World Championship Decklists (taken from the world championship coverage page)

I have gone through each deck and reviewed it. A couple of the decks were impressive, but, for the most part, they were something of a disappointment. I had hoped to see better. Even so, the tournament is done and gone, hopefully we'll do better next year. - Tyloki

Comments by Tyloki and tbones9119

Adam McNeely

Monsters: 16

1 Airknight Parshath
1 Don Zaloog
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Bazoo the Soul Eater
2 Gemini Elf
2 Spear Dragon
1 Yata-Garasu
1 Fiber Jar
1 Exile Force
1 Mystic Tomato
1 Twin-Headed Behemoth
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Sangan

Magic: 18

1 The Forceful Sentry
1 Fissure
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Greed
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Premature Burial
1 Monster Reborn
1 Snatch Steal
1 Change of Heart
1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Graceful Charity
1 Painful Choice
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster

Trap: 7

1 Drop-Off
1 Mirror Force
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Imperial Order
1 Ring of Destruction
2 Waboku

Total: 41

Side Deck

1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Heavy Storm
1 Confiscation
1 Soul Release
1 Scapegoat
1 Exchange
1 Card Destruction
1 Jinzo
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Magician of Faith
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Drop-Off
1 Royal Command
1 Solemn Judgment

This deck looks pretty good overall. He'd do better to main deck the Confiscation and Heavy Storm. The Swords and at least 1 Waboku should come out. Waboku, at times, can be a good card to use, but, from my experience, it usually becomes a free draw and summon for the opponent. Drop Off is an iffy card. While it does decrease the hand size of both players by 1, there are times when a Quick-Play Magic (you can chain the Quick-Play that's supposed to be discarded by Drop Off to Drop Off itself), Sinister Serpent, or Tribute Monster gets dropped off, and that can leave you at a disadvantage. The discarding Trio from Magic Ruler are, in my opinion, better cards. A Torrential Tribute would be a nice card to replace the Drop Off. As far as the monsters go, I wouldn't have bothered with the Fiber Jar. It's a good card, but I feel that there are better ones out there for this deck type. I'd add in a Sinister Serpent for it, and I'd consider taking a Spear Dragon out for Jinzo or Spirit Reaper.

This deck could be improved slightly, but overall is looks pretty effective.

Luca Casadei

Monster: 17

3 Gemini Elf
2 Cannon Soldier
3 Spirit Reaper
3 Goblin Attack Force
1 Cyber Jar
1 Magician of Faith
1 Jinzo
1 Fiber Jar
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Witch of the Black Forest

Magic: 10

1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
1 Graceful Charity
1 Change of Heart
1 Pot of Greed
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Raigeki
3 Scapegoat

Trap: 11

2 Waboku
2 Torrential Tribute
2 Gravity Bind
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
1 Imperial Order
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Ring of Destruction

Total: 38?

Side Deck

1 Yata-Garasu
2 Prohibition
1 Confiscation
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Exiled Force
1 Penguin Soldier
2 Seven Tools of the Bandit
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Magic Jammer
1 Fairy Meteor Crush
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Card Destruction

This deck is seriously lacking in a lot of areas, and not just the 2 cards needed to make it a 40 card deck. It looks like a beatdown/launch/stall theme, and that doesn't really work. In addition, it's missing a few staple cards.Somebody probably forgot to add the Snatch Steal and Premature Burial to the list, so I'll just pretend those are the last 2 cards. I'm going to break this down into 2 paragraphs, one on how to improve the beatdown theme, and the other on how to improve the Launch theme.

Beatdown:
A Harpie's Feather Duster just isn't going to cut it for magic/trap removal, 3 Typhoons and a Heavy Storm should be added. I'd take out  cannon. A strong attack deck should generally have a Nobleman of Crossout or 2. One scapegoat is all I'd recommend in a beatdown, and 2 Goblin Attack Force is enough. Eleven traps is too many for this deck. The Waboku should come out. A Torrential, Cylinder, and 2 Gravity Bind should come out. Three Spirit Reaper is a few many for an attack deck, he should play just one or 2. Magician of Faith is now outdated, and has a tendency to hurt you more than your opponent at times. A Spear Dragon (I'm not too fond of the card, but just one is ok), an Exlied Force, a Sangan, and possibly a Zombyra should come in. He could also experiment with Creature Swap and Fissure.

