Happy new year! I decided to participate in my last Locals of the year 2011. There were 14 players todays and a good amount of them had skills. I decided to play my favorite deck, Plant Synchro, to celebrate the closing tournament of 2011.
Round 1 vs Newbie Six Samurai (2-0)
He didn't know how to properly summon the bigger monsters of the archtype...
Round 2 vs Worms (2-0)
1 - The game started off quite slow. I had a Gorz and a Spore in my hand, along with a bunch of insignificant spells. After a few turs of drawing and setting cards I start to make a move, then he did, and the process repeated. It seemed we had an answer for everything we threw at each other until I got to the point where I overwhelmed my opponent.
2 - This game concluded quickly. He drew useless traps and too few monsters to deal with my monsters.
Round 3 vs Chaos Agents (2-1)
1 - I controlled him with multiple Thunder Kings and a few traps.
2 - I was unable to special summon because of an early Kristya which I had no answers to the entire match.
3 - The game went back and forth. He had control for most of the duel and I hung on and was able to drop a Gorz on his Hyperion with 800 life points left. Next turn I played Leeching the Light and I obviously won.
Round 4 vs Plant Synchro (2-1)
This match will eventually be posted on Youtube. Look forward to it because it was a great match.
Top 4 consisted of myself, the above Plant Synchro and Agent players, and a Mystic Piper deck.
Round 5 vs Mystic Piper (2-1)
This match will also be posted on Youtube. I misplayed horribly game 2 and I lost it because of my stupidity. However I made it up for it game 3.
Round 6 vs Plant Synchro (2-0)
1 - I was in control of the game for the most part, although we were going back and forth quite a bit. Eventually I was able to summon too many monsters and I won.
2 - It was a really balanced game until my opponent got really unlucky. He milled a Tengu with Glow-Up Bulb why he had a Tengu on the field. He also drew into his Dandylion when he needed it in the deck to mill it with Foolish Burial. However I enjoyed both the matches that I had with him today.
I came first and received $25 store credit. I'm tired so this report is a little brief and quickly typed. It was a very enjoyable tournament and I wish more tournaments more like that. Additionally, going undefeated the final tournament of the year is pretty impressive.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tour Bus from the Underworld Discussion
Merry Christmas to all! The effect of the Tour Bus has been released and this is it:
"When this card is sent to the Graveyard: Target 1 monster in either player’s Graveyard, except “Tour Bus From the Underworld”; shuffle that target into the Deck."
Obviously this card is not as broken as Tour Guide, which is helpful. Tour Guide now has another target other than Sangan. Personally, I think I would only need to run 2 copies of this card to go along with 3 Tour Guides and 1 Sangan. Tour Bus, like Dandylion for example, gets its effect when detached as an Exceed material.
This card can disruput your opponent. The Tour Bus can choose to return a monster from your opponents graveyard to their deck if you choose, instead of transporting one of your own monsters. You can mess up a potential Hyperion or BLS play for example.
This card is particularly useful in Plants, considering Pot of Avarice is at 1. You can recycle extra deck monsters if you choose.
That's all I wanted to say. When we finally get Order of Chaos, extensive playtesting will determine how many copies of this card should be run. Until then, we can be thankful that this is a balanced and good TCG exclusive card, unlike Tour Guide.
"When this card is sent to the Graveyard: Target 1 monster in either player’s Graveyard, except “Tour Bus From the Underworld”; shuffle that target into the Deck."
Obviously this card is not as broken as Tour Guide, which is helpful. Tour Guide now has another target other than Sangan. Personally, I think I would only need to run 2 copies of this card to go along with 3 Tour Guides and 1 Sangan. Tour Bus, like Dandylion for example, gets its effect when detached as an Exceed material.
This card can disruput your opponent. The Tour Bus can choose to return a monster from your opponents graveyard to their deck if you choose, instead of transporting one of your own monsters. You can mess up a potential Hyperion or BLS play for example.
This card is particularly useful in Plants, considering Pot of Avarice is at 1. You can recycle extra deck monsters if you choose.
That's all I wanted to say. When we finally get Order of Chaos, extensive playtesting will determine how many copies of this card should be run. Until then, we can be thankful that this is a balanced and good TCG exclusive card, unlike Tour Guide.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Tournament Report 12/24/11
On this Christmas Eve I decided to go to Locals because I had nothing better to do. The tournament consisted of 9 players: 4 were good players, 3 were ok players and the other 2 were noobs. I decided to play Dark Worlds because I wanted to playtest my build. Also, I already knew I would reach the top 4 regardless of what I played. Anyway, onto the report:
Round 1 I got a bye... woot....
Round 2 vs T.G Synchro (2-0)
This player was one of the good ones.
Game 1: I started off by controlling his hand with Dustshoot and Mind Crush. I had a somewhat slow start but when I drew my first discard outlet (Dark World Dealings) my deck took off from there. A few turns later I was forced to stall because he performed many synchro summons and eliminated my Gate, along with my other cards. When that happened I summoned a Zenmaines with Tour Guide and Broww. He stalled for two turns and that's when I drew the Monster Reborn for game.
Game 2: I sided into the following: 3 Fossil Dyna, 3 Jujistu Master, 1 Grand Mole, 1 Dark Fusion and 1 Dark Calling. It was effective for that duel. I summoned an Evil Hero Dark Gaia that inflicted 3900 damage on the turn it was summoned. He summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked it using Shrink on Dark Gaia. Next turn I set Fossil Dyna. He went and synchro summoned a little more, then all his monsters died when he attacked into my Fossil Dyna. On my turn I summoned Grapha and used Deck Devastation Virus which killed most of his cards, and those that he drew. He couldn't recover so I beat him down with Grapha and won.
Round 3 vs Newbie Six Samurai (2-0)
I obviously won, but something funny happened that I will share. He was stalling for a while and I didn't have a discard outlet so I attempted to use Mind Crush to discard one of my own monsters. I called The Winged Dragon of Ra, and he had it...
Top 4 was after this round and consisted of myself, along with the other 3 good players. There was no point in splitting because the credit wasn't high enough to split beneficially...
Round 4 vs X-Sabers (2-1)
Game 1: I blew up his only monster with Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World (Destroys a monster when discarded) and I blew up his only defensive trap with Grapha. I summoned Grapha and beat him down after 3 turns of not drawing a monster or a defensive card.
Game 2: I only drew one discard outlet the entire game. I stalled and went offensive for a bit with Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, but it wasn't enough.
Game 3: was very close. He used all his cards to establish a field of Naturia Barkion, XX-Saber Hyunlei and Number 39: Utopia. He ruined most of my field with those monsters. Fortunately he couldn't kill me and he used all his spells and traps. The next turn I discarded a Grapha with Dark World Dealings and blew up his Utopia. I discarded another one and destroyed Barkion. I was able to summon one Grapha and I attacked Hyunlei. He drew and set Enemy Controller. I drew Pot of Duality and I picked and set Torrential Tribute. I attacked with Grapha and set Beige. He drew Effect Veiler and tributed it with Controller to take Grapha and attack my Beige. Next turn I summoned another Grapha and won.
Round 5 vs Macro (2-1)
Game 1: My opening hand sucked (2 Maxx "C", 2 Dragged Down to the Grave, Beige and Eradicator Epidemic Virus. Every turn he summoned a D.D. Survivor and he had Macro Cosmos. I had no answers to anything.
Game 2: I opened with Trap Dustshoot and set it, along with a Beige. Again I opened no discard outlets. He draws and I return Blackwing - Gale to his deck (the rest of his hand was D.D. Survivor, Injection Fairy Lily, Cyber Dragon, Solemn Judgment and Book of Moon). He summoned Cyber Dragon and Fairy Lily, attacked with them, and set his Solemn and Book. I drew a discard outlet and with Snoww in my hand already, I drew everyhting I needed to destroy his whole field that turn and he scooped.
Game 3: It was a slow game but I remained in control for the most part. I had MSTs for all of his Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissures and I beat him down with Grapha. Tour Guide also helped get me started .(On my first turn I made Leviathan Dragon with Tour Guide and Broww. I detached Broww and that made my Gate usable.)
So I won with Dark World and I received $20 store credit.
Round 1 I got a bye... woot....
Round 2 vs T.G Synchro (2-0)
This player was one of the good ones.
Game 1: I started off by controlling his hand with Dustshoot and Mind Crush. I had a somewhat slow start but when I drew my first discard outlet (Dark World Dealings) my deck took off from there. A few turns later I was forced to stall because he performed many synchro summons and eliminated my Gate, along with my other cards. When that happened I summoned a Zenmaines with Tour Guide and Broww. He stalled for two turns and that's when I drew the Monster Reborn for game.
Game 2: I sided into the following: 3 Fossil Dyna, 3 Jujistu Master, 1 Grand Mole, 1 Dark Fusion and 1 Dark Calling. It was effective for that duel. I summoned an Evil Hero Dark Gaia that inflicted 3900 damage on the turn it was summoned. He summoned Cyber Dragon and attacked it using Shrink on Dark Gaia. Next turn I set Fossil Dyna. He went and synchro summoned a little more, then all his monsters died when he attacked into my Fossil Dyna. On my turn I summoned Grapha and used Deck Devastation Virus which killed most of his cards, and those that he drew. He couldn't recover so I beat him down with Grapha and won.
Round 3 vs Newbie Six Samurai (2-0)
I obviously won, but something funny happened that I will share. He was stalling for a while and I didn't have a discard outlet so I attempted to use Mind Crush to discard one of my own monsters. I called The Winged Dragon of Ra, and he had it...
Top 4 was after this round and consisted of myself, along with the other 3 good players. There was no point in splitting because the credit wasn't high enough to split beneficially...
Round 4 vs X-Sabers (2-1)
Game 1: I blew up his only monster with Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World (Destroys a monster when discarded) and I blew up his only defensive trap with Grapha. I summoned Grapha and beat him down after 3 turns of not drawing a monster or a defensive card.
Game 2: I only drew one discard outlet the entire game. I stalled and went offensive for a bit with Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, but it wasn't enough.
