Sonic Duck rules. It’s a documented fact—a duck might not be particularly awesome, but if you put a bucket on its head and make it run, it instantly becomes the coolest thing ever conceived of by man.

So, yeah, Megan Holland’s deck had that going for it. It also happened to feature a unique central strategy, cards that aren’t often played, an awesome cohesiveness, and a pretty great player behind the proverbial wheel. A lot of people talk about making Level Limit decks, but Holland created a highly playable one, and had the guts to use it in one of the most competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments North America has ever seen. Here is what Megan Holland played:

Megan Holland’s Lockdown Runner

Monsters: 17
3 Sonic Duck
2 D.D. Crazy Beast
2 Mataza the Zapper
1 Gyaku-Gire Panda
1 Magical Scientist
1 Exiled Force
1 Horus LV 6
1 Raging Flame Sprite
1 Cyber Jar
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Swarm of Scarabs
1 Swarm of Locusts
1 Kinetic Soldier

Spells: 15
3 Level Limit Area B
1 Book of Moon
1 Change of Heart
1 Scapegoat
1 Snatch Steal
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Smashing Ground
1 Premature Burial
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Pot of Greed
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Mage Power
1 Hammer Shot

Traps: 8
3 Gravity Bind
1 Magic Jammer
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Sakuretsu Armor
1 Waboku
1 Call of the Haunted

Fusion Deck:
2 Punished Eagle
1 Roaring Ocean Snake
1 Dark Flare Knight
2 Ryu Senshi
2 Dark Balter the Terrible
1 Thousand-Eyes Restrict


The deck uses many cards that can get under Level Limit – Area B and Gravity Bind. Sonic Duck, D.D. Crazy Beast, Mataza the Zapper, Injection Fairy Lily, and Gyaku-Gire Panda can all attack when Level Limit and Bind are out on the field. Gyaku-Gire Panda is a particularly nice card for this deck. It has low ATK, which is likely the reason that Megan only plays one. Beyond that, Exiled Force and Magical Scientist provide all their usual utility, and Kinetic Soldier is the ever-present Warrior tech. Swarm of Scarabs, Swarm of Locusts, and Raging Flame Sprite lash out at their targets from behind the protection of Level Limit, and the deck can run Cyber Jar with very little of the risk normally associated with the card—even if the opponent pulls well and Megan doesn’t, there’s a great chance that the opponent can’t attack with his or her newfound beasts, anyway.

The spells for the deck almost write themselves. Level Limit – Area B is a must. Smashing Ground, Nobleman of Crossout, and Hammer Shot all clear the path for attacks and serve as problem solvers if the attack-prevention lock is broken. Swords of Revealing Light and Scapegoat reinforce that lock and help to build an overwhelming presence of attack prevention. Snatch Steal and Change of Heart act as both road-clearers and tribute fodder, and Mage Power makes Gyaku-Gire Panda very, very large. And he likes being large. And smashy. Beyond that, the deck’s spells are pretty typical.

The traps are also somewhat predictable, but highly effective and dominating, nonetheless. Three Gravity Bind are obvious inclusions, Magic Jammer protects the lockdown, and Ring of Destruction and Sakuretsu Armor provide more destruction. Waboku acts in the same way that Scapegoat and Swords does, and Call of the Haunted is . . . well, it is what it is—it brings stuff back into play. It does this not only because smashing face is good, but also because dead ducks and pandas are just sad.

Like most of the fusion decks in the Championship, Holland’s is traditionally designed to support Magical Scientist. There’s nothing innovative about it; rather, it’s a time-tested, proven build.