A Brief History of Time
Hello Duelists, my name is Tanner Trachsel and I am 19 years old from London, Ontario, Canada (though my home store is Phoenix Games in Kitchener, Ontario). I started playing the great game of Yu-Gi-Oh all the way back when Metal Raiders was a new booster pack (that’s 2002 for those who don’t know). Being a 12 year old kid without much understanding of the game and going up against such decks as Goat Control and the Yata Lock, I got discouraged and promptly “quit”. In June 2010 I was on a school trip for an acting competition and had some down time, so I went to the local game shop to pick up some of those fantastic collectables us nerds do love ever so much. I saw some Structure Decks on sale… and here I am now.
Future Visions
Here in the TCG we have the wonderful advantage of being able to “see the future”. I’m of course talking about being able to get booster pack reports and tournament Deck lists from the OCG approximately 3 months before the cards are available here in the TCG. A while back I popped onto the Yu-Gi-Oh Wikia to do some research on the upcoming booster pack “Order of Chaos”. A number of new cards caught my eye, including Trance Archfiend, Tour Bus from the Underworld (*facepalm*) and the entire Ninja archetype. The Ninjas seemed like an interesting enough Deck and I promptly headed off to Dueling Network to see if I could piece something together, just to get a taste of what’s coming up. The first match I played with my Ninja deck was against another new archetype, Inzektors. I had read the cards (okay, more like “lightly skimmed”) and was familiar with a number of their effects. What I wasn’t prepared for was the butt-kicking I was about to receive. I’m not sure if he won due to being a superior duelist, or if I was just an inadequate Ninja, but he beat me… badly. These little bugs were going to be something… I quickly learned to fear them.
Hive Mind
I thought maybe it had been a fluke. Maybe it was just one guy opening up “the nuts”. My friend Graham had built an Inzektor Deck (using proxies of course) and consistently, my butt was whooped. So, I decided to join them. With a new tier 1 or 2 deck you always have two options. 1) Join them. 2) Beat them. The basic rule for me is I can’t achieve option 2 go with option 1. My mind has been made up, but you, my dear reader, still have a choice. So I’ll be presenting you today with the Inzektor build I will be running as well as Side Deck choices that can assist you in beating them. Let’s start with my Deck list:
1 Effect Veiler
1 Genex Ally Birdman
1 Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
2 Inzektor Ant
3 Inzektor Centipede
3 Inzektor Dragonfly
2 Inzektor Giga-Mantis
3 Inzektor Hornet
1 Sangan
2 Spirit Reaper
3 Tour Guide from the Underworld
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Dark Hole
1 Gold Sarcophagus
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 Pot of Duality
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Locomotion R-Genex
1 Orient Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Underground Arachnid
1 Inzektor Exa-Beetle
2 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Number 20: Giga-Brilliant
1 Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 ? (TBD)
For those of you who do not know the basics of Inzektors, I’ll explain them.*For those who do know how they work and what they do, feel free to skip this paragraph, it’ll save you some time for play-testing.* The Inzektors are often compared to the Dragunity archetype. They deal with monsters equipping to monsters and gaining effects based on that. The Inzektors, however, provide more options as ANY Inzektor can equip another Inzektor, there are no specific cards like in Dragunity, merely…suggestions. In my Main Deck you will find 5 Inzektor monsters. Of those 5, I want to talk about 4 (I’ll get to Giga-Mantis later). All of these four Inzektors (Dragonfly, Centipede, Hornet and Ant) have a very similar effect to begin with; “Once per turn: You can equip 1 "Inzektor" monster in your hand or Graveyard to this card.” They all also include this effect at the end; “While this card is equipped to a monster, increase the equipped monster's Level by 3.” After those two effects, the 4 split into 2 groups (Remember how I said there is no specific cards, just suggested cards? Here are those suggestions). Inzektor Hornet and Inzektor Ant fit into the category I call the “Equipment” and Inzektor Dragonfly and Inzektor Centipede are in a category I call the “Equipers” (original, I know). The “Equipers” have effects that activate