Game 3: was very close. He used all his cards to establish a field of Naturia Barkion, XX-Saber Hyunlei and Number 39: Utopia. He ruined most of my field with those monsters. Fortunately he couldn't kill me and he used all his spells and traps. The next turn I discarded a Grapha with Dark World Dealings and blew up his Utopia. I discarded another one and destroyed Barkion. I was able to summon one Grapha and I attacked Hyunlei. He drew and set Enemy Controller. I drew Pot of Duality and I picked and set Torrential Tribute. I attacked with Grapha and set Beige. He drew Effect Veiler and tributed it with Controller to take Grapha and attack my Beige. Next turn I summoned another Grapha and won.
Round 5 vs Macro (2-1)
Game 1: My opening hand sucked (2 Maxx "C", 2 Dragged Down to the Grave, Beige and Eradicator Epidemic Virus. Every turn he summoned a D.D. Survivor and he had Macro Cosmos. I had no answers to anything.
Game 2: I opened with Trap Dustshoot and set it, along with a Beige. Again I opened no discard outlets. He draws and I return Blackwing - Gale to his deck (the rest of his hand was D.D. Survivor, Injection Fairy Lily, Cyber Dragon, Solemn Judgment and Book of Moon). He summoned Cyber Dragon and Fairy Lily, attacked with them, and set his Solemn and Book. I drew a discard outlet and with Snoww in my hand already, I drew everyhting I needed to destroy his whole field that turn and he scooped.
Game 3: It was a slow game but I remained in control for the most part. I had MSTs for all of his Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissures and I beat him down with Grapha. Tour Guide also helped get me started .(On my first turn I made Leviathan Dragon with Tour Guide and Broww. I detached Broww and that made my Gate usable.)
So I won with Dark World and I received $20 store credit.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
My Thoughts on Yu-Gi-Oh and its Players
Yu-Gi-Oh has been around in the TCG for 10+ years now. Today it's one of the most popular trading card games in existence. Obviously it is a very good card game that attracts a lot of people from a variety of age groups. Even though Konami is gaining a worse and worse reputation in terms of card design and card prices, it still attracts many people.
Some of these people play the game solely to have fun. These players won't typically spend enormous amounts of money on the latest awesome cards (example are Tour Guide and Rescue Rabbit). These players are alright settling on a few different decks and leaving it at that. Tournaments of all different types are fun for these players, most of the time, regardless of the outcome.
Some players use this game to make money. These are the players, for example, that bought Tour Guides when they were $40 and are selling them today. However this group of people, who only play to make money, are a minority in my experience.
Finally, there are the players that play competitively. They play because they want to become the best. Sure, most of these players have fun playing, but competition is the initial driving force. These players will spend money on the cards they feel they need to perform at their highest level.
However, with some players it goes further. Certain players will stick with one deck for a while and then move on, avoiding variety and personal growth. There are the players who will try many different deck ideas, obtain the required cards, and experiment what works and what doesn't. These players aren't afraid to attempt different things within a scope of reasonable playability. Players like these exceed those who just netdeck a top deck of a YCS and play it because it topped at a YCS. These are the players who become extremely well known and famous, and they are the players who will achieve the best results.
Personally, I believe I fall within this last category of players. Those who know me know I can't stick with one deck. Almost every day I'm thinking of different ideas. I have a notebook filled with decklists and ideas. Even though it pisses me off that Konami releases insane cards I just accept it and move on, trying to utilize these insane forces. I am very passionate about this game and I want to continue to strengthen my skills and push myself.
So to all your readers, I hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to comment on it and share your thoughts.
Some of these people play the game solely to have fun. These players won't typically spend enormous amounts of money on the latest awesome cards (example are Tour Guide and Rescue Rabbit). These players are alright settling on a few different decks and leaving it at that. Tournaments of all different types are fun for these players, most of the time, regardless of the outcome.
Some players use this game to make money. These are the players, for example, that bought Tour Guides when they were $40 and are selling them today. However this group of people, who only play to make money, are a minority in my experience.
Finally, there are the players that play competitively. They play because they want to become the best. Sure, most of these players have fun playing, but competition is the initial driving force. These players will spend money on the cards they feel they need to perform at their highest level.
However, with some players it goes further. Certain players will stick with one deck for a while and then move on, avoiding variety and personal growth. There are the players who will try many different deck ideas, obtain the required cards, and experiment what works and what doesn't. These players aren't afraid to attempt different things within a scope of reasonable playability. Players like these exceed those who just netdeck a top deck of a YCS and play it because it topped at a YCS. These are the players who become extremely well known and famous, and they are the players who will achieve the best results.
Personally, I believe I fall within this last category of players. Those who know me know I can't stick with one deck. Almost every day I'm thinking of different ideas. I have a notebook filled with decklists and ideas. Even though it pisses me off that Konami releases insane cards I just accept it and move on, trying to utilize these insane forces. I am very passionate about this game and I want to continue to strengthen my skills and push myself.
So to all your readers, I hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to comment on it and share your thoughts.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Tournament Report 12/03/11
*Forgive any errors with my English. I had to type this as fast as possible.
I was forutnate enough to go to my locals today. I decided to use T.G. Zombies. The deck really interested me and I liked the hands I was drawing with it. Anyway, here's what happened:
Round 1 vs Lightsworn (2-1)
Game 1 I was able to swarm him before he summoned any of his Judgment Dragons. It was a very fast game. Game 2 I lost to triple Wulf being milled... Game 3 we went back and forth until he summoned 3 dragons in one turn. I had Maxx "C" so I drew a few extra cards. I used Bottomless Trap Hole on the first one because for some reason he didn't try and explode. He summoned another one and I had to use Torrential Tribute. He used Monster Reincarnation to get it back and summoned it again. He attacked me bringing me down to 300 life points. On my turn I summoned Plaguespreader Zombie and I played Creature Swap. He lost.
Round 2 vs Dark Worlds (0-2)
I lost both games because of the usual Dark World plays. Game 1 I faced multiple Graphas and Mind Control doesn't do much against them. Game 2 he say my hand with Mind Crush so he played around everything I had. He used Solemn Warning on my Orient Dragon, then on my T.G. Wonder Magician. Finally, he had Solemn Judgment for my Gorz. Nothing I could've done.
Round 3 vs Newbie Chaos (2-0)
This is what happens when you lose a round... you play bad players... Well I did anyway. Trishula smashed him both games.
Round 4 vs Fabled (2-0)
Both games he exploded but I drew a lot of cards with Maxx "C". I won the turn after he exploded both times. After the match I found out that there is an infinite loop with Brionac and 2 Fabled Cerburrel. Luckily or me he didn't pull it off or I would've lost.
So with a 3-1 record I advance to the Top 4. The Fabled player I beat topped, a Six Samurai player topped and a different Lightsworn player topped.
Round 5 vs Lightsworn (2-0)
Game 1 he made a misplay which cost him the game. He summoned 2 Judgment Dragons at once and I had the Torrential. If he didn't do that I might not have won. Anyway he managed to summon another Judgment Dragon later and he payed 3000 life points to kill my Wind-Up Zenmaines. On my next turn I stole with Creature Swap and won.
Game 2 I attacked into an Honest early on which was a little annoying. I can't remember how the game exactly went though. All I know is that I played Creature Swap and won that turn. It seems Creature Swap is super effective against Lightsworns.
Round 6 Fabled (2-1)
It is the same Fabled player as before and I beat him again. I will try and upload the match on Youtube, if I can get the actual recording (I wasn't the one recording it).
So despite losing to Dark Worlds I still came in first. I'm happy that I won with a deck that isn't exactly popular, unlike Plant Synchro. Next week my university exams start and I have to get 100% on them so next week I may not be playing. However we'll see what happens.
I was forutnate enough to go to my locals today. I decided to use T.G. Zombies. The deck really interested me and I liked the hands I was drawing with it. Anyway, here's what happened:
Round 1 vs Lightsworn (2-1)
Game 1 I was able to swarm him before he summoned any of his Judgment Dragons. It was a very fast game. Game 2 I lost to triple Wulf being milled... Game 3 we went back and forth until he summoned 3 dragons in one turn. I had Maxx "C" so I drew a few extra cards. I used Bottomless Trap Hole on the first one because for some reason he didn't try and explode. He summoned another one and I had to use Torrential Tribute. He used Monster Reincarnation to get it back and summoned it again. He attacked me bringing me down to 300 life points. On my turn I summoned Plaguespreader Zombie and I played Creature Swap. He lost.
Round 2 vs Dark Worlds (0-2)
I lost both games because of the usual Dark World plays. Game 1 I faced multiple Graphas and Mind Control doesn't do much against them. Game 2 he say my hand with Mind Crush so he played around everything I had. He used Solemn Warning on my Orient Dragon, then on my T.G. Wonder Magician. Finally, he had Solemn Judgment for my Gorz. Nothing I could've done.
Round 3 vs Newbie Chaos (2-0)
This is what happens when you lose a round... you play bad players... Well I did anyway. Trishula smashed him both games.
Round 4 vs Fabled (2-0)
Both games he exploded but I drew a lot of cards with Maxx "C". I won the turn after he exploded both times. After the match I found out that there is an infinite loop with Brionac and 2 Fabled Cerburrel. Luckily or me he didn't pull it off or I would've lost.
So with a 3-1 record I advance to the Top 4. The Fabled player I beat topped, a Six Samurai player topped and a different Lightsworn player topped.
Round 5 vs Lightsworn (2-0)
Game 1 he made a misplay which cost him the game. He summoned 2 Judgment Dragons at once and I had the Torrential. If he didn't do that I might not have won. Anyway he managed to summon another Judgment Dragon later and he payed 3000 life points to kill my Wind-Up Zenmaines. On my next turn I stole with Creature Swap and won.
Game 2 I attacked into an Honest early on which was a little annoying. I can't remember how the game exactly went though. All I know is that I played Creature Swap and won that turn. It seems Creature Swap is super effective against Lightsworns.
Round 6 Fabled (2-1)
It is the same Fabled player as before and I beat him again. I will try and upload the match on Youtube, if I can get the actual recording (I wasn't the one recording it).
So despite losing to Dark Worlds I still came in first. I'm happy that I won with a deck that isn't exactly popular, unlike Plant Synchro. Next week my university exams start and I have to get 100% on them so next week I may not be playing. However we'll see what happens.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
My Current Yu-Gi-Oh Interests
University work has lightened up a little bit for me. All that remains for me to complete are my exams in December. My studying routine is structured and organized: I'm ready for anything related with school. This allows me to finally dedicate more time to my card gaming.
Currently there are multiple decks I want to explore and experiment. I've already experimented with most of the decks I will discuss, however my testing is far from finished. So many ideas...
