Traptrix
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 "Traptrix Rafflesia", surrounded by (clockwise from top left) "Dionaea", "Nepenthes", "Atrax", and "Myrmeleo" | |||||||||||||||||||||
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An entrapping allure drifts in the forest.
A helpless prey falls into the trap―— The archetype's tagline in promotional material
"Traptrix" (
Contents
Lore
Etymology
"Traptrix" is a portmanteau of "trap", "trick", and "-trix" (feminine suffix for nouns of agency).
The Japanese name Kowakuma (
Design
The "Traptrix" monsters resemble young girls themed after either ambush predators—specifically arthropods—or carnivorous plants, with the exception of "Traptrix Rafflesia", which is instead based on the Rafflesia, a parasitic carrion flower that uses extreme adaptations to exploit both insects (i.e. pollination) and other plants (i.e. parasitism). "Traptrix Holeutea" is technically based on the protocarnivorous Ibicella lutea, rather than a true carnivorous plant. The ATK and DEF of each non-Link Monster have a combined total of 2800. The Xyz Monsters feature the Main Deck members (as well as the Link-1 "Sera") in their artworks.
Playing style
The archetype is centered around using "Trap Hole" and "Hole" cards to activate various effects. Each "Traptrix" is immune to "Trap Hole" cards themselves, while also adding support by tutoring "Trap Holes" or each other. With these traits, a "Traptrix" deck will usually have good opening moves, since they can react quickly against virtually any monster your opponent may Summon. Note that "Traptrix Atrax" also extends her anti-negation protection to other Normal Traps, so the Deck can also run "Mirror Force", "Dimensional Prison", and even make a temporary one-sided anti-Trap lock using "Trap Stun". Further useful yet indirect support exists for the archetype through the use of their types. Insect and Plant support cards may be sufficient to satisfy the deck's hunger for competitiveness. An example to this is "Gigaplant", "Beetron" and "Lonefire Blossom". Also the fact that they are all EARTH monsters are useful since "Grandsoil the Elemental Lord" or "Gigantes" can fit in to support them further. Due to the small number of members within the Archetype, in addition to their reliance on numerous Trap Cards, "Traptrix" is most suitable as an Anti-Meta strategy, by controlling the Field by using Traps and slowly gaining resource via either "Traptrix Myrmeleo", "Traptrix Mantis", and "Traptrix Nepenthes", while at the same time grinding out your opponent's resources. "Traptrix Myrmeleo" can also be splashed in other decks, along with "Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare" and other "Trap Hole" cards for covering the Deck's weaknesses and giving a little defense boost. "Traptrix Dionaea" can revive a "Traptrix" monster upon being Normal Summoned, which sets up Xyz Summons and can trigger the effect of "Myrmeleo"; it also can set a "Hole" Normal Trap Card from the Graveyard when it is Special Summoned.
H.A.T.
The acronym stands for "Hands-Artifact-Traptrix". Depending on whom you inquire, it may be seen as a Meta or an anti-Meta Deck. The idea is to utilize "Fire Hand" and "Ice Hand"; "Artifact Scythe" and/or "Artifact Moralltach" alongside "Artifact Sanctum", sometimes "Artifact Ignition", and "Traptrix Dionaea" and/or "Traptrix Myrmeleo" alongside "Bottomless Trap Hole", "Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare", "Time-Space Trap Hole" and/or "Void Trap Hole". The "Hands" provide floaters and spot removal; the "Artifacts" provide disruption; and the "Traptrix" provide backrow support and the occasional Xyz Summon via "Dionaea". This deck saw a great success by placing 2nd in 2014 Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship.[1]
Recommended cards
Official Decks
"Traptrix" + "Ninja" Deck
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Weaknesses
- Due to their heavy dependence on "Hole" Trap Cards, en masse Spell/Trap negation/removal such as "Harpie's Feather Duster" or "Red Reboot" will easily shut down most of interactions available to "Traptrix" player. Similarly, "Royal Decree", "Jinzo", "Jinzo - Lord", "Forced Ceasefire", "Dark Simorgh" and similar "anti-Trap" cards can severely hinder the Deck unless you control a face-up "Traptrix Atrax", who prevents the activation AND effects of your Trap Cards from being negated.
- "Traptrix" deck generally struggles against monsters with high statlines and enough protection to be unaffected by their trap and other removal effects, such as "Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus" or "Apoqliphort Towers". As such, preventing the opponent from summoning these monsters should be your first priority.
- "Denko Sekka" proves to be horrendous for "Traptrix" decks, rendering almost all Trap cards the deck can utilize useless. Cards that can negate Normal Summons like "Solemn Warning" can help along with cards that can remove "Denko" easily or can negate her effects. "Atrax" can also remove her easily by just activating a "Hole" Trap card from the hand to destroy her or set her face-down with "Bottomless Trap Hole" and "Floodgate Trap Hole", respectively.
- Since most of the "Hole" cards can only be activated upon a monster's Summon, "Traptrix"-based Decks may have difficulties against decks that designed to have a large set-up quickly (this is more apparent if you go second), such as against "Swordsoul", "Branded" and "Six Samurai" Decks. To remedy this, mass-removal cards such as "Torrential Tribute" or non-conditional removal cards such as "Compulsory Evacuation Device" can be considered.
