What made you choose D/D/D for the tournament? What were your tech choices?
I’ve only been playing very backrow-light decks (Pends, Thundras and Megaliths) in previous YTCs that couldn’t reliably interact with the opponent on their turn unless I manage to resolve my own gameplan, so I wanted a change of pace. I went asking for decks that could fit a bunch of backrow and was recommended D/D/D by Erika. They looked pretty cool and also interesting to play so I decided to give them a shot. In the end I ended up cutting a lot of backrow and going a little unga with the build, focusing hard on finding and resolving the ridiculous one-card starter that is D/D Savant Kepler>Gilgamesh with stuff like Odd-Eyes/Tour Guide From the Underworld, D/D Savant Galilei and Crossout Designator + Forbidden Lance. Still had a somewhat respectable suite of backrow though, so I was happy enough. As for tech choices, I didn’t really have any. I suppose the closest thing would be playing Dragon King Pendragon who reads kinda jank but ends up being really quite good when given a chance. It was particularly useful in my two matches against Sparky´s Unchained Despia as an accessible way to kill Despia, Theater of the Branded without having to give up my good scales for Orthros or waste my precious Witch Contract pops. The discard wasn’t much of an issue, I always had spare D/D Savant Kepler searchers or suitable D/D names to pitch.
Would you make any changes to the deck?
Yes, I’d cut some of the extra-deck D/D/Ds to make space for some more toolbox options like Dingirsu or Rank 4s once Griffin comes out. Darius never came up, LV6 Genghis was pretty meh too, used him for Swirl Slime into Gilgamesh plays early on in the tournament before I realized Ragnarok’s on-summon effect is kinda cracked and switched to using my bigger fusions but other than that he just isn’t worth the summon and hassle. Even the synchros were kinda iffy since they are so summon inefficient, I don’t think I summoned either once during the entire tournament. They are very good in the right situations though, so I’m leaning towards keeping them around. I’d also find space for Rebel King Leonidas, another thing I discovered midway through by watching old replays from Technically Footsies playing D/D/D in earlier YTCs is that you can use him to free up a scale by popping himself when set by Gilgamesh, in case you drew one of your preferred scales. Would have been a big help in a few of my games.
How did your tournament experience go? Any notable moments?
I was very lucky with my opening hands throughout the entire tournament, I saw Kepler turn one in ~72% of my games compared to the average ~50-55% that would be expected. I didn’t run into a lot of handtraps on my Kepler>Gilgamesh openings either, even though according to Pandor 75% of the players are playing all four hand traps that each just ends my turn on their own. With T1 Gilgamesh it’s usually pretty hard to lose to anything other than backrow blowout or absolute god hands if you play your cards well. I played decently well I think, the only time I can recall having a scare was when I activated Thomas right into a known Ghost Ogre against Sparky in top cut without searching a backup high scale to get Ragnarok out, but it ended up being fine since Kepler is also a scale 10 for some reason and I had one sitting in my hand from previous Thomas uses. Also, dying to my own contracts in my round 2 match against LiquidLoan, though I blame that one on having to play in North American time zones.
Any general thoughts on the tournament, the ban list, or the format in general?
Format is pretty aight I guess, 90% of the players aren’t set on abusing whatever is strongest and just plays whatever is fun to them and decently competitive so there’s nothing overpowered truly ruling the format even if some things are probably a little bit above the curve, like Unchained. Some things are still pretty wack though, like unlimited Monster Reborn running wild. I will also take this moment to lobby for Big Pend. Hit Twin Twisters, Fairy Wind and its other ilk and then balance pendulum and similar continous-heavy decks accordingly. Side deck sacks are a lame balancing mechanism and Twin Twisters is also too damn helpful to unga decks in general IMO. Also Scrap-Iron Statue, goddamn you DEG.
Temedun
Wtrain
What made you choose Swordsoul for the tournament? What were your tech choices?
Swordsoul is a deck that seemed like it could do many things which gave a lot of options for creative plays and tech choices. It was easy enough to pilot that practice with the deck wasn't needed. The reason I did so well with the deck was because of all the tech cards I ran. Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon as my go-to synchro won me games because of the value it provided, Pot of Desires is a criminally under-played card in trinity and a small Blue-Eye engine was an MVP. These techs and a few other made me win games where a more standard Swordsoul list wouldn't have.
Would you make any changes to the deck?
I generally liked how my deck was built but, I only had one test game with the deck and I did not consult other Trinity Swordsoul lists when building my version. As a result, I am missing some cards which help with consistency like Prufinesse, the tactical trapper or Gold sarcophagus. Also if I were to play this deck again, I would probably trim down on the fat of the deck and maybe make it a 45 card deck.
