Welcome back to Great Moments in Shonen Jump Championship History. The previous article can be found here.
The Sun Sets on Advanced Format #1 in Orlando
The final Shonen Jump Championship that used the first incarnation of the Forbidden list came and went relatively quietly. In fact, the biggest surprise of the tournament was that Comic Odyssey missed taking the main event Cyber-Stein for the second tournament in a row. Instead, Florida native Andrew Ferdeloa took home the title and the Cyber-Stein with his version of the popular Chaos deck.
Andrew Ferdeloa’s Chaos Deck
Orlando Shonen Jump Championship, February 2005
Monsters: 16
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Magical Scientist
1 Magician of Faith
3 D.D.Warrior Lady
2 Blade Knight
1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning
1 Reflect Bounder
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Jinzo
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Fiber Jar
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
Spells: 15
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Confiscation
1 Premature Burial
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Book of Moon
1 Swords of Revealing Light
2 Scapegoat
1 The Forceful Sentry
1 Heavy Storm
1 Enemy Controller
1 Pot of Greed
1 Snatch Steal
1 Emergency Provisions
1 Nobleman of Crossout
Traps: 6
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
Side Deck
1 The Warrior Returning Alive
1 Airknight Parshath
2 Mataza the Zapper
1 Divine Wrath
2 Pikeru’s Circle of Enchantment
1 Kinetic Soldier
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Exiled Force
1 Reinforcement of the Army
1 Return From the Different Dimension
1 Final Attack Orders
1 Waboku
Fusion Deck
2 Ryu Senshi
2 Fiend Skull Dragon
3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight
3 Super Roboyarou
2 Dark Flare Knight
3 Sanwitch
3 Mokey Mokey King
1 Giltia The D. Knight
1 Karbonala Warrior
3 Dark Balter the Terrible
2 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
2 Ojama King
1 Reaper on the Nightmare
1 Musician King
The rest of the Top 8 looked very similar, with only James Coleman’s Earth deck standing out from the crowd. While Andrew’s main deck may not have been built differently from the others, his side deck was filled with some interesting cards. Return From the Different Dimension had been used successfully as a finishing move in Wilson Luc’s winning deck in Las Vegas, but Final Attack Orders had never seen play in a high-level deck until now.
With the forthcoming shift of the metagame towards Scapegoat-based Metamorphosis/Chaos decks, Andrew was ahead of the curve by using the ultimate in Sheep-hating technology. After this tournament, the Shonen Jump Championship Series took a break while a new Forbidden list was announced. After a month of eager anticipation by players everywhere, the next Shonen Jump Championship was held on April 2, the day after the new format became official.
New Beginnings and a Clean Slate: Los Angeles
No one knew what to expect going into the Shonen Jump Championship at Los Angeles. All the best players had been secretly playtesting decks using the new format (now our current format) for the past month, and it was now time to put them to the test. Players were introduced to the “trinity” for the first time in a long time, and while many didn’t realize it yet, they soon found that the trinity would be the defining set of cards for the second half of the Shonen Jump Championship season.
Los Angeles also proved to be an excellent tournament for those looking to win with new and creative deck types. This tournament was the first major showing for Jonathan Navarro and his Cookie Jar deck, and it was also the tournament where we were introduced to Soul Control and Masks of Tsuku, by Evan Vargas and Mike Rosenberg, respectively. However, none of these were the big winner. Eric Wu and his Zombie/Chaos deck took home another Cyber-Stein for Comic Odyssey and set the tone for the next month of Regional tournaments.
