Somewhat lost in the hoopla surrounding Treeborn Frog and Shadow of Infinity is the great Insect support that can be found in the new set. After witnessing firsthand the awesome powers of some of the new cards released in the set (Doom Dozer springs readily to mind), I think it’s safe to say that Insect decks have joined the top tier of elite, tournament-caliber decks.

You see, stealthy changes to the way the deck’s primary win conditions work have placed Insects tantalizingly close to the upper echelon of archetypes as new support cards have been released. However, forget all of the nifty but ultimately disadvantageous tricks you can pull off. Weevil Underwood’s old-school Parasite Paracide is not what we’re looking for. The deck doesn’t focus on the nifty Insect Imitation combo either, since that features a trade that ends up in a 2-for-1 against yourself!

Rather, the Insect deck is a modified control deck that focuses on a few key cards as a win condition. All of this was unlocked and made possible by the position ruling changes that happened a few months back. While everyone gushed over the unlimited possibilities of Tsukuyomi after the position changes were announced, I happened to notice the subtle changes to two cards in particular that were, at that time, immediately splashable in Tomato Control decks.

I’m talking about Swarm of Scarabs and Swarm of Locusts. Prior to the position change, you could only use these cards’ effects when Howling Insect summoned them in face-up defense position. However, with the new rulings, you could begin to see combinations that looked something like this. Your opponent attacks Mystic Tomato. You search for Swarm of Scarabs. On your turn, you use its effect, then flip it back up to destroy the opposing monster.

This type of advantage was very powerful, and Team Savage actually had a concept deck revolving around this type of Insect control. Of course, two cards does not a theme create, so other pieces were needed along the way.

The newly released Doom Dozer finally gives Insects a purpose. A top tier card that rewards users for splashing all Insect subtypes, Devil Dozer is a pure monstrosity that’s able to be special summoned. It’s about on par with Dark Necrofear in power, which leads to a pretty weighty influence on the game.

My theory is that archetypes only need about four to five solid monsters and about one to two solid spell and trap cards of support to become top tier. Zombies are built around three monsters (Pyramid Turtle, Spirit Reaper, Vampire Lord) and one spell card, Book of Life. Warrior decks are built around a whole bunch of monsters and one spell card, Reinforcement of the Army, and so on. Insects definitely have what it takes to be competitive, but we’ll have to remove all of the options that simply just don’t work. Here’s a sample build.

Monsters: 19

2 Doom Dozer

3 Magical Merchant

2 Insect Knight

1 Chainsaw Insect

2 Swarm of Locusts

1 Swarm of Scarabs

1 Sangan

2 Mystic Tomato

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Tsukuyomi

2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

A lot of choices like Howling Insect have been ignored entirely, so instead, we’ll go with two copies of Mystic Tomato to dig out the copies of the Swarms. If Tomato is attacked, you’ll want to bring out a Swarm of Scarabs, because the opponent probably won’t set a spell or trap if you flash the Locust. If you open with a set Locust and a set spell or trap, however, you can destroy his or her monster with Sakuretsu Armor. He or she will be forced to set a spell or trap, and you can destroy it with your Locust!

The main goal is to recycle all of your effects while setting the stage for a massive Doom Dozer push. Insect Knights can provide a solid beatdown flavor to your deck, and Chainsaw Insect is a great card that can either bail you out against Mobius and Cyber Dragon, or stall the board out while the opponent looks for Smashing Ground. Let’s take a look at the spells.

Spells: 12

1 Dark Hole

1 Heavy Storm

1 Snatch Steal

1 Premature Burial

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Confiscation

1 Pot of Avarice

1 My Body as a Shield

2 Enemy Controller

It appears that the deck is a few spell support cards away from utter fulfillment. As it stands, the spell lineup is a bit difficult to flesh out. You don’t want too many pieces of monster removal or spell or trap removal. We’re going with a heavy trap lineup that creates floaters out of all our Insects to use in conjunction with Tsukuyomi and our tribute monsters. To achieve such a goal, sacrifices in the spell lineup have to be made. If you feel you’re missing Smashing Ground a bit too much, feel free to include it. As it stands, however, it’s not entirely needed.

