With our
Nationals coming up in a matter of days, hundreds of Duelists are preparing
their Decks in the hopes of becoming this year’s National Champion. Which Decks
exactly? A lot of different ones! The format is incredibly diverse, but there
are a few top contenders that are all longing to take the spot. Let’s have a
quick look at them!
Mermail
Mermail is just one of those Decks that keep finding fresh and innovative ways to ensure their place on the competitive scene! This Deck is very much like an undersea toolbox that is packed with the right plays for the right situations. Cards like Mermail Abysslinde, Mermail Abysspike and Abyss-Sphere are the glue that holds the Deck together, setting up big plays involving the bigger Mermail Monsters. Ever since they came out, the Mermails have formed an alliance with the Atlanteans, who can wipe out any threat the opponent may throw at you. All of this while Tidal is ready for some action as well, and a Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Trees is just an Undine away!
Mermail is just one of those Decks that keep finding fresh and innovative ways to ensure their place on the competitive scene! This Deck is very much like an undersea toolbox that is packed with the right plays for the right situations. Cards like Mermail Abysslinde, Mermail Abysspike and Abyss-Sphere are the glue that holds the Deck together, setting up big plays involving the bigger Mermail Monsters. Ever since they came out, the Mermails have formed an alliance with the Atlanteans, who can wipe out any threat the opponent may throw at you. All of this while Tidal is ready for some action as well, and a Leo, Keeper of the Sacred Trees is just an Undine away!
Recently,
Mermail Decks look more threatening than ever. Tech Cards like Aquamirror Cycle
and Dragon Ice give them the edge, and some forgotten members like Mermail
Abyssocea and Abyssturge finally get their chance to shine. Last year, reigning
champion Jean-Lou Bernard piloted a Mermail Deck successfully, and you can be
sure to see these Sea Serpents again this year if you’re planning to go all the
way!
Fire Fist
Another blazing blast from the past can be found in the form of the Brotherhood of the Fire Fist. This Deck relies heavily on slowly crushing the opponent with simpler, ready-to-go plays. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist Bear and Gorilla can snipe away resources by giving up Fire Formation cards, while easily replacing them. Their Xyz Monsters, such as Tiger King and Cardinal are still formidable threats in the face of any opponent. It should be no surprise that Fire Fist was a ferocious competitor in the 2013 Nationals season. Last year’s tricks, which included the use of Rescue Rabbit to fetch a few Vorse Raiders for Xyz plays and using Brotherhood of the Fire Fist Dragon for even more advantage may not be as effective today as they were back then, and the Brotherhood may have lost their favourite Coach Soldier, but they have adapted to this.
Another blazing blast from the past can be found in the form of the Brotherhood of the Fire Fist. This Deck relies heavily on slowly crushing the opponent with simpler, ready-to-go plays. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist Bear and Gorilla can snipe away resources by giving up Fire Formation cards, while easily replacing them. Their Xyz Monsters, such as Tiger King and Cardinal are still formidable threats in the face of any opponent. It should be no surprise that Fire Fist was a ferocious competitor in the 2013 Nationals season. Last year’s tricks, which included the use of Rescue Rabbit to fetch a few Vorse Raiders for Xyz plays and using Brotherhood of the Fire Fist Dragon for even more advantage may not be as effective today as they were back then, and the Brotherhood may have lost their favourite Coach Soldier, but they have adapted to this.
Right now,
the Brotherhood makes use of their level 3 Monsters, such as Leopard and Spirit
for more consistency, and will use Fire Formation Gyokkou to ensure that their
plays can go through safely. Should you find yourself seated across a Fire Fist
player, you can be sure that you’re about to have yourself quite a Match!