1. Plant Synchro
I have loved plant synchro ever since Quickdraw Dandywarrior was popular. Any deck with a plant engine intrigues me. It allows so much flexibility with regards to the extra deck because you can synchro summon almost anything. At my locals I included Ally of Justice Decisive Armor in the extra deck, because I can summon it easily. This is a deck that I will never dismiss.
2. Elemental Heroes
This has been my favourite deck for a very long time. The first hero card I ever pulled was Burstinatrix, and since then I have dedicated myself to the deck. The deck has gotten a ton of support in the last few months and it is stupendous support. Nova Master is a monster draw-engine for me and it is really good because this deck needs as much draw power as possible. Great Tornado is a really good offensive card. Parallel World Fusion is Miracle Fusion's brother spell card, which is really great. One of the best spells cards to include in this deck is Super Polymerization. In the TCG it messes with any opponent who isn't playing a deck based around dark-attribute monsters. However, once we get Escuridao in the TCG, Super Poly Heroes will become much more flexibility.
3. T.G. Zombies
I like the zombie engine and I like the T.G. engine. I keep playtesting this deck with different tech cards and the deck is really flexible. I have been interested with this idea ever since T.G. Striker and Warwolf were released.
4. T.G. Gadgets
Anything in the above description refers to this deck as well. However I like that Naturia Beast and Barkion can be summoned all the time with Striker and Glow-Up Bulb. I like the zombie engine more than the gadget engine though.
5. Frog Fairies
This deck saw great success when I built it in September before university started. I like being able to drop boss monsters all the time, which is what the deck did. It also spammed gachi-gachi frequently to create excellent defense while powering up my boss monsters.
6. Lightsworn variants
Once I get one more Judgment Dragon I will start testing this engine. Its is strongly encouraged by luck over skill (which is opposite of the philosophy I believe in: Skill over luck...), but I believe I can make it consistent and a little more skilled-based, or i'll try to anyway. The deck can drop multiple boss monsters which is something I like. There are so many possibilities I want to combine the engine with: Plants, Fairies, Frog Monarchs, Salvo, Vayu, Zombies, Heroes, Sky Scourge Norleras... Once I get one more Judgment Dragon the testing will begin.
This is everything I want to continue to experiment over the next little bit. There are other minor concepts I want to try but not as much. Anyway that's all for today.
Currently there are multiple decks I want to explore and experiment. I've already experimented with most of the decks I will discuss, however my testing is far from finished. So many ideas...
1. Plant Synchro
I have loved plant synchro ever since Quickdraw Dandywarrior was popular. Any deck with a plant engine intrigues me. It allows so much flexibility with regards to the extra deck because you can synchro summon almost anything. At my locals I included Ally of Justice Decisive Armor in the extra deck, because I can summon it easily. This is a deck that I will never dismiss.
2. Elemental Heroes
This has been my favourite deck for a very long time. The first hero card I ever pulled was Burstinatrix, and since then I have dedicated myself to the deck. The deck has gotten a ton of support in the last few months and it is stupendous support. Nova Master is a monster draw-engine for me and it is really good because this deck needs as much draw power as possible. Great Tornado is a really good offensive card. Parallel World Fusion is Miracle Fusion's brother spell card, which is really great. One of the best spells cards to include in this deck is Super Polymerization. In the TCG it messes with any opponent who isn't playing a deck based around dark-attribute monsters. However, once we get Escuridao in the TCG, Super Poly Heroes will become much more flexibility.
3. T.G. Zombies
I like the zombie engine and I like the T.G. engine. I keep playtesting this deck with different tech cards and the deck is really flexible. I have been interested with this idea ever since T.G. Striker and Warwolf were released.
4. T.G. Gadgets
Anything in the above description refers to this deck as well. However I like that Naturia Beast and Barkion can be summoned all the time with Striker and Glow-Up Bulb. I like the zombie engine more than the gadget engine though.
5. Frog Fairies
This deck saw great success when I built it in September before university started. I like being able to drop boss monsters all the time, which is what the deck did. It also spammed gachi-gachi frequently to create excellent defense while powering up my boss monsters.
6. Lightsworn variants
Once I get one more Judgment Dragon I will start testing this engine. Its is strongly encouraged by luck over skill (which is opposite of the philosophy I believe in: Skill over luck...), but I believe I can make it consistent and a little more skilled-based, or i'll try to anyway. The deck can drop multiple boss monsters which is something I like. There are so many possibilities I want to combine the engine with: Plants, Fairies, Frog Monarchs, Salvo, Vayu, Zombies, Heroes, Sky Scourge Norleras... Once I get one more Judgment Dragon the testing will begin.
This is everything I want to continue to experiment over the next little bit. There are other minor concepts I want to try but not as much. Anyway that's all for today.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Tournament Report 11/26/11
It has been forever since I have been able to attend any Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. It was a really productive day. I started it by getting Wind-Up Zemaines which is really cool; it put in a lot of work today. On top of that I did some productive trading as well. So without further ado, my statistics for today. I played Tour Guide Tengu Plants. It was a 5-round tournament followed by top 4 with 21 players.
Round 1 vs Vanity Zombies (2-1)
Game 1 - I lost game 1 because he summoned Vanity Fiend and I didn't have an out.
Game 2 - This was the longest out of our 3 games. He pulled a couple of actual zombie plays and I had responses to them. He activated Trap Dustshoot at one point mid-game. Fortunately, my hand wasn't great and it didn't really matter what he returned. I eventually won somehow.
Game 3 - He went first and didn't do anything astonishing. On my first turn I set Dustshoot and flipped it on his turn to return a Vanity Fiend (the other monsters in his hand were Zombie Master and another Fiend). He didn't have any responses to the majority of my plays and I won using a bunch of limited cards with plants.
Round 2 vs Pure Zombies (2-0)
Game 1 - He set Pyramid Turtle and ended. I summoned Thunder King and killed it and he summoned Endless Decay. It had 4000 attack... Anyway I used Enemy Controller to attack him with his own Endless Decay. On his turn he attacked me directly with a Zombie Master (after summoning the turtle in defense) and then with Endless Decay. I followed with Gorz and got a 4000 token. Needless to say I won a turn or two later.
Game 2 - He went first and pulled a first turn Dustshoot to return a Tour Guide to my deck (the other cards were Foolish Burial, MST, Thunder King and 2 Veilers). I summoned the Thunder King and attack a turtle and he summoned another one. He found a way to get rid of my Thunder King and next turn I drew Spirit Reaper. Many turns passed and we kept building cards in our hand and field (primarily Back-row) because he couldn't remove the Reaper and I had no other plays. I eventually did a Tour Guide play and he used Torrential to clear the field. We both exchanged plays for a little bit. I eventually summoned Zenmaines and it became a threat to him. He had to summon a Veiler and use Creature Swap but my Book of Moon flipped Zenmaines face-down so I kept the Veiler. I won a turn or two later by exploding with some Synchro monsters and BLS.
Round 3 vs Random Burn Control... (2-0)
Game 1 - He started by summoning Kycoo, which was random, and many back-row cards. I stalled for a few turns with Debris Dragon. Eventually I had enough cards to push through all his many traps and then I exploded. He did almost reduce all my life points through effect damage.
Game 2 - Kinda the same as game 1. This time though it ended because I summoned Black Rose on one turn, Trishula the next turn, and the Scrap Dragon a turn after. I reduced him to having almost nothing in his hand and field with my synchro monsters and I won.
Round 4 - Chaos Agents (2-0)
Game 1 - He started by setting Reaper and a trap. I used Mind Control to take the Reaper, summoned Dandylion and exceed summoned Zenmaines. Unfortunately he countered with Warning. He didn't seem to draw much and eventually I won by over-extending when he had nothing.
Game 2 - He had advantage over me for most of the game and had a response for every one of my plays. Eventually he managed to bring me to 100 life points and wiped out my field. At this point I won the "Sack Award" for the week when I topdecked BLS and won. I really hated winning that way but I guess that's how it happens. I've lost to topdecked BLS quite a few times this format and I haven't even played much because of school.
Round 5 vs Chaos Agents (2-1)
Game 1 - It was a really fast game. I went first (finally), summoned Tengu and set MST. My opponent set a card and passed, which was destroyed by my MST. I summoned Thunder King and attacked with Tengu. He summoned Tragoedia and I stole with a controller, tributing a Tengu. I attacked with all my monsters, made Utopia with his Tragoedia and he scooped.
Game 2 - It was a really close game but ion the end he beat me with double Hyperion.
Game 3 - This game I managed to use Chain Disappearance to remove all of his balls. I won shortly after by summoning Zenmaines. He used most of his resources to eliminate it and then he had nothing to combat with aggressive assault of synchro monsters.
Top 4 consisted of me, the Agent player I just beat, a Lightsworn deck and a Six Samurai deck. We agreed to split the Top 4, which was fine. I was supposed to play the Six Samurai player and we decided to play anyway. I beat him 2-0. I ruined him game 1 with a first turn Dustshoot and then I used Torrential on his Elder and Kagemusha. He was out of plays after that. Game 2 he immediately summoned Naturia Landoise and Barkion. I went and used Mind Control on his Landoise, summoned Spore, made a Scrap Dragon and destroy his Barkion. He used Dark Hole to destroy my Scrap Dragon but I had Monster Reborn to bring it back, and he had no answers for it.
So I went undefeated today, which is cool. I was really impressed with Zenmaines and I'm happy I picked it up on the shelf at the store before someone else did. There is regionals next weekend in Toronto. I will try and go to that because I'm pretty sure I can do well. I am unsure though at this point if I can go or not. Anyway, I will try and upload some videos this week because it's been a while since I have.
Round 1 vs Vanity Zombies (2-1)
Game 1 - I lost game 1 because he summoned Vanity Fiend and I didn't have an out.
Game 2 - This was the longest out of our 3 games. He pulled a couple of actual zombie plays and I had responses to them. He activated Trap Dustshoot at one point mid-game. Fortunately, my hand wasn't great and it didn't really matter what he returned. I eventually won somehow.
Game 3 - He went first and didn't do anything astonishing. On my first turn I set Dustshoot and flipped it on his turn to return a Vanity Fiend (the other monsters in his hand were Zombie Master and another Fiend). He didn't have any responses to the majority of my plays and I won using a bunch of limited cards with plants.
