The Deck Alex Vansant’s playing this weekend defies description.  How do you name something like this?  Karakuri Gadget Plants?  Ultimate Synchro Tengu?  Vansant is using Lonefire Blossom and its Synchro Summoning cohorts with Gadgets, Karakuris, and Reborn Tengu to create a devious Synchro-based Deck with massive potential over the coming months.

The lynchpin to the strategy is Ultimate Offering, a card that most Duelists may not even understand the power of.  Vansant’s using Gadgets and Reborn Tengu to gather non-Tuner Synchro Materials, then throws in a flurry of Karakuri and Plant Tuners to make huge, sweeping sequences of plays.  The result is a beguiling defense that lets Vansant keep monsters on the field to block attacks, and surprise Synchro Summons that can shatter the opponent’s expectations.  Here’s what it looks like:

Alex Vansant’s Tengu Synchro Gadgets – 41 Cards
Monsters: 19
3 Reborn Tengu
2 Yellow Gadget
2 Green Gadget
2 Red Gadget
3 Effect Veiler
2 Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan”
2 Lonefire Blossom
1 Dandylion
1 Glow-Up Bulb
1 Spore

Spells: 12
3 Pot of Avarice
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Limiter Removal
1 Mind Control
1 One for One
1 Monster Reborn
1 Foolish Burial
1 Giant Trunade
1 Dark Hole

Traps: 9
3 Ultimate Offering
2 Solemn Warning
2 Dimensional Prison
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force

Extra Deck:
2 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2 Formula Synchron
1 Armory Arm
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”
1 Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Magical Android

“This Deck makes crazy moves,” explained a downright chipper Vansant.  He was more than happy to favor us with an example: “With One for One and Dandylion, or any combination of Spore and 2 Token Monsters, I can Synchro Summon Formula Synchron and Ally of Justice Catastor.”  For Plant Synchro Duelists that trick is nothing new, but Vansant’s strategy takes that play into strange, new  places.  “From there I can Tune the Synchros together to make Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei”, and Burei gets me Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 “Saizan”.  If you have a Gadget on the field, you can then make Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”, and Shogun gets you another Watchdog.”  It’s a huge play sequence that can easily overwhelm an unsuspecting opponent, and it’s frighteningly easy to pull off.

Ultimate Offering is what really makes the Deck truly crazy.  “I can use it on my opponent’s turn to load the field, and I can use it to Summon 2 Gadgets.  Then I can bring out Glow-Up Bulb, and I can instantly go into Trishula while basically losing no monsters.  From there, I can drop 2 more Gadgets and another Trishula by reusing Glow-Up Bulb.”  The ability to drop as much Synchro fodder as he wants, whenever he wants, is a huge part of Vansant’s strategy.  A single Gadget with Ultimate Offering means as many as 24 Levels worth of non-Tuner Synchro Materials, while Reborn Tengu means an additional 12.  Since Glow-Up Bulb and Spore can both be reused for 2 Synchro Summons each thanks to their effects, Vansant can put all those non-Tuners to work.  And with the ability to bring out Watchdogs with Burei and Bureido, he can get even more Tuners to the field.

And his matchups?  “I think this beats everything but the Anti-Monster and Elemental Hero Decks,” remarked Vansant.  “Those are the only Decks that I feel have a chance to beat me, unless Karakuris really go off with huge combos.  Everything else I obliterate: it’s really just King Tiger Wanghu that can give me trouble.” Thunder King Rai-Oh can cause problems by negating Vansant’s all-important Synchro Summons, but he’s banking on a big surprise factor.  “I’ve never lost a Match against someone who didn’t know my complete strategy.  They either assume I’m playing Plants, or that I’m playing Gadgets.  They get really confused when a Plant Deck starts grinding down their cards, or when Gadgets explode into multiple Trishulas and lots of Synchros.”  In an event like this, where Vansant is likely to play plenty of Duelists from all over the country, that surprise factor can go a long way.

We could easily see Vansant make Day 2 with this strategy this weekend, but regardless of whether or not he makes the cut, this is a strategy to watch over the coming months.