For a long time, players have been asking why no one was using Prime Material Dragon. The single-tribute monster packs 2400 ATK and an ability that shuts down the strongest cards in most decks. The reason was because Dark Armed Dragon could still simply attack over the smaller Dragon, and destroy the spell and trap cards behind it to ensure the security of that very move.

Heading into the U.S. National Championship, Dark Armed Dragon wasn’t on everyone’s mind though. The real story developing this format is Gladiator Beasts. With the introduction of Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, the dueling World has gone crazy over Gladiators. Their ability to make quick and easy transitions in and out of Gyzarus translates into solving multiple problems with the same cards over and over again. This attracted many players to the deck, and for good reason. After all, three of the top U.S. Worlds representatives qualified using Gladiator Beasts.

One player who accurately predicted the field and a way to counter it was Adam Corn. With an impressive 10-0 performance on Day 1 of U.S. Nats and a shocking loss in the Top 8 that kept him out of his second consecutive Worlds appearance, there’s no doubting that Corn’s build is an effective Gladiator Beast exterminator. Here’s what he ran:

Monsters: 20

2 Caius the Shadow Monarch
2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
2 D.D. Crow
2 Gravekeeper’s Spy
2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
2 Prime Material Dragon
1 Raiza the Storm Monarch
2 Mask of Darkness
2 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Cyber Valley

Side Deck: 15

While this build bears a remarkable resemblance to the Dark Armed Monarch deck Edgar Flores took to a Top 16 finish at Shonen Jump Championship St. Louis, Corn has made a key decision that changes the way the deck plays entirely. He dropped two of the Monarchs, Treeborn Frog, and the Gravekeeper’s Guard from the build to incorporate Prime Material Dragon and Cyber Valley. The result is a deck geared toward beating Gladiator Beasts while still being able to tackle a diversified metagame.

Treeborn Frog is a card that many players won’t want to see when playing against Gladiator Beasts. The Frog offers no resistance against any Gladiator and will allow them to tag out with ease. Furthermore, with the need to keep pivotal cards like Solemn Judgment and Book of Moon at the ready against Gladiator Beasts, using Frog means limiting the playability of those answers. Plus, D.D. Crow is running rampant right now, especially in Gladiator Beast decks. That’s just not acceptable in a ten-round tournament where plenty of Gladiator Beasts are going to be seen, so Corn cut the Frog. In fact, this deck doesn’t even play Premature Burial, so outside of a main-phase flip of Mask of Darkness, Crow is going to be completely useless against Corn.

Prime Material Dragon is the big change Corn made to the deck. Now, not only does Corn have a much better answer to Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, but the consistency of his deck has gone up tremendously. Just looking at the deck, you can see how it may not be possible to get off late-game copies of Dark Armed Dragon or tribute summon for another two Monarchs after you’ve dropped Prime Material. Luckily Prime Material Dragon allows you to turn those cards into answers for your opponent’s monster removal. Assuming you’ve got more cards in hand than your opponent has destruction cards, your Dragon is going to stick around. Considering that Gladiator Beasts don’t really have an answer for the Material Dragon outside of Gladiator Beast Heraklinos, dropping it can almost completely shut them down.

Granted, having more cards than your opponent isn’t always easy . . . unless of course, you play Reckless Greed. Reckless allows you to trade off future cards for immediate cards. The downside is that if your opponent can deal with your monsters, you’re not going to be receiving any help for the next two turns. This problem doesn’t exist with Prime Material on the field, as it will turn those extra cards (good or not) into counter-cards.

Corn hasn’t changed much more of the deck though. Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch and Caius the Shadow Monarch still boss up the scene, amplifying the effects of dead cards your opponent is going to be holding thanks to D.D. Crow or Prime Material Dragon. Soul Exchange and Brain Control are the primary methods of removing monsters. In fact, you’ll notice that Corn has one copy of Gladiator Beast Gyzarus in his Fusion deck. It’s not just there for fun. Corn could potentially turn Brain Control and Monster Reborn into his own Gyzarus. Obviously the tag-out effect would be useless, but the double destruction and 2400 ATK beater is well worth the Reborn and opposing monster.

is certainly a strange pick for this deck at first glance. However, when you consider what the Valley does in today’s average competitive metagame—as well as the nasty combo with Reckless Greed—you might begin to think Corn was crazy for only playing one. Cyber Valley is quite simply one of the most amazing cards to play right now. Gladiator Beasts need to achieve their tricks through battle or by contact Fusion for Gyzarus. Assuming you can prevent Gyzarus from seeing play, Cyber Valley is going to give you the upper hand. Gladiator Beast monsters aren’t too difficult to destroy in battle when you’re the one attacking, so most players won’t summon them unless they can tag out and replace themselves. Cyber Valley makes it impossible to tag out as Gladiators don’t actually battle it. At the same time, leaving Cyber Valley on the field just gives Corn more time to build up a hand for Prime Material Dragon.

In fact, that’s really what Corn’s deck is all about. Gladiator Beasts aren’t really supposed to be able to make effective tag-outs. Solemn Judgment and Bottomless Trap Hole stop Gyzarus from doing its thing, and chainable traps like Reckless Greed and the hordes of flip effects make single Gladiator Beast tag-outs quite ineffective. There’s nothing like swinging Darius into a face-down Mask of Darkness and Reckless Greed, thinking you’ll be destroying the trap card with Bestiari only to have both cards activated. Your tag-out’s not going to get you much now.

Even Gravekeeper’s Spy offers a good answer to the Gladiator Beasts. Provided that the opponent doesn’t have Gladiator Beast Bestiari in the graveyard, a single attack will leave you with at least one Spy left over. Murmillo can only take out one, and without Bestiari in the grave, Gladiator Beast Darius can’t bring about a contact Fusion of Gyzarus. This leaves you free to either attack the smaller Gladiator with your remaining Spy, or to tribute her right away and swing over whatever monster was brought to the field.

I’ll admit I had my doubts about whether or not Edgar’s deck was going to catch on. Corn has taken everything about that deck that was inconsistent and potentially negative, and turned it into something positive with Prime Material Dragon. I expect to be seeing a lot of this deck as long as Gladiator Beasts remain dominant.

—Matt Peddle