You may remember that the 5 most popular Decks at YCS Toronto were Gladiator Beasts, X-Sabers, Blackwings, Quickdraw Dandywarrior, and Gadgets, in that order. Although YCS San Jose had the same 5 most popular Decks, the order of their popularity was different.

Fresh off their win from YCS Toronto, X-Sabers were the most popular Deck used in San Jose, comprising of 15.4% of the field. Gladiator Beasts were bumped down to second, making up 12.5% of the field. Blackwings remained the third most popular Deck, despite a small dip in representation to 11.5%. Quickdraw Dandywarrior and Gadgets swapped places in popularity since Toronto, with 7.2% of the Duelists in San Jose running Gadgets, and 6.7% of the Duelists in San Jose running Quickdraw Dandywarrior. Of these 5 major Decks, only Blackwings maintained its popularity rank from Toronto, indicating an ever-changing game.

Top Deck diversity has clearly risen since Toronto. In Toronto these 5 most popular Decks made up 64.6% of the field. But weeks later, at YCS San Jose, these same 5 Decks only made up 53.3% of the field. That means almost half of the field was running a different creation, including the 6th most popular Deck, Lightsworn, comprising of 5.6% of the field, or the 7th most popular Deck, Infernities, making up 4.2% of the competition.

The Key to Success

It’s no secret that being able to defeat the most popular Decks will be the key to victory this weekend. But even if competitors can perfect their Decks to consistently triumph over the ones that are most popular, they’ll still have their work cut out for them. A large percentage of the field is sure to be using a Deck that isn’t considered “mainstream,” and many opponents will be unfamiliar with those matchups. Their Decks may not even be prepared to handle them. This may give the biggest advantage to Duelists using versatile cards and Decks, since those players will be prepared to take down the vast array of Decks being piloted this weekend.

Success in San Jose

Even though 5 different Decks made up about half of the field in San Jose, 9 different Decks were successful enough to make it to the Top 16. You don’t have to run what’s popular, to win. Blackwings, despite being only the 3rd most popular Deck in San Jose, placed 4 Duelists into the Top 16. X-Sabers and Quickdraw Dandywarrior were tied for the second most impressive showing, each bringing 3 Duelists into the Top 16. The most successful of those Quickdraw Dandywarrior Decks was teched out with Volcanic Shells, proving that even the most established Deck Types have room for improvement. The remaining 6 Decks in the Top 16 each had one representative. These Decks were Machina Gadgets, Plants with Debris Dragon, Infernities, a Deck based around Black Salvo, Scraps, and the eventual winner, LIGHT Gemini Beatdown.

One of the most shocking observations about the Top 16 is the absence of all Gladiator Beast Decks, despite it being the second most popular Deck used in the tournament. While this may cause many Duelists to lose faith in the strategy, other Duelists will see the diverse tournament scene as an opportunity to exploit the versatility of their Gladiator Beasts.

It’s also worth noting that a LIGHT Gemini Beatdown Deck, which wasn’t among the most popular Decks in the tournament, ended up being the eventual winner. This may heavily influence the Deck choice of competitors this weekend. We may see a rapid rise in the popularity of LIGHT Gemini Beatdown Decks.

The success of Scrap Decks in San Jose may also impact some Deck choices this weekend. Despite their minimal representation, Scrap Decks scored a spot in the Top 16 by using cool tech including Level Eater and The Tricky. Other Duelists who have experimented with Scraps may have discovered their competitive potential, and may be using them in the YCS.

A new tournament is about to begin, and with so many Decks being used in the competition, it’s anyone’s guess which Deck will be used to crown a champion. There are many Decks currently in contention, but by the end of tomorrow, there will be only 1 triumphant Duelist using 1 winning Deck. Follow the coverage of YCS Philadelphia to find out how the tournament will unfold!