Deck Profile: Paul Abdelsayed’s Relinquished Djinn Deck
The one big Deck from Stardust Overdrive that we didn’t see at SHONEN JUMP Championship Columbus was Ritual Monsters. Ritual Decks got their first big push in years from the introduction of the Spell Card “Preparation of Rites” and the new Djinn monsters – monsters that can be used for a Ritual Summon when they’re in the Graveyard, AND that grant a Ritual Monster special abilities when they’re used. A lot of players have been testing Decks featuring Djinns plus “Relinquished” or the new Ritual Monster “Divine Grace – Northwemko,” but they didn’t seem to bring them to Columbus.
Paul Abdelsayed and his friend Justin Torres are bucking that trend today, building a minimalist “Relinquished” Deck that’s big on consistency and often scores its wins by throwing out multiple copies of “Relinquished” in a single turn!
Monsters: 21
3x “Relinquished”
3x “Caius the Shadow Monarch”
1x “Gorz the Emissary of Darkness”
1x “Chaos Sorcerer”
1x “Dark Armed Dragon”
2x “Mystic Tomato”
2x “Armageddon Knight”
1x “Sangan”
2x “Necro Gardna”
2x “Djinn Releaser of Rituals”
3x “Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands”
Spells: 11
2x “Allure of Darkness”
2x “Black Illusion Ritual”
2x “Preparation of Rites”
2x “Book of Moon”
1x “Heavy Storm”
1x “Mystical Space Typhoon”
1x “Brain Control”
Traps: 8
2x “Threatening Roar”
2x “Bottomless Trap Hole”
1x “Mirror Force”
1x “Torrential Tribute”
1x “Dimensional Prison”
1x “Return from the Different Dimension”
It all starts pretty small. In Abdelsayed’s words, “Manju is the heart and soul of the Deck!” “Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands” can’t be stopped by “Bottomless Trap Hole,” and gets “Black Illusion Ritual” or “Relinquished” from the Deck. “Searching for “Black Illusion Ritual” is ideal.” It’s not often that Manju will fetch “Relinquished,” because “Preparation of Rites” searches it from the Deck while getting back “Black Illusion Ritual” from the Graveyard.
Manju gets “Black Illusion Ritual,” and “Armageddon Knight” throws “Djinn Releaser of Rituals” into the Graveyard to be used for the Ritual Summon. “Mystic Tomato” can search out “Armageddon Knight,” blocking a shot and grabbing a necessary monster in the process. If Djinn Releaser is already in the Graveyard, “Armageddon Knight” can send “Necro Gardna” to the Graveyard instead. The defensive power of the Tomato and “Necro Gardna” help ensure that the Deck has Tribute fodder for “Caius the Shadow Monarch,” too. Even the Djinn itself can often survive on the field long enough to be used as Tribute! “The Djinn is usually only dropped by “Armageddon Knight,” but it is really fun to set him first turn due to his 2000 defense!” “Book of Moon” and “Threatening Roar” add even more defense and stability so that Torres and Abdelsayed can go ahead and pull off their combos when they’re set up to do so.
“Threatening Roar” is especially useful, because when a Deck like Zombies explodes and throws down several monsters at once, then goes to clear the field with “Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier,” “Threatening Roar” leaves the Zombie Duelist unable to attack that turn. Since the opponent’s field now has several juicy high-ATK monsters sitting around, this Deck punishes the opponent with a “Relinquished” or two next turn.
Yes, “a “Relinquished” or TWO.” Plural. “You drop 2 “Relinquished” and wreck their field,” laughed Abdelsayed. “My favorite play is to set “Threatening Roar” mid-game, and let my opponent play multiple monsters before attacking into the Roar. Then next turn I can Summon one “Relinquished,” activate “Preparation of Rites” for another “Relinquished,” and set up for game. What is really amazing is that when the Djinn is used, Tragoedia and Gorz become useless.” This is because of the special ability of “Djinn Releaser of Rituals.” As long as a Ritual Monster Summoned with Djinn Releaser is on the field, your opponent can’t Special Summon. So cards like “Judgment Dragon,” Gorz, and “Tragoedia” can’t be brought out.
Once “Relinquished” is on the table it causes varying levels of trouble for the opponent. As soon as it hits the field, “Relinquished” will inhale whatever monster its controller wants to get out of the way. Then it absorbs that monster’s ATK and DEF as its own. On top of that, if “Relinquished” would be destroyed by battle its attached monster is destroyed instead, and if it survives it’ll inhale another monster on the turn that follows. When a stolen monster is equipped to “Relinquished” your opponent even takes the same battle damage you take from any battle “Relinquished” winds up in. All of these factors make for a single monster that’s often incredibly difficult to get off the field.
That’s bad news for the opposition when “Relinquished” is Summoned with “Djinn Releaser of Rituals,” because when it is, the Djinn’s effect keeps your opponent from Special Summoning. Lightsworn and Zombies lose a big chunk of their plans if they can’t Special Summon anything, leading to this Deck’s top match-ups. “The Deck’s best match-up by far is Lightsworn. Lightsworn depends on having their monsters on their field,” explained Abdelsayed. “With “Relinquished” taking those monsters away, “Honest” becomes less crucial.” The only real answer to “Relinquished” with Djinn Releaser backing it is to try and save a monster on the field to Tribute for “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel.”
“The weakest match-up is against Blackwings.” “Icarus Attack” and “Royal Oppression” can hurt in Game 1, and Blackwings are far less dependent on Special Summon effects than the other popular strategies in this tournament. Torres and Abdelsayed Side Deck “Royal Decree” as a result, shutting down those killer Trap Cards. The Zombie match-up hinges on how quickly “Relinquished” can be Summoned with Releaser of Rituals, which stalls a Zombie Duelist until he can eliminate “Relinquished” in battle or spin it away with “Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.” “Relinquished” will often win the Duel long before either of those happen.
Torres and Abdelsayed have done a great job finding the perfect role for both “Preparation of Rites” and the new Djinn monsters. Their plan of an early game complicated by little blockers, followed by a mid or late game flush with copies of “Relinquished” and big hitters is a strong strategy that’s really stable and carries little risk. That stability and consistency may serve them both extremely well in today’s Duels!