when an Equip card attached to it is sent to the Graveyard. Dragonfly allows you to Special Summon another Inzektor from your Deck while Centipede allows you to add an Inzektor monster from your Deck to your Hand. Now the Equipment is what activates these effects. Ant, when equipped, will be destroyed instead of the monster and gives the equipped monster a 200 ATK and 600 DEF boost. Now we come to Hornet. Hornet will give your Monster a 500 ATK and 200 DEF boost as well as the ability to send him to the grave to pop one card your opponent controls. Is the combo making sense yet? Summon Dragonfly, equip with Hornet, send Hornet, destroy a card, Special Summon Centipede, equip Hornet from Grave, send Hornet, destroy a card, add Inzektor to hand, Xyz. If you really want to get fancy, remove a Dragonfly from play and Xyz into Leviair and do it again. The other Inzektor included in my Deck is Inzektor Giga-Mantis. Giga-Mantis does not fit into either of the categories. Giga-Mantis is a Level 6 Monster with 2400 ATK. His effect allows you to Equip him from the Hand to an Inzektor you control. That Inzektor Monster’s original ATK is now 2400, AND if Giga-Mantis is destroyed, you can Special Summon 1 Inzektor Monster from your Graveyard (note: Giga-Mantis has a sibling, Giga-Weevil, it’s the same thing except it makes the Equip Monsters DEF 2600 instead). Giga-Mantis is also the reason Exa-Beetle is included in the Extra Deck. Read the two of them and you’ll understand what I mean (3600 ATK anyone?)
Phew, I’m glad that’s over. Now we can get to the fun part. The main deck is quite simple. There is nothing to insanely flashy and it sticks to its core combos. The only odd choices you may see in the deck are Birdman, Spirit Reaper and Gold Sarcophagus. I run Gold Sarcophagus because I run Tour Guide. First turn Tour Guide into Leviair to Special Summon a Banished Damsel or Centipede is a fantastic play that only requires 2-3 cards in hand. If Gold Sarcophagus isn’t your style, an Enemy Controller has its place in this Deck, there is plenty of free Monsters laying around. Speaking of free Monsters, Birdman is great. Want that Dragonfly back to abuse next turn but still want to Xyz? Birdman is your guy. He also opens up easy Level 6 and Level 9 Synchros. Remember how when Equipped an Inzektor gains 3 Levels? That makes it a Level 6 Dark Monster. It’s too hard to pass up Locomotion R-Genex. GIVE ME THAT BLS (note: This phrase will be changed soon after the newest Structure Decks release to GIVE ME THAT BLS/REDMD/FGD). Spirit Reaper is just too good not to run right now. He’s one of my favourite cards and always has been, plus he’s great for stalling and hand control. You also might notice the lack of Maxx “C” in this Deck. The reason for that is very simple. I don’t have them. I’m working on it, but I don’t value the card as high as other people do (70 dollars each?!)
*If you don’t have money for Tour Guide you can easily replace her with Gokipon. The Deck won’t quite be the same, but will still work effectively*
Call the Exterminator!
All right, so we know how the Deck works. But how do we disarm these creepy crawlies? Well, there is a number of choices you can make. But first let’s make something very clear. Dimensional Fissure DOES NOT work. There have been numerous articles online about this card killing this Deck. Hate to burst your bubble, but it doesn’t. The Equip cards are sent to the Grave as Equip cards, not Monster cards, therefore Hornet still hits the Grave and will destroy its target. However, Macro Cosmos DOES hurt the deck, but I often ignore it, due to the ability to Solemn Warning it. So what does that leave for us to side? Well the answers might already be in your Side Deck. Let’s pick apart the Main combo of the Deck step by step.
- Summon Inzektor Dragonfly
- Activate effect of Inzektor Dragonfly to Equip Inzektor Hornet from Hand or Grave
- Activate Effect of Inzektor Hornet to destroy 1 card on the field
- Inzektor Dragonfly’s Effect activates, Special Summon Centipede from the Deck
- Activate effect of Inzektor Centipede to Equip Inzektor Hornet from Hand or Grave
- Activate Effect of Inzektor Hornet to destroy 1 card on the field
- Inzektor Centipede’s Effect activates, add 1 Inzektor from your Deck to your Hand
Now, to disarm this amazing combo, you have to stop it within the first two to three “steps”. This means our Side Deck choices must counter the following three things: The Summon of a low-level, low ATK monster, the activation of a monsters effect, and the activation of an effect that activates in Grave.