Round 2 vs Pure Zombies (2-0)
Game 1 - He set Pyramid Turtle and ended. I summoned Thunder King and killed it and he summoned Endless Decay. It had 4000 attack... Anyway I used Enemy Controller to attack him with his own Endless Decay. On his turn he attacked me directly with a Zombie Master (after summoning the turtle in defense) and then with Endless Decay. I followed with Gorz and got a 4000 token. Needless to say I won a turn or two later.
Game 2 - He went first and pulled a first turn Dustshoot to return a Tour Guide to my deck (the other cards were Foolish Burial, MST, Thunder King and 2 Veilers). I summoned the Thunder King and attack a turtle and he summoned another one. He found a way to get rid of my Thunder King and next turn I drew Spirit Reaper. Many turns passed and we kept building cards in our hand and field (primarily Back-row) because he couldn't remove the Reaper and I had no other plays. I eventually did a Tour Guide play and he used Torrential to clear the field. We both exchanged plays for a little bit. I eventually summoned Zenmaines and it became a threat to him. He had to summon a Veiler and use Creature Swap but my Book of Moon flipped Zenmaines face-down so I kept the Veiler. I won a turn or two later by exploding with some Synchro monsters and BLS.
Round 3 vs Random Burn Control... (2-0)
Game 1 - He started by summoning Kycoo, which was random, and many back-row cards. I stalled for a few turns with Debris Dragon. Eventually I had enough cards to push through all his many traps and then I exploded. He did almost reduce all my life points through effect damage.
Game 2 - Kinda the same as game 1. This time though it ended because I summoned Black Rose on one turn, Trishula the next turn, and the Scrap Dragon a turn after. I reduced him to having almost nothing in his hand and field with my synchro monsters and I won.
Round 4 - Chaos Agents (2-0)
Game 1 - He started by setting Reaper and a trap. I used Mind Control to take the Reaper, summoned Dandylion and exceed summoned Zenmaines. Unfortunately he countered with Warning. He didn't seem to draw much and eventually I won by over-extending when he had nothing.
Game 2 - He had advantage over me for most of the game and had a response for every one of my plays. Eventually he managed to bring me to 100 life points and wiped out my field. At this point I won the "Sack Award" for the week when I topdecked BLS and won. I really hated winning that way but I guess that's how it happens. I've lost to topdecked BLS quite a few times this format and I haven't even played much because of school.
Round 5 vs Chaos Agents (2-1)
Game 1 - It was a really fast game. I went first (finally), summoned Tengu and set MST. My opponent set a card and passed, which was destroyed by my MST. I summoned Thunder King and attacked with Tengu. He summoned Tragoedia and I stole with a controller, tributing a Tengu. I attacked with all my monsters, made Utopia with his Tragoedia and he scooped.
Game 2 - It was a really close game but ion the end he beat me with double Hyperion.
Game 3 - This game I managed to use Chain Disappearance to remove all of his balls. I won shortly after by summoning Zenmaines. He used most of his resources to eliminate it and then he had nothing to combat with aggressive assault of synchro monsters.
Top 4 consisted of me, the Agent player I just beat, a Lightsworn deck and a Six Samurai deck. We agreed to split the Top 4, which was fine. I was supposed to play the Six Samurai player and we decided to play anyway. I beat him 2-0. I ruined him game 1 with a first turn Dustshoot and then I used Torrential on his Elder and Kagemusha. He was out of plays after that. Game 2 he immediately summoned Naturia Landoise and Barkion. I went and used Mind Control on his Landoise, summoned Spore, made a Scrap Dragon and destroy his Barkion. He used Dark Hole to destroy my Scrap Dragon but I had Monster Reborn to bring it back, and he had no answers for it.
So I went undefeated today, which is cool. I was really impressed with Zenmaines and I'm happy I picked it up on the shelf at the store before someone else did. There is regionals next weekend in Toronto. I will try and go to that because I'm pretty sure I can do well. I am unsure though at this point if I can go or not. Anyway, I will try and upload some videos this week because it's been a while since I have.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Done my Midterms! On to YuGi-Oh!!
This is just a post today to communicate with the card players that decide to read this. It’s been a while but I haven’t felt energized enough to post anything, and stress with midterms didn’t help.
First some news (if you aren’t already aware of the news). The Light Pulsar Dragon OTK/FTK no longer exists because the card text changed to say “when” and not “if” so it will miss its timing when tributed with the likes on Cannon Soldier. Here is the website this is viewed: http://www.yuginewz.com/2011/10/lightpulsar-ftk-not-legal-revised-text.html
Second, the second waves of tins are released on Tuesday. This means two things: X-Sabers are Lightsworns/Twilight decks are less expensive, and everyone has access to Warnings and Fossil Dynas. Konami has made it easier for bad players to become good, somewhat. Warning is a card that requires skills and you have to negate the right card or you’re fucked.
Now on to my personal struggles with this card games. First, after not a lot of deliberation I’ve decided I won’t be gathering the cards for the Rescue Rabbit deck. My reasoning isn’t complex: 3 Rabbits + the dinosaur exceed monsters = lots of money. I don’t plan on drastically increasing my card game activities any time soon (hopefully I can when my next semester starts though). Therefore, paying a lot of money for cards I can’t use competitively is a huge waste. I would rather purchase three dark world structure decks (even though I would try and find Dark Smog). I need Tragoedias, Faders and possibly Dark Bribes for my random people I playtest with to use, plus I do get a deck (even if it’s not proven to be the best) and the decks won’t cost half as much as a playset of Rabbits.
Speaking of random people, for those who are unaware I have started to upload duel videos with the two people at my university who play the game: Random Person 1 and Random Person 2 are the newest members of SkillOverLuck (indirectly). They aren’t that experienced with Yu-Gi-Oh but they do play MTG which buffers them slightly. These players lie somewhere between Bobby, and the handful of players who consistently do well when competing in a local tournament (only Belleville players could fully appreciate the value of this statement). Fortunately, I’ve known these guys in the past, and we do get along quite well, so it’s not like these players are complete strangers. However they are serious about wanting to become more skilled. Our agreement was this: These random people help with duel videos, and I help them become better players. I create their decks with my cards and I teach them how to properly utilize the deck in its entirety. Eventually, we will start attending the Ottawa locals and any bigger tournaments that are possible.
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Intelligence and Skills aren't Enough for Children's Card Games
Just so all my readers know, I'm typing this blog post to brainstorm multiple ideas for multiple assignments. Nonetheless it is related to Yu-Gi-Oh. I apologize in advance if this post is all over the place.
As an introduction I will state the results of my Pulsar FTK deck on Dueling Network. I won 33 games and lost 5 games. Not bad statistics. I will come back to this later.
Currently, at my university, I have the highest marks in all my classes. I'll admit not too much has happened yet; only a few minor and major assignments. The real test for me is approaching swiftly. I have 1 midterm tomorrow and 4 next week. My goal is to get perfect grades on every single one.
I have numerous other skills as well. I'm a pretty good athlete in terms of specific sports. I have excellent business and detective skills. I have computer skills in certain areas. I'm also able to multitask excellently (I can do it better than anyone I know). For example, a few days ago I was texting with my left hand, typing an essay with my right hand, chatting with my girlfriend on Skype and playing on Dueling Network all at once (of course while I waited for my friend to text me back both my hands were on the keyboard typing away).
I hate to appear like I'm gloating but that's not my intention. I'm simply stating the facts about myself. I have fucking amazing skills and work habits which push me to excel in all my serious work-related affairs (university being a splendid example). Trust me though, my life is farther than perfect than you might thing (I'm not 100% happy with my life right now, putting it simply). Excluding the previous sentence what does all of this have to do with Yu-Gi-Oh? Simply put, intelligence has some bearing on how you perform but, at least this format, the biggest deciding factor is chance.
I'll talk about the intelligence factor first. It usually plays significant roles in how games can unfold. Activating Monster Reborn at the right time, for example, can either win or lose the game for you immediately.
That’s self-explanatory though. Luck is the biggest factor and sometimes it’s too much to handle. Opening with a garbage hand or a broken hand makes a difference. I will now discuss Pulsar FTK. This deck is absolutely luck-based. It is a very consistent deck but if you open poorly you will lose. You don’t even need the FTK sometimes if you can beat down your opponent quickly with Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. You can be the smartest person in the universe but if your opponent has the cards for the FTK, and you don’t have Veiler or Crow, you lose.
I’ll be honest. If I put the same amount of effort into this game that I do with university work, I would be a much better player (even though luck can still dominate occasionally). However I never will do that. I hate university because of the amount of work I have to put in to achieve the best results. If I put that same effort into Yu-Gi-Oh I would hate the game, therefore I will never do that.
As a side note, I’m starting to enjoy Pokemon more and more. The game still has a luck factor but it is nowhere near as ominous as the Yu-Gi-Oh luck factor. Pokemon is more based on skill and carefully-executed plays will reward the player. Yu-Gi-Oh had this a long time ago, but that horse long left the barn…
In conclusion, luck plays a large factor in Yu-Gi-Oh. It is completely possible to get better by learning not to make certain misplays and performing actions at the correct times. Skill and intelligence will only go so far though. Being the smartest person around won’t win you every tournament you attend.
As an introduction I will state the results of my Pulsar FTK deck on Dueling Network. I won 33 games and lost 5 games. Not bad statistics. I will come back to this later.
Currently, at my university, I have the highest marks in all my classes. I'll admit not too much has happened yet; only a few minor and major assignments. The real test for me is approaching swiftly. I have 1 midterm tomorrow and 4 next week. My goal is to get perfect grades on every single one.
I have numerous other skills as well. I'm a pretty good athlete in terms of specific sports. I have excellent business and detective skills. I have computer skills in certain areas. I'm also able to multitask excellently (I can do it better than anyone I know). For example, a few days ago I was texting with my left hand, typing an essay with my right hand, chatting with my girlfriend on Skype and playing on Dueling Network all at once (of course while I waited for my friend to text me back both my hands were on the keyboard typing away).
I hate to appear like I'm gloating but that's not my intention. I'm simply stating the facts about myself. I have fucking amazing skills and work habits which push me to excel in all my serious work-related affairs (university being a splendid example). Trust me though, my life is farther than perfect than you might thing (I'm not 100% happy with my life right now, putting it simply). Excluding the previous sentence what does all of this have to do with Yu-Gi-Oh? Simply put, intelligence has some bearing on how you perform but, at least this format, the biggest deciding factor is chance.
