There are a ton of different Decks performing well at the top tables here at YCS Columbus! The release of Blazing Dominion introduced additional support for strategies such as Kewl Tune, Elfnote, and DoomZ, and all of them have been seen at the top tables consistently throughout the weekend. Duelists this weekend have selected tech cards to add to their Decks, hoping to give themselves an edge against the rest of the competition. Here are some of the tech cards that have been seeing play this weekend!

Solemn Warning

Solemn Warning is a Counter Trap Card that has been seeing play as a Side Deck option throughout the weekend. Warning allows the player to pay 2000 Life Points to negate the summon of a monster, or to negate the activation of a Spell/Trap Card or monster effect with an effect that Special Summons a monster and destroy it, making it an effective tech card against strategies that heavily rely on bringing out certain monsters from the Extra Deck. Against Kewl Tune, Warning can prevent Kewl Tune Track Maker from hitting the field. This stops your opponent from using Track Maker’s effect to search for a Kewl Tune card, but since the Synchro Summon of Track Maker was negated, your opponent will not get to activate the effects of the monsters sent to the Graveyard as Synchro Material! Furthermore, keeping Track Maker off of the board makes it more difficult for your opponent to Synchro Summon Zalen the Shackled Dragon, as well. Solemn Warning can also be devastating in the Branded matchup, as it makes it much harder for your opponent to access key monsters in their Extra Deck; Branded Fusion and Fallen of the White Dragon are important cards to hit in order to deter access to Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon!

Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit

The ability to activate cards from the hand on your opponent’s turn is very powerful, as we’ve seen from competitive mainstays such as Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Nibiru, the Primal Being, and Mulcharmy Fuwalos. Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit is a card that has started to see more play in the current format, as the ability to destroy an opponent’s card has become a much more impactful form of disruption against a wide variety of Decks. In the DoomZ matchup, Ghost Ogre is able to deal with several cards, destroying DoomZ VII Seven – Elara, DoomZ V Five – Amalthe, and DoomZ XII Zero – Drastea before they’re able to resolve their effects, as well as preventing DoomZ Raiders from resolving its effect. Against Elfnote, Ghost Ogre can destroy Elfnotes: Welcome Home and Elfnotes: Rhapsodia of Madness before they can resolve their effects, as well as destroy Elfnote Lucina and Elfnote Tinia before they are able to switch zones with other monsters! In the Kewl Tune matchup, it can also be useful to destroy monsters like Kewl Tune Reco and Kewl Tune Cue; although your opponent will still be able to resolve their effects, Ghost Ogre destroys the Kewl Tune monster, and your opponent will need to find another way to get a monster on the field if they want to Synchro Summon!

Forbidden Crown

Forbidden Crown is a relatively new card from Burst Protocol, and it has certainly made an impact this weekend! As a Quick-Play Spell Card, it’s extremely versatile, as it can be activated immediately from the hand when going second, or it can be Set to the backrow as a form of disruption. Among other things, Crown negates the effects of a monster on the field, prevents it from being used as material for a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon, and stops it from attacking; on top of that, neither player is able to activate monster effects in response to the activation of Crown. Forbidden Crown is another card that is particularly powerful in the Kewl Tune matchup; not only can it stop monsters like Kewl Tune Cue, Kewl Tune Reco, and Kewl Tune Mix from resolving their effects, but it also prevents them from using the monster as material to Synchro Summon key cards like Kewl Tune Track Maker! This means that they’ll need to find a way to get another monster onto the board in order to continue their turn. In addition, Branded is a Deck that has powerful plays going first and second, and Crown is an excellent way to shut them down. Going first, you can Set Crown to your backrow and use it to hit Fallen of the White Dragon, preventing them from Special Summoning Incredible Ecclesia, the Virtuous, but also making it more difficult for them to access Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon. It’s effective going second, as well, as you can shut down Fallen of Albaz and prevent your opponent from using your monsters as Fusion Material!

These are just a few of the tech cards that are seeing play this weekend at YCS Columbus!