The single most-discussed card here at Navy Pier today is easily DNA Surgery.  Wander the tournament floor, and somebody’s going to be talking about it within earshot.  While we’ve largely discussed Main Deck picks up until this point, Surgery is poised to be the breakthrough Side Deck tech of the weekend.  While we saw competitors dabble with the card before the release of Tachyon Galaxy, largely to prevent Dino Rabbit Decks from Xyz Summoning Evolzar Laggia and Evolzar Dolkka, it’s making a comeback this weekend as an answer to Prophecy.

A lot of the Spellbook cards Duelists rely on specifically affect Spellcaster monsters, not “Prophecy” monsters.  That makes the Spellbooks flexible and splashable in all sorts of Spellcaster decks.  However, it also means that if your Prophecy monsters aren’t Spellcasters anymore a ton of your cards won’t work.  Spellbook Star Hall won’t boost your monsters’ ATK; Spellbook of Wisdom won’t protect anything; and you won’t be able to activate Spellbook of the Master, Spellbook of Power, or the all-important Spellbook of Fate.  All the effects that Prophecy require to dominate and control the Dragon Ruler matchup suddenly fall apart.  With Spellbook of Fate offline and many Prophecy Duelists no longer running High Priestess of Prophecy, the Prophecy competitor is stuck relying on counter-sided Mystical Space Typhoon or awkward Synchro solutions that are easier said than done.  With Typhoon being such a weak card in the Dragon Ruler matchup, the simplest answer is also double-edged sword.

Will DNA Surgery be a defining card this weekend?  That’s definitely up in the air, but the hype and the panicked scramble for playsets that we’re seeing is highly reminiscent of similar situations that gave birth to defining tech, like the instantly-popular Needle Ceiling at YCS Toronto last year.  If you’re not ready for DNA Surgery this weekend, you might be lagging behind the trends.