Special Post - How to prepare for the upcoming meta: Inzektors (By Debris)

This blog has been hyping up Wind-Ups, well, ever since it was made. A deck I have not covered nearly as much is Inzektors. That's just because there really aren't any great ways to invest in them. Holo Armageddon Knight? Meh, that's about as good as it gets, it really is a tough deck to invest in just because all the cards for the deck coming out in Order of Chaos are just so damn good. You want to invest in Inzektors? Invest in Order of Chaos. Tour Bus from the Underworld is a disappointment, but the set as a whole gives birth to THREE archtypes that will top tournaments, it's a pretty amazing set.

Also, there is one card that everybody NEEDS to get one or two of right now, it's the card that Steelswarm Roach should have been. Like Leviair the Sea Dragon, Wind-Up Zenmaines is an amazing card that's soon to be staple in most decks, notably Inzektors, Plants, and Wind-Ups.

Wind-Up Zenmaines
Xyz Monster Card
FIRE / Machine / ATK-1500 / DEF-2100
Rank 3
If this face-up card on the field would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead. Once per turn, during the End Phase, if this effect was used this turn: Target 1 card on the field; destroy it.


Not to mention the same philosophy that is used from Leviair applies here. Tour Guide will get reprinted first by a LONG time, making this core set secret rare (that's already $50) a staple in every deck. I won't be surprised at all if it hits 70. People like security from knowing a card isn't getting reprinted soon, and this thing is just about the card to invest in that satisfies that.

Combined with Tour Guide, I'm confident that this deck will take the top spot at most of the YCS-es just because the deck is broken AND consistent. To invest in this deck does not mean investing in the actual deck, but investing in what people will side against it. DARK decks are usually very easy to side against, but I can't say it's easy to side against Inzektors. First, you need to know some things about Inzektors.

1. Pretty much every good Inzektor player will side in 3 Royal Decree. 
2. A good amount of Inzektor players (at least in the OCG) max out on Effect Veiler
3. Inzektors can (and will) often side in Dimensional Fissure. Remember - all Inzektor monsters that are treated as Xyz Materials or Spell cards get sent to the graveyard while it is on the field.

So, much of what you prepared to side in is now dead. The deck has counters to pretty much all the good Side-deck cards. This of course doesn't mean you shouldn't run Trap cards, just because they run 3 Decree. a lot of the best side-deck cards are commons, nothing we can invest in. Weed Out, Mystical Space Typhoon, Consecrated Light, and Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror are all stuck as commons, so little profit can be made there. 

There is one card that has the same burden of being a rare, but it also comes shiny as well. Right now, you might see this card in quite a few side decks just because of the Plant engine and Tour Guide from the Underworld, but it has lost its side deck space in a lot of YCS toppers' side-decks. 

Chain Disappearance

Normal Trap Card

You can only activate this card when a monster with an ATK of 1000 or less is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned. Remove the monster from play and your opponent removes all monsters of the same name in his/her hand and deck from play. His/her Deck is then shuffled.

This card can be devastating to an Inzektor duelist. Hitting an Inzektor Hornet rarely happens, but when it does, you've won the game. Hitting an Inzektor Dragonfly also immediately wins you the game. Hell, if they're running the Wind-Up loop then hitting Wind-Up Rat pretty much ends the game. Hitting Tour Guide is just as good now as it was before. Just make sure that they can't bring out Leviair, but that shouldn't be too hard considering they don't have any power plays outside of summoning Tour Guide or Dragonfly, whichever one you didn't hit. I like those odds. This card is a cheap Turbo Pack holo, stock up on them for when they're a side deck staple once again.

Full Guide on How to Prepare for ORCS (By Isaac52)

Alright guys, this will hopefully be the first of many war meetings we have for TCG products/events.
This is about how you should prepare for ORCS, in this article you will be learning about what cards to sell, and when. This is NOT an article about what cards to invest in, so don't read it expecting that, this is for people who already  invested and need some further input on the relevant ones.

Everything in it is just my opinion, feel free to add in your input in the comments below if you disagree, or would like to add something...

Now, to get started, let's talk about Wind-ups.

Wind-up Hunter

Dark

Level 3

Beast-Warrior/Effect

You can Tribute 1 face-up "Wind-Up" monster, except "Wind-Up Hunter"; send 1 random card from your opponent's hand to the Graveyard. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.

Wind-up Factory

Continous Spell Card

Once per turn, if an effect of a "Wind-Up" monster is activated: You can add 1 Level 4 or lower "Wind-Up" monster from your Deck to your hand.

