King of the Sky Prison is a bombshell of a card for Trap-heavy decks. It provides an out to common blowout cards such as Lightning Storm, forcing adaptation. Every other attribute of this hard rock monster, from its high offense to its search utility make it hard to ignore.
The King's Followers
Trap decks will need to find their king before gaining his protection. Of course, it would be completely usable if it were unsearchable. But some Trap decks that lurk in the depths of rogue can fish out the king from the Deck.
Trap decks either play Pot of Extravagance, Pot of Desires, or Pot of Prosperity to increase consistency or card advantage. Particularly, Prosperity digs very deep into the deck.
While many Trap decks cannot readily access it turn one, Gallant Granite can search the king out. Nowadays, Trap decks are less about sitting on one monster and rely instead on compact engines. Decks with Link-1 options can opt to run Parallel eXceed for a Gallant Granite, even if they only run searchable Spells or Traps.
Cards of the King's Choosing
King of the Sky Prison has a great number of positive attributes. The second effect to set any Spell or Trap is unprecedented without some setback. That being said, you cannot activate a set trap until a turn has passed. King of the Sky Prison won't be setting a Dimensional Barrier for an absolute blowout on the same turn.
Traps that act more like offensive tools have become prevalent recently. Cards like The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine, Evil★Twin Challenge and Joker's Wild can all extend your turn. Otherwise, any Spell you desire is also an option. Chainable traps like Ice Dragon's Prison can be used during the End Phase for maximum safety.
The King's ability to set any Spell or Trap lends it the utility of any tech you would like. Against an opposing Trap deck, you can set Trap Stun, Red Reboot, or even Harpie's Feather Duster. Against combo decks, Dark Ruler No More or Forbidden Droplet is at your fingertips. Even niche options only require one copy to multiply their usefulness.
The Sword Above the King's Head
a
In the current meta, Lightning Storm is the scariest threat for Trap decks. With King of the Sky Prison, destruction is no longer the way to go. Evenly Matched is a go-to for control decks. But giving up your Main and Battle Phase in a combo deck is a tremendous loss of tempo. Similarly, Cosmic Cyclone can snipe one face-down under the king's protection. But Trap deck love to slam down three or four Traps during their first turn.
The answer for combo players seems to be either push on the gas harder, or slow down a bit. Decks like the former champion Dragon Link could push forward through multiple disruptions, thus not needing to destroy face-downs. Alternatively, combo decks could return to a lost era where cards such as Trap Stun and their own Traps could save them if they were ensnared.
Conclusion
King of the Sky Prison has so many powerful attributes, it is difficult not to be dazzled by it. Even its 3000 ATK and DEF are impressive! Traptrix, Guru Control, Paleozoic - any Trap deck can benefit from the Storm slayer. With little way to prevent his arrival, will the meta shift drastically to meet its challenge? Burst of Destiny is quite a ways away, so its impact may be different than our current view. Nonetheless, any card so jam packed is sure to catch our attention.
