YCS Indianapolis is the last Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series to use the March 1^st 2011 Forbidden and Limited lists. When YCS action arrives in Toronto in September, it’ll be a whole new format, so this is the last hurrah of the current era. For some Duelists, that makes this tournament their last chance to find Championship success in the current era of competition. For others, like Johnny  Nagel, it means an excuse to go wild and have some fun.

The Dawn of the Xyz has brought with it a ton of creativity, as Duelists look for new ways to take advantage of Xyz Monsters like Number 39: Utopia. Some are looking to use those new Xyz in Decks they were already playing, but Duelists like Nagel are brushing the dust off older strategies to find new advantages. Nagel is leveraging the high-powered Special Summoning effects of Crystal Beasts to make lots of Level 4 Special Summons. That lets him unleash 2500 ATK Utopias with ease, negating attacks and brickwalling aggressive opponents. Combined with the powerful control effects of Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins and some precision tricks that Nagel’s worked in, the result is a fast, fun Deck that’s jam-packed with slick surprises. Check it out!

(Check back later for the full Deck list.)

If you weren’t Dueling during the GX era, you may not be familiar with Jesse Anderson’s Crystal Beasts. The Crystal Beasts are a family of monsters with differing Types and Attributes, but they all have one big thing in common: when they’re destroyed, they go to your Spell & Trap Card Zone instead of your Graveyard. Once a Crystal Beast is “crystallized” in the back row, it can be used for a wide array of powerful themed effects.

A Crystal Beast Duelist can draw cards with Rare Value; Special Summon more Crystal Beasts with Crystal Promise and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle; and fuel the many effect of the Field Spell Card, Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. The magic number is 4. Once 4 Beasts are crystallized, Nagel can draw an extra card each turn with Rainbow Ruins, and activate the game-crushing finisher Spell, Crystal Abundance.

Crystal Abundance sends 4 “Crystal Beast” cards from the back row to the Graveyard, and then sends everything else on the field to the Graveyard, including the opponent’s cards. Then, Abundance lets its controller Special Summon Crystal Beasts from the Graveyard equal to the number of the opponent’s cards that were sent away. Sometimes, that means enough Crystal Beasts to win the Duel then and there. But if not, Nagel can build a wall with one or two copies of the Rank 4 Xyz Monster, Number 39: Utopia. “After I Abundance the field, I can go into mulitple Utopias,” explained Nagel. Because they can each negate up to two attacks, they become a tough roadblock; and since each has 2500 ATK, they can win the Duel in a matter of moments.

“It’s Gen Con, so I’m just here to have a good time,” grinned Nagel. “But I think the deck is really pretty good. For alot of reasons!” Don’t let Nagel’s sense of adventure fool you: the decision to run Crystal Beasts today was also a sharp call. “When a Crystal Beast is destroyed in battle, it goes to the back row,” Nagel explained. “That means that if my opponetns runs over a Crystal Beast with Horn of the Phantom Beast, my opponent doesn’t get to draw for the Horn’s effect. My monster has to go to the Graveyard for Horn’s draw to work, and my Crystal Beasts never will.” With a starring role in Hansel Aguero’s Championship-winning Tech Genus strategy at the North American WCQ, everybody is running Horn this weekend, pairing it with everything from Reborn Tengu to Pitch-Black Warwolf and King Tinger Wanghu. Nagel himself is playing it, since it works with monsters like Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger. “Horn sort of turns Topaz Tiger into T.G. Rush Rhino,” commented Nagel. “It attacks; it gains ATK; and it goes to 2800 Attack Points.” By playing his own Horns, he can outplay opposing copies in the Damage Step.

It wouldn’t be a Johnny Nagel Deck without some amazing plays, and Crystal Beasts have that covered! We won’t spoil all his tech, but one trick is just too awesome not to mention: Full House. A Trap Card from Extreme Victory, Full House requires its user to target 2 face-up Spell or Trap Cards, and 3 Set Spell and Trap Cards when it’s activated. It then destroys all 5 cards. Normally it would be tough to find 2 face-up Spell or Trap Cards to target, but not in this Deck! Nagel can target a crystallized Crystal Beast plus Rainbow Ruins, and when the effect of Full House resolves, Rainbow Ruins’ first effect will protect it from being destroyed. Nagel gives up nothing but his crystallized monster, and can destroy 3 opposing Set cards. It’s just one of the tricks Nagel’s got up his sleeve.

Win or lose, Johnny Nagel is going to turn alot of heads here this weekend. Capitalizing on trends set by Starter Deck: Dawn of the Xyz and the rising popularity of Horn of the Phantom Beast, Nagel aims to tackle the field and have fun doing it. Crystal Beasts are back!