D. D. Survivor

D. D. Assailant and D. D. Warrior Lady were main deck choices for all the Top 8 competitors at Shonen Jump Championship Atlanta, and for all but one at Shonen Jump Championship Chicago. Both cards were obviously top prospects going into the events—with most players passing over Spellcasters, Machines, and other deck themes in favor of Warrior-based Beatdown builds, no one wanted to be without an answer to a high-powered threat. One thing leads to another, and eventually you’ll need an answer for the answer. Make way for D. D. Survivor.

One-for-one card exchanges have established their importance in the new format. Since large monsters have become the primary source of card advantage, an 1800 ATK beatstick like D. D. Survivor comes in pretty handy. At recent tournaments, lots of players depended upon the D. D. sisters to fend off bigger threats and slow down opponents that had intended to capitalize on speed. D. D. Survivor got around these issues, returning to the field on any turn during which it was removed from play.

One thing you should note about D. D. Survivor is that it’s got a really low DEF value. And by “really low,” I mean 200. Wow, that’s low! It’s vulnerable to Book of Moon and Enemy Controller, but on the plus side, Smashing Ground will have a hard time hitting it! Not only will D. D. Survivor halt the removal attempts of its little sisters, it can also hang out on the field and is more or less unfazed by the format’s number-one monster removal card. You should definitely expect D. D. Survivor to see increased play as time goes on.

Mystic Swordsman LV2

Most players knew that Mystic Swordsman LV2 was going to be a popular pick for Atlanta and Chicago. Warrior Toolbox appeared to be the most obvious deck choice for the format, and Mystic Swordsman LV2 is a staple of that deck, due to its searchability and specialization. Spirit Reaper gained popularity the moment the new Advanced format list was announced (and we all needed to do something about that). Also, while dropping Nobleman of Crossout to one copy per deck made me sad, it made flip effect monsters very happy. This is exactly the kind of format that needs Mystic Swordsman . . .

 . . . and that cute little rascal answered the call. It was popular in many decks, even those not running Reinforcement of the Army. Players everywhere were main decking Mystic Swordsman LV2, and anyone who wasn’t usually had one in their side deck. It was a good thing that they did, because Spirit Reaper was all over the place, even in John Jensen’s championship-winning Chaos build. Flip effects seemed to be under-played, but Mystic Swordsman cut a wide swath through both Spirit Reapers and conservative players in general. Without a pair of Nobleman of Crossout available, players needed something to deal with face-down threats, walls, and cautious opponents who reverted to turtle mode when they felt threatened. Swordsman does a fantastic job of this.

Drillroid

However, Mystic Swordsman wasn’t the only choice. Some players opted to use Drillroid instead of Mystic Swordsman. In Atlanta, Marcial Bode went undefeated on Day One, and in Chicago, Paul Levitin and Carlos Santiago both chose Machine over man. While Drillroid doesn’t shut down flip effect monsters like its pint-sized Warrior counterpart, this Vehicroid monster still clears out the Spirit Reapers and Legendary Jujitsu Masters that would otherwise stand in a player’s way. It’ll get D. D. Warrior Lady out of your hair, too!

Drillroid’s big advantage over Mystic Swordsman LV2 is its raw strength. While Mystic Swordsman LV2 is easily run over by just about anything that’s bigger than a Sheep token, Drillroid can stand up to cards like Don Zaloog, Mystic Tomato, D. D. Warrior Lady, and Sangan without being destroyed in battle. The Swordsman’s 900 ATK is simply no match for the 1600 that Drillroid wields, and with few flip effects seeing play, there’s less of an impetus to run the Swordsman.

Though Swordsman is the obvious choice for Warrior decks and Drillroid is an auto-include for Machines, the decks in between aren’t so easy to classify. In the end, it’s purely a metagame call. If flip effects are seeing a lot of play in your area, you’ll want to run the Swordsman, and if they aren’t, then Drillroid is probably a better choice. Either way, regardless of which of these cards you choose to main deck, you should probably include the other in your side deck—just in case you make the wrong call about a given tournament’s metagame.

Dual Brain Control

While dual Royal Decree and dual Smashing Ground received a great deal of attention leading up to Atlanta, few duelists considered the possibility of running multiple copies of Brain Control. While this surprisingly hot tech didn’t make it into the Top 8 of either event, it shows a great deal of promise for a variety of reasons.

