Those fortunate enough to attend Canadian Nationals in Missisauga over July 9–11 were greeted with three days of play opportunity. The main event—the actual Canadian Nationals tournament—took place on Sunday, but the busiest day by far was the open qualifier tournament on Saturday. Since the Top 64 from that tournament would be invited back to participate in the Nationals tournament the following day, 141 turned out to register and test their skills for a chance at Nationals. Many more (mostly players who already held invitations) opted to play in Saturday’s side events, taking advantage of opportunities to further hone their decks.

The main event tournaments weren’t all that was offered—side events ran from Friday evening on through the end of the tournament on Sunday. There was definitely something for everyone, and subsequently a lot of different decks hit the tables. We’ve got a rundown here of what was commonly played, how well it performed, and how the metagame changed from day to day. Let’s start with the side events and playtesting that were popular on Friday, and work our way from there to the main event on Sunday.


Friday
Side events—Eight-person Constructed tournaments and Eight-person Booster Drafts

The doors to the tournament hall opened around three on Friday, to allow duelists to register ahead of time for the main tournaments (the open qualifier and Nationals) and to provide playtesting opportunities. Most duelists availed themselves of the chance to test their decks, and Friday’s tournaments revealed a surprising variety of deck types.

Chaos decks are quite popular everywhere Yu-Gi-Oh! is played, but surprisingly, only about half of the decks seen on Friday were Chaos or Chaos variants. The majority of the duelists present at the Friday evening events were registering to play in Saturday’s qualifier, and they played several different types of decks. Chaos and Chaos variants were there and amply represented, but First Turn KO decks and Direct Damage decks were also very popular, with Mill and other assorted types coming in last but certainly holding an established presence. Even a few Amazon and Harpy decks were being tested out!

Turbo Chaos was probably the most popular of the Chaos variant decks that night, most running the traditional two to three Mystic Tomatoes and Shining Angels. The playstyle being demonstrated was a bit more conservative then that of major tournaments in the U.S., which allowed a number of Lockdown decks to make impressive showings but also provided exemplary play conditions for Turbo Chaos’s maintained board presence. There were some Beatdown-oriented Chaos decks as well (tons of Berserk Gorillas . . .), but Control Chaos had the smallest showing out of the three. One-turn win decks put in an appearance, ranging from the Magical Scientist–Catapult Turtle style to a more common Dark Magician of Chaos deck. Direct Damage decks, many using Ojama Trio, made up the third most popular deck archetype seen at these events.


Saturday
Open Qualifier Tournament
Eight-person Constructed tournaments and Eight-person Booster Drafts

Saturday began bright and early with the doors and registration opening at 9 A.M. As players who didn’t register the night before arrived in the conventional hall and made their way to the judging booth to get signed in, the tables quickly filled with people playtesting, trading, and strategizing. Several people made the last minute choice to change over to Chaos decks, and as a result there was an early-morning run on D. D. Warrior Lady, which suddenly commanded a premium in trade.

Most players were there for the Open, and with 141 competitors, the event was pretty big. Chaos variants were a bit more popular than they had been Friday night, which was to be expected, with Chaos Beatdown in particular seeing a bit of a boost and Chaos Control continuing to be inexplicably unpopular. Several individuals ran decks that had elements of different Chaos variants rolled into one strategy, but still, only about 60 percent of the field was Chaos-centric.

One Turn KO decks with Dark Magician of Chaos climbed a bit in popularity, while similar decks focused around Magical Scientist dropped a bit due to testing experiences from Friday. Direct Damage decks not intending to win via Scientist or Dark Magician of Chaos also made a strong showing; many games were won by Des Koala and Secret Barrel. In fact, one such deck would break Top 4 and turn a lot of heads over the course of the qualifier.

