The metagame of Battle City Amsterdam 2004 was one of the most varied of any premier level tournament. Take any European country with a large amount of Yu-Gi-Oh organized play going on and you’ll see a diverse range of decks, play styles, and experience levels between areas. Battle City Amsterdam 2004 takes that level of variety and multiplies it by twenty, since it drew players from many European countries. Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Britain, and more, all had swarms of competitors representing them, resulting in an incredibly complicated metagame.

As usual, Chaos decks were the most viciously competitive and the most played, but even in the more experienced and competitive age groups, a number of theme decks were present and successful. Machine, Warrior, and Fiend decks were the most popular of the type-specific decks, and though Warrior decks were somewhat typical in comparison to North American and Asian metagames, Machine and Fiend decks were taken in new directions. For Machine decks, the two innovations were the use of Gear Golem the Moving Fortress and the aggressive implementation of Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank, which has been tried before with mixed results. Gear Golem the Moving Fortress proved a natural fit for Machines, which isn’t surprising. At 2200 DEF, it easily takes the place of the always-laughable but somewhat necessary Battle Footballer, improving not only the deck’s opening monster play (which is traditionally often weak due to a lack of options, though Limiter Removal can easily turn a losing opening into a winning one), but also providing the direct-attack option given by its effect. Watch for multiple Gear Golems to provide a stronger opening for Machine decks in metagames worldwide.

For Fiend decks, the main innovation is the priority of Dark Ruler Ha Des over Dark Necrofear. While most Japanese or North American Fiend deck duelists will tell you that their deck focuses chiefly on the use and exploitation of Dark Necrofear, that card took a back seat in the decks of many competitors at Battle City Amsterdam. Alternatively, Dark Ruler Ha Des took center stage, rendering staple cards and veteran favorites like Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, Fiber Jar, Cyber Jar, Magician of Faith, and Sinister Serpent totally useless. Though Dark Ruler Ha Des had the advantage of facing a play environment that saw more face-down monsters than usual, the ambitious combination of Dark Ruler Ha Des and Dark Necrofear that some Fiend decks attempted is definitely worthy of note for players in any metagame. Also of note was the use of Yata-Garasu. With Dark Necrofear and Dark Ruler Ha Des providing a lot of board control, Fiend duelists often saw some easy locks, and the fact that Yata is a Fiend and can be removed from the game for Dark Necrofear’s special summon cost is a nice bit of synergy as well.

Let’s look at the Chaos decks as well. Unlike the World Championships, where Turbo Chaos was under-represented in favor of Beatdown and Control builds, and hybrids of those two themes, Turbo Chaos decks featuring multiple copies of Shining Angel and Mystic Tomato were extremely popular as players attempted to burn their decks as quickly as possible to get to their Chaos monsters. Peten the Dark Clown, from the Movie Exclusive packs, made for a healthy addition to the deck, adding even more maintained board presence as well as speed. Peten exploited many a Graceful Charity in this tournament.

Generally, the most dominant Chaos decks of the tournament were Chaos Beatdowns. Berserk Gorilla saw a huge amount of play in many of the pods as early as the first round, and set the tone for Day 1. With many players playing conservatively, the field was ripe for the picking for those playing aggressive Chaos Beatdown decks. Aggro play styles like that demonstrated by UK Champion Ryan Pugh at the World Championships did extremely well. A pair of main-decked Nobleman of Crossouts have never had so many targets and were the key to victory for many duelists.

There was less of an emphasis on hybrid Chaos decks than one would normally expect. Because of the prevalent use of setting monsters instead of normal summoning to attack position, truly opportunistic players just didn’t need as many dedicated control options as they normally would to dominate the opposition. On a per capita basis, Don Zaloog was not seen as often at Battle City Amsterdam as it was at Worlds or US Nationals.

Additionally, a sprinkling of Direct Damage Lockdown, Exodia, Dragon, Spellcaster, and other decks were present and successful to varying degrees.

Overall, the field consisted of many somewhat conservative players, and aggressive players sought to take advantage of those with slower speeds of play and a tendency towards setting monsters. Magic Cylinder did a lot to shape the metagame and was a popular choice for many decks, resulting in conservative plays from many duelists, and in turn increased play of aggressive, opportunistic cards, which brought success for those with an aggressive style.