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