You can watch the entire CDSS2 event now! Also, please take the chance to provide some more feedback!
The Creative Deck Strategy Showdown
Welcome to a digital display of creative decks dueling it out! 32 strategies will enter a knockout bracket, but only one will come out victorious. This event was hosted on both YGOrganization and my YouTube channel, so please subscribe to not miss future events. This post marks the end of the event and serves as a hub article to visit all 18 videos. Lastly, I ask that you leave feedback on CDSS2 in the link provided in the Feedback Warrior section near the end of this article. If you missed out on CDSS1, be sure to check that out too!
Who is participating?
32 different strategies, pulled from past articles as far as 2014, recent strategies as close as last week, cancelled articles from over the years, and future profiles (from later this week) have resulted in this mash of archetypes and themes! From hybrid variants to pure approaches, this list hopefully covers most of your favorites from my past builds. All builds from past articles have been updated for the current format and cardpool, some of your old favorites may have gotten a significant upgrade! Additionally, 3 ‘Fan Favorite’ strategies from the first CDSS underwent a strategic shift to return for CDSS2! For a description of each strategy participating in the tournament and cool promo art, open the spoiler below!
Links and Event Details:
How do I watch?
As CDSS2 was entirely contained within YouTube videos, I’ve embedded the playlist for the entire event below. I’ve also provided direct links to each of the individual videos from the event. Note that all videos in CDSS2 have chapters for you to more easily navigate between the matches and catch the ones you are interested in!
- Group A Reveal: https://youtu.be/7okefT3CoWY
- Group B Reveal: https://youtu.be/1kPOem4tdfA
- Group C Reveal: https://youtu.be/YEyNDXaRI2g
- Group D Reveal: https://youtu.be/FQXSL5lWV2Q
- Round of 32, Group A: https://youtu.be/0JTLaPFm12k
- Round of 32, Group B: https://youtu.be/2wNB4L2y8Gg
- Round of 32, Group C: https://youtu.be/m1-R0WnADuw
- Round of 32, Group D: https://youtu.be/8OuzW8rPyCA
- Round of 32, Eliminated Decklists: https://youtu.be/I1qtNqJ1MOU
- Round of 16, Group A: https://youtu.be/GPMysUu9Slk
- Round of 16, Group B: https://youtu.be/3H7FN5rtlr0
- Round of 16, Group C: https://youtu.be/iBlETg1D63A
- Round of 16, Group D: https://youtu.be/5-BkpsnpXVw
- Round of 16, Eliminated Decklists: https://youtu.be/EmeW7EXA-b8
- Top 8, Group A and Group C Finals: https://youtu.be/gtSUQRQ7654
- Top 8, Group B and Group D Finals: https://youtu.be/Xqb1VeHUFEQ
- Top 4 and Tournament Finale: https://youtu.be/Gk1UqEDvi0Q
- Top Cut Decklists: https://youtu.be/LIk2_E_YsgU
CDSS FAQs:
How was this event conducted?
This event ran over 3 weeks, each day of the week featuring a new video, showing matches for a specific group. This culminates each week with a video presenting the decklists for all strategies eliminated over the course of the week. Unlike my other videos, these decklists were set prior to beginning any of the matches, thus the build shown on Friday is the exact list that was used in this entire competition.
What was randomized?
To create this bracket, I randomly generated seeds for each of the participating strategies, then organized them into groups of 8 based on their seeding. This randomization was not weighted by age or strategy, as I did not want to favor anybody. Similarly, the participant in each match was randomly assigned a value to determine who would have the choice of going 1st or 2nd in the first duel of the match.
How were the matches conducted?
Speaking of matches, each matchup will consist of a best-of-3 match between the two strategies with no siding in between. As soon as a strategy claims 2 victories, the matchup is over, and the winner advances to the next round. As these are real duels for all matches and not scripted, there are a couple of minor misplays throughout all 31 matches, but I intended for the gameplay to be as clean and efficient as possible.
How did you select participating strategies?
To select the 32 strategies for this competition, I began with the list of rejected strategies from CDSS1. After updating these builds, I took feedback into account from CDSS1 and fulfilled every requested archetype. A similar feedback option exists for this event as well, so if you want to see something, request it! Next, I selected my most popular articles that did not make the cut in CDSS1, based on views and continued engagement, and forced a modernization of them if it was needed. Following that, I added the ‘revolutionized’ builds from CDSS1, as Stormwind Harpie Lady, Rikka Aromage, and World Legacy Generaider Boss were requested to return for a future CDSS. Then, I rounded out the pool with mechanics that were underrepresented, such as Salamangreat Pyrostorm to represent the Pyro and Cyberse types, or High-Rate Reptilianne Performance to represent Pendulum Summoning and Alternate Win Conditions. Lastly, I adjusted the final pool to ensure that types, attributes, and summoning mechanics were not severely over or under represented. Long story short – I wanted to be able to capture as many creative usages of game mechanics as possible in one event, so hopefully I included your favorites!
Acknowledgements:
As a closing note, thanks again to everyone who has read and engaged with my content since I began posting here in 2013. Both CDSS1 and CDSS2 seemed to go over very well, so I’d also like to thank all of the individual contributors who have requested strategies over the years, as many of those requests are represented in these events. I couldn’t do it alone, and your input is extremely valuable in crafting what I write about next!
Please let me know how you liked CDSS2:
If you’re reading this far and you’ve engaged with parts of the CDSS2 over the course of the 3-week event, please also take the time to answer this short questionnaire so I can get some direct feedback. I want to hear from you whether or not you want to see something like this again, and if so, what you would like in the future. The form can be accessed here: https://forms.gle/Akm4yUYnFD8d2uuP7
Thanks for reading/watching, and I hope you enjoyed both iterations of the CDSS and my attempt to provide diverse types of content! Be sure to leave feedback through the above form, commenting on any of these videos on my YouTube Channel, or by reaching out on Discord! Otherwise, I’ll catch you next week with a Fusion-based CDP featuring two forms of corruption and my next CDS article on a Swinging Speedster.