Hello again! Here we are with the second in a row Article regarding the Plant Synchro Deck. This time we will be talking about the engine of the deck, how it is divided into 'categories' making it easier for players to understand it and what's the basic purpose of each 'category' (we'll talk about combos and card purposes in detail in future artiles). Let's begin with the monsters, and the standard 'portions' of them!
The Monsters
The Plant Engine
During that format, the Plant Engine consists of 4 basic monsters. The first - and probably most important - is Dandylion, a Level 3 Plant monster which gives you two Level 1 Tokens whenever it is sent to the graveyard. The second is Glow-Up Bulb, which, like the 3rd - Spore - can provide much assistance while in the graveyard. You see, both monsters allow you to Special Summoning them from the graveyard by paying a specific cost. But these two are not just any ordinary monsters! They are two Level 1 Tuner monsters, which means that you can Synchro Summon anytime, for any Synchro monster while your opponent isn't even expecting it! The last monster, which got hit by the September banlist, is Lonefire Blossom, something like the 'Summoner' of the Plant Engine, as he can bring out any of these Plants with no cost, other than tributing itself (or another plant)! Even if each of those monsters by itself doesn't seem like a big threat, all together they can unleash devastating (for your opponent) combos, especially if they're combined with other cards, like Reborn Tengu!
The Tengus
And now that we mentioned Reborn Tengu, let's see his use in the deck! To begin with, you should know that this card must be run in any Plant Deck, and the number of the copies should be three. Reborn Tengu lets you Special Summon another Tengu from your Deck whenever he leaves the field. That makes him a flexible floater/Synchro Material or even Tribute Material! As you can understand, the combination of Reborn Tengu with any of the above Tuners (which can revive themselves) may result into you summoning 2, 3 or even more Synchros in a single turn! Pretty awesome, isn't it?
The Tour Guide Engine
And that's when we reach to the 'painful' part of the Article. Unfortunately, for this deck to work perfectly and be consistent, the use of at least 2 Tour Guides from the Underworld is mandatory. Even though the proper number is 3, it is understood that the card is truly expensive, so, with some luck, the deck can be handled even by two. The use of this particular card is very important in this deck. Two of its most basic uses are the following:
• Normal Summoning Tour Guide and Special Summoning Sangan immediately from your Deck or Hand. Sangan lets you bring any monster with 1500 or less ATK from your deck to your hand, which means that once he is sent to the graveyard (it won't take him too long, trust me), he will be able to provide you with almost any of your most important monsters!
• Normal Summoning Tour Guide and Special Summoning another copy. Now, why would you want to bring another copy of that card, especially when you can't even use it as a Synchro Material? The answer is simple. Xyz Summoning! Those black-framed cards have become truly important in many decks of that format, especially in the Plant one. Special Summoning a 2500 ATK Monster (Number 17: Leviathan Dragon) with just one card, or bringing out a monster that lets you Special Summon removed from play monsters over and over (Leviair the Sea Dragon) is something that you just can't ignore!
As you must have understood, the Tour Guide Engine consists of three copies of our beloved Tour Guide and a copy of Sangan. Even though it sounds hard, getting these cards is essential, if you want to be competitive at Tournaments bigger than your Neighbourhood's Locals.
The Black Luster Engine
With the limitation of Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, duelists have begun to make space in their decks in order to fit in that great card! And could you blame them? Fortunately enough, BLS is a monster that can be easily brought out in a Plant Deck! This is why you will be running a copy of him and two or three copies of Effect Veiler. Effect Veiler is a Level 1 Tuner monster, which allows you to negate an opponent's monster's effect during your opponent's Main Phase. Not only do you get to fill your graveyard with a LIGHT target for BLS, but you also get to ruin your opponent's plan, by making his effects useless. Now, you may think "But what are the chances of drawing into a dead BLS, while I can't get to use my Veilers because I haven't drawn them?". My answer would be "Almost zero chances". Another great advantage of Effect Veiler is that, thanks to its low ATK points, it is searchable by Sangan, which will almost always appear on your side of the field since the very first turn (Don't forget! Triple Tour Guide!).
Another LIGHT monster that many duelists tend to run in their Plant Deck is Thunder King Rai-Oh. Not only is he a great beatstick, but he also has two great effects and a 'comfortable' Attribute (LIGHT). By running two copies of that card, you increase your chances of not having a dead-at-hand BLS and you stop your opponent from using vastly used cards like Pot of Duality, or Synchro/Xyz Summoning!
