In a field filled with combo-driven decks relying on Special Summons and powerful monster effects, some Duelists are returning to simpler times. Dylan Debolo is playing a LIGHT Gemini Deck with just 13 monsters. His goal? To control the field just long enough to win with strong Level 4 monsters like Thunder King Rai-Oh, Crusader of Endymion, and Elemental Hero Neos Alius. Here’s what it looks like:

Monsters:

3 Elemental Hero Neos Alius

3 Crusader of Endymion

3 Thunder King Rai-Oh

2 Honest

1 Elemental Hero Stratos

1 Morphing Jar

Spells:

3 Gemini Spark

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Book of Moon

2 Smashing Ground

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 E – Emergency Call

Traps:

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Solemn Judgment

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Dimensional Prison

2 Skill Drain

2 Hero Blast

2 Royal Oppression

1 Dark Bribe

2 Starlight Road

This Deck is all about steady aggression. Debolo will attack with a Level 4 LIGHT monster until it is threatened. When it is, he can protect it from attacks with Honest or Book of Moon. If the monster threatened is Elemental Hero Neos Alius or Crusader of Endymion, he can also Tribute the monster for Gemini Spark, destroying an opposing card and drawing 1 himself.

Gemini Spark is a powerful card in this format. Not only can it be Chained to outplay common threats like Bottomless Trap Hole, it also has key uses against a lot of the most popular Decks right now. When Debolo is Dueling against Infernities, he can Set Gemini Spark and Chain it to the initial activation of of Infernity Launcher, keeping the Launcher’s Special Summon effect from ever being used. It can destroy Synchro Material Monsters to stop Synchro Summons before they get started, and it can eliminate X-Sabers to keep an opponent from Special Summoning XX-Saber Faultroll.

Debolo also plays Hero Blast, so when he sends Elemental Hero Neos Alius to the Graveyard with Gemini Blast, he can return it to his hand to blow away a monster like Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame or XX-Saber Boggart Knight. Again, like Gemini Spark, the Chainable aspect of Blast gives Debolo another play that can destroy his opponent’s cards while replenishing his own.

With no Special Summon monsters in the Deck, and very few monsters with on-field effects, Debolo is free to run Royal Oppression and Skill Drain. Between the two of them, he can cull huge advantages over almost every popular Deck except Blackwings. Both cards can make it tough to play a range of widely-played monsters, and that’s good news, because every monster that Debolo’s opponent doesn’t Summon is one less monster he has to Hero Blast or Gemini Spark through.

Normally, clogging your opponent’s hand with monsters isn’t as good as actually eliminating them. Eventually, cards like Oppression and Skill Drain get destroyed, and then all those cards that were being held back suddenly flood onto the field. But this is not a long-haul deck. Debolo’s goal is to make four or five direct attacks and win. That’s it, nothing fancy. Oppression and Skill Drain take monsters out of the picture before they’re ever Summoned.

One of the coolest cards in Debolo’s arsenal is actually in his Side Deck, not his Main Deck. Since he plays Elemental Hero Neos Alius, and has plenty of room in his Extra Deck (he doesn’t play any Tuners), he packs Elemental Hero Absolute Zero and Elemental Hero Gaia. The trick is Super Polymerization. Debolo sides 2 copies of Super Poly, and brings them in against EARTH or WATER Decks like Gadgets and Frogs. Since Super Polymerization’s activation can’t be Chained to, and because it rarely sees play in tournaments, it tends to surprise Debolo’s opponents, especially since it’s a Quick-Play Spell Card that can use the opponent’s monsters as Fusion Material. Debolo can Set Super Polymerization with a face-up Neos Alius and defend himself against Frog FTK, by sending the opponent’s Substitoad to the Graveyard before it can use its effect. Both monsters Debolo can Summon with it can deal quite a bit of damage in a single turn, as well.

Dylan Debolo’s creation draws on a history of similar strategies, tweaked for today’s tournament and innovated with some creative touches.