Launch:
Take out the 3 Gemini and 3 Goblin Attack Force and add in a Messenger of Peace or 2. There are enough defensive cards in the deck, I don't think the Cylinder would end up being all that useful.  A Waboku and Torrential should come out for 2 Soul Exchange. The deck needs a third cannon soldier and a Sangan. Mystic Tomato is another great card to add in. Exiled Force should be added, and a Swarm of Scarabs might actually be playable in the deck. 3 Giant Germ might be a good addition as well.

The deck is somewhat playable, but it needs some definite improvements to remove the "friction" between the cards.

I'm not sure what this person was thinking.  Maybe they didn't want to be in the tournament very badly.  They're missing several important cards.  The only monster they really need to add is Sangan, but the magics are severely lacking.  There's no Snatch Steal, no Premature Burial, and no magic/trap removal other than Feather Duster.  It should have at least 2 Mystical Space Typhoons, and a Heavy Storm wouldn't hurt either.  I'm not sure why they even bother with Mirage of Nightmare when they have a total of one card between side and main deck that can get rid of it after draw.  And honestly, what is up with Gravity Bind?  More than half the monsters in the deck can't get past it.  Not a good deck at all.  This just goes to show why that the rating system needs to be replaced, which fortunately, is going to happen.

Rick Anderson

Monster: 17

1 Sangan
1 Don Zaloog
1 Spear Dragon
1 Bazoo the Soul Eater
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Giant Rat
1 Fiber Jar
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Dark Ruler Ha Des
3 Nimble Momonga
1 Sasuke Samurai
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Yata-Garasu
1 Exile Force

Magic: 15

1 Snatch Steal
1 Change of Heart
1 Confiscation
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Pot of Greed
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
1 Raigeki
1 Preamture Burial
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Heavy Storm
1 Graceful Charity
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 The Forceful Sentry

Trap: 7

1 Imperial Order
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Waboku
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Mirror Force

Total: 39?

Fusion Deck

1 The Last Warrior from Another Planet
1 B. Skull Dragon

Side Deck

1 Lesser Fiend
1 Kuriboh
1 Dark Necrofear
1 Offerings to the Doomed
1 Painful Choice
3 Giant Germ
1 Card Destruction
1 Don Zaloog
1 Ceasefire
1 Morphing Jar
1 Scapegoat
1 Trap Hole

I'm not sure what's up with these decks with too few cards... oh well. This deck is better than the last, but it still could use a few improvements. It needs 2 more Typhoons and 1 less Swords. It looks like he only has 2 decent level 4 attack monsters, Bazoo and Spear Dragon. This deck would probably be better off with a couple or Gemini Elf for field control and a Tomato or 2 to help tribute summon the Ha Des and get Witch/Sangan. The Giant Rat and 3 Momongas should come out for them. A crossout should go in for the Sasuke Samurai. He could add in a Spirit Reaper for the Cylinder or Waboku.

This deck's okay, I guess.  But there are a couple things that really concern me about it.  Nimble Momongas need to get out.  So does Sasuke Samurai.  Sasuke is trash.  If you're worried about face-downs, there's a card called Nobleman of Crossout you might like.  If there were enough set monsters to make Sasuke truly effective, then that's further proof of how low-quality the play was for a "world championship."  Giant Rat needs to come out also.  Especially since half the cards it searches for should also be out.  Mystic Tomato is a far better choice, as it can get Zaloog, Sangan, Witch, Spirit Reaper (which should be in this deck), and a couple other cards.  The magics are pretty good, but it needs 2 more MST and no Swords of Revealing Light.  Again, if Swords is effective, people aren't playing the magic/trap removal they should be, and it's just further proof that the rating system needs a change.  Seven traps is kind of a lot, but they at least picked 7 of the best traps.  No Drop Off thankfully.  It probably wouldn't hurt to take out Cylinder or Waboku, though, just to get the total number of traps down.  Maybe even both of them could be taken out.  Although, with the lack of magic/trap removal in the majority of these decks, Cylinder could be VERY effective...

Annout Van Messem

Monster: 16

1 Cyber Jar
1 Sangan
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Fiber Jar
1 Yata-Garasu
2 Spirit Reaper
3 Goblin Attack Force
3 Mechanical Chaser
3 Gemini Elf

Magic: 16

2 Fissure
1 Monster Reborn
1 Raigeki
1 Change of Heart
1 Snatch Steal
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Card Destruction
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
1 United We Stand
2 Axe of Despair
2 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps: 7

1 Mirror Force
3 Magic Drain
3 Solemn Judgment

Total: 39?