How did your tournament experience go? Any notable moments?
My tournament experience went a lot better than I thought it would go. I did not expect to get second place going into the tournament. The most memorable game of the tournament was game 1 of finals where I let my opponent draw 3 off of Maxx C, tribute summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon by using two 3000 ATK monsters and still won anyway.
Any general thoughts on the tournament, the ban list, or the format in general?
The format is diverse and healthy currently though the banlist concerns me a little because of unnecessary and sometimes untested banlist proposals.
What made you choose Noble Knight for the tournament? What were your tech choices?
I played Noble Knight because they're my favorite archetype and because I knew that this would be my last chance to play this iteration of the deck before the new BROL support came out in December. They're also one of the only decks I feel confident piloting in a tournament setting. In a highlander format, knowing the ins and outs of your deck is extremely important for tournaments (especially in something with as many generic searches as Noble Knight), and this is a deck whose win conditions and general gameplan I feel I understand completely. I also have a lot of faith in the deck itself; I was confident that Noble Knight were a top tier deck in the format, and I think that I showed that over the course of the tournament.
In the monster lineup, my only real tech choice was Traptrix Myrmeleo, who is criminally underplayed right now. Noble Knight pre-BROL are somewhat short on worthwhile normal summons, and so Myrmeleo slots in wonderfully. The ability to side into whatever Trap Hole cards best counter the opponent's strategy and then search them out is so strong. However, I should have main decked Time-Space Trap Hole over Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmare, because spinning back to the extra deck is essential for combating all of the floating and destruction-proof bosses in the format right now.
As for spells, Instant Fusion for Invoked Raidjin protected by Ogier is something I haven't seen anybody else but me do. That interaction did come up once this tournament, and it's oh-so nasty to pull off.
In the trap lineup, I also chose to main deck Reinforce Truth, which worked well as another way to grab Infernoble Knight - Roland. I only wish I'd started playing this card sooner. Blind Obliteration also might technically be considered a tech, though it seems to be catching on more with Torrential Tribute gone. With an 83% chance to destroy all level-4-or-lower monsters, and tons of protection effects in the deck, Blind Obliteration offers insane value here.
Would you make any changes to the deck?
As I mentioned above, I'd probably just swap out the Myrmeleo targets. Everything else seemed good. Of course, the deck will have to undergo changes now that there's a new wave of support.
How did your tournament experience go? Any notable moments?
The tournament went well. I finished first place at the end of swiss and won a ton of one-sided stomps. My favorite game was probably my one win against Sparky, where I dug myself out of a position where I was down significantly on card advantage to come from behind and win. Losing to Wuh Train after beating him in swiss was a bummer for me, especially because my final game was my only brick of the tournament. Oh well.
Any general thoughts on the tournament, the ban list, or the format in general?
I really love the format right now. I think that there are a ton of relatively unexplored decks which could be meta, and discovering slight optimizations can lead to big advantages in tournament. I also just personally like a lot of the archetypes which are meta-relevant right now, both thematically and in terms of building them. That said, I think that the power level is due to be tuned down across the board, and hopefully we can strike a balance that's a bit more beginner friendly and a bit less stompy going forward.
I do think it's a shame that the discourse has been so complaint-heavy recently. The top-cut interviews for the past couple of events have been overwhelmingly positive on the format, and participation in events is increasing; it feels to me like things are looking up for Trinity. It's a bummer that when opening discord, there's so much negativity surrounding the format. Too often the discord is dominated by sardonic, tongue-in-cheek quips or declarations on how the sky is falling. In my opinion, Trinity's biggest problem has nothing to do with format balance or banlist procedure; it's that the discord just isn't fun to read. Still, if the sky is apparently falling, I haven't noticed, and I'm personally super excited for the future.
Walrus
What made you choose Unchained Despia for the tournament? What were your tech choices?
I really like Unchained and Despia and they float better than any other decks. I felt like it had a really strong matchup against every deck, there’s nothing thats very unwinnable. Some “tech” cards I played were the graydles and mimicking man eater bug which are pretty underrated. I also mained crow which I felt was strong against the meta and is a good fusion mat.
Would you make any changes to the deck?
I would put fairy wind back in the side deck.
How did your tournament experience go? Any notable moments?
Losing the dice roll twice in a row to D/D/D and drawing zero hand traps. Yep, Gilgamesh.
Any general thoughts on the tournament, the ban list, or the format in general?
Overall I had a lot of fun, I think the format is in a really good place right now. However, I do think that it’s a lot faster pace then it used to be which isn’t necessarily bad its just how yugioh has evolved. Older strategies just can’t compete as well anymore.
Sparky
