So here we are, one day before Shonen Jump Championship Orlando, and the introduction of Machine’s Re-Volt has ushered in a new era of dueling. Several regulars of the Shonen Jump circuit have spoken to me over the past few weeks, and while everyone’s got an ace up their sleeve, they all seem to agree on one thing: creating a deck for tomorrow’s tournament is a huge challenge.
The reason? Gadgets have created a lot of forces that duelists need to adapt to, and the ramifications of their arrival affect every deck that’s been played in this format. Let’s take a look at how they’ve impacted the North American metagame, and then use that preliminary information to discuss possibilities for tomorrow.
Gadgets . . . in America!
They’re here, and while they might not be the biggest or most fearsome monsters on the block, Gadgets have proven to be a potent addition to the tournament scene. Machine duelists who shelved their copies of Cyber-Stein over the holidays got shiny new replacements last week, and Gadgets have been storming tournaments across North America and Europe ever since.
Do they live up to the hype? So far, yeah, I’d say they have. I had a Gadget deck ready to go the day I got my copies of Machine’s Re-Volt, and immediately swept a tournament with it. There are hundreds of duelists worldwide with similar stories, and right now, Gadgets are the driving source of most of the format’s deck trends. With builds that revolve around the Machine-type or Earth attribute taking a back seat for now, most duelists have decided on a more basic approach instead, running relatively few monsters alongside nine Gadgets and a plethora of monster removal. Though Yugi’s clockworks don’t have the ATK needed to attack over the average beatstick, a hefty amount of monster removal lets Gadgets remain consistently aggressive. This reliance on spells and traps, as well as the low ATK the Gadgets command, are two big push factors behind the trends leading into Orlando.
Monarchs Forced To Adapt
While Ryan Spicer’s Monarch build has been the benchmark for this format, Gadgets really nerf the deck’s trademark cards. Despite the fact that Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch each gained a fearsome reputation these last few months, Gadgets take them in stride. Zaborg is still a huge body, but his effect just isn’t impressive when it’s destroying a Gadget. After all, you already replaced it with another in your hand, denying the Monarch deck the easy card advantage it needs. Thestalos runs into the same problem: discarding a Gadget from the opponent’s hand could mean almost nothing if they have a second at the ready.
At the same time, though, Gadgets are reliant on their monster removal for both aggression and survival. Most Gadget users are running three copies of Sakuretsu Armor and Widespread Ruin, with many others routinely setting Bottomless Trap Hole or Solemn Judgment too. A large portion of the average Gadget deck’s removal is invested in reactive traps, and the deck depends on them as a method of dealing with big monsters before they become long-term problems. Most Gadget duelists are currently scoffing at chainable sets like Rush Recklessly and Enemy Controller, so Mobius the Frost Monarch can have a field day. Just drop Mobius, strip the opponent’s back row and then attack at will.
It’s not just the tribute monsters that will change in Monarch decks, either—the tempo of the Monarch strategy is going to have to increase if it’s to survive. Attacking with one big hitter each turn in order to wear away at the opponent’s defenses just isn’t going to do it any more: when you create an opening against Gadgets, you need to take advantage of it as quickly as possible, and that means committing monsters. Hydrogeddon and Gravekeeper’s Spy can help a Monarch deck by providing it with tribute fodder, but they also create multiple sources of damage. Both are a strong alternative for more conventional support. In fact, with some Gadget duelists running Exiled Force and Snipe Hunter, don’t be surprised if the Apprentice Engine sees a slow decline in popularity.
Other Decks Get Better
While the Spicer Monarch deck takes a blow from the arrival of Gadgets, lots of other strategies have an advantage in the Gadget matchup and benefit overall as a result. Dark World has the ability to deploy an unforeseen number of attackers, making it difficult for the Gadget player to judge how many trap cards he or she should set. Most duelists default to setting just one—or fear of Heavy Storm or Mobius—a decision that leaves the doors wide open to Goldd and Sillva. Dark World builds like the one piloted to Day 2 by Theeresak Poonsombat at SJC Anaheim are armed with perhaps the best Gadget tech out there, Deck Devastation Virus. Most Gadget builds won’t have many monsters above the Virus’s range, so they run into the same problem that Monarch decks do. While the Gadget players will still be able to defend themselves for a time, they won’t be able to make offensive actions, and the deck needs to attack to win.
