Despite never making a Day 2 finish, Matthew Highline is no stranger to Shonen Jump Championship competition. He’s a familiar face to me, and has been to plenty of events. He’s undefeated so far today with a very cool Earth-heavy deck that centers around one of the most fascinating cards from Cyberdark Impact: Blasting Fuse!

Will it make Day 2? Perhaps not, but it’s already scored some hilarious wins here today, and gotten some stunned looks from opponents. Flat out, no one is ready to play against Blasting Fuse, and everyone is still setting cards in tight little columns. It’s especially common on turn 1, and it’s a trend that gives Highline plenty of ways to create big swings in momentum and generate easy card advantage.

My favorite? Sand Moth. Not only is Sand Moth a popular tech card here in San Jose, it’s an incredibly good pick for this deck, since it combos with Blasting Fuse. Flipping a Fuse to destroy Sand Moth just puts it into its 2000 ATK mode, while also costing the opponent two of his or her cards. The impact on the opponent’s side of the field is often enough to ensure a direct hit for the now-pumped Moth too, making this a combo with several different facets.

Elemental Hero Wildheart can be used to create a complete column with the Fuse as well. Since Wildheart isn’t affected by trap cards, the Fuse can’t destroy it, but it does count towards the Fuse’s activation requirement. Similar roles can be filled by Sangan and Treeborn Frog as well, and the latter is especially brutal in the end phase when it creates the proper conditions for Frog’s return. Ouch. Even Scapegoat tokens can be used as Fuse fodder.

Beyond the Fuse, the deck runs a solid Giant Rat engine with Exiled Force and Injection Fairy Lily. The Rats give even more access to Elemental Hero Wildheart, and they add a lot of utility to Last Will. Two Creature Swap support the engine and also provide an out for those situations where Lily or the Sand Moths are dead cards.

Warrior Toolbox engines have a strong presence here today, and this deck is no exception. It’s using two Reinforcement of the Army, and beyond Exiled Force and Wildheart it can also search out one Don Zaloog. Though the lack of Mystic Tomato means that Highline’s deck can’t do quite as many Zaloog tricks as Fili Luna’s from SJC Anaheim, it can still cause plenty of chaos thanks to Last Will and Creature Swap. All the search cards help to compensate for the deck’s rather large size, 43 cards.

This might not be one of the strongest decks here today, but it’s definitely one of the most creative. I mean seriously, who expected to see Blasting Fuse in a Shonen Jump Championship? Still, it’s undefeated thus far and it’s got a strong element of surprise. A good showing would be both an admirable achievement, and really dang funny, and Highline is literally having a blast running his crazy creation. This one just needed to be immortalized for posterity.