Despite these cards still rising, and having the ability to rise further the time to move them is upcoming fast. Now, hunters should be held onto well into the actual release of ORCS. Hunter is already a $10-$14 card in japan. Our own hunter should be seeing a similar price, however the deck has more adversities to overcome here in tcg with maxx "c" being everywhere. 

Hold onto them until the first major showing of any deck running hunter, if it tanks sell! If it doesn't, sell! It will either by overhyped or will begin to be ignored. Essentially, if they do well wait a few days for information to circulate and hype is generated. If it doesn't do well, start selling right away for undercut prices of whoever else is selling them. 

/

As for factories, these are actually NOT as good as we anticipated. Competitive-wise, it was still one of the best investments in years when we told you guys to stock up. They were $1 and are now $5-$6. Their hype should be peaking around the time of the sneak, depending on the amount you have you should start moving before, or after. Depending on the speed you feel you could move them for the price you're giving.

Other cards to move:

 This next bit is a rapidshot of cards you may have invested in or just have and don't use, and should considering moving soon.

Effect Veiler:
Now this has already started dropping. It's seeing far less play and has lost it's staple status to Maxx "c", and for good reason. The only reason it might go back up is because it shuts down "Inzektor Dragonfly" better than maxx "c" does since maxx "c" still lets your opponent pop 2 cards on the field, and grab a card to their hand, just not let them loop.


Veiler stops dragonfly from ssing centibeet and popping another, and getting another dragonfly for next turn. That's probably the only situation in current play that veiler would be better in common situations. Almost everywhere else, Maxx "c" costlessly stopping a huge power play is better.


Jurrac Guaiba:
It may not drop, but it has most definitely peaked and unless you're using it, I suggest moving it. They go for about $1.50 minimum, not much but for those of us who got them in bulk when they were 10 cents...

Fiendish chain: 
 Same reasons as veiler, except that this is also just plain the wrong format for this card. They stayed high for a while because of Jeff Jones and his karakuri, but even he said he'd never run more than one ever again.

Dragged down into the grave:
$8 common for a super hyped deck. Which is seeing less, and less play as time goes on. I don't even think it was short-printed (could be wrong) At best, it could be a repeat of the $10 gravekeeper's royal tribute... But that was a dominant deck which was EVERYWHERE and easily tier 1. I don't see this going that high.


SteelSwarm Roach:
  As Xyz are becoming more, and more prevalent... Not to mention this card has never been staple for any deck, except as a good rank 4 Dark to help get BLS out in certain decks. He's already dropped quite a bit since his release, and is only continuing. They go for about $45 right now. Honestly, as a one-of tech in SOME decks I don't feel he will keep that price for long.

Lyla, lightsworn Sorcerer:
Confirmed common in the new "Dragon's Collide" Structure deck. It MIGHT be taken out, but it's unlikely. Move them immediately. They will be dropping like rocks soon.

Common Thunder King Rai-oh:
They've peaked at almost $12 a pop, FOR A COMMON. And with the ra-yellow pack coming out, it will no doubt reduce it's price. (Even if just a little) As that pack has less commons, and it might not be short-printed(allegedly) this time. Vastly increasing the ability to get it, not to mention the packs are much more accessible now.
 

Gallis the Star Beast: 
Currently a $5 Secret but is being reprinted as a common in the Ra-Yellow pack, kind of like Rai-oh, but not as popular. It's price is mainly determined by it's rarity, and the niche use of the Gallis Agents(Which is still fairly popular)... Should be easy enough to move at a minimum of the standard $4.50 or so.



And on the note of LCGX Cards, any cards being reprinted from the Slifer pack into the Ra pack should be dropping a little in price if just for the pack there will be more in circulation. Holos turned into commons are at an especially high risk.

*Credit to PshycicKid for pointing this out*

Special Post - Investments for the banlist

Once again, we are just months away from the next banlist. Through this article, I hope you will all be better at predicting what will go up and what will go down after the official list is announced. I'm going to state some things you should all be watching out for:

#1 - Dark Magician of Chaos UNBANNED


Konami seems to be pushing the whole Chaos theme more now than ever, through the Dragon Structure Deck and Order of Chaos. The release date for the structure deck in the TCG is enough to prove that we'll have Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning around for another format, but I'll go as far as to say they would want to bring even MORE cards for Chaos back. Dark Magician of Chaos is an amazing card that isn't quite broken enough to stay hammered forever. It has "Chaos" literally in its name, and would be a fun card that it seems like they would bring back.

