The Yugiverse is in a state of HEROic revolution! New monsters released in Order of Chaos and the Premium Collection have led to a number of different HERO strategies seeing competitive play, and experiencing success here this weekend. Duelists are building around Fusion Gate, Skill Drain, Mask Change (with the new Masked HERO Dian and Masked HERO Acid) and Blade Armor Ninja, creating radically different decks that use similar monsters, but with completely different end results.

Andres Ochoa is playing a hot new variant called “Bubblebeat”. This Deck is all about fast, vicious aggression, combined with a heavy Trap Card lineup. It constantly threatens to Xyz Summon multiple copies of Blade Armor Ninja in a single turn. How does it do it? The answer is an old favorite from the GX era: Elemental HERO Bubbleman.

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The Bubblebeat strategy has two main avenues through which it achieves victory.

Method One: Basic Aggro

The first approach is an aggressive early game focused on Elemental HERO Stratos and Elemental HERO Neos Alius, backed by tons of monster-removing Traps like Solemn Warning, Compulsory Evacuation Device, and Hero Blast.

It can win Duels outright with just a few simple direct attacks, but it’s more common for these monsters to soften up the opponent for the second plan of action.

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Method Two: HERO Fusions

Once the opponent’s been tenderized and forced to play out some of their protective cards on relatively minor threats, the Deck kicks into high gear and starts throwing out bigger attackers via Miracle Fusion and Xyz Summoning.

Miracle Fusion gives the deck access to monsters like Elemental HERO Great Tornado and Elemental HERO Absolute Zero, but the most important of the bunch is Elemental HERO The Shining. Thanks to its effect, The Shining usually hits the field as a 3200 ATK beatstick – sometimes bigger. In addition, it returns up to two banished HERO’s to its controller’s hand when it’s sent to the Graveyard, adding more longevity to what could otherwise be a short-lived gameplan.

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Blade Armor Ninja

In addition to the big attackers made possible by Miracle Fusion, is the strategy’s biggest, most famous threat: Blade Armor Ninja.

Since every monster played in the Main Deck of this strategy is a Level 4 Warrior-Type, they can all be used interchangeably to bring out this monster. One Ninja on its own is a serious beating: since its effect allows it to attack twice, a single copy can dish out 4400 Battle Damage in one turn through direct attacks, or just end the Duel outright over the course of two turns.

Of course, the REAL play is to end the Duel in a single turn! Bubblebeat does that thanks to its namesake, Elemental HERO Bubbleman. With the ability to Normal Summon Stratos or Neos Alius, and then Set in-hand cards to the back row and Special Summon copies of Bubbleman, the Deck can dish out 8800 Battle Damage on any given turn. The deck can do that by making its Normal Summon; Setting copies of Reinforcement of the Army and E – Emergency Call; and then flipping them one by one to grab a Bubbleman, Special Summon it, grab another one, Special Summon that, and so on.

If that seems far-fetched, keep in mind that it doesn’t always have to be that complicated. For instance, Elemental HERO Stratos plus Monster Reborn is actually an OTK against an open field. Just Summon Stratos; Search Bubbleman; and Special Summon it. Use the two HERO monsters for Blade Armor Ninja, and detach Stratos to let Blade Armor attack twice this turn. With Stratos in the Graveyard you can Special Summon it back with Reborn; get another Bubbleman; and Special Summon that one for another Blade Armor Ninja. Voila: 8800 damage on deck, from a 2-card combo.

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BubbleBeat is fast, unpredictable, and most Duelists here this weekend just don’t seem prepared to take it on. Though it does frequently Special Summon in order to win, its high number of defensive cards allows it to stall out in the face of Maxx “C”; and with the exception of Elemental HERO Stratos and Blade Armor Ninja, it’s largely unaffected by Effect Veiler. It’s a great fit for the scene at tournaments like this one, and as you saw in our Round 4 Feature Match, it really can make an impact on the field this weekend. We’ll keep an eye out for it as Day 1 continues!