Card Commentary: Tri-and-Guess

So I've been hearing a lot about Nurse Burn lately all of a sudden, and I wasn't quite sure why. I haven't seen any videos of fellow Yugioh players performing any Satanic rituals recently (at least, not any more than usual), so I wasn't sure why the deck was getting more popular.

I guessed that maybe something came out in Primal Origin that helped the strategy, but wasn't sure what it could've been until I saw this deck that apparently made 2nd place at the Tinley Park, Illinois Regional on 06/01/14:

[Source: https://www.facebook.com/234021296510/photos/a.234049876510.143377.234021296510/10152022547581511/?type=1]

As you can see above, only one card in the entire deck comes from Primal Origin, and that's Tri-and-Guess. Here it is:

If you were wondering why he brought along a seemingly useless Extra Deck of 15 Fusion Monsters, wonder no more. I'm no expert on Nurse Burn, but I can tell you just from a glance that this card must've been very helpful. Let's take a look at why this is the case:

1. Obviously, if you have either Nurse Reficule the Fallen One or Bad Reaction to Simochi face-up, you simply flip this card, don't declare Fusions, and your opponent takes 3000 damage straight to the face. That's more than a third of their starting Life Points ripped away in one shot. Ouch.

2. What if you don't have Reficule or Simochi out? Not a problem, as you can still give your opponent the gift of 3000 Life Points. Along with Upstart Goblin, this makes your copies of Hope for Escape stronger, helping you draw more cards, or you can use it to help fulfill the requirement for Life Equalizer. This often-irrelevant card conveniently brings your opponent all the way down to 3000 Life Points, allowing you to bide your time and gather resources while your opponent thinks they're safe sitting on top of their thousands of Life Points. Then, you can kill them out of nowhere by either using a Gift Card combo or just another copy of Tri-and-Guess. You can even use Trap of Darkness to copy the copies of Gift Card or Tri-and-Guess that you've already used! Now that's dangerous.

3. And finally, if you're close to losing, this card can become an instant 3000 Life Points for you to help keep you alive. It can also suddenly swing games in your favor when you're in time, creating wins out of nowhere that are almost impossible to predict.


So, there you have it: Tri-and-Guess has revolutionized an older strategy and allowed it to see the light of day again. I'm still not sure how he exactly topped in a post-Wiretap world, but hey, stranger things have happened. Thanks for reading!