New decks pop up at each new Shonen Jump, but we can always count on seeing some tried and true favorites. Beastdown has been a strong choice at past events, and Ramon Ciriano has made a noteworthy run at the Top 8 with his version here in New Jersey. With a 7-1 record after round 8, he's obviously making the most of a reliable archetype.
The list looks quite straightforward, with the traditional big beasts combined with control type monsters, set off with metagame-favored spell and trap cards for an all-around versatile and effective deck. Let's take a look at his list.
Ramon is running an unusually small number of
Scapegoats in an environment where every other match looks like a goat farm, keeping in with the overall aggressive theme of the deck.
Smashing Ground,
Nobleman of Crossout and
Book of Moon complement the standard spell lineup to keep the deck moving forward.
In the early game, this deck wants to get out
Nimble Momonga or one of the D. D. monsters, and draw into the powerful Pot/Graceful/Delinquent spells. It's important to keep the opponent's field as clear as possible, so he or she cannot tribute to bring out something strong enough to withstand the muscle of
Berserk Gorilla and
Enraged Battle Ox. After moving into the mid-game where these monsters start breaking loose, the opponent will be hard pressed to hold off the assault. Attack position monsters are overcome with Gorilla and defense position monsters fall under the trample effect of
Enraged Battle Ox. Destructive spells and traps like
Lightning Vortex,
Nobleman of Crossout,
Bottomless Trap Hole, and
Torrential Tribute work alongside the onslaught to keep the opponent's field as bare as possible.
Beastdown decks aim to win by the mid-game, and accomplish this goal by overpowering the opponent and ripping away his or her life points. They can fall back on tech monsters as needed—
Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer,
Mobius the Frost Monarch, and
Tribe-Infecting Virus—to add some brain in with the brawn to improve the deck's chances against a wider range of opponent strategies, which is vital in an event of this size.
All in all it's a solid build of a game-proven deck type. It topdecks reliably and can vary its focus enough to take on a wide variety of matchups, as evidenced by Ramon's record so far. Will it carry him to the top 8? Two more rounds will tell!