First off, there’s room in them there decks. The new Advanced list removed so many staple spells from the environment that replacements were difficult to find. The ability to repeatedly steal monsters from an opponent was, to say the least, a beneficial option for many duelists. The presence of Cyber Dragon in the game has forced duelists to run bigger and bigger monsters. For example, Zombyra the Dark, Goblin Attack Force, and Goblin Elite Attack Force all saw a lot of table-time in Atlanta. That means there are lots of prime candidates to grab from your opponent. Remember that if you take your opponent’s monster and destroy another one with it through battle, you’ve effectively made a one-for-one exchange—your Brain Control for your opponent’s monster. The difference between this and Smashing Ground is that your attack has the potential to deal damage. It’s also kind of fun to deliver a finishing blow with your opponent’s own monster.

You can be even meaner and turn that one-for-one trade into a two-for-one by tributing away the monster you took. In this scenario you’re giving up your Brain Control, destroying an opponent’s monster in battle, and then tributing the monster you stole. You lose one spell, your opponent loses two monsters, and you get a free tribute monster or tribute effect to boot. And you know what they say about free things. Free is as cheap as it gets!

There are some drawbacks to the Brain Control and Smashing Ground comparison. If the opponent only controls one monster, Brain Control can’t function as a one-for-one trade unless you can tribute away that “borrowed” beatstick. In addition, Brain Control costs life points to activate. And holding two copies of Brain Control in your hand will infuriate you if you go up against an opponent who keeps . . . setting . . . monsters. Still, we can expect multiple copies of Brain Control to be popping up in winning decks as the year draws to a close.

Mobius the Frost Monarch

Trap use saw a spike in Atlanta and Chicago, with an average of seven to eight traps per deck. Some players ran as many as nine, which was completely unheard of in the previous Advanced format. Sakuretsu Armor was a huge threat in both Atlanta and Chicago, and with traps seeing so much more play, Royal Decree engines are bound to gain some serious momentum. Shut down a quarter of your opponent’s deck for no cost? Yes, please!

Mobius the Frost Monarch can throw off both a trap-packed metagame and the Royal Decree threat, making it a card which may well end up as the next “default” main deck tribute monster. If you’re running a high number of traps, you need Mobius to protect you from Royal Decree. Alternately, if you’re not running Royal Decree, then Mobius becomes your best answer to Sakuretsu Armor, Call of the Haunted, and several other potential nasty surprises. Three of the final eight duelists at Shonen Jump Atlanta and two in Chicago ran two copies of Mobius in their main deck, which is probably one of the reasons that Decree-heavy decks did not make the Top 8 cut. When Mobius says, “Shut your trap,” it means it.

Widespread Ruin

A different twist on Sakuretsu Armor, Widespread Ruin doesn’t destroy the attacker that’s initiating the battle, but instead destroys the opponent’s monster with the highest ATK once a battle is declared. What makes this card potentially superior to Sakuretsu Armor?

As long as you have a face down monster set, the opponent isn’t likely to attack with his or her biggest monster. Provided that he or she has an option, a wise player will likely look to clear the road with a relatively mid-sized monster (say, 1600 to 1800 ATK) and then attack directly with his or her biggest beater. In addition, some monsters that are not primary attackers and yet are very common to the format will almost always attack before high-ATK ones. What could these monster be? Why, our old friends Mystic Swordsman LV2 and Drillroid, of course! Once one of these small monsters attacks, Widespread Ruin can be activated, and the opponent’s high-ATK monster will be destroyed.

Widespread Ruin also combos well with high-DEF monsters. Perhaps your opponent sends his or her mid-sized monster into your Legendary Jujitsu Master. The Master will bounce it away—but if your opponent has larger monsters, he or she isn’t likely to send them into your trap again. In this case, Sakuretsu Armor would have no access to your opponent’s meatiest monsters. But Widespread Ruin can hit those monsters, even if they never attack. In short, while conservative play can minimize damage from Sakuretsu Armor, Widespread Ruin is much more difficult to play around. It’s also got a very attractive illustration, and since it’s a promo, there’ll be people out there who don’t know it exists and won’t be expecting it!

The Shonen Jump series isn’t winding down anytime soon, which is great news for players who want access to a wider metagame than they find at their local Regional tournaments and hobby shops. If you’re playing in one of these events, you’ll get to see the cards and combos firsthand. If you’re not able to attend an event, you can still see match coverage and deck features on Metagame.com and gain access to new ideas. Each strong trick that emerges will eventually need a counter, so innovative tech will continue to cycle along. I’ll give you another look at what’s been going down in another five weeks or so. Until then, get out there and start working on the next big thing!

I’m still waiting for those Nokia ringtone instructions . . . send them to me at MetagameJulia@gmail.com!