So this past weekend there was a tournament down in Connecticut where the prize pool consisted of 3 Cardcar D, 3 Rescue Rabbit and 3 Photon Strike Bounzer. Similar to the tournament Alter Reality Games will be running this Wednesday (which I hope you all will attend), their prize pool was quite impressive and definitely worth the drive down from Massachusetts. Since Nationals is only a week away I thought of the tournament as a good opportunity to test something I was considering playing. Now I know a lot of people assume I am going to just register Rabbit again, I think it should be worth noting that I do actually play other decks. Very rarely will I actually run Rabbit in my local scene as I do like to get a feel for the other decks out there. Granted I am usually soon to realize I don’t like them as much, I do give them a chance. Now while the field of players at the tournament this past weekend may not be identical to that of Nationals, I just designed my deck in a fashion where I would feel confident playing it at the more serious event – only to be fair to the testing process.
I decided I wanted to give Inzektors a chance since they are one of the only other top tier decks that can run a wide array of trap cards – like Rabbit. Here is the list I decided on.
3 Inzektor Centipede
3 Inzektor Dragonfly
3 Inzektor Hornet
3 Tour Guide from the Underworld
2 Inzektor Hopper
1 Inzektor Ladybug
1 Inzektor Giga-Mantis
1 Sangan
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Inzektor Sword - Zektalkaliber
2 Pot of Duality
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Heavy Storm
1 Book of Moon
2 Safe Zone
2 Solemn Warning
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Threatening Roar
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Effect Veiler
2 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
1 Stealth Bird
2 Messenger of Peace
2 Forbidden Chalice
2 Level Limit – Area B
1 Mind Control
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Dust Tornado
So my logic with building this deck is somewhat similar to that of my Dino-Rabbit builds. I have always had this long hatred for hand traps and decided I would side deck Effect Veiler for the mirror match. I still don’t think it is the best card against Rabbit and I hate it against virtually every other deck. So by siding it I would have more room for trap cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, which is better in a variety of matchups. In terms of everything else, I still like Safe Zone though I decided to throw a Threatening Roar in since Billy kept telling me how good it was. The side deck had 5 cards against Inzektors (Chalice, Veiler and Mind Control) so I felt like I had a decent chance against the mirror match, even though my main deck was fairly poor against it.
As I imagine you can tell I put a lot into the main deck to try and combat what is universally accepted as being this decks worse matchup – Dino Rabbit. The Bottomless Trap Hole, Safe Zones and Gorz were all decisions with that deck in mind. Then from the side deck I would have access to Ryko, Messenger of Peace, Dimensional Prison and Dust Tornado. In theory I thought I had at least a 50/50 chance against that deck – which is saying something seeing as how I am 14-0 with Dino-Rabbit against Inzektors in 4 YCS’s.
Anyway, let’s get on to the 6 rounds of swiss and talk about how I felt about the deck at the end of the tournament.
Round 1: Gadgets
Game 1: The game was slow paced for the beginning while I was trying to find access to Hornet/Hopper/Ladybug. Once I was able to search one out through Sangan I was able to perform a Inzektor Sword + Dragonfly combo and he scooped.
Game 2: He goes aggressive by pitching for two copies of Machina Fortress on the second turn and overwhelming me as I was unable to muster any time of adequate defense.
Game 3: In the first few turns I am trying to test the waters as to if he has an Effect Veiler and equip Hornet to a Dragonfly. He chooses not to use a Veiler and I am able to resolve Dragonfly and search a Centipede. I already had a Inzektor Sword in my hand and once I activate it on the previous Dragonfly he scoops.
1-0
Round 2: Wind-Ups
Game 1: He opens with Wind-Up Shark and Wind-Up Magician but is fearful of a potential Effect Veiler and instead decides to go into both Maestroke and Tiras, Keeper of Genesis. On my turn I have a hand consisting of Inzektor Hopper, Inzektor Sword, Hornet, Book of Moon and Heavy Storm. I am able to Heavy Storm away his Solemn Warning and follow it up by summoning Hopper and equipping it with both Hornet and Sword. Now my Hopper is able to attack over the Tiras and in the second main phase I was able to use Book of Moon to stop his Maestroke from saving himself from the destruction effect of Hornet. From there I am able to take the game.
Game 2: He hits a copy of Shadow Imprisoning Mirror in the early stages of the game but I am able to summon a Temtempo and rid his Wind-Up Carrier of any attachments before taking control over the game by applying pressure, even with Shadow Mirror in play.
