At times, it’s hard to watch a match between two duelists who are using practically identical decks. The match can often be a bit dull and occasionally predictable. However, this doesn’t mean those players do not have their own ideas and strategies. Some duelists are forced to go with what they know, as their current deck concept is under construction and testing. While their deck may not be ready, those duelists are constantly testing these intriguing new decks for future tournament use.

One of those themes was created here in the United States, thanks to a new card from Dark Beginnings 1. That’s right, folks! Makyura the Destructor is the inspiration for a whole new Combo deck idea. A slew of uses and ideas can be expanded upon with the special effect of this Dark Warrior. The ability to activate trap cards from your hand allows you to speed through your deck with Jar of Greed, negate attacks from a safe distance with Magic Cylinder, or flip an army of tiny flip effect monsters with the power of Desert Sunlight. That last trap card, Desert Sunlight, is one of the many cards used in a deck that can officially be nicknamed “Destruction by Destructor.”

Matt Guenther tested one of these Combo variations. While he’s running a standard Warrior/Chaos splash deck, he’s been thoroughly testing his combo deck destruction deck in between rounds, as well as demonstrating its power to duelists who afterwards become afraid to ever duel him again. Matt’s specific winning strategy is to use the power of Makyura the Destructor to play numerous trap cards, such as Desert Sunlight and Ultimate Offering. Guenther uses his flip triggering trap cards to activate the effects of deck thinning monsters such as Cyber Jar and Morphing Jar. Once Matt’s deck is brought down to almost no cards, he then rushes the field with face-down summons of Morphing Jar #2, two Needle Worms, and one Mask of Darkness. He activates Desert Sunlight to flip all of those monsters face-up, then has the flip effects resolve with Mask of Darkness first, followed by the Needle Worms, and finally Morphing Jar #2. The second jar resolves by returning those four monsters to his deck of zero cards, where they are all once again summoned face-down. Matt once again plays Desert Sunlight to flip his monsters once again, and repeats this tricky combo until the opponent has no more cards left in their deck.

While the deck has a few consistency problems at the moment, the constant cycling of the Jars as Matt thins his deck down to those four monsters is almost impossible to stop once he begins gaining this type of card advantage. And this isn’t the only combo in the deck, either! Other duelists have been testing a similar combo deck, building up the opponent’s hand with various flip effect monsters, then playing Card Destruction and chaining with Serial Spell. This causes the deck destruction duelist to draw nothing, but the opponent has to deal with the resolution of two Card Destruction effects! At this point, the opponent usually has around twelve to fifteen cards in his or her deck, resulting in the two Card Destruction effects to deplete the opponent’s deck for the Combo duelist’s victory. Will this deck be seen in future Shonen Jump TCG Championships? Most likely, as Makyura the Destructor makes these combo decks relatively successful, and almost unstoppable once the card drawing begins.