Gadgets and Monarch decks have been battling for the past month or two for the title of “most dominant archetype.” Each deck aims to achieve two completely different goals. Gadgets want to apply constant pressure with disposable monsters (forcing the opponent into using monster removal on them), and eliminate opposing cards at a faster rate than their own are eliminated. They do this by packing a ton of monster removal themselves, allowing for constant direct attacks and protection of their Gadget monsters from battle. Doing so creates a tension in the opponent as his or her life points drop lower and lower, until he or she feels compelled to use Smashing Ground and Sakuretsu Armor on the Gadgets just to stay alive.

Monarchs, on the other hand, want to take care of several opposing monsters and other cards in one swift turn. Combos like Brain Control and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch eliminate a monster, a card in hand, and often a defensive trap all at once. If the Monarch deck has multiple combos of this kind in store, it doesn’t take long until the opponent is out of cards and unable to stop the onslaught of 2400 ATK monsters.

If one were able to capture both these concepts in one deck and have each play out effectively, the deck would be extremely hard to corner. Rumor spread last format that Adam Corn and Emon Ghaneian had built such a deck and won a Regional event in California before D.D. Turbo became a possible deck. It appears those rumors were true, as Adam Corn showcased his deck with a Top 8 performance at Shonen Jump Championship Houston using this build:

Monsters: 22

3 Cyber Dragon

2 Red Gadget

2 Green Gadget

2 Yellow Gadget

2 Gravekeeper’s Spy

2 Legendary Jujitsu Master

1 Treeborn Frog

1 Sangan

3 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

2 Mobius the Frost Monarch

2 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

Spells: 10

2 Smashing Ground

3 Brain Control

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Snatch Steal

1 Pot of Avarice

1 Shrink

Traps: 10

3 Sakuretsu Armor

2 Widespread Ruin

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

This deck has everything both a Monarch deck and a Gadget deck could want, all rolled neatly into 42 cards. Taking a look at Spicer Monarch builds, we see that they pack tons of self-replacing monsters that can be offered as tribute for the Monarchs. Doing so not only increases the consistency of your deck by allowing the tributes to actually go off, but it ensures you don’t fall behind when bringing out a Monarch. The brilliance of this deck is that Gadgets are self-replacing, and thus make perfect fodder for your tributes.

With that in mind, we can take a look at how the deck will flow. The Gadget monsters are obviously meant to be used as early pressure, creating as much life point tension as possible. Ideally, the Gadgets will put so much pressure on the opponent that he or she will be forced to waste monster removal very early, making the Monarchs’ job a lot easier for the late game. Anyone who’s played Gadgets can tell you this will happen consistently against an unprepared opponent, since standard main-deck cards just don’t work well against Gadgets.

However, many players have begun increasing the amount of anti-Gadget tech in their main decks. Gravekeeper’s Spy and Legendary Jujitsu Master each work wonders against a Gadget build. Once these monsters are set, the Gadget player is usually hard-pressed to force through attacks and keep the pressure going. This is where the Monarchs come into play. Each Monarch is capable of dealing with the face-down threat through attacks, while also robbing the opponent of a card somewhere else. Since the Gadget that was offered as a tribute has been replaced by a different one in the hand, the cycle is ready to begin again next turn.

The deck can also perform a complete flip-flop, using Monarchs at the start of the game to simplify the duel quickly. Since Corn has a lot of monster removal in his main deck, he’ll likely have a lot more of it going into the late game than his opponent. Now when Gadgets start to make their appearance, the opponent will be unable to stop most of their attacks, and will be overrun in no time.

Corn’s monster lineup is very straightforward. Seven Monarchs and six Gadgets mean that Corn will usually draw at least one of the two and sometimes one of both. As such, he can decide which set of monsters to press with first, and then switch back and forth as necessary. Doing so will throw the opponent off in his or her quest to corner whichever route Corn happens to be taking.

Legendary Jujitsu Master and Gravekeeper’s Spy are in the deck for a few reasons. The first is to create stability on the field by having monsters that are unlikely to be attacked over in battle. The high DEF on these monsters gives just that stability. In addition, both monsters are great tech against the Gadget matchup and the Hydrogeddon/Royal Decree matchup, both of which were highly anticipated for the SJC Houston metagame. Each also acts as a great self-replacing tribute, and throws another wrench into the opponent’s ability to deal with the deck.

The spell and trap lineup is meant to support either direction the deck can go in. Playing a multitude of defensive traps can protect the Gadgets and set up a tribute for Monarchs at the same time. Defending from opposing attackers also allows Corn to apply greater life point pressure with either his Monarchs or his Gadgets. It also prevents his opponents from making big plays with cards like Hydrogeddon and Cyber Dragon.

The spell selection is focused on smoothing draws as much as possible. Two copies of Smashing Ground give Corn direct shots with his Gadget monsters or simply take out any cards he doesn’t want to see. Three copies of Brain Control are essential to this deck. With seven Monarchs, Corn could often find himself with a Monarch-heavy hand, limiting his options. Brain Control is the perfect card to escape this situation, and provides a lot of stability in running so many Monarchs. In addition, Corn’s deck is able to create a lot of damage very quickly. Gadget monsters tend to cause some serious hurt before they’re finally destroyed and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and Mobius the Frost Monarch clear the path to the opponent’s life points quite easily. As such, the threat of lethal damage is almost always on the opponent. Brain Control can become a means to end the game quite often, or a way to force the opponent to destroy his or her own monsters.

This deck was built to run smoothly and have playable draws throughout a Shonen Jump tournament. Corn’s success is a testament to just that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this strategy making waves at SJC Columbus.