Earth decks have been tested a great deal since the introduction of the Advanced format—the number of cards that Giant Rat can grab is incredibly large, and the synergy between many of the monsters is impressive. Matthew Chambers took advantage of that fact in today’s Championship with his Earth-based deck.

Matthew Chambers’s Earth deck:

Monsters: 20

2 Gigantes

1 Hyper Hammerhead

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

3 Berserk Gorilla

1 Exiled Force

1 Fiber Jar

1 Tribe-Infecting Virus

1 Jinzo

3 Giant Rat

1 Sinister Serpent

1 Injection Fairy Lily

1 Spirit Reaper

1 D.D. Crazy Beast

1 Airknight Parshath

1 Dark Ruler Ha Des

Spell: 12

1 Heavy Storm

1 Premature Burial

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Change of Heart

2 Enemy Controller

1 Pot of Greed

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Creature Swap

1 Snatch Steal

1 Painful Choice

1 Scapegoat

Traps: 8

1 Blast with Chain

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Magic Drain

2 Waboku

1 Dust Tornado

Side Deck:

1 Obnoxious Celtic Guard

1 Blast with Chain

1 D. D. Warrior Lady

3 Skill Drain

2 Royal Oppression

2 Guardian Sphinx

1 Cyber Jar

1 Mystic Swordsman LV4

1 Cat’s Ear Tribe

1 Morphing Jar

1 Divine Wrath

Berserk Gorilla, Gigantes, and Injection Fairy Lily provide the bulk of the deck’s offensive power. Hyper Hammerhead is the deck’s answer to  D. D. Warrior Lady—searchable via Giant Rat, the Hammerhead isn’t quite as good as D.D., but it’s still an excellent opener or defensive pull from a destroyed Giant Rat. D.D. Crazy Beast can also be searched out with Giant Rat, and its effect is great both against smaller effect monsters like Magician of Faith and Fiber Jar, and as an even (though suicidal) match for board presence–maintainers like Mystic Tomato and Shining Angel.

The first thing I noticed about Chambers’s spell selection wasn’t what was present, but what was missing—namely, Gaia Power. The fact that Gaia Power isn’t in the deck is very telling, regarding both the deck’s core strategy and how it handles tactical issues. The deck doesn’t win exchanges with small monsters like Giant Rat and Nimble Momonga. It’s not even running the face-clawingly obnoxious squirrel, as you likely noticed. Instead, the deck focuses on a quick swarm via Gigantes and some of its other monsters, affording itself tactical openings for precision strikes with the likes of Exiled Force and Hyper Hammerhead. The pair of Enemy Controllers work in the same way—they allow key monsters to be taken out and, in this case, used for the offensive.

The deck’s trap cards are fairly easily understood. Torrential Tribute gives monster advantage when combined with a swarm trick like Gigantes. Call of the Haunted, Ring of Destruction, and Waboku all help achieve the same goal.

The side deck looks like an eclectic mix of personal favorites. Skill Drain can be good against certain decks, but needs to be used with the utmost of care. Cyber Jar kick-starts a swarm, but is side decked because of the risk it can present when played against certain decks. Divine Wrath very nicely techs out Tribe-Infecting Virus, which can really rip this kind of deck apart.

The deck plays very aggressively, which seems to be a theme at the Championship. While most Earth decks seek to win over a long period and need several turns to build a victory, this one can do it with remarkable speed. For those who have tested and played Earth decks, this paradigm shift will be of interest.