Since Vanity’s Emptiness would be the biggest hinderance possible to Nekroz, the next best option to such an effect is thus found and utilised to (hopefully) best effect… Such is the way with Yu-Gi-Oh!

And while currently only Necroz truly matters when it comes to Ritual Decks, this is not the first time that Djinn Releaser of Rituals has been an effective way to prevent your opponent from Special Summoning, yet it has the added advantage of not preventing yourself from doing so.

In previous Ritual Decks up to 3 Djinn Releaser of Rituals would be used, however in Nekroz only just the 1 maximum is used, this is in part because Deck space is extremely tight, but also because just the 1 Releaser can be used twice… Once from the hand, once from the Graveyard.

Thus maximum benefit is able to be gained from the one card

The only real difference when it comes to Nekroz is that they don’t need to rely upon Djinn Releaser of Rituals to increase their competitiveness, hence why unlike most previous Ritual Decks that used Releaser, Tour Guide From the Underworld is not required and thus not used.

Additionally, there are ways in which to get around Ritual monsters that have gained the “Cannot Special Summon” effect, and this is namely with Book of Moon or Book of Eclipse…

What is ultimately most important here though is that it has benefits that Vanity’s Emptiness does not.

While the fact that Nekroz only use at most the 1 Releaser and while that would make it seem as though it isn’t all that important to the Dec k, “Djinn Lock” certainly helps them to easily win some games rather easily.

And against unfavourable match-ups, it is very easily Sided out.

With such a useful effect for Ritual Decks in general, Djinn Releaser of Rituals is ALWAYS going to be a card that should be included at some amount.

And this is all without considering the fact that the Djinn’s as a whole all make Ritual Summoning far cheaper than would otherwise be possible, this fact alone makes this (and the other Djinn’s) good cards.

Rating: 4.25. This is a very solid card, and little is wrong with it, and even though not all Nekroz Decks are Main Decking a copy of Djinn Releaser of Rituals, myself I consider that the 1 copy is a Staple. As for many other Ritual Decks, using multiples of Releaser along with 3 Tour Guide From the underworld is the best way to go.

Djinn Releaser of Rituals has seen some minor use in the past, but never at a competitive level. This is obviously because Rituals have never been a relevant type of card until Nekroz (aside from a brief time where Herald of Perfection was a thing).

Now that the best Deck in the game (by a considerable margin, no less) is a Ritual Deck, this card finally has its time in the limelight, and it is brutal. For sake of simplicity, this card is effectively a one sided Vanity’s Emptiness that is a much bigger pain to get rid of; not only is it not the effect of the Ritual Monster itself that locks out summons, but rather the Djinn, but also thanks to the recent reprint giving it an errata, the player who used the Djinn is the one that locks out the opponent, regardless of who currently controls the Ritual Monster. This means that as long as that monster is alive and kicking, your opponent is not Special Summoning; in the meantime, you are free to do whatever you want.

In Nekroz, this card is most commonly used to summon the conveniently Level 3 Nekroz of Clausolas, whose 2300 DEF makes him unlikely to die in battle. He gets further protected from destruction and targeting by Gungnir and Trishula, respectively. You can also, if the situation arises, use Djinn Releaser along with another monster to summon Brionac or Trishula.

There are ways to get rid of the Djinn lock. Mass destruction cards like Raigeki, Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute, and Mirror Force can all deal with the Ritual Monster, and Book of Moon can flip it face-down, removing the Djinn’s effect from it. Unfortunately, all of these but Book of Moon are stopped by Gungnir, and Book is stopped by Trishula. There are some surefire ways to get rid of the lock through cards that neither target nor destroy, such as Book of Eclipse, Swords of Concealing Light, and (should you be running Spellbooks) Spellbook of Fate. Unfortunately, Snatch Steal is actually not an answer to the Djinn lock (probably one of the only instances where the card is not useful).

This card turns any match against Nekroz into a living nightmare, and it’s probably the only part of the Nekroz mirror that takes no skill. It took a few years, but this card is a finally a very relevant threat.

Rating: 5/5