Metagames are often discussed on the macro level—“In my area, Zombie decks are really popular,” or, “Everybody plays Chaos around here.” People frequently focus on entire decks, and to them, that is what defines the metagame.

But, some of the most intriguing and unique parts of a metagame are often the small quirks, the single cards that are somewhat unique to that metagame. Understanding the single cards used in a metagame different from your own can be highly useful because single-card innovations can be worked into many different decks. You can look at one card that’s being used that you haven’t tried before and toss that into a deck you already have, as opposed to seeing a totally new deck and facing the task of building it from the ground up.

That said, Canadian Nationals saw a lot of interesting single-card trends that were a bit surprising to some people. They tended to fit into three groups.


The first interesting group of individual cards that aren’t seen often in major tournaments was made up of a variety of Light monsters. With a lot of people playing Chaos, it seemed like everyone was looking for ways to innovate the deck above its usual potential, and while the Light requirements for the deck would normally be filled by D. D. Warrior Lady, Shining Angel, and sometimes Reflect Bounder, Canadian competitors at Nationals were trying out a lot of other monsters as well.

Magician of Faith seemed to be a crowd favorite all days of the event. Play styles were a bit less aggressive than in U.S. Nationals, and Nobleman of Crossout was not main decked as much as it sometimes is. The result was an environment where flip effect monsters were a bit easier to play than they normally would be. Magician of Faith was tested heavily in tournament play and casual competition on Friday night while competitors trickled in to register for the following days’ events, and results were apparently positive as many players went into both Saturday and Sunday’s main events using it. It was most commonly invoked as a once-off due to the fact that it could be grabbed with Sangan (or Witch of the Black Forest in a pinch), and its poor status as an opening draw. The popular targets for its effect? The obvious candidates: Raigeki, Dark Hole, Pot of Greed, Harpie’s Feather Duster—anything that could give card advantage had first-pick status barring a situational need. Magician of Faith was seen in Chaos Beatdown more than other Chaos variants.

Thunder Dragon was another card that saw a ton of play. It’s generally accepted that, on a theoretical level, Thunder Dragon is a strong card, yet there are very few who actually use it in heated competition. Not so at this event, where many decks were running three of them to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon and Black Luster Soldier, combining the card with Graceful Charity and Mirage of Nightmare to gain card advantage and thin the deck. Several Turbo Chaos decks were actually running at 40 cards and eschewing double and triple copies of D. D. Warrior Lady and Shining Angel for Thunder Dragon, to much success.

Missing, though, were some of the other cards that find natural synergy with Thunder Dragon. Magic Jammer, Tribute to the Doomed, and Judgment of Anubis were generally set aside, likely for the concern of speed. Still, Thunder Dragon made a notable impact at Canadian Nationals.

Roulette Barrel was the biggest surprise, as many people were testing it out on Friday night. Though it didn’t make the final cut into many decks on Saturday and Sunday, it was an interesting candidate for testing, and the frequency with which it was seen during Friday’s Constructed event was nothing short of astounding. Duelists would pull it via Shining Angel’s effect, and due to its high 2000 DEF, it made an interesting alternative to Turbo Chaos’s normal lineup of monsters that maintain board presence. It gave the deck a fourth highly viable opening move (the first three being Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel, and D. D. Warrior Lady) and added to its staying power, while at the same time giving it a shot at destroying some of the opponent’s impending threats. Though it didn’t take off at this event in particular, Roulette Barrel could make a strong showing in other metagames.


The next group was a suite of cards that could be viewed as Chaos tech—cards that were main decked primarily to stump Chaos. Normally cards intended to counter a single archetype would be relegated to the side deck, but some of the choices available were so good that they were deemed worthy of being included in virtually all duels. As a result, the following cards became integral parts of many decks.

Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer is frequently seen in side decks, but many players were main decking a pair of them in anticipation of seeing a lot of Chaos. Several groups of players came into Friday unsure as to what kind of Chaos variant they would use but knowing they would play some version of the deck. While U.S. Nationals saw Turbo Chaos dominate, more players in Canadian Nationals ended up going with Chaos Beatdown, and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer was a big reason for that.  

Several duelists made good use of Metamorphosis to smite Chaos, including Canadian National Champion Joseph Leung. Metamorphosis stymied Chaos in two chief ways. First off, as an early play, it allowed for the summoning of Dark Balter the Terrible. A player running Metamorphosis would summon Magicial Scientist, special summon a Dark Balter by paying 1000 life points for the Scientist’s effect, and then use Metamorphosis to tribute the Balter for another one. The resulting Balter is permanent. From that point, Balter would decimate the effect monsters that are the core support for a Chaos deck, preventing Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, Mystic Tomato, and Shining Angel from getting their effects when destroyed in battle. It would also be used to negate key flip effect monsters and normal spells.

Alternatively, when a Chaos deck got up and running with a Chaos Emperor Dragon or Black Luster Soldier out on the field, Sinister Serpent or Magical Scientist could be tributed with Metamorphosis to bring a Thousand-Eyes Restrict to the field. The Thousand-Eyes would then be used to absorb the offending Chaos monster, both removing the threat and becoming one itself.

Lastly, Enemy Controller was run in virtually any deck that could support it, so long as the player actually owned copies of the card (Enemy Controller and D. D. Warrior Lady were in huge demand Friday night). Anything other than decks incorporating lockdown engines were using it just as a solid general disruption card, but the archetype hit hardest by its presence was Chaos. The weekend saw many duelists’ jaws hit the floor as they watched their opponents take control of their Chaos Emperor Dragons and beat them to death with them. Almost equally surprising were the many Emperor Dragons and Luster Soldiers turned to defense in response to their attacks. Enemy Controller left its mark on all levels of play over the weekend, and players walked away from the event with respect for the card.


Two cards saw a lot of play in decks that locked down the opponent. Though we’re all used to seeing Gravity Bind, Messenger of Peace, Magic Jammer, Magic Drain, Spell-Shield Type 8, and Solemn Judgment in such decks, two other cards were used profusely.

Ojama Trio was in a plethora of decks Friday night. Though its true place was behind a lockdown engine, people were even kicking it around in Beatdowns to minimal success. In the Direct Damage decks that were present though it shined, frustrating players who quickly found themselves without space for the attackers they direly needed, rapidly being pinged to death by Des Koala, Secret Barrel, and others.

A lot of people were testing Level Limit - Area B on Friday night. It seemed to easily replace Messenger of Peace in Lockdown decks, and garnered a lot of worth, as it could block such things as Cannon Soldier, Don Zaloog, Mystic Tomato, and Witch of the Black Forest, which would normally slide under the Messenger’s 1500 ATK cutoff point. Beatdown and Chaos players were hampered by it, and it wasn’t rare to see a full field of level 4 powerhouses all turned sideways with their controller ripping hair from his or her head. Level Limit - Area B saw a lot of experimentation, and several people seemed to be eying Rocket Jumper and seeing a good deal of potential after bearing witness to the card’s strength. However, usage of the spell dropped off in everything but casual play as the weekend progressed and most players decided that lockdown-style strategies were just too slow to take on Chaos and First Turn KO decks.

Both of the above cards have a great deal of potential. Ojama Trio seems to be garnering a lot of attention in the environment, and as players experiment more and more with Level Limit - Area B we might be in for some surprises.


The Canadian National Championships was a unique metagame. Though most had thought the event’s deck composition would mirror that of U.S. Nationals, the departure from dedicated Chaos was an unexpected and exciting one. The above cards really defined important parts of the weekend, and all of them might be worth a second look after seeing the impact each made on such a prestigious event.