YCS San Mateo Tech Update
We’ve seen some big trends developing over the weekend; here’s some of the biggest ones.
Raigeki Break and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
Duelists all over the tournament have been using these cards this weekend. With Dragon Rulers, the discard cost is a non-issue, as you’ll be able to use the Dragon Ruler from the Graveyard. Phoenix Wing Wind Blast hits the same cards as Raigeki Break, but in different ways. If you use Wing Blast on an Extra Deck monster, it returns to where it came from. That can be useful for keeping cards out of your opponent’s Graveyard, and Wing Blast also gets around common cards like Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack and Stardust Dragon. If you return a card that isn’t useful, you can lock your opponent out of their draws.
Raigeki Break, on the other hand, doesn’t have any tricky business like Wing Blast, but sometimes it’s just better to destroy the problematic card. Each of these is hugely popular, and some Duelists are finding more unique ways to discard. We’ve even seen several Duelists using Non Agression Area!
Mystical Refpanel
This card’s popularity exploded almost overnight! Duelists realized they could steal all kinds of important cards from their opponents. Usually, you’ll be taking draw spells like Sacred Sword of Seven Stars, Trade-In, or Cards of Consonance. When used on those cards, your opponent loses their Spell, but you draw two cards! If you manage to hit Pot of Duality with Refpanel, you’ll get to use the effect, but your opponent is still the one unable to Special Summon! You might also find that it Refpanel useful against damaging cards like Chain Strike and Poison of the Old Man in Chain Burn Decks, keeping your Life Points safe while also hurting theirs.
Ancient Fairy Dragon
Dragon Ruler Duelists have figured out a new trick for their Decks, and all it took was tweaking their Extra Decks. Many Duelists are using Trigon and Card Trooper as candidates to revive with Debris Dragon, allowing easy access to Ancient Fairy Dragon. By using Ancient Fairy Dragon’s second effect, you can destroy a Field Spell and gain 1000 Life Points, then add a Field Spell from your Deck to your hand. That lets Dragon Ruler Duelists do some sick combos. Kritin Deo showed how it’s done in his Feature Match in the Top 32. There are a lot of ways to vary this combo, but here’s how Deo did it.
- Play Dragon Ravine, and use it to get Trigon and Tempest, Dragon Ruler of Storms in the Graveyard.
- Banish Tempest from the Graveyard and something else from your hand (ideally another Dragon Ruler) in order to Special Summon a Dragon Ruler.
- Use Tempest to get Debris Dragon. Play it, revive Trigon, and make Ancient Fairy Dragon.
- Have it destroy Ravine to get you another one. Use that Ravine to add Dragunity Corsesca to your hand. Use Ancient Fairy Dragon’s first effect to Special Summon Corsesca.
- Stack your Ancient Fairy Dragon and Dragon Ruler for Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack. Use it to get two Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens.
- Tune Corsesca to the Tokens for another Ancient Fairy Dragon. Have it replace Ravine again, and use it to load a Dragon Ruler.
- Special Summon that Dragon Ruler, and stack it with Ancient Fairy Dragon for a second Dracossack.
This combo is very flexible. There are a ton of different ways to pull it off, such as if you already have Trigon in the Graveyard or Debris in your hand. And, if your opponent has a Field Spell, Ancient Fairy Dragon just gets even better!
As the format continues, Duelists are showing that they still know how to find new ways to play!
