Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst.
3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.
Date Reviewed - 05.11.05
ExMinion OfDarkness
Insect Imitation
Just...wow. They're really going far back this week
to find underrated/underused/overlooked cards.
There really aren't that many good insects. (Insect
Knight, Jirai Gumo, 4-star Ladybug of Doom,
Man/Nobleman-Eater Bug, Needle Worm...and that was
from looking at a YVD rundown of all insects from
LOB to now.) Having seen those, it's possible to
transform a beatstick monster into a Nobleman-Eater
Bug and kill 2 monsters...3-stars can turn into
Insect/Jirai.)
I guess the biggest thing I'm seeing here is that
you can sac a Scapegoat token and put a Needle Worm
out on the field...that your opponent knows is
there...
The fact that you have to show them the monster
really blows what this card had going for it. The
best thing you can even pull off is a 4-starred
getting its flip, killing something, and then
Imitating into Insect Knight or Jirai.
1/5 all around.
Lord
Tranorix
Insect Imitation
This is a much older card that’s just gotten better,
now that we actually have some Insects you might
want to summon. Tribute a useless Level 3 to get
Insect Knight; tribute Insect Knight (or Skull Mark
Ladybug – gain 1000 LP and bring out a stronger
Insect!) to get Ultimate Insect LV5 (though it won’t
be that useful until you tribute IT to get LV7, not
yet out) or Nobleman Eater Bug (you can summon
monsters face-down, if you wish, which is actually
quite a nice perk for Insect Imitation).
But, much like the other cards we’ve reviewed so far
this week, it’s a terrible topdeck and a potential
dead draw at many points throughout a game. While it
can be useful for summoning higher-level Insects
like Insect Queen or Insect Princess, it’s not
entirely necessary, even in an Insect Deck.
As Worthy Week progresses, we come to Insect
Imitation, a Spell that won’t be worthy until later
this month when TLM is released.
At the cost of Tributing one monster from your side
of the field, Insect Imitation allows you to Special
Summon an Insect monster from your Deck that is one
Level higher than that of the Tributed monster in
face-up Attack Position or face-down Defense
Position. Much like Monday’s card, Insect Imitation
runs into the problem of having few cards to work
with. Currently, the only Insects you MAY want to
summon are Insect Queen, Magical Merchant, and the
infamous Nobleman-Eater Bug. Sure there are more,
but they fall into the “are you crazy?” category.
But even with these three monsters, you’d have
difficulty finding a reason to sacrifice a monster
just to summon one of these beauties.
Now let’s pretend TLM was available to us. What
then? Well by Tributing a Level 4 monster, you could
Special Summon an Insect from your Deck that has the
opportunity to reach an ATK of many digits, but
we’ll come back to that whenever it’s reviewed. In
the mean time, Insect Imitation is not particularly
useful. Give it time though…
Advanced (Insect Deck): 1.5/5. There REALLY isn’t
anything you’d want to summon.
Traditional (Insect Deck): 1.5/5. See Advanced.
Overall (Insect Deck): 1.5/5.
Art: 1/5. Eggs. Wow.
Offer one monster on your side of the field as
Tribute to Special Summon an Insect Monster one
level higher than what was Tributed.
First, let's establish that this equals BAD card
advantage. You give up two cards, Insect Imitation
and the monster, for a craptacular Insect monster.
Insects aren't exactly a Tier 1 decktype, and I
sadly don't see that changing anytime in the
(distant) future. This card could seriously have
some potential if we ever got some decent insect
cards.
The only semi-decent combo I can think of would be
as so:
Have Insect Princess (Level 6) on your side of the
field Activate Insect Imitation Special summon
Insect Queen (Level 7) Premature or Call of the
Haunted for Insect Priness (I suppose)
That's really not even worth it, but for those of
you diehard Insect fans, that's the best I can come
up with.
