SEAO Contenders has concluded with TK Yahiko winning the whole thing, and now it’s time for the WEST Contenders Cup. The eight best players in this region will be fighting to decide the best player on November 11 and 12.
As before, I conducted interviews with every player to learn more about their background and glean some insights as to their strategy and mindset when it comes to Shadowverse. On top of their answers, I will add my own thoughts, formed by observing their previous match results, lineups, and personalities. I also asked for opinions from Zones, as he is more familiar with the WEST scene than I am. Finally, I will try to predict their lineup for this Contenders Cup. With no further ado, let’s get to know the top eight players in the WEST region.
*Note: Most of the analysis and predictions come from my own perspective. I would like to apologize in advance to the players for any mistakes.
He’s been competing since 2020, but we rarely hear his name; however, 2023 is definitely the year of MemeLegends. His record this year is simply impressive, as he managed to reach the playoff stage in 5 out of 8 attempts, which is the most among all players. Though he only made appearances three times for day 2 and managed to win one of them during March. Based on his top 8 appearances, he seems able to perform really well even in a bad situation where he was losing, which is a very good trait. He also does not get tilted easily, as shown in the February cup where he made a big oopsie with Hozumi Forest but was able to quickly recover in the next game without it bothering him too much.
Lineup-wise, he is actually one of the wildest of all the contenders. During May and July, his lineup consists of mostly what’s been thought of as tier 2-3 decks and none of the tier 1 deck. He doesn’t follow the masses but believes in his own analysis and judgment. A lot of his lineup is a counter-lineup, which targets certain decks that are really popular in the meta.
For the Contenders Cup, it’s a little bit harder to guess because of a no-ban format. I think it’s safe to say that Loot Sword will be one of his choices due to its versatility and agency. While Buff Dragon might rely on variance, its power level is currently too strong to ignore, so I would expect it to also fit in his lineup. Dirt Rune is a hard choice because the difference between going 1st and going 2nd is quite significant, so he might be shifting from it. From the records, he tends to play with tier 2-3 decks that might be able to steal games from those, so we probably see something like Evo Blood from him, which sees success in SEAO Contenders.
Lineup Prediction: Loot Sword, Buff Dragon, and Evo Blood
OSaV is one of the most consistent players in the WEST in terms of results. Despite spending fewer hours than most competitive players, OSaV has been very efficient at learning the meta and choosing the right lineup that fits his style. He is very comfortable playing on stream, as he has already done it multiple times. He often makes brilliant plays that only a few people might see, but at the same time, he occasionally does an oopsie, which might happen due to a lack of practice time.
Believe it or not, in terms of lineup, OSaV is quite different compared to what he used to be. He used to have a more unique lineup and decks, but this year he has been more conservative in his lineup and deck builds. You rarely find him playing a wild tech card that surprises everyone. He kind of admits that he didn’t do that this year because of time limitations and simply copied the deck from a trusted source. Though he did it once in a while, as he included Mech Wing Attendant in Evo Portal for a more stable early game during the August Cup.
For the Contenders Cup, I can see him being more prepared ahead of time because he was already practicing when I asked him for this interview. Since he likes a skillful deck that involves a lot of planning, I would assume that he will bring both Loot Sword and Dirt Rune for Contenders. Both are staple meta decks that will shine depending on how they’re piloted. Though it might not be a standard build but rather an OSaV special build, the last deck is actually harder to predict: it might be an OSaV special with a random sleeper deck or a meta deck like Buff Dragon, as the latter’s power level is really strong this time. I would go with the safe route for prediction, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he brought an interesting deck.
Lineup Prediction: Loot Sword, Buff Dragon, Dirt Rune
Calby really dedicated himself to Chess Rune this year. If you noticed, he never failed to bring it in every single SVO that he entered this year. His SVO results are quite impressive. Despite having multiple X-2 drops in March and June, he still qualified as the #3 seed as his other month’s results were really impressive: four playoffs, and a victory at the September Cup.
In terms of play, he is really confident and able to pilot his decks really well when it comes to decks that he actually likes. However, when he is forced to play meta decks, you can see him take some unnecessary risks that lose him the game, as seen during the May Cup with his Burial Rite Shadow.
For Contenders Cup, I will be really disappointed if he doesn’t bring Chess Rune. I can’t imagine Calby playing without Chess Rune in his lineup. This time, the top meta decks don’t have significant weaknesses, so it’s quite hard to find options for tier 2–3 decks that do well against them without having their own weaknesses. He might stick with one meta deck: Loot Sword, which doesn’t rely a lot on early highroll. The other deck that has an OTK line and might steal games from the top meta currently is probably Wrath Blood with Garodeth, Hedone, and Diva OTK lines.
Lineup Prediction: Loot Sword, Chess Rune, Wrath Blood
Vision always tries to create the deck on his own, so his decklist might be a little different compared to standard, even though it is a popular archetype. He does quite well if the archetype is his comfort pick. However, when he needs to play with the meta deck, he seems to struggle to know when he needs to deviate from the standard line. For example, during the February cup, he played against Hozumi Forest with his Test Subject Rune and played it as if he were fighting a standard deck and being punished heavily due to his weak wide board.
Despite not liking mirror matches, Vision’s lineup this year is actually quite conservative, with a lot of meta picks; though the lineup might not be an exact mirror since his exact builds are usually quite different from standard. He likes to play control, but there are really limited options to bring that playstyle this year due to its weakness against top meta decks.
