First Turn Lockdown: Rescue Rabbit

As most of you may well be aware, Photon Shockwave hits stores on November 15th and everybody is hunting for one certain secret rare: Rescue Rabbit.

Many see this funny bunny as having the ability to destroy an entire format, and it actually might be possible! In case you aren't aware of just what it does, let's take a look:

Rescue Rabbit

Beast

Level 4 / Earth

300 ATK / 100 DEF

"This card cannot be Special Summoned from the Deck. You canbanish this face-up card you control; Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters with the same name from your Deck.Destroy them during the End Phase. The effect of "Rescue Rabbit" can only be activated once per turn."

It isn't difficult to see why the Rabbit may be able to devastate entire games, and it actually can. With the power of the Xyz and Synchro, this card can completely turn games in your favor, it can lock your opponent in a big way. However, it has one glaring flaw: you must run normal monsters. Being forced to run the average of 6 normal monsters does hurt the consistency of the deck, they're essentially deck cards. With the Xyzs that support this, one must wonder: Is the reward worth the risk? Well, the answer is YES.

The basic Rescue Rabbit deck can churn out constant control cards every turn, and with a decent hand, you can have your set-up on turn 1. Come Photon Shockwave, this deck may easily have a seat in the Top Tables, it just needs the right approach. I believe the deck must focus on control, it's the only way it can actually function in this meta. The TCG and OCG have varying card pools, but for the TCG, as of November 15th, I believe a build such as this fits best for the deck:

Monsters: 21

3x Rescue Rabbit

3x Sabersaurus

3x Kabazauls

3x Tour Guide from the Underworld

1x Sangan

3x Thunder King Rai-oh

2x Effect Veiler

1x Maxx "C"

1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

1x Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning

Spells: 11

3x Mystical Space Typhoon

3x Pot of Duality

1x Heavy Storm

1x Dark Hole

1x Book of Moon

1x Monster Reborn

1x Pot of Avarice

Traps: 8

2x Solemn Warning

1x Solemn Judgment

2x Dimensional Prison

2x Bottomless Trap Hole

1x Trap Dustshoot

Extra Deck: 15

2x Evolzar Laggia

2x Evolzar Dolkka

2x Leviair the Sea Dragon

1x Number 17: Leviathan Dragon

1x Wind-up Zenmaines

1x Steelswarm Roach

1x Number 39: Utopia

5x Filler (Anything from Chimeratech Fortress to Trishula to even more Xyz)

The Power

2 Level 4 Dinosaur-Type monsters
When a monster(s) would be Normal or Special Summoned, OR a Spell/Trap Card is activated: You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card; negate the Summon or activation, and destroy that card.

Nearly every card in the deck is a key player in insuring victory, the most notable is Evolzar Laggia. He is a Solemn Judgment on legs and forces your opponent to lose an extra card in order to get rid of him. He can force your opponent to waste their first turn and end up with a clear field, allowing you to set up and lock him down the next turn, again. Laggia can stop any normal summon, an inherent special summon, and any speed 2 or lower spell or trap, getting him out on the first turn is nearly key. However, he can't stop the effects of any monster, so he can be hit with a Gorz, Veiler, or any other problematic card. In comes the next boss monster of the deck: Evolzar Dolkka.

2 Level 4 Dinosaur-Type monsters
When an Effect Monster's effect activates: You can detach 1Xyz Material from this card; negate the activation and destroy it.

Evolzar Dolkka covers everything that Laggia can't: monster effects. He is basically a Divine Wrath or Herald of Orange Light on a 2300 body, and he can do it twice. Negating monster effects proves pivotal for the deck, it can stop any comeback your opponent tries to take, whether it be with the Gorz or with a Ryko. Pairing Dolkka with Laggia puts enough pressure on your opponent to end the game right there. 

Rescue Rabbit decks only need to grab a hold of just one Rescue Rabbit, he is easily recycled by the next driving force of the deck: Leviair the Sea Dragon.

2 Level 3 monsters 
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card totarget 1 banished Level 4 or lower monster; Special Summon thattarget to your side of the field.

Rescue Rabbit will banish himself as a cost to activate his effect, allowing Leviair to bring him back later to reuse again (as long as you didn't use Rabbit's effect that turn!) and the recycling can overwhelm your opponent fast. It isn't difficult to end up with a field of a Laggia, Leviair, and Dolkka by turn 2 and that's enough power to make any deck scoop up their cards. Even outside of Rabbit, Leviair enables too many plays to make it a balanced card. Leviair plays one of the biggest roles of the deck and that's keeping the deck going, it is the driving force of the deck. It has synergy with the Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, Rabbit, and final ace up the deck's sleeve: Black Luster Soldier.

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned by removing from play 1 LIGHT and 1 DARKmonster in your Graveyard. Once during each of your turns, you can select and activate 1 of the following effects:
● Select 1 monster on the field, and remove it from play. If you activate this effect, this card cannot attack during this turn.
● If this card destroyed your opponent's monster by battle, it can attack once again in a row.

Rescue Rabbit decks run enough Lights and Darks to support the Envoy, he's too good to ignore. A top-deck Black Luster Soldier can instantly win the game. It doesn't need much explaining why he's so good: he can get rid of any monster on the field or attack twice...every turn.

