Hey Duelists! This week I decided to poll my Facebook friends, asking what would they like to see me write about this time. I chose a topic that I think will interest many players out there who don’t want to see a good thing go. With the release of Order of Chaos many duelists have flocked to new decks like Inzektors and Wind-ups or just stuck with their precious Dino-Rabbit. However, for all of you botanists, I’m sure you’ve been thinking of ways to tweak your plant deck for the huge changes in the format. Well in this article I’m going to give you my plant deck which has been updated for Order of Chaos. The central engine remains the same but the tech choices are meant to help you across your two new matchups and the miserable Dino-Rabbit matchup. Here is what I would play if I were using plants right now:
Monsters: 22
3 Tour Guide from the Underworld
3 Maxx “C”
1 Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning
1 Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
1 Spore
1 Sangan
Spells: 12
Traps: 7
*Note: I was thinking of cutting an Enemy Controller for a 3rd Fiendish Chain.
You should immediately notice two things in the main deck when you look at this list. The first is the return of Effect Veiler, and the second is the addition of Doomcaliber Knight. Effect Veiler is--without a doubt—a great card once again. It shuts down Wind-up and Inzektor decks on their critical plays and can give you a chance to cripple their strategy. You need to make sure that when you use a Veiler on your opponent’s play you can actually DO something about it on your turn. You can’t Veiler an Inzektor and then leave it there or else they will simply try again next turn. This format will be the biggest fight for tempo you have ever seen. I decided to make a rather bold addition by maining 2 copies of Doomcaliber Knight and taking out Thunder King Rai-oh altogether. Honestly, I was never the biggest fan of Thunder King but I used it because it was insane against agents and the plant mirror match. In fact, I was one of the few plant players to top YCS Toronto without Thunder King in my main deck. It is only half decent against Dino-Rabbit because they play 3 copies of a 1900 attack monster, 3 copies of tour guide, and plenty of removal. Then, to make matters worse, it doesn’t help when you go second and they summon a first turn Laggia. I feel as though Doomcaliber can be quite useful at the moment and I’ll explain why. The first thing about it is that he is great against BOTH Wind-up and Inzektors. Thunder King is only good against Wind-ups and absolutely terrible against Inzektors. Doomcaliber Knight can also bait out hand traps which may or may not be a good thing but it’s all in the way you use it. Since it’s plants we’re talking about here you should be only concerned with Maxx “C.” Another great thing about Doomcaliber Knight is that you can play fearless against Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness. It also means you can just go for game when you have it because you don’t have to worry about Gorz but be cautious of hand traps. If you play against a smart player he can chain a hand trap to your attack and destroy Doomcaliber Knight.
The other change in the plant deck is the addition of 2 copies of Fiendish Chain in the main. I won’t go into detail about why Fiendish chain is a great card or why you should be playing it because I wrote an article on it already and I don’t want to sound repetitive. If you haven’t read the article, The “Fiendishest” of Chains, here is a link: http://articles.alterealitygames.com/?p=10042
As for side decking, which is the most important part of all decks right now, you could try Prohibition against Inzektors, naming Inzektor Hornet. For every Prohibition you have they will need to match it with a Mystical Space Typhoon. Most Inzektor players will be siding Royal Decree to stop Shadow Imprisoning Mirror but since Prohibition is a spell card it will have immunity. The deck does not operate correctly when Hornet doesn’t have an effect so you don’t need to be concerned about anything else. You could also side Prohibition against other matchups but use it at your own discretion because I haven’t tested it outside of the Inzektor matchup. D.D. Crow is another great side deck card against both Wind-ups and Inzektors because it can remove Wind-up Hunter when the effect of Wind-up Rat targets it in the grave and it can remove Inzektor Hornet from the grave causing the opponent to equip something else. I wrote about this trick in my last article, Speed, if you missed it. I like to side Snowman Eater and Smashing Ground against Dino-Rabbit. The Snowmen deal with Laggia while the Smashing Grounds deal with Dolkka. Smashing Ground is also a great top deck against Laggia because it will instantly remove its materials, allowing you to make any play that would have otherwise been negated. Compulsory Evacuation Device is also great against Dino-Rabbit because it bounces the biggest threat, Dolkka, to the extra deck. As always you’ll want to side a couple copies of Leeching the Light for the Agent matchup although I don’t think there will be too many of those going around. Then, our good friend Thunder King Rai-Oh will need to occupy maybe 2 spots in the side deck because he’s solid against everything but Inzektors. I’d also consider siding Dimensional Prisons and Mirror Force if you can find room for them because they always catch people by surprise and they help against Dino-Rabbit. I really don’t think it’s possible to main deck Dimensional Prison or Mirror Force in plants anymore because it doesn’t do ANYTHING to stop the big plays nowadays. I tried using them in testing and they just sat there meaninglessly as I watched my hand get depleted by Wind-ups and my field get devastated by Inzektors.
Playing plants going forward is risky business but a great player can still find success with the deck I’m sure. You have to play extremely smart because it isn’t as linear as the new decks or Dino-Rabbit. Understanding each individual matchup will be key in performing well. If you know how to side deck properly you shouldn’t have too much trouble beating any deck assuming your opponent doesn’t open nuts. Every now and then I’ll dabble with plants just to see how it fairs against the new decks and it isn’t bad but it isn’t what it used to be. It will always have a special place in my deckbox but for now I’m going to try new things.
Remember, Play Hard or Go Home!
-Frazier Smith
-YCS Atlanta Champion
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