My strategy in writing this article was to wait until after Paul had established a considerable winning streak before discussing his deck. Max Suffridge tells me that my stamp of approval is a curse, and had a long list of examples where my endorsement has deemed failure for what were, for all purposes and intents, excellent ideas, plays, or players.
He didn’t even call it a jinx. He called it “The Grabher-Meyer Curse.”
While there are lots of reasons for the unpredictably slow tempo of Shonen Jump Durham, I’m pretty sure it may have actually been my fault. I went into the event enthused about the decks Levitin and Dale Bellido were playing, and I assume that it was that factor that led to so many players stuffing copies of Dekoichi and Magical Merchant into their decks at the last minute.
Sorry, Paul.
Therefore, I’ve waited until round six to show you Levitin’s deck this time around. As I write this, he’s playing in a feature match against Roy St. Clair, and has gone undefeated for the first five rounds of the day. If he loses that feature match, it’s on my head.
Think of it as Monarch and Treeborn control, without the Monarchs. Paul is running Chaos Sorcerer, Airknight Parshath, and even Dark Magician of Chaos, but has completely avoided Mobius the Frost Monarch and Zaborg the Thunder Monarch. I’m not sure if he’s planning to channel the heart of the cards or what, so let’s take a closer look at the choices he’s made.
The deck’s core is the pair of Airknight Parshath. They basically determine the tempo that the deck looks to establish, as well as the direction of the rest of the monster spread. The goal? Punishing the conservative tendencies that were so dominant at Shonen Jump Durham, the same slow-tempo trends that doomed Levitin’s efforts at that event. Dekoichi? Merchant? Not only does Airknight cut through both of them like butter to dish out pierce damage, but it also mucks about with the tempo that Dekoichi and Merchant normally create. The loss of one monster for the draw of another card establishes a neutral tempo—there is no change in card presence on a mechanical level, only the cards themselves change. The number of cards remains the same. The ability to present a neutral tempo in the face of an aggressive player, and to force that aggressive player to play to a neutral or slower tempo, is one of the big reasons these cards even see play. Airknight Parshath ruins the exchange model that Dekoichi and Merchant are built around by giving the aggressive player another card.
The primary purpose behind Dekoichi and Merchant in the current environment is to steal the rewards of aggressive play. Airknight Parshath ensures that the aggressive player makes some sort of in-game process in return for their activity. That’s what Paul Levitin is aiming to accomplish here.
From there, the feature of two major Light monsters puts the deck into Chaos territory pretty easily. Three Chaos Sorcerer would be overkill for anyone but Levitin, who’s using them to fuel an engine of two Return from the Different Dimension. His aggressive pace of play is going to force the destruction of his own monsters at a faster rate than most players, so Chaos Sorcerer is rarely a dead draw.
The tribute count is interesting, clocking in at nine monsters of level 4 or higher. Granted, five of them can be special summoned through effects, but six of them can be brought to the field through tribute summon, and that’s where Treeborn Frog really becomes an asset. Even with Cyber Dragon and Chaos Sorcerer aside, three of those monsters are “real” tribute monsters, and in the past, running three hard tribute monsters, plus three Chaos Sorcerers, would have been unthinkable. It’s just too much of a risk in an aggressive environment.
Sure enough, Paul Levitin just lost his feature match, in what I’m told was actually a crushing defeat. He’ll need to go undefeated for his next three rounds to have a shot at making the Top 8 again. I should have waited longer to write this article.
Anyway, this deck is a great example of the tribute-friendly era that Treeborn Frog is ushering in. Amongst all the concern that the Frog would bring about nothing but identical decks, top duelists are expanding their horizons and searching for new ways to use the Frog.
Dark Magician of Chaos is particularly cool. It’s a card that many duelists are trying to run this weekend, but Levitin is the only one I’ve seen who’s combining it with Return from the Different Dimension. Dark Magician of Chaos can remove itself from play with its effect, auto-loading your out of play area. In addition, when it’s brought back to the field from the out of play area its effect activates, letting you retrieve a spell card from your graveyard. It’s a great way to reuse Nobleman of Crossout or Mystical Space Typhoon to ensure that when you activate Return, you take the game then and there.
Note that the usual Team Scoop trap list of three Sakuretsu Armor and two Widespread Ruin has been replaced with three Sakuretsu Armor and two Bottomless Trap Hole. With so many players running tribute monsters this weekend, especially Mobius the Frost Monarch, Bottomless Trap Hole and regular Trap Hole have seen a huge upswing in play. Widespread’s status as a $25-$30 dollar card may be short-lived.
The fusion deck, and the use of Metamorphosis, is very cool. Dark Magician of Chaos can be turned into Cyber Twin Dragon, and Chaos Sorcerer can be tributed off for Ryu Senshi. These were both tricks that Levitin used repeatedly, and to great effect. In fact, this deck can actually tribute Dark Magician of Chaos for a Cyber Twin Dragon, remove the pDark Magician of Chaos] from play via its own effect, and then Return it back to the field. When it comes back, Levitin gets a free spell. He actually managed to pull this off a couple times so far today.
This deck should gain some power from the next Advanced list. It’s already running just a single Treeborn Frog, and the extra Nobleman of Crossout and Graceful Charity will give it some serious oomph. In a time when conservative play is all the rage, it seems like Levitin has managed to adapt and bring his aggressive style, Return from the Different Dimension and all.
Levitin is just three games away from his fifth Top 8 finish. If he can make it to Day 2 with this deck, he’ll set a trend for the coming months. Here’s hoping he can hold out!