The Support

The two targets for the Rabbit

Kabazauls and Sabersaurus are the best monsters to get with Rabbit at the moment. They clock in at 1700 and 1900 ATK respectively so they're not too weak and they're both Dinosaurus, so you can easily go into Laggia or Dolkka turn 1. With their decent attack, they aren't too bad if you draw into them, you can still crash with Rai-Oh and a Sabersaurus or just do some heavy damage. You should only cringe once you draw multiples, since that kills Rabbit right there, but that won't always happen (it's like opening with multiple Tengus). If you're able to hold off your opponent after drawing into these, you can still go into your Evolzars and control the game.

Tour Guide from the Underworld
DARK/FIEND/LEVEL 3
1000 ATK / 600 DEF
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 3 Fiend-Type monster from your hand or Deck. Its effects are negated, and it cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster.

Tour Guide is easily one of the most versatile cards in the deck. It can grab two things: Sangan or another copy of itself. Grabbing Sangan will let you search for the Rescue Rabbit you need, another Tour Guide, a Veiler, or a Maxx "C", giving you more control and more set-up. Grabbing a Tour Guide lets you Xyz into virtually any monster you may need for a certain situation. We've already discussed Leviair, but with Tour Guide it ends up being even scarier. Going into Number 17: Leviathan Dragon will let you get over some big monsters, since it's basically a 2500 ATK beater once you summon it, giving you a bit more power. However, in the April 2010 issue of Shonen JUMP, anybody can throw in a brand new number into the deck: 

Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction

Rock/Xyz/DARK

3000 ATK / 3000 DEF

2 Level 3 monsters
During each of your Standby Phases: Detach 1 Xyz Material from this card or take 2000 damage. If this card has no Xyz Materials, it cannot attack. While this card is face-up on the field, you cannot Special Summon.

Acid Golem gives Tour Guide another power play that turn the duel around. He can attack over a Shi En, Stardust, Scrap Dragon, Trishula, Grapha, almost any monster that may be in your way that Leviathan can't stop! He has plenty of drawbacks though: He can only get in 2 Attacks without you having to pay the 2000; you can't special summon; and if you can't pay for the life points: you'll be ruining yourself. Acid Golem needs to be brought out at the right time, it isn't difficult for him to do his job; he can end the game quickly. 

Tour Guide also grants you an enormous defensive wall in the name of Wind-Up Zenmaines:

Machine/Xyz/DARK

1500 ATK / 2100 DEF

2 Level 3 monsters
If this face-up card on the field would be destroyed, you can detach1 Xyz Material from this card instead. Once per turn, during theEnd Phase, if this effect was used this turn: Target 1 card on the field; destroy it.

Zenmaines is another Rank 3 that can give you immense advantage. He can survive 2 attempts at destruction, and if he stays alive for the turn after protecting himself you'll get to destroy a card on the field. If your opponent can't get rid of Zenmaines in one go they'll have to start losing cards and you'll get to keep setting up. As more Rank 3's come out, Tour Guide will keep getting better, giving even more versatility to this deck! Tour Guide is a costly card but it gives this deck too much power to ignore.

Fighting the Meta

Rescue Rabbit decks can run a ton of cards that can ruin your opponent's plays, primarily Effect Veiler and Maxx "C". Veiler can instantly end an opponent's push. You can ruin their Trishula, Debris, Junk Synchron, Boggart Knight, Kageki, Hyperion, Venus, or even their Tour Guide. Maxx "C" is very similar. He can make your opponent decide between giving you free cards or ending their push, and most likely they will end their push. Maxx "C" is phenomenal against Rabbit and Plant decks, but in the Rescue Rabbit deck it isn't that amazing. It does let you draw into your combo pieces faster, but it can also end up drawing into the normal monsters. I personally think it is great to run at 1, the card is amazing after you have used up at least 1 Rabbit. 

Thunder King Rai-Oh is a pivotal card this format. It can be mained in any deck and this is no exception. Rai-Oh will stop the constant searching and Special Summoning going on, a first turn Rai-Oh is just as powerful as a first turn Tour Guide. He can stop a Sangan search, an Agent-Earth search, a Master Hyperion, Archlord Kristya, Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, Trishula, the Evolzars, basically any big contender in this meta. It conflicts with your own Sangan and Pot of Duality, but it's a LIGHT for Black Luster Soldier and just an amazing meta call today.

Gorz the Emissary of Darkness is largely a staple this format. With Heavy Storm back and Royal Oppression gone, OTK plays are everywhere and Gorz stops those immediately. Gorz is another huge monster that can win the game if dropped at the right time, and even though this deck does run a hefty amount of backrow, it's too good to ignore.

Final Thoughts

Rescue Rabbit decks are definitely an amazingly versatile deck. It has great consistency, protection, and control to it; it can easily become of the top decks of the format. I think the control variant with Rai-Ohs are the way to go this format, the card is too good this format. However, there are plenty of other options that may end up being the standard for Rabbit decks: whether it be running the Jurracs, running Dimensional Fissure, or a completely different build all together. Can it match the power of it's feline cousin? Probably not. In no way do I think this deck will be the most powerful deck of the format, and I wouldn't be too shocked if it did poorly at the coming YCS in Kansas City as the deck does have a lot of hype going for it. The deck can also fall flat against the biggest cards this format, like Bottomless, Gorz, Maxx "C", it's nothing to fear just yet. I think Rabbit Xyz decks are an amazing deck still, they're fun, versatile, and can easily be Tier 1 in this format. We'll have to find out after November 15th. I'll still be messing around with the different variants of Evolzar Rabbits, so there will likely be some update on this deck. Until next time, later!