With YCS New Jersey a few weeks or so away and the release of the new Hidden Arsenal shortly on the horizon, I felt it only be appropriate to talk about how to handle the newly feared Evilswarm deck. I wrote an article about the general understanding of this deck titled "Plunge into Darkness" and gave a minor decklist of something I was playing at that current time on Dueling Network to get familiar with the deck and how it functions. The easiest way to learn and pilot a deck is to actually playtest and know the strengths/weakness of each component of the deck. We all know that Evilswarms gain massive control from its keys card Evilswarm Ophion which searches out Infestation Pandemic Infection. These two cards alone essentially are the backbone and structure of the deck. The deck simply functions around these two cards going off without being stopped to gain full control and full usage of the deck. Yes the deck has multiple other plays and can control the game from just summoning Evilswarm Heliothrope and beating down since he is 1950. But the deck is simply not designed for that. The deck in my opinion is desined to make Ophion, search Pandemic, protect Ophion, search another Pandemic if necessary and keep advantage that way. Cards like Evilswarm Bahamut and Evilswarm Ouroboros of course make the deck more controlling then it should be, but you see the point I am trying to make.

The deck has access to a lot of key cards that simply cripple most decks. With Spellbooks gaining all their hype and support, [ccProd]Eradicator Epidemic Virus[/ccProd] is going to be played in two's or three's coming up and for good reason. After a Spellbook player does all the fancy searching and summoning, they merely only have massive spell cards in their hand with a [ccProd]High Priestess of Prophecy[/ccProd] also. Well following their turn with a Eradicator puts the rain on their parade and cripples them. Following Eradicator we have [ccProd]Deck Devistation Virus[/ccProd]. Mono Mermails and even Undine Mermails are going to still see a high level of play because they deck is simply that powerful. As most players now, Deck Devastation hurts the water varients to a good extent. Yes Ophion makes the Mono player has some slow paced plays because of the special summoning factor, that only means the Mono player will up the [ccProd]Atlantean Heavy Infantry[/ccProd] count. I think any deck being able to have access to both the Virus cards for this upcoming format/WCQ will be highly played. Even after using one of the Virus cards on an Ophion, the Evilswarm player can just use [ccProd]XYZ Reborn[/ccProd] and bring it right back with a material and still leave the opponent in a salty position. Evilswarms may not be a high contender for YCS New Jersey but will definitely be a high contender for any event after Tachyon becomes legal.

[ccProd]XYZ Reborn[/ccProd] is just another little trick the deck can do to utilize the Virus cards to their advantage. The deck generically pushes out monsters the Virus cards can utilize. But what about side deck options to further the advantage more? Since Evilswarms don't necessarily have access to a rank 7 play for [ccProd]Number 11: Big Eye[/ccProd], how can the deck utilize the side deck even more for the Virus'?

[ccProd]Chaos Hunter[/ccProd]. With Elemental Dragon gaining hype, this card is a very good out to them. Its also a dark monster with 2500 atk points so it can set off one of the Virus cards to put your opponent at bay if you need too. Its effect is also very crucial during some matchups you might encounter yourself it. "When your opponent Special Summons a monster, you can discard 1 card to Special Summon this card from your hand. Your opponent cannot remove cards from play." I have done some slight testing with this card in two matchups I predict will be important. Spellbooks and Elemental Dragons. Elemental Dragons can get simply crippled by this card being on the field since all their effects go off when you banish them from play. Spellbooks on the other hand some people might find a little weird. When [ccProd]Chaos Hunter[/ccProd] is face up on the field, your opponent will not be able to use the effect of High Priestess or use the power card [ccProd]Spellbook of Fate[/ccProd]. Two cards which are powerful and key to the Spellbook deck from going off after their searches from Judgement/Secrets/Masters. It forces the Spellbook player to make some awkward plays they really don't want to make. Example being: using a power on a Priestess to run over it rather then just popping it to begin with. Yes they still get a search, but its possible you could have some kind of protection card and they won't have Spellbook of Wisdom.

[ccProd]Fusilier, the Duel-Mode Beast[/ccProd]. This has to be one of my favorite tools to set off one of your Virus cards. It has 2800 atk which can be used for both Eradicator and Deck Devi, but it is also a level 7. What does that mean? A splashed [ccProd]Number 11: Big Eye[/ccProd] could be seen for sure. Fusilier's text reads "You can Normal Summon or Set this card without Tributing. If you do, its orignal ATK and DEF are halved." Simple but maybe confusing to some. So you can set you Fusiler face down and its attack points are still 2800 since its effect has not been applied yet. So just set it and forget it. Set it down, flip over a Virus and let the rest just unfold. Just have to watch out for [ccProd]Monster Reborn[/ccProd] of this card since its 2800 but if your using Eradicator, your mostly calling spells anyways! I've been picking up copies of this card around my local shops for a little while now and people always asked me why. And I told each and every one of them to read this article to figure it out. Well there you have it, the reason why. To set off a Virus of course!

These are simply just three of the cards I have been fooling around with and testing to set off Virus' along with the standard Evilswarm deck in preparation for upcoming events. The list goes on and on of what you can use to set off a Virus on your opponent. Dark Worlds being the primary leader in that category because of Grapha, Sillva, Goldd, and Snoww all being able to set them off. Evilswarms are coming into the Yugioh world and speading into the YCS ciruit shortly after its release date. So as fellow duelists, how will you stop the spreading of darkness and the virus' around you? Until next time, Play Hard or Go Home!

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