Deck Profile – Rob Chung’s Bujins
If you read our Round 5 Feature Match, you saw Carolyn Colajezzi and Rob Chung compete in a knock-down drag-out Feature Match that pitted Constellars against Bujins. And in the end? Bujins won. Both Decks benefit from the lack of Heavy Storm, running big trap lineups to protect their key monsters: in Chung’s case, that means protecting Bujin Yamato long enough to stack the graveyard with Bujingi Turtle, stacking up Turtles and collecting Bujingi Cranes. With enough Bujingi defense cards in place, plus some free removal tricks to keep the pressure up, Chung assembles a game position that’s virtually unbeatable. The longer a Duel goes, the longer he can stack up control cards, but Chung was adamant about the one biggest advantage he feels he has in this tournament: the surprise factor.
“Nobody knows what these cards do, especially the finer points of the rulings and the damage step interactions,” remarked Chung. “Nobody expects this deck to be competitive until Shadow Specters comes out, so it’s really under the radar right now. That’s my biggest strength.” Here’s what his Deck looks like…
[Check back later this weekend to see the complete Deck list!]
As you might have noticed from Chung’s Feature Match, one of the most powerful qualities of this Deck is that it doesn’t need to Special Summon. Bujintei Susanowo is essentially an upgraded version of Bujin Yamato: it’s got higher ATK; an effect that’s similar to Yamato’s, but gives you the option of just adding a card to your hand for free; and it can attack each of your opponent’s monsters once – a huge asset in a tournament where Scapegoat and Dandylion are flinging Token monsters all over the place. But Yamato itself is a viable centerpiece and can easily take wins on its own. Chung can protect it with Bujingi Crane and Bujingi Turtle, and with Yamato on the field he can destroy cards for free with Bujingi Quilin. In many contexts, Yamato is just as good as Susanowo.
And that’s good news, because Yamato’s wide range and high threat level means that it’s a tremendous combo with Vanity’s Emptiness – a defining card here tday. Chung plays a whopping seventeen trap cards to defend his set-ups, in addition to a nearly unprecedented eight hand traps, but Emptiness is the most deadly card in his defensive lineup. He plays two. With the ability to dominate Decks that rely on Special Summons, Emptiness is a perfect fit because it doesn’t conflict with Bujingi Crane and Honest; while Emptiness destroys itself if its controller sends a card from their field or Deck to their Graveyard, it doesn’t care if cards move there from your hand. That means you can Crane all you want to keep Yamato safe and stay aggressive, without releasing your death grip on Special Summons. And since this Deck itself doesn’t need to Special Summon, it’s not hindered by Emptiness itself. That’s huge.
This isn’t a particularly complicated build – virtually everything here is geared towards either getting Bujin Yamato on the table, or keeping it there. The few exceptions just serve to reinforce the core values at work: Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Bear builds on the Quilin theme of free removal, while Bujincarnation is a teched one-of that just helps Chung recover when his opponent knocks him off balance in the mid-game.
The trap lineup’s largely pretty predictable beyond those two copies of Vanity’s Emptiness: Bujin Regalia – The Sword is a new card that’s tied to the theme, but it’s obviously worth playing, since it does everything from recurring Bujin Yamato to acting as a chainable Honest by returning Bujingi Crane from the Graveyard. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast has extra utility here because it can load Bujingi Quilin or Bujingi Turtle to the Graveyard. Horn of the Phantom Beast’s a brutal combo with Yamato and Susanowo, giving you more card draw and more protection in one convenient package. There’s nothing surprising about these choices; what’s surprising is seeing them all in one place, since Chung no longer has to fear the threat of Heavy Storm when he wants to set multiple cards.
Rob Chung a was a shoe-in for Day 2, but did not make the Top 32. When Shadow Specters releases in November of this year his Deck will get a lot stronger.
