Here are the top ten tables as we head into Round 5 of YCS San Diego.

Table 1: Kesavan Raja Kushalnagar (Trickstar) vs. Michael Kyle Walters (Trickstar)

Table 2: Kamal Derrick El Crooks-Valdez (SPYRAL) vs. Lukas Michael-Paul Gaze (Trickstar)

Table 3: Mitchell Ryan Martin (SPYRAL) vs. Gabriel Adib El-Allie (SPYRAL)

Table 4: Sinjin Ikaika Toshiyuki Nagasawa (Pendulum Magician) vs. Dominic Antonio Ortiz (Trickstar)

Table 5: David Allen Thigpen II (Trickstar) vs. Thomas Wai Mak (Trickstar)

Table 6: David March Lopez (True Draco) vs. Richard Stan Rorabaugh (SPYRAL)

Table 7: Michael Joseph Tamez (Dinosaur) vs. Paul Ivan Diaz (Trickstar)

Table 8: Esteban Vences Brito (Pendulum Magician) vs. Francisco Iram Alcaraz (Invoked)

Table 9: Leonardo Sosa Calderon (SPYRAL) vs. Eduardo Enrique Gomez (Darklord)

Table 10: Orion Christian Gonzales (SPYRAL) vs. Carlos Rafael Fernandez Umbria (SPYRAL)

The breakdown is:

7 SPYRAL
7 Trickstar
2 Pendulum Magician
1 True Draco
1 Dinosaur
1 Darklord
1 Invoked

Halfway through Day 1 of YCS San Diego, and we have an equal number of SPYRAL and Trickstar Decks?! While most Duelists are saying SPYRAL is the number one strategy, many are turning to Trickstars as a way to counter them. Since Trickstars already play Droll & Lock Bird to combo with Trickstar Reincarnation, and both cards individually help in the matchup, the Trickstars have a built-in advantage. Add that to the fact that they can easily find space for cards like Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, and you’ve got a strong matchup against SPYRAL.

Other than those two, there’s quite a bit of variety in the top Decks. Pendulum Magicians, True Draco, Dinosaurs, and Invoked are all strategies we’ve seen over the last few months. Darklords are certainly a surprise though!