Predicting Vision’s lineup this time will be quite tricky since it is a no-ban format, and he might not have the choice to avoid Mirror entirely. I think he may go with one top meta deck + two lower meta decks. I assume Buff Dragon would be a safe pick. As for the other two, I think there’s a chance that Vision brings Rally Sword, as he brought it last SVO. For the last deck, it’s probably Elluvia Haven, as he likes a more control-oriented gameplan.
Lineup Prediction: Buff Dragon, Rally Sword, Elluvia Haven
Vetu is a real veteran of the competitive scene, as he has been around since the very first world circuit and became a North American representative during the very first WGP. His consistency is simply amazing, as he always manages to get himself invited to the Contenders Cup almost every year. If you look at the pattern, he always performs really well in odd years, and that might be a clue to his performance this year.
The way he stays at the top is by sticking with what has been proven strong, as his lineup never strays too far from the meta: it’s almost always two top meta decks + 1. He usually keeps his poker face on during the games on stream; when he changes his facial expression, you know something serious is going on.
Predicting Vetu’s lineup feels like the easiest task here: it will be the top three decks in the meta, with lists that don’t deviate a lot from the standard.
Lineup Prediction: Loot Sword, Buff Dragon, Dirt Rune
Nautilasu is the newest name in the competitive scene, as this year is his very first SVO season. His results this year are kind of sporadic, as his results are mostly 4-3; this score is pretty average, but his top performances during February and August helped him gain a lot of points. He has the ability to explain a topic that he knows about in a clear and concise manner that is easy to understand for the general audience. His written guides are straightforward, which shows how he thinks about piloting his decks.
Nautilasu’s most noticeable trait is his overflowing confidence, which he shows during his interviews and demonstrates in some of his written guides. However, sometimes his confidence can backfire. During his match in the August SVO, where he played Ghost Shadow against Zyro with Crystallize Haven, he played Ship of Morning Souls on turn 4 in an instant, thinking it wouldn’t be cleared and could set up a strong turn 5. This is a winning situation in an ideal case. However, this was a big mistake: Zyro had Sacred Sheep, which he teched for that exact situation and punished Nautilasu heavily. Nautilasu looked tilted after that punishment and seemed unable to recover.
For his Contenders lineup, I think he will prioritize decks that he enjoys. Buff Dragon and Elluvia Haven fit his criteria, as both are decks that are able to produce boards that the opponent cannot outwit. For the third deck, he might go for Evo Blood as it is very board focused and achieved success recently during SEAO Contenders.
Lineup Prediction: Buff Dragon, Evo Blood, Elluvia Haven
Melyn feels like the most chill and carefree player among the contenders with the way he conducts himself the entire time. I think it’s a good thing because that is actually the mentality that you need when playing card games, as you shouldn’t be worried too much about your bad luck and just keep doing your best at the given moment. He still managed to qualify for contenders even after dropping the June Cup thanks to his good results every other month, with three top-8 appearances.
During the interview, he said that he only plays decks that he thinks are fun to play without bothering too much with the meta. It means that this year the meta feels quite good for him, as he always ended up having a meta lineup with the addition of one unique deck that not a lot of people expect. While his lineup consists of meta decks, his list is usually quite unique because he mostly builds his deck on his own. He does follow the tournament results to see whether it can improve his own deck build style, gain inspiration for tech for popular matchups, and see more lines of play.
For Contenders, his lineup is quite difficult to predict due to the no-ban format. He’s said that he’s going to play it by ear, which makes it harder to predict. From the interviews, he said that his favorite class is Havencraft, which makes it a high chance that Elluvia Haven will be one of his choices. He said he can’t vibe with Dragon, so we might not see Buff Dragon from him. Loot Sword might be the meta deck of his choice, as it is a staple pick and he does enjoy playing Sword. The last deck is probably Evo Blood, as it had great results in the recent SEAO Contenders Cup.
Lineup Prediction: Loot Sword, Elluvia Haven, and Evo Blood
After missing SVO All-Stars by a single point last year, Rag finally managed to qualify for the Contenders Cup this year in a dramatic fashion: he tied for 8th place in points with KsLVD but came out on top with a better overall win rate. He’s been tryharding for a couple of years, as he joins JCG occasionally and made it to top 16 a couple of times, so qualifying for Contenders this year means a lot to him.
His lineup is pretty conservative and mostly stays true to the meta. I only watched him during the stream this year, and he only made one appearance, and he’s been quite unlucky with the draw even though he played to his best. Hopefully it doesn’t happen often in the Contenders Cup, so he can fully showcase his true playing ability.
For the Contenders Cup, there is a really high chance that he will play with the same lineup as TK members who managed to dominate SEAO Contenders: the Yahiko and Zy lineup of Loot Sword, Buff Dragon, and Evo Blood. Though there is a chance that he won’t bring Loot Sword because he didn’t bring Loot Sword last SVO, which makes me think he doesn’t really like the deck because at some point it really relies on drawing Rogers on time.
Lineup Prediction: Loot Sword, Buff Dragon, and Evo Blood
| Loot Sword |  |
| Buff Dragon |  |
| Dirt Rune |  |
| Evo Blood |  |
| Rally Sword |  |
| Chess Rune |  |
| Wrath Blood |  |
Hopefully after reading this article, you’ve gotten to know some of the players and have become more excited for the upcoming Contenders Cup. Root for your favorite players and spam some love in the Twitch / YouTube chat during the tournament!