Let’s take a closer look at what made it into the Top 32 of YCS Charlotte. You can see the individual players and pairings here: https://yugiohblog.konami.com/2022/04/ycs-charlotte-top-32-pairings-and-deck-types/ 

9 Destiny Adventurer Prank-Kids
1 Adventurer Prank-Kids
5 Tenyi Swordsoul
4 Floowandereeze
3 Destiny Synchro Adventurer
3 Destiny Adventurer Cyberse Eldlich
2 Eldlich
1 Destiny Dogmatika Invoked
1 Shaddoll Dogmatika
1 Destiny Despia
1 Destiny Adventurer Sky Striker
1 Dragon Link

Dread it… Run from it…

Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer arrives all the same. We have Destiny HERO cards in 18 of the Top 32, just over half the field. Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer is an incredibly powerful card, and it’s enabled by Predaplant Verte Anaconda and Fusion Destiny fitting into any Deck that has Extra Deck space. On top of that, Destiny HERO – Celestial and Destiny HERO – Dasher both have some useful effects in the GY after they’ve been used as Fusion Materials. It’s easy to fit this package into just about any Deck if you like. One Celestial, one Dasher, and two Fusion Destiny in the Main Deck, then Anaconda and Phoenix Enforcer in the Extra Deck. Phoenix Enforcer’s effect is not just an offensive tool to destroy opposing cards – it’s also a way to trigger your own effects, such as that of Artifact Scythe on your opponent’s turn.

Notably, the majority of Decks that aren’t playing Destiny are the ones that simply can’t. Tenyi Swordsoul is usually locked into Synchro Summons, while Floowandereeze and pure Eldlich Decks can’t really put their Extra Deck to much use. Dragon Link simply doesn’t have the space for it, and has other things it would rather try to do. Interestingly, only one of the Adventure Prank-Kids Decks decided to forego Destiny.

Duelists already knew Phoenix Enforcer would be a force to be reckoned with, and these results really solidify that fact.

Taking the Top 32 on an Adventure

The Adventurer engine is almost as popular as the Destiny HERO one, appearing in 17 of the Top 32 Decks. The core that Duelists are using is Rite of Aramesir, Fateful Adventure, Water Enchantress of the Temple, Wandering Gryphon Rider, and Dracoback, the Rideable Dragon. This set of cards gives you a consistent way to field Wandering Gryphon Rider and protect your combos, while also giving you an Adventurer Token to use as a material for other monsters, such as Link Summons.

The most popular way to use the Adventurer engine is with Prank-Kids, which are already a Link and Fusion Summoning powerhouse. They’re also seen paired with Rose Dragon cards for a Synchro focused Deck, as well as with Sky Strikers and a Cyberse Eldlich hybrid.

This Deck’s Success is not a Prank

Prank-Kids are the most represented Deck at YCS Charlotte, with 10 total Decks. All used the Adventure engine, and all but one had Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer as well. They’re a very strong Deck, able to get going with just a single Prank-Kid to begin Link Summoning. With easy access to Phoenix Enforcer, Accesscode Talker, and a variety of Prank-Kids Fusion Monsters, it’s easy to see how the Deck has been successful.  

Tenyi Swordsoul wyrms their way into the Top 32

After Prank-Kids, Tenyi Swordsoul is the next most popular Deck. This Synchro-based Wyrm strategy is still very strong, and even got new Swordsoul cards in Battle of Chaos. The Deck still does what it already did, playing Synchros like the Swordsouls, Yang Zing, and Baronne de Fleur.

Go with the Floowandereeze

Coming in just behind Tenyi Swordsoul is Floowandereeze. This Deck doesn’t exactly Special Summon at all, preferring to chain together Normal Summons one after another. By using such a drastically different gameplan, this Deck can avoid many cards that would inhibit other Decks. It’s also very resilient, since the Floowandereeze cards continue to return to your hand.

It’s notable that Tenyi Swordsoul and Floowandereeze are the 2^nd and 3^rd most popular strategies, and neither uses Destiny or Adventure at all. And another Deck not using either of those engines…

Eldich. Just Eldlich.

While there are more Eldlich builds using the power of Adventerur and Cyberse combos, it’s also important to note the pure Eldlich Decks. These Decks tend to play a heavy Trap Card lineup, and the chosen traps will dictate how well they perform.

The two pure Eldlich Decks shared many cards. Each had 3 Conquistador of the Golden Land, 3 Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine, 3 Huaquero of the Golden Land, and 1 Golden Land Forever!, of course. Next is the newly unlimited Skill Drain at 3, 3 There Can Be Only One, 3 Solemn Strike, 3 Ice Dragon’s Prison, and 2 to 3 Gozen Match. After that the builds differ, with Jerome Adams playing 2 Anti-Spell Fragrance, 3 Dogmatika Punishment, and 2 Torrential Tribute, along with a trio of Lord of the Heavenly Prison. Jorge Gonzalez Llanes instead kept Anti-Spell in the Side Deck, added 3 Solemn Judgment, then fewer Traps overall to fit Pot of Prosperity and Eldlixir of Black Awakening.

Jerome’s build using a few more situational Traps makes sense, since Lord of the Heavenly Prison can search for them whenever you’d want them, and you can ditch them for Eldlich the Golden Lord when you don’t want them anymore. Jorge instead went for straight consistency with Pot of Prosperity. Both players kept Gozen Match and There Can Be Only One in the Main Deck. Gozen is a massive hurdle for Prank-Kids, Tenyi, Swordsoul, Adventure, Sky Strikers, and more, while There Can Be Only One handles Prank-Kids, Tenyi, Swordsoul, Floowandereeze, Dragon Link and many others.

They also had Dimensional Barrier in the Side Deck, which is an incredible silver bullet against anything not heavily focused on Link Monsters, but it’s primarily wanted when you know you’re going first.

Even if pure Eldlich isn’t the primary meta Deck, it’s always useful to see what traps they’re using to take on the other Decks. You can use that information to inform your own Main and Side Deck choices.

The Rest of the Pack

There were quite a few other Decks that showed up. Synchro Adventurer uses the Rose Dragon cards to put together Synchro and Link Summons, backed by the Adventurer engine. It plays a ton of interaction, with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion, Effect Veiler, Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, Nibiru, the Primal Being, Artifact Lancea, and Fairy Tail – Snow. Many of these are tuners, so they also play nicely with Crystron Halqifibrax. There was a lot of hype for this Deck going into the tournament today, and three of them managed to make it to the Top 32.

Two Dogmatika Decks are here, but very different variants that use Fusion Monsters – Shaddolls in one and Invoked in another. A single Sky Striker made it in, also fueled by Adventurers, while the lone Dragon Link Deck did not use Adventurers. Finally, there’s one Despia Deck! The fact that it’s here in the Top 32 before the release of Structure Deck: Albaz Strike really says something to their capabilities. This is one Deck that’ll only be getting better soon!

There you have it! The Top 32 shows how strong Adventurer and Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer are, while also showing what Decks can stand against them. We’ll have to wait and see how the Dueling landscape changes by next month’s YCS in Hartford, CT.