Mill decks, or “deck out” decks, featuring Needleworm, Morphing Jar, and Morphing Jar #2 also held onto some of their popularity, with several players running fully tricked out versions of the complicated (and pricey) archetype. Not many other decks made a showing, as Zombies, Gravekeepers, A Legendary Ocean, and Machines fell by the wayside.

By the end of the day’s eight rounds, 64 competitors had qualified themselves for a shot at Sunday’s National Championship. The field of successful duelists was highly varied in age and deck, as children and the middle age alike qualified with Chaos, One Turn KO, Beatdown, Anti-Chaos and Direct Damage decks. Side events drew sizeable crowds for both Constructed and Draft, and many players had their first taste of Limited play. Demand for side events ran past the point of the event hall being closed for the night.

Side decks were interesting, as most had one, or several, of three major goals. The first was to tech Chaos. Torrential Tribute, Necrovalley, Bottomless Trap Hole, Banisher of the Light, Soul Release, and more all saw use on Saturday and Sunday in attempts to stop the overwhelming presence of Chaos. The two other common goals were to extend the capabilities of a deck (say, a third Mystical Space Typhoon in a side deck while the main deck only runs two) or to give the deck a near-total conversion (for instance, running the needed cards to turn a Control deck into a Beatdown, or a Scientist One Turn KO into a Machine deck). As of Saturday, most side decks were concerned with the first two agendas—teching Chaos and extending the capabilities of the original deck. But Sunday would see some change in that.


Sunday
Canadian Nationals Championship Tournament
Lots O Prize Constructed Tournament
Eight-person Constructed tournaments and Eight-person Booster Drafts

The arrival of the Canadian National Championships saw parts of the field conform a bit, while others went off on tangents unseen thus far in the weekend. Various types of Chaos decks occupied about 70 percent of the tournament, which left a lot of room for other deck types. Magical Scientist and Dark Magician of Chaos One Turn KO decks had a slightly reduced showing from the day before, and only a handful of players were using Direct Damage decks with things like Ojama Trio and Des Koala. But many more players were using Gravekeepers and Zombies (albeit not together), and several players were putting their own spins on classic builds of decks, dropping components once thought to be necessary in favor of other, more surprising inclusions.

Sunday saw a few interesting changes in regards to side decks. Several players, having noticed that match ties were being settled by sudden death play, teched their side decks for just such an occasion. For those unfamiliar with sudden death rules, it basically means that a new duel is started, and whoever is first to take damage loses, whether it’s from a cost, an effect, or battle damage. As a result, several players added Poison of the Old Man or Curse of Darkness to their side decks, giving them an advantage in tiebreaker duels. Very clever, and it did make the difference in several tied games.

In addition, several players were side decking hard into the goal of giving themselves a conversion option. Gravekeeper was a rare choice, but an effective one, accompanying teched Necrovalleys used to hinder Chaos decks with several powerful monsters like Gravekeeper’s Assailant and Gravekeeper’s Spear Soldier. A few players ran Zombie and Warrior conversions as the basis of their side decks as well.

The Top 8 for the day came down to three Turbo Chaos decks, three Chaos Beatdowns, a non-Chaos Beatdown, and an Anti-Chaos deck. In the end, Joseph Leung’s Anti-Chaos deck got the job done, beating out all competitors to take top honors.

Side tournaments, including the admirably-sized “Lots O Prize” Constructed tournament saw a bit more variety, with the play environment looking some what akin to Friday’s events and casual play. Though there were Chaos decks here as well, there were also more Direct Damage decks and more tribal Beatdowns: Amazons, Harpies, Warriors, and a few others got their reprisals for the weekend in these events.


Overall, the weekend was a very interesting one, as Canadian players showed some of the differences between Canadian metagames and U.S. metagames. Many duelists had perfected a reserved play style, in some respects playing a deck in a controlling style without actually running traditional Control cards. Don Zaloog was a rare sight in most matches. The result was an environment that often punished players overly eager to go on the offensive, and a general card pool that displayed some very interesting selections that could make an impact in the global environment.