Hello, Cut or Tap readers! I’m Michael Davidson, a first year Master following a Seniors season where I ranked 5th globally in Seniors Championship Point Rankings, and am currently just outside of the Top 16 in North America. I’ve made Day 2 in five out of eight Regionals I’ve attended this season, with my highlight being an 11th place finish in Pittsburgh. I’ll be attending the European International Championship, and am heavily considering Chien-Pao/Baxcalibur for the tournament, due to its favored matchups against most of the format. In this article, I discuss my perspective on how Chien-Pao is likely stronger than it was in the previous format, due to a variety of factors – including lack of important cards rotating, and key disruption cards leaving the format.
In previous formats, despite a collection of undying Chien-Pao believers, and great initial hype before LAIC, the deck failed to make a real major splash on the post-Paradox Rift, pre-rotation formats, until Owyn Kamerman’s Dortmund victory. As the current format comes to a close, the deck has regained a bit of play and chatter. However, much of that chatter has also stemmed from the effects of rotation, where the deck loses very little, and arguably gains more than it loses.
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