Now that Duelists think they know the Decks they need to beat in order to win today’s tournament, they’re adapting their Main and Side Decks with cards that will help them. Take a look at some of the most popular and deadliest tech choices that will allow some Duelists to advance further in the tournament than anyone else.

1.) Volcanic Queen

With Herald of Perfection rising in popularity, Duelists needed to find a way to get it off the field. Spells, Traps, and Monster Effects can all be negated by Herald of Perfection, making this difficult. Volcanic Queen, however, can be Special Summoned to the opponent’s side of the field by Tributing one of his monsters, including Herald of Perfection. Since Herald of Perfection is helpless to negate it, Volcanic Queen makes short work of it. Volcanic Queen’s power to deal damage to the opponent during each of his End Phases can rack up some fast damage too.

2.) Gottoms’ Emergency Call

X-Sabers are everywhere, and one of their best weapons is now being used against them. Gottoms’ Emergency Call can Special Summon 2 X-Sabers from either player’s Graveyard, as long as there’s an X-Saber on either side of the field. By Chaining it to an X-Saber Duelist’s Gottoms’ Emergency Call or the effect of an opponent’s XX-Saber Faultroll, you can disrupt his play and rob him of the monster he wanted to Special Summon. Duelists not running X-Sabers are also using Gottoms’ Emergency Call to take an X-Saber Tuner and X-Saber non-Tuner from their opponent’s Graveyard, and Tuning them together to Synchro Summon powerful monsters like XX-Saber Hyunlei. Gottoms’ Emergency Call is sure to be a critical card in determining the success of X-Sabers here today.

3.) Mind Crush

Most of the top Decks rely on the cards they search for to win. XX-Saber Darksoul, Infernity Archfiend, and Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands all search for the key cards in the Decks they’re played in. By using Mind Crush to get rid of those cards, a lot of Decks can have trouble setting up and pulling off key combos. Once Mind Crush is activated, X-Saber Duelists will have trouble building up a hand that can Summon 2 X-Sabers and a Faultroll in one turn; Infernity Duelists will have trouble pulling off their OTK combo with Infernity Launcher; and Duelists using Herald of Perfection will have trouble getting it in their hand along with the Ritual Card that Summons it. Mind Crush can also be chained to the Ritual Spell Card to strip Herald of Perfection from the opponent’s hand so it can’t be Summoned.

4.) Mask of Restrict

With the rising popularity of Frog Monarchs, Duelists needed to find a way to stop the Deck before it can unleash powerful Tribute Monsters that can’t be taken down. Since Mask of Restrict prevents players from Tributing monsters for any situation, it shuts down Monarch Decks before their biggest threats can hit the field. All of the Monarchs, Vanity’s Fiend, and Light and Darkness Dragon can’t be Tribute Summoned while Mask of Restrict is on the field. Instead, the monsters the opponent wanted to Tribute for them, like Battle Fader and Ronintoadin, sit on the field where they remain difficult to put to use. Mask of Restrict can also be used to stop Ritual Spell Cards like Dawn of the Herald, since it requires a Tribute to be made in order for the Ritual Monster to be Summoned. Chaining Mask of Restrict to an opponent’s Dawn of the Herald can ruin his play and shut down his Deck.