¡Hola! It’s that time again duelists! Today we’re going to take a look at the metagame from YCS Guadalajara and analyze the results. As most of you may already know, Six Samurais emerged victorious by taking a triumph over Dino-Rabbit in the finals. One of the more interesting facts about this event was that almost every possible deck topped. I always like to break things down so here is a breakdown of the decks that made the Top 32 in Mexico:
9 Wind-ups
5 Inzektor
1 Wind-up Inzektor
5 Dino rabbit
3 Six Samurais
3 Plant Synchro
1 Scrap
1 Dark World
1 Gravekeeper
1 Agents
1 Chaos
1 Tech Genus
So, it appears that Wind-ups were the dominant force in the Top 32 by taking a total of 9 spots (10 if you count the Wind-up Inzektor deck). This is of no surprise, though, since everyone expected the deck to be absolutely nuts and consistent with the release of the new TCG exclusive, Wind-Up Shark. Then, we have 5 Inzektor decks (6 if you count the Wind-up Inzektor deck) in the Top 32 which is a pretty good showing considering it’s the deck’s first major event. A total of 5 Dino-Rabbit decks also made the Top 32, but no one is shocked about that, especially after it won the last YCS in Brighton, and I would assume it had a great representation in Guadalajara. The real shocker is that there were 3 Six Samurai decks in the top and it was the winning deck. I learned the hard way that Samurais have a favorable matchup against Dino-Rabbit when I played in a local using Rabbit about a month ago. The 2500 attack power of Legendary Six Samurai Shi En is far too much for Dino-Rabbit to handle and, to make matters worse, his ability to negate all your defensive spells. To top it all off, Shi En can save himself from destruction by letting another Six Samurai monster die in his place which is quite annoying when your only real out to him is a Utopia. Also, just like Dino-Rabbit, Samurais have the ability to play several backrows without fear because of Shi En’s protection, so getting him off the field can be quite the task. On the other hand, I really can’t imagine Samurais being able to consistently beat any other deck in this format, especially with 3 Maxx “C” and 2-3 Fiendish Chains running amuck. I think it’s fair to note that YCS Guadalajara had only 517 players which means that you will want to take the results with a grain of salt. We have regionals in Philadelphia and California that are larger than that.
Surprisingly, Gravekeepers have finally topped an event this format. The deck has been severely debilitated with the unbanning of Heavy Storm coupled with the ability to play 3 Mystical Space Typhoons. However, Royal Tribute is still Royal Tribute now that everyone is running 20+ monsters again, and just like Tech Genus, those 3 copies of Maxx “C” won’t do much against Gravekeepers. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone play the deck seriously in the U.S. because there are too many outs to the deck’s soft locks now, and people are actually maining all 3 copies of Mystical Space Typhoon to combat Fiendish Chains and Wind-up Factories. Plants took only 3 spots in the Top 32 but I think that was due to the lack of players willing to play the deck now that we have so many new toys to try out. I would also go as far to say that Plant Synchro simply isn’t fast enough to keep up with Rabbit, Wind-ups, and Inzektors but it can still win if you sleep on it. As for the victorious Samurai deck, most players are calling it a fluke or a joke that such a deck won in this format. I’m not the biggest fan of Samurais either but I am aware that almost any deck can win at this point. Now we need to look forward to Atlanta and what I think may happen.
So after seeing Wind-ups take majority of the spots in the Top 32 I would say it’s safe to assume that the deck is very real. It was also undefeated during swiss which is noteworthy. I expect there to be A LOT of Wind-ups in Atlanta and maybe even more Inzektors because the deck is so cheap to afford. Therefore, all decks should be geared towards beating Wind-ups first and foremost and you should be siding heavily for Inzektors and Rabbit. I don’t think I’m siding any intentional cards for Agents or Plants because I honestly don’t expect to see them well represented as they were in previous events. I think the best players have moved on.
Atlanta could be a very frustrating event due to the luck based nature of the format since the release of Order of Chaos. I mean it sucks but if you don’t have a hand trap on the first turn you could very well lose the game before you get to your draw phase (not literally but your only option would be to scoop with 2 or less cards against 6+). Then, Dino-Rabbit can essentially win the game on turn 1 by setting up a Laggia and some backrows and then following up with Tour Guide or another Rescue Rabbit to finish the job. A strong side deck will help but it can only do so much. When Plants were the best deck you had ample time to draw into your side deck cards because the deck slow grinded your cards away but these new decks apply far too much pressure for that strategy to be reliable. Every turn is about survival. If you think back, you weren’t trying to survive on turn 1, you were trying to setup your own strategy. When I look at the game now, I can’t even call the strategies of Wind-ups, Inzektors, or Dino-Rabbit a setup. It’s just like, “oh cool I opened nicely and you opened less nicely so I win.” Obviously not every duel is going to be like this because the skilled players will still outperform everyone else, but my frustration comes from the games where both players are pretty good and the winner is determined in the aforementioned fashion. Nonetheless, I’ll be going for a consecutive win at YCS Atlanta so look out for me then. I hope to see some of my readers out there and if you have any questions or anything please feel free to talk 🙂
Remember, Play Hard or Go Home!
-Frazier Smith
-YCS Atlanta Champion
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