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Light and Darkness Dragon is still on top by a narrow margin, played by a total of five duelists in the main deck, but Gadgets have made a huge comeback, with a whopping four showings in the Top 16. Banisher and Drillroid define three of the four in-action Gadget builds today, a testament to the archetype’s strength as an anti-metagame strategy.

Three duelists made it to the Top 16 with Perfect Circle, while two more did it with Macro Cosmos, including an innovative 12-monster build played by Hugo Adame. Finally, international duelists Alvaro Jirau and James Neumann, yesterday’s undefeated competitor, are playing Volcanic Monarchs and Baboon Burn respectively.

Neumann will take his Baburn deck against Wayne Trader, one of the three players running Banisher and Drillroid to complement a retinue of Gadgets. Neumann, who plays for the new Team Face2face will have to adjust his playstyle a bit due to Trader’s Dimensional Prisons and Banishers, but if he can prioritize his burn cards he should make it through to the Top 8. A win here for Neumann would mean a great deal for the player community of Quebec.

Next, the UK’s Paul Doherty takes on Danny Brown, pitting Banisher / Drillroid Gadgets against Macro Cosmos. Game 1 may be in Brown’s favor if he can get his D.D. Survivor engine going, but Doherty won’t make it easy, thanks to offbeat Gadget picks like Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and Marshmallon. Game 2 might be a different story too, thanks to Kinetic Soldiers and Royal Decrees.

Chris McGarrett and Hector Heras will face off in a Perfect Circle mirror match, which may be a telling confrontation for the future of this deck. While McGarrett is playing two copies of Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch to complement his three Raiza, Heras is playing a pair of Zaborg the Thunder Monarch instead, and that change could make a big difference in this match.

Florida’s own Glenn Lightfoot of Team Villains takes on Team Face2Face’s Cedric Sequerra, pitting Perfect Circle with Zaborg against Destiny Light and Darkness Dragon. Sequerra’s pair of D.D. Crow in his main deck might give him an advantage, but yesterday we saw some extreme acting skills demonstrated by Lightfoot — Sequerra may just be out of his league. Still, it’s hard to ignore that every member of this team made the Top 16 here this weekend, and a win here would be huge for Face2face.

Next, Alonzo Peters plays fan-favorite Theeresak Poonsombat! Both of these duelists are running Light and Darkness Dragon variants, but while Peters’ build runs only one copy and could arguably be called a Perfect Circle deck, Poonsombat is all in! Three copies of Light and Darkness Dragon alongside two copies of Destiny Hero – Plasma mean the former National Champion is beyond dedicated to his theme, and tech picks like Fiend’s Sanctuary could take him all the way this weekend.

Despite two feature match losses yesterday, Jordan Nasser took Gadgets with Drillroid, Banisher of the Radiance, and Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer all the way to Day 2. This match is going to be a real monster mash though, as his opponent, Alvaro Jirau, is playing Volcanic Monarchs. Monster control will define these duels, but Nasser may have an advantage with his flood of self-replacing Machines.

Chris Bowling will play Alex Simpson, in a Destiny Hero Light and Darkness Dragon mirror match. This one is anybody’s game, but Bowling’s superior experience could give him an edge. If Simpson can overcome Outphase’s ringer, he’ll earn a lot of reputation in just one match.

Finally, Hugo Adame takes on Matt Tuxford, in a match that pits Hugo’s new Macro Cosmos build against Tuxford’s Banisher Hydrogeddon Gadgets. Game 1 seems to be an absolute crush match — Hugo’s D.D. Survivors will give him a massive advantage over Tuxford’s copies of Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimensional Prisons, and Banishers. Game 2 may change things a bit when Tuxford goes for his Kinetic Soldiers, but experience in high-pressure matches is on Adame’s side, and there simply may be no stopping his innovative new build.