Trade Cards Online

General description:
Flare Scarab....what an interesting Neo Spacian. His strength is also his weakness. He is the Insect and Fire representative of Neo Space and his effect, however weird, makes him a formidable force with the right back-up. Keep in mind, the strategies and uses I mention in this review also apply to E-Hero Flare Neos since they have almost idential effects.

Uses:
When I was talking about Flare Scarab's strength being his weakness also, I am of course referring to the Spell and Trap Zone. You never know if the opponent has a face-down Sakuretsu Armor or Book of Moon or anything else to defend his monsters and life points. That being said, the best use for Flare Scarab is when you know the cards in your opponent's Spell and Trap zone cannot hurt your attack. This means Flare Scarab is powerful in Burn/Stall decks and in combo with Cold Wave.

Strategies and game play:
Well, when including Flare Scarab either as tech in your deck or in a whole deck focused around him and his fusion, it would be a very good idea to make sure his strength doesn't become his weakness. This means to make sure your opponent's set cards on the field either cannot activate or are negated...preferably that they cannot activate.

Combos with other cards:
-Cold Wave - sure, you won't be able to use your own spells or traps either, but you'll ensure a locked atk for Flare Scarab
-Sasuke Samurai #2 - same as Cold Wave, but only works until the end of your turn instead of your opponent's, leaving Flare Scarab vulnerable
-Common Soul - yes, if you summon Flare Scarab via Common Soul's effect, his atk boost is calculated as soon as it hits the field, so the selected monster from Common Soul gains all that extra ATK power!
-Royal Decree - same concept as Cold Wave and Sasuke #2, but it doesn't prevent your opponent from activating traps and it sure doesn't do anything to spells. I wouldn't rely on this if I were you.

Ways to counteract it:
-make sure you don't have any s/t on the field. Monarch decks with Treeborn pretty much have this skill inherent
-run Sakuretsus and/or Mirror Force. Flare Scarab is easy to kill, especially if you're going up against an arrogant duelist (or a n00b)

Strengths/Pros:
-gains 400atk for every spell or trap your opponent controls
-lv3 which means he slides under stall tactics
-FIRE and Insect type support is welcomed

Weaknesses/Cons:
-the same things that power him up can be used to kill him
-low initial stats (500/500)

Overall rating:
Honestly, this guy takes a lot of effort to run successfully, I would only risk his power-up with either Common Soul or fusing into Flare Neos.
Neo-Spacian deck: 6/10
tech in any other deck: 2/10