There are not many cards that Chain Strike Burn players actually fear in a tournament match. Des Wombat, while the seemingly obvious answer to a ton of direct damage cards, is fragile. It can be disposed of by a main-deck Ring of Destruction, and easily run over by a possible side-deck Cyber Dragon. Chain Burst is another deceptive, skill-testing card that looks like an answer to a Chain Strike Burn combo. However, this continuous trap does not actually stop your opponent from activating his or her trap cards. You need to set it on your field on turn 1 for it to be any use. Otherwise it won’t actually dismantle a Chain Strike Burn opponent, nor will it help you defeat him or her any earlier. Aside from that, if a Chain Strike Burn player really needs to play his or her traps, but is low on life, copies of Poison of the Old Man can always add 1200 life points in order to flip that game-ending 2500 damage Just Desserts.

The most obvious solution to Chain Strike Burn is Royal Decree, which is everything that Chain Burst isn’t. Unlike Chain Burst, a turn 1 set Royal Decree will give a Chain Strike Burn deck fits. While the burn player can still activate his or her trap cards to build up a chain for Chain Strike, a good majority of that player’s deck will be nullified by your continuous trap. Many of the burn player’s cards will no longer deal damage to your life points, rendering many of that player’s potential draws useless.

However, since Royal Decree is such a powerful option against Chain Strike Burn, the burn player is most likely to be prepared for it by side-decking cards like Mystical Wind Typhoon. You’re already hard-pressed to find Royal Decree quickly against the burn deck, but when your opponent packs chainable threats to your trap card, then you are forced to draw multiple copies of Royal Decree in your first turn to really have a chance of shutting that early power down. If you draw the card too late, then you’ll probably end up losing just because the burn player can save one Chain Strike (or another spell) for that final push.

One card, however, can be the ultimate bane for Chain Strike Burn if you can summon it on turn 2. Jinzo is one of the hardest cards for the deck to deal with, because unlike Royal Decree and Des Wombat, there is no simple solution to it. Chain Strike Burn can’t side in Cyber Dragon to run it (and its hefty 2400 ATK) over, while cards like Mystical Wind Typhoon won’t deal with Jinzo either. Offerings to the Doomed can help take out both Jinzo and Des Wombat, but it is not an optimal solution to either monster since it denies the Chain Strike Burn player well over 1500 points in damage.

Jinzo works well as that near-perfect solution, since its ATK is higher than Wombat and a Chain Strike Burn deck normally won’t think to prepare for it. More importantly, since you cannot chain to the summoning of a monster, Jinzo will already be in play by the time the burn player gets a chance to respond. There is no time between summoning Jinzo and its appearance on the field, leaving the burn player unable to react.

The end result is that Jinzo is like a Royal Decree that Chain Strike Burn players can’t actually chain to. The threat of it in your deck causes Chain Strike Burn players to activate some of their cards during the draw phase, ignoring the fact that building off of a chain you create is so much easier.

If that isn’t enough to convince a Monarch Control player to run Jinzo, then consider that, as of last week, those little monsters called Gadgets invaded North America. If any of you have kept up with the buzz regarding deck trends over in Asia, then you may have heard about them. Red Gadget, Green Gadget, and Yellow Gadget are the basis of one of the most solid Japanese decks of all time. The entire concept of summoning one Gadget so that you can fetch another from your deck (which could next turn fetch another for the following turn and so on) is very powerful. It leads to a large stream of monsters that will keep you summoning each turn. When nine monsters in your deck are dedicated to keeping your hand supplied with more monsters, you can step back and focus on tempo while you overwhelm the field with little Machines that will eventually take down your opponent.

Since many Gadget decks focus so heavily on card-for-card trades (such as with Sakuretsu Armor), you can bet that it will throw a fit if you get Jinzo on the field for a turn. While there’s a good chance that Jinzo will not live to see your next turn due to Smashing Ground, the 2400 ATK Machine can at least shut down those nasty reactive traps such as Sakuretsu Armor for a battle phase. This guarantees that you get rid of at least one Gadget if your opponent can’t use Solemn Judgment against your Jinzo, and you should be able to get rid of even more if you have another monster or two on the field. While you may not get ahead on cards, you will be doing a great job of hurting the Gadget deck’s tempo and setting back the opponent’s field presence by a few turns—buying yourself time to break through the Gadget deck’s defenses and into the opponent’s life points.

In fact, if the decks I’ve seen recently are any indication, it looks as though the three Sakuretsu Armor/three Widespread Ruin strategy has picked up in popularity once again due to the rise of Gadgets. This may make Jinzo an excellent monster right now in any deck that plans on winning through attacks. With the new Gadgets already out, and Shonen Jump Championship Orlando coming up to give those new Machine monsters their first major tournament appearance, there’s a good chance that Jinzo will become one of the game’s most valuable monsters in the next month or so. Its ability to hinder cards like Sakuretsu Armor and lock down a Chain Strike Burn deck is enough reason to play it in Monarch Control and many other decks. Be ready to see it on your opponent’s field, or test Jinzo in your own deck to see if it can effectively benefit you.