Goat Format Championship 23 Deck Tech: Jeremy Crespin's Blue-Eyes Turbo

140 duelists signed up for 2025's first major event: The Goat Format Championship 23 tournament! This is a stand-out event for spice lovers, and many players decided to bring with them a multitude of interesting and innovative lists. Since the recent domination of the Horus/Stein deck at the PWCQ, dragons seem to be on the minds of many in the format. This includes Jeremy Crespin, who's piloting a Blue-Eyes deck that started the event at 3-0! 

Deck List

Overview

though not common in the format by any means, it's interesting to note that we featured a Paladin of White Dragon deck during our last GFC as well! If you're curious, you can read the article here. 

​Paladin of White Dragon decks use the ritual monster to pressure the opponent by negating their precious flip effects. If the situation calls for it, they can also special summon the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon to end games quickly with its enormous 3000 ATK. As with most ritual-based decks, Manju of the 10,000 Hands is played to improve consistency and gain card advantage. Much like the Quish or "Blue Chaos" decks in the format, these extra cards are often used as discard fodder for powerful cards like Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Raigeki Break. 
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Crespin's list differs from Alephya2's in that there is much less of a focus on dragon-type monsters. However, the core of Paladin, Blue-Eyes, and Manju is still present, as well as a number of Gravekeeper's Spy to wall off attacks and add ritual fodder. ​

Player Insight

​For this Crespin, their love for Blue-Eyes White Dragon runs deep, fueling both their nostalgia and competitive drive. After experimenting with meta decks, they've decided to craft a unique strategy that blends fun with a competitive edge and takes inspiration from various archetypes , aiming to keep opponents guessing and capitalize on unexpected tech choices. Let's take a closer look at their insights and the thought process behind their creative build.

​​I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh as a kid because of Blue Eyes, and I came back as an adult because of it too. I began with playing a variant of this deck made by Alephya2 and then moved on to all sorts of other decks. It got to the point where I had come to the conclusion it’s just a luck-based game once you reach a certain skill level. I’ve played a lot of meta, e.g., turbo, warriors, and goats, and I found that if you didn’t draw well, you just lose anyway, and there’s nothing that controls that. Granted, turbo tries to mitigate the luck aspect, but you can still brick. That’s when I came back to be with locals to have fun with my homies, and I even bought 2 DDS Blue Eyes to make the deck even cooler! My revised deck started seeing a lot of success, including 2 1st places at 12-person locals. I just try to have fun with my favorite cards, but I want to be as competitive as possible.

So in my locals and seemingly in the meta, there was a heavy emphasis on drawing, so 2 Upstarts and at least 2 Jar of Greed were a must. My deck has a lot of bricks to work with, so Card D seemed like an appropriate choice. I took different aspects of playstyles of all the decks I played and tried to keep my opponents on their toes at all times. If my flips can be hidden, that’s ideal because in game 1 I try my best to make NoC dead, so ideally I’m starting with Manjus and fishing out ritual pieces. My side was crafted to give me more advantage against decks I personally have trouble with, so I side 7 for warriors and 3 for turbo since turbo isn’t as big a problem generally. I go heavy on burn, and because of my card choices, it’s a heavy side vs. goats and RGT too.
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I know blue eyes is the main attraction of the deck, but tbh, they're almost always sided in games 2 & 3. Going back to what I mentioned earlier, I need to be as competitive as possible so the blue eyes are easy side outs for harder matchups. I tech’d in token thanksgiving because burn was one of my hardest matchups, and goat control was a little confusing. Now neither are all that tricky, but I’ve kept them because they really have saved me in some tight games, and it always catches people by surprise. Stein is in the main as a way to turbo out BEWD, but it seldom happens, and I couldn’t afford to put a second one since there is so much going on in the deck and so little space. But he has won games alone without being

It's always great to see a player have success with a spicey brew. Even better when it's not just sporting an iconic card like Blue Eyes, but is also fueled by nostalgia, arguably one of the major fuel factors of the format itself! So, how has the deck been treating Crespin as we move deeper into the event? 

I went 3 matches straight undefeated, but then rounds 4 & 5 didn’t go so well. Honestly, I attribute this all to luck. I’m a skilled duelist, but small draws can really make the difference in these games and completely tilt it for or against you. Hopefully I can pull it together for round 6, and if I’m lucky, hit the top cut!
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It’s my favorite deck; it’s got its pros in the sense that people don’t always know what to side vs. rogue, and the cons are you’re super suboptimal, so your deck is working against you. But sometimes preparation and opportunity meet, and you make a pretty sweet win!