Saturday, January 1, 2022

Is "Dinorphia" finally Meta? Here's why

 Hey everyone! Arcknight here and Happy New Year everyone! It's now 2022 and this is our very first article for this year! Today is the first day of the month and you know what that means? It's time for our countdown of the next main box Dimension Force! 

So what is exciting about this box? Let's find out!

Main box releases are usually very exciting as Konami is releasing reveals every week although in the last couple of weeks, nothing excites me until they revealed the two new Dinorphia/Dinoruffia cards last week! I felt that the cards are too good and I was able to test them several times against the current meta and the question that I've been hearing is, is Dinoruffia or also known as Dinorphia will finally enter the meta or it is pure hype?

Deck Overview


Dinoruffia also known as Dinorphia in TCG is a deck that benefits from paying half of your LP to use their Trap cards and Fusion monsters. Yes, the deck is very reliant on resolving their trap card particularly Dinorphia Domain. I've been using this deck for quite some time now upon the release of Battle of Chaos in OCG and while the deck has an interesting concept, it still falls short with the current meta and its set-up which will require multiple theme cards. 

Pre-DIFO, my usual set-up is to summon Dinorphia Kentregina from Dinorphia Domain set by a normal summoned Dinorphia Therizia and hopefully I have Dinorphoa Brute face-down or sent to the graveyard. I rarely summon Dinorphia Stealthbegia but instead focus on abusing Kentregina's normal Dinorphia trap copying effect and did I mention Dinorphia Brute is non-targeting (DPE says hi). From there, I can loop my card advantage by destroying my own Dinorphia monsters and reviving them using my Dinorphia monsters built it reborn effect. Basically, that's my win condition.

The downside is that I need very specific cards to get the ball rolling and Dinorphia Domain's main enemy is Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. Opponent resolving this infamous hand trap would normally mean game over that's why my initial build has multiple Solemn Strike and even Gravcdigger's Trap Hole. Still, even with the above set-up, the interruption isn't quite strong for a set-up that usually requires you to be first.

New card analysis

As a follow-up on the initial release in Battle of Chaos, Dinorphia got a huge boost in a form of Dinorphia Rexstrum and Dinorphia Frenzy. Without further ado, let's have a quick review of the PROS and CONS of each cards:


DIFO-JP038 ダイノルフィア・レクスターム Dinorphia Rexsturm
Level 8 DARK Dinosaur Fusion Effect Monster
ATK 3000
DEF 0
Materials: 1 “Dinorphia” Fusion Monster + 1 “Dinorphia” Monster
You can only use the (2) and (3) effects of this card’s name once per turn each.
(1) Monsters your opponent controls with an ATK equal or higher than your LP cannot activate their effects.
(2) (Quick Effect): You can pay half of your LP; until the end of this turn, the ATK of all monsters your opponent controls becomes equal to your LP.
(3) If this card is destroyed in battle or by a card effect: You can Special Summon 1 Level 6 or lower “Dinorphia” monster from your GY.

Pros:

  • It has a massive 3000 ATK
  • It floats to a level 6 or lower Dinoruffia monster when destroyed by any means. This can also float into the lower level fusion Dinoruffia monster
  • It's a walking floodgate. Almost similar to how annoying Inspector Boarder, True King of Calamities and Floowandereeze X Empen are (which I both use). 
  • It dominates the opponent's monsters by technically reducing their ATK as it can make all opponent's monsters copy your LP as their ATK which is pretty scary considering you can deplete your lifepoints very quick! In addition, preventing will actually disable your opponent monsters from even responding using their effects so long as their ATK points already fall equal or more than your LP.
  • C'mon, the artwork is very cool right? It definitely has that boss look xD
Cons:
  • It is still prone to Spell/Trap negation or removal. 
  • The first effect that prevents your opponent's monster effects would require you to lower your LP to the edge to the point that a Sky Striker Ace - Hayate direct attack or Altergeist Meluseek would mean game over so you have to be careful on when to use the ATK altering effect.
  • Doesn't prevent grave and hand effects.
  • Kaiju and Lava Golem says hi!
Card Review:

Overall, it's definitely a huge boost to make Dinorphia a threat in the meta. It has all the qualities of a decent boss monster and I wouldn't want to face this card either. Summoning this monster on your opponent's turn with a very low LP would almost mean game. I really like how this card was designed and I love that the deck's strategy is no longer reliant on Kentregina with Brute in the back. A Dinorphia Domain is now even creepier now. 

Speaking of fusion traps, we just got another Dinorphia Domain but this time, uses resources from your Extra Deck as well!


