Jinzo: a classic Monster who first appeared in Pharaoh’s Servant.  He’s Dark, which may be the best Attribute.  He’s a Machine, which isn’t the best Type but it is pretty solid.  He’s got 2400 ATK, and in many ways Jinzo is one of the Monsters who helped dethrone old Summoned Skull as the top ATK to see consistent play (Dark Ruler Ha Des helped, and now the Monarchs maintain it).  His DEF is 1500, which was perfect when he was introduced (it allowed him to be searched out via Witch of the Black Forest).

 

Where is he now?

 

I still see him sided some, but Mobius the Frost Monarch has in many ways replaced him.  Probably because Mobius means a quick two S/T kill, while Jinzo, on his own, just negates them.  That means a Smashing Ground later and you have to worry about Traps again.  Additionally, it is less damaging for the opponent to take control of your Mobius than it is for them to take control of Jinzo, at least in the “standard” deck: with Jinzo, your own Traps are rendered useless, but Mobius, for better or worse, it just a big beatstick.

 

So is Mobius the Frost Monarch better than Jinzo?  All of you who answered “It depends” are correct.  First and foremost, what deck are you facing?  Most Stall/Burn decks will have an assortment of Spells and Traps, Set and face-up that need to be destroyed.  Mobius clearly wins there.  For Beatdown vs. Beatdown, I am not so sure: before Heavy Storm is played, players will be very conservative setting Spells and Traps.  This both helps and hurts Mobius, as that lone Trap could still be Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute or another “biggie” that not killing will hurt you, but if it is just a Sakuretsu, or worse yet, a chainable Trap your Mobius will either be totally wasted, or at least feel under utilized.  Jinzo, on the other hand would still negate any of those, and until its destroyed, future Traps are still useless.  If there are just two S/Ts on your opponent side of the field, then Mobius clears the field more often than not.  Jinzo still negates them, but if he dies next turn, they are back “on”.  If there are face up Spells or Set Quick-Play Spells, clearly Mobius wins out.

 

What happens, though, if Heavy Storm is gone and Magician of Faith is either gone or clearly not Set at the moment?  Your opponent can freely set two to four S/Ts.  Suddenly, Mobius becomes overwhelmed: he is Summoned, nails a Dust Tornado and a Torrential Tribute, both of which are activated so that he ends up ultimately being a net loss.  Here is when Jinzo begins to really shine.  He is Summoned, and your opponent has locked down several Spell/Trap zones.  Jinzo can attack, attack, attack, where as even if Mobius had done his thing perfectly, next turn he can run into a Sakuretsu Armor.

 

Then there are a few actual tricks that make Jinzo nice, like being immune to Call of the Haunted after it’s already revived him.  Something that might help alleviate some of the annoyance of Jinzo not actually destroying cards is to combine him with Nobleman of Extermination: turn that locked down Sakuretsu into two or three Removed From Play.

 

All in all, I think Jinzo is due for a comeback.  Apparently, so did several players at the last SJC.  Bottomless Trap Hole, Sakuretsu Armor, and several other Traps are seeing more and more play.  Royal Decree just isn’t as popular as one would have expected, so Jinzo appears to be getting another shot.  Even if you run several Traps yourself, it’s something to at least Side Deck, and will often be worth running in your main deck as well.  With the remaining Quick-Play spells heavily restricted or ignored, Jinzo seems poised to make a comeback.

 

Ratings

 

Traditional: 3.5/5 – Still not bad here, but in OTK he’s not much use and in Chaos he’s got to fight against some other good Light/Dark Monsters for the Tribute slot.  Still, all the nastiest Traps are present, and Harpie’s Feather Duster can’t destroy them all…

 

Advanced: 4.25/5 – Jinzo has always been somewhat overpowered: his existence is why Traps were so rarely played.  Not Heavy Storm.  Not Harpie’s Feather Duster.  Those cards explained away some missing Traps, but not all those wonderful, highly chainable ones.  Traps were still a common site after Heavy Storm and Mystical Space Typhoon: it wasn’t until Jinzo that they really started to dry up in usage: Harpie’s Feather Duster was just the nail in the coffin.  So for Advanced, Traps are finally being used are more than just the “bare minimum”: powerhouses like Call of the Haunted, Torrential Tribute, and Mirror Force are run along side Dust Tornado, Sakurestu Armor, and Bottomless Trap Hole.  With Jinzo seeing more play, I don’t expect that to last.

 

Limited: 5/5 – Anyone else even score this anymore?  Well, if you get Jinzo in a Limited event, take it.  He’s at worst a good, solid beatstick of a Tribute, that only a minority of Level 5/6 Monsters surpass, and if the opponent did get a few good Traps, boy will they be disappointed.