Side Deck

1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Confiscation
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mage Power
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Dark Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Imperial Order
1 Ceasefire
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Magic Cylinder

Yet another illegal deck. Someone must be forgetting to type in all the cards or something. There are a lot of cards in this deck that I wouldn't use. For instance, 3 chaser and the 3 Goblin. Three chaser is completely unnessary. In a tournament like this there aren't going to be many 1800 ATK monsters. They'll just die to Gemini and Spear Dragon. Goblin Attack Force is outdated, 3 is overkill. He's going partial Yata it looks like, with the one Duo and yata. Yata isn't anywhere near as effective in this deck as it could be, especially with the 2 Jars in there. I'd consider taking it out. He needs a Storm and a 3rd Typhoon. Dark Hole has no business being in the side deck, especially when he's using cards like Axe of Despair instead of it. His Torrential, Call of the Haunted, and Imperial need to come in for the Magic Drains and Solemn Judgments. The drain and judgment are decent at times, but running 3 of each is insane, especially if used in place of better cards. A crossout or 2 could come in, just to replace some of the cards that aren't exactly top notch.

Stupid rich person.  With the emphasis on stupid.  Ooh, look at me, I have 3 Mechanicalchaser.  Yeah, well Chaser isn't very good anymore.  No effect, and it gets killed by Gemini and Spear.  Only good in Machine decks where you can Limiter Removal it.  It doesn't go here at all.  Something else I find disturbing is the lack of support for Yata.  No Confiscation, no Forcecul Sentry, no Reapers, no Zaloog.  If you can't support Yata, don't use it.  And for crying out loud, they have Cyber Jar in there with Yata.  Yep, Yata needs to come out of this deck.

Ng Yu Leung

Monsters: 16

1 Sangan
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Jinzo
3 Gemini Elf
3 Mystic Tomato
2 Don Zaloog
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Magician of Faith
1 Yata-Garasu
1 Fiber Jar

Magic: 18

1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole
1 Change of Heart
1 Snatch Steal
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Heavy Storm
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Confiscation
1 The Forceful Sentry
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Monster Reborn
1 Premature Burial

Trap: 7

1 Imperial Order
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Mirror Force
3 Drop Off

Total: 41 (amazing, this one's actually legal)

Side Deck
3 Electric Snake
1 Exiled Force
1 White Magical Hat
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Airknight Parshath
1 Painful Choice
1 Scapegoat
3 Book of Moon
3 Torrential Tribute

After reading through these Deck Lists, this is the Deck I favored to win, and it did win. Ng is the 2003 World Champion. That said, lets take a look at the deck. Sangan, Witch, 3 Tomato, 2 Zaloog, this deck has cards that have speed and work well together. 3 Gemini Elf instead of Spear Dragon. He has good field control. The Kycoo in an interesting choice, but it does have the ability to cut off your opponents graveyard options, and it stops the ever popular Bazoo. The 2 cards I question the most here are the Magician of Faith and the Fiber Jar. Fiber Jar is a good card, but I don't see it as a good thing to add into a Hand Manipulation Deck. Magician of Faith is slow and vulnerable to Change of Heart. I'd take that out for the Exiled Force in an instant. He uses the exact same Magic Cards I like to use, with the exception of the 1 Charity ( I use 2) and I assume that's because they were only allowed to use 1 in the tournament. I can't complain about that at all. I find the Traps to be slightly questionable. I'm not a huge fan of Drop-Off. As I said before, its not quite a 1-1 thing. Your opponent may have a quick-play magic, sinister serpent, or Tribute Monster on top of the deck. I would probably use a Torrential Tribute in the deck, and I'd consider throwing the Parshath in to use against the pesky Spirit Reapers. I might also add in a Reaper.

Didier Mailler

Monster: 15

2 Gemini Elf
1 Jinzo
1 Sangan
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Yata-Garasu
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Exiled Force
1 Don Zaloog
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Sasuke Samurai
1 Penguin Soldier
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Dark Ruler Ha Des
1 Fiber Jar

Magic: 19

1 Confiscation
1 Snatch Steal
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Forceful Sentry
1 Heavy Storm
1 Pot of Greed
1 Scapegoat
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Change of Heart
1 Graceful Charity
1 Raigeki
1 Premature Burial
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Delinquent Duo

Trap: 7

1 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Ceasefire
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Imperial Order
1 Torrential Tribute

Total: 41 (2 legal decks in a row... wow)

Side Deck

1 Offerings to the Doomed
1 Question
1 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Book of Moon
1 Trap of Board Eraser
2 Curse of Royal
2 Statue of the Wicked
1 Spirit Reaper
1 Injection Fairy Lily
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Reckless Greed
1 Rope of Life

