This past weekend as many of you may know was YCS Orlando. This was the first tournament in which players were allowed to use cards from Hidden Arsenal 4 (mainly Trishula) and Extreme Victory. Many people dismissed Extreme Victory as a "good set" but surprisingly, the top 32 had MORE cards from Extreme Victory then YCS Dallas did (the first YCS which Storm of Ragnarok could be used).
Going into this tournament, I thought I wanted to run something with Reborn Tengu, simply because the card is that good. Many other people felt the same. Most commonly, people were using Reborn Tengu in their Plant variants, including myself at first, but after lots and lots of testing I came to the conclusion that the card was mediocre in Plants, and that something else was much, much better. And that card was Tour Guide from the Underworld.
Dark/3/Fiend/1000/600
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 3 Fiend-Type monster from your hand or Deck. Its effects are negated, and it cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster.
First glancing at this card, you might think "Okay... and?" and believe me that was my first impression as well. This card was made to help the future Rank 3 Exceed monsters more playable, but I wanted to run it now! Now, there weren't many 3 Star Fiend-type monster to choose from, but the only one that matters is the amazing 3-eyed critter Sangan.
Now, Tour Guide negates effects of the monster it Special Summons, but this is irrelevant for Sangan. Once Sangan leaves the field it no longer has any ties to Tour Guide, and will activate its effect, letting you search for a monster. In Plants, this means you get basically any card in your deck, and especially the important ones like Lonefire Blossom, Dandylion, Debris Dragon, Effect Veiler, and Ryko.
Plants thrive off of Lonefire Blossom, setting up huge Synchro plays when combined with Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, or Limit Reverse. This usually leads to multiple Formula Synchron's, any level 8 Synchro monster, Trishula, or a Shooting Star Dragon. Since Lonefire Blossom is a Semi-Limited card, your going to want easier access to it. Playing 3 Tour Guide and Sangan theoretically means you have 6 Lonefire Blossom's; 2 actual Lonefire's, 4 ways to get you to Lonefire.
Plant decks usually used Mystic Tomato to fetch Sangan. It was Plant-type, a Dark for Chaos Sorcerer, and a recruiter, but the huge downside is your opponent HAS to attack it. This is why I like Tour Guide much more. There's no battle games involved, it just straight gets you your Sangan, and Sangan gets you everything else! Playing Tour Guide just for Sangan is completely fine because SANGAN IS JUST THAT GOOD AND IMPORTANT.
Now, some people might say "Well what happens if after you get Sangan? Your other Tour Guides are basically dead." While this is somewhat true, grabbing another Tour Guide isn't awful by any means. A free monster and 2000 damage is one fourth of your opponents life points. You can also run a card such as Dark Mimic Lv.3, which is what I did, but after the YCS regretted doing so.
Now what many people have been waiting for, my deck list!
I ended up with an 8-2 record, narrowly missing top 32 because of some dreadful tie breakers. Two of my friends also decided to run variants of my deck, one being Anthony Alvarado who also ended with an 8-2 record, while my other friend made top 32. Congratulations to him!
My loses were to a Tengu Plant deck, and a Stun deck with King Tiger Wanghu. Decks I played and beat consisted of 5 Six Samurai decks, 1 Gravekeeper, 1 Chaos Plant, and 1 Lightsworn deck. If I were to run this again I certainly would cut Dark Mimic. Other cards I disliked were Book of Moon and my second Effect Veiler, or D.D. Crow. I thought this tournament would be full of Plant decks... that I would play at least 4. I only ended up playing 2. So now I would either play 1 Crow 1 Veiler, or 2 Veiler.
Next up for me is YCS Rhode Island. Unless the Lost Sanctuary Structure Deck changes the meta insanely, I will more then likely continue to work on, and run this deck. Until next time my readers, play hard, or go home.
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LMJeffJones
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