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Deck Profile – Shane Seuring’s TAKE YO’ STUFF! Deck
A few weeks ago, Shane Seuring topped a Regional Qualifier with a Deck that I guarantee you’ve never seen before.
Can you guess what it is? Blackwings? Gladiator Beasts? Psychics?...
…Yes! To all three. Shane Seuring’s Deck is called “TAKE YO’ STUFF!” and it runs bits and pieces from a bunch of popular Decks seen in competitive tournaments. Check it out…
| Monsters | Spells | Traps | Side Deck | Extra Deck |
3 Mystic Tomato |
3 Mind Control |
3 Waboku |
2 Trap Hole |
1 Stardust Dragon |
Here’s how the monster lineup breaks down. There are four Blackwing monsters – two Blackwing – Gale, one Blackwing – Bora, and one Blackwing – Sirocco. It also runs five Gladiator Beasts – Retiari, Darius, Murmillo, Laquari, and the all-important Bestiari. To complement them, Seuring plays a single “Test Ape” and a single “Test Tiger.” He’s got two “Gladiator Proving Ground” to get whichever Gladiator Beast he needs.
The Deck also plays three “Mystic Tomatoes” to get to particular monsters when it needs them – stuff like “Plaguespreader Zombie” and Blackwing – Gale. It runs “Emergency Teleport,” “Psychic Commander,” and “Krebons” too.
So what’s the point of this bizarre mish-mash of monsters? Well, as the name may have suggested, the point of the deck is to “TAKE YO’ STUFF!” Seuring runs three “Mind Controls,” “Brain Control,” two “Creature Swaps,” and two “Autonomous Action Units,” with the goal of just swiping his opponent’s monsters. Once he does, he can pair them with his own for a variety of results.
For instance, if Seuring plays a Gladiator Beast Duelist, he can TAKE THEIR STUFF and pair it with “Gladiator Beast Bestiari” for a quick summoning of “Gladiator Beast Gyzarus.” Or he can tag out his opponent’s Gladiator Beast back to their Deck with “Test Tiger,” or just attack with it to tag out via their own effects.
If he’s up against a Blackwing player he can TAKE THEIR STUFF and then flood the field with copies of Blackwing – Bora and Blackwing – Gale. Or, if his opponent has a dug-in field, he can summon Blackwing – Sirocco and TAKE THEIR ATTACK POINTS. Getting the gist? Other tricks include taking an opposing Tuner to pair it with “Cyber Dragon,” Synchroing up with an opponent’s Blackwing to score “Blackwing Armor Master,” and more.
The funniest part about this Deck is that it actually works! Seuring was 3-0 after Round 3, destroying his opponents left, right, and center despite a game loss penalty in round 3 (he was busy playing in Duel the Master in the Exhibitors’ Hall, and was late to his seat when he insisted on finishing his Duel with the Master first). It’s unbelievable – the strategy is laughable, but it’s so far out of the expected play patterns of the top Decks that nobody’s been able to deal with it so far. It’s incredibly unpredictable, and Seuring’s been playing it so long that he understands precisely what he can do at any time. It opens strong thanks to the “Test Ape” and playset of “Mystic Tomatoes,” and it can make big pushes once it finds an opening. “Waboku” fends off aggressive opponents, creating openings in which STUFF can be TAKEN. It’s actually kind of similar to the general strategy employed by the Black Salvo Decks, which bait out the opponent and then seek to punish them.
I don’t know if Shane Seuring can keep this up all day, but his achievement so far is pretty amazing. We’ll be watching him for a possible feature match later in the tournament.
