This event has defied expectations from the very beginning and, as we progress through the final round, I’d like to look back on some of the key stories from the floor that have made this event unique. To start off, let’s take a look at Table 1, where a matchup that no one predicted is taking place.

Table 1: Main Ratbox (Side Dimensional Fissure) vs. Chimeratech

If you claim you always knew that these decks were going to be at the top tables at the end of day 1, you’re either lying or cheating and you don’t count. Looking at the decks, however, you can see how they got as far as they did. All the Destiny Hero builds that have defined what these Swiss rounds have been about are all very reliant on somehow getting monsters into the graveyard, and Dimensional Fissure puts a stop to that awfully quickly. There’s been a decided lack of Mobius the Frost Monarch in these Destiny Hero Monarch decks, and the over-reliance on Raiza has cost a number of players due to their inability to completely get rid of the Fissure once it’s on the field. Combine that with the recurring D.D. Survivors that are the trademark of Dimensional Fissure decks, and there’s not much that Destiny Hero based decks can do about it. Chimeratech on the other hand has the ability to pull off explosive turns on a level only currently matched by Demise OTK and Crystal Beast decks. The combo of Card Trooper and Machine Duplication has been popping up a great deal in both feature matches and other matches as well, showing that Card Trooper’s popularity is easily rivaling that of Cyber Dragon as the aggressive Machine of choice.

Crush Card Virus Sees Huge Amount of Play

I’m about convinced that everyone with access to a Crush Card Virus at this tournament is playing it. In fact, the people playing Virus are all sitting at the top tables right now. Go figure, considering that the card is simply amazing in the highly popular Destiny Hero powered decks right now. Disk Commander, Malicious, and Fear Monger are brilliant tribute bait for the Virus, as is the omnipresent Sangan. In fact, there’s one deck that’s sitting at table 7 right now that uses Dark Scorpion — Meanae the Thorn along with Crush Card Virus and all the Destiny Hero cards to ensure a constant stream of cards to work with while providing plenty of fuel for the Virus should it come up. Crush Card has seen more play than any other SJC prize card (Cyber-Stein doesn’t count because it didn’t see play until it wasn’t a prize card anymore), and the use is well deserved. Crush Card is incredibly powerful, and well worth the time and effort people put into these events.

Force of the Breaker Cards Don’t Show Up For Work, Destiny Heroes Do

Finally, I still can’t get over the almost complete lack of Force of the Breaker cards that have seen play at this event. In the decks that are doing well, the only card from the new set that’s present is Raiza the Storm Monarch. This simply makes no sense to me, as Force of the Breaker is easily the most powerful set we’ve seen in more than a year. With a set filled with so many strong cards that both create new deck types and massively fortify existing ones, it’s simply dumbfounding that no one has found success with them here today. Whether it’s due to a return to the “pure mathematics” mentality that makes Monarch decks so popular or inexperience with the cards or simply a lack of the people who are willing to expose their decks before Nationals, I don’t know. We’re seeing plenty of diversity at the top tables; it’s just not the diversity that anyone was expecting. Still, just because Crystal Beasts didn’t have a breakout event today doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be prepared for them at the coming National tournaments. You’d better believe that there are plenty of Nationals competitors out there who know what they’re doing with the Crystal Beasts and are willing to prove it on the Nationals stage. Time is now up for round 8, and we’ll know the Top 16 players soon. Don’t miss it!