Miscellaneous
That category has that name, as the monsters in it have almost nothing in common, but are great and important additions to the Plant Deck. Debris Dragon (it can immediately bring out Black Rose Dragon or other great Synchros, as we will see in another article, thanks to his great effect), Caius the Shadow Monarch (he can be easily brought out with Reborn Tengu or the Plants that revive themselves) and Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness (prevents you from being OTK'd and can change the whole outcome of the game) are just some of them!
And these are the 5 "Categories" in which the Plant Synchro Basic Engine is divided. All of them are important for more than one purposes, and when they are all combined into a complete Plant Synchro Deck they can do wonders! Let's now move on to the Spells!
The Spells
The Spells are divided into two categories as well: The one which includes the staple Spell Cards that are run in almost every deck, and the one which includes the Spell Cards that are exclusively used in the Plant Synchro deck in order to advance its combos and increase its options.
The Staple Spells
This category includes the well-known Spell Cards that are run in almost every deck, during this format. Namely, they are Heavy Storm, Book of Moon, Dark Hole, Monster Reborn and two or three copies of Mystical Space Typhoon. Something that I should add is that a lot of players like to run two copies of Pot of Duality, as it adds up to the consistency of the deck. But that is a special, personal preference, so we can't call it 'part of the engine'. I believe that there is nothing more to be clarified! Let's now move on with the more 'Special Spells'.
The Special Spells
In order to work more efficiently, this deck combines unique Spells with monsters in order to bring the wanted result. The most commonly seen Spell Card in the Plant Synchro deck is Pot of Avarice, a Normal Spell card of vital importance, which is why it got Limited during the September 2011 Banlist. Recycling your resources and drawing 2 new cards is a really important advantage that Plant Players can have during the game! Another basic card for that deck is Foolish Burial. Whether you use it to fill the graveyard with a material for BLS, or to add a 'Self-Reviving' Plant, Foolish Burial is an essential card which helps you control the graveyard even more. Let's move on with a game-winning (in my opinion) card, which is One for One. With One for One, you can discard a Monster card to Special Summon a Level 1 Monster from your Hand or Deck. Not only do you get to send Dandylion or any other monster card that you want in the graveyard, right there, but you also get to special summon one of your Level 1 Tuners which will allow you to proceed with an instant Synchro Summon! Last but not least, we have two cards that serve almost the same purpose: Mind Control and Enemy Controller (it has slightly more options than Mind Control, but requires a cost, unlike Mind Control). Using your opponent's monsters as resources can make your Synchro or Xyz Summoning even easier and helpful!
As we mentioned above, there are other cards that are run by a lot of players, like Scapegoat, but again they can't be considered as part of the Engine!
So this is all you should know about the Deck's Spell Cards Engine!
The Traps
I believe that dividing the Traps into categories will be nonsense, as we won't even have to waste more than 5 lines to talk about them. During this format, people choose to run either chainable trap cards (triple MST and Heavy Storm out there), so that they can get make their opponent's card-destruction cards useless, or the well-known Trap Engine, consisting of double Solemn Warning, Solemn Judgment, Torrential Tribute, etc. Other players (like me) even like to combine those two in order to have more options and benefits! The choice in that matter depends absolutely on the player, and there is no 'standard' plan to follow - just your insticts and experience!
Now that we've finished with the whole Engine of the deck, let's make a small summary by writting a list of the cards that should be used in it.
Monsters
1x Lonefire BlossomSpells
1x Dandylion
1x Spore
1x Glow-Up Bulb
3x Reborn Tengu
3x Tour Guide from the Underworld
1x Sangan
1x Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
2/3x Effect Veiler
2x Thunder King Rai-Oh (Optional)
1x Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness
1x Debris Dragon
1/2x Caius the Shadow Monarch
1x Heavy StormTraps
1x Monster Reborn
1x Dark Hole
1x Book of Moon
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Pot of Avarice
1x Foolish Burial
1x One for One
1x Mind Control
1/2x Enemy Controller
1/2x Call of the Haunted (The only Trap Card that must essentially be run in this deck)
So that's all folks! We discussed - in detail, I suppose - about the basic Plant Synchro Deck Engine, and you have now understood its construction and they way each of its 'Sub-Engines' work! I hope you found the article instructive and helpful! If you did, stay tuned for the next Article in which we will discuss about the Extra Deck (Synchros and Xyz) of the Plant Synchro Deck!
Until then,
- Adreus.
No comments:
Post a Comment