2-0
Round 3: Dino-Rabbit
Game 1: He begins the game with Rescue Rabbit into Evolzar Laggia with 3 set spell or trap cards. I first begin by summoning Inzektor Centipede to which he responds with Solemn Warning. I then set both Bottomless Trap Hole and Torrential Tribute. He follows up turn two with Tour Guide from the Underworld to which I let resolve. He summons Sangan and goes into Leviair the Sea Dragon to which I again… allow to resolve. He continues by summoning Rescue Rabbit and using the effect… again I allow to resolve. Once the two Sabersaurus hit the board I use Bottomless Trap Hole. He responds with the effect of Evolzar Laggia and I am able to chain Torrential Tribute to rid the field of any monsters. Unfortunately my hand is full of dead cards – none of which are Hopper, Hornet or Ladybug for when I actually draw a live Inzektor. Over the course of the next few turns I draw both copies of Inzektor Sword and he is able to drop a Sabersaurus I cannot deal with and pecks away the rest of the damage needed to win.
Game 2: He opens with Heavy Storm, Rescue Rabbit, Tour Guide from the Underworld and Macro Cosmos.
2-1
Round 4: Inzektors.
Game 1: I win a unique first game where both players seemed to be trying to hide the fact they were running Inzektors. We were trading Tour Guide and Sangans for the first few turns and once I knew he was playing Inzektors was able to make a play which allowed me to end with Photon Strike Bounzer and seal the game.
Game 2: I draw all 4 of the effect negating cards I sided in: 2 Effect Veiler and 2 Forbidden Chalice. The problem is I do not draw a single monster to go alone with them and the Inzektor Centipede he has ends up going the distance.
Game 3 : I make what I think is a fairly intricate play that allows me to search out a copy of Effect Veiler while maintaining an Inzektor Dragonfly on the field – that I equipped Inzektor Giga-Mantis to. My thinking is that with his two cards in hand he would need an immediate answer like Dark Hole (or Monster Reborn to go past Effect Veiler) and I already knew his hand consisted of one Dragonfly. Unfortunately for me one of the other cards in his hand was actually Mind Control and I get blown out by it. He had three legitimate outs (Dark Hole, Monster Reborn and Mind Control) – cannot be upset he had one.
2-2
Round 5: Gravekeepers
Game 1: Knowing he is playing Gravekeepers I make sure I resolve my Centipede effects and take additional copies of Hornet so I can equip from my hand in case he is able to stick a Necrovalley. I am able to eventually combo out and win.
Game 2: Similar to the first game I just keep his monsters at bay with my large array of trap cards until I can combo out and win.
3-2
Round 6: Dino-Rabbit
Game 1: He scoops on the first turn when he sees a less than adequate hand.
Game 2: He opens with Rescue Rabbit and Tour Guide from the Underworld.
Game 3: He opens with Rescue Rabbit and Tour Guide from the Underworld.
Well, I have now quickly discovered why I had such a ridiculous record against Inzektors with Dino-Rabbit at the previous handful of YCS’s. Even when my main deck is built to defeat Dino-Rabbit and I have a fairly hefty side deck for them I was unable to muster up a match victory.
But I think it is important to understand that this type of testing might be biased since my opponents did open with the most ideal two card combination in the deck. Rescue Rabbit followed by Tour Guide from the Underworld is going to defeat virtually every deck in the format almost regardless of how they open up. It is extremely difficult to look at these two matches over the course of the tournament and gauge how effective my main deck or side deck was against the deck.
However, if there were any conclusions I would draw from the event is that I do not think Inzektors are the pick for me next week in Ohio. My assumptions about the deck were indeed correct. I cannot stand the idea of playing with a deck where the cards rely so heavily on either ideal game states or others to function properly. Cards like Inzektor Sword and Giga-Mantis obviously have other applications throughout a match but give you no opportunity to do anything with them without an Inzektor monster. Cards like Threatening Roar and Safe Zone are fantastic when you have an Inzektor on the board and all the other element of the game state are ideal. But simply on their own? Quite underwhelming.
Inzektors are a control deck – but they are a combo-control deck that relies on so many other elements of the game to be going in their favor. They are going to capitalize on anyone who doesn't understand how to play against them – or anyone who draws an inadequate hand for playing against them. But in the long run I cannot see myself playing them at any major event.
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