#2 - What would happen if Heavy Storm gets BANNED

Heavy Storm's position on the banlist changes frequently. It's not unreasonable to imagine that it might get banned again, for as great of a "Set 2 end" format this is Konami is trying to push a lot of Field Spells in the Structure Decks and Inzektors love their equip monsters. The main card that could spike, if this happens, is Shard of Greed. Right now, Shard is a core set Secret that is only worth $10, and "sucks" because it is too slow in a format of 1 Heavy Storm and 3 Mystical Space Typhoon. If Heavy was banned, then this card would, all of a sudden, be a fine speed for most decks in the format. Tell me, what happens when a core set Secret is a staple at 2-3?

#3 - What the **** is going on with ORCS?

Order of Chaos is a premature child. A set that's supposed to be released in February is coming out in January? What is this...

I'll tell you what this is. Look at the tournament tops in the OCG. Pretty much EVERY deck that's winning is Inzektors, and sometimes Agents. They are obviously going to hit Inzektors, money or no money, so the reason that they are releasing Order of Chaos early to the TCG is obvious. They want to milk Inzektors (and to an extent, the Wind-Up loop) as much as they can before the banlist comes out. The hits most likely won't be enough to knock the deck out of a top-tier spot, they are releasing new Inzektors in Galactic Overlord after all, but the hits will be there. Watch out.

#4 - Are Plants going to burn? 

For a good time before Inzektors were out in the OCG, Plants pretty much dominated the meta alongside Agents. It's much worse in the TCG, and I honestly don't know if they're willing to hit TCG exclusives yet. So I'm here to debate the universal hit on Plants, if any. The obvious choices are Dandylion and Lonefire Blossom. Either of them could honestly get hit, I don't know. Lonefire obviously has the more broken card design, but is less essential to the deck than Dandy. If Dandy got banned, the deck wouldn't be that great anymore, and cards like Debris Dragon and Formula Synchron. In the end, though I'd rather only broken cards get banned, Dandy is more likely to be banned. Dandylion encourages Synchros more than Lonefire, and that's something the game is going away from. Because of this, Debris holo might be a decent card to invest in.

TL;DR VERSION

Invest:
Dark Magician of Chaos
Debris Dragon
Shard of Greed

Drop:
Dandylion
Lonefire Blossom
Future Fusion (deck seems to be growing apart from this)
Order of Chaos during February

#7 - Evoltile Westlo (By Debris)

And so we come to the upcoming set in the TCG, Order of Chaos. There are quite a few notable themes that become really good as of this set. These themes are Wind-Ups, which I have already talked about extensively, Inzectors, and Evols. I touched upon Evols briefly when I talked about Evolsaur Vulcano, but there is so much more to the deck. Much like Wind-Up Factory, there is an incredibly cheap card that is essential to the theme that is already out. It's called Gravekeeper's Spy. Wait, no, let me try that again. It's Evoltile Westlo.

Evoltile Westlo
Effect Monster Card
FIRE / Reptile / ATK-700 / DEF-1900
Level 3
FLIP: Special Summon 1 "Evolsaur" monster from your Deck.

This thing is amazing for the theme. We all know Gravekeeper's Spy after the backrow format, and this card is much like the Spy, but this card has even better targets! This card is essential in threes in a deck that's (at least) Tier 2 after ORCS, much like Wind-Up Factory, Since I'm sure the only Evols a lot of you know are the Evolzars, I'll let you know why this card could even be better than Gravekeeper's Spy.

Well to start off the list of this thing's great targets, let's talk about the most simple target, Evolsaur Diplo. Basically, this thing instantly pops a backrow. This doesn't seem THAT great, and you're right. But you forget one of the main weaknesses of Evols, hitting the monsters before you can get out Evolzar Laggia, Evolzar Dolkka, or Evolzar Soldde. It feels pretty bad when you try to go into Laggia when all of a sudden, a wild Solemn Warning appears and ruins your day. Or better yet, a Bottomless Trap Hole against your materials, such as Evolsaur Cerato, Jurrac Guaiba, or most horribly Evoltile Casineria. This card will pop that card like a boss, and then you can just normal summon another material next turn with little danger.

This card has other great targets as well. Evolsaur Vulcano was touched upon before, and he's still amazing to the deck. If you have an Evolsaur in the grave for who knows what reason, maybe they Solemn Warning'd it, this allows for a Laggia with no normal summoning required.

Evolsaur Cerato is the only holo Evolsaur so far, and it's justified. He can search out Westlo, Odonto, or Casineria whenever he kills something (assuming he was summoned by an Evoltile before). This allows for plusses, and he's a 1900 beater if you drew him without an Odonto, which is why he's pretty much the only Evolsaur run in threes.