I'll talk about the intelligence factor first. It usually plays significant roles in how games can unfold. Activating Monster Reborn at the right time, for example, can either win or lose the game for you immediately.
That’s self-explanatory though. Luck is the biggest factor and sometimes it’s too much to handle. Opening with a garbage hand or a broken hand makes a difference. I will now discuss Pulsar FTK. This deck is absolutely luck-based. It is a very consistent deck but if you open poorly you will lose. You don’t even need the FTK sometimes if you can beat down your opponent quickly with Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. You can be the smartest person in the universe but if your opponent has the cards for the FTK, and you don’t have Veiler or Crow, you lose.
I’ll be honest. If I put the same amount of effort into this game that I do with university work, I would be a much better player (even though luck can still dominate occasionally). However I never will do that. I hate university because of the amount of work I have to put in to achieve the best results. If I put that same effort into Yu-Gi-Oh I would hate the game, therefore I will never do that.
As a side note, I’m starting to enjoy Pokemon more and more. The game still has a luck factor but it is nowhere near as ominous as the Yu-Gi-Oh luck factor. Pokemon is more based on skill and carefully-executed plays will reward the player. Yu-Gi-Oh had this a long time ago, but that horse long left the barn…
In conclusion, luck plays a large factor in Yu-Gi-Oh. It is completely possible to get better by learning not to make certain misplays and performing actions at the correct times. Skill and intelligence will only go so far though. Being the smartest person around won’t win you every tournament you attend.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Newest FTK
I was going to test my Monster Mash deck, I will in a few days like I planned but something urgent appeared before my eyes in the last hour...
Last format Fish FTK existed, and it was ok. It wasn't nearly as consistent as Frog FTK but it was a viabe option. However Konami is in the process of releasing a new card that introduces a new FTK. This FTK is approximately 12% more consistent than Fish FTK because of the multiple options of unleashing it. This is called... Light Pulsar Dragon FTK.
Light Pulsar Dragon: Light, Dragon, Lv 6, 2500 ATK, 1500 DEF. Effect: You can banish 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your graveyard; Special Summon this card from your hand. You can send 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your hand to your Graveyard; Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. If this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can target 1 Level 5 or higher DARK Dragon-type monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon that target.
Now let me explain the FTK for those who don't know it (it has been spreading around the internet a lot). Normal summon Cannon Soldier of Toon Cannon Soldier. Special summon Pulsar somehow while Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon is in your graveyard. Tribute the Pulsar with Cannon Soldier and burn for 500. Pulsar's effect can special summon REDMD. That will use its effect to summon Pulsar. tribute REDMD to burn for 500, then tribute Pulsar to burn for 500. Repeat the process a few more times and you win.
A factor about this deck that will attract the attention of many players from all skill players is the cost. Pulsar is coming out... in a structure deck!!! REDMD is supposed to be released in the same deck. Cannon Soldiers are easy to get and he rest of the deck is simple to gather.
There are multiple ways to perform this FTK:
1. Future Fusion:
- Dump an REDMD and other light and dark dragons while you have Cannon Soldier and Pulsar in hand.
- Dump a Pulsar and a REDMD while you have Cannon Soldier, a light and a second dark monster in hand.
2. Foolish Burial
- Dump Pulsar while you have REDMD, Cannon Soldier and a light monster in your hand.
3. Dragon Ravine
- Similar dumping tricks. I don't feel the need to repeat myself.
There are alternative combos that enable this FTK but it depends on what is in your hand. Players will play many draw cards like Upstart, Trade-In and Cards of Consonance in order to draw into the FTK.
What do players have to do now in order to fight this off? Main deck 3 Veilers and 3 Crows (possible 3 Maxx "C" to draw into those cards). I guess if players do that they have another excuse to splash BLS...
I made a build of this on DN and tested it out before writing this blog. I played 10 games and won 8. 80% isn't bad. I want to find a way to break this deck open more.
Basically Konami is getting worse with card design. This FTK is inexpensive and more broken that Dark World and Rescue Rabbit put together. I feel bad for OCG players because this FTK will be around for a few months unless a mid-format ban is approved. The TCG may not be able to use this in major tournaments because of the march 2012 ban list (the structure deck will likely be released close to this list).
Anyway, it's late at night but I felt the desperate need to blog about this. My next post will likely be on Monday. Discuss this and let me know your thoughts about Konami's most recent fuck up.
Last format Fish FTK existed, and it was ok. It wasn't nearly as consistent as Frog FTK but it was a viabe option. However Konami is in the process of releasing a new card that introduces a new FTK. This FTK is approximately 12% more consistent than Fish FTK because of the multiple options of unleashing it. This is called... Light Pulsar Dragon FTK.
Light Pulsar Dragon: Light, Dragon, Lv 6, 2500 ATK, 1500 DEF. Effect: You can banish 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your graveyard; Special Summon this card from your hand. You can send 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your hand to your Graveyard; Special Summon this card from your Graveyard. If this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can target 1 Level 5 or higher DARK Dragon-type monster from your Graveyard; Special Summon that target.
Now let me explain the FTK for those who don't know it (it has been spreading around the internet a lot). Normal summon Cannon Soldier of Toon Cannon Soldier. Special summon Pulsar somehow while Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon is in your graveyard. Tribute the Pulsar with Cannon Soldier and burn for 500. Pulsar's effect can special summon REDMD. That will use its effect to summon Pulsar. tribute REDMD to burn for 500, then tribute Pulsar to burn for 500. Repeat the process a few more times and you win.
A factor about this deck that will attract the attention of many players from all skill players is the cost. Pulsar is coming out... in a structure deck!!! REDMD is supposed to be released in the same deck. Cannon Soldiers are easy to get and he rest of the deck is simple to gather.
There are multiple ways to perform this FTK:
1. Future Fusion:
- Dump an REDMD and other light and dark dragons while you have Cannon Soldier and Pulsar in hand.
- Dump a Pulsar and a REDMD while you have Cannon Soldier, a light and a second dark monster in hand.
2. Foolish Burial
- Dump Pulsar while you have REDMD, Cannon Soldier and a light monster in your hand.
3. Dragon Ravine
- Similar dumping tricks. I don't feel the need to repeat myself.
There are alternative combos that enable this FTK but it depends on what is in your hand. Players will play many draw cards like Upstart, Trade-In and Cards of Consonance in order to draw into the FTK.
What do players have to do now in order to fight this off? Main deck 3 Veilers and 3 Crows (possible 3 Maxx "C" to draw into those cards). I guess if players do that they have another excuse to splash BLS...
I made a build of this on DN and tested it out before writing this blog. I played 10 games and won 8. 80% isn't bad. I want to find a way to break this deck open more.
Basically Konami is getting worse with card design. This FTK is inexpensive and more broken that Dark World and Rescue Rabbit put together. I feel bad for OCG players because this FTK will be around for a few months unless a mid-format ban is approved. The TCG may not be able to use this in major tournaments because of the march 2012 ban list (the structure deck will likely be released close to this list).
Anyway, it's late at night but I felt the desperate need to blog about this. My next post will likely be on Monday. Discuss this and let me know your thoughts about Konami's most recent fuck up.
Monster Mayhem!
Last night someone brought to my attention Morphing Jar 2. I didn't know the complete rulings about the card but I researched it and figured it out. This card sparked an idea for a deck; a deck I toyed with around a year ago... Monster Mash!
This particular build will be running 3 Morphing Jar 2 because it summons a lot of monsters. This build however will have to focus on lv 4 and lower monsters in the main board if I'm going to run 3 Morphing Jar 2.
The deck will run only a few spells and traps because I don't want to be milling them with my 3 Morphing Jar 2. However Morphing Jar 2 will force the opponent to send important spells and traps (possibly monsters) to the graveyard which is excellent.
Once I finish all my homework in the next couple of days I will build this deck and test it on DN. I believe this deck as potential if built properly. Anyway it will be a few days before I get an results with the deck but I will keep everyone posted.
I'm pretty much done today's post. I don't have a lot of spare time to get into much detail. Good luck to all my hometown players at the tournament who read this!
This particular build will be running 3 Morphing Jar 2 because it summons a lot of monsters. This build however will have to focus on lv 4 and lower monsters in the main board if I'm going to run 3 Morphing Jar 2.
The deck will run only a few spells and traps because I don't want to be milling them with my 3 Morphing Jar 2. However Morphing Jar 2 will force the opponent to send important spells and traps (possibly monsters) to the graveyard which is excellent.
Once I finish all my homework in the next couple of days I will build this deck and test it on DN. I believe this deck as potential if built properly. Anyway it will be a few days before I get an results with the deck but I will keep everyone posted.
I'm pretty much done today's post. I don't have a lot of spare time to get into much detail. Good luck to all my hometown players at the tournament who read this!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Financial Magnets and Repellants
Someone wanted me to blog about the financial aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh. I have spoken my opinion on this multiple times. By now I'm sure every player which a brain realizes that Yu-Gi-Oh is the most expensive competitive card game, especially in the TCG.
The prices of cards in the OCG are in some cases unfairly lower than in the TCG. Take Pot of Duality for example (it's one of the best examples). When this card was released in Japan it wasn't released at a high rarity and the price for a playset was reasonable. When Duality first hit the TCG the card was already more expensive than in the OCG ($40). However after a decent amount of time passed it became a $200 card in the TCG. That's clearly an unjustice.
My theory is Konami doesn't realize the potential certain cards have when they are designed. Once an over-used card is released in the OCG Konami will realize that and hit the TCG with the same card at a higher rarity with a ridiculous price. Consider this: Cards that are released in the TCG first won't surpass $40 upon their release. After a few months the price of an exclusive card either goes down because no one plays it, or rise in financial value because it is over-used (Tour Guide from the Underworld...). This is similar to what happens in Japan.
Recently Konami hit a rough spot financially. Since Konami is a business they need to fabricate methods of making money. How did they do this? Massive amounts of reprints; of good cards. These products include the 2011 tins, Turbo Pack 6, Gold Series 4 and Legendary Collection 2. Is it convenient that Konami changed the wordings of cards at this point in the universe as an excuse to reprint an enormous collection of excellent cards...
