Back in the old days, Jirai Gumo and Goblin Attack Force were common cards to find in Beatdown decks in triplicate. Though those days have long since passed, high ATK values never really go out of fashion, and with the number of players packing multiple copies of Cyber Dragon, one has to give some consideration to anything that’s big enough to naturally club it into submission.

Jirai Gumo is just such a monster, and today’s contributor has looked to build an Insect deck around it. Here’s what he had to say about his strategy.

Hey, this is William B. from Orlando. I don't know about most people, but I loved the old-school metagame. I was playing 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos: Kaiba the Revenge' on my PC and managed to build somewhat of a Jirai Gumo deck on the game (which is quite hard to do). Anyhow, I thought that I'd expand this concept to our current metagame and give it a shot. Needless to say, I believe that the deck uses too many cards that rely on others, which could result in bad topdecks.

The main goal is to get out Jirai Gumo. I can do it by using a level 3 Insect (I believe there are about nine in the deck) and playing Insect Imitation to special summon it. In addition I can also use Insect Imitation on Jirai Gumo itself to special summon Ultimate Insect LV5. The goal itself seems solid, but I'm having trouble putting it to perspective.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my deck and post it on Metagame.com, along with the fixes.

—William B, Orlando, Florida

Insects will get a massive boost out of the upcoming expansion, Shadow of Infinity. But for now, they’ve got some underrated tricks and some cards that deserve some attention. Here’s the deck that William put together.

Jirai Gumo Control

40 Cards

Monsters: 17

3 Jirai Gumo

3 Arsenal Bug

3 Howling Insect

3 Ultimate Insect LV3

Spells: 14

1 Scapegoat

1 Heavy Storm

1 Snatch Steal

1 Premature Burial

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Megamorph

3 Insect Imitation

3 Nobleman of Extermination

Traps: 9

1 Call of the Haunted

2 Dust Tornado

3 Skill Drain

3 Solemn Judgment

Right off the bat, the deck looks solid. It aims to reliably bring out Jirai Gumo, and I think it can do that. However, I feel like William is limiting himself by not taking advantage of some of the tricks that he could be using. I also feel like he’s thrown in some strategies that work well in other decks, but kind of clash with his monster set.

For instance, those three copies of Skill Drain really need to go. If we wanted to just negate the drawback effects of a few big attackers like Gumo and Arsenal Bug, we could run a Warrior deck packed with copies of Goblin Attack Force, Goblin Elite Attack Force, and Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei. They all have higher base ATK values than the monsters that William’s using. Skill Drain negates the powerful effect of Ultimate Insect LV5, and while it won’t always be leveling up through Ultimate Insect LV3, I’d like to have the option of doing that on a regular basis. The three Skill Drain need to go, and because we’re no longer running them, Arsenal Bug becomes a bit more conditional, so I’m going to drop one copy of it.

This deck is going to be packing a lot of big monsters, and I’m going to be adding in some more board control. As such, I really don’t see a use for Scapegoat. Those tokens could really get in the way, and because this deck maintains board presence so well, it might even be difficult to activate Scapegoat a lot of the time. I’m going to cut it to make room.

I’m also going to drop one copy of Insect Imitation. I’m going to be making some additions that make this card better, but it still isn’t worth running three copies. While it can often be useful, three is just overkill, and it’s important to remember that unless you can immediately attack and destroy a monster with the new one that Imitation brings to the field, you’ve lost a card and taken a minus-one in card advantage.

Beyond that, Nobleman of Extermination and Solemn Judgment have to go. All of them. Nobleman of Extermination is a great card for a deck that’s packing Widespread Ruin instead of Sakuretsu Armor, but that’s about it. This deck isn’t running Sakuretsu Armor or Widespread Ruin, and it needs to be running one or the other. Since Widespread Ruin is continuing its climb towards the $30 mark, dropping Nobleman of Extermination from the deck and running Sakuretsu Armor instead seems like a better suggestion.

The Solemn Judgments are totally misplaced. This is a Beatdown deck, despite the fact that “Control” is in the name. It has nothing in particular that it needs to negate, and it isn’t dependent on a key card. While Solemn Judgment can be useful, running three copies of it is just asking for dead cards in your opening hand and early game.

We’ve dropped twelve cards. It’s time to add a few!

Right off the bat, I want to add a pair of Brain Control. Insect Imitation is cool because the monster you tribute does not have to be an Insect. That means you can grab a monster with Brain Control, tribute it off for Imitation, and go and fetch a monster for yourself. You lose the Brain Control and Imitation, but you gain a monster and the opponent loses his or hers. It’s an even trade that ends up with you having an extra Jirai Gumo or Ultimate Insect LV5 on the field. Even if you don’t have an Imitation on hand at the time, you can always just use Brain Control normally, or tribute the opponent’s monster off yourself for the Ultimate Insect. Good stuff.

Next, like so many decks I see that try to run creative themes, this one needs Smashing Ground and Sakuretsu Armor. Unless you’re packing some major Lockdown cards or something else that can deter attacks, your deck needs monster removal. There are virtually no exceptions to this rule. Even defensive decks that try to overcome the aggressive tempo that many duelists try to establish will need Sakuretsu Armor and Smashing Ground just to keep the field from getting out of hand. This deck, in particular, benefits from such cards, because it can make huge direct attacks. I’ll add two copies of Smashing Ground and three of Sakuretsu Armor.

That tendency to make massive attacks with a single monster also leads me to recommend Torrential Tribute. I’m one of the few duelists out there who’s always wary about using Torrential Tribute. It’s often a contingency card and only useful when you’re losing. But in this deck, it can mean the difference between a clogged field and a direct attack from a 4400 ATK Jirai Gumo that’s pumped up with Megamorph. This deck thrives on cleared fields, so Torrential Tribute is a must.

Dark Hole is also a must-have, for the exact same reason, and I’ll be adding one of those as well. It’s great for virtually any deck. Whenever you make the conscious decision not to use Dark Hole, make sure to look at your reasons really carefully. It’s usually a bad decision.

Finally, I want to add a few monsters. Sangan is, again, pretty much a staple for the current environment. It will let you search for Ultimate Insect LV3, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Howling Insect, all of which are great to have at your fingertips. If it gets blasted off the field, it replaces itself with a card in your hand, too, and card presence is always good.

The final two monsters I’d like to add are a pair of Silpheed. Flying low under the radar of most duelists, Silpheed has gone unnoticed by many because it requires the removal of a Wind-attribute monster from the graveyard. However, it’s a special summon, has a threatening 1700 ATK, and when it’s destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, the opponent has to discard a card. Not only is it cheap and efficient field presence, but your opponent also can’t get advantage by destroying it in battle.* That’s power that you have to respect.

Those are all the changes I want to make, so here’s the final decklist.

-1 Arsenal Bug

-1 Scapegoat

-1 Insect Imitation

-3 Nobleman of Extermination

-3 Skill Drain

-3 Solemn Judgment

+2 Silpheed

+1 Sangan

+1 Dark Hole

+2 Smashing Ground

+2 Brain Control

+3 Sakuretsu Armor

+1 Torrential Tribute

My fixed build looks like this!

Jirai Gumo Control

Jason’s Fix: 40 Cards

Monsters: 19

2 Silpheed

2 Ultimate Insect LV5

2 Arsenal Bug

3 Howling Insect

3 Ultimate Insect LV3

1 Sangan

Spells: 14

2 Smashing Ground

2 Brain Control

1 Dark Hole

1 Heavy Storm

1 Snatch Steal

1 Premature Burial

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Megamorph

2 Insect Imitation

Traps: 7

1 Call of the Haunted

2 Dust Tornado

3 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Torrential Tribute

With Silpheed and the pair of Brain Control, William’s deck can now live up to its “Control” moniker. It can open very strongly by setting Howling Insect or a D. D. monster or normal summoning Jirai Gumo in face up attack position. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an opponent who’d be willing to Brain Control or Snatch Steal a Gumo from you, so all you have to be wary of is running into a Smashing Ground that leads to Spirit Reaper or Don Zaloog.

You’ve got some options in the early and mid-game. You can let your opponent take an early lead by doing things like leaving a Howling Insect open for attack. Then, you can suddenly sweep the field with a Megamorph-powered Gumo and assume control. You could also just play the deck like a quirky Beatdown/Control Hybrid and pick your spots as you go. You’ve got more raw attacking power than the average deck, so you’ll often find that you have stronger battle options. At the same time, you can always play it tricky and go for that Brain Control/Insect Imitation combo, or try and level up Ultimate Insect LV3 to Ultimate Insect LV5.

In the end, I’d suggest doing what your draws lead you to do. This deck can rely on tactics more than strategy, and you want to play into that strength, not against it. You don’t have to fear the late game, either. With the ability to draw into Jirai Gumo, D. D. Assailant, Silpheed, and Brain Control, you’ve got strong options when you find yourself in topdecking scenarios.

The big problem matchup for this deck will be a patient Control duelist. Losing cards to Spirit Reaper and Don Zaloog can rob this deck of its big hitters and Megamorphs, and that can leave you with piles of small synergistic monsters that can’t come together on their own. Play cautiously when faced with such an opponent, but understand that the longer the game continues the more access they’ll have to cards like Reaper and Don. Find an opening, and then lay into it as hard as you possibly can. Aim to end the game quickly.

This can be a really entertaining deck to play, because it just keeps dropping monsters and spells that your opponent will have to pick up and read. He or she will never anticipate cards like Insect Imitation and Silpheed, and when those cards hit the table, your opponent won’t believe their effects.

Like I said earlier, Shadow of Infinity has a plethora of new cards for Insects. Until then, though, this is a perfectly viable deck. Thanks to William for sending it in—here’s hoping the fix helps!

—Jason Grabher-Meyer

*Actually, if the opponent destroys Silpheed when he or she doesn’t have any more cards in hand, he or she will gain a card’s worth of advantage. Still, Spirit Reaper and Don Zaloog can’t gain card advantage in the same situation, and that doesn’t stop them from being tier 1 powerhouses.