David Mendoza won it all this weekend with an innovative Danger Deck featuring Gizmek Orochi and Gren Maju Da Eiza, a callback to the dedicated Danger decks that tore up YCS Niagara Falls last year!  His strategy wins by unleashing lots of big attackers in one turn, and the sheer amount of draw power makes it tremendously consistent.

Monsters: 26
2 Danger! Nessie!
2 Danger!? Tsuchinoko?
2 Danger! Chupacabra!
2 Danger!? Jackalope?
3 Danger! Ogopogo!
3 Danger! Thunderbird!
3 Danger! Bigfoot!
3 Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher
3 Gren Maju Da Eiza
3 Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay

Spells: 15
1 Card Destruction
1 Monster Reborn
2 Danger! Response Team
2 Trade-In
3 Pot of Desires
3 Super Polymerization
3 Hey, Trunade!

Side Deck: 15
3 Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju
3 Nibiru, the Primal Being
3 Shared Ride
3 Twin Twisters
3 Danger! Zone

Extra Deck: 15
2 Starving Venom Fusion Dragon
1 Salamangreat Violet Chimera
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Wee Witch’s Apprentice
1 Borrelsword Dragon
1 Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos
1 Knightmare Phoenix
1 Knightmare Unicorn
1 Knightmare Mermaid
1 Knightmare Cerberus
1 Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star
1 Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy
1 Number 68: Sanaphond the Sky Prison
1 Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon

There’s a lot of cool stuff going on here, most of it leads into a 1-2-3 punch that sees Mendoza bide his time, build the perfect hand and then drop a trio of big attackers to win in one turn.  The waiting is the important part: the more time passes and the more cards Mendoza runs through, the more combos he can assemble all in one turn.  And the more banish effects Mendoza resolves with Gizmek Orochi and Pot of Desires the bigger his Gren Majus become. Don’t misunderstand, the Deck can win games on its first turn when it goes second (and it did in several Feature Matches), but victory becomes more and more inevitable over time.

The draw power of the Danger monsters combined with cards like Trade-In, Pot of Desires and Card Destruction helps Mendoza get to the cards he needs for an OTK, and Hey, Trunade! proved to be shockingly effective ripping away wins from dug-in opponents.  Note the use of Danger! Response Team, too: we saw Mendoza use it time and time again for its Graveyard effect, giving him easy access to the abilities of his in-hand Danger monsters plus a little more draw.  But that main effect is powerful tool, and it combos really well with Mendoza’s sided copies of Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju.

Gizmek Gren Maju variants took 2^nd Place at YCS Portland and 1^st Place here in Niagara Falls. David Mendoza’s success will leave Duelists across the globe with plenty to think about over the coming weeks!