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Tech Update – Round 3
As of Round 3, we’re already seeing some noteworthy tech trends! Here are four cards that have made an impression here today.
"Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer"
When it comes to top tech picks in today’s tournament, "Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer" is head and shoulders above the competition. Many Duelists are running 3 copies of Kycoo in their Side Deck, planning to rotate it in against Lightsworn or Decks centered on "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor.”
When Kycoo damages the opponent, you can remove up to 2 monsters from their Graveyard from play. Also, while Kycoo is on the field, your opponent cannot remove monsters in either Graveyard from play.
Kycoo is everything you could hope for in a tech card. Both of its effects can cause some serious pain in the matchups you’d expect to face. Against Lightsworn, Kycoo’s Battle Damage effect will remove monsters from the Graveyard that could be Special Summoned by "Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress.” Better yet, it’ll keep "Judgment Dragon" off the field by reducing the variety of Lightsworn in the Graveyard. Kycoo’s second effect will block activation of "Necro Gardna" and “Shiny Black “C,”” shattering the Lightsworn Duelist’s defenses.
These same effects wreak havoc on "Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor,” either preventing its effect from activating or just getting it out of the game completely. Without Vayu’s effect to Special Summon their Synchro Monsters, most Vayu Decks are left with far fewer options for attackers.
Kycoo also has a respectable 1800 ATK, so even if you don’t need either of its effects at a given moment it can still generate a lot of damage. It’s also a DARK Attribute monster, so it can combo with "Allure of Darkness" and "Dark Armed Dragon.”
"Doomcaliber Knight"
"Doomcaliber Knight" used to be a tough-to-find SHONEN JUMP Championship prize card, but now that it’s been reprinted in Turbo Pack: Booster One, a lot of Duelists have started running it. This monster automatically Tributes itself whenever a monster effect is activated, negating the effect and destroying that monster.
"Doomcaliber Knight" can attack with impunity into almost any Gladiator Beast monster. With 1900 ATK, it will destroy most Gladiator Beasts in battle. Even if your opponent has a card like "Waboku" to keep their Gladiator Beast on the field, if they activate the Gladiator Beast’s effect at the end of the Battle Phase, you will negate the effect with “Doomcaliber Knight.” "Test Tiger" and "Gladiator Beast Gyzarus" also cannot use their effects until Doomcaliber is removed from the field.
Against Lightsworn, it can be very easy to Summon Doomcaliber, attack over a Lightsworn monster, and then keep Doomcaliber on the field. At that point the Lightsworn Duelist is in a tough position: the next monster whose effect is activated will be destroyed by Doomcaliber. “Doomcaliber Knight” will even negate those End Phase effects that Lightsworn Decks depend on.
A Lightsworn Duelist can remove a copy of "Necro Gardna" from the Graveyard to force the activation of "Doomcaliber Knight’s” effect, but that’s the only scenario a Doomcaliber Duelist needs to be careful of. Doomcaliber can keep "Judgment Dragon’s” effect from being activated, negate the destruction effect of "Shiny Black “C”,” and really make things rough on the opponent.
It’s no surprise that "Doomcaliber Knight" is seeing play in both the Main and Side Decks of many Duelists. As the tournament continues, we’ll get an even better feel for which matchups Doomcaliber is best suited for.
"Fairy Wind"
"Fairy Wind" destroys all other face-up Spell and Trap Cards on the field, and inflicts 300 damage to both players for each destroyed card. If you’re going to Side Deck a card just to counter stuff like "Royal Oppression,” "Skill Drain,” "Dimensional "Fissure",” and similar cards, you might as well choose the card that can destroy all of them at once.While "Dust Tornado" is a much more flexible card, since it can also destroy face-down cards, "Fairy Wind’s” ability to destroy every card is noteworthy enough to earn it some table time in today’s tournament.
"Fissure"
Recently removed from the Limited Cards List, "Fissure" is proving to be a very popular choice here today, taking center stage in Gladiator Beast Decks as well as Chaos builds and Gadgets.Gladiator Beasts run three copies of “Fissure” for the quick and easy removal of monsters they couldn’t attack through otherwise, paving the way for a Gladiator Beast tag out. Combined with "Gladiator Beast Retiari,” a Gladiator Duelist can even use "Fissure" to permanently remove "Stardust Dragon" from the game, as Retiari can remove from play 1 card in the opponent’s Graveyard when it tags in. “Stardust Dragon” is historically one of the biggest threats to Gladiators, but "Fissure" and Retiari make it really easy to beat.
Chaos Beatdown Decks and Gadgets both benefit from “Fissure’s” ability to quickly simplify the Duel. “Fissure” helps turn a big Duel with lots of cards on both sides of the table, into a smaller, simpler Duel with few cards remaining in the hands and on the field. The fewer cards your opponent has, the tougher it is for them to build combos to deal with your big monsters . "Fissure" also clears the way for your attackers, letting a smaller monster like "D. D. Warrior Lady" or "Red Gadget" dish out some quick damage."Fissure’s” also a top pick because it doesn’t target, so it gets around the effect of "Aurkus, Lightsworn Druid." That alone has made "Fissure" a popular card here today.
All four of these cards are seeing renewed play today, but the two most common seem to be "Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer" and "Fissure.” Both cards are being played in threes here today in large numbers, and after this tournament they may shape big trends for the weeks to come. Do yourself a favor: if you aren’t playing some of these cards yourself, give it some thought and consider what they could do for your Deck!
reported by
Jason Grabher-Meyer
