Looking at the Past: September 2007 – March 2008

 

When we last took a look at a particular cycle, we looked at the WTF format of March 2007 – September 2007, which saw the rise of several prominent decks and new ideas that would send ripples throughout the metagame. With the new ban list now secured come September 2007, we saw the banning of several cards that many people believed were long overdue: Confiscation, Metamorphosis, Ring of Destruction and Snatch Steal all made the list in September 2007. Card Trooper, which made some of the best decks of the WTF Format possible, was suddenly cut down to one-per-deck, as were several other major cards that were making waves: Brain Control, Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, Fissure, all were cut down because of their power.

 

At Washington DC in September 2007, Jonathan LaBounty took top honors with an incredibly powerful Perfect Circle deck, which took control over Hugo Adame's Burn build which took second. The first SJC since the ban list, Washington D.C. Would be a proving ground for just how much the list had changed the game. Perfect Circle, Burn and Trooper Monarch were all running at the top just before the list hit; afterward, Perfect Circle remained at the top, as did Burn and Diamond Dude Turbo, but many new decks began seeing play, including the incredibly powerful Zombie deck that began making major waves during this format. While Perfect Circle may have won at D.C., and Burn took second, Zombies took the next two spots, with veterans Dale Bellido and Paul Levitin fighting a mirror match for third/fourth. The Zombie deck was based heavily around Zombie Master/Card of Safe Return, which would net you a +2 and situational advantage; the deck was incredibly fast and versatile, able to cope with a variety of different threats, and it would continue to place well at subsequent SJC's.

 

Burn would take its second SJC in three attempts at SJC Chicago, ran by a duelist named Louis Raimondo; Perfect Circle would take second, with Zombies still inching their way up the Top 8. However, in SJC Durham 2007, Zombies would finally take a Shonen Jump; indeed, the top two decks were essentially the same; only three cards separated the two decks. Like the Gravekeeper's of today, the Zombies had swarmed the Top 8 with a vengeance, taking both first and second place. Two separate Monarch variants, an Apprentice Engine variant utilizing 3 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and 3 Raiza the Storm Monarch and two different Perfect Circle decks, also made the Top 8, with a lone Machine Burn variant taking third.

 

However, Zombies proved to be short-lived; at the next SJC in San Mateo, not one single Zombie variant made it to day two. In fact, the only deck that wasn't a Monarch variant was David Rodriguez's Demise Ritual build, which sadly did not make the Top 4. Fili Luna, who had proven himself at previous SJC tournaments, took the top spot with an amazing Perfect Circle build.

 

Speed, as it always does, played a factor at the next SJC in Houston – Six Samurais finally took a Shonen Jump. The Six Samurai deck virtually exploded around this time, but it couldn't make anything happen except for the one-off win in Houston; the forums had exploded with Six Samurai variants and everyone was expecting the deck to make major waves at Houston, but only one Six Samurai deck made it to day two (it did win, but still). However, the deck that everyone loved made its debut – Dark Armed Dragon had finally been released, and everyone was playing it. Four different Dark Armed builds made it to day two at Houston, with only one Perfect Circle deck making the Top 8. Perfect Circle, which had dominated the format earlier, new decks were coming to light, and Dark Armed Dragon, it seemed, was there to stay.

 

At the final SJC in Orlando, Light and Darkness Dragon made an appearance; Dark Armed Dragon variants had been pushed to the wayside in the wake of Light and Darkness Dragon's release, and Gadgets surprisingly made the Top 8 with three different decks. The last SJC of the format looked to be a bust for Dark Armed decks, but it would come roaring back in the subsequent formats.

 

No matter which way you really look at this format, the WTF format had spread its magic throughout it; it was random, it was messy, and a lot of new cards began showing up, pushing decks into the limelight for their fifteen minutes before the next one came around. We saw Perfect Circle, Burn, Light and Darkness Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Zombies, Diamond Dude Turbo and Gadgets all make the Top 8 in this format; it was another incredibly varied and interesting format, and many cards were released that paved the way for domination in following formats. But speed still played a major factor in these decks; Zombies and Perfect Circle worked on swarm and overpowering the opposition, with multiple big-time plays happening in single turns; Dark Armed Dragon would be up and down throughout. It was interesting, it was random, and it was a fun time to play the game.

 

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail at anteaus44@hotmail.com!

 

Thanks,

Anteaus