Susuke and Penguin Soldier? Yuck. I'm no fan of the little penguin, there are better cards out there that get rid of monsters instead of just giving them back. It's a side deck card to use against ritual, fusion, and necrofear decks. Other than those 2, the monsters look prety solid. As I've said before, I don't like the Fiber all that well in this deck. The Dark Ruler isn't something I'd use, but it can work. I'd add in a Mystic Tomato or 2 to help him get Dark Ruler out. He's not missing any major Magic cards, but he is using the Swords, which is a little questionable. Ceasefire has to come out. The card is outdated and not terribly useful. Crossout is a better card in general because it not only negates the flip, it removes the card from the game leaving you with a clearer field to attack. Magic Cylinder is an ok card, but I'd replace it with a 3rd Gemini.

Mike Rosenberg

Monsters: 17

1 Yata-Garasu
1 Sinister Serpent
3 Nimble Momonga
3 Spirit Reaper
2 Spear Dragon
1 Goblin Attack Force
1 Fiber Jar
1 Guardian Sphinx
1 Exiled Force
1 Witch of the Black Forest
1 Sangan
1 Jinzo

Magic: 15

1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole
1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 The Forceful Sentry
1 Delinquent Duo
1 Confiscation
1 Monster Reborn
1 Change of Heart
1 Snatch Steal
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Pot of Greed
1 Graceful Charity
1 Mirage of Nightmare

Traps: 8

1 Mirror Force
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Imperial Order
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Drop Off

Total: 40

Side Deck

1 Dark Coffin
2 Trap Dustshoot
1 Forced Requisition
1 Magician of Faith
1 Cyber Jar
1 Card Destruction
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Kuriboh
1 Ceasefire
1 Premature Burial
2 Trap of Board Eraser
1 White Magical Hat

This deck has poor field control with the Goblin, 2 Spear Dragons, and 0 Gemini Elf. It does, however, have the 3 Spirit Reaper to at least help out with that. It needs more magic/trap removal and a Premature Burial. The Guardian Sphinx is a little slow, I don't know that I'd use it in a hand manipulation deck. The Fiber and Nimbles are questionable, and so are the Drop Off. I'm a little suprised this deck made 3rd place. Of course, considering some of the other decks there, it isn't all that amazing.

Michael Rybak

Monster: 21

1 Gemini Elf
1 Summoned Skull
1 Jinzo
1 Dark ruler ha Des
1 Helpoemer
1 Airknight Parshath
1 Goblin Attack Force
2 Spear Dragon
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Penguin Soldier
1 Cyber Jar
1 Magician of Faith
1 Newdoria
1 Sinister Serpent
3 Man-Eater Bug
1 Sasuke Samurai
1 Mask of Darkness
1 Exiled Force

Magic: 15

1 Harpie’s Feather Duster
1 Question
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Premature Burial
1 United We Stand
1 Raigeki
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole
1 Scapegoat
1 Pot of Greed
1 Monster Reborn
1 Change of Heart
1 Book of Moon

Trap: 9

1 Ring of Destruction
1 Mirror Force
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Skull Lair
1 Drop Off
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Ceasefire
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Waboku

Total: 45

Side Deck

1 Mystical Knight of Jackal
1 Bazoo the Soul Eater
1 Newdoria
1 Gravekeeper’s Guard
1 Zombyra the Dark
1 Metalmorph
1 Seven Tools of the Bandit
1 Jar of Greed
1 Non-Aggression Area
1 Graceful Charity
1 Mage Power
1 Book of Moon
1 Fissure
1 Giant Soldier of Stone
1 Seven Colored Fish

5 tribute monsters? Dark Ruler, Jinzo, and Airknight are all good cards, but you don't run all 3 of them in a major tournament, especially if you want to run a Summoned Skull and Poemer as well. He's got a Gemini and Kycoo for field control. Penguin needs to come out, Susuke needs to come out, and Mask of Darkness really needs to come out. 3 Man-Eater Bug is overkill. I don't see a witch..... much less a sangan. At least he's running 4 magic/trap removal cards. Considering all the tributes, the Charity should be in the main deck, and a Snatch Steal should be as well. The Ceasefire has to go, the Drop Off needs to come out, it doesn't work well in this deck. I'll at least give him a little credit. With only the 2 Typhoons to kill the Mirage, he'll be able to dump off his tribs and fill his grave with cards to remove for Skull Lair. I'd give the deck a 4.5/10. It's not terrible, but it could be a whole lot better.