I wrote an article for Metagame a few days ago discussing cards and techniques that let you outplay Dark Armed Dragon. One of the suggestions I made was Protector of the Sanctuary, remarking that it had potential with Gadgets, a deck that was already packing Shrinks and the defensive removal one would need to keep Protector on the field. With six to nine draw spells in the average Dark Armed Return deck, Protector creates a huge gap in the Return strategy and slows it to a crawl, giving a massive theoretical advantage. Lo and behold, that theory is playing out in reality today, in the hands of undefeated duelist Nicolas Nunez. He’s won four games so far with the following build of Protector Gadgets . . .
Like most Gadget builds, the Gadgets themselves are the core of this deck’s infrastructure. Along with three copies of Blue Thunder T-45, they create a vast number of monsters that don’t cost Nunez a card in hand to get onto the field, building card presence and immediately turning it into field presence. Blue Thunder and the Gadgets benefit from the same support spells, and Nunez is packing three Shrink and two Enemy Controller to ensure that battles go in his favor. The basic uses apply: Shrink and Controller keep Gadgets safe, while at the same time letting Blue Thunder dominate other monsters and produce Tokens.
Nothing new there, but it gets interesting when those traditional Gadget spells are guarding Protector of the Sanctuary: a card that Nunez is playing three copies for the sake of consistency. As long as Nunez can keep Protector on the field he’ll have a strong advantage against Dark Armed Dragon and Diamond Dude Turbo, inarguably the two most threatening decks in the format right now. Protector also shuts down all the draw-looping combo strategies, like Vincent Tundo’s Dark Magician of Chaos Burn and Chris Moosman’s Exodia FTK from Costa Mesa.
Another strong tech pick is Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, another three-of that Nunez uses to hate on Dark Armed Return. With Protector shutting down draw effects, the Return player is going to be building Darks in their graveyard at a far slower pace than usual, and Kycoo capitalizes, dishing out big chunks of damage while erasing whatever progress the Dark Armed Dragon player is making. If he or she does get to the Dragon, a pair of Bottomless Trap Hole can remove it and three Solemn Judgment can negate it. And that’s only if the Dragon makes it past Nunez’s copies of Royal Oppression.
The only other monsters Nunez is main decking are Snipe Hunter and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, each capable of dealing with monsters far larger than themselves. This is a Gadget deck, so naturally it’s heavily weighted toward removal. Snipe Hunter and Grand Mole fit the theme while giving Nunez non-Trap answers to Jinzo. Both monsters have proven effective as Gadget complements, so it’s no surprise to see them played here.
More surprising: Nunez is playing two Magic Drain, another card I think is a top pick in this format given what it does to the draw spells Nunez is looking to outplay. Dark Armed Return decks have few spells to spare; each one is really important, and giving one up just to advance through the deck is usually necessary, but painful when Magic Drain is played in response to Destiny Draw, Allure of Darkness, or Trade-In. It’s especially good against Trade-In and Destiny Draw, since their costs are paid at point of activation.
The rest of the deck is largely typical Gadget material: monster removal, a bit of spell and trap destruction, and Trap Dustshoot. This deck is a perfect balance between proven strategy and a plethora of tech, building on the strengths of Oppression Gadgets and turning it into something new and completely synergetic. Right now Nunez is 6-0 and paired down against Sang Bui: yet another challenging match. However, with only four rounds remaining in the tournament, Day 2 is a huge reality for this innovative competitor, and if he makes it to a Dragon-dominated Top 16 he could cause some serious damage.