodgate monsters like and . He also used it to trigger the first effect of allowing him to recycle his combo pieces from the graveyard as well as since it shares the Fire attribute with Salamangreat monsters.

The card is so versatile that it can even be used to protect your plays from hand traps or from . Here is a nifty little trick that will either bait a hand trap, force your opponents to activate something prematurely, or put them in an unfavorable position. Let us assume you start with — or any monster that can be used for a Link summon of a Link-1 monster with a downward arrow — and a copy of Parallel eXceed in hand.

First you normal summon Jet Synchron and use it to Link Summon . This triggers the effect of Parallel eXceed from your hand, allowing you to Special Summon it along with another copy from your deck. Next, use both copies as materials for the XYZ Summon of , allowing you to have access to Trap Hole cards from your deck, including , which can negate monster effects in the hand and inflict 2000 damage to your opponent when doing so. You now have one interruption/negation already in addition to the Jet Synchron in your graveyard, which you can Special Summon, and continue your plays.

This could work for any combo deck or even a control deck if you use the same combo in Altergeist for example to have more interruptions/negations. On the other hand, one can also use Parallel eXceed offensively, for example to access or .

Final Thoughts

If you have enough space to fit three copies into your deck which relies on Link Summoning, then you probably should. The card has easy summoning conditions, provides access to generic Rank Four XYZ monsters — or even non-generic wind monsters such as — or it can simply be used as Synchro or Link materials to further extend your plays. I expect to see the card feature more in current and upcoming strategies.

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