The results from Shonen Jump Nashville are in and it looks like Roy St. Clair did it again. Say what you want about him but the man’s Yu-Gi-Oh! card analysis is clearly in the upper rung of all players worldwide. He saw the power of XX-Saber Emmersblade and its ability to anchor the X-Saber archetype.

XX-Saber Emmersblade is a unique theme-specific recruiter monster. While there are many slight variations on the recruiter term, the general definition is a monster that retains field presence while searching another suitable monster. So while monsters like Sangan and Goblin Zombie add to the hand instead of the field, I term them “floaters” because it’s exceedingly rare to lose card advantage with such cards. Unfortunately they do not replace field presence, which can lead to getting overrun.

I see many players have difficulties managing and opposing recruiters. So this quick hit will “quickly” discuss recruiters.

The Always Relevant Recruiters

From Mystic Tomato to Pyramid Turtle to XX-Saber Emmersblade, recruiters have always been relevant and always welcome in the top tier decks of the global metagame. The base definition for why you run a recruiter is central to the very definition; recruiters find monsters that are better than them. We can actually boil this down to a few simple examples.

Example 1: Tomato fetches Sangan. Sangan is tributed or Synchro Summoned. Whereas the Tomato would have netted a -1 if tributed, the Sangan replaces itself. So if you tribute Sangan for a Caius, the opponent loses a card with no loss to you and a 2400 attack monster.

Example 2: Pyramid Turtle fetches Goblin Zombie. This example is identical to #1.

Example 3: Emmersblade fetches XX-Saber Ragigura. Ragigura can fetch Emmersblade or other appropriate targets.

In each of these trades, the recruiter has generated card advantage (or replaced it) while improving the player’s position. Because this exchange does not cost a normal summon, a monster like Mystic Tomato can occasionally be better than a Sangan or even a Witch of the Black Forest!

The chief drawbacks to recruiters are actually rarely exploited by midrange to casual players. It takes a true expert to understand the weakness of a recruiter and exploit it thoroughly.

The Plight of the Face-Down Monster

Yu-Gi-Oh! was once a game where face-down monsters and spell/trap cards were feared. That sleeve facing your board could be anything, from a monster that blew the whole board up (Cyber Jar) to a trap that actually destroyed everything (Torrential Tribute)!

Of course nowadays with all sorts of overpowered targeted effects floated about, monsters on the board are frequently handled. The chief weakness of the recruiter monster is not attacking it. Not attacking it creates a sunk field cost that cannot be recouped until attacked and replaced. This ostensibly means the player controlling the recruiter cannot put more monsters on the board until the recruiter is replaced. Otherwise, the risk of losing the board is catastrophic.

Against many decks, it’s simply not a good idea to attack a face-down monster unless you’ll be pushing through significant (1000 or more) damage in the turn. Against Lightsworn decks, you can certainly feel free to attack. In fact, the optimal play is to summon some sort of floater and attack the face-down monster first (to absorb Ryko). LS generally only sets Necro Gardna or Ryko.

But against other decks, you’re simply making a mistake by attacking a face-down monster, particularly on turn one. Momma Kim told me when I was a young’un not to do something if “nothing good could come out of it.” There’s really nothing good to come out of attacking a face-down monster if you’re not pushing through damage. Every deck is centered around not losing advantage through battle.

Leave their monsters face-down or in attack position while blocking damage with your monster. Then your cards like Celestia/Judgment Dragon, Icarus Attack, War Chariot/Gyzarus, Monarchs, Dark Armed Dragon, and others that generate mass advantage against non-floaters can really hammer the recruiter-locked board! That, dear readers, is the key to exploiting.

The next time you see a recruiter and you can’t push through damage, leave it alone. If you see a face-down monster in any deck, just leave it alone until you can get a second monster to push through damage.

Exceptions: In Blackwings, Shura the Blue Flame evens out the trade with recruiters (though even this will often be a losing transaction) and can hammer home damage.

In Gladiator Beasts, a Chariot, Murmillo, or Equeste can even out the trade. But turn 1 attacks into face-down T-sets just aren’t the greatest idea unless you’re fetching Bestiari.