Rescue Rabbit is one of the hottest cards from Photon Shockwave, and in its first tournament appearance it took 3 Duelists to the Top 8 of YCS Kansas City! Each of them paired the Rabbit with Normal Dinosaur-Type monsters, which let them unleash the powers of new Xyz MonstersEvolzar Laggia and Evolzar Dolkka (also from Photon Shockwave).

The Dino Rabbit Deck aims to clinch its win in the first few turns of a Duel. By playing a fast, disruptive early game, it can devastate the opponent before they set up. Dino Rabbit doesn’t have a really strong mid-game like Synchrocentric or Chaos Decks, but it hits so hard and so fast that it doesn’t need one.

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Here are the key strengths of Brake’s build:

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HARE-RAISING SPEED

The #1 plan is to use Rabbit’s effect as early as possible, Summoning 2 Normal Dinosaur-Types: preferably the weaker Kabazauls, so you don’t wind up drawing them. From there, you’ll have enough Normal Monsters in your Deck to use Rabbit’s effect one more time. If you draw a second Rabbit, that’s great, but the best move is to Summon Tour Guide and Xyz Summon Leviair the Sea Dragon.

Leviair’s effect will let you Special Summon back your first Rabbit, and you can use its effect to Special Summon two Sabersaurus. You can use them for another Xyz Summon, but if you control Laggia (2400 ATK), Leviair (1800 ATK), and two Sabersaurus (1900 ATK each), you can attack for exactly 8000 damage. This Deck can do it as early as turn 2:

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Monsters: 17

3 Kabazauls

1 Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

3 Jurrac Guaiba

3 Sabersaurus

1 Sangan

3 Tour Guide From the Underworld

3 Rescue Rabbit

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Spells: 13

1 Dark Hole

3 Dimensional Fissure

3 Forbidden Lance

2 Smashing Ground

1 Book of Moon

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Monster Reborn

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Traps: 11

2 Dimensional Prison

1 Trap Dustshoot

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

2 Solemn Warning

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Starlight Road

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Extra Deck: 15

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Stardust Dragon

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Steelswarm Roach

2 Leviair the Sea Dragon

1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon

1 Wind-Up Zenmaines

1 Number 39: Utopia

2 Evolzar Laggia

2 Evolzar Dolkka

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UNDERWORLD OOMPH

Even though Rescue Rabbit is the core of this strategy, Tour Guide from the Underworld is just as important. Not only does Tour Guide let you reuse Rabbit and make big combos with Leviair, but she gives you other plays that can be aggressive, or protect your Life Points. Remember: Rescue Rabbit can only Special Summon two Normal Monsters with the same name. Since there’s no way to get Dinosaurs back into your Deck, you’ll only be able to use two Rabbit effects each Duel.

That’s where Tour Guide saves the day, because the attack power of Number 17: Leviathan Dragon can finish your opponent off if two Rabbits didn’t get the job done. And if you can’t draw Rabbit early, Wind-Up Zenmaines can fend off your opponent until you draw what you need. The more Tour Guides you draw, the better your chance for victory. Do yourself a favor: when you play that first Tour Guide and make your Special Summon, bring out Sangan – not another Tour Guide. You won’t get Sangan’s effect if you use it as an Xyz Material, but you’ll leave two more Tour Guides in your Deck, improving your chances of drawing another.

While Evolzar Laggia is the key to most of your wins, Evolzar Dolkka is huge too. Dolkka can help guarantee that when your opponent Sets a monster, you don’t wind up getting hit with an unexpected effect. It’s also better than Laggia in some situations. For instance, monster-heavy Decks focused on Gallis the Star Beast will lose almost every time against Dolkka. It can be really good against Synchrocentric and Master Hyperion Decks, too.

Forbidden Lance protects Laggia in alot of different ways. If your opponent has a big attacker and tries to take Laggia out in battle, Lance can shrink the attacker by 800 ATK. If your opponent tries to play something like Dimensional Prison or Mirror Force to remove Laggia, Lance can save it by making it immune to the effects of Spell and Trap Cards. By using Lance to fix minor problems you face, you can save Laggia’s negation for bigger problems later. Lance is even useful when you’re on the attack, because it lets you swing over bigger monsters. Brake played Smashing Grounds as well, helping him stay aggressive and get those early wins.

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DIMENSIONAL FISSURE

Brake was the only Top 8 Dino Rabbit Duelist to play triple Dimensional Fissure. It’s a really good choice: it banishes monsters that have powerful effects in the Graveyard, like Glow-Up Bulb and Spore. But it also kept his opponents from sending cards to the Graveyard as a cost to activate effects. When Dimensional Fissure is active, neither Duelist can use the abilities ofMaxx “C” or Effect Veiler, because you can’t pay the cost of sending them to the Graveyard. The Dino Rabbit strategy isn’t hurt much by Maxx “C”, but Veiler can mean the difference between a turn 2 win with Tour Guide, or a complete collapse that ends in defeat.

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MISSING? – GOLD SARC

The one card Brake didn’t play, that the other Top 8 Dino Rabbit Decks did, was GoldSarcophagus. The Sarcophagus lets you banish a card from your Deck, so you can add it to your hand two turns later. But in this strategy it’s a little different:

Finding space for Gold Sarcophagus is tricky when you’re playing 3 Dimensional Fissures, but the Sarcophagus combo is really powerful. If you build your own Rabbit Deck it’s something you should consider. The Dino Rabbit strategy hits harder and faster than any other Deck in tournaments today, so if speed is what you crave, this is the Deck for you!