Matthew Nunn is playing what may become the next great Six Samurai Deck. Armed with Shien’s Dojo and Asceticism of the Six Samurai in threes, Nunn’s build can Synchro Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En or Naturia Beast with shocking consistency on turn 1. But Nunn’s opponent won’t make victory easy: Ryan Spicer is a Duelist who’s racked up countless Top 16 and Top 32 appearances over the years. He happens to be piloting the 1 Deck Nunn’s stated he doesn’t want to face: Monarchs. Both competitors are 7-1, so a win here is integral to making the playoffs. The victor will be a near-lock, while the other Duelist will need a win in the last round and some tiebreaker help to make the cut.
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The recent release of Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph has lots of Duelists adjusting their Decks to take advantage of some of the new cards that are available. Take a look at 4 of the most popular cards from Hidden Arsenal 4 that you can use in almost any Deck! Read more…
Now that Hidden Arsenal 4: Trishula’s Triumph and Extreme Victory are legal for tournament play, Duelists everywhere are pulling out all the stops to find ways to beat the new Decks that have risen to the top. Check out some of the popular tech cards that Duelists have dug up from older sets in order to adapt to changes brought by these 2 new sets!
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If you read our Round 2 Feature Match, you saw Alexander Thomas take an astounding 2-0 victory with his T.G. Deck. Thomas’ strategy is all about big defense: in a format where cards like Hand of the Six Samurai, Gemini Spark, and Gravekeeper’s Descendant often make for crushing second turns that immediately devastate the opponent, T.G. monsters are totally unique. There are four T.G. monsters that form the core of the T.G. Decks being played here this weekend, and each has a similar effect: when they’re destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, their controller gets to search another T.G. monster with a different name, adding it to their hand from the Deck. That makes it really hard to wear down a T.G. Duelist’s defenses: destroy an on-field monster and it just gets replaced. That effect lets a T.G. Duelist chump block attacks and build combos, exploding with Special Summon tricks that are unique to the T.G. theme.
Add some Spirit Reapers and a dash of Meklord Emperor Skiel, and you get Alexander Thomas’ T.G. Deck that we saw claim victory earlier today. Here’s what it looks like!
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Johnathan Harrison is 5-1 in this tournament with Blackwings, traveling here this weekend from Washington D.C. to secure one of the best records for a Blackwing Duelist so far this weekend. His opponent is Orlando native Matthew Williamson, piloting a Chaos Plant Synchro Deck.
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Juan Morales is currently 5-0 with his Deck built around Reborn Tengu and Genex Ally Birdman, and now he’s facing off against Anthony Alvarado, who is undefeated with a Plant Synchro Deck! Morales is taking full advantage of the new cards by packing his Main Deck with a full set of Tengus and Birdmans, and Alvarado is using 3 copies of Tour Guide From the Underworld, just to grab Sangan and other Tour Guides from his Deck.
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Earlier today we showed you Alex Vansant’s Tengu Gadget Synchro Deck in a Deck Profile, which hinges on the use of Ultimate Offering to unlock massive Synchro combos. Here in Round 6, Vansant is 4-1, and is set to duke it out with Patrick Hoban, and his Debris Plant Chaos Deck. The winner of this Match would move on with their Day 2 dreams intact. The other Duelist might have a tough time making it to Round 9 tomorrow.
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Both of these Duelists have won previous major tournaments, and both were here today competing with Tengu Plant Decks. This new breed of Synchro strategy is taking plenty of wins here in Orlando, combining the Tuning power of Spore, Glow-Up Bulb, and Debris Dragon with the staying power of Reborn Tengu. The result is an aggressive deck that can also weather aggressive opponents, and that can bust out big pushes like never before. While Smith is playing a more predictable version of the strategy, Jones is running Tour Guide From the Underworld and Dark Mimic LV3 in his build.
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QQ stands for Quick Questions! The field here today looks more diverse than those at recent Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournaments, but 1 big opening is still on everybody’s mind: first-turn Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En. When your opponent goes first and brings out a card that can negate almost any Spell or Trap you have, it changes the pace of the entire Duel: you’d better have a plan. We hit the tournament floor to ask the pressing question: “How will you beat turn 1 Shi En?”
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The Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series is back in Orlando, but not all of today’s Duelists have been here before. Lots of this weekend’s competitors are experiencing their first every YCS tournament. Take a look at some of this weekend’s YCS first-timers, and check out what they think of the event so far!
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