Psychic Plants - A Hidden Gem

In my previous post, I discussed the Banlist. In this one, I'll discuss my favorite Deck for the format (up until Wind-Up/Zektors/Rabbits came around): Psychic Plants.

I'm the inventor of the Deck - I made it for Decks for Free! on Yugioh Wikia for a poster who was looking for a competitive Psychic Deck. What I came up with was a Synchro heavy deck that used the Plant Engine (Glow-Up Bulb, Spore, Dandylion, and Lonefire Blossom) and Tengu along with RFP Psychics.

The original incarnation included Overdrive Teleporter.

As you can see, Overdrive Teleporter is a Level 6 monster. Normally, I wouldn't use a Tribute Monster but after seeing Caius in Plants, I realized that this Deck was even better for Tribute Summons - Both Silent Psychic Wizard and Serene Psychic Witch provide even more tribute fodder. In addition to that, I had Telekinetic Power Well and Emergency Teleport, both of which would give me even more opportunities to Tribute Summon this monster.

Now why would I use it?

It gave me ample opportunities to do a number of things - first, I could swarm. The monsters wouldn't die during the End Phase so I could leave out some Psychic Witches. Second, I could Xyz Summon - Leviair, Zenmaines, and Leviathan Dragon were all possible Xyz Monsters. Lastly, I could Synchro Summon - be it Orient Dragon, Brionac, Naturia Barkion, or Hyper Psychic Blaster. Of course, for 2000 Life Points, this was more risky against Decks carrying Maxx "C" or Effect Veiler but at the time it was worth the risk.

Other important cards include Psychic Jumper. This monster is insane - with an Emergency Teleport and either this or a Psychic in hand, or a Telekinetic Power Well, or a number of other combos, I can steal any of my opponent's monsters for only 1000 LP - better yet, I can give them a floater such as Serene Psychic Witch or a Special Summoned Esper Girl.

As a whole, the Deck works fantastically - it has a great Plant matchup as it can make large plays and summon big monsters easily as well as use Naturia Beast.
Against Gravekeeper's, a Deck which often hurt Synchro Decks, I could get out Naturia Beast and Barkion pretty easily on my first turn, allowing me to stop either Necrovalley or their massive array of backrow - or even both at the same time.
The Deck had issues with T.G. and other Stun Decks but a Naturia Barkion would often seal the game in my favor.

Then comes Rabbits, Inzektors, and Wind-Ups. The first issue is the fact that everyone is running Maxx "C", Effect Veiler, and Fiendish Chain. With these three cards out, Overdrive Teleporter is far too risky - I'm paying 2000 LP and then they either negate it or draw cards when I attempt to make a play. It went out.

I added in Rai-Oh, a fantastic card against everything but Inzektors.

Even so, it just isn't cut out for this final segment of the format (and definitely not next format).

And now for an analysis of the Deck and the Deck itself:

Strengths:
The most obvious one is its Synchro Summoning capability. I can Synchro Summon many times per turn - Konami may have called Plants "Synchrocentric" but the Deck was really a mash of good stuff - this is a Synchrocentric Deck.
Next is the ability to maintain advantage. All the Plants are good for maintaining and generating advantage, as is Tengu, while the Psychics give me more opportunities to generate advantage. When I Synchro Summon, it can be a +1 in terms of card advantage.
Speed - Many cards in this Deck allow me to pull off first and second turn combos which can pretty much guarantee my victory.
High ATK - Silent Psychic Wizard is an amazing monster - it has an ATK which allows it to match Rai-Oh in battle and even profit off the exchange - a move which is incredibly useful at any time in the game. The Deck also includes Rai-Oh and Psychic Commander, which can kill anything with 1900 or less ATK.

Weaknesses:
Maxx "C" will stop my plays and leave me with a lot of monsters lying around.
Dimensional Fissure is pretty painful - yes the Psychics focus on Banishing but they do so themselves - doing so with a Dimensional Fissure means that I can't get their effects.
Other Stun cards also severely reduce the Deck's strength.

Now onto the Deck:

For those who need a list:
Dandylion
Esper Girl x2
Glow-Up Bulb
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Lonefire Blossom
Psychic Commander x2
Psychic Jumper
Reborn Tengu x3
Serene Psychic Witch x3
Silent Psychic Wizard x3
Spore
Thunder King Rai-Oh x2

Dark Hole
Emergency Teleport
Enemy Controller
Foolish Burial
Heavy Storm
Mind Control
Monster Reborn
Mystical Space Typhoon x2
One for One
Pot of Avarice

Bottomless Trap Hole
Dimensional Prison
Mirror Force
Solemn Judgment
Solemn Warning x2
Torrential Tribute
Trap Dustshoot

Ally of Justice Catastor
Ancient Fairy Dragon
Black Rose Dragon
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Formula Synchron
Naturia Barkion
Naturia Beast
Orient Dragon
Scrap Dragon
Stardust Dragon
T.G. Hyper Librarian
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Leviair the Sea Dragon
Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
Wind-Up Zenmaines