YCS Anaheim Tech Update
YCS Anaheim is underway, with Duelists adding new tech cards to their Decks in hopes of having an advantage against all of the other players in the room. With the new Ryzeal and Maliss themes introduced in Crossover Breakers, players are using new cards in their Side Decks with the hopes of being prepared for those new Decks. Here are some of the tech choices that are popular this weekend!
Ultimate Slayer
Perhaps the scariest Deck to come out of Crossover Breakers is Ryzeal, a deck with the ability to pump out Rank 4 monsters. One of the scariest cards is Ryzeal Detonator, a Rank 4 Xyz Monster that is able to destroy multiple cards each turn! It’s definitely something that players know that they have to prepare for, and one card that players are using to counter it is Ultimate Slayer. Ultimate Slayer lets you send a monster from your Extra Deck to the Graveyard to return an opponent’s monster of the same type (Fusion, Synchro, etc.) to their Extra Deck. With this card, you can send Mereologic Aggregator to the Graveyard to return Detonator to the Extra Deck, and then use Aggregator’s effect to negate your opponent’s Ryzeal Cross! Even though your opponent can’t negate Ultimate Slayer with monster effects, they still might be prepared and have a Solemn Judgment ready to protect their Detonator; however, Ultimate Slayer will send Aggregator to the Graveyard as a cost, so you can use it to negate Cross or Detonator anyway!
Artifact Lancea / Chaos Hunter
Maliss can be an extremely scary deck to play against if left unchecked! The Deck is able to flood the field with a ton of Cyberse monsters and climb into monsters like Accesscode Talker and Firewall Dragon Darkfluid – Neo Tempest Terahertz. However, they must banish Maliss monsters in order to do so, as the Maliss monsters have effects that let you Special Summon them back to the field when they are banished. That’s where Artifact Lancea and Chaos Hunter come in! Each of these cards prevents your opponent from banishing cards, which is generally enough to stop Maliss Decks dead in their tracks. Lancea only lasts for one turn, so you have to try to develop enough of your field the following turn to take advantage of it! On the other hand, Chaos Hunter will prevent banishing as long as it’s on the field, so Maliss players will need to have a plan in place, just in case they run into one in games 2 or 3.
Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion
Recently, Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion hasn’t been particularly popular. Although its effect is useful, it has generally fallen out of favor compared to cards like Droll & Lock Bird and Dominus Impulse. However, it seems that the card is making a comeback! This card is useful in a plethora of matchups, making it a solid card to have access to in your Main Deck. Against Ryzeal, this card stops Ryzeal Plugin and Node Ryzeal, stopping the opponent from Special Summoning cards from the Graveyard! And against Maliss, Ghost Belle is able to stop Maliss <C> GWC-06 or Malice in Underground, both of which are key extenders for Maliss that have the ability to Special Summon or banish cards from the Graveyard. However, it’s not just the new Decks that the card is good against! Even looking at Decks that have been successful the last several months, Ghost Belle is able to stop Snake-Eyes Flamberge Dragon in Snake-Eye Decks, Fire King High Avatar Kirin in Fire King Decks, and The Hallowed Azamina in Azamina Decks. Players seem to appreciate the flexibility and versatility that Ghost Belle provides, which has led to a ton of players opting to include it in their Decks.
Simul Archfiends
One card that has been extremely popular recently is Dimensional Barrier, a Trap Card that can completely shut down strategies that are dependent on one type of Extra Deck summoning method. However, a big drawback is that it isn’t able to prevent your opponent from Link Summoning, making it ineffective against decks like Maliss! That’s where Simul Archfiends comes in. Its effect is similar, but rather than stopping your opponent from performing a certain type of Summon at all, it instead stops them from Special Summoning monsters that are the same type (Fusion, Synchro, etc.) as monsters that they already control. Against Maliss, this can stop them from Link Summoning their most powerful Link Monsters, as they will be stuck with cards like Haggard Lizardose or Splash Mage on the field and not be able to climb any further. The card can still be useful in other matchups as well. Against Ryzeal, if you activate this card after your opponent has Special Summoned Ryzeal Duo Drive, they may not have a way to bring out Ryzeal Detonator! If you’re looking for an alternative to Dimensional Barrier that can be effective against Link-based strategies, give Simul Archfiends a try.
These are just some of the interesting tech cards that players are trying out this weekend at YCS Anaheim! More will be revealed as the tournament continues!
