There were a few decks that didn’t see much play at Battle City Amsterdam 2004. They were Zombie, Gravekeeper, Remove From Play (Dark Magician of Chaos), and Scientist First Turn KO. Out of the four, two would have made sense for play, while one would not.

Zombie decks could have done quite well in the event, despite the metagame not featuring the Control presence that Zombie decks are so good at fighting. Patrician of Darkness, Spirit Reaper, and Pyramid Turtle (when it’s played face up) would have been excellent against the horde of aggressive attackers that dominated the tournament. Though Vampire Lord would easily have been over-matched by the frequent use of Goblin Attack Force and Berserk Gorilla, Zombies still could have done exceedingly well with Patrician of Darkness functioning as the deck’s star player. With so much aggressive attacking taking center stage in most of the pods, maintained board presence was a premium asset worth prioritizing, and Pyramid Turtle would have been even more valuable than usual.

On the other hand, Gravekeeper would not have made sense for this environment and that’s likely why they didn’t see very much play. Though Necrovalley is arguably the best anti-Chaos card available, the small pre-Necrovalley swarm of Gravekeeper monsters wouldn’t last long against the better Chaos Beatdown decks, or even the regular Beatdown decks at the event that did not utilize Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. Additionally, many decks were running even more spell and trap removal than one would normally expect. The usual Breaker the Magical Warrior, Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoons, and Harpie’s Feather Duster were often joined by Byser Shock and Giant Trunade. That’s bad news for the single most field spell-dependent deck in the current environment.

Remove From Play decks focused on the use of Dimension Fusion to Special summon multiple monsters for one big game-winning crush. They got a boost with the release of Peten the Dark Clown, and could have done well against the more conservative players present at the tournament. Unfortunately, against the more aggressive Chaos Beatdown players the deck would have likely never even gotten off the ground. They’re often slow and though they’re capable of going off on turn one and taking a win it’s not likely to happen on a reliable basis if at all. The deck needs some setup time to draw into Dark Magician of Chaos, and if Painful Choice isn’t drawn, the wait can often be crippling. Such would have been the case for most players running the deck.

Lastly, the all-or-nothing Scientist First Turn KO deck using Reasoning, Monster Gate, and other tricks to get out Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle, then deal an immediate win from direct damage, were under-represented considering their popularity at Canadian Nationals, US Nationals, and the trio of Gen Con Regional events. Torrential Tribute was somewhat under-played at Battle City Amsterdam 2004, with many players opting to play Magic Cylinder in the main deck. The result was a slightly more Scientist-friendly metagame. One would have a harder time blocking the first-turn kill if the Scientist deck didn’t go first. A player like Robert Baum could have dominated the tournament in Amsterdam, but very few players were running First Turn KO, and of those who did, many of the innovations added to the deck in the past were missing. A Legendary Ocean, Cost Down, and Serpentine Princess were nowhere to be seen, and it’s those veteran tricks that make the deck what it is in the North American metagame.

The lack of these decks in the metagame made wins a bit easier to attain for aggressive Beatdown decks. The lack of First Turn KO decks in particular really freed up the environment to move away from what would some consider to be the obligatory three Torrential Tribute between main deck and side deck. Overall, the lack of First Turn KO and Gravekeeper decks resulted in a slightly slower play environment than one would normally see anywhere else in the world, though still not slow enough to make Remove From Play decks viable.