Bujin
This Deck’s quite the newcomer, but what a newcomer it is! This Deck is based on using Bujin Yamato, and that’s what their strategy is all about! Yamato’s a fierce soldier who builds his own shields while raging through the battlefield. Bujingi Crane, Hare, Turtle and many more can all be put into place by this guy. Don’t let this thought fool you, Yamato can also be an excellent team player! His pal Bujin Mikazuchi emphasizes on the fact that you’ll often send Bujingi Monsters to the Graveyard, and takes advantage of that by letting you add a Bujin Spell or Trap to your Hand, like Bujincarnation or Bujin Regalia – The Sword. Bujin Arasuda will allow you quick acces to the Xyz Monsters, such as Bujintei Susanowo and Kagutsuchi.
This Deck’s quite the newcomer, but what a newcomer it is! This Deck is based on using Bujin Yamato, and that’s what their strategy is all about! Yamato’s a fierce soldier who builds his own shields while raging through the battlefield. Bujingi Crane, Hare, Turtle and many more can all be put into place by this guy. Don’t let this thought fool you, Yamato can also be an excellent team player! His pal Bujin Mikazuchi emphasizes on the fact that you’ll often send Bujingi Monsters to the Graveyard, and takes advantage of that by letting you add a Bujin Spell or Trap to your Hand, like Bujincarnation or Bujin Regalia – The Sword. Bujin Arasuda will allow you quick acces to the Xyz Monsters, such as Bujintei Susanowo and Kagutsuchi.
The Bujin
Deck will often rely on limiting the opponent’s options by simplifying the game
state with cards liker Kaiser Colloseum, Vanity’s Emptiness or Royal Decree,
which makes them a tough Deck to beat.
Dragon Ruler
These mighty Dragons simply refuse to step away from their throne! Blaster, Redox, Tidal and Tempest may all have been limited to 1, but that doesn’t stop them from wreaking havoc upon the game. Around this time last year, the TCG was preparing for the arrival of one of the strongest Decks in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and when Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy hit the shelves, it changed the game in a way sets like Invasion of Chaos and Phantom Darkness had done, and it should be no surprise that the World Championship of that year was dominated by this Deck, and even after a whopping 15 cards from that Deck were put on the Forbidden List, a new way to use the Dragons was found in Dragon Ravine.
These mighty Dragons simply refuse to step away from their throne! Blaster, Redox, Tidal and Tempest may all have been limited to 1, but that doesn’t stop them from wreaking havoc upon the game. Around this time last year, the TCG was preparing for the arrival of one of the strongest Decks in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and when Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy hit the shelves, it changed the game in a way sets like Invasion of Chaos and Phantom Darkness had done, and it should be no surprise that the World Championship of that year was dominated by this Deck, and even after a whopping 15 cards from that Deck were put on the Forbidden List, a new way to use the Dragons was found in Dragon Ravine.
Since the
Dragon Ruler Deck of that day has changed so much, let’s focus on the present.
The Dragon Rulers can easily work in tandem with the Hieratic Dragons. Tefnuit,
Su, Eset, Atum and friends make up a formidable engine which by itself can
easily ruin anyone’s day. Another possibility is to build a mighty Deck using
none other than the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the Mythic Dragons,
and maybe even a Plant Engine. Both of these variant can easily run cards such
as Skill Drain, which can single-handedly take a bite out of the other meta Decks.
With the power of the newly released Soul Charge, a Dragon Ruler player can
easily create a field of Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack and/or Divine Dragon
Knight Felgrand!
The Dragon
Rulers can best be compared to a phoenix; while it has often been declared “dead”,
it keeps coming back, standing strong. This is certainly a Deck you’ll want to
keep in mind.
Geargia
I’ll resist the urge to make a “grinds my gear” joke here. Geargia sure is a persistent pester, with Geargiarsenal being able to get out Geargiarmor, who will flip flop as many times as possible to gain advantage. The main on-theme Trap Card to look out for is Geargiagear, who can Summon two level 3 Geargias as level 4’s from the Deck, giving you instant access to Rank 4 Xyz plays, the most notorious being Gear Gigant X! The Geargia work well with the Karakuri, with both of their Synchro Monsters as powerhouses for extra OTK potential. How does one OTK with Geargia? A first step can be to clear the field using cards like Needle Ceiling, and ensuring your plays to go through using Trap Stun, Seven Tools of the Bandit or Wiretap on the next turn!
