“ . . . and I, for one, welcome our new Insect overlords.”

Continuing our discussion from last week, today’s article features even more Insect goodness. We begin with Insect Queen, matriarch of the Insect army. From there, we’ll look into some Insect support cards that offer different strategies for Insect decks. After reading this article, you’ll have some solid mechanics in place that will help you build an array of fun Insect decks.

Insect Queen was re-released in Dark Beginning 2 after initially being released as a promotional card for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG collectible tins. It has a few different effects, so be sure to read its text carefully.

“You cannot declare an attack with this card without Tributing 1 monster on your side of the field. Increase the ATK of this card by 200 points for each face-up Insect-Type monster on the field. Special Summon 1 "Insect Monster Token” (Insect-Type/EARTH/1 Star/ATK 100/DEF 100) in Attack Position on your side of the field during the End Phase of each turn that this card destroys your opponent's monster.”

In order to attack, Insect Queen demands a price from its minions—one of them must be tributed. This tribute is a requirement that must be met, or you can’t declare an attack with Insect Queen at all. While most monsters would be offered up to the Queen never to be seen again, some monsters allow you to replace them with another monster.

Remember Pinch Hopper from last week? Normally, tributing it to pay any kind of cost is bad, because it won’t be able to activate its effect. However, tributing it to pay for Insect Queen’s attack has a different result. If you tribute Pinch Hopper to pay for Insect Queen’s attack, the timing is right for Pinch Hopper to activate its effect. Declaring an attack with a monster does not use the chain, thus there is nothing standing in the way when Pinch Hopper is sent to the graveyard.

Shadow of Infinity has another monster that can also serve the Queen well, although it’s of a different species . . .

Now that your Insect Queen is on the offense, it desires to feed on your opponent’s monsters. Insect Queen is able to hatch “Insect monster tokens” during the end phase of the turn by destroying one of your opponent’s monsters in battle. These tokens can be used to further increase the Queen’s ATK or they can be used to pay for your Insect Queen’s next attack, saving you from spending any additional resources. These tokens are special summoned in attack position, so be sure you have a plan in place or they will leave you vulnerable to retaliation.

Some monsters in the game already welcome our insect overlords, while others can be made to do so with a little encouragement. We’ll begin with Prickle Fairy, which can be found in Dark Revelation 2.

“While this card is face-up on your side of the field, your opponent cannot attack Insect-Type monsters. The battle position of a monster that battles with this card is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Damage Step.”

Prickle Fairy isn’t an Insect itself, but it does deserve a place in their ranks, because it offers them great protection from attacks. With one quick use of DNA Surgery, you can make it an Insect-type monster and have it become even more effective as a result.

You see, if Prickle Fairy becomes an Insect-type monster, and all you control are face-up Insect-type monsters, your opponent won’t be able to attack your monsters at all. Until you summon a non–Insect-type monster or set a monster, or until your opponent summons a monster that can attack directly, he or she will be unable to attack.

Prickle Fairy’s second effect penalizes any monster that attacks it by shifting the attacking monster into defense position at the end of the damage step. Your opponent may need to invest the attacks of strong monsters to surpass Prickle Fairy’s 2000 DEF, and these monsters are usually not as strong on defense. This effect will activate even if Prickle Fairy is destroyed by the attack and it doesn’t matter what battle position your Prickle Fairy is in when it is attacked, so don’t be afraid to go on the offensive if you have to.

Next we have Ninjitsu Art of Transformation. It allows any monster with the word “Ninja” in its card name to perform a rather dramatic change.

“Activate this card by Tributing 1 face-up monster on your side of the field that includes "Ninja" in its card name. Special Summon 1 Beast-Type, Winged Beast-Type, or Insect-Type monster with a Level equal to or less than the Level of the Tributed card + 3 from your hand or Deck to your side of the field. When this card is removed from your side of the field, destroy the monster.”

To figure out what range of monsters are acceptable, take a look at the level of your Ninja. Add three to that monster’s level and you’ll find your limit. This limit is then used to determine what Beast-type, Winged Beast-type, or Insect-type monster you can special summon from your hand or your deck. Using Strike Ninja as an example, we take its level of 4 and add three, for a total of seven. This means a level 4 Strike Ninja can transform into an Ultimate Insect LV7, if so desired.

The monster you special summon becomes bound to Ninjitsu Art of Transformation. If Ninjitsu Art of Transformation is removed from the field by any means, the monster you special summoned will be destroyed. You can free your special summoned monster from this danger by turning it face down with a card like Book of Moon. After being turned face down, Ninjitsu Art of Transformation will lose its target and never regain it, remaining on the field meaninglessly. You’ll then be free to flip summon the monster and no longer concern yourself with Ninjitsu Art of Transformation at all.

Our final card allows you to change any monster you control into a stronger Insect-type monster from your deck. It’s an old classic from Pharaoh’s Servant that you may not have heard of—Insect Imitation.

“Tribute 1 monster on your side of the field. Select 1 Insect-Type monster from your Deck that is 1 Level higher than the Tributed monster and Special Summon it on your side of the field in face-up Attack Position or face-down Defense Position. Then shuffle your Deck.”

When this card was first released, you couldn’t do much with its effect, but as more sets have been released, its potential has grown substantially. You begin by tributing one monster on your side of the field to pay for the activation cost. The level of the monster that’s tributed to pay Insect Imitation’s cost is important, so be mindful of it. When you resolve the effect, search your deck and find an Insect-type monster that has a level exactly 1 higher than the monster you tributed. For example, if I were to tribute a level 4 monster, like Hydrogeddon, to pay for Insect Imitation, I would be able to special summon a level 5 Insect-type monster, like Ultimate Insect LV5, from my deck.

Remember that you can tribute any monster you control to pay the cost of Insect Imitation. That means you can use a card like Brain Control to take control of one of your opponent’s monsters and then tribute his or her monster to pay Insect Imitation’s cost. Your opponent won’t like seeing his or her Cyber Dragon or Mobius the Frost Monarch so easily replaced by stronger Insect-type monsters.

The Insect army’s numbers are growing. Hidden within Shadow of Infinity are Insects of monstrous size. Join your fellow duelists this weekend at the Sneak Preview event near you and show your support for our new Insect overlords!

Send all comments and questions to Curtis@metagame.com.