Goat Grand Prix Costa Rica 2026: Top 8 Deck Lists

Welcome to our coverage of the first-ever GGP Costa Rica, held this past weekend on March 15th, 2026! 🇨🇷 And what a weekend it was! This marked one of three GGP events hosted across the LATAM region, continuing an incredible stretch for the Goat Format scene. As a brand-new destination for GoatFormat.com, GGP Costa Rica made a strong first impression and it absolutely delivered.

With 78 players in attendance, the competition was fierce, as duelists battled it out to become the first-ever champion on Costa Rican soil. With that turnout, 2 World Championship invites were on the line for the 2026 season, raising the stakes even higher.​A huge thank you and shoutout to the incredible tournament organizers at YGO Time Wizard Costa Rica, along with the commentators, judges, staff, and the entire community who came together to make this event possible.And of course, special thanks to the event sponsors, Boosted Cards Hobby Shop CR, Mitto’s Land, and Bella Luna’s Pizzeria, this event would not have been possible without your support! Now let's dissect the top 8 decklists from GGP Costa Rica!

Leonardo Solano takes down GGP Costa Rica, piloting what can be classified as a Chaos Turbo strategy and etching his name in history as the nation’s first-ever GGP champion. 🇨🇷🏆He brings his own take on the deck, featuring some main deck tech choices like Jinzo, Scapegoat, and Creature Swap, these are cards that continue to pop up more so in the IRL spaces and find success. Beyond these GGP-esque inclusions, there isn’t much reinventing of the wheel here, just standard deckbuilding focused on consistency to outpace the opposition… sorry, new age fans.​I am sure Leonardo's decisions came down to trusting the strength of Chaos Turbo’s core to carry himself through a diverse field of 78 players. Huge congratulations to Leonardo on an incredible run, taking down the first-ever GGP Costa Rica and securing his invite to the 2026 Goat Format World Championship! 

Next up, Michael Granados fights his way to an impressive 2nd place finish, securing the final 2026 Goat Format World Championship invite with a deck that can only really be described as… Spellcaster Beatdown?Not to take anything away from Michael’s accomplishment, because a 2nd place finish in a 78-player field speaks for itself, but this is definitely one of the more unconventional lists we’ve seen reach this level of success.Taking a closer look, the deck features multiple copies of White Magical Hat, alongside solid stat-based monsters like Skilled Dark MagicianandSkilled White Magician. It’s a blend that feels both nostalgic and unorthodox, leaning into pressure and board presence in a way you don’t typically see in the current metagame.It definitely leaves you wondering about the reasoning behind some of these choices, as there’s clearly a method to the madness here, and it might just warrant an interview to fully understand the thought process behind it.Regardless, the results speak loud and clear. Huge congratulations to Michael on a hard-earned finish and locking in his path to Worlds!

Now we move on to the rest of the Top 4 finishers, starting with Kevin Diaz, who piloted the always-reliable Chaos Turbo strategy.Overall, his list is fairly standard, but one interesting deviation stands out, he elected to trim down on one of Chaos Turbo’s strongest flip monsters, Gravekeeper’s Spy, in favor of Mask of Darkness. This is a notable shift, as MoD is more often seen in these “loop”-style strategies where it can be used to repeatedly recycle powerful trap cards like Solemn Judgment, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, or even Time Seal.In Kevin’s case, it appears to be a personal tech choice, one he likely felt would give him a slight edge amongst the local meta of the event. Congratulations to Kevin on a well-earned finish, cementing himself among the Top 4 at this event.

For 4th place, we have Stanley Barquero, who showed up and showed out with his take on Reasoning Gate Turbo. This deck is the definition of a high-rolling strategy, where a large portion of your ability to apply pressure is left up to RNG, but when it hits, it really hits.🚬With cards like Reasoning and Monster Gate, the deck can just explode out of nowhere and put your opponent on the back foot instantly. It’s not always the most consistent, but the payoff is huge when things go your way.That kind of power doesn’t come without its risks, but Stanley embraced the variance and made it count, pushing all the way to a Top 4 finish. In a format that usually favors consistency, it’s always good to see a high-variance strategy break through like this.A bold call with a big payoff, congratulations to Stanley on an outstanding run!

Now we move on to the remainder of our Top 8 in no particular order. First up, we have Rufino Zuniga, who piloted a relatively standard Chaos Turbo build. His list stays true to the proven shell we’ve come to expect from the strategy, maintaining that balance of consistency and power that defines Chaos Turbo.That said, he does make an interesting adjustment, opting to run two copies of Zombyra the Dark in the main deck over more traditional consistency options like Jar of Greed, while also effectively taking up a slot that is often reserved for the third Gravekeeper’s Spy. While this does come at the cost of some consistency, Zombyra functions in a way as the “third/fourth Spy”, as it offers a large body that can be difficult for opponents to cleanly deal with once it hits the field.​It’s a unique twist on a familiar framework, showing how even standard builds can shift slightly depending on player preference and the influence the local meta dynamics have on the format. A strong showing from Rufino to make it to the Top 8, congratulations on your accomplishment.

Next for our Top 8 is Ivan Muñoz, who slammed his way into the bracket piloting Earth Aggro. This is a strategy that always brings a strong presence to the table, and Ivan’s take adds an extra layer of explosiveness.There are definitely some interesting choices here, as he pairs his lineup of powerful Earth monsters with a Last Will engine to enable Cyber-Stein shenanigans. This combination gives the deck access to sudden, game-ending swings that can come out of nowhere leading to some stolen games.The list really feels like a pressure cooker that is constantly building toward a massive burst turn where everything comes together at once. Whether it’s through large damage dealt early on or a surprise Stein activation, the deck forces opponents to always respect the possibility of an immediate swing in momentum.It’s a high-impact approach to Earth Aggro that clearly paid off, earning Ivan a well-deserved spot in the Top 8.

Another Top 8 decklist to highlight is Marco Montero’s Chaos Warrior strategy. This is a deck that has largely found its consistent success in the online scene, most notably in the hands of players like SS95 and Picatron.At a glance, it’s clear Marco drew inspiration from SS95’s approach to deckbuilding, pulling from lists that have performed well in previous online Goat Format Majors. That foundation gives the deck a very refined feel, blending the Warrior engine with Chaos elements in a way that maximizes both utility and late-game payoff.What stands out here is the balance the deck is able to strike, leveraging the consistency and toolbox nature of Warriors while still maintaining access to the explosive ceiling that Chaos cards provide. It’s not the easiest strategy to pilot, but Marco clearly rose to the occasion.Translating from online success into a strong in-person performance is no small feat, and Marco did exactly that with an impressive Top 8 finish.

Finally for our Top 8 we have Wadalberto Castro, also on Earth Aggro. Unlike Ivan’s version, this list is more streamlined, maxing out on big bodies and focusing on keeping the game simple and explosive. Earth Aggro thrives on pure pressure, and once a 2300 from Goblin Attack Force starts swinging directly, the snowball begins. From there, every follow-up attack turns up the heat, and a single swing backed by cards like Injection Fairy Lily or Ring of Destruction can quickly swing the duel out of nowhere. In many ways, Castro’s build highlights the raw power of Earth Aggro.  Instead of trying to out-resource or out-combo the opponent, the strategy thrives on tempo and momentum, steadily converting small advantages into decisive damage.Huge congratulations to Wadalberto Castro on locking up a Top 8 finish and putting on a strong showing with Earth Aggro!