Jinzo

A prime candidate for the next icon to get a makeover, I would never be able to rate the future potential of Android Psycho Shocker as anything less than 4. His last support came in 2014, but all players know him, and he still makes appearances in side decks, depending on the format.

We have reviewed this card a dozen times. Nothing has changed since the last time we did so, which is shocking on the face of it, or perhaps not. His effect is that singularly simple. But I would bet, or actually I fully expect new support for him in the future. He’s not that great in the world of today, more than a decade since his dominant days, but he has a place in the game.

Advanced: 2/5

Future Potential: 4/5

O', Jinzo, I get to review you a second time.  He will always be known in Yugioh history as the first tribute monster with a good effect.  With just 100 less ATK than Summoned Skull but an effect that not only protected it from removal but also helped enforce game-winning offense pushes.  But he became obsolete.  The Synchro/XYZ era gave an added focus on monsters.  The Pendulum era gave us monster/spells, putting trap cards in an awkward position.  There was potential to Special Summon Jinzo from a hand via Pendulums but not much came of it.  Searchers and other spell cards shrunk the trap count.  Even when traps were frequently used, mid 2014, many players didn't run Jinzo because a tribute (and using up a Normal Summon) has always been a large cost.  Not only were Wiretap and Trap Stun preferred for their ease of access, but also because they surprised the opponent out of nowhere in the Battle Phase.  Additionally, they got rid of an opponent's Trap Card (which Jinzo does not do).  
 
But when did he become obsolete?  Perhaps the 06-07 Monarch era.  At the point, the immediate card advantage mattered off of a Soul Exchange because the monster couldn't attack.  But even in modern Goat Format, the majority of Goat/Chaos players now opt for double Airknight Parshath over Jinzo.  Jinzo has been moved to the side if used at all.  Airknight gets over nearly every monster that Jinzo can, it poses an immediate threat in most situation, provides card advantage and punishes Scapegoat rather than suffering from it.  With far more Spells and Monster effects than Traps, Jinzo is not hard to destroy.  He's easily sucked up by TER.  As a floodgate, Jinzo needs to be on the field for a while to convert itself into advantage and no such guarentee exists.
 
But even before Goats, in hindsight, Jinzo was becoming inferior.  I played a fair bit of April 2004 Chaos-Yata format recently (the one with no Forbidden list).  After about 15 games with various people, I decided to replace my Jinzo with a 2nd Airknight in this format as well.  Most of the monsters in the format are weak; aside from a LV6 Fusion from Magical Scientist, there's barely anything that Jinzo gets over that Airknight doesn't.  Just about any defense position monster I attack with Airknight is going to be in my favor.  Jinzo gains no advantage by killing Witch/Sangan/Flips and those triple copies of DDWL that pose a threat to Jinzo (and V Lord) still make Airknight +1.  That format was also light on traps too: as far as removal goes, it really only had Ring of Destruction and Mirror Force.  On top of that, to handle the lean trap line-up, Heavy Storm and Harpie's Feather Duster were legal and Mystical Space Typhoon was at 3. 
 
2/5

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Jinzo is one of those monsters that could always see play because of its ease and flexibility.
 
A one-tribute 2400ATK DARK that negates all traps. Easy to use and lock-down potential with other cards, this guy will always be an option to make a comeback. While he didn't get much constructive archetype support, being a Machine, and DARK is good traits to have. Allure of Darkness and Machine-support behind him, Jinzo could be run today and have legit power in a deck or side deck.
 
It's much harder to take out a monster than it is a Continuous Trap like Royal Decree, and if you force your opponent to use resources on your Jinzo he's taking away from the opponent using those resources on other monsters or your spell/traps.
 
Advanced-3.5/5
Art-4/5
 
Until Next Time

This weeks throwback thursday has us looking at Jinzo again. A level 6 dark machine with 2400 attack and 1500 defence. Jinzo was originally named Android - Pyscho Shocker but renamed when he hit shores outside of Japan. He's been relevant to the metagame a few times and SHOULD be right now, given Paleozoics are still a strong deck to go up against.
 
Jinzo has 2 simple effects. The first being that trap cards and their effects are negated on the field. And secondly, he prevents the activation of trap cards on the field.
 
And that's all. He's still a good monster, has an archetype all to himself in the forms of: #7, Amplifier, Returner, Lord, Jacker and ironically, a trap card, Psychic Shockwave. But sadly, he's by the wayside right now, mostly due to being a level 6 monster with no easy way to summon him quickly to the field.
 
Advanced 4/5

JJIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNZZZZZOOOOOOO!!!!!! I always thought of Jinzo as Dennis the Menace  because he would come down on my opponent's side and just wreck everything. He has great stats that used to be a great choice to search with Witch of the Black Forest. His effect is so simple, just negate everything that is Trap on the field. Nowadays, Traps can activate from the grave. Counter Trap Cards that activate in response to the summon can still work, but those are the only exceptions. I think in a Monarch Deck, Jinzo could still work since Prime activates in the grave. But 2400 Atk doesn't really destroy the way it used to. I hope Jinzo comes back, because he was one of the best. 
 
Score: 3/5 Admiral Ackbar's favorite card. 
Art: 4/5 Old and Newer artwork. 
 
-WarlockBlitz