If there’s one thing to be said about this format, it’s that strong deckbuilding and accurate metagaming were the two biggest factors in deciding whether or not players were successful at premier events. While every format requires players to look at old concepts and/or new ideas in order to trump the deck-to-beat, never before have so many new decks been created with such success.

The format began with Bazoo Return, Diamond Dude Turbo, and Monarchs coming strong out of the gates. Return decks eventually made way for more Monarch decks, and DDT was only run by a select few. Demise OTK was right behind, making a strong appearance at only the second Shonen Jump of the format and staying strong for another couple of months. As Monarchs increased in popularity after the Shonen Jumps in Columbus and Montreal, play returned to the West Coast where Theerasak Poonsombat introduced his new Destiny Hero beatdown deck, commonly known as T-Hero. The semi-OTK had virtually no bad matchups, although it needed to take yet another Shonen Jump Top 8 for T before the community took notice.

That came at SJC Philadelphia, where three players captured Top 8 spots with the deck. Players began to pay attention, and it wasn’t long before T-Hero was the most popular deck of the format. Emerging for the first time as a serious contender for competitive play alongside T-Hero was Perfect Circle, a Monarch-oriented deck that also abused the power of Destiny Hero - Malicious and Destiny Draw. These two decks would stick out the rest of the format as top strategies.

The final deck that players needed to conquer was Machines. The power of Trap Dustshoot and Cyber Phoenix to completely tarnish an opposing player’s hand (as well as the game-ending threats of Limiter Removal, Machine Duplication, and Overload Fusion) sent this deck to the top. As it turns out, the deck would only finally be taken down at Shonen Jump Indy, the final stop on the Shonen Jump circuit before the format came to a close. Once again, it was Team Odyssey who made the metagame-breaking deck. And what was the deck that dethroned them all? Burn! Kenny So took home the title at SJC Indy with this unique burn deck:

Monsters: 9

3 Card Trooper

1 Sangan

1 Morphing Jar

1 Giant Rat

3 Gravekeeper’s Spy

Spells: 10

1 Book of Moon

1 Level Limit - Area B

3 Wave-Motion Cannon

1 Scapegoat

1 Snatch Steal

2 Smashing Ground

1 Confiscation

Traps: 21

1 Mind Crush

3 Solemn Judgment

2 Wall of Revealing Light

3 Skill Drain

1 Ceasefire

1 Gravity Bind

3 Trap Dustshoot

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Ring of Destruction

3 Dimension Wall

1 Magic Cylinder

Although several other burn decks have been successful this format, none has attempted to slow the game down and win while the opponent was holding handfuls of dead cards. Chain burn and Four Turn burn each aimed to win the game before the opponent could put any of his or her cards to use, and OD burn tried to use tempo for itself, connecting with direct attacks and using Stealth Bird to finish off opponents quickly.

This deck is built around the idea that burn decks almost never win in the face of Snipe Hunter or Jinzo. The answer to both cards is Skill Drain, a continuous trap that tears most decks apart, but sees little play because it affects the user as well. Not only does Skill Drain negate the effects of Snipe Hunter and Jinzo, but it also prevents Monarchs from using their effects, keeps Card Trooper at 400 ATK, and eliminates the disabling ability of Cyber Phoenix. This means Kenny doesn’t have to worry about massive Troopers attacking under his Level Limit - Area B and Gravity Bind and he won’t have his field taken apart by Raiza the Storm Monarch.

Trap Dustshoot, Confiscation, and Mind Crush make the cut here for the same reason they’re played in many other decks. Being able to eliminate the opponent’s playable monsters from the hand is a technique that saw success in Machines because of their ability to safely turn on the aggro with Card Trooper and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. In this deck, Dustshoot would be best targeting immediate threats or monsters that would be set. If Kenny can take the only monster his opponent can place on the field out of his or her hands, Card Trooper is likely to connect directly next turn, which is a tremendous advantage for a burn deck. The best part? Kenny can do this without flagging that he’s playing a burn deck.

Gravekeeper’s Spy can achieve the same goal, punching an opponent for 2400 points of damage and leaving him or her thinking that Kenny is simply a very aggressive player. Little does the opponent know he or she just accepted almost a third of his or her life points in damage from attacks by a burn deck. Spy makes the cut here over Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive because of Skill Drain and higher DEF. Skill Drain negates the effect of Dekoichi, and the deck can suffer enough from bad draws without one card negating another. While Spy will also be negated, her 2000 DEF means another wall for the opponent to get by, as well as some extra damage if she is attacked by a Cyber Phoenix or Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive.

Giant Rat is in the deck because it can search out Morphing Jar and Card Trooper while also sporting 1450 DEF. In conjunction with Smashing Ground or Ring of Destruction, searching out Card Trooper with Giant Rat means extra damage via direct attacks. Giant Rat and Book of Moon mean that Kenny can search for Morphing Jar, turn it face down, and flip summon it next turn to refresh his hand. Morphing Jar is extremely valuable to a burn deck, which can usually set or activate its entire hand before drawing five new cards.

Dimension Wall and Magic Cylinder are the support burn cards for the deck. Backing up Wave-Motion Cannon, these two speed the deck up and prevent Kenny from taking damage at the same time. Using Dimension Wall or Cylinder on a Monarch or Cyber Dragon can mean more than 2000 damage to the opponent, which means Wave-Motion Cannon can be launched two turns earlier. Add Ceasefire or Ring of Destruction into the mix, and Kenny won’t have to wait long before winning the game.

What this deck really capitalizes on is the lack of spell or trap removal and therefore the ease with which one could lock down the field early. Between Wall of Revealing Light, Skill Drain, and Solemn Judgment, Kenny can ensure he will take no damage from attacking monsters and is free to wait out Wave-Motion Cannon. Even Skill Drain can generate damage. Picture Kenny setting Giant Rat and Skill Drain before his opponent summons Card Trooper. His opponent pumps to 1900 and attacks the face-down Rat. Kenny flips Skill Drain, which decreases the Trooper’s attack back down to 400. The Trooper crashes into the Rat and Kenny’s opponent takes 1050 damage. Furthermore, Kenny could probably attack Trooper with the Rat next turn—generating another 1000 damage—since his opponent probably won’t feel the need to protect a 400 ATK Trooper that can’t get any bigger, and would gladly take the draw for 1000 damage, unaware that Kenny is playing a burn deck.

This deck did an incredible job of beating the metagame at Indy, and as a result, Kenny was able to defeat all sorts of strategies before taking home the gold. Will this style of burn deck be able to counter the metagame next format? Will the format begin with burn the way this one began with Return? Only time will tell.