Long-time Dueling fans may remember that last year at SHONEN JUMP Championship Houston, Kevin Alvarado played a DARK “Macro Cosmos” Deck with “Van’Dalgyon the Dark Dragon Lord.” This year he’s back, and once again packing an ambitiously innovative strategy – “Power Tool Dragon.”

(Deck list will be posted after Day 1 of competition is over – check back later!)

This Deck is built around the “Black Salvo” / “Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive” combo, which lets Alvarado easily Synchro Summon Level 7 Synchro Monsters. Once Dekoichi is in the Graveyard, Alvarado can Special Summon it back to the field just by Normal Summoning “Black Salvo” – the same combo that Duelists like Adam Corn, Chris Evans, and Gaetan Georges took to Day 2 at SHONEN JUMP Championship Indianapolis. But while those Duelists used the combo to Synchro Summon “Dark Strike Fighter” or “Black Rose Dragon,” Alvarado uses it for a whole different purpose.

This Deck wants to Summon “Power Tool Dragon” as quickly as possible, because as soon as Power Tool hits the field it can start pulling Equip Spell Cards from the Deck. Each turn “Power Tool Dragon” is on the field, Alvarado will score a free card, and those cards really add up. Even if his opponent activates “Bottomless Trap Hole” in response to Power Tool hitting the field, Alvarado can still activate Power Tool’s ability one time. With six Equip Spells in his Deck, and with “Power Tool Dragon” needing three Equip Spells in the Deck to use its effect, Alvarado can search out up to four free Spell Cards per Duel.

“Power Tool Dragon’s” second ability is one of the most important effects the Deck wields. When Power Tool has an Equip Spell attached to it, and it would be destroyed, you can send one of its Equips to the Graveyard instead. That makes “Power Tool Dragon” almost impossible to deal with via cards like “Mirror Force,” “Smashing Ground,” “Honest,” Kalut, and more. Sure, those cards will all knock an Equip Spell off the Dragon, but Alvarado’s getting a new Equip each turn for free, while his opponents’ cards aren’t nearly as disposable. (If the opponent keeps piling on the monster destruction effects, it’s sort of like getting an extra Level 7 Synchro Monster every turn.) With a pair of Equip Spells attached to it, Power Tool is often impossible to deal with. And since 4 of the Deck’s 6 Equip Spells boost the Dragon’s ATK, it frequently ends games in two turns or less.

Alvarado is playing 2 copies of “Double Tool C&D,” 1 “United We Stand,” 2 “Mage Powers,” and 1 “Autonomous Action Unit.” Each plays a really important role. Double Tool actually plays 5 roles, since it has 4 effects and also ties into Power Tool’s second ability. On Alvarado’s turn, Double Tool boosts “Power Tool Dragon” to 3300 ATK and will negate the effects of monsters like “Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter” or “Spirit Reaper” when the Dragon attacks. On his opponent’s turn, Double Tool will protect the rest of Alvarado’s monsters from attacks, and will ensure that anything that attacks Power Tool gets destroyed once the battle is over. Two Double Tools will combo with “Power Tool Dragon’s” second ability to shut down “Honest” or Kalut, too.

“United We Stand” and “Mage Power” are great because they end games really quickly, and can turn a weak monster like Dekoichi or “Psychic Commander” into a big threat. If his opponent keeps Setting Defense Position monsters to block attacks from “Power Tool Dragon,” “United We Stand” turns whatever other monster is on-hand into a big attacker capable of dishing out the damage.

Finally, “Autonomous Action Unit” is one of the most dangerous cards the Deck runs. Being able to Special Summon an opponent’s “Stardust Dragon” or “Colossal Fighter” is huge, and Alvarado can win a lot of games through a combination of “Power Tool Dragon,” “Dark Armed Dragon,” and Action Unit. Action Unit is also a good way of finding Synchro Materials, then use “Psychic Commander” or “Krebons” to make easy Synchro Summons.

The Deck is more than just a one-trick pony. Like “Black Salvo” Decks before it, the Deck can lead opponents to play several cards to the field, then punish them by Synchro Summoning “Black Rose Dragon” and destroying everything. But previous “Black Salvo” Decks often had a tough time capitalizing on the opening they would create. Normal Summoning “Black Salvo” killed any chance of a follow-up, barring a lucky “Dark Armed Dragon” or a “Plaguespreader Zombie” / “Destiny Hero – Malicious” combo. But here, capitalizing on “Black Rose Dragon” is as easy as activating “Autonomous Action Unit,” easily scoring 2500 to 3000 damage or more with a borrowed Synchro Monster.

This is one of the most unique Decks in the building today, and it’s no joke. The big swings in field presence and the grinding pace once “Power Tool Dragon” hits the table can cause a ton of trouble for today’s top Decks, and Kevin Alvarado is surprising a lot of Duelists here today.