Blackwing Decks always have a lot going for them.  Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor, Blackwing – Bora the Spear, and Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame give them speed and fast Special Summoning.  Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and Blackwing – Blizzard the far North make for easy Synchro Summons.  They have great exclusive Synchro Monsters like Blackwing Armor Master, and they’ve got powerful control cards like Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow and Icarus Attack.  It all adds up to an aggressive strategy riddled with surprises and the ability to destroy cards unexpectedly.  Blackwings have been played to multiple Championship wins, and it’s not likely for them to stop any time soon.

And now, they might be better than ever.  Previously, Blackwing Duelists played 2 copies each of Royal Oppression and Black Whirlwind: 2 cards that are now Limited in the Advanced Format.  But new trends and the release of Pot of Duality may balance those losses and then some, and that’s lead Duelists like Sasha Del Conte to play Blackwings here in Toronto, at the birth of a new Advanced Format.  Here’s what he’s running:

Monsters: 19

1 Dark Armed Dragon

2 Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor

1 Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind

3 Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow

3 Blackwing – Bora the Spear

3 Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn

3 Blackwing – Blizzard the far North

3 Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame

Spells: 12

2 Pot of Duality

1 Cards for Black Feathers

1 Allure of Darkness

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Monster Reborn

1 Dark Hole

2 Book of Moon

1 Black Whirlwind

1 Giant Trunade

Traps: 10

3 Icarus Attack

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Solemn Judgment

2 Solemn Warning

1 Mirror Force

1 Royal Oppression

1 Trap Dustshoot

With Gladiator Beasts being a top pick for lots of competitors in this tournament, Blackwings are a great choice for this field.  Thanks to the control of Royal Oppression and Icarus Attack; the Battle Phase dominance of Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow; and explosive Special Summons, Blackwings have historically been a strong choice in the Gladiator Beast matchup.

But Conte is capitalizing on more than just the expected field: he’s also taking advantage of new trends caused by the recent Advanced List changes.  For instance, the inclusion of Pot of Duality and Cards for Black Feathers makes it easier for Blackwing Duelists to run more copies of Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North than before: Conte and many others are running a full 3 copies.  In the past, most Blackwing Duelists didn’t run more than 1 Cards for Black Feathers, and usually they only played 1 or 2 copies of Blizzard.  But with the release of Pot of Duality things have changed: Blackwings can now run Pot and Feathers together, and since both cards stop their controller from Special Summoning for 1 turn, the Blackwing Duelist can make the most of giving up his Special Summons.

More access to Blizzard ensures that big Synchro plays still happen as often as possible, while Feathers lets a Blackwing Duelist ditch a Blizzard they don’t need in return for more draw power.    “Pot of Duality is nice,” commented another Blackwing Duelist.  “It allows me to set up Kalut plays since you can’t Special Summon.”  Together, those draw cards help Blackwings get to more than just Kalut: they also let you draw into the newly-Limited Royal Oppression and Black Whirlwind more often, because you’re drawing more cards in every Duel you play.

The biggest trend a Blackwing Duelist like Conte can take advantage of here this weekend might be the general reaction to Heavy Storm being Forbidden.  For years, most competitive players were weary of Setting more than a single card to their Spell and Trap Card Zone, for fear of losing multiple cards to Storm.  Now, with Storm gone, many Duelists are Setting plenty of cards at the same time, thinking that they’re safe from mass Spell and Trap destruction.  In some cases they’re correct.  But against a Blackwing Duelist, those competitors have another thing coming.

Delta Crow – Anti Reverse hasn’t been a popular choice for the average Blackwing Duelist, but that might change this weekend.  If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a Trap Card that can be activated when you control a face-up “Blackwing” monster.  It can also be activated from your hand, without being Set first, if you control exactly 3 Blackwings.  Its effect destroys all of your opponent’s face-down Spell and Trap Cards, so with a much higher number of Duelists Setting 2, 3, or even more Spell and Trap Cards on a regular basis, it can do some serious damage.  We saw Conte use it with deadly efficiency in his Round 6 Feature Match.

With the opponent left without Trap Cards, a Blackwing Duelist can attack with Shura to Special Summon another monster from the Deck; attack over bigger monsters with Kalut; or just unleash a flock of Blackwings to take the Duel then and there.  It’s been really effective this weekend, simply because some Duelists won’t see it coming.  Even once everyone learns about the card, Blackwings will have a big advantage because they’ll be able to Set anything they want to the Spell and Trap Card Zone, while opposing Decks often won’t be able to do so.

With a strong matchup against Gladiator Beasts, and some unique cards no other Deck can play, Blackwings are a great choice for today’s tournament.  Conte’s Deck is a prime example of the majority of the Blackwing Decks currently seated at the top tables, so it’ll be interesting to see if the builds that make Day 2 are similar, or if they buck the trends and take Blackwings in a different direction.