Let's talk about back-row removal. Back-row meaning Spells and Traps, specifically set Spells and Traps. Most Spells and Traps are there to cause you pain; they will remove your monsters and prevent summons (bth) stop your attacks (mirror force, sakuretsu, widespread, book, e-con) lead to you losing a battle you thought you could win (shrink, mirror wall). So how do you deal with this, specifically in attacking-based decks where one sakuretsu armor can be the difference between winning and losing?

Well, first off, what S/T removal is commonly seen in decks?

Monster form: Breaker the Magical Warrior, Mobius the Frost Monarch

Spell form: Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon, Giant Trunade

Trap form: Dust Tornado

Let's think about Monster form S/T removal.

Pros and Cons.

Both Breaker and Mobius, common forms of S/T removal, are targetable by Bth.... Which is definitely a con. Mobius can call priority, this being a pro. Both have nice attack and can help get rid of attack-stopping cards, however, neither can do much about stuff like Torrential and Bth.

Spell form

Spell form removal isn't going to lead to your monster getting removed (unless you MST a Karma Cut). You can MST, then summon your Raiou, without any fear of getting hit by a BTH (if you destroyed it). Cards like Heavy Storm and Giant Trunade will also completely clear any defensive threats you face (barring PWWB, Raigeki Break, Karma Cut, Threatening Roar, Book of Moon, Enemy Controller, Shrink). Spell form removal is generally quick and cost-free.

Trap form

This is helpful for EP maneuvers (similar to MST's ability to annihilate back-rows in the EP). The most common Trap form S/T removal, Dust Tornado, is basically a slower form of MST. Slow, but effective.

What are we missing?

Monster form:

Swarm of Locusts - Not great stats, but this card can get rid of Bth without being hit by it. Helpful in decks that control the field well. Easily a -1 for your opponent each turn, and can lead to frustrated solemns from your opponent.

Chiron the Mage - 1800 atk, nice stats. Discarding a spell card can be pricey, but it's free removal, + you can call prio. Great side-deck card.

Sasuke Samurai - not removal, but 800 life points to prevent any defensive traps and spells for the rest of the turn (otk card).

Demise - You don't need to make a deck around Demise to make it effective.. Demise can be incorporated into several OTK builds, most notably Dark Gaia OTK, as an efficient form of S/T removal.

Spell form:

Nobleman of Extermination - Quite possibly one of my favorite underlooked cards. Using NoE on your opponents Solemn or BTH (cards commonly ran in 3s) can cause a lack of defensive stall for the remainder of the duel, and can help both at the moment by allowing an attack or summon to go through, and later by causing your opponent to be unable to counter late-game moves. Instant -1 S/T removal.

Bait Doll - Re-usable trap destruction, that allows you to know what's coming your way as far as whether that face down is a mirror force, or a book of moon. Recycling can lead to dead draws if you're not careful, so Bait Doll should only be run in decks that are consistent and maintain good hand and field presence - top-decking a Bait Doll shouldn't cause you to lose.

Cold Wave - What a great card. It's somewhat popular, but I begin to think of it as a semi-staple, similar to cards like Snipe Hunter and Morphing Jar. This goes great with several decks and can lead to a lot of damage, plus lack of a way to counter with monster removal the next turn. Should be run in 1s or 2s in most aggro or offensive control builds.

Trap form:

Malevolent Catastrophe - Basically Mirror Force except with Spells and Traps. Great side-deck card, that should be used against many decks that set a lot or rely on S/T (gadgets, stun, macro, skill drain).

I hope this helped you make your next attack one that actually goes through. =]