Eric Wu’s Zombie/Chaos Deck
Los Angeles Shonen Jump Championship, April 2005
Monsters: 17
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
2 Magician of Faith
1 Blade Knight
3 Pyramid Turtle
2 Vampire Lord
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Sangan
1 Kycoo, the Ghost Destroyer
2 Spirit Reaper
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning
1 Sinister Serpent
Spells: 17
1 Pot of Greed
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Delinquent Duo
2 Creature Swap
2 Scapegoat
1 Snatch Steal
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Graceful Charity
1 Book of Life
1 Enemy Controller
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Smashing Ground
1 Premature Burial
1 Heavy Storm
Traps: 7
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Dust Tornado
1 Mirror Force
Side Deck: 15
1 Jinzo
1 Airknight Parshath
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Metamorphosis
1 Book of Moon
1 Scapegoat
1 Ceasefire
2 King Tiger Wanghu
2 Mobius the Frost Monarch
1 Chiron the Mage
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
2 Dust Tornado
Fusion Deck: 26
1 Dark Paladin
1 Giltia the D. Knight
1 Flame Swordsman
2 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight
2 Dark Flare Knight
3 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Ryu Senshi
3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
1 Sanwitch
1 Empress Judge
1 Fiend Skull Dragon
1 Musician King
1 Mokey Mokey King
1 Reaper on the Nightmare
1 Dragoness the Wicked Knight
1 Karbonala Warrior
1 Darkfire Dragon
1 Ojama King
With Vampire Lord now only semi-limited (two per deck) and with Mirror Force back in the fray, it appeared that Zombie/Chaos was the way to go in the new format. For the next month, many people played a copy of Eric Wu’s deck, and most were successful. Less successful were those who tried to copy Evan Vargas’s or Mike Rosenberg’s deck. In fact, neither deck has made an appearance in a Shonen Jump Championship Top 8 since. The most important thing that we learned from this tournament is that this was a format where any deck can win, as long as it’s well thought-out and well played. This was proven at the next Shonen Jump Championship, when two new and innovative decks exploded on the scene.
Team Attack! Odyssey vs. Savage in Houston
Before the Houston Shonen Jump Championship, the only well-known team out there was Comic Odyssey, mainly because they kept winning all the Cyber-Steins. However, another team finally made their stand in Houston. After rushing onto the scene in Los Angeles with Soul Control, Team Savage got serious in their quest for a main event Cyber-Stein, sending Nate Nielebeck and his Spell Canceller deck into the Top 8 to battle with Comic Odyssey’s Theeresak Poonsombat (commonly known as T) and Ryan Hayakawa. Also in the Top 8 was the relatively unknown Chad Justice, who had managed to successfully pilot a $40 Armed Samurai – Ben Kei deck all the way through nine rounds of Swiss during the first day of competition.
Despite the best efforts of Nate and all the other non-Comic Odyssey players in the Top 8, the finals ended up being between CO teammates T and Ryan Hayakawa. In the end, Hayakawa was victorious, earning their team a seventh Cyber-Stein and reestablishing straight Chaos as the deck to beat.
Ryan Hayakawa’s Chaos Deck: Houston Edition
Houston Shonen Jump Championship, April-May 2005
Monsters: 17
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Berserk Gorilla
2 D.D. Assailant
1 Blade Knight
1 D. D. Warrior Lady
2 Magician of Faith
1 Airknight Parshath
1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning
1 Jinzo
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Sangan
Spells: 16
2 Scapegoat
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Metamorphosis
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Greed
1 Snatch Steal
1 Lightning Vortex
1 Heavy Storm
1 Creature Swap
1 Smashing Ground
1 Graceful Charity
1 Premature Burial
1 Enemy Controller
1 Delinquent Duo
Traps: 7
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Dust Tornado
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Mirror Force
Side Deck: 15
1 Reflect Bounder
1 King Tiger Wanghu
1 Mystic Swordsman LV2
1 Enraged Battle Ox
2 Cannon Soldier
1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
1 Chiron the Mage
1 Kinetic Soldier
1 Enemy Controller
1 Book of Moon
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Royal Decree
1 Secret Barrel
1 Mirror Wall
Fusion Deck: 25
1 Master of Oz
1 Gatling Dragon
3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
2 Reaper on the Nightmare
3 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Ryu Senshi
3 Dark Blade the Dragon Knight
3 Dark Flare Knight
1 Ojama King
1 Sanwitch
1 Mokey Mokey King
1 Giltia the D. Knight
1 Musician King
1 The Last Warrior from Another Planet
Here we see a deck that looks a lot closer to the decks that we saw at Nationals. Scapegoat had finally established itself as a requirement for any winning deck., and Magician of Faith was established as a staple for the new format. Without Change of Heart to be a tangible threat to those who would play Magician of Faith, two copies of the Magician appeared in every winning Shonen Jump Championship deck to follow.
With all the things happening to the game under the new format, it came as no surprise that the next Shonen Jump Championship featured something else currently unheard of in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! . . . a repeat champion.
Check back on Friday for the conclusion of Great Moments in Shonen Jump Championship History!