What
was on many minds before this SJC, what the
effect of Light and Darkness Dragon would be on
the current metagame. With 6 Decks in the Top
16, Light and Darkness Dragon has already made a
big impact on the game. T
hough
it’s just been one SJC that Light and Darkness
Dragon has been out there, many players are
already making it the centerpiece of new decks
and also the main deck to counter with main deck
techs and side deck answers. There were many
players throughout the tournament with many
techs with maindecked D.D. Crow and Destiny Hero
– Plasma. With Adam Corn and Jerry Wang with the
main decked Plasmas and 8 of the Top 16 with D.D.
Crow main decked, you can already see that it
made a big impact to players. There will be more
on Light and Darkness Dragon to come.
Light and Darkness Dragon only made up one out
of the nine different deck-types to make Day 2.
After the six Light and Darkness Dragon Decks,
Macro Cosmos decks were a big factor on the
scene at SJC San Mateo. With three in Top 16, it
was surprising that not as many people would
have been ready for the matchup, especially with
much speculation before hand that it would be a
Macro Cosmos filled tournament. Though many in
Top 16, had side deck answers ranging from Dust
Tornado to Kinetic Soldier and even D.D.
Survivors of their own. This deck brought former
SJC Champion John Umali and Hugo Adame back into
to the Day 2 spotlight. From the 3 builds, they
all varied in many ways, with Hugo Adame with
Banisher of the Radiance mained, John Umali’s
MacroMonarchs and Rajvir Singh’s Toolbox. The
many variants that were around and it was proven
all three can work.
Three of the major decks of pre-Light and
Darkness Dragon all made yet another appearance
in Day 2. Comic Odyssey burn, Zombies and
Perfect Circle Monarchs all took one spot each
in Top 16. This proves that not all decks will
die when the format seems to be at a shift in a
different direction. With Chris Moosman playing
his way back into Day 2 contention after
suffering a First Round loss, proves the
strength of his Perfect Circle Monarch build.
Eric Wu brought CO Burn back into the spotlight
with another Day 2 appearance for the deck,
seems to be that no matter what, this deck gets
a spot in Day 2, regardless of how it does on
Day 2. David Huertas was finally able to break
through by taking Zombies to Day 2 as well. With
D.D. Crow tech he used to help against the
mirror match he won in the final round of Swiss,
but all throughout the day and also the 3 dust
tornados, which not many have used before,
previous builds used 2, was able to help take
control of many situations and against other
continuous spell and trap problems. Also to get
rid of those problems to be able to get a full
swing in when it is needed.
Josh Cohen shocked the field by proving to
everyone that regular monarchs (this time
9-guage) is never dead. With the siding of
Pulling the Rug, he was still able to get
through and take his deck to an impressive
undefeated 9-0 record on Day 1. Monarchs has
been around in every SJC and every format, but
it’s proving now that Foolish Burial is really
making the game change drastically, especially
with his deck getting Treeborn Frog into the
graveyard fast is always a plus for him to get
his strategy into play early. With his choice to
play Widespread Ruin over many other cards, and
3 Soul Exchange, he was able to really use all
he had to his advantage. Halting many big
attackers with Widespread also will help when
the matchup does end up playing Zombies. Yet his
streak ended after losing to Hugo Adame in Top
8.
The age of Volcanic Monarchs was upon us at SJC
San Mateo. With many player’s overhyping Royal
Firestorm Guards, Charley La proved that the
deck is good and stable without it. He was able
to use his discard effects and other tricks
wisely in many occasions. He has brought this
deck into the light, even with all the new
decktypes flourishing out there. Yet this deck
could easily have it’s troubles if Macro Cosmos
decks are able to set up early in the game and
make those effects like Volcanic Rocket and
Volcanic Shell be useless as games go on. He did
keep the Apprentice Magician Engine in the deck
that was first implemented when this deck first
hit the seen by Miguel Albarran.
