I think it would be a good idea to take a look at the Top 8 tables at this point to see what kind of decks are currently going undefeated:

Table 1: Monarchs with Card Troopers/Cyber Phoenix vs. Destiny Hero Monarchs

Table 2: Demise OTK vs. Monarchs

Table 3: Monarchs vs. Ratbox Monarch

Table 4: Destiny Hero Beatdown vs. Destiny Hero Beatdown

Table 5: Destiny Hero Beatdown vs. Chimeratech

Table 6: Destiny Hero Beatdown with Meanae and Crush Card vs. Gadget Monarch

Table 7: Destiny Hero Beatdown vs. Destiny Hero Monarchs

Table 8: Horus vs. Monarchs

A very interesting collection of decks at the top tables, don’t you think? As would be expected, Destiny Hero cards are everywhere, forming the basis for almost half of the players at the top tables. Of those decks, Destiny Hero Beatdown (check T’s deck from Philly for an example) is easily the most popular and is the only deck that currently faces a mirror match. Surprisingly, the all around favorite deck is not Destiny Hero Monarchs despite the fact that it won the last Shonen Jump Championship. It is, however, a close second with the sum total of all decks based around Monarchs equaling eight, for an average of one Monarch deck per table. I can certainly see why they’re so popular, as a number of factors ranging from the new-ness of the format and unfamiliarity with the new cards to the fact that many are using this as a last chance qualifier for this year’s Nationals. Of course, it could just be that that Monarchs are by far the easiest deck to play, based more on mathematics than anything else. Also, as expected, one Demise OTK deck is currently straggling through the cloud of Destiny Hero based builds, but it’s likely not to remain at the top much longer as the fortuitous string of circumstances that have brought it this far cannot last forever. The one Horus deck hanging on at the top tables interests me. It seems like it’s exactly the thing to deal with all these Destiny Hero decks, and for the first half of the tournament, it has done exactly that. It remains to be seen, however, whether Horus is actually the viable counter it’s theorized to be, or if it too has simply caught a favorable win.

More interesting than the decks that are at the top tables are the decks that are nowhere to be seen. At this point in the day, I’ve only been able to spot three Crystal Beast decks out in the field, and the best record for any of them is 2-2. I would also note than none of them are running Crystal Raigeki, which I previously set forth as a not-so-good idea. Sure, the lack of the trap card might not have anything to do with the lack of Crystal Beasts doing well, but for an excellent set of monsters and support cards it seems to me that the only way that no one would be doing well with them is if everyone using them is doing it wrong. This could just be due to inexperience with the cards, or it could be that everyone who knows what they’re doing is hiding their deck until Nationals. You never know, but it seems to me that for an SJC that’s supposed to give us our one look at the post-FOTB metagame before Nationals, this one is being rather stingy with the information.

More feature matches are on their way, so keep on checking back!