Evolsaur Elias is an Evolsaur coming out in ORCS, and his only real purpose is to bring out Evolsaur Soldde, who is nearly indestructible and broken in many ways. It can't die, and it kills off anything that tries to run over it. It's very rare to lose after you bring this thing out. Better yet, Casineria allows you to get the guy instantly.

So yea, Evols are going to be pretty damn amazing after ORCS comes out, and right now $1.50 for a card you run in threes in a high-tier deck isn't anything to pay. It's a great investment. There's one thing you will have to worry about though. If it turns out that the Jurrac version of the deck is better than plain Evols, then Westlo won't go up much. They don't really have the room for Westlo, nor would they want to run  him if they could. You be the judge. It's kind of like Wind-Up Factory in this regard too. What if the only good form of Wind-Ups is splashing in 3 Wind-Up Rat and Hunter into everything? That wouldn't be good for Factory.

Buy / Trade for these things at $1.50 each, but if you lurk enough you could probably find some for $1 each. 
This investment is: SAFE, because this card doesn't really even have any room to go down, at best it goes up by a lot and at worst it rises to about $3 come ORCS. Small cards like these are always a load of fun to invest in.

Special Post - What to invest in considering Rabbit Laggia (By Isaac52)

Hey guys, Isaac here again with a few new investing tips for those of you who think they can't quite afford to cash in on the whole rescue rabbit hype train.

Now, I realize pretty much EVERY investing tip you see here is called "safe" but this one is especially so. And I'm going to tell you why.

Gold sarcophagus, it is at it's lowest price ever since it's release as a DREV SE Promo. 

$4 a pop ($3 in smaller quanities in select areas) and it's ALWAYS been good trade bait. They never last long in my binders when i get them, they're probably my best $5 incremented throw-in. But with the upcoming rabbit deck's reverse toolboxing (Sarcing for rabbit and getting it instantly with tour guide into Leviair) This card should be seeing a lot more play in a bit.

It's not the most noticable part of the deck, sure. But it's quite crucial, and WILL be pursued by those trying to make the deck. Personally, I don't think the rabbit deck will take off to usurp plants, and agents off their pedestal like it's being hyped up to. So you should try to move these after the deck is officially playable, but before any time of widestream showing for the deck, so as to maximize on what people will offer for them.

I'm thinking $8 should be your goal, which is a 100% profit if you got them for $4. Or $20-$22 for a playset.

Now, you can try to wait till after rabbit has a showing to trade them off... in hopes they'd rise even higher due to a good showing and renewed interest. This is also viable, even if not recommended as opposed to the other route. However, even if this flops, gold sarcs should still be easily movable, even in vast quanities. As i said, even before they became meta... or rather, believed to be meta, they've always been great trade bait.

Even if you're iffy on this investment, I say get at least a playset or two for yourself.

Next up, is forbidden lance. This card is similar to sarc in that it's always been great trade bait, and that it is as low as ever. This is ran in max usually in all rabbit builds. Not only does it protect lagia, the plays to make him, but he also brings up ways to actually make lagia more consistently.

Jurrac Guaiba (whom i neglected to post about before his price rise) is the maindeck beater here, only 1700 however leaves him a little underwhelming. Especially to the likes of tengu, and even moreso... Rai-oh.

However, with lance he can run over practically anything, grab another guaiba(or aeolo if this is a second guaiba run) and make lagia. This is especially potent because rai-oh is EVERYWHERE, and shuts the deck down pretty hard.

It's also generally good support for your normals should you draw into them. Not to mention, rescue rabbit against a rai-oh field would mean you'd have to settle for eamming with saber saurus and then a direct attack... but with lance, you can eliminate rai-oh entirely.

And again, like gold sarc this card is just generally good trade bait. People love teching this, and it's price should not be dropping any lower.

Try picking these up from 9-11 dollars. I recommend at least two playsets. Easier to move in multiples.

And finally, one last tip. This one isn't particularly safe, but it could end up quite lucrative. Most dino decks main 2-3 d fissure. So try picking these up whenever you can, i don't suggest going out of your way for it. But they're available for a little more than a quarter, and they're always going to be in demand. I can easily see people being able to move these for a $1 apiece when juicing.

As for the secret rare from LC02, I think that one still has some dropping to do. So avoid those unless you can get a good deal. Because note: Even dandy secret is only going for $5... Which is played WAY more than fissure.

