While many competitors have been perfecting their Samurai, Gravekeeper, Dragunity, and X-Saber Decks these past few weeks, a small sect of Southern Californian Duelists have been hard at work on a brand new strategy. Just last year, Infernities were a major and popular Deck type, and a few adventurous Deck builders have taken it upon themselves to explore new possibilities. The result is a devastating Deck with more draw power than perhaps any other Deck here this weekend, and the key card is one that’s never before taken center stage in an Infernity build: Infernity Randomizer!

Monsters: 9

3 Infernity Randomizer

2 Infernity Archfiend

1 Infernity Avenger

1 Infernity Necromancer

1 Snipe Hunter

1 Mystic Tomato

.

Spells: 13

3 Offerings to the Doomed

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

3 Pot of Duality

1 Book of Moon

1 Monster Reborn

1 Infernity Launcher

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Dark Hole

.

Traps: 19

3 Infernity Barriers

2 Dimensional Prison

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Compulsory Evacuation Device

2 Solemn Warning

2 Reinforce Truth

2 Reckless Greeds

1 Solemn Judgement

1 Trap Dustshoot

1 Transmigration Prophecy

1 Mirror Force

.

Infernity Randomizer is a Level 1 monster with just 900 ATK, but its effect is what makes it so special. Once per turn when you control Randomizer with an empty hand, you can draw a card. If that card is a monster, your opponent takes damage equal to the Level of the monster you drew x 200. If it’s a Spell or Trap, you take 500 damage. Regardless, you get to keep the extra card, so even if you pay 500 Life Points it’s almost always a good deal.

Just one Randomizer will double the number of cards you draw each turn. And since each Randomizer can use its effect once each turn, multiple copies can mean an insane pile of cards.

Acepcion’s goal is to draw a bunch of cards with Randomizer, and then use them to pick off the opponent’s cards. Acepcion almost maxes out on copies of cards like Infernity Barrier, Dimensional Prison, Bottomless Trap Hole, Solemn Warning, and Mystical Space Typhoon. Because each card destroys or removes 1 of his opponent’s cards, he can quickly whittle his opponent down to nothing, while Randomizer continues to fuel his hand. There are no big attackers in the Deck except for his Synchro Monsters. This Deck is pure control, and the Randomizers themselves often finish off Acepcion’s crippled opponents with their 900 Attack Points.

“My favorite is when my opponent tries to push to destroy my Randomizers,” explained Acepcion, “and I use up all of my back rows to stop them. When the Randomizers reload my hand, it’s like my opponent’s push was all for nothing. One of the best cards in the Deck is Offerings to the Doomed.” Offerings is a really old Quick-Play Spell that many Duelists have forgotten about over the years. It targets and destroys a face-up monster, but it makes you skip your next Draw Phase. Most Decks need their Draw Phases, but since Acepcion has Infernity Randomizers and Reckless Greeds to help him gather extra cards, he can skip those Draw Phases without losing ground. “Offerings lets you get out from under Trap Stun and Royal Decree,” noted Acepcion. It lets him break up opposing Synchro Summons before they happen, and helps him make direct attacks.

“It’s also very versatile, letting you do tricks with the Infernity monsters.” The monster destroyed with Offerings doesn’t have to be controlled by the opponent. So Acepcion can actually do stuff like Special Summon Infernity Archfiend for its effect; destroy it with Offerings; then immediately bring it back with Infernity Necromancer to use Archfiend’s effect again. The same trick works with Randomizer: when Randomizer goes to the Graveyard, it “forgets” that Acepcion used its effect for the turn. When he destroys it and brings it back, he can use its effect again, even if he’d just used it moments before in the same turn. Tuning Infernity Avenger and Infernity Randomizer to Synchro Summon Formula Synchron allows for even more draw power, while giving Acepcion another way to get Randomizer into the Graveyard – and then back out again.

His favorite card? “Transmigration Prophecy is singlehandedly the coolest card in the Deck,” laughed Acepcion. “It lets you burn your cards really fast: you can Set it on a whim and know that you’ll always be able to clear it away if your back row gets full.” It’s a great bluff, and it stops all sorts of Graveyard tricks like Dragunity Dux, Double-Edged Sword Technique, and Gravekeeper’s Stele. “It also lets you put Infernity Barrier, Infernity Launcher, and other key cards back into the Deck so they can be reused.” Alot of those cards are searchable with Infernity Archfiend’s effect, so playing them repeatedly is a definite possibility.

“There’s a big surprise factor,” remarked Acepcion, “because many people think I’m playing regular Infernities. They play really aggressively, but this Deck trounces proactive play like that because I have so much monster removal. Once they waste their cards, I can take full advantage of Randomizer and recover.” Most Duelists have never seen this strategy before, and Ed Acepcion is ready to take full advantage in this weekend’s tournament!

Here’s what our expert(s) had to say:

Erik Mishtar (Modern day pharaoh)

It’s really cool to see that someone built an Infernity Deck that doesn’t try to do any sort of OTK combo and succeeded with it! Sometimes it’s hard to look past the most obvious use for certain cards, but if you do, you might just discover an incredible new strategy of your own.

Click here for more post-event analysis!