Moving on, Strike Ninja, Vampire Lord, and Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys can all be centerpieces of a deck, and each can nullify the removal Gadgets rely on. All three are big enough to be a threat, so the Gadget player has to use removal on them eventually. When they do, odds are good that the effort is just going to be wasted due to Strike Ninja’s dodge or the recursion effect wielded by Phoenix and Vampire Lord. Personally I think it’s safe to predict that all of these monsters will see play tomorrow, in the form Zombie Phoenix, and dedicated Strike Ninja strategies. The latter may even opt to run Blowback Dragon to make attacking even easier, borrowing a trick from Worlds’ Top 8 competitor Shin Ishikawa.
Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos strategies like those run by Kirk Leonhardt in Anaheim, and Eric Wu in San Jose are also on the “decks to watch” list. In an environment where the two biggest archetypes are Monarchs and Gadgets, this strategy has answers to both. Removing Treeborn Frog from play and stopping the effect of Mystic Tomato slows Monarchs to a grinding halt. Gadgets, on the other hand, simply cannot deal with D.D. Survivor if he continues to bounce back after being destroyed.
And these are just some of the decks that could do well tomorrow! Warrior Toolbox with Elemental Hero Wildheart, Freed the Brave Wanderer with Mirage Dragon, Chain Strike Burn and several more will be competitive this weekend. That’s why Orlando’s going to be great—everybody’s got a different read on the metagame, and we won’t know who’s right (and who’s wrong) until the cards hit the table and we see it for ourselves.
Thrilling stuff, in my opinion.
Plays To Make—Beating Gadgets
Of course, for everyone who’s created a new deck lately, there’s someone who’s tried to adapt their old one by adding a splash of anti-Gadget tech. If you’ve stuck your head into an online forum lately, you’ve probably seen all the debate that’s gone on about which tech cards are the best. The problem? There are just so many ways to stop Gadgets that it’s difficult to tell which (if any) are decidedly superior. Everybody’s got their own opinion, so I’d like to present some of the more interesting ones that might have ramifications for tomorrow.
King Tiger Wanghu: Easily the most-discussed answer to Gadgets, Wanghu has a lot going for him. At 1700 ATK he’s got a big enough body to cause trouble. He can attack over Gadgets that are summoned before he hits the field, and he can also smash up recruiters, hammer home damage against flip effect monsters, and run over a spent Breaker the Magical Warrior or Banisher of the Radiance. Once he hits play, the opponent probably won’t want to summon Gadgets until he or she can get rid of him. And that’s a good thing.
But the concerns with the card rest in its ability to stay on the field. Just sitting around, Wanghu is vulnerable to Hammer Shot, Smashing Ground, Fissure, and Ring of Destruction. If it’s in attack position, it could get nailed by Mirror Force or Widespread Ruin, and it’s always susceptible to Book of Moon. In a flashback to the Tsukuyomi days, its 1000 DEF doesn’t protect it from the key monsters it’s trying to stop. If Wanghu does attack, then it’s vulnerable to Sakuretsu Armor as well. Add in Solemn Judgment, Bottomless Trap Hole, a sacrificial Snipe Hunter or a straight attack from Chiron the Mage, and your opponent probably has about fifteen to twenty outs. I don’t like those odds. Personally, I’ve had Wanghu played against me and it’s managed to stall me in a few games. Other times I blew through it instantly, and either way it hasn’t seemed to do much for my opponents. I think this’ll see a lot of play tomorrow, but I’m not sure how well it’s going to work.
