The replacement of Speedroid Beigomax

We interrupt the [ACQ Prep Work] series to bring you this special annoucement....
A speedy report on Speedroid Terratop


Recently in Japan, a trend arose whereby the usual playset of Speedroid Terratop & a single Speedroid Taketomborg is dropped in favour of Tour Guide from the Underworld along with Sangan taking its place.

4th place
Zoodiac Metalfoes
2nd Hatti CS x Dragon Star Cup,
Domestic Tournament, 12/04/2016, 128 Players

Source

Sangan has not seen much play ever since its errata and release from the list. Many players probably forget that this creature has already made its way to the Unlimited status.. So let's first have a look at its effect:

If this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: Add 1 monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to your hand, but you cannot activate cards, or the effects of cards, with that name for the rest of this turn. You can only use this effect of "Sangan" once per turn.

• By dropping the Speedroid engine, the first notable change would be the deck's new-found ability to dodge Lullaby of Obedience plays by your opponent. Lullaby of Obedience is a Side Deck card that has been gaining popularity even among non-Infernoids decks. Greedy opponents going for larger field and bigger play would crave for more card advantage. Hence, it wouldn't be unlikely for them to name Speedroid Terratop instead of Zoodiac Mamorat instead. By not playing Speedroid Terratop, your opponent can end up paying 2000LP in vain.

 

• Tour Guide of the Underworld has the option of calling out Archfiend Eccentrick instead. Although its effect is negated, and tributing it for a targeted destruction won't bypass the negation, Archfiend Eccentrick can be bounced back to the hand with the help of the limited Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin. While it may not be a common play, the existence of such a play allows for flexibility, allowing Metalfoes to adapt and overcome tricky situations.
• Archfiend Eccentrick can then be placed on the scales for either a pendulum summon or spell/trap destruction.

•  Unlike the Speedroid engine which may leave the second and third copy of Speedroid Terratop a dead draw, or when Speedroid Taketomborg is drawn into at an untimely manner where no WIND monsters exists on the field, Sangan is useful on its own.
• It can be used for a Fusion Summon or be destroyed as a target for a Metalfoes pendulum effect, triggering its search effect. Sure the Speedroid monsters can also be fused or popped away, but it won't grant you a search like Sangan does. Which brings us to the next point.

• Upon interruption by Maxx "C", players can opt for the alternative route to destroy Sangan via a Metalfoes pendulum effect. Upon being destroyed, Sangan acts as a pseudo-Metalfoes Combination, searching out the remaining required scale. One can carry on with a pendulum summon and flood the field with a special summon. Although this may net the opponent a second draw off Maxx "C", it does leave the player less vulnerable with an established field as opposed to xyz summoning a monster, and still give up a draw to the opponent.
• There also lies the issue of Zoodiac Metalfoes lacking a good Rank3 to end off their turn with. The Phantom Knights of Break Sword is for offensive plays whereas M-X Saber Invoker is reserved for launching into the Zoodiac combos. The Tour Guide of the Underworld engine can't perform an xyz summon into Totem Bird, unlike its predecessor.
• Zoodiac Metalfoes has pushed its deck size count beyond the minimum requirement. 60card Metalfoes deck has been a thing for the past few weeks and I myself also gave it a try. More often than not, you only get half a correct scale. Bricky hands are to be expected but the ability to search a scale right off the bat thanks to Sangan does aid in the deck's consistency, allowing you to salvage your opening hand even if only contains a single Metalfoes card.
• However, one should not be too hasty to forget the limitations that Sangan brings to the game. The searched copy's effect can't be used from there on. Not even its pendulum scale effect. But it can definitely be placed as a scale.
• There also lies the problem of Sangan's inability to search out the lower scale. Its targets are the 0ATK Raremetalfoes Bismagia and Metalfoes Steelren. Archfiend Eccentrick and Majespecter Racoon - Bunbuku are the other non-Metalfoes archetype scales that can be fetched, but are also high scales.

• Last but not least, Sangan's inclusion in the deck introduces a new dynamic to the battlefield. Playing around its restriction, one can always go for a search for hand traps like Maxx "C" or Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit, making sure it won't be a sit-and-wait when the opponent's turn comes. With Sangan, even the smallest and weakest opening hand that can't launch into beautiful plays has a chance for it to be salvaged.

The Tour Guide of the Underworld engine, does however has its shortcomings. It leaves the user more vulnerable to Maxx "C" and the opponent has a better chance of netting a +1 instead of the usual +0 which the Speedroid engine can avoid by going into a more conservative play involving xyz summoning Totem Bird instead M-X Saber Invoker.
With no such obligation to play Totem Bird, an Extra Deck slot is hence freed.

Being limited at a single copy, there lies the statistical lower chance of opening with Tour Guide of the Underworld as opposed to Speedroid Terratop which can be played at three....FOR NOW
 
The opportunity cost of forgoing the Speedroid engine will lead to starting explosive plays of the deck to be decreased notably. However, Metalfoes gain an edge over other decks piloting the Zoodiac Beast as they have the added advantage of having a high Level3 monsters count. Be it Kaiju Zoodiac, Zoodiac HEROes, Zoodiac ABC or Shaddoll Zoodiacs, none can compete with that.
This allows them to access M-X Saber Invoker easier with the aid of monsters such as Archfiend Eccentrick, Metalfoes Silverd or Majespecter Racoon - Bunbuku. Thus, they can afford to make this daring move. Nevertheless, Metalfoes will now be more reliant on their normal summon to call forth M-X Saber Invoker, as opposed to before, where a single Speedroid Terratop could achieve all that without using up a normal summon.

 Conclusion 

This phenomenon is indeed a sight to behold. Hopefully the trend will pick up and perhaps is the players' way of salvaging Speedroid Terratop from the wrath of the approaching January 2017 Forbidden and Limited list.

Let's await with anticipation as things unfold.