This tournament will consist of 10 Swiss Rounds of competition, cutting to a Top 32.  From there, the remaining Duelists will compete in 5 more Rounds of playoff Dueling before a winner is declared.  Today we’ll see 8 of the 10 Swiss Rounds play out, with the remaining 2 Swiss Rounds tomorrow.  That means that here in Round 5, we are halfway through Day 1, so it’s a great chance to look at the Decks – and the Duelists – at the top tables!  The following are the competitors seated at the 10 highest-ranked tables right now.  All of them are undefeated heading into the round…

Table 1:
Christopher Vinson with Agents
Versus
Claude Doiron with Agents

Table 2:
Simon Phoenix with X-Sabers
Versus
Billy Streit with Miracle Gemini

Table 3:
Audrey Tan with Agents
Versus
Peter Tran with Gravekeepers

Table 4:
Sean Montague with Plant Synchro
Versus
Louis Hong with Agents

Table 5:
Arie Halpern with Agents
Versus
Kheiredaine Sehabi with Blackwings

Table 6:
Barrett Keys with Agents
Versus
Bo Tang with Agents

Table 7:
Chris Bowling with Plant Synchro
Versus
Joseph Aceret with Lightsworn

Table 8:
Curtis Cabral with Plant Synchro
Versus
Ethemois Liavas with Gravekeepers

Table 9:
Tommy Tan with Agents
Versus
Aiji Murai with Diva Destiny Heroes

Table 10:
Jessy Samek with Plant Synchro
Versus
Frazier Smith with Plant Synchro

For a quick recap, that breaks down to:

– 8 Agent Decks
– 5 Plant Synchro Decks
– 2 Gravekeeper Decks
– 1 Destiny Hero Diva Deck
– 1 Lightsworn Deck
– 1 Blackwing Deck
– 1 Miracle Gemini Deck
– 1 X-Saber Deck

Heading into today, most Duelists were anticipating that Agents and Plant Synchro would be the two most-played Decks at the top tables.  Sure enough, that’s what’s happened, though the sheer volume of Agent Decks doing so well perhaps defies most expectations.  Gravekeepers are a solid third place so far, largely thanks to Wonder Wand.  It’s worth noting that a full 25% of the top table field is spread across a variety of alternative Decks, and that number could increase as the tournament continues.  Any of these strategies could make it to the Top 32!