Two weeks ago at YCS San Jose, we saw Scrap Decks bust through to the top tables of Championship-level competition!  While Duelists like Jerry Tran and Edgar Lopez put forth strong showings that saw them nearly make the Top 32, it was innovator Darryl Huang who took the Deck all the way to the Top 16, triumphing over all the rest with Tricky Scraps.  Today, his success has inspired Duelists to try putting their own spin on the Scrap theme. Since Scraps can be played in so many different ways, we’re bound to see a lot of different builds here this weekend.  If you’re not familiar with the basic Scrap framework, hop over to the main strategy site for a quick refresher on the core combos that most of these Decks have in common.

One of the most promising versions of the Scrap Deck is being played by Duelists like Kendy Point-Dujour, and revolves around the defensive strength of Gravekeeper’s Spy.  The Spy’s 2000 DEF buys the Scrap Duelist time to set up his Graveyard with the necessary Tuner Monsters, and the Spies each contribute 4 Levels towards a Synchro Summon.  Here’s how Point-Dujour built his Scrap Deck:

Kendy Point-Dujour’s Gravekeeper Scraps – 40 Cards

Monsters: 17

3 Gravekeeper’s Spy

3 Scrap Chimera

3 Scrap Beast

2 Scrap Goblin

1 Effect Veiler

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

1 Gravekeeper’s Descendant

1 Sangan

1 Morphing Jar

1 Summoner Monk

Spells: 14

3 Book of Moon

3 Scrapstorm

2 Pot of Duality

1 Cold Wave

1 Dark Hole

1 Giant Trunade

1 Mind Control

1 Monster Reborn

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Trap: 9

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Solemn Warning

1 Trap Stun

1 Mirror Force

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

One of the most important things about a Gravekeeper Scrap Deck is that it can Synchro Summon Arcanite Magician: something other Scrap variants can’t do.  Since Gravekeeper’s Spy and Gravekeeper’s Descendant are both Spellcasters, Dujour can Tune Scrap Goblin to either monster to bring out Arcanite and destroy up to 2 of his opponent’s cards.  He also plays Summoner Monk, another Level 4 Spellcaster.  “Summoner Monk can make me an easy Level 8 with Scrap Beast,” explained Point-Dujour.  By discarding a Spell Card, he can use the Monk’s effect to Special Summon Scrap Beast and instantly Synchro Summon a big attacker like Scrap Dragon.  That’s useful for many reasons: first, it gets Scrap Beast to the Graveyard so it can be brought back later with Scrap Chimera.  Point-Dujour doesn’t play Scrapyard, due in part to the fact that Summoner Monk can get him to Scrap Beast and create a bigger immediate combo.  Summoner Monk is also good because it gives Point-Dujour another outlet for his Spell Cards: with triple Scrapstorm, a Mind Control, and some other Spells that might not always be useful, Point-Dujour can make the most of his Spell lineup.

Many of Point-Dujour’s decisions in building this Deck seem to have been driven by metagame calls: he built this Deck to take on the strategies he anticipated seeing in today’s field.  “I believe I’m in a good position against Blackwings or X-Sabers,” he explained.  The high DEF of Gravekeeper’s Spy makes it a great choice against attackers that are often used aggressively against face-down Defense Position monsters: popular cards like Blackwing – Bora the Spear, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame, and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight just don’t have the ATK to get through Gravekeeper’s Spy, and smacking into a Spy means damage and an exposed field position that Point-Dujour can take advantage of.  His choice to play Gravekeeper’s Descendant also means that he can eliminate monsters that would normally be tough to destroy in battle, like the attack-negating Fulhelmknight and the indestructible X-Saber Pashuul, or a Blackwing supported by an in-hand copy of Blackwing – Kalut the Moonshadow.

There are a lot of other cards Point-Dujour could’ve taken advantage of but chose not to. Since his Gravekeeper monsters are all DARK, he could’ve played Dark Armed Dragon, or added a few more DARK monsters and then run Allure of Darkness for added draw power.  In addition, he’s not playing Scrap Golem. Many Duelists shy away from playing the Golem, since they may not always have a monster to Tribute for it or a matching monster in the Graveyard to make the most of its effect.  But we saw how effective the Golem can be in Darryl Huang’s Deck from San Jose, and Point-Dujour’s Gravekeeper’s Spies would help him ensure that he would have a monster to Tribute.  We’ll see how that decision plays out over the course of today.

The field is wide open for Scrap Duelists this weekend, and competitors like Kendy Point-Dujour are answering the call!  After a promising showing at YCS San Jose, we’ll be following Scraps all weekend.  Will Scraps have what it takes to make a repeat performance?  We’ll have the answer to that question and many more tomorrow morning.