So, look. Gen 6 is a shitshow of colossal proportions, I know I should probably get on with it and do a review of "Decode Talker", but I won't. Not today, I need time to collect my thoughts on Konami forcing the use of a new mechanic and locking all other mechanics behind it, the player backlash that followed, the backtracking, the actual good link support, the problem with Extralinks as a mechanic, and the entire Firewall Dragon debacle, and reach the current healthy state of the game. It's just too big of a roller coaster....So I think, just this once, I´m going to simply remember the simpler times and the most requested card as a little bonus review. This will also let me focus on the "Legendary Dragons" for the next reviews (Alongside Slifer and Obelisk of course)
So
Gridlock Pikachu Blindy Cruxist Negaduck Pascal Toxi RadioJoNES, you asked for him, here he is.
Jinzo
Generations 1 & 2: Duel Monsters & GX
Users: Espa Roba, Joey Wheeler, The Big Five, Jinzo Himself
Original Artwork:
Latest Artwork:
During his time in battle city, Joey Wheeler eventually found himself dueling against yet another duelist who claimed to be a psychic but was a total cheat instead, Espa Roba, Espa Roba's ace monster was a Level 6, DARK, Machine-Type monster with one of the simplest, yet deadliest effect for the early game. "Jinzo"
Jinzo's original artwork is just striking, this humanoid cyborg is just standing there, doing nothing but staring and you from the other side of that unnerving mask, the veins popping and throbbing make it clear that whatever this horrible mask is supposed to be for, it's also hurting him, and he doesn't care...His objective is you. The background being a pink mist always give me the idea that seeing him is a nightmare, but also, that he just vaporized a pink trap card and is coming out of the smoke, both interpretations just make me realize how effective of a background it is, and not only that but it plays really well with the green on his armor. Kazuki Takahashi himself designed his second artwork, as you can see by his autograpgh in the lowe right corner, a staple of all the Takahashi Artwork cards. But I don't like it. Much like with Dark Magician I´m not a fan of him always going for black and edgy for OG cards. His pose using thudershock like a Pikachu is nowhere near as good as the thing just...staring at you.
For the game, Jinzo negates all trap cards currently on the field and prevents their activation, this was MASSIVE back in the day, as trap cards were usually your first line of defense against attacks, and with a respectable 2400 ATK for the price of a tribute, Jinzo was damn well worth it. A good Jinzo could end games if summoned at the right time. He's a legend...
That has unfortunately fallen from grace. Trap cards are nowhere near as popular as back in the day, with player playing a max of like 5 traps in their decks and only if they're absolutely neccesary. The rise in popularity of "Hand Traps" (Monsters that activate their effect in your hand during the opponent's turn) such as "
Honest" and "
Effect Veiler" really hurt his viability.
But the most criminal reason why Jinzo isn't up there with the greats...is a lack of support. For the longest time the only card supporting Jinzo was "
Jinzo's Snazzy Party Hat" a card so not worth it it has not being reprinted since release...
After that came a bit of hope with GX's "Jinzo Returner"
This card would attack your opponent directly and revive a Jinzo in your graveyard when it's destroyed, but that just meant exposing yourself to an attack against a weak monster, you could always play him in defense and wait for it to be killed, but that's just slow and too risky.
Jinzo later got an upgraded, more powerful form "Jinzo-Lord"
And not only does it make Jinzo look like shit, but it's a total dead draw if you don't have Jinzo already, and it only provides a burn effect if your opponent controls face-up continous traps...that's too situational.
Then came some GOOD support at the tail end of the psychic era with
This card let's you summon Jinzo for (almost) free as a response to an opponent's trap! Jinzo will get summoned and their trap will be negated! that's cool....but it requires your opponent to activate a trap, for you to have a spell/trap in your hand to discard, and for Jinzo to be only in your deck...oh man, I was getting excited.
Zexal era came in and gave Jinzo his last known piece of support, the amazing "Jinzo-Jector"
Teenage metalhead Jinzo can be tributed to add Jinzo from your deck to your hand, reveal all cards your opponent has set, and if there is a single trap among them, Jinzo will be special summoned at no cost. If more than 1 trap is revealed, you can summon more cards with "Jinzo" in their name! That's amazing!.
....But that's 1 maybe 2 good cards, compare that to my Dark Magician or Blue-Eyes writeups, it's simply not enough.
But Konami sure likes their gen 1 pandering from time to time, and if the shitty Fairy Tale cards from the fillers got actually printed, Buster Blader has his own deck and lore and Joey support packs are a dime a dozen, I know, deep down, that is only a matter of time for Jinzo to fucking return.