This next example was discussed on Facebook yesterday and I will relay it here in more details. The Dark World structure deck is to be released in literally a few days. Konami is intelligent because they are going to make money by allowing players to access a Tier 1 deck by buying 3 of the structure decks. However the players of Europe will be likely to buy this deck much more than the North American players because of one card; Tragoedia. In North American this card was released in the Shonen Jump (therefore easy to get) and as a turbo pack ultimate rare (therefore not-so-easy to get). Europeans don't get the Shonen Jump. This implies that the easiest way for European players to get Tragoedia is to pull it in a turbo pack... Konami is specifically releasing Tragoedia in this deck so the Europeans will have another reason to buy this deck. Also Konami put Tragoedia to 2 in the latest ban list. Coincidence...
Konami uses every dirty trick they can in order to make some profits. This is the reason this card game is still going, and will continue for a long, long time. Konami makes insane amounts of profit off of this one game. Any competitive player unfortunately has to put up with this or quit. I would go into more detail but I'm in class right now... I know pretty much everything about this topic, or at least have good assumptions. If there is anything you are unsure of ask me. I will respond to it in some way, even if it means creating a follow-up post. This is a serious issue after all.
The prices of cards in the OCG are in some cases unfairly lower than in the TCG. Take Pot of Duality for example (it's one of the best examples). When this card was released in Japan it wasn't released at a high rarity and the price for a playset was reasonable. When Duality first hit the TCG the card was already more expensive than in the OCG ($40). However after a decent amount of time passed it became a $200 card in the TCG. That's clearly an unjustice.
My theory is Konami doesn't realize the potential certain cards have when they are designed. Once an over-used card is released in the OCG Konami will realize that and hit the TCG with the same card at a higher rarity with a ridiculous price. Consider this: Cards that are released in the TCG first won't surpass $40 upon their release. After a few months the price of an exclusive card either goes down because no one plays it, or rise in financial value because it is over-used (Tour Guide from the Underworld...). This is similar to what happens in Japan.
Recently Konami hit a rough spot financially. Since Konami is a business they need to fabricate methods of making money. How did they do this? Massive amounts of reprints; of good cards. These products include the 2011 tins, Turbo Pack 6, Gold Series 4 and Legendary Collection 2. Is it convenient that Konami changed the wordings of cards at this point in the universe as an excuse to reprint an enormous collection of excellent cards...
This next example was discussed on Facebook yesterday and I will relay it here in more details. The Dark World structure deck is to be released in literally a few days. Konami is intelligent because they are going to make money by allowing players to access a Tier 1 deck by buying 3 of the structure decks. However the players of Europe will be likely to buy this deck much more than the North American players because of one card; Tragoedia. In North American this card was released in the Shonen Jump (therefore easy to get) and as a turbo pack ultimate rare (therefore not-so-easy to get). Europeans don't get the Shonen Jump. This implies that the easiest way for European players to get Tragoedia is to pull it in a turbo pack... Konami is specifically releasing Tragoedia in this deck so the Europeans will have another reason to buy this deck. Also Konami put Tragoedia to 2 in the latest ban list. Coincidence...
Konami uses every dirty trick they can in order to make some profits. This is the reason this card game is still going, and will continue for a long, long time. Konami makes insane amounts of profit off of this one game. Any competitive player unfortunately has to put up with this or quit. I would go into more detail but I'm in class right now... I know pretty much everything about this topic, or at least have good assumptions. If there is anything you are unsure of ask me. I will respond to it in some way, even if it means creating a follow-up post. This is a serious issue after all.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Impact of Photon Shockwave.
The time is quickly approaching. A new 100 card set will be introduced into the TCG. We know the majority of the cards that will be released. There are two things about this set which I will dedicate to this post, because they definitely deserve to be known.
1. Wind-up Zenmaines
Basically this card is a crazier version of Gachi-Gachi Gantestu. This TCG-exclusive will most likely be released as a secret rare because of its impact. It will be in every good player's deck if lv 3 monsters can be spammed. Wait, I forgot to mention Tour Guide...
2. Rescue Rabbit --> Another type of deck.
By the time this set is released, the big decks in the format will be Plants, Fairies and Dark World. Rescue Rabbit has had no problem topping many tournaments in Japan and the Japanese don't have Tour Guides... to summon Leviair... to have easier access to rabbit spam... A few builds are centered around this card and a few others can tech this card (Gladiator Beasts, X-Sabers and Heroes). Konami will probably make this card a secret rare as well so players have to spend insane amounts of money to receive a playset...
This is pretty much it. I only wrote this because someone asked me to and I'm leaving my topics for the most part up to my readers at this point in time. Basically he wanted my opinion on how this set will influence the TCG. The above 2 cards will influence the TCG the most, especially Rabbit. Of course I will do a more detailed analysis of the set as we approach it.
1. Wind-up Zenmaines
Basically this card is a crazier version of Gachi-Gachi Gantestu. This TCG-exclusive will most likely be released as a secret rare because of its impact. It will be in every good player's deck if lv 3 monsters can be spammed. Wait, I forgot to mention Tour Guide...
2. Rescue Rabbit --> Another type of deck.
By the time this set is released, the big decks in the format will be Plants, Fairies and Dark World. Rescue Rabbit has had no problem topping many tournaments in Japan and the Japanese don't have Tour Guides... to summon Leviair... to have easier access to rabbit spam... A few builds are centered around this card and a few others can tech this card (Gladiator Beasts, X-Sabers and Heroes). Konami will probably make this card a secret rare as well so players have to spend insane amounts of money to receive a playset...
This is pretty much it. I only wrote this because someone asked me to and I'm leaving my topics for the most part up to my readers at this point in time. Basically he wanted my opinion on how this set will influence the TCG. The above 2 cards will influence the TCG the most, especially Rabbit. Of course I will do a more detailed analysis of the set as we approach it.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Why I Haven't Been Blogging Lately
Hello everyone. The title is self-explanatory and this is what today’s post is all about.
I’ve been in university for my first month now. The workload has been more intimidating then I initially suspected. Possibly this is because I’m trying to maintain my 100% overall average and I’m overdoing all my schoolwork to achieve this milestone. I am putting 30 hours of study in every week…
Another reason I’m not blogging is simply because I’m not really feeling it. I’m 3 hours away from my friends, family and girl-counterpart. I haven’t quite managed to overcome this reality and it’s dragging me down quite a bit. Anthropologists call this “culture shock”; disorientation caused from a significant change in surroundings. My anthropology professor said during the very first class that this disorientation caused from moving cities and school systems doesn’t normally last more than a month. It’s been a month so hopefully I will overcome this quickly.
Moving into the Yu-Gi-Oh aspect of this post, my activity in this game has significantly decreased past a degree I didn’t think existed. From what I gathered the only locals in Ottawa is an hour away from me which complicates things. I currently spend 95% of my very limited Yu-Gi-Oh time on dueling network which is usually quite grueling. I managed to find two players at my university though. Unfortunately I have a completely different schedule from them and they aren’t exactly skilled players. They don’t have an extensive collection of good cards either. They are awesome people but annoying at the same time. Hopefully I can get duel videos up with these people soon. I’m considering building two decks at a time so these guys have a really decent deck when paying me on the camera. I could just lend them an extra deck and certain good cards I may not be using at the time. I have yet to decide.
Anyway I haven’t thought of anything that personally touches me enough to blog about. However if you readers have topics you want my thoughts about let me know and I will discuss them in some way.
I think that’s all for today.
Monday, September 26, 2011
What's the deal with Six Samurai and Lightsworn?
Sorry I haven't written anything for a week. I've been really busy...
There were no Six Samurai or Lightsworn decks in the top 32 of YCS Toronto. It's a little surprising. Lightsworns have the ability to summon multiple devastating boss monsters. Six Samurai decks can still explode and if they do victory is followed almost always. So what happened?
Lightsworn decks are based on chance. If you mill the right cards you win and if you don't you lose. It's really that simple. It would appear chance wasn't favoured towards Lightsworn that weekend.
Six Samurai decks lost a little bit consistency with the limiting of Smoke Signal. Limiting Shi En also hurt the deck possibly more than people realized because once its gone its gone. However I believe this deck is 10 times better than Lightsworn. It did come in the top 4 of YCS Ecuador which proves the deck still has a fighting chance.
That's all for today!
Mario
There were no Six Samurai or Lightsworn decks in the top 32 of YCS Toronto. It's a little surprising. Lightsworns have the ability to summon multiple devastating boss monsters. Six Samurai decks can still explode and if they do victory is followed almost always. So what happened?
Lightsworn decks are based on chance. If you mill the right cards you win and if you don't you lose. It's really that simple. It would appear chance wasn't favoured towards Lightsworn that weekend.
Six Samurai decks lost a little bit consistency with the limiting of Smoke Signal. Limiting Shi En also hurt the deck possibly more than people realized because once its gone its gone. However I believe this deck is 10 times better than Lightsworn. It did come in the top 4 of YCS Ecuador which proves the deck still has a fighting chance.
That's all for today!
Mario
Monday, September 19, 2011
Summary of my Yu-Gi-Oh Weekend and YCS Toronto and Ecuador
Well I attempted to go to a Locals in Ottawa this saturday. When I realized it was an hour away from where I was I got a little depressed. Actually getting out of bed at 10:30 didn't help either. I will eventually attend the Ottawa locals and soon do it regularly once I finalize bus routes.
Anyway I played 5 games on DN with my Frog Fairies and surprisingly I witnessed no faulty rulings or game mechanics. I think that was a first...
Now moving onto YCS Toronto... PLANTS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLANT-GASM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said at the conclusion of the last format that Plants will still be an excellent deck. Most people (and skilled people as well) on other blogs and Youtube videos have confessed that they believe Plants are lacklustre this format. I knew they were still great and look what happened... I WAS RIGHT!!!! Certain players will (or are already) scratching their heads attempting to figure this out and it isn't hard. Plants are still excellent, otherwise 5 Plant decks wouldn't have made the Top 16.
Outside of the Plant world 8 Fairy decks were in the top 16. 50% is quite the statistic but who can be surprised in reality. Every skilled player saw this happening because Fairies are obviously tier 1. The other 3 deck spots consisted of T.G., Karakuri and Hero/Light Beat. I guess those decks will be other blog topics for other upcoming days.
In YCS Ecuador T.G. Agents came first. The other decks in the top 4 were Six Samurai, Frog Monarchs and Twilight. Again, more blog topics.
