Earthbound Immortal Cusillu ———————————————— There can only be 1 "Earthbound Immortal" monster on the field. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card. Your opponent cannot target this card for attacks. This card can attack your opponent directly. If this card would be destroyed by battle, you can Tribute 1 other monster instead, and if you do, halve your opponent's LP. ———————————————— Can Be Found In: Ancient Prophecy (ANPR-EN016), Legendary Collection 5D's Mega Pack (LC5D-EN148)
Earthbound Immortals are quite similar to each other, sharing the same advantages and disadvantages so they overall can share the same options. What makes them more unique are their respective effects, as while their main goal stays on declaring powerful direct attacks they provide some diversity about their unique possibilities. Some of them might carry an ability to punish the opponent after their defeat, while others will offer an alternative route to approach Duels with them. Since there can only be a single Earthbound Immortal on the field, is up to the player which member they wanna focus their resources or the whole Deck on.
"Earthbound Immortal Cusillu" might easily be the oddest member of the archetype, as its unique effect completely contradicts the premise of these creatures. Like any Earthbound Immortal "Cusillu" relies on an active Field Spell to stay on the field, but in return cannot be attacked while being able to direct attack the opponent whenever we like. When comes to its main effect is when things get unusual as requires "Cusillu" to be defeated in battle, in as a result of that we can tribute another monster to avoid its destruction and halve the opponent's Life Points. Since Earthbound Immortals cannot be attacked by default the ability of "Cusillu" might seem quite impossible to achieve, but actually is simpler that it looks with some basic setups and even assistance of other cards and effects.
Is not that different to summon "Cusillu" from the rest of Earthbound Immortals, overall taking the same setups from early to late game. First of all we need a Field Spell and with cards like "Terraforming" and "Metaverse" will become available, one of them being "Mausoleum of the Emperor" allowing us to summon "Cusillu" without materials to tribute. But gathering monsters for its summon is not that difficult nowadays, with monsters like Nimbles and cards like "Fires of Doomsday" quickly gathering materials, as well cards such as "The Monarchs Stormforth" and "Brain Control" taking opponent's monsters to become its tributes. The defeat of "Cusillu" won't stop us from bringing it back, as many revival effects such as "Ayers Rock Sunrise" and "Revival of the Immortals" will make sure is on the field in late game. Finally there's the support that comes from being Beast-Type in the form of "Beast Soul Swap", a Trap Card mainly used to resummon the same "Cusillu" to either avoid targetting effects or attack twice in a single turn.
"Cusillu" will do the same as any other Earthbound Immortal of declaring direct attacks with its high ATK, with the option of working with Field Spells like "Necrovalley" and "Summon Breaker" to limit the opponent's options. When comes to its unique effect is clearly that, since Earthbound Immortals cannot be attacked, "Cusillu" itself should be the one declaring an attack towards a stronger enemy. Cards like "Shrink" and "Forbidden Lance" will assure "Cusillu" is weak enough to trigger its ability, but be sure that we don't take severe damage from the battle in the process. If the opponent has no strong monsters to attack we can be the ones providing them one with "Grinder Golem", a creature arriving to the opposite field while giving us tokens to tribute for the ability of "Cusillu". When comes to tributes we can simply use the same materials we use for its Tribute Summon, or take a step further with "Manticore of Darkness" as will be able to come back to the field during the End Phase. Most Beast support won't benefit "Cusillu" in battles with the exception of "Wild Nature's Release", a card that combined with the Earthbound Immortal's effects and/or the mentioned "Beast Soul Swap" will give us a good chance to achieve an OTK.
Among the Earthbound Immortals, "Earthbound Immortal Cusillu" might be one of the most unorthodox due its contradictory ability. Earthbound Immortals cannot be attacked so most of their threats are card effects or the removal of active Field Spells, and working along cards like "Skill Drain" will erase the entire premise of the archetype. That leaves "Cusillu" a very complicated or even situational card to work with, but not impossible when checking our options. The effect of "Cusillu" will probably be used only once when the opponent's Life Points are still high, and with many candidates to assist activating this ability can become succesful in early turns. Yet in most cases is better to simply invest in other Earthbound Immortals or the strong Beast-Type cards supporting "Cusillu", so while the effect is not impossible to achieve it won't be worth the risks in many scenarios.
Personal Rating: B+
+ Able to direct attack + Cannot be attacked by the opponent's monsters + If is going to be destroyed in battle we can tribute a monster to protect it and halve the opponent's Life Points + Well supported arround its effect as well as a Beast-Type monster
- Will be destroyed if there's no active Field Spells - Its main effect is situational or only useful in early game - There are better options arround Earthbound Immortals including itself to not invest in its effect