Preventing Inzektor Dragonfly from hitting the field:
Obviously, there are a number of Summon preventing cards around (Laggia, Solemn Warning) but there are two cards that (I think) are fantastic Side Deck choices for this little lady. Let’s start with my favorite.
Chain Disappearance: If you don’t have your copies of this card already, get them now. This is quite possibly the best possible Side Deck choice against Inzektors. Not only will you take away the Dragonfly on the field, but you can also take out the other 2 at the same time. This will quite certainly ruin your opponent’s day. This is a must for the Inzektor match-up. Get your 2 today.
King Tiger Wanghu: Okay, so some guy played this on me and I couldn’t come back. This isn’t quite as good as Chain Disappearance, but still a good option nonetheless.
Preventing Inzektor Dragonfly from activating her Effect:
This is where you can really shine with some awesome surprises on your opponent. Some of these might even already be in your Side/Main Deck!
Effect Veiler: The most obvious choice. The reason this card (in my opinion) is better than the next two choices is simply because it’s a Trap Monster and relatively splash-able. The only reason not to Side it is simply if you have a REALLY GOOD reason. If you don’t? Put it in.
Shadow Imprisoning Mirror: Odds are a lot of you already have this card in your Side Deck for the Dark World match-up. It’s a fantastic card that can completely shut down the Inzektor engine. Remember, most Inzektor Decks don’t run MST because they think Hornet is enough (thus why I run two if you were wondering) so your Mirror could win you the Match.
Skill Drain: This is my last choice to side against these little guys. Sadly, not many Decks can Side it effectively. If you’re a Dark World player however, Shadow Imprisoning Mirror is obviously not an option and this is.
Preventing the Hornets Sting:
Hornet is quite possibly the most important card in the Deck. Not having access to Hornet will more than likely cost your opponent the Duel. Sadly, this is only easy in an idealistic world. There is no card (I can think of) that removes all the Hornets from the Game. However, you can pick them off, one by one.
D.D. Crow: A card that already have its place in your Side Deck. Do I think it’s a must? No. I think you can live without it, but if you have room a good pair of Crows has never let me down. Luckily, if you’re a Dark World player, you have a better Card in Dark Smog. Use that instead.
Debunk: Now this little guy has seen some play hasn’t it? It’s a fun card. Great when it goes off, isn’t it? Tell me, how many times have you actually got it off without your opponent telegraphing it? The number is 0 for me. Zip. Nada. Ziltch. Who knows, maybe it just doesn’t like me. If it can get the job done for you, though, go for it.
When It Comes Down to It…
Do I think the Deck will win the next YCS? No. I don’t think it will for two simple reasons. 1) Rabbit Decks run rampant right now at the YCS Top Tables. A Single Dolkka ruins the Deck. 2) It will fall the same way the Dark Worlds fell. People will be fearful of this Deck (as they should be) and side anywhere from 2 to 6 or 7 cards in hopes to crush them. The Deck can only get better from here though. Some of the new cards in the OCG Set Galactic Overlord were announced a few days ago, and among them? New Inzektors. Cards that look at your opponents face-downs and modify levels. The most amazing of them? A small new Inzektor by the name of Inzektor Gruf (I think its name will be Grub here in the TCG) that suddenly opens up massive Synchro potential for Level 8 Monsters. The Deck is only going to get better as time progresses. New variants of the Deck will appear, the Wind-Up Inzektors or even Rabbit Inzektors. No matter what complex and convoluted strategy comes out of it, one thing is for certain. The Inzektors are going to be around for a long, long time and it’s best you be prepared for them. I hope my views have proved helpful to you. If there is anything I may have missed, please feel free to comment. Until next time ARG readers, Play Hard or Go Home.
Tanner Trachsel
Latest posts by Tanner Trachsel (see all)
- Get Out Your Bug Spray – A Chat About Inzektors! - December 22, 2011
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