The downfall of Chaos/Return was quiet and subtle. Most people didn’t even realize it was gone. Chaos Sorcerer was still there, Return from the Different Dimension was still ending games, and the standard Chaos/Return builds (such as Richard Clegg’s Top 8 deck list) were still poking in and out of the Top 8. It took a little time before players began to see exactly why Chaos/Return was such a 50/50 deck.

Emon Ghaneian started the Chaos/Return craze at the beginning of the format, sweeping back-to-back major tournaments in Comic Odyssey before taking home the gold at Shonen Jump Championship Columbus. Sure enough, it became the skeleton for deck building for months to come. Mirror matches of Emon’s Chaos/Return build were common, and players quickly learned that the luckier player usually won.

The trick to beating Emon’s deck was getting a solid, steady stream of aggression going. Unfortunately for most players at the time, they remained stuck on the theory that a slow-paced, proceed-with-caution style of play won games. As such, summoning and attacking every turn wasn’t very popular. This gave Emon’s deck the edge, because once he got his aggression going, it was next to impossible to stop the juggernaut.

Being aggressive was the format’s new agenda. Maintaining constant pressure on the opponent limited his or her ability to gain any sort of ground on the duel. Eventually, the opponent’s life points became so low that every move was a desperate and futile attempt to stay above 0. Flip effects didn’t help this one bit, and we now see that subtle change in deck building. Most decks now thrive on the ability to keep monsters on the field via Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel, and Apprentice Magician. The likes of Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive are only good if they get the aggressive beatdown going after a turn of waiting face down. In order for this to happen, your opponent can’t be an aggressive player.

Enter Anthony Alvarado. At SJC Hamilton, Ant played one of the best “anti-Chaos/Return” decks to grace a Top 8 ranking. Take a look for yourself:

Monsters: 22

2 Chaos Sorcerer

1 Ryu Kokki

1 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch

3 Cyber Dragon

1 Asura Priest

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Giant Rat

2 Pyramid Turtle

1 Tsukuyomi

1 Exiled Force

1 Sangan

1 Cyber-Stein

1 Injection Fairy Lily

2 Magician of Faith

2 Spirit Reaper

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

Spells: 14

1 Graceful Charity

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Snatch Steal

2 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Scapegoat

2 Creature Swap

1 Book of Moon

2 Enemy Controller

1 Smashing Ground

1 Last Will

Traps: 5

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Sakuretsu Armor

1 Magic Cylinder

The ability of this deck to both shut down a flip-effect oriented deck and knock a player below 5000 life points is tremendous. Two of the most feared things in today’s metagame are attacks from self-replacing monsters (like Dekoichi) and “random Stein.” Both are extremely hard to stop, and both can cause games to get out of hand very quickly. Ant’s deck was able to neutralize both threats with relative ease. Once those threats vanish, the only remaining problem is beating the opponent.

That’s where the Zombies come in. Spirit Reaper is excellent for the early game beats. When used in conjunction with Pyramid Turtle or Giant Rat/Pyramid Turtle, getting out a quick Reaper is very easy for this deck. Robbing your opponent of cards lets you quickly take control of the game, and this deck accomplishes that flawlessly. In the late game, Ryu Kokki shines like no other. Being able to take down Chaos Sorcerer with Ryu Kokki and Pyramid Turtle (by grabbing Ryu Kokki) is extremely important. It gives the deck many more outs against powerful late-game Sorcerers.

Complimenting the Zombie part of the deck nicely is the Earth synergies. Giant Rat can search out a handy little toolbox, including the smaller wrench set that is Pyramid Turtle. Exiled Force and Injection Fairy Lily are nothing to be scoffed at either. The Lily can end games in a pinch or drop the opponent below that ever-threatening 5000 life point mark, while Exiled Force is a virtually unstoppable form of monster removal.

The full force of powerful staples backs up those extra little tricks on the monster line-up. The rest of the deck plays just as aggressively, with only two flip effects in the deck. This makes Tsukuyomi an interesting choice. Ant apparently subscribes to the “Tsukuyomi does everything” magazine that many of us also enjoy. Two copies of Chaos Sorcerer are the final points of interest in Ant’s monster line-up. The ultimate decision for Ant was whether or not the Earth/Zombie tricks were worth losing a Sorcerer to. Ant must have decided the surprise factor and the unexpected utility of Pyramid Turtle and Giant Rat made up for the cost.

I particularly enjoy the spell line-up for this deck: very solid and flexible. Enemy Controller provides countless options for maintaining board presence and ending games in surprising ways. Creature Swap cards are an excellent tool for any situation. Early game swappable monsters like Giant Rat and Pyramid Turtle lead to massive swings in tempo and field presence, while mid- and late game Creature Swap cards basically reverse the aggressive and defensive players.

Finally, Last Will does more in this deck than any other. It can grab Cyber-Stein for early game destruction, or Injection Fairy Lily for a similar late-game performance. Ant can search Pyramid Turtle’s entire arsenal through Last Will by grabbing a Turtle and attacking a bigger monster. Imagine a turn where he plays Exiled Force, destroys a face-down monster, plays Last Will for Pyramid Turtle, attacks Chaos Sorcerer, and fetches Ryu Kokki to destroy the Chaos Sorcerer. Without the likes of Chaos Sorcerer or Snatch Steal, other decks have a hard time matching such a swing in momentum.

The trap line-up here was one of the format’s three standards. The first was the “heavy-defense” line-up, which packed a lot of monster removal to help maintain board presence and protect flip effect monsters. The second was the “Decree” line-up, which utilized very few trap cards and two or three copies of Royal Decree to shut down opposing traps (and protect your attacks from any nasty surprises). Finally, near the end of the format, we saw the “light-defense” line-up, which basically functioned as a less-committed heavy-defense build. It let you deliver some key monster destruction effects without being crushed by one Royal Decree.

Ant’s traps help keep whatever board presence he has. Magic Cylinder puts the pressure on the opponent’s life points, as well as his or her field. Sometimes, it helps to simply leave the monster there, because you can use Creature Swap, Cyber Dragon, or Snatch Steal to create a fast lethal blow to the opponent. The Cylinder destroys Spirit Reaper instantly, which can also be quite nifty. Call of the Haunted is another excellent card for this deck . . . or any deck that plans on pouring on the heat. Call of the Haunted has it all: providing an extra attacker, a decoy for Creature Swap, and the ability to re-use Exiled Force in the same turn.

The utility in this aggressive deck is disturbingly good. Still, it’s no wonder a player of Ant’s caliber could gauge the format, pull the perfect deck from way out of left field, and steal a Shonen Jump Top 8 spot with it.