Maxx “C” is the newest card in a long line of hand traps such as D.D. Crow, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Tragoedia, and Effect Veiler to be played on a competitive level. These cards are highly effective due to their difficulty to be read and the fact that there is no immediate way of dealing with them such as playing Mystical Space Typhoon on a normal trap card. This card has proved its usefulness this format and our latest YCS champion and several other top 32 competitors were “maxing” out on the card. There are certainly different ways to play cards, and this card is no different. There are many different theories circulating on how to play this card to get the most out of it. Today I’m going to give my opinion on what I believe to be the right way to play Maxx “C.”
How to Force a Plus
Maxx “C”’s main purpose is to shut down your opponent’s plays. What sets it apart from other hand traps that are similar is the fact that when you discard Maxx “C,” it replaces itself and leaves the potential for it to give you a plus. If your opponent does not have to continue to special summon, they will likely stop after their first special summon to keep Maxx “C” at a one for one. Sometimes you can force them to continue to special summon a second or even third time so that you get either a plus 1 or plus 2 off of Maxx “C.”
For instance, let’s say that you have Caius the Shadow Monarch on the field with Maxx “C” in hand. Your opponent has Reborn Tengu on the field and they remove their Dandylion from their grave to activate Spore’s effect. You chain Maxx “C” here and you leave them in a difficult position. Spore is going to come to the field and you are going to draw a card for that. At this point Maxx “C” is already a 1 for 1 and your opponent can either synchro and let you draw 2 more cards off of the Maxx “C” or he can end and let the Spore die to your Caius and he will have wasted a major resource.
Sometimes when you are in this position you can infer other cards your opponent may have. If he has a set card and opts not to Synchro with Tengu and Spore giving you the plus, he likely either has a defensive card set to protect his Spore or has additional options for the following turn in hand. If your opponent knowingly gives you a plus 2, they probably didn’t have another choice and it’s a safe bet to assume they don’t have much follow up to the play they just made.
Now I’m going to get into specifics with how to play Maxx “C” against each of the major decks.
Rescue Rabbit and Dark World
Both of these decks are new to the metagame and I’ve lumped them together because playing Maxx “C” against them is fairly straightforward. Against both decks it’s a good idea to play Maxx “C” on Tour Guide if Sangan has already been used. If Sangan is gone, they are much less likely to bring out another Tour Guide or Broww and just end their turn. If Sangan is still in the deck, they can simply bring him out and end, making Maxx “C” a one for one. If they end after bringing out Broww/another Tour Guide, Maxx “C” has stopped them from making Leviair, and bringing back Rabbit and making an XYZ or bringing back a Dark World and bouncing for Grapha.
Outside of Tour Guide in Rabbit you’re primarily going to just want to use it on the Rabbit itself. They are almost guaranteed to XYZ with the monsters they bring out, which gives you a plus 1, which is especially good considering you will definitely need to use more than 1 card to kill the XYZ that they bring out.
Outside of Tour Guide plays in Dark World, you are going to want to use Maxx “C” pretty much only when they have to bounce for Grapha. Remember Grapha doesn’t start a chain so you can’t Maxx “C” when they return he Dark World to their hand. This means you are going to have to Maxx “C” when they summon the Dark World. If you play Maxx “C” and they don’t have to bounce, you just took a negative with it as they can just end. Going back to the earlier example, if you have Caius and they summon Broww, they are going to have to bounce so that their Broww does not get run over.
Plants
Plants are not quite as straight forward in playing Maxx “C” against them. Let me go ahead and clarify one move that is often made against Plants when you have Maxx “C.” When they summon Lonefire and use the effect, you don’t want to chain Maxx “C” here. They will simply get Dandylion and end their turn. Instead, go ahead and let them get their Dandylion and chain Maxx “C” to the Monster Reborn or Call of the Haunted when they target the Lonefire. At this point, they can continue with their play and let you get a gigantic plus or end and risk the Lonefire being run over.
Obviously when they summon Debris Dragon and target Dandylion, you should play Maxx “C.” Another good time is when they have Tengu and summon Lonefire. This shuts them off from their end play of a 5, an 8, and a Tengu while still replacing itself or it gets you a big plus.
Agents
The main use Maxx “C” has against Agents is as a defense against Venus into Gachi plays. There are two main arguments. One that says you should use Maxx “C” when they pay the first 500. The second says that you should allow the first Shineball to hit the field and play Maxx “C” when they pay the second thousand. This is almost ensures that they will make Gachi Gachi and give you a plus off of C. There is no universal answer to this question and it depends on whether or not you have an answer to the Venus.
Let me give an example: Your opponent went first and started by summoning Venus and using the effect. You opened Thunder King Rai-Oh and Maxx “C” as 2 of the 5 cards you can see. In this case, I would play Maxx “C” on the first 500. You are not as likely to get a plus since they will probably stop after the first 500 and end with a Venus and Shineball. The alternative to this would be play Maxx “C” on the second 500 and they will probably make Gachi Gachi after that. The problem with this is Gachi Gachi makes Venus 2000 and your Thunder King is only 1900. If you play Maxx “C” on the first 500 and they stop after that, you can still use Thunder King to run over Venus.
The converse to this would be if you can deal with the Gachi Gachi and Venus play. Perhaps you opened with Cyber Dragon and Maxx “C” as 2 of your 5 cards. In this case I would play the C on the second 500 since they are more likely to continue with the Gachi play and give me a plus. The difference this time is that I can deal with the Gachi play as my 2100 attack Cyber Dragon can run over the pumped up Venus.
When to Play Maxx “C” as a One for One
If you are main decking the maximum number of Maxx “C”s, you are going to open with at least 1 about 45% of the time. This means it is pretty likely to draw it when it may not necessarily be ideal to have it in your hand. These times are going to be when you are playing against decks that do not special summon a lot. Against these decks you are going to want to take what you can get. For instance, when Gravekeeper’s flip their Spy or Heroes play their Miracle Fusion, don’t hold out for a plus that will never come. Let Maxx “C” replace itself as a 1 for 1 in these matchups.
Another time is when you are in a winning position against a deck like Agents. Past the Venus plays, Maxx “C” doesn’t have that many uses against Agents. If you are in a position where you are going to win on the following turn unless they play Hyperion/Kristya and you have Maxx “C” in hand, go ahead and play it at the start of their turn. Since you can’t respond to their summon with Maxx “C” and still draw for that summon, there’s no reason to not play it and take the one for one. If they don’t have it, you took a minus, but you win the next turn anyway. If they do have it, you got the most you could out of the card.
I hope everyone takes these things into account when playing Maxx “C” and I also hope that you enjoyed and learned something from this article. Until next time guys.
Patrick Hoban
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