I’ll resist the urge to make a “grinds my gear” joke here. Geargia sure is a persistent pester, with Geargiarsenal being able to get out Geargiarmor, who will flip flop as many times as possible to gain advantage. The main on-theme Trap Card to look out for is Geargiagear, who can Summon two level 3 Geargias as level 4’s from the Deck, giving you instant access to Rank 4 Xyz plays, the most notorious being Gear Gigant X! The Geargia work well with the Karakuri, with both of their Synchro Monsters as powerhouses for extra OTK potential. How does one OTK with Geargia? A first step can be to clear the field using cards like Needle Ceiling, and ensuring your plays to go through using Trap Stun, Seven Tools of the Bandit or Wiretap on the next turn!
Mechanical
mayhem is ensured when dueling against these googly-eyed Monsters. Heavy
machinery should be handled with caution, and these guys are no exception.
Infernity
Guess who’s back? Archfiend and pals are! Infernity used to dominate the dueling field years ago, being one of the strongest Decks based on Synchro Monsters, and now they’re back making full use of Xyz Monsters. Infernity Archfiend and Necromancer are the main monsters in this Deck nowadays, with older cards like Infernity Mirage and Beetle being a tad outdated and replaced with shiny new toys such as Archfiend Heiress and Tin Goldfish. Quite a bit of the dangerous Spell and Trap Cards are still around. Infernity Barrier will still stop your attempts to break through this army of darkness despite being Limited to 1 copy per Deck, and Infernity Break can take out any threats as well. Infernity Launcher is still a card to keep into account, as well as the new Soul Charge.
Guess who’s back? Archfiend and pals are! Infernity used to dominate the dueling field years ago, being one of the strongest Decks based on Synchro Monsters, and now they’re back making full use of Xyz Monsters. Infernity Archfiend and Necromancer are the main monsters in this Deck nowadays, with older cards like Infernity Mirage and Beetle being a tad outdated and replaced with shiny new toys such as Archfiend Heiress and Tin Goldfish. Quite a bit of the dangerous Spell and Trap Cards are still around. Infernity Barrier will still stop your attempts to break through this army of darkness despite being Limited to 1 copy per Deck, and Infernity Break can take out any threats as well. Infernity Launcher is still a card to keep into account, as well as the new Soul Charge.
You’ll
usually want to leave your opponent empty-handed, but here’s the main
exception. You’ll surely want to keep an eye out for these guys, as chances are
high you’ll run into them – or will they run into you?
Other
Of course, there’s plenty of other Decks running around. The Harpies are cleaning their feathers, the Noble Knights are sharpening their blades, the Zombies are preparing to pop out of the ground, the Gadgets are ready to grind some gears (Ha!), the Gravekeepers are applying their sun lotion and the Evilswarm are… well, whatever they do. If you are unfamiliar with these and many other Decks, you might want to use this Final Countdown to learn a bit more about them, or you might find yourself defeated by something you just didn’t see coming. Of course, you can’t properly prepare for everything, since there’s always the chance someone’s found a good way to run something NO ONE expects, like Nordics, Symphonic Warriors or Exodia! The National Championship is a great way to test your skills as a Duelist, and being able to deal with both the expected and the unexpected is something a National Champion should be able to do.
Of course, there’s plenty of other Decks running around. The Harpies are cleaning their feathers, the Noble Knights are sharpening their blades, the Zombies are preparing to pop out of the ground, the Gadgets are ready to grind some gears (Ha!), the Gravekeepers are applying their sun lotion and the Evilswarm are… well, whatever they do. If you are unfamiliar with these and many other Decks, you might want to use this Final Countdown to learn a bit more about them, or you might find yourself defeated by something you just didn’t see coming. Of course, you can’t properly prepare for everything, since there’s always the chance someone’s found a good way to run something NO ONE expects, like Nordics, Symphonic Warriors or Exodia! The National Championship is a great way to test your skills as a Duelist, and being able to deal with both the expected and the unexpected is something a National Champion should be able to do.
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