Royal Decree: On the flip side, Decree could be great in this format. Many Gadget duelists aren’t running Mystical Space Typhoon, so a game 1 Royal Decree can be a potent weapon. On one hand, Decree could shut down ten to twelve cards in a Gadget deck. On the other, it could also get hit with Solemn Judgment. The success of a duelist running Royal Decree is going to depend on two factors: the frequency in which Mobius the Frost Monarch is main-decked over Zaborg, and the number of Gadget players who are adequately prepared for it. Right now, it might actually be a prime opportunity to catch Gadget players in a moment of hubris.
Twin-Headed Behemoth: Bringing a pinch of Strike Ninja and a dash of Vampire Lord to virtually any deck, Twin-Headed Behemoth is a nice low-risk tech pick. It’s great against Gadgets since it can either run them over or force out a wasted piece of removal. It’s nice against Zaborg in Monarch decks and Exiled in just about anything. Aside from Dimensional Fissure, there isn’t really a bad matchup for this card, so while it may not be earth-shaking like Decree and Wanghu can be, it’s also never going to be a drop-dead disappointment.
Trap Dustshoot / Mind Crush: Rough beats: I really want to like this combo in the Gadget matchup, but I just can’t do it. Here’s the thought: get rid of Gadgets, and then the Gadget deck won’t win, right? As much as I love them both (either on their own or in tandem), I don’t think either one of these cards is particularly good for this matchup. Shuffling a monster back into the Gadget deck might deal with a problematic Snipe Hunter or Cyber Dragon, but it might also just bump back a Gadget that the opponent can fetch later. At the same time you might not even get to activate it: if I know my opponent is packing Dustshoots I’m just going to simplify as fast as possible to speed tempo and get my hand down to three cards. There’s a decent chance that if I see an offensive opening, I’m just going to do it regardless of what I know about your deck.
As for Mind Crush, I can’t really see the allure. Maybe you can get two cards for the opponent’s one, if you know they have two Gadgets of the same color? That just means the opponent probably searched for one of those Gadgets anyways, making their loss of two cards negligible and leaving you with a trap that doesn’t really help you do anything on the field. The only way to make these cards work is to pluck the opponent’s hand of all his or her Gadget monsters in one fell blow, and then hope he or she doesn’t draw any more or activate Pot of Avarice. While I like both these cards in several matchups (Trap Dustshoot on a Dark World deck is always entertaining), they don’t seem too hot for Gadgets. I’ll be interested in seeing how this works out tomorrow.
Don Zaloog: Now we’re talking! Don is searchable in three different ways, and is already beneficial in plenty of other matchups. While Shrink made him less of a threat to Gadgets in Japan, his status here is a different story. Set him on turn 1 against a Gadget deck and the odds are really good that a colorful Machine is going to run into him on the following turn. That costs the opponent the card they got for their Gadget summon, and unless the errant cog was Green Gadget, the opponent’s going to have to set two defensive cards to guarantee that he or she isn’t forced to discard again. Brutal.
Stuff That Doesn’t Die To Traps: Mirage Dragon, Pitch-Black Warwolf, Elemental Hero Wildheart, Jinzo . . . heck, even Different Dimension Dragon, are all solid answers to Gadgets. Jinzo is perhaps the best, presenting a tough mark for Smashing Ground and Fissure while the magic 2400 ATK. Different Dimension Dragon is perhaps my personal favorite—it’s the most complicated of the lot, but its immunity to Smashing Ground, Fissure, Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force, and any monster Gadgets have smaller than Cyber Dragon, is food for thought. Somewhere there’s a deck here involving Shining Angel and Soul of Purity and Light, but I don’t think we’ll see it tomorrow. In the mean time, expect Jinzo to teach Gadgets why he’s the real Machine King.
The list of Gadget tech goes on and on. Julia Hedberg showed me how good Fenrir was against Gadgets just yesterday. Mike Rosenberg’s been doing some work with Lightning Vortex, Jerome’s been using Ancient Gear Engineer . . . everybody’s got tricks up their sleeve. Tomorrow, we’ll get our first decisive test of what works and what doesn’t.
And four prize cards instead of two? Normally this would be the “calm before the storm” period, but things are still getting hotter as we build towards tomorrow’s tournament. Be sure to hit us up all weekend long, as we see how all the hype and speculation play out, live from Orlando!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer