After a break from writing I decided to break myself back in. For people who have been wondering where I was for the past few weeks I have been bogged down with college and the impending exams that I know a lot of you can relate with. If you do indeed keep up with my life, which I'm astonished that some of you do when you stop to talk to me in a tournament, I am currently debating which university to go to study Veterinary Medicine after receiving several offers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every person who comments on my articles, and has helped me in this game.

Recently, on the 24^th of March a player went through 10 rounds of Swiss and day 2 undefeated in Shonen Jump Columbus, making Shonen Jump history. Accomplishing this astonishing feat was Chris Marc Glass, who, if you keep your eye on the Meta, has refined one of the most expensive and most stable deck types of this format. I am, of course, referring to Diamond Dude Turbo. This deck-type has seen Mr. Glass receive two second-day Shonen Jump appearances and two Crush Card Virus in this format alone - in short its no passing fad.

For all coverage of the day please go to www.metagame.com

One of the main focuses of the deck is its unrivaled speed, lets take a look at what makes it super fast.

Marc Glass

Monsters:

1 Dark Magician of Chaos

1 Jinzo

1 Destiny Hero - Dasher

1 Elemental Hero Stratos

3 Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude

2 Card Trooper

3 Destiny Hero - Malicious

Spells:

1 Heavy Storm

3 Destiny Draw

3 Magical Stone Excavation

3 Divine Sword - Phoenix Blade

1 Premature Burial

3 Lightning Vortex

2 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Dimension Fusion

1 Card Destruction

1 Snatch Steal

3 Monster Gate

2 Reasoning

Traps:

1 Mirror Force

3 Threatening Roar

Side Deck:

3 Royal Decree

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Reasoning

2 Destiny Hero - Dasher

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

3 Twister

2 Exiled Force

To speed this deck up Glass has two Card Troopers, who each get four cards from the deck, an Elemental Hero Stratos to search out Malicious, which can be used with Destiny Draw. Deck thinning includes Monster Gate, and Reasoning, which allows a special summon of that amazing Dark Magician of Chaos. In short every card in this deck works with the others, but don't take my word for it.

Mr. Glass has graciously taken the time to complete an interview for you, the readers of Pojo.com

1. Firstly congratulations on winning the latest Shonen Jump Championship, and with such an unexpected deck. For our readers not up to date with how your deck works, can you briefly outline some of your key tactics?

The deck really evolves around cards like Diamond Dude, Malicious, Dasher, and Stratos. Diamond Dude can either be used for Destiny Draw or for his ability to send a normal spell card to the graveyard in order to activate it cost free. The big ones being Destiny Draw, Monster Gate, Lightning Vortex, and Dimension Fusion. Malicious is great for thinning the deck and field presence. Stratos - don't think I need to say much there. Dasher, who was definitely my MVP of the tourney, makes bad top decks game changers. I can't believe how many times I would top a Dark Magician of Chaos for the win. He is easy to discard with Destiny Draw and great for pumping up to run over Monarchs.

2. You've recently been commented upon by members of message boards for running a single deck type, the Diamond Dude Turbo deck (DDT). Can you outline why you have run the same deck for the last two SJC, and what it is about this deck-type that makes you want to play it more?

I usually stick with one deck type a format. Last format I ran Warrior Toolbox with three Royal Decrees (Orlando). I can't afford to try out different deck types so I try and pick one deck and do the best I can with it. I really enjoy playing this deck because it is a lot of fun. Gadgets never appealed to me (summon Gadget, search Gadget, set trap, go). Monarchs are very good and consistent but I don't want to run the same thing as everyone else. I went with DDT because I have been playing the deck for four months now and I am very familiar with how to play it.

3. After the March ban list DDT took a massive hit, with the restriction of Dimension Fusion and Elemental Hero Stratos. Why does DDT continue to succeed in your opinion?

DDT is probably the fastest deck. Cards like Destiny Draw, Card Trooper, Reasoning, and Monster Gate still makes it the fastest deck out there. I felt the deck would still do well, but I never thought this well.

4. Certain cards within this format still unrestricted have lent themselves to creating one turn kill decks (OTK). These deck's main focus is to speed through cards until you reach a combo which wins you the game in one move. A few of the main culprits are Reasoning, Monster Gate, and Advanced Ritual Art. Do you believe that these cards merit restriction and why?

I don't feel cards like Reasoning and Monster Gate deserves restriction. Looking at the Top 16 for SJC Columbus you will see only 2 DDT decks, both with a different approach. There was also 2 Demise decks. Finally, there was about 10 or more Monarch decks. If cards like Reasoning and Monster Gate deserve restriction, so do Monarchs. I believe Cyber-Stein was banned because it was one of the easiest OTK's ever. The limitation of Dimension Fusion turned the OTK aspect of DDT into more of a skill opportunity because there is only one chance to pull it off for the most part.

5. On the topic of OTK decks one of the current trends shown up at SJC Columbus is the amount of OTK decks present. DDT could be seen as an OTK, along with others such as Demise OTK and Card Trooper Explosion OTK but do you think OTK decks are right for any format? Do people attempt to substitute OTK for the lack of skill, and is it really THAT hard to run an OTK deck?

I personally don't have a problem with some OTK's. I don't see DDT as much of an OTK threat as Demise. Magical Explosion is a hit or miss deck (sorry Mike). So long as we don't see the problems we did with Cyber-Stein and Magical Scientist OTK I don't have any problems. DDT and Magical Explosion take skill because you leave yourself open a lot for attacks. Demise has the stall effect that Stein had. Demise is still too new to say whether it will be a problem.

6. What direction would you like to that the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG into? Also, what deck-types would you look out for in the future and why?

I think the TCG is going in the right direction for now. UDE has done a great job releasing new cards to us and providing more events. I think they really set the tone with the banning of Cyber-Stein. It has pretty much been uphill since then. I know people may think I am crazy, but Horus and Dark World. Horus/Decree is one of the greatest decks that have never really hit the American main stream. Dark World would make a comeback if people would be willing to try Beckoning Light/Dark World. It was the best version of the deck and didn't need Graceful to make it effective.

7. From the coverage of the SJC we found that you work in the army. Have you had any problems with work colleges or friends knowing that you play a trading card game (TCG)? If so what steps would you recommend to other players out there, who are experiencing problems in this area?

LOL. The guys at work used to make fun of me at first, but they are cool now. After I brought home a DS after my top 8 at SJC Orlando I started to win them over. Then I won another DS, 80 GB iPod, and a Crush Card Virus. I told them that I sold the card on ebay for $1500. They could not believe it. Finally, after the win at Columbus, I showed them another CCV and the laptop. They still joke around about it, but they think it is cool that I do well. With your second question, I would tell people to be open about it. I was embarrassed at first, but I let people know about it and they accepted it. If people can't accept you for playing a kids card game so be it. The game is a lot of fun. I have met tons of people, made great friends, and traveled to numerous places because of Yu-Gi-Oh! Just be yourself and don't quit Yu-Gi-Oh! because other people want you to quit.

8. Do you have anything else that you would like to say, or any shout-outs you want to make?

I have to thank all of the people I play in the Maryland area. I have only become the player I am because of the quality of players I play against in the area. You name a deck type it is run here. Also, thanks to Team Hungerforce. They are the best bunch of guys you will ever meet. Finally, thanks to the US Army. If it wasn't for my paycheck I could not afford to go on all of these amazing trips.

Again, thanks to Marc Glass for letting me interview him.

If any other upcoming stars would like an interview, please contact me!

On a side note, the Article Competition IS still open, all entries should be sent to emuron@gmail.com

Until Next time, have fun!