Storming out of The Shining Darkness, Infernities are one of the Decks everyone was expecting to make it big here this weekend. There are dozens of different cards being played here today to try and beat Infernities, but some are far more popular than the rest. Let’s take a quick look at the cards that are seeing the most play, as Duelists try to outwit what some see as “the Deck to beat.”

Thunder King Rai-Oh:

Easily included in Decks like Gladiator Beasts and Lightsworn, Thunder King Rai-Oh stops Infernities in not 1, but 2 ways. First, Thunder King keeps Duelists from adding cards straight from their Deck to their hand, which means Infernity Archfiend’s search ability won’t work. Even if the opponent can perform a Synchro Summon, Thunder King’s second effect will let its controller send Thunder King to the Graveyard to negate that Summon. An Infernity Duelist will have to give up Mist Wurm, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, or Infernity Doom Dragon, and in some cases that’s going to make an OTK impossible – the Infernity Duelist just won’t have enough copies of Infernity Launcher and Infernity Mirage to finish the job.

Thunder King Rai-Oh is a great choice because it’s so easy to play, and it cuts off the Infernity Launcher combo at the source. With 1900 ATK it’s useful as an attacker in virtually any matchup, and that’s made it a top pick in today’s tournament.

(If you don’t have Thunder King Rai-Oh, it has been officially announced as being reprinted in the upcoming Gold Series 3.)

.

Consecrated Light:

This is another card that can stop the Infernity Launcher combo before it ever gets started. Since all of the Infernity monsters are DARK, Consecrated Light’s effect keeps them from being Normal or Special Summoned. The Infernity Deck is completely dependent on Special Summoning DARK monsters to win, and doesn’t stand a chance if it can’t Special Summon. If it can’t Normal Summon either, it gets crushed. While Infernity Break, Raigeki Break, and Smashing Ground are all easy ways to destroy Consecrated Light, those cards aren’t being played as much in today’s tournament as some Duelists expected, and that’s made Consecrated Light an even stronger choice.

.

D.D. Crow:

Far and away the most talked-about piece of Infernity tech headed into this tournament, D.D. Crow offers lots of advantages not found in other cards. When the opponent activates Infernity Launcher’s effect by sending it to the Graveyard, the Crow swoops in to remove the opponent’s Infernity Archfiend before it can be Special Summoned. If the other target of Launcher’s effect was Infernity Necromancer, and the opponent has another Infernity Archfiend in the Graveyard, the Launcher combo can still be salvaged, but that kind of recovery is a tall order. It doesn’t happen in most cases.

D.D. Crow’s chief advantages are that it’s easy to play and hard to stop. Nothing in a typical Infernity Deck is going to be able to negate Crow’s effect except Infernity Barrier. Cards like Dust Tornado obviously won’t stop Crow since its effect is activated from the hand, and that makes it a big hit with many competitors.

.

Book of Moon:

The Launcher combo depends on Infernity Archfiend’s effect, Summoning Archfiend over and over to reuse its search ability. But to do that, Archfiend has to be sent back to the Graveyard each time it’s Summoned. Normally that isn’t a problem. Using Archfiend as Synchro Material puts it right back where it needs to be. But Book of Moon can be Chained to Infernity Archfiend’s effect, flipping it face-down so it can’t be sent back to the Graveyard. The opponent will still get an Infernity Launcher with Archfiend’s effect, but unless they have a second Archfiend in the Graveyard the combo sequence won’t get very far.

Plenty of Decks over the years have run triple Book of Moon, and plenty of current Decks for this format are already doing it. Multiple copies of Book drawn at the same time are useful in almost any matchup, too, something that can’t be said for a lot of other Infernity solutions.

.

Mystical Space Typhoon / Dust Tornado:

With the Infernity Deck dependent on Infernity Launcher, a simple Chained Space Typhoon or Dust Tornado can be enough to derail the entire Deck. Both the activation of Infernity Launcher from the hand, and the activation of each of its effects, start unique Chains. So when Launcher is first activated, Typhoon or Tornado can destroy it before its effect can even be activated.

The good news is that this strategy is effective, fast, and extra copies of Dust Tornado in your Main Deck probably won’t cost you matches against non-Infernity Decks. The bad news? If an Infernity Duelist kicks things off with Infernity Mirage instead of Infernity Launcher, they’ll Synchro Summon Mist Wurm before Infernity Launcher ever hits the field. Unless you Set more than 3 cards to draw out the Wurm’s effect, Mystical Space Typhoon or Dust Tornado will be returned to your hand before you ever get a chance to Chain them to Launcher’s activation.

.

Ojama Trio:

Ojama Trio is a surprise to a lot of Duelists. The competitors playing Ojama Trio are taking advantage of the precise combo sequence Infernity Duelists rely on, especially their tendency to pick Infernity Necromancer and Infernity Archfiend as the targets for Infernity Launcher and Infernity Mirage. Picking Necromancer and Infernity Archfiend as the Launcher targets leaves the Infernity Duelist reliant on Infernity Necromancer to get a Tuner onto the field. See where this is going?

When an Infernity Duelist brings back Infernity Necromancer and Infernity Archfiend with Launcher or Mirage, they’ll get Launcher with Archfiend, activate Necromancer’s effect, and target Infernity Avenger or Infernity Beetle. From there, the Ojama Trio player can Chain Trio and fill the opponent’s field with Ojama Tokens before Necromancer’s Special Summon resolves. That leaves the Infernity Duelist with a locked field. Because they can’t Synchro Summon they’re just stuck with the Ojama Tokens. From there, the Duelist who used Trio is free to take his time putting together a win.

.

As some anti-Infernity cards become increasingly popular, Infernity Duelists will adapt their Decks to play around those specific cards. But for now there is no precedent, and nobody knows which anti-Infernity cards will be played the most.