Victor Santana is running a new generation Herald Deck that he calls “Heralds of Hope”. Unlike the Herald builds of previous formats, Santana’s Deck isn’t packed with Normal Monsters that fuel Advanced Ritual Art. He’s not even running the extremely high Fairy count that some of the older Herald Decks run. Instead, he’s running Fairies, Fiends, and Spellcasters in his Deck, and that added versatility gives his Deck a lot of flexibility where other Herald Decks fell short.

Monsters: 25
1 Skelengel
1 Honest
1 Sonic Bird
1 Sangan
3 Herald of Orange Light
3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
3 Senju of the Thousand Hands
3 Herald of Perfection
3 Tour Guide From the Underworld
3 Djinn Releaser of Rituals
3 Chaos Sorcerer

Spells: 12
3 Upstart Goblin
3 Down of the Herald
2 Preparation of Rites
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Giant Trunade
2 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 3
3 Safe Zone

Victor Santana’s main goal is to Summon Herald of Perfection by using Djinn Releaser of Rituals in a Ritual Summon, and then flip Safe Zone to protect the Herald and lock down his opponent. By using Safe Zone to protect his key monster, Santana can afford to run fewer Fairies than traditional Herald Decks, since he won’t need to discard Fairies to protect his Herald – he’ll only need to protect Safe Zone.

When Djinn Releaser of Rituals is used in a Ritual Summon, his opponent can’t Special Summon any monsters as long as that Ritual Monster is on the field. By combining the effect of his Djinn with Herald of Perfection’s ability to negate Spells, Traps, and Monster Effects, Santana can put his opponents in an impossible-to-win position. Flipping Safe Zone makes it even tougher, since Safe Zone will protect the Herald from battle and effects that target it.

Thanks to Tour Guide From the Underworld, Santana can consistently Summon his Herald of Perfection by using his Djinn in the Ritual Summon. His favorite play requires him to have Tour Guide, Herald of Perfection, and Dawn of the Herald in his hand. First, he Summons Tour Guide and uses her effect to Special Summon Djinn Releaser of Rituals, a Level 3 Fiend, from his Deck. Then he activates Dawn of the Herald and sends his Tour Guide and Djinn to the Graveyard to Ritual Summon Herald of Perfection from his hand! With the Djinn used in the Ritual Summon, his opponent is left unable to Special Summon any monsters, and is in a tight spot that’s tough to break out of.

Santana can achieve this play with surprising consistency. With Sonic Bird, Senju of the Thousand Hands, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, and Preparation of Rites in his Deck to search for Herald of Perfection and Dawn of the Herald, plus Upstart Goblin and Allure of Darkness to help him draw the pieces of his combo, Santana can consistently pull off the play as early as his first or second turn!

But even if Santana isn’t able to create his ideal combo and Summon his Herald by using a Djinn, Santana’s Deck is capable of other, more aggressive, plays. He uses a full 3 copies of Chaos Sorcerer to take advantage of the DARK side of the Deck, made possible by Tour Guide and the Djinns. That lets him fight against his opponent’s monsters even when he doesn’t have Herald of Perfection on the field. He also uses Herald of Orange Light – a Level 2 Tuner that lets him turn his disposable monsters like Manju or a spare Tour Guide into Level 5 or Level 6 Synchro Monsters. If Santana makes these plays while he has Herald of Perfection on the field to lock the opponent down, the Summon of one of these high-Level monsters is usually game-ending for his opponent.

Victor Santana’s Heralds of Hope Deck brings new life to an old Deck by taking advantage of some of the new combos made possible by Extreme Victory. If Victor Santana is successful in the tournament this weekend, we may see the core structure of Herald Decks change once again!