DIFO-JP077 ダイノルフィア・フレンジー Dinorphia Frenzy
Normal Trap Card
You can only activate a card with this card’s name once per turn.
(1) During your opponent’s Main Phase: Pay half of your LP; Fusion Summon 1 “Dinorphia” Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck using 1 monster from your Deck and 1 monster from your Extra deck.
(2) When your opponent activates a card or effect while your LP are 2000 or less: You can banish this card from your GY; you take no damage from your opponent’s card effects this turn.

PROS
  • It's chainable which means unless your opponent has Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, this card has a high chance to resolve
  • It can use a monster from your Extra Deck which means you can now use your excess Dinorphia Stealthbegia
  • Uses less resources compared to Dinorphia Domain which is pretty neat!
  • It still retains the anti-burn effect which is a huge no for people trying to hide an Ookazi
CONS
  • It can only be activated on your opponent's main phase which means you would want to prioritize this card over domain.
  • It still uses at least 1 monster from your Deck making it still a target of Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring
  • It's a trap so it's slow in nature
Card Review

Overall, this card is an interesting take. Instead of giving Dinorphia a consistency boost to search monsters from deck or even search traps, they gave us an almost duplicate of Dinorphia Domain which I feel now makes more sense considering Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring is prevalent.

Deck Recipe

Now, that we're done with the card reviews, I made a sample deck post-DIFO so you'll have an idea on how to build it when the time comes and as always, this build is an aftermath of various testing against the current OCG meta and made to be competitive as possible. I also made sure that I stay as pure as possible so don't expect to see Branded Fusion splashed in here.

Deck Insights:
  • I maintained 6 monsters (3 Therizia and 3 Diplo) to ensure that I won't clog my hand with monsters as I use Card of Demise. Pot of Prosperity could be a better option but at this point where only few people have it due to not being reprinted yet in OCG, Card of Demise could be a great alternative as it helps you dig for more cards that are unsearchable. It is also an Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring bait - who would want their opponent to draw 3 cards right? That makes your Domain and Frenzy safer to use next turn.
  • I didn't use Lord of the Heavenly Prison as I felt it's quite slow in searching and I already have Solemn Judgment and Imperial Order to protect my backrows. I also have less concern for as long as I can summon Dinorphoa Rexstrum on their turn. It also conflicts with Card of Demise.
  • With 3 Therizia, 3 Fossil Dig, 3 Domain, 3 Frenzy, 3 Card of Demise and 3 Pot of Duality, your chances of accessing your combo pieces are very consistent. 
  • I main 2 Called by the Grave, 3 Gravedigger's Trap Hole and 3 Solemn Strike - like what I mentioned, an Ash against your Domain or Frenzy could be game over and you may not always have Domain and Frenzy at the same time. 
  • Extra Deck is pretty standard. 1 of each Evolzar XYZ which you will rarely summon anyway as you would prefer to plus off the monsters rather than negation unless your opponent is now relying on the heart of the cards.
  • Side deck can change but I suggest you go for game impacting ones as going second could be a pain especially those boards that can open multiple negation.
This is my take on Dinoruffia and I was able to had success against Branded Despia, Brave Tenyi, Sky Striker, Floowandereeze and the like at least with siding included. Feel free to utilize other variants depending on your liking.

Will it be the next meta?

Here are some of the reasons why and why not:
  • YES - The deck doesn't easily die to a single hand trap now as you have choices between Domain or Frenzy and can even main anti-hand trap cards
  • YES - Rexstrum is honestly very strong and the last monster that prevented monster effect activation is now forbidden (True King of Calamities)
  • YES - The deck has an even better consistency in accessing their Fusion monster with the help of the cards in DIFO
  • YES - It has great match-up against Branded Despia, Brave Tenyi, Floowandereeze, Virtual World, Swordsoul etc. 
  • YES - The cards are pretty much accessible with most of the cards released in Battle of Chaos and quite cheap as of this writing
  • NO - The deck's strategy is revolving around traps which is slow by nature and losing a die roll nowadays could mean game if your opponent draws the right cards
  • NO - The deck still falls under Royal Decree, Super Polymerization, Dark Ruler No More, Forbidden Droplets and the like. 
  • NO - Deck's worst match-up could be Sky Striker and Eldlich which is seeing a rise in popularity
  • NO - It's still not fast enough compared to the current meta
Overall, the deck went from zero to hero with the release of its new support cards. If you're like me who's fond of the anti-meta strategy then this deck is for you.

Less than two weeks left and we'll get to see the full reveal of Dimension Force where we could get more legacy support or cards that could boost our deck's strategy. With DIFO's release, that's when we will find out if this deck will truly shine. Regardless, I will still play it even if it costs half of my life points!

'Til next time! #Happy11KFollowers #NewYearNewDeck

Arcknight

Credits to:
The Organization ( Card effect translations )
YuGiOh_OCG_Info

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