Welcome to Day 2!  With 2 Rounds of Swiss competition still remaining before the cut to Top 64, there are several undefeated Duelists as we head into Round 10.  Derric Brewer is one of them, securing a 9-0 record yesterday with a pure Tech Genus build!  Tech Genus Decks actually did remarkably well yesterday, and the “pure” version – with no Plant-Types – may prove to be the breakout Deck of the tournament.  Jeff Jones is 8-1 here this morning with a very similar strategy, and Brewer was his only loss yesterday: a Tech Genus mirror Match.

Brewer’s performance is proving that the Tech Genus Deck is a force to be reckoned with, and while many Duelists attempted Plant, Warrior, and Flamvell versions in previous tournaments, you just can’t argue with the results this weekend.  The real strengths of this Deck lie in the Tech Genus-themed cards themselves: the four core Tech Genus monsters, and the mighty Trap Card TG1-EM1.  Here’s the Deck that’s going to take Brewer to the top 64!

Derric Brewer’s Tech Genus – 40 Cards

(Check back later for the whole list!)

The Tech Genus Deck is all about resiliency and defense.  Each Tech Genus monster has an effect that can search out another Tech Genus when the first is destroyed, replacing monsters as they block attacks or fall to opposing effects.  While most of the Tech Genus Duelists we’ve seen in the past only ran T.G. Rush Rhino, T.G. Striker, and T.G. Warwolf, Brewer goes all the way, playing T.G. Cyber Magician as well.  Since so many of his monsters replace themselves when they’re destroyed, he can buy himself time to put together big combos while drawing out his opponent’s best destruction effects.

Those Tech Genus replacement abilities only have two requirements for activation: the monster has to be destroyed on the field, and it has to go to the Graveyard.  It doesn’t matter what side of the field the Tech Genus monster was on when it was destroyed: as long as the monster hits the Graveyard and sticks there, its search effect is going to activate and resolve in the End Phase.  That’s where the first big, aggressive trick in the Deck’s arsenal comes in: TG1-EM1.  This theme-stamped Trap Card is arguably the single best reason to run Tech Genus.  It lets its controller pick 1 of their T.G. monsters and 1 of the opponent’s, and then trade control of the two cards once TG1-EM1 resolves.  It doesn’t matter how big the opposing monster is, and the monster doesn’t even have to be face-up; the Tech Genus Duelist can take virtually anything, and give nothing but their weakest Tech Genus in return.  Since TG1-EM1 is a Trap Card, it’s Chainable, too: it can trade away a monster that would be destroyed, or it can be played in response to something that would destroy TG1-EM1 itself.  Basically, this card makes the opponent waste their Mystical Space Typhoons all day long.  Because TG1-EM1 operates at such a fast Spell Speed, it’s perfect for taking powerful Synchro Monsters, or stopping Synchro Summons altogether by sticking the opponent with a Tuner or non-Tuner: whichever one would stop a would-be Synchro.

Once TG1-EM1 gives the opponent a Tech Genus monster, Duelists like Brewer can run down the swapped Tech Genus in battle and claim its search effect in the End Phase.  TG1 on its own trades 2 cards for your opponent’s 1: the Tech Genus Duelist gives up their Trap Card and their Tech Genus monster, while the opponent only loses their single monster.  But running over the Tech Genus that’s swapped to the opponent and then getting a free search effect evens the score, and the trade gets even better if TG1-EM1 is Chained to beat an opposing card.  In addition, the sheer impact of stealing a much-needed monster can’t be overstated: TG1-EM1 can turn huge, winning combos into nothing but mismatched pieces of shattered dreams.

Brewer plays 3 copies of TG1-EM1, but the power to send his opponent’s weaker monsters and then run them over to get more Tech Genuses from his Deck is so good that he also runs 2 copies of Creature Swap.  Swap isn’t Chainable, and it lets the opponent choose what monster Brewer gets, but it does have one big advantage: it’s not a Trap Card, so it doesn’t need to be Set.  That makes Brewer’s deck more consistent thanks to basic redundancy, but it also makes his Deck more unpredictable, too.

The last big strength of this build is Brewer’s capacity to hate on Special Summons.  Brewer packs some great Synchro Monsters, including T.G. Wonder Magician and T.G. Power Gladiator.  But TG1-EM1 and Creature Swap let him outplay big opposing Special Summons, and Royal Oppression plus King Tiger Wanghus make it really difficult for those Special Summons to ever happen in the first place.  King Tiger is huge: it stops all the key cards in combo-heavy Decks like WATER Synchro and Tengu Synchro, and Brewer runs Horn of the Phantom Beast to protect it.  Horn is really cool: not only does it protect King Tiger from bigger attackers, but it turns monsters like T.G. Rush Rhino and T.G. Warwolf into bigger attackers themselves.  It even works with Reborn Tengu, turning it into a stunning 2500 ATK beater.  That gives Brewer even more outs to the few big attackers he may come up against: it’s just really tough to keep worthwhile monsters on the field when you’re up against this strategy.

With several top Duelists holding 8-1 records with Tech Genus at the beginning of Day 2, and with Brewer totally undefeated at Table 1, it seems Tech Genus is here to stay!  It’s not so much a question of whether or not these Decks will make the Top 64: now it’s just a question of how many will make the cut.