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Article 35: Re-thinking Reinforcements
of the Army
May 19, 2005

This quick article will deal with one of the most mis-used, underappreciated cards in the game today, Reinforcements of the Army.

Some may say “wait JAELOVE!” You’re wrong! A lot of decks run one Reinforcement of the Army, or run a generic Chaos deck that splashes a few in. They let me search out my D.D Warrior Lady or D.D Assailant. That has to be good, right?

Such misplaced uses of the card are woefully inadequate applications of one of the most versatile cards in the game. This card is on par with Witch of the Black Forest in versatility, and duelists should use it in such a manner.

In hundreds of duels, I’ve noticed that the general play of most cookie cutter Warrior decks is to play Reinforcement of the Army, search out a D.D Warrior Lady, then set it. And oh what a dreadful maneuver that is; Reinforcement of the Army is a card that was designed to provide two important things: camouflage, and versatility.

Let’s see an example of what I’m talking about.

A Standard Warrior Line-up:

1. Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning
2. Blade Knight
1. DDWL
3. DD Assailant
2. Apprentice Magician
2. Magician of Faith
1. Cyber Jar
1. Sinister Serpent
1. Jinzo
1. Tribe-Infecting Virus
1. Breaker the Magical Warrior
1. Sangan
2. Reinforcement of the Army.

This is a typical build. In this case, the RoTA will lead to either monster removal in the form of DDWL, DDA, or flip effect management with Blade Knight. In this case, you can effectively be said to have 5 DDA, 3 DDWL, and 4 Blade Knight. Imagine that versatility is one of the best things your deck can possess, and take a look at this revised deck list.

The Way Warriors Should Be Set Up:

1. Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning
2. Blade Knight
1. DDWL
1. D.D Assailant
1. Zombyra the Dark
1. Greenkappa
1. Mystic Swordsman LV2
1. Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke
1. Exiled Force
1. Don Zaloog
1. Big Shield Gardna
1. Morphing Jar
1. Magician of Faith
1. Sangan
1. Sinister Serpent
1. Breaker the Magical Warrior

This is a new revised build of a Warrior deck. A Reinforcement of the Army will either search out Flip Effect management with Beatdown potential in a LIGHT monster (Blade Knight), monster removal (DDA, DDWL), face-up/face-down removal (Exiled Force), face-down management (Mystic LV 2), face-up defense management (Sasuke), hand disruption (Don Zaloog), spell/trap removal (Kappa), the strongest playable beat-down monster in the game (Zombyra) or misinformation (Big Shield Gardna)

In this case, with all of these single copies of “tech”, along with RoTA you can count each copy of a card as three, since you’ll have the original card and two copies of Reinforcement to search them out.

Good Warriors that have been ignored:

Zombyra the Dark: This one is rather inexplicable. Everybody knows that DARK monsters are some of the weakest attributes in the game; you have Breaker, Sangan, Jinzo, and then have to start reaching for Skilled Darks, Kycoos, Spirit Reapers (which are great), Don Zaloog, etc. A generic warrior deck SHOULD splash one copy of Don Zaloog for hand disruption, but this Zombyra should be the next pick. It provides 2100 attack, killing Airknight, Gorilla, Breaker, etc, and can lead to more options on the field.

Greenkappa: Most people don’t realize it’s a Warrior. It’s a searchable form of Mobius, letting it destroy two of your opponent’s spell/traps. It works great in an Anti-Spell Fragrance deck, or a deck that uses Time Seal and such. Nobody has ever played it in a top-tier cookie cutter deck, showing their limited, narrow points of focus.

Mystic Swordsman LV 2: With the return of Magician, and the foreseen Apprentice Magician abuse, this card can no longer be said to only belong in the side-deck. Feel free to main-deck it.

Big Shield Gardna: If you have a crucial Morphing Jar/Cyber Jar/Magician in hand, you play RoTA and flash Big Shield Gardna, or flash it with Sangan’s effect. Only a foolish opponent would play Crossout in this case. Big Shield Gardna can safely be said to be one of the most underrated cards in the game today.

Don Zaloog: Every Warrior deck running 2 RoTA should run one copy of this card. It’s the best hitter on an open field, period.

Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke: This card will counter Spirit Reapers and the fuzzy marshmallow when it hits the states. It’s not really recommended at this point.

Now here’s my next question: what cards in the game simultaneously provide spell/trap removal, monster removal, face-down removal, hand disruption, or the strongest beat-down monster in the game? None. That’s the power of RoTA, it’s a swiss army knife!

Reinforcements provides Warrior decks the greatest advantage in the game; searchability. It’s rivaled only by Book of Life, which provides revival and a means of getting rid of Sinister/Phoenix/Vampire Lord.

Japanese players have caught on to the concept of RoTA as a Swiss Army Knife; perhaps it’s time for U.S gamers to catch on to the concept of using the most versatile card in the game as it was intended to be used!

E-mail me at JAELOVE@gmail.com for feedback, suggestions etc. I’ve been busy lately, unable to follow up on COTD or the Blue Eyes/Exodia decks, but once finals is done I’ll be ready to do lots and lots of work over the summer!