Yu-Gi-Oh! The Infinite Forbidden: Info Round-Up

We’re but a few weeks away from the release of Infinite Forbidden on July 18th, but it looks like the set is primed to shake up the meta and bring new power to Rogue strategies, provided of course that Snake-Eye is hit in a reasonable capacity on the next banlist.  I’m going to be addressing a few of the decks I’ve already covered previously, and how they change once INFO releases, but bear in mind this is provided Snake-Eye is hit, and hit decently hard.

It’s difficult to predict an upcoming metagame, however I’d be lying if I said the clear top dog is the same it’s been for months; while yes, Snake-Eye is powerful, it’s also got a clear target on its back, and my baseline for the overall power of top decks is contingent on the meta being allowed to shift.  With that out of the way, let’s dive back into decks I’ve mentioned, whether in full articles or in brief, within this INFO Round-Up!

First and foremost, the jellyfish in the room: Mulcharmy Purulia.  Purulia is what many people are calling the next iteration of Maxx “C”, one of the primary means of differentiating the OCG and TCG.  Since its printing in Japan, it’s seen play at 3 copies in nearly every deck, alongside Ash Blossom, and Maxx itself.  This is a card which will radically shape how we play the game going forward — firing it in the Standby Phase means you’re 99% of the time getting a draw off of the Normal Summon, and likely more, and given PSY-Framegear Omega is currently limited, the counterplay to firing this card off as soon as physically possible is null; there’s no reason to wait until the Main Phase, for fear of losing to a Triple Tac.

Another card that’s going to shift the meta when it debuts is Tenpai Dragon Genroku.  Tenpai is a deck that’s oddly underperformed, having terrible conversion into top cut, although it’s still a strong contender at Locals.  Genroku changes that, giving the deck it’s own ‘Poplar’ effect, and streamlining your combos for sticky hands of too many names.

The other critical portion of this set comes in the form of Fiendsmith Engraver and Moon of the Closed Heaven.  Together, these cards form the basis of the Fiendsmith package, which any deck can access thanks to the Moon’s Type & Attribute, and its generic material requirements.  This of course allows you to Link off into the Fiendsmith Link-1, which then ports you into the entire combo, with <3 cards Maindeck dedicated to the engine.  This matters because Fiendsmith, much like other self-contained packages before it, is there to raise the floor of a strategy more than its ceiling.  It’s yet another consistent window of interaction (and damage in time) for archetypes that can afford the Extra Deck slots, and soft lock.  Namely, in this case we’re talking about “Fiend Link”, comprised of Fabled, Sacred Beast, Yubel, Unchained, etc.  That deck has put up tops recently, and this wave will serve to help it cut the worst parts of its Maindeck, in favor of more consistent lines.

Onto decks I’ve covered, Vaalmonica is receiving a tremendous pair of support cards in the new set, in the form of Vaalmonica Creator and Valar, Vaalmonica Hallow Hymn.  Valar is a solid boss for the archetype, but requires Link Monsters as material, meaning you first need to jump through the hoop of putting counters on your scale(s), Linking off, and then making it.  Thankfully, Creator does just that, topping a scale off to 3 counters exactly, when sent to the GY.  This reminds me very much of Naturia Sacred Tree, in that it drastically raises the ceiling of a deck when incidentally binned, and I’ve been searching for ways to improve upon my current list using these cards.

The obvious point at which Creator is triggered is when it’s sent as the discard fodder for either of your Pendulum Monsters, although I feel there may be more to it than meets the eye.  There’s a world where Magicians’ Souls is worth playing as a means to insulate your Link climbing (as the Vaalmonica Links are technically generic) and bin Creator for further deep draws.  I’m unsure as to whether this will pan out, but for the time being it greatly interests me.  For this reason, Horus is also a legitimate consideration, as a side engine.

As I mentioned in the final notes on Shining Sarcophagus, INFO provides the strategy with an absolutely killer piece of tech, that helps the deck morph into a powerful secondary engine for everyone’s favorite Level 7 squad: Kashtira.  Dark Magician the Magician of Black Magic (awful name, Konami) is a free Level 7 that’s routable via your standard Shining Sarcophagus line, and even pivots through a Level 4 as your Normal Summon, in Gadget Trio, which can overlay with Kashtira Riseheart for a 4 to compliment your Rank 7 pool.

I’m not kidding when I say that this strategy is by a wide margin the best way to play Kashtira, following the ban of Baronne de Fleur, outright killing the chance to play a Speedroid variant.  The consistency and perfect levels provided by Shining Sarc, on top of a few smaller bonuses (Grave-Hate helps Kash!) just mean there’s nothing better to be doing with the strategy than sleeve up this consistent package alongside your standard Fenrir & Unicorn ratios.

For those who enjoy Plants, Reptiles, and Insects, Raika is also receiving a pair of support cards in INFO, being Ragnaraika Eye Moth and Ragnaraika Terror Terrapin (Names pending).  These work to help increase the ceiling, not floor, of Raika strategies by weaving in draws during the End Phase, and simply acting as another Link to ladder through, respectively.  Being a Link-3, Terrapin is a great way to absolve you of your Ogdoadic locks, which I’ve mentioned in a few previous profiles, and it means further hybridizing the overall Raika type strategy is perfectly reasonable.

Raika has actually had some play at top table, even being in a Nationals-winning decklist as part of a broader Plant Link strategy.  Raika is a sleeper strategy, very much akin to Tri-Brigade, in that it really only needs a secondary strategy that synrgizes well enough to find legs.

Beyond all that in INFO, there’s decks which may as well be practically new, such as Gimmick Puppet bringing a consistent FTK to the TCG, Madolche undergoing a renaissance, or the puzzling case of the Millenium monsters, for whom I am still searching a purpose.  Maybe Adamancipator, given they have a competent Level 6 Rock?  There’s also the Trap Monster support we’ve received the past two sets, hopefully hinting at a resurgence, as there’s many players who now feel nostalgia for Eldlich, and its consistent, crisp play pattern

Broadly speaking though, INFO is releasing at a time when, if the meta actually has a chance to shift, this may be a set along the lines of Power of the Elements in terms of its competitive impact.  So many good-not-meta decks are getting outrageous support, and the 2nd & 3rd best decks, arguably, in Fiend Link and Tenpai, receive their own lions’ share.  That’s not even mentioning White Woods, a brand-new strategy arriving to supplement the Toy cards, or the yet-unspoken-of TCG exclusive I’m sure to fawn over.  Suffice to say, INFO is a set that’s going to change things, and I’m eager to return around its debut, and get a glimpse of what the meta might shake out to be.

With that, I eagerly await the upcoming reveal videos for for Infinite Forbidden!  There’s quite a lot to see, especially the new TCG exclusive for which we’ve heard hide nor hair about.  Let me know what INFO strategies you’re testing out below!