During last round’s feature match, I was surprised to find that Theeresak Poonsombat was apparently running Water Monarchs. Then I was surprised to find he was also playing Perfect Circle. In the same deck.

Theeresak Poonsombat has done it again. Here’s what he’s running:

Crazy stuff, huh? This deck can search out Treeborn Frog with Mother Grizzly, letting it quickly get to one of the most important support cards in the game. He can also tribute Water monsters for Spiritual Water Art - Aoi. That it borrows from Water Monarchs. From Perfect Circle the deck gets the capability to accelerate through cards with Destiny Draw, gain cards with Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, and special summon more free tribute bait thanks to Destiny Hero – Malicious. But since the deck crosses over, it can do a ton of other crazy stuff too.

The fast access to Treeborn Frog makes it easier to use Malicious and Dasher when Poonsombat doesn’t have Destiny Draw. When he does have Destiny Draw but can’t draw a Destiny Hero, Elemental Hero – Ocean lets him get back Destiny Heroes he’s already used, a searchable course of action thanks to Mother Grizzly. And if the right Destiny Hero isn’t in the graveyard yet, Ocean can always bring back Stratos to pull one from the deck. 

Spiritual Water Art - Aoi is critical for several reasons. First, it’s an absolutely amazing card in a format where no one is prepared for Confiscation. Players just don’t think they’ll have to deal with discard now that Confiscation has been Forbidden, so they don’t anticipate the possibility of having their hands ripped apart. That makes a good effect even better. Then it gets even more brutal because Poonsombat can unleash it without losing card presence. Treeborn Frog can be special summoned for a free tribute, while Crystal Seer and Ocean can earn extra cards before they’re pitched from the field. That turns what would usually be a trade of two cards for one into a straight card-for-card exchange, an even better deal if Aoi is being chained to a piece of removal like Mystical Space Typhoon.

And that brings me to what I consider the most important thing about the deck; it chains like nothing else. Dust Tornado is popular here today and everybody’s running Breaker the Magical Warrior; that gives this deck an advantage, as few players are anticipating Crush Card Virus and no one’s looking for Water Art – Aoi. Even better than chaining to spell and trap removal though? This deck chains to Raiza, Zaborg, and Nobleman of Crossout thanks to its trap lineup, making it very difficult to put together cohesive plays with those cards. Monarchs and Nobleman are the foundation of many duelists’ game-winning turns here today, and the ability to disrupt or even reverse those situations makes this deck extremely deadly, especially in the opening of a duel.

While many experienced players will hold their ideal opening monsters for fear of Nobleman, Poonsombat just doesn’t have to. If he sets Crystal Seer or Mother Grizzly and either gets run over, he gets a card and moves into next turn with an equally strong set of options. If Nobleman of Crossout strikes instead, Aoi ensures that the strong opening isn’t wasted and exploited; Poonsombat might take a beating for one battle, but Aoi leaves him with the intelligence he needs to mount a counterattack while eliminating his opponent’s best card.

Not to mention the fact that Aoi rescues Treeborn Frog when it’s being threatened with removal from play. Nobleman isn’t the only problem; D. D. Warrior Lady is seeing a lot more use thanks to the return of Warrior Toolbox, and Aoi can at least keep Treeborn in the graveyard long enough to let it dodge battle. As for Nobleman, chaining Aoi to its activation in order to tribute Treeborn draws winces from the opponent like nothing else can. Nobleman is one of the factors that keeps Treeborn a balanced card, and outplaying it so easily is just unfair.

So how does a genius deck like this get created? I asked and T gave a laugh, a touch embarrassed: “First it started off with the Water stuff, and then some Winged Rhynos. We tested Dark World and some other stuff, but this idea just worked the best.” He paused for a moment and then made a confession, knowing he’d better say it before a teammate could. “To be honest, I just threw this together last night and made it piece by piece.” The sheer impromptu nature of the deck has garnered some well-meaning flak from Poonsombat’s Comic Odyssey teammates, but nobody’s denying that it works. T’s managed to create something really unique here, and it’s capable of doing a lot of things that other strategies just aren’t capable of. 

If Theeresak Poonsombat doesn’t make it to Day 2 this weekend I’ll be very surprised. This deck could be a defining mainstay of the format.