Every YCS marks new trends in Dueling. Duelists are always trying to adapt to each other, as well as playing with and against new cards that are being released. Since YCS Anaheim falls shortly after the releases of three Booster Packs, a Duelist Pack, and two Structure Decks, there’s a ton of new cards out there! Here’s some of the ways people are adapting to the changing metagame.

Kaiju Monsters

The prevelance of Toadally Awesome has caused a huge number of cards to start seeing play entirely to counter it. The biggest ones are the Kaiju – specifically, Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju. As the Kaiju with the lowest ATK, it’s the option most Duelists would prefer to be handing to their opponent. It’s also a Level 8 monster for anyone using Trade-In. Some Duelists, specifically Metalfoes Duelists, are using Kumongous, the Sticky String Kaiju instead of Gameciel. Kumongous is a Level 7 monster, so it can be Pendulum Summoned in some strategies when they don’t need to Special Summon it to the opponent’s field.

In addition to handling Toadally Awesome, Kaiju are also good for removing threats like Kozmo Dark Destroyer, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, Blue-Eyes Synchro Monsters, Beatrice, Lady of the Eternal, Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin, and much more. They serve a similar role that Lava Golem and Volcanic Queen have in the past, but even better since they can also be used in ways without giving them to your opponent.

Book of Eclipse

Book of Eclipse is quickly becoming the versatile answer to troublesome monsters that any Deck can use. While many Duelists may be put off by the idea of Book of Eclipse letting your opponent draw free cards, you’ve got to look beyond that. While your opponent might get a free card or more, they might have gained much more advantage if you allowed them to use their best monsters. For example, if an ABC Deck is playing out Bujintei Tsukuyomi, they’re going to discard their hand and draw two cards. That’s a huge setup for them to load up their Graveyard with their Union monsters – it’s usually better to let them draw a card with Book of Eclipse.

Book of Eclipse is also a good answer to certain cards that are difficult to deal with, due to their effects. Majespecter Unicorn – Kirin, for example, is almost impossible to get rid of since it can’t be targeted or destroyed by opposing card effects. With its effect, it can keep itself safe by bouncing away threats. A simple Book of Eclipse can turn it face-down where you can manage it.

Book of Eclipse and the Kaiju monsters serve similar purposes. The Kaiju will guarantee that the threat is eliminated, but you’ll need to Special Summon them in your Main Phase. Book of Eclipse, on the other hand, can be used reactively.

Denko Sekka

This one’s pretty simple. Denko Sekka makes life difficult for Metalfoes, or any Deck that’s even a little Trap Card heavy. Not only does Denko Sekka stop the use of Traps and Quick-Play Spells, it also prevents the use of the Metalfoes Pendulum Effects.  Since Denko Sekka doesn’t work unless your field is completely free of Set Spell/Trap Cards, it can’t be used in every strategy. It works well in Blue-Eyes or Mermail Decks, for example, which don’t play a lot of back row cards and don’t really mind giving up a Normal Summon to play Denko Sekka.

Retaliating “C”

Another card to fight against Metalfoes, Retaliating “C” helps punish both Metalfoes Fusion and Fullmetalfoes Fusion. Once they’ve activated their Fusion Spell Card, they’ll have to commit to it even while Retaliating “C” is on the board. With Retaliating “C” banishing their Fusion Materials, they won’t be able to use many of their card effects such as Metalfoes Mithrilium.

Though they can probably destroy your Retaliating “C” right away with Metalfoes Goldriver or Metalfoes Silverd, you still come out ahead. You’ve interfered with their Fusion Summon, and Retaliating “C” will replace itself with Maxx “C” to continue helping in the matchup.