Of the 31 competitors at the 2004 World Championship, only 5 did not play a form of Chaos. Sang Bui was one of the few who broke away from the herd and ran one of the two Beatdown decks that made a showing at the event. Despite missing round 1 and thus receiving a match loss, Sang still managed to take eleventh in the tournament—an admirable feat. Let’s look at the deck that let him achieve his high ranking:

41 Cards

Monsters
2 Berserk Gorilla
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Magician of Faith
1 Mystic Tomato
3 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
1 Magical Scientist
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Jinzo
1 Sangan

Spells
1 Monster Reborn
1 Snatch Steal
1 Graceful Charity
1 Confiscation
1 Pot of Greed
1 Premature Burial
1 Dark Hole
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Heavy Storm
1 The Forceful Sentry
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Book of Moon
2 Nobleman of Crossout

Trap
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Magic Drain
1 Mirror Wall
1 Magical Cylinder
1 Compulsory Evacuation Device


The deck’s monster set is an assortment from the obvious choices. Berserk Gorilla is used instead of other big beatsticks due to its sustainability (Goblin Attack Force is too easy to wipe out), and it’s an even safer play than it normally would be due to the format—you never have to worry about it uncontrollably charging into a face-down Fiber Jar. One Magician of Faith and one Mystic Tomato might be unconventional choices; Magician of Faith is sometimes viewed as being a slow card, but it works here. The single Mystic Tomato maintains board presence and provides search without bogging the deck down at all. Three copies of D. D. Warrior Lady is, in many cases, a bit extreme, but heading into the World Championship environment, it was a choice that was likely very easy (and very wise) to make as there are so many good targets for its removal ability. Shining Angel, Mystic Tomato, Witch of the Black Forest, Chaos monsters, Jinzo, and Vampire Lord are all great reasons to run the card, and with those comprising a huge portion of the field on the Saturday, three D. D.’s was an even better choice than it normally is. Because of the monster balance, the deck opens very strongly on turn 1, and that start can be easily turned into more momentum.

Turning to the spell cards, it’s all typical stuff until you hit the end of the list. Two Book of Moon and two Nobleman of Crossout work wonders, setting the tempo for any deck they’re thrown into. When used together, they’re a one-stop solution to virtually any monster-based problem, and when used apart, they control the field. Book of Moon is one of the highest-utility spells not to be on the limited list, and in an attack-oriented deck, it can function almost as a piece of removal. It counters the opponent’s attacks as well as a lot of other things he or she may throw at you, and it can chain to Mirror Force to save the deck’s important monsters. It’s a veteran move to commit four card slots in the main deck to these two cards, and in a Beatdown deck it can be very wise. Sang holds true to the Beatdown theory—all or most cards in the deck should be usable at any time on their own without dependency on other cards or on special field conditions. Yu-Gi-Oh! is somewhat drawing-deficient, so it’s a good theory to build decks around. This theory carries through to Bui’s trap selections as well.

A pair of Torrential Tributes, Call of the Haunted, Ring of Destruction, and Mirror Force were very popular choices in the tournament; World Champion Masatoshi Togawa ran them, as did many others. Sang complements this popular group with four more traps that range from mildly surprising to quite original. Magic Cylinder was played by a few high-ranked duelists—in an environment with a lot of Black Luster Soldiers, it’s a card that can shine like it never has before. Magic Drain was the most popular form of spell negation in the tournament, with Magic Jammer as a distant second. Mirror Wall and Compulsory Evacuation Device were nearly unique to the deck, though. Mirror Wall is a great way to prevent attacks for one turn while at the same time likely causing a monster to crash into a larger defender. Compulsory Evacuation Device is, simply put, one of the highest-utility traps available. Whether you’re using it on your own monsters to save them from effects like Dark Hole or Chaos Emperor Dragon, or using it to remove an opponent’s monster to get it out of your way or prevent it from attacking, it’s an exceedingly useful card that is rarely a poor draw. Again, it fits the high-utility theme that Bui exercises, which is the hallmark of a Beatdown deck.


Next up, let’s look at the Fusion deck:

Fusion Deck
3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict
2 Giltia the D. Knight
3 Dark Balter the Terrible
3 Dark Flare Knight
2 Ryu Senshi
1 Roaring Ocean Snake

It’s small, but it gets the job done. Thousand-Eyes Restrict, Dark Balter the Terrible, and Ryu Senshi make up the triumvirate of first-tier help for Magical Scientist. Though Fiend Skull Dragon is missing, its importance is debatable at best anyways. Dark Flare Knight functions as a big attacker on demand, as does Roaring Ocean Snake. Giltia the D. Knight could have probably been left out, as its main use is to function as fodder to special summon Chaos monsters with, but there’s no harm in including it.

Bui’s side deck mixed high-utility cards with specific tech:

Side Deck
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
3 Chain Disappearance
3 Curse of Darkness
1 Book of Moon
1 Fissure
2 Waboku
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
1 Magician of Faith

One more Book of Moon, a Fissure, two Wabokud, Magician of Faith, and two more Compulsory Evacuation Devices make up the list of “cards that have high utility and thus might be desirable in any given match.” They expand the capability of the deck a bit, not really presenting new options but strengthening the options already present in the deck. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer techs Chaos variants, and Chain Disappearance does the same. Curse of Darkness is an interesting choice that generally serves two purposes. First, if a round moves to sudden death, three of them tossed into the main deck can mean game very easily, locking down the opponent and preventing him or her from using half the cards in the deck. Second, it techs First-Turn KO decks very effectively, giving them yet another trap card to fear when they try to use the combo on turn 1.

Sang Bui proved that the sheer reliable utility of Beatdown is still a force to be reckoned with. Without Raigeki and Fiber Jar in the environment, Beatdown gains a bit more power, as its commanding field presence is increasingly difficult to disrupt. Also, without Yata-Garasu to be concerned with, overextensions are safer to make, and overextensions are what Beatdown decks need to succeed. Bui played the deck incredibly well, and his high Day 1 showing makes a strong statement about the current state of non-Chaos Beatdown decks.