QQ: How Will You Battle the X-Sabers?
QQ stands for Quick Questions! Back in June at YCS Chicago, we asked Duelists how they planned to overcome X-Saber Decks. Now, with X-Sabers having won the U.S. World Championship Qualifier, we posed the same question to a new crop of QQ interviewees. We sat down with Duelists playing everything from Blackwings and Monarchs to Zombies, Gravekeeper’s, and even X-Saber Duelists themselves, and asked them the pressing question: how do you plan to beat X-Sabers?
“Gottoms‘ Emergency Call their own monsters.”-Jordan Grant
“Royal Oppression. It stops the Synchros and Faultroll.”-Justin Chiaino
“I’m playing the Deck already! Beat them? I joined them!”-Lazaro Bellido
“I play Flamvells – Flamvell Firedog is big enough to get over most of their monsters.”-Richard Lam
“I’ll probably summon Machina Soldier – my personal Boggart Knight – and then Special Summon Machina Fortress with the Soldier’s effect. I can attack XX-Saber Fulhelmknight with Soldier, they have to negate that attack, then attack over it anyways with Fortress.”-Jarel Winston
“Skill Drain, and Side Decking Thunder Kings and Doomcaliber Knights.”-Patrick Achramovitch
“Opening up Thunder King and Oppression. My Side Deck is Skill Drains and Gottoms’ Emergency Call, too.”-Chris Martinez
“Dark Bribe, Royal Tribute, Fossil Dyna, Doomcaliber Knight – my entire Deck is mained against X-Sabers!.”-Brenden Beckmann
“I just plan to outplay them in game one, then bring in my Side Deck cards like Saber Slash and Thunder Kings for the second game. Mind Crush helps too.”-Rob Cedar
“It’s pretty much Main Decked hate in my cases. With Banishers, Thunder Kings, and King Tiger Wanghus, it’s all to beat X-Sabers. And Magic Drain stops Cold Wave.”-Anthony Meier
“Basically just keeping my monsters on the field. I play Banishers and Fossil Dyna.”-Siddiqui Jehanzab
“I’m gonna outplay ’em! That’s about it.”-Danny Rose
“I plan to stop Darksoul searches with Thunder King Rai-Oh, and rush them before they rush me.”
-Daniel Farina
While Gottoms’ Emergency Call used to be the number one answer to X-Sabers, now many Duelists are more interested in specifically targeting individual cards or combos in the X-Saber deck, picking it apart piece by piece. The current philosophy isn’t a silver bullet answer to the entire strategy. Instead, the most successful competitors are adapting their playstyles, and trying to knock out the Deck’s individual legs, throwing it off balance.