That's all for today. My next few blog posts will be entered around these 2 tournaments along with the decks used and unused.
Mario
Anyway I played 5 games on DN with my Frog Fairies and surprisingly I witnessed no faulty rulings or game mechanics. I think that was a first...
Now moving onto YCS Toronto... PLANTS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLANT-GASM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said at the conclusion of the last format that Plants will still be an excellent deck. Most people (and skilled people as well) on other blogs and Youtube videos have confessed that they believe Plants are lacklustre this format. I knew they were still great and look what happened... I WAS RIGHT!!!! Certain players will (or are already) scratching their heads attempting to figure this out and it isn't hard. Plants are still excellent, otherwise 5 Plant decks wouldn't have made the Top 16.
Outside of the Plant world 8 Fairy decks were in the top 16. 50% is quite the statistic but who can be surprised in reality. Every skilled player saw this happening because Fairies are obviously tier 1. The other 3 deck spots consisted of T.G., Karakuri and Hero/Light Beat. I guess those decks will be other blog topics for other upcoming days.
In YCS Ecuador T.G. Agents came first. The other decks in the top 4 were Six Samurai, Frog Monarchs and Twilight. Again, more blog topics.
That's all for today. My next few blog posts will be entered around these 2 tournaments along with the decks used and unused.
Mario
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Yu-gi-oh in Canada
Between September 2010 and August 2011 only one significant event occured and that was YCS Toronto. Every other YCS and significant event took place in the United States. On the weekend this year's YCS Toronto will begin but it will conclude and players will probably have to wait extensively until something else occurs in Canada.
The fact that the United States buries Canada in competitive play is depressing. I'm unsure why Konami has decided to create this particular injustice. Canada doesn't even have Duel Terminals...
Perhaps the reason is because Konami's main headquarters is somewhere in the United States, or because the United States is a little bigger than Canada. Possibly it is because the player turnouts in the United States are higher than in Canada.
Regardless of the above theories Konami is making this card game harder on Canadian players who want to be more competitive. The players in Toronto have it a little better. What about the players though that are cities or provinces away? I wonder what players in British Columbia or Newfoundland think about this...
Just something for Canadian players to think about.
Mario
The fact that the United States buries Canada in competitive play is depressing. I'm unsure why Konami has decided to create this particular injustice. Canada doesn't even have Duel Terminals...
Perhaps the reason is because Konami's main headquarters is somewhere in the United States, or because the United States is a little bigger than Canada. Possibly it is because the player turnouts in the United States are higher than in Canada.
Regardless of the above theories Konami is making this card game harder on Canadian players who want to be more competitive. The players in Toronto have it a little better. What about the players though that are cities or provinces away? I wonder what players in British Columbia or Newfoundland think about this...
Just something for Canadian players to think about.
Mario
Monday, September 12, 2011
Everyone Starts Somewhere
All of today's greatest players had to have started somewhere. They didn't master the game immediately after buying and playing their first competitive deck. Similar to almost everything else, becoming great at Yu-Gi-Oh requires diligence and determination. Becoming knowledgeable of cards, the most popular decks and rulings is the first step. Building decks and experimenting different options is the second step to greatness. The final step is to broaden your horizons and challenge as many people as possible. These three steps will create the path to success in this children's card game.
Increasing overall knowledge of any particular subject is definitely favourable and provides positive results. In Yu-Gi-Oh there is an expanding variety of cards. Becoming familiar with the card's effects, along with their strengths and weaknesses, will increase your knowledge of the game. From there you can assess that card's usefulness. You can concur how to combat it and how to properly utilize it if you wish. As well as researching individual cards, researching the most popular decks of the current format is crucial. You must know what you will be fighting against so you can properly defend and adjust all aspects of your deck accordingly. Finally, you must recognize and master all of the rulings. Creating a misplay because your ruling is incorrect can cost you a game or match. Being able to recognize and call out an opponent's misplay because of an incorrect ruling not only enables you to look intelligent but it can also win the game. A bad player will only research minimal cards, popular decks and rulings. This player will barely grow in comparison to someone who researches many cards, popular decks and rulings. Once knowledge off cards and decks is obtained creating a deck is the next step.
You cannot properly utilize a deck unless you are familiar with all of the deck's strategies and cards. Once you do you can focus on investing the money and time towards creating your own deck. At the beginning phases netdecking can be acceptable. Working from a deck template is not bad at the beginning. Once you master the template you should change the deck around to experiment other cards. Experience grows with the number of cards and strategies you try. Once the main and extra decks are completed the side deck is next and very important. The side deck is like Batman's utility belt. It carries defence and option to get around or defeat a particular problem. With a greater knowledge of cards you can build a greater side deck. After a while you should look into building a new deck to increase your experience, and then another, and then another. As you consistently experiment decks and strategies your experience and knowledge will increase and make you a better player. A bad player will only ever build 3 or 4 decks (if that) in a two year period for example. A good player will constantly experiment decks and strategies. Once a deck is made challenging more and more people is essential.
A player can only accumulate so much experience by battling the same people repeatedly. You must battle more players to gain more experience faster. Moving to a different city, attending an official Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, or even playing on Dueling Network enables you to battle different players. Different players have different skill levels and by playing different players you will eventually meet really skilled players who will give you an enjoyable, yet challenging match. This type of experience is golden and can primarily be achieved by travelling distances and playing different people. A bad player will only challenge people in their city and that's all. Good players will also constantly play these people but must also travel and challenge others.
This is the path that leads to greatness in Yu-Gi-Oh. Obtaining card, deck and ruling knowledge is the first step. Building decks is second and challenging many different players is the final step. Following these steps diligently will definitely increase your capabilities regarding this children's card game. These steps do work and hopefully you follow these steps as well, or will now start to follow them.
Mario
Increasing overall knowledge of any particular subject is definitely favourable and provides positive results. In Yu-Gi-Oh there is an expanding variety of cards. Becoming familiar with the card's effects, along with their strengths and weaknesses, will increase your knowledge of the game. From there you can assess that card's usefulness. You can concur how to combat it and how to properly utilize it if you wish. As well as researching individual cards, researching the most popular decks of the current format is crucial. You must know what you will be fighting against so you can properly defend and adjust all aspects of your deck accordingly. Finally, you must recognize and master all of the rulings. Creating a misplay because your ruling is incorrect can cost you a game or match. Being able to recognize and call out an opponent's misplay because of an incorrect ruling not only enables you to look intelligent but it can also win the game. A bad player will only research minimal cards, popular decks and rulings. This player will barely grow in comparison to someone who researches many cards, popular decks and rulings. Once knowledge off cards and decks is obtained creating a deck is the next step.
You cannot properly utilize a deck unless you are familiar with all of the deck's strategies and cards. Once you do you can focus on investing the money and time towards creating your own deck. At the beginning phases netdecking can be acceptable. Working from a deck template is not bad at the beginning. Once you master the template you should change the deck around to experiment other cards. Experience grows with the number of cards and strategies you try. Once the main and extra decks are completed the side deck is next and very important. The side deck is like Batman's utility belt. It carries defence and option to get around or defeat a particular problem. With a greater knowledge of cards you can build a greater side deck. After a while you should look into building a new deck to increase your experience, and then another, and then another. As you consistently experiment decks and strategies your experience and knowledge will increase and make you a better player. A bad player will only ever build 3 or 4 decks (if that) in a two year period for example. A good player will constantly experiment decks and strategies. Once a deck is made challenging more and more people is essential.
A player can only accumulate so much experience by battling the same people repeatedly. You must battle more players to gain more experience faster. Moving to a different city, attending an official Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, or even playing on Dueling Network enables you to battle different players. Different players have different skill levels and by playing different players you will eventually meet really skilled players who will give you an enjoyable, yet challenging match. This type of experience is golden and can primarily be achieved by travelling distances and playing different people. A bad player will only challenge people in their city and that's all. Good players will also constantly play these people but must also travel and challenge others.
This is the path that leads to greatness in Yu-Gi-Oh. Obtaining card, deck and ruling knowledge is the first step. Building decks is second and challenging many different players is the final step. Following these steps diligently will definitely increase your capabilities regarding this children's card game. These steps do work and hopefully you follow these steps as well, or will now start to follow them.
Mario
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tournament Report for September 10, 2011
Today I was still in Belleville for the day so I attended my Locals. I made it count because it will definitely be my final one for a while. There were 23 people which is large compared to the usual size so I was happy my last Locals was a bigger one. I played my new innovative deck today: Frog Fairies. This is my summary:
Round 1: vs Bobby (aka fucking retard who I want to kill and then rip into 2834 pieces) - X-sabers (with 3 Peten the Dark Clown...): 2-0
The fucking asshole borrowed the fucking x-sabers again and at the beginning of the tournament proclaimed his victory because he was allowed to borrow a Naturia Barkion... Game one I didn't damage him for a while because he opened with 2 Saber Hole and a Solemn Judgment. I allowed him to over-extend and then I destroyed his entire field and then I won two turns later. Game two I got tired with him really quickly so I beat him down with BLS and Hyperion. As a side note he believes Effect Veiler cannot negate XX-Sabers Gottoms... He should seriously vanish from the face of the earth...
Round 2: vs Josh - Dark Simorgh Beatdown: 2-0
Game one he set-up Simorgh with Anti-Spell Fragrance rather quickly. Unfortunately that didn't do too much because I only play 7 spells and no traps. When I reduced his spell/trap defense to nothing I swarmed with Hyperion and Kristya. Game two he scooped because I opened with Venus and Gachi-Gachi first turn. Then he completely dropped...
Round 3: vs Andrew - Machines: 2-0
Both games I basically drew enough to keep control. I heard that before and I think it makes sense. Enemy Controller did wonders at the game two taking his big Chimeratech Overdragon.
Round 4: vs Nick - Blackwings: 2-0
Game one I simply outplayed him although he did do a lot of damage with Blackwing shenanigans. Game two he went first but my opening hand was a Herald of Orange Light, MST, Smashing Ground and 3 Mystical Shine Balls. Thankfully I drew Kristya right when all four fairies were in the grave. That shut him down immediately and slowly I won. He didn't touch my Kristya the entire game. He did drop me down to 100 life points by the end of it. It was a really good game in my opinion.
Round 5: vs Bushman (It's a nickname) - Lightsworn: 2-0
Both games I had Herald of Orange Light to deal with his Judgment Dragons. He couldn't deal with LADDs and Kristyas so I won.
