Jonathan Barber won our Round 6 Feature Match with his Flamvellsworn Deck this weekend, recovering from an early Royal Tribute in 2 Duels and securing victory with a swarm of Synchro Monsters. Now, he’s 8-1 in the tournament with a Deck he’s been running for over a year, wiping out opponents all over the tournament floor with his power-plays enabled by Rekindling.

Jonathan Barber’s Flamvellsworn Deck
(Check back after the event is over!)

Jonathan Barber’s Flamvellsworn Deck has a power that very few other Decks share: it can win a Duel with the activation of a single card. Rekindling allows Barber to Special Summon all of his Flamvell monsters from the Graveyard, and with cards like Card Trooper, Charge of the Light Brigade, and Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress sending Flamvell monsters from his Deck to his Graveyard at rapid speed, the size of the swarm that Rekindling can fire onto the field quickly grows.

As you saw in Barber’s Round 6 Feature Match, Barber can even recover from Royal Tribute plays that strip his hand of several monsters. Every Flamvell monster that enters Barber’s Graveyard fuels the Rekindling play that his Deck strives for. Getting Barber’s monsters into the Graveyard is only a temporary solution for his opponents, who will have to face Barber’s Flamvells again after he activates Rekindling. Barber uses 2 copies of Gold Sarcophagus to reach his copies of Rekindling more quickly, and make sure he’s able to build up that Duel-ending swarm of monsters at some point in the Duel.

Because Barber’s Deck can deal such quick damage at the activation of a Rekindling, he likes when his opponents pay Life Points to activate cards like Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment to negate the Summons of his individual monsters, like Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress. It makes it easier to wipe out his opponents with whatever swarm of monsters he’s able to accumulate by the activation of a single Rekindling. But when Lyla does make it onto the field, not only does she wipe out opponents’ defensive Trap Cards, she can also be Tuned with the Level 3 Flamvell Archer so that Barber can Synchro Summon the Level 7 Arcanite Magician and destroy 2 more cards with his Magician’s effect.

But Barber’s Deck is mainly focused on Summoning Level 8 Synchro monsters. By Tuning Flamvell Magician with Flamvell Firedog or Flamvell Grunika, Barber can choose to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon, Scrap Dragon, or another Level 8 Synchro Monster. Since Flamvell Firedog lets Barber Special Summon Flamvell Magician from his Deck when it destroys a monster, Tuning those 2 monsters together is a breeze. Plus, as you can see from Duel 3 of Barber’s Round 6 Feature Match, making that Synchro Summon immediately puts 2 more Flamvell Monsters into his Graveyard for him to revive with Rekindling and use in another Synchro Summon.

When Barber is able to make a Level 8 Synchro Monster early on, he usually goes for Stardust Dragon. “Most people can’t get around a Stardust,” he told me. “Once Stardust hits the field, I know it’s safe to do everything else.” Barber also said he likes to Tune his Level 7 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness or Emissary of Darkness Token with Glow-Up Bulb to make Stardust Dragon. Not all of his Synchro Summons involve Flamvells!

Barber’s Deck is also capable of pulling off the Armory Arm / Colossal Fighter combo. After he activates Rekindling, he can Tune Flamvell Archer with Flamvell Poun to Synchro Summon Armory Arm, and Tune Flamvell Firedog or Flamvell Grunika with Flamvell Magician to Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter. From there, he can equip Armory Arm to an opponent’s monster to make it stronger than his Colossal Fighter, and then ram his Colossal Fighter into that monster, repeatedly reviving it and attacking that monster with it again. Each time his Colossal Fighter falls in battle, his opponent will lose Life Points equal to Colossal Fighter’s ATK, due to the effect of his Armory Arm. This allows him to instantly defeat any Duelist who has a strong monster on the field, like a Monarch, when he activates Rekindling.

Barber’s Deck is packed with Flamvell combos that allow him to quickly Summon monsters to the field and overwhelm opponents, but he also made room for some off-theme cards like D.D. Crow. Barber decided that it was a strong tech choice against any Chaos or Plant Deck, since it can prevent the Summon of Chaos Sorcerer and remove a monster from the Graveyard that’s targeted with the effect of Debris Dragon.

Barber’s Deck is prepared to handle just about anything, and his success in the tournament this weekend reflects that. If he continues burning his opponents with his Flamvell monsters, we’ll be seeing Jonathan Barber’s Flamvellsworn Deck in the Top 32!