Threats that can’t be targeted or are unaffected by other card effects usually aren’t that tough to get rid of. If anything, they are overrated. Book Of Eclipse is a pretty straightforward answer to Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin. Either that or you bait out its effect before ending it in a battle with a monster larger than 2000ATK points. That is quite manageable. And even if you up the stakes and use Kozmo Dark Destroyer as an example, S39: Utopia the Lightning is at your service. Easily summoned out in any Rank4 deck, puts all other effects that occur in the Battle Phase out of the picture. Honestly, with so many outs to threats like these, one may wonder what got Apoqliphort Towers Forbidden in the first place?

Let’s get to Neptune

But the imminent threat we are about to discuss today puts all other villains of its category to shame…

Hello everyone, this is Ken Sir. Greeting you with a new year post. This article is about Neptune. Unlike Pluto, it isn’t about to be outed as part of the Solar System or have its status debated. Neither is it embarking on a course that is due to strike Mother Earth anytime soon.

Today, we seek to end the tyranny of a being that belittles the 8000LP threshold of the game. The Tyrant Neptune is our star of today’s article.

Let’s have a crash course regarding the latest update of The Tyrant Neptune’s rap sheet, for the sake of those unfamilar. This coming Friday, arriving on the OCG shores is Maximum Crisis, the latest booster pack of the series. Amongst the True Draco Kings and more Zoodiac support (Zoodiac Cluckle – and on a related note, it is the year of the Rooster for the upcoming Chinese New Year), there is a single card in the product that aims to bring burn cards such as Hinotama or Poison of the Old Man to shame.

LOL LL

Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale is a new Level1 Fusion monster. Its first effect, negligible for the remainder of the article. Next? It is capable of dealing 500 damage for each level it has and is unaffected by other cards’ effects. It has a mini attack boost effect, additional 500ATK for each level it has, but wouldn’t do much for our Level1 friend. On its own, it seems harmless. Its artwork may even be considered cute although beauty has always been subjective. Level1? 500 damage shouldn’t be a problem? WRONG!!!

Its Level1 status should already set warning bells and alarms ringing, whereas those that value Yugioh more than friendship would have begun devising their potential FTK plans.

Since Elder Entity – Norden arrived, instead of ‘Pay 1000LP to special a Level5 or lower Fusion Monster from your deck’, Instant Fusion has pretty much been ‘Pay 1000LP, Special Summon Elder Entity – Norden’. So I won’t blame you if it slipped your mind that Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale can be summoned via this normal spell at an affordable cost of 1000LP.

And then this is the moment of fear when the truth slowly sets in – The Tyrant Neptune can be tributed with just a single tribute. (The Tyrant Neptune’s own effect.) With just Instant Fusion and The Tyrant Neptune in hand, you are set to deal a 5500 damage.

OVER 5000!!! OVER 5000!!!

Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale inflicts the initial 500 damage. Tributing it to summon The Tyrant Neptune, you copy its effect and you use The Tyrant Neptune for a burn damage of 5000. With The Tyrant Neptune now unaffected by other cards’ effect, it would be a tough board for your opponent to crack, making it even more likely for The Tyrant Neptune to survive a turn and burn for another 5000 the next turn. Even in you have activated three Upstart Goblins (which is possible in the OCG), your opponent’s 11000 lifepoints would now be a 500 lifepoints. And the bad news doesn’t end here. The Tyrant Neptune is granted the attack of the monster tributed for its summon. That’s 1000 from our Lyrisal Lusciona…. no wait, it is Lyrics Lucio….. y’know what? Laughing Lunatic actually sounds appropriate for a monster with such a demonic effect and multiple implications.

Anyway, LL – Independent Nightingale contributes 1000ATK points. But it also carries the attack-gaining effect onto The Tyrant Neptune. That’s 500 multiplied by our Level10 Reptile – 5000ATK more. Hello, 6000ATK The Tyrant Neptune. Unaffected by other card effects. And you thought Apoqliphort Towers is meant to be Forbidden?

Bad news 2.0 – Searchable

It doesn’t end here. With the combo piece to make 8000LP look so insufficient, you thought that you will be thanking the stars (maybe even Planet Neptune) that they aren’t searchable. And that’s when you get disappointed. Instant Fusion is a spell card. This makes it a searchable target by Left Arm Offering. Furthermore, being part of the [Fusion] series, it has its fair share of searchers, which we will get to later.

As for The Tyrant Neptune, it is either fortunate or unfortunate (matter of perspective) that it falls under the Reptile archetype. King of the Feral Imps is a card.

The crazy thing about this type of situation? It was non-existent a decade ago. Wonder how our friends who stopped quitting will be surprised when they witness this monstrosity. tl;dr – They ARE searchable. Good lord.

Bad news 3.0 – The infamous archetype comes to play

Just like how a horror film has yet to reach its climax, this article has yet to make its point. In the current pool of cards that are available to the OCG metagame, or at least going to be made available if I consider Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale which is due in a few days, we have an infamous engine which can synergize and make bringing Instant Fusion and The Tyrant Neptune to your hand an easy dream to achieve.

Decklist

Firstly, don’t be mad. This is modified by taking the OCG Forbidden & Limited List into account. We do have three Chicken Game and Upstart Goblin, which makes deck-thinning easier. The entire is a composite of two engines – Zoodiac and Brilliant Fusion.

Zoodiac Engine

The Zoodiac can now adopt a new Rank3 engine to replace the limited Speedroid Terrortop. With a monster card in hand when summoning Predaplant Ophyrs Scorpio, you can ditch the card to special summon another Level3 Predaplant monster, one such as Predaplant Darling Cobra. Predaplant Darling Cobra joins Ophyrs Scorpio on the field, both Level3 monsters which allow you to rush out M-X Saber Invoker, which in turn tutors Zoodiac Marmorat from the deck. Lonefire Blossom is there to expedite the Predaplant engine. It is a Level3 as well, fitting it appropriately into the engine.