Next we move to one of the surprise
decks of the tournament, Baboon Burn piloted by
Justin Trias. This deck really focused on being
really aggressive with Green Baboon, Defender of
the Forest, 3 Raiza the Storm Monarch and a
plethora of burn traps like Secret Barrel and
Just Desserts (of course complemented by Ojama
Trio). Though many have questioned his choice of
running Nimble Momonga over Des Koala, it is
still a viable choice in his deck. With Nimble
Mononga, he is able to gain much life and still
have a chance to bring out Green Baboon,
Defender of the Forest. Some can argue that the
burn is more important, yet the Nimble Momongas
were a big help for him to make Day 2. Though he
was able to see Day 2 again, another loss in the
first round of Day 2, stopped him from taking
this deck all the way. Many will emulate this
deck and try other cards and variants, yet this
deck was a force at SJC San Mateo, just so
happened that only 1 Baboon Burn did make Day 2.
The last deck to hit Top 16, was once again
David “OTK Master” Rodriguez. Proving that
Demise is not a deck that is dead just yet. This
is the 3rd time he was able to make
Day 2 with an OTK deck, Demise a second time.
Though his variant was able to use new cards
like Trade-In and Swing of Memories to do some
major damage and draw for his deck. With 3 Metal
Armored Bug, 3 Demise, King of Armageddon and 2
Great Maju Garzett, Trade-In was a viable card
to use to help him be able to draw to his
combos. Swing of Memories was not only a great
choice for him but many. It was able to cause a
lot of major added attacks and damage that many
people were not ready for. With many of the
field too involved in fighting against decks
like Macro Cosmos, Light and Darkness Dragon
decks, Six Samurai and other deck-types, people
forgot all about Demise and didn’t have all the
necessary side deck preparation for it.. Though
he was not the only Demise player, and there
were many at this SJC, he showed that he is the
OTK Master.
Though Day 2 didn’t get to witness any Six
Samurai decks, it was there in many numbers.
That the Kinetic Soldiers that many side decked
and other answers people had were able to
outlast the blazing speed the deck can have.
Though with many players were packing Crush Card
Virus, like in the Featured Match with Adam Corn
and Mike Glowaki, it is proven that there are
some weak points of the deck, but sometimes yet
especially with Six Samurai decks, that speed
and luck are always going to be a major factor.
Keep a lookout for many Six Samurai decks to be
implemented and to be seen in the future as
Gladiator’s Assault really gave them better
support with Cunning of the Six Samurai, Spirit
of the Six Samurai, Double-Edge Sword Technique
and Enishi, Shien’s Chancellor.
Back to Light and Darkness Dragon decks. With
many decks out there using the Destiny Hero
engine to fuel their deck, Chris Pittao
proved that it’s not all about just Destiny
Heroes and used 3 Gravekeeper Spy to help with
his regular with the 2 Thestalos the Firestorm
Monarch he used to help combat many other decks.
Crush Card Virus played a big role in this SJC
and especially with the 5 Destiny Hero Light and
Darkness decks that saw Day 2. May different
cards can be used in and out of these decks, but
it’s the synergy that can keep the cards in the
deck working well. That not just any random card
will just make the deck good. With what was a
Team Overdose tech it seemed like this SJC,
Destiny Hero – Plasma played a big part in their
favor in unfavorable matchups and especially the
mirror match. Trent Kittle utilized Jinzo and
Destiny Hero – Dasher in his build, paired with
Dark Magician of Chaos, it was seemingly a blast
from the past with a Diamond Dude Turbo type of
lineup with those cards. Cyber Dragon is a
debatable card that not all players used, and
other cards were more important. Though it will
be up to the duelist’s playstyle in the end, the
choices you make can be the difference between
winning and losing. Though many may question the
45-card deck that Fili Luna used, he was able to
keep the synergy well and have many cards
complement each other to achieve his 3rd
SJC title and his successful defense of his SJC
San Mateo title.
Congratulations to all of those who made Day 2
of SJC San Mateo and to Fili Luna on his 3rd
SJC Win. Only time will really tell how the
metagame will shift, but so many possibilities
out there with all the new cards, and not to
mention the new set, Phantom of Darkness coming
out in a couple months.
- Tomas Mijares
