1 Morphing Jar

1 Elemental Hero Stratos

Spells:

3 Burden of the Mighty

3 Reinforcement of the Army

3 Shrink

2 Book of Moon

Traps:

3 Compulsory Evacuation Device

3 Dark Bribe

3 Royal Oppression

3 Solemn Judgment

The core of the deck is the central combo: King Tiger Wanghu and Burden of the Mighty. King Tiger’s effect destroys any monster with 1400 ATK or less when that monster is summoned: pretty good in a format where Destiny Hero – Malicious and Krebons (two monsters that naturally have less than 1400 ATK) are arguably the biggest threats. But with Burden of the Mighty on the field, King Tiger just gets even better. With one Burden on the field, Mijares’ Tigers can destroy cards like Gladiator Beast Laquari, Elemental Hero Stratos, Jain, Lightsworn Paladin, or Dark Grepher. With two Burdens on the table almost nothing is safe.

This is a combo that wrecks virtually all competitive decks right now, but it’s especially harsh against TeleDAD. In that matchup the opponent takes a double-hit: the first being the aforementioned disruption of Krebons and Malicious, and the second being the reduction in ATK of the big Synchros the deck invests in. As fast as those Stardust Dragons and Thought Ruler Archfiends hit the table, they still represent a big investment; even if Malicious is reducing the cost of Synchro summoning those monsters, the deck can only summon so many before running out of steam. Bringing Stardust Dragon down to 1700 ATK is ridiculous; it goes from being one of the most difficult cards in the format to deal with, to being nothing more than a speed bump for Stratos. Every Synchro save Colossal Fighter takes a big, big hit from even just one Burden.

The rest of the deck is set up to capitalize on that. Three copies of Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer pull double duty, serving as both disruption against Malicious and Dark Armed Dragon, and an 1800 ATK beatstick that swings over darn near anything when Burden’s out. Two Elemental Hero Neos Alius swing over almost anything even without Burden’s assistance, and can get Thought Ruler off the field when its ATK is being reduced. Two Wildheart complete the Stratos engine and help out in the Gladiator Beast matchup — they dodge Compulsory Evacuation Device, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, and the all-important Dimensional Prison.

The rest of the deck’s monster lineup is largely tech; two Banisher make more hurt for Malicious while stopping the Mystic Tomatoes that seem to be growing in popularity. D.D. Warrior Lady and Ehren, Lightsworn Monk are searchable with the deck’s three copies of Reinforcement of the Army, while Morphing Jar provides more card draw to help Mijares set up. Breaker the Magical Warrior finishes the monster list acting as yet another flexible beatstick.

The spell lineup is slim; three Burden and three Reinforcement are a must, while three Shrink provide even more room to capitalize on the battle phase. Two Book of Moon stop dangerous effects like those of Stardust Dragon and Gladiator Beast War Chariot, and that’s it — no Heavy Storm, no Mystical Space Typhoon, no Monster Reborn. Mijares is highly focused on his central goals.

The trap lineup is also quite simple, focusing heavily on negation. Three Royal Oppression lock down Gladiator Beasts and Teleport Dark Armed, while three Solemn Judgment and three Dark Bribe keep the Oppressions safe while cutting opposing combo plays short. Mirror Force is safe to play when it’s backed by six spell negating trap cards, and it’s matched by three copies of Compulsory Evacuation Device — simple one-shot answers to those Synchros that do inevitably slip through.

This deck is very, very good; while it’s essentially metagamed against TeleDAD, its key combo beats basically anything, and its strength in battle means that it doesn’t really have a weak matchup save Monarchs. It doesn’t have that problem most metagamed strategies run into: auto-losing matchups it didn’t tech for. Since Monarchs aren’t even being played today, I really like Mijares’ chances of making Day 2.