By now you would have heard of this legend one-card Rank4 monster. So I will cut to the chase. Zoodiac Marmorat’s presence allows one to either gain an additional draw using Daigusto Emeral, or search The Tyrant Neptune via King of the Feral Imps. Essentially, much like how Terraforming equates to Chicken Game, any play that ends up with Zoodiac Marmorat on the field is as good as having The Tyrant Neptune in your hand.

Predaplant Darling Cobra also has a nice added bonus to adding any [Fusion] card to the hand. This includes the two [Fusion] cards the deck plays – Brilliant Fusion and Instant Fusion. Start off with Predaplant Ophyrs Scorpio and you get to have the full package – Instant Fusion + Tyrant Neptune.

Darling Cobra is one of the afore-mentioned cards that can search out Instant Fusion, the other being Sabatiel – The Philosopher’s Stone.

Brilliant Fusion Engine

Sabatiel – The Philosopher’s Stone is the main reason players creatively choose Winged Kuriboh as the LIGHT fodder for Gem-Knight Seraphinite’s summon. If you start off your Zoodiac menance without using the plant Rank3 engine, you skip out on searching Instant Fusion. Also, Gem-Knight Serphinite’s summon allows you to summon your searched The Tyrant Neptune after you summon Predaplant Ophyrs Scorpion to start off your play.

Milling Galaxy Serpent for Brilliant Fusion gets it back to hand via the effect of Gem-Knight Lazuli. Summon it with the additional Normal Summon and you can synchro for Ancient Fairy Dragon. It thins the deck and searches out another copy of Chicken Game, if one is already on the field. This opening is optimal if the Predaplant engine is missing from your opening hand. The entitiled normal summon can be reserved for The Tyrant Neptune, whereas either Lonefire Blossom of Predaplant Ophyrs Scorpio can be special summoned with Ancient Fairy Dragon’s effect.

Misc

Caligula the Invoked is just a mere Level4 for xyz plays. TCG has the better alternative in the form of Elder Entity Norden.

Feel free to minimize the deck size to your liking. Like The Tyrant Neptune, Instant Fusion and Brilliant Fusion could be reduced to two copies each.

The Reptile Slayer(s)

The first category of outs are reserved for the obvious – Kaijus, Santa Claws, Volcanic Queen and Lava Golem has always been a simple answer to threats, should the situation allow a special summon.

The second group belongs to floodgates and traps. While The Tyrant Neptune is invulnerable after copying Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale’s effect, there remains a window for opportunists to strike. Pick your choice – Forbidden Chalice, Breakthrough Skill, Fiendish Chain. When it is just tributed summoned, that’s the right timing. There is a large lineup actually, ranging from Torrential Tribute to Compulsory Evacuation Device. A timely Vanity’s Emptiness or Dimensional Boundary on Instant Fusion’s activation also puts the play into a halt. Skill Drain may be a common Side for the new True Draco/True King decks and it serves as a reasonable out against The Tyrant Neptune. Catch the opponent off-guard when they successfully tribute summon him and a Level10 monster with 0ATK/DEF stays vulnerable on the field.

The third worthy mentions belong to a group of unsung heroes who excel as a post-summon solution. Since The Tyrant Neptune is unaffected, it would make sense to shift one’s focus on the ATK points of the attacking monster. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon is looking to be the best contender, now that 6000ATK points fall out of reach from the previously fan favorite S39 Utopia the Lightning. It won’t be a total wastage of resources, seeing how Crystal Wing can be easily summoned out with a single card by utilizing the Wind Witch engine.

Honest and Apprentice Illusion Magician can provide the required support to run over The Tyrant Neptune. Moon Mirror Shield is a much more staple option. Will there come a need to side this card? I wonder.

Last but not least, hand traps take the cake as the most resourceful exchange.

Effect Veiler at the summon leaves it both vulnerable and incapable of burning for the 5000 damage.

Maxx “C” helps in drawing cards that you need, although Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale is the one and only special summon in the

Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit punishes your opponent mercilessly, leaving their field empty. You can target it on the Zoodiac engine, but I would reccomend destroying The Tyrant Neptune instead to put a stop to their win condition. But do note that the deck can still remain resourceful and grind with the Zoodiacs.

Surprisingly, one of the best options to disrupt their plans would be Counterattacking “C”. Chainable to Instant Fusion, Counterattacking “C” banishes any cards that leave the field. When Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale gets banished instead of being sent to the graveyard, The Tyrant Neptune has no applicable option in the grave to target even if it were to be tributed summon. Unfortunately, with an available Battle Phase. Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale can destroyed Counterattacking “C” with its 1000+500 ATK points.

D.D. Crow is another useful one. By banishing Lyrical Luscinia – Independent Nightingale, The Tyrant Neptune fizzles away with no effects being copied. Let’s just hope a ruling change doesn’t occur for this interaction.

Gorz the Emissary of Darkness can catch your opponent unaware. It would only add insult to injury if your opponent has already paid 3000 for three Chicken Games. A reflective 5000 burn damage ends their lifepoints in a dramatic zero-turn-kill.

Engraver of the Mark is helpless against our reptilian foe here since no names are actually declared in the process. Damage-protection such as Hanewata only delays the inevitable, in my opinion.

Conclusion

The Tyrant Neptune is the star of the next deck with an aim to burn for the game, twice. Short, sweet, simple. I suggest players get ahead of the curve – either purchase your copies now or cease friendship and hide from promising players who are interested in forming this deck. Thank you for reading, and I hope this article has served you well.

For my next article, I plan to introduce my Metalfoes build for 2017. For fans, do stay tuned.