Tech Update: Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz
Previous to this event, the highly debated topic between Nekroz Duelists was whether or not Nekroz of Decisive Armor or Nekroz of Gungnir were worth the inclusion. Thus far, every Nekroz Deck I have seen has used at least one if not both, the latter being the most popular. However, a new innovation among some Nekroz Duelists has been the inclusion of a card that I have yet to see played at all: Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz.
With so many Duelists including Nekroz of Decisive Armor in their lists, the effect of Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz that allows it to search a Dragon-Type Nekroz Ritual Monster is quite useful. Nekroz of Decisive Armor allows Nekroz Duelists to pose a strong threat on strategies that rely on Setting cards, whether it be Monsters or back row, and can also help with dealing that extra bit of damage that they need to win the game. However, it really isn’t this effect of Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz that has made it so popular among Duelists.
The effect of Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz that makes it so powerful is that when it’s banished, you can special another banished Nekroz Monster and Special Summon it. This opens up the strategy to a bunch of new combos, the first Set being when used in tandem with Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. A very standard Nekroz play is Ritual Summoning Nekroz of Valkyrus using Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz as the Ritual Material; when Shurit hits the Graveyard, you can use its effect to add Nekroz of Brionac to your hand, which you can then send to the Graveyard to add Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. From there, you can tribute Nekroz of Valkyrus along with Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz via the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus to draw two cards and then search any Sepllcaster-Type Nekroz Ritual Monster from your Deck, typically Nekroz of Valkyrus but you could also search Nekroz of Unicore and use its effect to add back Nekroz of Valkyrus.
From there, you can either banish Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz with the effect of any of your in Graveyard Nekroz Ritual Spells or Nekroz of Valkyrus when you stop your opponent’s Battle Phase, and with the other effect of Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz you can then send Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz to your Graveyard. Now with Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz in the Graveyard, you can banish it for the effect of a Nekroz Ritual Spell to trigger its effect and Special Summon the previously banished Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz! With Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz now back in action, you can tribute it away for whatever Ritual Spell or even Nekroz of Valkyrus to accomplish whatever you’re trying to do and then use the effect of Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz to add another Spellcaster-Type Nekroz Ritual Monster to your hand. This sequence of plays generates a ton of additional advantage for the Nekroz player, making Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz much more valuable than previously.
Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz can also be used to Special Summon a banished Shurit, Strategist of Nekroz as well, and similar to Special Summoning a banished Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, this typically results in a lot of extra resources for the Nekroz player. If you choose to play Dance Princess of the Nekroz, you can even add back the Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz to your hand!
Even after Nekroz has been out for this long, Duelists are still finding new and awesome ways to innovate and make it stronger. Will a variant of Nekroz utilizing Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz be the most successful? We’ll see as the North American WCQ continues!
