When new cards are released, most players look for a few to fit into their main decks. Perhaps it’s a completely new and amazing card, like Card Trooper, or something that can create an entirely new deck type, like Destiny Draw or Chain Strike. However, the most creative duelists are always looking out for something that can make a playable OTK. It’s no secret that everyone’s scared to play against an OTK in a Shonen Jump, and it’s equally obvious that with a completely new build comes an increased chance at success.

So when Strike of Neos was released and news spread that it would be legal for play at Shonen Jump Championship Columbus, duelists paid attention to the set. What really caught their attention was Advanced Ritual Art. Immediately, online communities began buzzing about its potential with Demise, King of Armageddon. Although many players had tried out Demise builds before Strike of Neos, the general consensus was that having to discard one or two monsters from your hand or field just to bring it out simply wasn’t worth it. However, with Advanced Ritual Art, that ceased to be a problem. The only problem now was having to play multiple normal monsters in your deck.

Some players, such as Vincent Tundo, used aggressive 2000 and 1900 ATK normal monsters. They could use the monsters to press damage, ideally allowing Demise and another normal monster to win the game. Others tried using normal monsters for defense, with the likes of Charcoal Inpachi and Soul Tiger. While they couldn’t do much to aid the OTK, these monsters had the potential to stop anything with an attack of 2100 or less from getting through. Then some players (such as Paul Levitin) tried limiting the amount of normal monsters by only playing large level 8 monsters, namely Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

My personal favorite method, however, is the one used by Max Suffridge. His deck was constructed by many members of team Alpha Omega, including Max, Brian Bodkin, Chris SoRelle, Eric Herdzick, and myself. Together, we combined an online idea in Doom Dozer, as well as Max’s original ideas, to create what he ran at the tournament:

Monsters: 22

3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands

3 Senju of the Thousand Hands

3 Sonic Bird

3 Demise, King of Armageddon

3 Doom Dozer

1 Shinato, King of a Higher Plane

1 Sangan

3 Insect Knight

1 Neo Bug

1 Metal Armored Bug

Spells: 14

1 Giant Trunade

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

3 Megamorph

3 Advanced Ritual Art

1 Contract with the Abyss

2 Metamorphosis

1 Scapegoat

1 Premature Burial

Traps: 4

2 Royal Decree

1 Gravity Bind

1 Ring of Destruction

The goal of this deck is simply to achieve a one-turn knockout as quickly and consistently as possible. What sets it apart from most is that it plays three of each Ritual-specific searcher. Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, Senju of the Thousand Hands, and Sonic Bird all aid in speeding up the combo. Playing three copies instead of two or one achieves a lot more than you might think.

First off, the likelihood of your opponent having something to throw off your combo twice a match is quite high. Cards like Enemy Controller, Book of Moon, Bottomless Trap Hole, or even Shrink can prevent you from winning the game. As such, this deck was created to go off one turn after it was able to. Although Max might have Demise, King of Armageddon, Advanced Ritual Art, Megamorph, and Doom Dozer in hand, he’ll often wait a turn before making a push. In these scenarios, Max probably has a Ritual combo (Demise and Advanced Ritual Art, or one of them and a way to search for the other) left over because he plays three copies of each Ritual piece and each Ritual searcher. As such, waiting a turn can prevent an opponent from stopping your combo with a seemingly innocent threat.

Second, playing three of each of these cards (as well as one Shinato, King of a Higher Plane) allows Max an entirely new way of using the OTK. For those who are still confused, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane + Megamorph + 1400 ATK = 8000 damage. This means that Max can use his Demise, King of Armageddon to wipe the field, and if Demise is destroyed or switched to defense position, Max can still summon a Ritual searcher and complete a Ritual summon of Shinato, equip him with Megamorph, and take the game.

Using Doom Dozer as a win condition also opens up a lot of possibilities. Doom Dozer has the perfect stats for this deck, packing 2800 ATK and a whopping level 8. In addition, all it needs to be special summoned is two Insects in the graveyard. Luckily for Max, Advanced Ritual Art needs levels worth of tribute from the deck to activate. It’s like these cards were made for each other! Because of Doom Dozer’s statistics, combining either Megamorph to increase its ATK, or Metamorphosis to tribute either Demise or Dozer for Cyber Twin Dragon means game over for the opponent.

To make up for the possibility that Doom Dozer might not be drawn, Max played a copy of Premature Burial. This effectively increases the number of Doom Dozer cards to four. Since Advanced Ritual Art can send Metal Armored Bug to the graveyard, Max can do that instead of sending two Insect monsters, allowing Metal Armored Bug to be revived and either equipped with Megamorph or tributed to Metamorphosis.

Although Demise will destroy everything on the field except himself (including the opponent’s spells and traps), you can never guarantee that those spells or traps won’t be chained to destroy or paralyze Demise himself. As such, two copies of Royal Decree were included to negate these effects. Although Decree takes a turn to set, we know that Max already plans on waiting a turn anyway, just in case any spell cards affect Demise’s ability to win the game.

Heavy Storm, Giant Trunade, and Mystical Space Typhoon also protect Demise from any spell or trap cards that want to ruin his day . . . and unlike Royal Decree, they don’t require a turn set on the field to work. Although Giant Trunade gives cards back to the opponent that Demise would have destroyed, it’s worth it because using Trunade often means that the opponent is losing anyway. Furthermore, Trunade can create win scenarios that wouldn’t otherwise have been possible.

For example, say last turn we tried to use Demise’s effect, but ran into a Torrential Tribute and were unable to win the game. On our next turn, we can use Premature Burial to bring back Demise, use our top decked Giant Trunade to rid the opponent of any back-row cards, and return Premature Burial to our hand. Now we can clear the field, use Premature Burial on the Metal Armored Bug, and activate Metamorphosis for game. Although it’s a very situational example, the potential to reuse Premature Burial creates that many more win conditions for the deck.

Scapegoat and Gravity Bind made the cut as stall cards. Both can lock up the field, allowing Max to draw multiple Ritual combos and ensure that when he goes off, the game is won. Scapegoat can also lend a hand to Contract with the Abyss, should the need arise.

Although a few Demise decks were able to place higher than Max at Columbus, expect this build to be the one felt on the tournament scene.