It’s no secret: more and more Duelists are playing Lonefire Blossom and associated Plant-Type monsters to add speed and big Synchro Summoning to their Decks. A Plant Zombie Deck won YCS Orlando, combining Mezuki, Zombie Master, and Plaguespreader Zombie with Glow-Up Bulb, Spore, and Dandylion for a Graveyard-heavy strategy that was tough to beat. Lonefire Blossom’s been a lynchpin card for all sorts of Synchro variants too, often defining Decks like Tengu Synchro, Debris Synchro, and Doppel Synchro. Everybody from Lightsworn Duelists to Gadget fans have been experimenting with the five-card Plant suite.
That’s given rise to a counter-trend, as many Duelists have started playing Dimensional Fissure. By banishing opposing monsters, a clever Duelist can keep key Plant cards from ever using their effects, stopping any Deck dead in its tracks if it focuses on the classic Lonefire cards. Fissure’s great against Pot of Avarice, too, and when it’s active, Duelists can’t activate cards that have to be sent to the Graveyard to claim effects, it stops Effect Veiler, which has been a hugely popular card over the past many months.
Lou Orem played Karakuris at YCS Orlando, but he was back this time with a totally different build. Before Extreme Victory, the most successful Karakuri Decks were ones that used Lonefire Blossom and its Plant-Type pals to kick out Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” and Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido” as quickly as possible. But with the introduction of Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 “Ninishi”, more and more Karakuri Duelists are playing pure Karakuri builds – no Plants. Those Decks don’t need to reuse cards from their Graveyard, which means they offer the perfect opportunity to run Dimensional Fissure. Here’s what Orem’s Deck looked like. Read more…
Blackwings have recently gotten a boost with Duelist Pack 11: Crow, and we saw a number of Blackwing Decks do well this weekend. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Vayu Turbo Deck make a big showing in a Championship-level tournament, but thanks to the release of new Blackwing cards, some Duelists are banking on the once-popular strategy here this weekend. Victor Santana is one of them. Read more…
Marc Hahn’s Dimensional Fairy Deck Summons big monsters with ease! Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen allows him to Special Summon them from his hand, and cards like Miraculous Descent allow him to Special Summon Fairies that have been banished. These cards give Hahn’s Deck more power than most of the other Fairy Decks entered into this weekend’s tournament. Check out his list! Read more…
Brian Prange’s Counter Fairy Gladiator Deck has more control than a standard Gladiator Beast Deck, and is capable of more aggression than a typical Counter Fairy Deck. Prange’s Deck uses a full Gladiator Beast line-up, plus 3 copies of Bountiful Artemis for some extra draw power. His Deck takes the best from both worlds, as it’s able to Summon a Gladiator Beast Deck’s best monsters including Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, and able to draw him cards when he activates a Gladiator Beast Deck’s best Trap Card, Gladiator Beast War Chariot. Read more…
Master Hyperion arrived in a big way this weekend, taking plenty of different Fairy strategies to Day 2. Anthony Alvarado and Paul Levitin are long-time friends who both played virtually identical builds of this planetary strategy! We saw each competitor win Feature Matches today, and both finished out Day 1 with 7 wins out of 8 rounds total. Here’s what their build looked like: Read more…
The new Psychic monsters in Extreme Victory have a lot of power that has gone unnoticed by most Duelists. But Nick Bottino is one Duelist who did notice that power. Nick Bottino’s Psychic Deck doesn’t shoot for an OTK with Mind Master like some Psychic Decks do, and instead uses simple Psychic combos that will propel him into the lead during a Duel. Check out Nick Bottino’s Psychic Deck! Read more…
If you’ve been following today’s Feature Match action, you saw the drama and the triumph of Sorosh Saberian’s Tengu Fabled Deck that played out in Round 3. Saberian is a veteran Duelist who’s repeatedly made the playoff rounds of Championship-level competitions, usually with highly explosive combo Decks. Today he’s stayed true to his style, piloting an incredibly explosive Fabled build. You’ve already seen it in action, but here’s how the Deck works: Read more…
Welcome to another Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournament! A total of 746 Duelists are gearing up with their favorite Decks, aiming to take down the competition here in Providence, Rhode Island. But before we check out any of the Decks being used this weekend, let’s take a look back at the most popular Decks that were used last month at YCS Orlando! Read more…
