Kazuhiro Mitsuta came here today with a new control Deck featuring some of the hottest cards from Stardust Overdrive. The monsters he’s playing have enough ATK to overwhelm his opponent, while the Spell and Trap Cards will work to limit his opponent’s plays.

One unusual feature about Kazuhiro’s Deck is that there are only 13 Monster Cards in it. Compared to most other decks, this is a low number. It’s even more surprising that 12 of the 13 monsters have 1800 ATK or more! But running such strong monsters gives Kazuhiro a huge edge in some of the most common match-ups. Most Lightsworn Duelists will need to use “Honest” if they want to attack over his monsters, and most Blackwing Duelists will need to use “Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow.” Blackwing Duelists could also use Synchro Monsters Special Summoned by “Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor” to attack over his monsters. But Kazuhiro came prepared. His Spell and Trap lineup provides the perfect counters to these strategies that might be used against his monsters.

Kazuhiro runs 3 copies of the Continuous Spell Card “Dimensional Fissure” and 2 copies of the Continuous Trap Card “Macro Cosmos.” While either of these cards are face-up on the field, all monsters that would be sent to the Graveyard get removed from play instead. Since “Honest” and “Kalut” need to be sent to the Graveyard for their effects to activate, they won’t be very useful while either “Dimensional Fissure” or “Macro Cosmos” is around.

“Dimensional Fissure” and “Macro Cosmos” also do a great job limiting his opponent’s plays. Blackwing players won’t be able to use Vayu if Blackwing monsters get removed from play instead of going to the Graveyard. Lightsworn Duelists will have trouble getting 4 different Lightsworn Monsters in their Graveyard in order to Summon “Judgment Dragon.” If activated early enough, “Dimensional Fissure” will even shut down the effects of “Mezuki,” “Zombie Master,” and “Plaguespreader Zombie.” There’s a long list of cards that are weakened by “Dimensional Fissure,” but not a single one of those cards can be seen in Kazuhiro’s Deck, so his own cards cannot backfire on him.

In fact, Kazuhiro is able to benefit from the activation of “Dimensional Fissure.” His “D.D. Survivor” will keep returning to the field whenever it’s destroyed as long as “Dimensional Fissure” is active, and unlike many Decks’ boss monsters that require cards in the Graveyard in order to Summon them, Kazuhiro’s “Guardian Eatos” requires there to be NO monsters in the Graveyard. With such a low monster count in his Deck and 5 continuous cards to keep the rest of his monsters from hitting the Graveyard, Summoning Eatos should be a breeze. And with 2500 ATK, Kazuhiro can use Eatos to put a lot of pressure on his opponents.

He also has a great supporting Spell and Trap lineup. “Skill Drain” has no effect on almost any of Kazuhiro’s monsters, while it strips most popular decks of the powerful monster effects they rely on. In fact, it brings his “Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast” up to 2800 ATK and his “Beast King Barbaros” up to 3000 ATK! “Forbidden Chalice” serves a similar purpose, but can only be used on an opponent’s monster once. In a pinch, Kazuhiro can also use “Forbidden Chalice” to boost one of his monsters by 400 ATK, or negate his own “Beast King Barbaros” to bring it up to 3400 ATK!

Kazuhiro also plays 3 Gemini Monsters in his Deck to use with the new Spell Card, “Gemini Spark.” He can Tribute a Neos Alius to destroy one of the opponent’s cards and draw a card. Since “Gemini Spark” is a Quick-play Spell Card, he can even Chain it to an effect like “Bottomless Trap Hole” or “Mirror Force” that would destroy his Neos Alius. Thanks to “Gemini Spark,” Kazuhiro can destroy cards with ease and quickly become the aggressor in a Duel.

Kazuhiro’s built his deck to counter the popular Decks he expects to be played. Whether or not his Deck-building strategy pays off today, we can always expect other Duelists to emulate these tactics and build new Decks to beat the popular ones, just as Kazuhiro did.