Reverse Slayer

Reverse Slayer is a slang term given to creatures that destroy themselves when they win a battle.

Details

It is the opposite of the Slayer keyword;

Regardless of the creatures power when battling against the creature with "Reverse Slayer", the creature destroys itself when it battles another creature, such as when the creature blocks, or is blocked or attacked directly.

Before the Fighting Spirit Saga, creatures with this effect in the OCG said "Whenever this creature wins a battle, put it into your graveyard." however this is corrected in the TCG.

However, some cards post-Fighting Spirit Saga such as Bloody Cymbal, Bloody Shadow, Mystic Light Death Knight and the Cross Gear; Hell Double Claw still say "Whenever this creature wins a battle".

As a suicidal playstyle is one of the favorite techniques of the Darkness Civilization, most suicide cards are of the Darkness Civilization. Most early Brain Jackers tend to have reverse slayer effects as a drawback. This has later been used on Demon Commands, Zombie Dragons, Funky Knightmares, and other races of the Darkness Civilization.

As it is seen as a demerit, creatures with this ability usually have an extremely high cost-to-power ratio, such as a 4 mana cost creature with 6000 power. However, some creatures are able to utilize this to trigger their abilities for when they put into the graveyard (such as Bhutan, Piggy Blues's Doron Go).

The reverse slayer ability only triggers when a creature battles another creature, so a creature with reverse slayer doesn't trigger when shields are broken by them as no battle is considered to have taken place.

The Reverse Slayer effect triggers after the battle has ended. As a result, if some effect bounces a creature in the middle of a battle, the Reverse Slayer effect may not trigger.

List of "Reverse Slayer" cards

Bloody Series

• Bloody Cymbal
• Bloody Dragoon
• Bloody Mary
• Bloody Shadow, Mystic Light Death Knight
• Bloody Squito
• Drilling Earring
• Chile, Bloody Believer

Other

• Bhutan, Piggy Blues
• Bone Spider
• Claclamb, Decay Demon Dragon
• Dark Clown
• Doll Finn, Burial Guardian
• Fuuma Dekarabia
• Inuhakka, Inga's Mamorukami
• Necrodragon Giland
• Necrodragon Jagraveen
• Necrodragon Odol Needle
• Pork Beef
• Vile Mulder, Wing of the Void

Example

Bloody Squito
Darkness / Creature / 2 Brain Jacker / 4000
Blocker (Whenever an opponent's creature attacks, you may tap this creature to stop the attack. Then the 2 creatures battle.) ■ This creature can't attack. ■ When this creature wins a battle, destroy it.

Trivia

• This ability is nicknamed "Crunchy" by Wizards of the Coast.