Vincent Tundo is always good for some innovation, and this year he hasn’t disappointed. The key combo this time around happens to jive perfectly with what might be the strongest strategy here today: Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissure.

The combo? Activate Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure. Then activate Gravekeeper’s Servant. That’s it.

Can you spot the situation that creates? Check out Tundo’s deck and think it over.

Monsters: 21

3 Mobius the Frost Monarch

3 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

3 D.D. Survivor

3 D.D. Scout Plane

2 Apprentice Magician

3 Old Vindictive Magician

3 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

1 Spirit Reaper

Spells: 8

3 Dimensional Fissure

2 Gravekeeper’s Servant

1 Snatch Steal

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Card Trader

Traps: 14

3 Macro Cosmos

3 Solemn Judgment

1 Torrential Tribute

3 Sakuretsu Armor

3 Pulling the Rug

1 Mirror Force

Gravekeeper’s Servant demands that your opponent send a card from the top of his or her deck to the graveyard before declaring an attack. If the opponent can’t do that, he or she can’t attack. At all. Ever. Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissure prevent either player from sending cards to the graveyard, so the opposing player can’t fulfill the condition that Gravekeeper’s Servant establishes. Until the opponent can destroy either the removal agent or the Servant, he or she can’t do anything.

The best part is that the combo only requires two or three extra cards: just the copies of Gravekeeper’s Servant. Everything else is already being played in any standard Dimensional Fissure or Macro Cosmos deck. Tundo’s managed to create a whole new strategy while disguising it as something else, and he did it with a handful of cards.

Beyond that, this deck has everything you would expect from a Dimensional Fissure Monarch build. Six Monarchs, a full retinue of D.D. Survivor and D. D. Scout Plane, plus an Apprentice Magician engine packing Old Vindictive Magician are obvious picks that are proven successful in this format. This deck works, and the Italian National Championships were proof of that just weeks ago.

What’s more interesting are the tech choices Tundo has made. As usual, his creativity comes through in some of the deck’s finer points, including a single copy of Card Trader. Just one. It allows the deck to cycle cards in order to dig for its central combo in the early game, while still shuffling away extra pieces of that combo in the late game. In fact, since Tundo is running just a single copy, it’s more likely that Card Trader will play a primary role in the late game than the early game, shuffling away unneeded cards to seek out more Survivors and Monarchs.

Three Pulling the Rug is also a departure from what many would consider a standard build. At this point it would be redundant to write a complete list of what Rug counters: everyone is quite familiar with the terror it strikes in the hearts of Monarch and Gadget players.  It’s especially important here because this deck can be devastated by Raiza the Storm Monarch, whose popularity shows no signs of slowing down.

Currently I’m unclear as to how many people are running Dimensional Fissure decks. Walking the top fifty tables this past round I saw several people running similar strategies, but with so many players sitting at 1-0 records it’s impossible to tell how many of these decks are actually doing well. In round 3, I’ll cruise the top tables to see just how many top seats this strategy is taking. I’ll also be able to give a more informed opinion of how well this hot prospect is set to do.

This is a matchup-dependent deck that wins or loses depending on what it faces. It beats other Monarch Variants, shreds Destiny Heroes, and shuts down Card Trooper. It does lose to Return from the Different Dimension, a lesson Tundo learned in his first match of the day when he was destroyed in short order by Comic Odyssey’s Osman Ortiz. Tundo will need to win out in order to comfortably secure his place in day 2.

Still, Tundo may have a very good chance of doing so if matchups fall in his favor. Dimensional Fissure seemed like a very good bet heading into today, and I’m prepared to say that Tundo’s build is the one most likely to go the distance in today’s ten-round tournament. Even if it doesn’t make it this time, I’d urge readers to pay careful attention to this build. To me, it’s the seminal version of a deck that’s going to be on-and-off popular for years to come.