With a tech update in the works, I wanted to take some time to find out what was sitting at the top tables. I expected a lot of Teleport Dark Armed Dragon and I definitely found that to be the case, but there were also some unexpected surprises.

Of the twenty duelists seated at the top ten tables, fourteen were playing what appeared to be conventional Dark Armed Dragon decks. Recognizable TeleDAD players included Bobby Chambers, Alonzo Peters, and Luis Morillo. Four more duelists were playing Lightsworn, including notable Day 2 alum Timothy Howell.

That left two more players whose decks didn’t really fit any pre-established mold. David Efird is running a mix of TeleDAD and Synchro Dude, complete with Mind Control, Junk Synchron, and a single copy of Destiny Hero - Defender. Here’s what it looks like:

Efird is running a lot of the cards you’d expect to see in a TeleDAD deck: three copies each of Krebons, Emergency Teleport, Destiny Hero - Malicious, and Allure of Darkness paired with archetype favorites like Dark Grepher and Snipe Hunter to form a fully functional TeleDAD engine. But Efird is packing a lot of tricks into just 41 cards, foregoing a fifth Destiny Hero and a third Destiny Draw to fit two copies of Junk Synchron, two Mind Control cards, and two Reckless Greed cards into his build. He also techs two of the three D.D. Crow cards that Synchro Dude ran so devotedly.

The Crows are an interesting pick, because not only do they remain strong tech choices in all top matchups right now, they also combo with Junk Synchron. Synchron can bring back a Crow to make up four level stars total, meaning that one level 4 monster will be enough to Synchro summon any level 8. This is usually made possible (and consistently viable from the standpoint of card economy) through the use of Mind Control: virtually every top deck in the format hands out opportunities to steal level 4 monsters like they were candy, and Efird is looking to take advantage of that. He can also use Junk Synchron to special summon a used Krebons from the graveyard, making for even more Synchro opportunities. This was something Jerome mentioned back in his article last week, pairing Junk Synchron with Jutte Fighter to allow for double Synchro summons under the right conditions in Six Samurai. This deck does the same thing, but uses Krebons in a TeleDAD variant instead. Cool stuff.

The two copies of Reckless Greed are solid bluffs, but their main purpose seems to be helping Efird put together his bigger combos, digging for stuff like Mind Control or Dark Armed Dragon. They do a nice job of compensating for the third Destiny Draw he’s not running, and their drawback effect just isn’t a huge deal when so many games are only lasting a couple of turns anyways.

Efird’s deck is doing really well here today, and if he can win this match he’ll be a shoo-in for a feature match next round.

Hai Nguyen is the other undefeated Rogue player, running a deck that’s vaguely reminiscent of Little City both in composition and in name: he calls it “Big Trouble in Little China”, and it’s impressing a lot of players here this afternoon. Here’s the decklist:

Nguyen’s deck looks like a bizarre version of Little City, trading out Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior for copies of Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, and maining Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror instead of Skill Drain. The synergy between these two off-picks is notable: while the Mirror will negate Kycoo’s removal effect, it won’t negate Kycoo’s continuous effect that keeps an opponent from removing Destiny Hero - Malicious to summon another from his or her deck. It’s a smart little combo and just one of many this deck has to offer.

Since this is a Little City offshoot it packs three copies of Honest and three Elemental Hero Neos Alius cards, but Nguyen has taken advantage of his defensive lineup by adding more tech for TeleDAD: two copies of Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo. After dropping like a stone in terms of popularity, Fossil Dyna has seen a big upswing in play here today and this deck is the highest ranked one running it. Three Honest cards are just the beginning: Nguyen’s also playing three copies of Shrink, two Enemy Controller cards, and two Book of Moon cards, alongside two copies of Compulsory Evacuation Device and two Bottomless Trap Hole cards. It’s almost impossible to attack Fossil Dyna once Nguyen establishes a decent field.

Three Royal Oppression cards do even more to lock down special summons, and Nguyen is playing the ubiquitous triple Solemn Judgment and triple Dark Bribe pack to keep them safe. With all the removal and negation in this deck, it can consistently dismantle TeleDAD before it gets going, and the result is what we’re seeing here in Round 5: an undefeated record midway through the day. This deck has tons of ways to eliminate Synchro monsters, and it really only needs to deal with two in the average duel. Nguyen has clearly run the numbers on this and has opted for the safety of an overkill approach, but the result is strong against the battle-oriented Lightsworn strategy as well, so there’s really no drawback to his commitment. This is the only hardcore rogue deck at the top ten tables right now, and it really seems like it can make it to Day 2. If Nguyen achieves a Top 16 finish his deck might be emulated by thousands of other players. His side deck is a real kicker too, but I won’t spoil that until the end of the tournament.

70% of the top twenty duelists are playing conventional TeleDAD. 20% are running Lightsworn, and the remaining 10% are playing innovative strategies. It’s a cool mix, and while TeleDAD is definitely the top deck in the game, Lightsworn and raw innovation continue to hold their own. The Day 2 metagame might be really interesting.