#6 - Wind-Up Rabbit (By Debris)

Ahh, I remember my first article on here. It was before Wind-Ups had any hype at all, and the deck sucked to everyone. I reccomended Wind-Up Factory, and it turns out it was a good prediction, a pseudo Tour Guide in Wind-Up Rat and a broken Rank 3 named Wind-Up Zenmaighty were announced a week or two later. The deck is ready to destroy the meta, but it won't start immediately in the OCG because they are missing one key piece to the Wind-Up deck - Wind-Up Rabbit.

Wind-Up Rabbit
Effect Monster Card
EARTH / Beast-Warrior / ATK-1400 / DEF-600
Level 3
During either player's turn: You can target 1 "Wind-Up" monster you control; banish it until your next Standby Phase. This effect can be used only once while this card is face-up on the field.

One can not understand how AMAZING this card is for the theme without looking at the other cards in the theme. The most notable combo is with Wind-Up Factory, in which you just use this card's effect on itself every turn to search out a Wind-Up from your deck each time. That's pretty damn powerful. You use it on itself to allow you to have a Level 3 on the field next turn, so you can overextend like a total asshole and then herp-derp Limiter Removal for game. You run this and Wind-Up Hunter, alongside other weaker beast Wind-Ups and you can run Horn of the Phantom Beast.
Not to say that removing itself is the only good target. Have a Wind-Up Kitten or Wind-Up Rat left on the field after the loop-de-loop? No problem! This will bring them back to the field next turn for even more winning.

Also, I'm a little biased, but I kinda like this card in T.G.s. It allows the deck to go into Naturia Beast through T.G. Striker and this. Since Level 3s are pretty common in the deck, you can go into Zenmaighty into this, which is a pretty strong play. It also has synergy with Horn of the Phantom Beast. IMO, it's pretty good.

Now how much is this PACK SECRET worth? Only $20? Are you sure? And this is BEFORE the official release? Holy crap, this is amazingly cheap for a Secret Rare staple in a Tier 1 deck.

Buy / Trade AFTER THE SET IS OFFICIALLY RELEASED at $15 apiece
This investment is: SAFE, because the set just came out, so it has from February-November (a WHOLE format) to be at its max potential before being reprinted. And it's pretty damn cheap too, it can't drop any lower unless you all decide to buy before the set is officially released.

One Man's Trash is another Man's Profit #2 (By Debris) - Photon Shockwave Edition

For this article I'll be looking at what's going to get dumped in the commons box from the set Photon Shockwave that have great potential. The cards I am looking at today are Rescue Rabbit, Evoltile Westlo, and Shard of Greed.

Wait, what's that? Those are holo in the TCG? Damn. O.K. Let's try this again. Well, Momentary Truce isn't exactly going to the commons box...

The cards I am looking at today are Evolsaur Vulcano, Senior Silver Ninja, and Tri-Wight.

Evolsaur Vulcano
Effect Monster Card
FIRE / Dinosaur / ATK-1200 / DEF-1000
Level 4
When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of an "Evotile" monster: You can target 1 "Evolsaur" monster in your Graveyard, Special Summon that target. It cannot declare an attack.

If you've ever tried out this deck, this is the plus that ends up getting out Evolzar Laggia or Evolzar Dolkka. Surprisingly, Westlo got the holo treatment, not this, so this card will be nice to stock up on in the very likely situation that Evols get more support and become broken. It won't take much to break Westlo, this card, or Laggia. Don't be afraid to stock up on other commons, like Evoltile Odonto, who is also a key part to the deck.

Senior Silver Ninja
Effect Monster Card
EARTH / Warrior / ATK-2300 / DEF-2200
Level 6
When this card is flipped face-up: You can Special Summon any number of "Ninja" monsters, except "Senior Silver Ninja", from your hand and/or Graveyard in face-down Defense Position. There can only be 1 face-up "Senior Silver Ninja" on the field.

Man, this card is crazy. Outside of being a giant plus, this card has great targets. The thing is, we won't see any of these targets until February. Stock up on these, we are likely to see an exclusive and the deck is actually pretty good. This will at least be worth more than the 50 cents it is now.

Tri-Wight
Normal Spell Card
Target 3 Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters in your Graveyard; Special Summon them from the Graveyard.

It doesn't cost lots of money, money, money
For this card you don't need money, money, money
We just got a pluuuuuus two
Its an insta-Ganteeeetsu
Woo-hoo

So yea, like D-Boyz, this card has a lot of potential if the right cards are released. Most notably a broken Rank 2 that require 3 materials. It's worthless right now and is good. Pick some up