YCS Providence Part 3

If you have been on the internet lately, you would be able to see the top 32 decklist on Konami's strategy site.


7 "Pure" Tengu Plant Synchro
5 Six Samurai
3 Gravekeeper
3 X-Saber
2 "Pure" Agents
1 Herald/Hyperion
1 Scraps
1 Blackwing
1 Fabled
1 Tech Genus
1 Water Tengu Synchro
1 Infernity
1 Frog monarch
1 Chaos Plant Synchro (no Tengu)
1 Machina Gadget
1 Macro
1 Anti-Meta

Out of 32 decks, 12 of them used Reborn Tengu.
11 out of those 12 decks combined Reborn Tengu with the Plant Engine.

Taking just the deck list at face-value, you could say that the current deck spread in yugioh is pretty diverse. Even though a LOT of people were using Tengu plants as at least part of their deck, a decent number of decks topped without using Reborn Tengu at all. Still, a lot of people say that Reborn Tengu is hurting the game because it promotes pressing the opponent without volition. In Monarch's, you can bait out solemn warning by tributing Tengu for a Caius, then get your 1700 ATK monster back. In Tengu Synchro decks, 1 Giant Trunade and a face up Reborn Tengu could be the death of the opposing player. A lot of people on the internet say that Reborn Tengu will go to 2 in September, especially with the release of Hyper Librarian in July, the card becomes even more combo-centric. The card itself is only so powerful. There are just so many things you can do with it that make it too much to handle. It is a shame because Reborn Tengu can do more than give players a free pass to extend their field presence. This can be seen in decks like Adam Moshinsky's Macro build and Sorosh Saberian's Fabled, both of which ran three. Of course I'm not saying that either player invented the idea of running Tengu in those decks, but it shows that Tengu can do things besides providing synchro material fodder. Other decks can benefit from Reborn Tengu too, like the recent uprising in Horn of the Phantom Beast users. Because Tengu is a beast-warrior, he can be equipped with Horn in the damage step just like a Flamvell Firedog, T.G. Rush Rhino, or Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts. Although they SHOULD probably semi-limit him to 2 per deck, there are a number of other cards that need to be limited to one in September.

For those who did not run Reborn Tengu, they still shared in the top 32 limelight. I for one was suprised to see Pure Agents (Planets) in the top deck list. I have never been a fan of the deck, because of the fact that their normal monsters are so weak. I guess that the ability to drop boss monsters with ease is what makes the deck so good. A lot of people say it is a very consistent deck too. Dragunities are also very consistent, but not many players use that deck anymore. The Herald/Hyperion deck that got into the top 8 really surprised me, as I have not thought of using Agents in that way. Deep Draw Hyperionswarn? Sure. Agent-Return? Sounds like fun. But Agents with Herald was the last thing I expected to see in the top 8. That just goes to show that boss monsters with good effects aren't just limited to synchros. Luke Mattingly's deck packs so many anti-monster cards (Heralds and 2 main decked Gozen Matches) that it is surprising how he even lost. Oh he lost against the YCS winner...Unfortunately, there was no feature match for them, and I did not attend Day 2 of the YCS, so I have no way to let you guys know how he lost. I'll just assume that he did not get out Krystia or Gozen or enough effect-stun to keep Plant Tengu at bay.

The other deck I am excited about is the Scrap deck that got into Top 16. I do not play Scraps, but I have all of the cards, so I could play it if I wanted. One interesting thing to note is that he did not run Machine Emperor Granel. Granel is a terrible topdeck, but if you draw into him early on in the game, you are almost guaranteed to summon it. Worst thing that could happen is that you bait out Solemn Warning. Instead, Guillermo Morales opted for a more consistent build. Did I mention it had 3 Reborn Tengu too? Honestly, I would have made a few changes in his card lineup, such as his 3 Horn of the Phantom Beast and 3 Effect Veiler. It almost seemed as if he decided to main more cards that he would usually side in, just for the greater chance at winning game 1 against unfavorable matches. I think I would love to see a Safe Zone instead of 1 of the Veilers. As situational as it sounds, Safe Zone has some nice synergy with Scrap Dragon. If you equip it to your opponent's monster in chain with Scrap Dragon's effect, you can destroy a card with Scrap Dragon's effect and destroy the monster equipped with Safe Zone. Guillermo ended up losing to Six Samurai. In all honestly, Six Sams SHOULD be a favorable matchup against Scraps, as you can synchro into many different monsters that can all attack over a Shi En. However, a lot of Six Sam players are siding in cards that would hurt the scrap deck, such as Dimensional Fissure. Also, losing your scrapstorms to a 1st turn Shi En also sucks, so the scrap player's side-deck needs to be spot on.

The last deck that I am excited about is the 2nd place Infernity deck. There isn't much that makes this deck special over other Infernity decks except for the fact that it uses 18 monster and only 1 Infernity Inferno, a bad ratio if you ask me. Most infernity decks use a lower monster count or more Infernos. His loss in the final round feature match shows how a build like his can be inconsitent. Round 1 gave him a monster-heavy hand. He managed to get out of it by Brionac bouncing his own cards until he could One-for-one and empty his hand. In the end, he still lost to Mirror Force. In Round 2, he lost to D.D. Crow and Royal Oppression. Oh well, maybe we can see a better build at Nationals.