Ryan Spicer aimed to reinvent 2009’s Synchro Cat Deck for use in today’s tournament. His creation? Caliber Cat! Spicer uses Rescue Cat to swarm the field and Synchro Summon big monsters. Then he uses Doomcaliber Knight to pin down his opponent’s monsters. His Deck takes advantage of monsters that have destruction effects, like Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, and recycles them with Pot of Avarice to draw new cards.

Monsters:
2x Doomcaliber Knight
1x Rescue Cat
3x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3x X-Saber Airbellum
1x Caius the Shadow Monarch
3x Gravekeeper’s Spy
1x Gravekeeper’s Descendant
1x Summoner Monk
2x Cyber Dragon
1x Sangan
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1x D.D. Crow
1x Chaos Sorcerer
1x Dark Armed Dragon

Spells:
1x My Body as a Shield
1x Allure of Darkness
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Brain Control
1x Mind Control
1x Smashing Ground
2x Book of Moon
2x Pot of Avarice

Traps:
1x Dust Tornado
1x Starlight Road
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Trap Dustshoot
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Dimensional Prison

When Spicer Tributes Rescue Cat, he can Special Summon 2 copies of X-Saber Airbellum or an X-Saber Airbellum alongside a Ryko to Synchro Summon a Level 5 monster like Ally of Justice Catastor. Meanwhile, he’s filling his Graveyard with monsters to fuel Pot of Avarice.

Spicer’s Deck has other fast ways to fill his Graveyard with monsters, all while applying pressure to his opponent. He uses Gravekeeper’s Spy to fill the field with Level 4 Gravekeeper’s monsters, including Gravekeeper’s Descendant, who can Tribute a Spy to take down an opponent’s card. Since all of the Gravekeeper’s monsters in his Deck are Spellcaster-Type monsters, Spicer can also Tune his Gravekeeper’s monsters with X-Saber Airbellum to Synchro Summon Arcanite Magician. Arcanite Magician can give Spicer a big edge by destroying 2 of his opponent’s cards. If Spicer manages to bring out 2 copies of Gravekeeper’s Spy and then Tribute Rescue Cat to Special Summon 2 copies of X-Saber Airbellum, he can quickly Synchro Summon 2 copies of Arcanite Magician. Even without X-Saber Airbellum, Spicer can sometimes Tribute his Gravekeeper’s monsters for Caius the Shadow Monarch instead.

Spicer uses Summoner Monk too, to Special Summon Rescue Cat from his Deck by discarding a Spell Card. Since Summoner Monk is also a Spellcaster, Spicer can Tune it to an Airbellum he fetches with Rescue Cat as another approach to Synchro Summoning Arcanite Magician.

In addition to the monsters typically played in Synchro Cat Decks, Spicer rounded out his line-up with some unique choices to take down the other Decks he expects to encounter. While he can Tune his 2 copies of Cyber Dragon to his copies of X-Saber Airbellum in order to make a Level 8 Synchro Monster, Spicer is also able to fuse his Cyber Dragon with his opponent’s Machine-Type monsters to Fusion Summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. While this can be devastating to a Machine Deck like Machina Gadgets, it’s also good against the several Decks using Cyber Valley in today’s tournament, including several Quickdraw Synchron variants.

Spicer also included 2 copies of Doomcaliber Knight to take down all of the Decks he expects to encounter. Many Duelists are relying on the effects of their Gravekeeper’s Spy, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Machina Gearframe, or other monsters to win. Doomcaliber Knight can protect Spicer from all of them. It also has a strong 1900 ATK, which makes it a great card in a Gladiator Beast match-up and allows Spicer to hammer his opponents’ Life Points.

Spicer is using a copy of My Body as a Shield in his Deck to protect his monsters from the effects of cards like Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Gladiator Beast Murmillo, and Smashing Ground, as well as a copy of Starlight Road to protect his monsters from Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, and Icarus Attack. His Spell line-up also contains 2 copies of Book of Moon, which he can use defensively or use to recycle the effects of his Gravekeeper’s Spy or Ryko. Smashing Ground, Brain Control, and Mind Control give Spicer methods of dealing with his opponent’s monsters, while the latter two also give him the opportunity of putting them to use.

Simple removal comes from his Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prison, and Dust Tornado. These cards allow him to trade off cards with his opponent one at a time, before he makes a big push ahead with Pot of Avarice or major Synchro Summons.

Spicer entered today’s tournament as prepared as he could be to face the Decks he may encounter. His preparation is likely to pay off, as his predications about the other competitors puts him a step ahead of many Duelists.