Illusory Snatcher ———————————————— When you Tribute Summon a monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, the Type, Attribute, and Level of this card become the same as that face-up Tribute Summoned monster. ———————————————— Can Be Found In: Return of the Duelist (REDU-EN037), Emperor of Darkness Structure Deck (SR01-EN016)
Although Tribute Summons lost prevalence in the game as years passed, as any old mechanics they gained some advantages over the competition. Special Summons of all kinds supporting providing cheap monsters to use as tribute, in combination with Anti-Meta tools to cripple recurring strategies, makes builds arround Tribute Summon a balance between control and offense. From well known builds like Monarchs to more tribute heavy goals arround high Level creatures, Tribute Summon might not be as recurring but still is a strong mechanic to focus on.
"Illusory Snatcher" is a monster that by default has decent ATK yet high Level, but with an ability that will follow arround tribute strategies. When we summon a monster by Tribute Summon, "Illusory Snatcher" will Special Summon itself as a result. Then, "Illusory Snatcher" will copy its Type, Attribute, and Level of the Tribute Summoned monster. While overall in most cases this leads to strong monsters for a single Tribute Summon, "Illusory Snatcher" provides a few other advantages to work along the monster that will come along to our field.
While we could summon "Illusory Snatcher" by traditional means, is simpler to focus on other monsters we can Tribute Summon and come along this creature as result. Sharing the same ATK and DEF of some Monarchs "Illusory Snatcher" obtains a few options coming from the archetype, like "Return of the Monarchs" searching for it after a Tribute Summon or being briefly brought from inside our Deck by "Ehther the Heavenly Monarch". A slower option is "Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter", searching for this monster during our End Phase so we can prepare its arrival in later turns. All will be left to do is the Tribute Summon of the monster we want to bring out, completely dependant of the Deck's theme and/or how many tributes will be needed. From gathering several monsters at once thanks to Frogs and Nimble cards to taking shortcuts with "Instant Fusion" or "The Monarchs Stormforth", not only the respective Tribute Summon will be assured but also the arrival of "Illusory Snatcher" as well.
The uses arround "Illusory Snatcher" will slightly vary of the monster is brought along to copy some of its stats, as well the Deck itself. By default summoning two strong monsters at once will pressure the opponent as "Illusory Snatcher" already carries a solid ATK, and combined with cards like "March of the Monarchs" and "Domain of the True Monarchs" we'll limit their options considerably. Although in most cases Tribute Summons are about to bring a strong monster to stay on the board as long as possible, thanks to the ability of "Illusory Snatcher" to copy Levels they can work both together as materials of some expensive Xyz Summons. The same applies to Synchro Summons if we Tribute Summon a Tuner, aiming for Level 10 or 12 Synchro Monsters or meeting the summoning requeriments of both "Ultimaya Tzolkin" and "Phantasmal Lord Ultimitl Bishbaalkin".
"Illusory Snatcher" is an interesting monster to work along despite not being a popular choice arround Tribute builds. With its high ATK it can simply become another powerful monster to corner the opponent with the Tribute Summon we just performed, but by replicating some of its traits they can aim towards some expensive Xyz and Synchro Summons with ease. But while "Illusory Snatcher" has some quite valuable uses, is a card very reliant of Tribute Summons themselves to play along with. And if "Illusory Snatcher" doesn't become a dead card waiting for a Tribute Summon to come along with, it will do so in mid to late game when resources to Tribute Summon will become more scarce. If we can manage all the pieces for a Tribute Summon along "Illusory Snatcher" the results will become devastating, but otherwise will suffer from its own high Level to have any uses outside its own effect.
Personal Rating: B
+ Special Summons itself in response of our own Tribute Summon + Copies the Type, Attribute, and Level of the Tribute Summoned monster we came along with + Helpful towards expensive Xyz and Synchro Summons
- Heavily reliant on Tribute Summons and its setups to work - Might become a dead card specially in later turns