Ever since SJC Washington, people have been asking, “Why is nobody running a Dimensional Fissure deck?” The answer is relatively unanimous; decks running multiple copies of Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissure just aren’t consistent enough for a nine or ten round event, usually losing one in five matches just to poor opening hands. Heck, I had that exact discussion with my table judge this morning.
However, it appears today that at least one duelist is proving that general consensus wrong. Matt Highline is 4-1 with a Dimensional Fissure build, his only loss thus far being to Miguel Albarran at Table 1. That’s no surprise, since Albarran’s highly original deck runs cards many competitive duelists here have never even stopped to read. What is surprising is that it’s Matt Highline who’s doing what everybody said was impossible. Yes, this is the same guy who played a Blasting Fuse deck at Shonen Jump San Jose last December. A lot of things can change in ten months, but Matt’s upbeat attitude isn’t one of them.
Here’s what Matt’s decklist looks like:
Monsters:
On one hand this deck has all the staple cards you’d expect from a Dimensional Fissure Monarch build. It’s got three Fissure, two Macro Cosmos, and three Solemn Judgment to hold everything together. Three D.D. Survivor are utilized as tribute fodder, the core strategy of the deck. When Macro Cosmos or Dimensional Fissure are on the field D.D. Survivor can be tributed with impunity, returning in the end phase like a massive, dangerous Treeborn Frog.
D. D. Assailant, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Exiled Force make not only for a strong Warrior Toolbox lineup in conjunction with Survivor, but each provides precious monster removal. Highline has taken that concept out of the toolbox too, going so far as to run Neo-Spacian Grand Mole for the same reason. Of the deck’s nineteen monsters, ten are essentially just monster removal on legs. The rest consist chiefly of stabilizing cards like Spirit Reaper, Cyber Dragon, and a pair of Crystal Seer. The latter are particularly notable as one of Highline’s unique additions to the archetype. The Seers slow tempo, help him get to Cosmos and Fissure, and provide the same easy tribute bait that they would in other Monarch variants.
One of the other unique additions that makes this deck so successful is Cold Wave. Highline runs a pair of them to lock down all the spell and trap removal in this format, often buying himself the short amount of time he needs to take a game. Zombies are nothing without Book of Life and Card of Safe Return, so keeping those cards out of the matchup makes things even harder on the undead horde; as if Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos weren’t enough on their own. Gadgets and Big City lose access to their plethora of monster removal, Monarchs lose Brain Control and Soul Exchange, and Diamond Dude Turbo just flat out loses. Earlier, Highline even managed to overcome one of the Comic Odyssey burn players simply on the strength of Cold Wave.
Swords of Revealing Light, Scapegoat, and Pulling the Rug give a bit more protection and stability than this archetype is used to. Again, that’s in addition to the three Solemn Judgment. Pulling the Rug is an especially strong pick, since, in the past, decks such as this one would often have to burn a Solemn to stop Mobius the Frost Monarch, or nowadays, Raiza the Storm Monarch. Pulling is an absolute must in this metagame, even though Mobius is usually relegated to the side deck. Raiza is everywhere, and it’s a major threat that Highline has anticipated.
A low number of Monarchs also keeps the deck topdecking well in the early game. Highline is really depending more on the aggression of his Warrior Toolbox than some might expect, and that works in his favor.
With a 4-1 record Matt Highline will need to win out to lock in his place in Day 2. But he’s certainly got the strategic potential to do so, and the higher he gets in the rankings the better his matchups become.