Traps: 9

1 Call of the Haunted

3 Sakuretsu Armor

2 Widespread Ruin

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Torrential Tribute

Yes, this deck packs ten pieces of spell or trap defense. Every bit will be crucial to squeeze the maximum mileage out of your weak Magical Merchants and Swarms. Use them to protect the monsters, then flip them and create havoc with your opponent’s resource setup.

Mechanics of Advantage: The Insect Deck

In the early game, you can start setting monsters at will. The three avenues for taking advantage are Tomato into a Swarm, Swarm of Locusts defended by a spell or trap creating a floater, or Tsukuyomi and Magical Merchant abuse. All three are viable, and all three create +1 trades.

Unlike other decks, you can do quite a bit with your floaters. Enemy Controller enables you to take your opponent’s monsters or stop the ubiquitous Spirit Reaper. You can then sacrifice for Thestalos, who generates huge advantage and allows you to push across open fields constantly.

You can then drop Doom Dozer near the end game. Assuming you have, say, a normal summon, Doom Dozer, and perhaps a Premature Burial in hand, you’ll often be able to strike and win the game in a single turn.

Ability to Counter the Metagame

The deck has both an upside and a downside. The downside is that, like all control decks that aim to carefully piece together a solid board, Cyber Dragon runs all over your weaker monsters. For example, let’s say you open with a solid Locust and Sakuretsu Armor set. The oafish aggro player who summons Cyber Dragon and D. D. Warrior Lady will smack through with one at the very least, creating a -1 trade for you.

However, the deck has numerous advantages. For one, it doesn’t suffer from all of the hate that is aimed at the keys to the metagame. Opposing cards that are designed to stop D. D. Assailant, Spirit Reaper, or Bazoo the Soul Eater will hardly affect you. And playing an offbeat deck (such as Insects) will give you the surprise factor when you drop two 2800 ATK monsters on the same turn and attack to win the game.

Strategies to Use in a Matchup with a Cookie-Cutter Deck

Assume the identity of a control player, where the goal is not to win through life points. The goal instead is to carefully manipulate your opponent’s field commitment and hand size, leading to breakthroughs in advantage that dig a very deep hole for him or her to climb out of. By utilizing all sorts of subtle trades, and by remembering that Doom Dozer is one of the few cards in the game that can destroy Cyber Dragon or the Monarchs through battle, you should be able to win quite a few.

The optimal play is a set Merchant and a set defensive trap. The only break for this strategy, ironically, is Breaker the Magical Warrior. In fact, you want to be careful in all cases for Breaker and Mobius, since they can snap through your defenses and smash the unprotected Swarms. If you even smell one of the two coming, get your Bottomless Trap Hole ready.

Cyber Dragon is probably the deck’s biggest threat, since your opponent can constantly out-swarm your swarms. However, you can make him or her pay by playing head games. What happens if in game 2, you set Sangan and Torrential Tribute? Here comes Cyber Dragon and D. D. Assailant! Oh no . . . you just forced your opponent into a 2-for-1 trade with a clear field to attack back on (preferably with Spirit Reaper). Or what if you set Magical Merchant with Dark Hole in hand? Sure, the opponent might hit for 1700 damage, but you get a 2-for-1 trade next turn with another clear field!

Find ways to minimize your deck’s losses. The main win condition in the early game is to set up advantage through Tsukuyomi or the Swarms. The ultimate win condition is Doom Dozer, which should bulldoze your opponent’s forces. Overall, the Insect deck is certainly top tier. However, due to its lack of spell or trap support, I don’t think it passes with flying colors.

The New Grounds Verdict: Insects are Quite Tantalizingly Near the Top Tier