There’s plenty of exploration and innovation here today, but not much of it has gone undefeated. Joe Hletko, a 15 year-old student from Westmont, a suburb of Chicago, is the exception. Coming off a big win over Brent Yetter, he’s got a 6-0 undefeated record and one of the most synergy-heavy decks this game has ever seen.
The key card is
Hydrogeddon: almost every card in the deck is included as a result of its influence, and I’ll highlight some examples shortly. In the meantime, the first thing you probably noticed about this deck is that it has 44 cards. While that’s laughable for your average Chaos deck, it’s a great idea here. “Running 44 cards keeps me from drawing two
Hydrogeddons in my opening hand.” It’s a deck-building philosophy that has been popular in
Japan, but it hasn’t really seen much use here in
North America.
Tower of Power decks, which can run 60 or more cards, operate on the same assumption: the more cards in your deck, the lower the chances of drawing multiple copies of particular cards. The actual percentages aren’t terribly significant, but Hletko doesn’t lose anything from playing it safe. The thinning that his deck shunts out compensates for the deck’s size, and he gains some mathematical advantage in the process. Good deal.
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Cyber-Stein
1 Newdoria
1 Sangan
1 Sasuke Samurai #4
Spells: 18
1 Confiscation
1 Pot of Avarice
1 Premature Burial
1 Book of Moon
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Graceful Charity
1 Heavy Storm
1 Last Will
1 Snatch Steal
1 Creature Swap
2 Reinforcement of the Army
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Enemy Controller
2 Rush Recklessly
Traps: 4
1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Royal Decree
“The Hydrogeddon cards are great here today, because everyone’s playing recruiters,” explained Hletko. Against a monster like Mystic Tomato, Hydrogeddon is nothing short of awesome. Hit the first recruiter, pull another Hydrogeddon with the effect of the first, and if the opponent pulls another monster, he or she does so with the knowledge that it’s only going to get you a third Hydrogeddon. Even if he or she pulls something like Newdoria or D. D. Warrior Lady, you’re still usually trading off a free monster for his or hers. It’s not a huge loss.
Okay, so Hydrogeddon cards are good. The key to Hletko’s success is where he goes from there. He supports his three Dinosaurs with two Rush Recklessly cards and two Enemy Controller cards. “I used to have problems with Asura Priest just hitting my Hydrogeddon, but with Rush Recklessly I can destroy the Asura and pull another Hydrogeddon, just trading a spell for a monster.” Enemy Controller keeps big attackers off of them too, and can often turn high-ATK monsters into a vulnerable defense position. That makes them sitting ducks for Hydrogeddon.
With the Rushes kicking around, the deck is primed and ready for Don Zaloog. He can search out Don with his three Mystic Tomato cards or two Reinforcement of the Army cards, and force through damage when Don attacks or is attacked in order to make the opponent discard a card. Rush and Reinforcement of the Army also support Sasuke Samurai #4—if Sasuke’s flip fails, you can always use Rush Recklessly in the damage step to save the little Samurai anyways. Very nice.
Royal Decree is important because it shuts down all the Sakuretsu Armor cards being played here today. That ensures that Mystic Tomato is only picked off in battle (allowing it to maintain field presence), and it clears the way for big presses with Hydrogeddon. It’s funny. Andrew Hayton said he waffled on Decree when he built his Hydrogeddon deck. He eventually decided not to use it, and he dropped from the tournament rounds and rounds ago. Decree is incredibly important.
Pot of Avarice supports both Tomato and Hydrogeddon, and is in turn fueled by their presence in the graveyard. Attack with Hydrogeddon, get free monsters, and when the Dinos do eventually hit the dirt, Pot of Avarice lets you do it all over again . . . and get more free cards in the process. Good deal, huh?
While many duelists are running Banisher of the Radiance to try and put away recruiter monsters, this deck proposes a different solution. If Hletko can make it to Day 2, expect him to tear up competition. The execution and the specifics of the list are just beautiful —it’s a marvel of synergy, and best of all, it doesn’t run Chaos Sorcerer! If he can take it all the way, this list is going to see some serious copying.