YCS Dallas 2017 is the first premiere event with Circuit Break legal for play, and Duelists have prepared their Decks and strategies for the newest 100 cards added to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME!  Here’s what players are including to combat the field!

Evenly Matched

Arguably one of the strongest cards in Circuit Break, Evenly Matched will punish the opponent for committing too many cards to the field by forcing them to banish cards they control face-down until they control the same amount of cards as the player who activated Evenly Matched. If the player controls no cards, they can activate the Trap Card from their hand, catching an unprepared opponent off-guard and swinging things back in the player’s favor. Even the threat of Evenly Matched will cause players to think twice about putting more cards on the field while the opponent has no cards on their field. To that end, players are combating the threat of Evenly Matched with…

Set Rotation

The Quick-Play Spell Card from Maximum Crisis Sets 2 Field Spell Cards from your Deck: one goes to your opponent, the other goes to you. By giving your opponent a Set Field Spell, they now control a card and can no longer activate Evenly Matched from their hand, which protects their monsters through the end of the Battle Phase. Because the opponent will need to get rid of the Field Spell you gave them or Set Evenly Matched before the can use it, the impact Evenly Matched has after Set Rotation resolves is much lower than it would be otherwise.  If they Set Evenly Matched, it’s vulnerable to removal like Cosmic Cyclone, Twin Twisters, and Heavy Storm Duster.

Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Friends

Monster effects that can activate from the hand during either player’s turn have always been worth a look, and this weekend is no exception. Cards like Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, and Droll & Lock Bird are seeing play in all sorts of strategies. Being able to interact with your opponent before you’ve even started your first turn is an opportunity too good to pass up for a lot of players. These cards are especially potent against the new SPYRAL Deck that is expected to dominate this weekend, since they can stop a SPYRAL Duelist from flooding the field on the very first turn.