Macro Cosmos is definitely one of the strongest decks this format. The game 1 matchup against Destiny Hero Light and Darkness Dragon and Perfect Circle Monarchs is incredibly good. The average draw can take out the Destiny Hero engine entirely, and simply playing a Dimensional Fissure can win you the game. Cosmos doesn’t really have a bad matchup either, as the remove-from-play aspect puts a good amount of hurt on other decks in the format too. OTK and Burn decks lose key cards like Doom Dozer and Wave-Motion Cannon, and even Baboon Burn loses Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest.
Yet many duelists still insist on playing Destiny Hero
Light and Darkness Dragon, since Light and Darkness has a far higher potential to draw power hands. Just check out how our latest Shonen Jump Champion blew his opponents out of the water with simply unstoppable draws. Cedric Sequerra made some ridiculous plays on his way to the top at Shonen Jump Championship Orlando. However, I got to watch Alvaro Jirau beat that very player in the final round of Swiss with this wicked deck concept:
Most of the time I don’t include the side deck with the decklist, but the side deck is what makes Jirau’s build so special. Transitioning from one strong deck to another has helped many players succeed in the past. Side-decking into Cyber-Stein OTK was very popular with Monarchs, in fact, and was as surprising as it was effective. Main-decking Monarchs covered most of the metagame, while Stein OTK could give that player an edge in the mirror match.
Alvaro Jirau did the same thing at Orlando with his Volcanic/Cosmos conversion deck. Most Perfect Circle Monarch players are aware of how unfavorable their matchup is with Cosmos. As such, they side deck a heavy number of cards to make the matchup winnable. However, they won’t be able to side them in if they aren’t aware they’re facing that strategy. Volcanics are another tough matchup for Perfect Circle decks, as Volcanic Monarchs can generate expendable cards at almost the same rate.
Volcanic Shell and Volcanic Rocket are the backbones to this deck’s strategy. Being able to add more Shells to your hand means quick activations of Pot of Avarice and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast. Avarice is one of the best power cards in the game, but few decks can really take advantage of its status as a Semi-Limited card. Often, most decks will lose if they see a pair in the opening hand, but for Jirau drawing one Volcanic Shell was as good as having all three. Being able to take advantage of more power cards means better chances of drawing power hands.
is one of the best cards in the game right now. Being able to use Raiza the Storm Monarch’s effect at spell speed 2 means potential disruption of a lot of decks. When Destiny Hero Light and Darkness attempts to get two tribute-worthy monsters on the field, Jirau can simply bounce one to the owner’s hand so he or she can’t tribute for Light and Darkness Dragon. Should the opponent get the Dragon out, taking care of it is as simple as activating the effect of an in-graveyard Volcanic Shell and chaining Phoenix Wing Wind Blast to the Dragon’s negation effect.
Blaze Accelerator also works well with the Shells, turning what would otherwise be dead cards in some situations into monster destruction. Volcanic Rocket grabs the Accelerator from the deck or graveyard, which means only D.D. Crow can really put it out of reach. Playing the Accelerator also means Wildfire can be abused. Games can really slow down this format, so having a means to destroy all monsters on the field can be very advantageous if set up properly. Wildfire acts as another power card for the Volcanic deck, and drops a nifty token down to boot.
Pulling the Rug is a card I really like to see in the main deck these days. Almost all of the insane hands Perfect Circle decks draw involve Raiza the Storm Monarch or Elemental Hero Stratos. Pulling the Rug shuts both cards down, and can really leave the opponent at a loss to make any plays. Even if the opponent has a means to special summon that monster back, that’s one less Destiny Hero - Disk Commander special summon you have to worry about.
However, even Jirau knew that a Volcanic deck can’t beat Light and Darkness every game. Especially after side decking, when the Dragon player has Banisher of the Radiance and D.D. Crow to paralyze the Volcanic duelist, Volcanic decks can find themselves unable to seal the deal. To avoid this problem entirely, Jirau transitioned his main deck into a Cosmos build by using all fifteen cards in his side. The result is that Jirau gets to play against a weakened Light and Darkness Dragon build with his Cosmos strategy. Banishers and Crows will be counterproductive, and all the cards that are hurt by Cosmos will still be in the opponent’s deck.
Apprentice Magician and friends are the tribute fodder of choice for Jirau because they can work in both Cosmos and Volcanic surroundings. Apprentice cares not where he goes, and finds one of the other Magicians in his place almost every time. Of course, Magician of Faith isn’t very useful when cards aren’t being sent to the graveyard, and due to the limited space available because of the transition, Jirau played only Crystal Seer or another Apprentice Magician as the targets for searching. This really supports his main goal, which is to see as many power cards as possible. The Seer lets you dig through the deck faster, while Apprentice fuels the graveyard for Pot of Avarice.
Jirau can even combine both decks when the time is right. Burn decks won’t do well when their opponent has both Cosmos and Wind Blast, but that’s the kind of pain Jirau can enforce against combo-reliant decks. His tricky transitioning fooled eight of the nine opponents he faced on Day 1, and Alvaro Jirau was rewarded with a 6th place finish after the Swiss rounds. I expect many players to learn from him, and see if they can back up their anti-metagame builds with transition side decks to steal away game 2 from their opponents.
-Matt Peddle