The top 4 was determined at the end of round 5 and I was the only undefeated player in the top 4. I felt special.
Round 6: vs Mason - Mystic Piper Deck: 2-1
I won game one with enemy controller and a couple of boss monsters. Game two he won because he blew me away with Caius, BLS and something else. I ran out of answers to deal with it interesting. Game three I killed his BLS when he summoned it early-game. I brought it back and took him for a ride with it. I won that game because of it. I also stalled him a little bit because I summoned 2 Gachi-Gachi Gantestu. It's a really good card.
Round 7: vs Jordan - Six Samurai: 2-1
Game one I went first, summoned Tour Guide which helped me get a little advantage going. He did summon Shi En first turn with a Grandmaster and Kizan to support it. I summoned Gorz and beat through all his monsters and he didn't draw a single out to it the entire time. Game two he completely exploded first turn. I held out for a little bit but it wasn't enough. Game three we both drew shitty hands and brought me down to 900 life points before I could damage him. Then I drew a Kristya with a Hyperion and Heavy Storm in my hand. I broke his field that turn and won on my next turn.
I came first winning $45 store credit which pays for legendary Collection 2 when it is released. I probably won't be in Belleville until it's released though.
Mario
Round 1: vs Bobby (aka fucking retard who I want to kill and then rip into 2834 pieces) - X-sabers (with 3 Peten the Dark Clown...): 2-0
The fucking asshole borrowed the fucking x-sabers again and at the beginning of the tournament proclaimed his victory because he was allowed to borrow a Naturia Barkion... Game one I didn't damage him for a while because he opened with 2 Saber Hole and a Solemn Judgment. I allowed him to over-extend and then I destroyed his entire field and then I won two turns later. Game two I got tired with him really quickly so I beat him down with BLS and Hyperion. As a side note he believes Effect Veiler cannot negate XX-Sabers Gottoms... He should seriously vanish from the face of the earth...
Round 2: vs Josh - Dark Simorgh Beatdown: 2-0
Game one he set-up Simorgh with Anti-Spell Fragrance rather quickly. Unfortunately that didn't do too much because I only play 7 spells and no traps. When I reduced his spell/trap defense to nothing I swarmed with Hyperion and Kristya. Game two he scooped because I opened with Venus and Gachi-Gachi first turn. Then he completely dropped...
Round 3: vs Andrew - Machines: 2-0
Both games I basically drew enough to keep control. I heard that before and I think it makes sense. Enemy Controller did wonders at the game two taking his big Chimeratech Overdragon.
Round 4: vs Nick - Blackwings: 2-0
Game one I simply outplayed him although he did do a lot of damage with Blackwing shenanigans. Game two he went first but my opening hand was a Herald of Orange Light, MST, Smashing Ground and 3 Mystical Shine Balls. Thankfully I drew Kristya right when all four fairies were in the grave. That shut him down immediately and slowly I won. He didn't touch my Kristya the entire game. He did drop me down to 100 life points by the end of it. It was a really good game in my opinion.
Round 5: vs Bushman (It's a nickname) - Lightsworn: 2-0
Both games I had Herald of Orange Light to deal with his Judgment Dragons. He couldn't deal with LADDs and Kristyas so I won.
The top 4 was determined at the end of round 5 and I was the only undefeated player in the top 4. I felt special.
Round 6: vs Mason - Mystic Piper Deck: 2-1
I won game one with enemy controller and a couple of boss monsters. Game two he won because he blew me away with Caius, BLS and something else. I ran out of answers to deal with it interesting. Game three I killed his BLS when he summoned it early-game. I brought it back and took him for a ride with it. I won that game because of it. I also stalled him a little bit because I summoned 2 Gachi-Gachi Gantestu. It's a really good card.
Round 7: vs Jordan - Six Samurai: 2-1
Game one I went first, summoned Tour Guide which helped me get a little advantage going. He did summon Shi En first turn with a Grandmaster and Kizan to support it. I summoned Gorz and beat through all his monsters and he didn't draw a single out to it the entire time. Game two he completely exploded first turn. I held out for a little bit but it wasn't enough. Game three we both drew shitty hands and brought me down to 900 life points before I could damage him. Then I drew a Kristya with a Hyperion and Heavy Storm in my hand. I broke his field that turn and won on my next turn.
I came first winning $45 store credit which pays for legendary Collection 2 when it is released. I probably won't be in Belleville until it's released though.
Mario
Friday, September 9, 2011
My Views on Solemn Warning
Today I will be discussing this card because it has come to my attention that it will be reprinted in November. For the record, I did see this coming because of all the latest reprints. Anyway, is Solemn Warning a good card to utilize this format?
I've heard the entire spectrum of good player's views on this card viewing website after website and actually going on Youtube... since I can do it so freely now!!!! I'm going to be completely honest it's not a bad a card but it's definitely not as good as last format.
Solemn Warning is a card completely associated with chance this format. You can pay 2000 life points to negate a potentially important summon but then face a BLS with no defense. However will your opponent always have BLS at that moment or draw it later during the game? It is only 1 out of 40 cards. Don't forget with MST at 3 the opportunity to use a Warning may not exist because it will constantly be destroyed. Solemn Warning is best this format against decks that cannot effectively include multiple bosses. Decks like those are Gladiator Beasts and Gravekeepers for example.
I have currently constructed a deck that doesn't use Solemn Warnings but can punish players who do use Solemn Warnings. The deck punishes players that play multiple boss monsters while I myself have 10 boss monsters. Finally my deck isn't completely annihilated by 3 MST and Heavy Storm. I believe it is the deck I will take to YCS Toronto if I attend and the deck I will take to Belleville Locals tomorrow if I attend (I don't think I will anymore but it's still a possibility). Hopefully I can go tomorrow just to playtest this deck with actual players and not the online trash of Dueling Network. I originally was going to use 2 Warnings in the deck but I removed them for two boss monsters that do more positive for my deck that I initially imagined.
In conclusion I think Solemn Warning can be included if it fits without a problem in the main deck because it still does stuff and can still win games. I would side out at least one game 2 though.
Mario
I've heard the entire spectrum of good player's views on this card viewing website after website and actually going on Youtube... since I can do it so freely now!!!! I'm going to be completely honest it's not a bad a card but it's definitely not as good as last format.
Solemn Warning is a card completely associated with chance this format. You can pay 2000 life points to negate a potentially important summon but then face a BLS with no defense. However will your opponent always have BLS at that moment or draw it later during the game? It is only 1 out of 40 cards. Don't forget with MST at 3 the opportunity to use a Warning may not exist because it will constantly be destroyed. Solemn Warning is best this format against decks that cannot effectively include multiple bosses. Decks like those are Gladiator Beasts and Gravekeepers for example.
I have currently constructed a deck that doesn't use Solemn Warnings but can punish players who do use Solemn Warnings. The deck punishes players that play multiple boss monsters while I myself have 10 boss monsters. Finally my deck isn't completely annihilated by 3 MST and Heavy Storm. I believe it is the deck I will take to YCS Toronto if I attend and the deck I will take to Belleville Locals tomorrow if I attend (I don't think I will anymore but it's still a possibility). Hopefully I can go tomorrow just to playtest this deck with actual players and not the online trash of Dueling Network. I originally was going to use 2 Warnings in the deck but I removed them for two boss monsters that do more positive for my deck that I initially imagined.
In conclusion I think Solemn Warning can be included if it fits without a problem in the main deck because it still does stuff and can still win games. I would side out at least one game 2 though.
Mario
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Predictions for YCS Toronto 2011
This may be a bit early but I want my predictions out of the way before everyone else. This is the first major tournament of the format meaning that the current strongest decks of the TCG will be identified. Players will either take popular decks and attempt to top or create innovative decks and attempt to top. Anyway these are my deck predictions for this tournament. I believe these decks will see the most play and achieve the highest results:
Agents: This deck won Worlds and wasn't touched by the ban list in a negative way. 3 Hyperions and 2 Kristyas are enough to destroy most other decks. If players choose to implement Tour Guides, Sangan, Gorz, Tragoedia and BLS then the deck has more options and more destructive plays. Personally I think the chaos version of this deck will see more play simply because BLS, Gorz and Tragoedia are extremely good this format.
Lightsworn: People will play this deck because Judgment Dragon is at 3 and is therefore easier to summon. Including BLS, DAD, 2 Necro Gardnas, 2 Tragoedias, Gorz, Tour Guides and Sangan shifts the deck to a more explosive build but reduces the consistency of the deck. People will play this because of all the powerhouses the deck can summon. It is an extremely luck-based deck though.
Six Samurai: The deck wasn't hit too hard by the ban list. The deck can still summon first turn Shi En, Naturia Beast or Barkion. Gateway and United are still around to gather advantage. I believe this deck will see as much play as last format.
Frog Monarchs: Pure Frog Monarchs existed a while ago before Fishborg and Formula were implemented. I believe this deck will see some play simply because it is unaffected by 3 MST and Heavy Storm.
Tech Genus: This deck has seen some decent play in the OCG currently this format and I believe this pattern will stretch into the TCG. Oppression is banned but the rest of the deck is viable. Players can just tech in Starlight Road and Dark Bribe if they are concerned about Heavy Storm.
Gravekeepers: First turn Royal Tribute still exists and this deck is the most auto-pilot deck of them all. It will continue to see play regardless of Heavy Storm's existence.
Gladiator Beasts: This deck always (without exception) sees play at the beginning of every format. It is a good deck and at least 1 person will top with it at YCS Toronto.
Blackwings: Just re-read the explanation for Gladiator Beasts. Don't forget Icarus Attack is at 3 now.
X-Sabers: This deck wasn't negatively hit by the ban list so it will thrive. The deck has lots of searching power and explosive plays.
Machina Gadgets (Xyz): This deck is capable of swarming rank 4 Exceed monsters as well as 3 Machina Fortress. Even though MST is at 3 the deck will still be played.
Plants: This is my final deck predictions. Plants may have gotten hurt by the ban list but were not injured. The deck can still explode like mad with one Librarian, one Avarice, one Lonefire and one Debris Dragon. Plant players have to be more conservative and less reckless because of one Avarice. The deck is still a definite option.
These are my deck predictions. Personally I am unsure if I am attending because of university. However if I do attend I will play Plants, Fairies, Six Samurais or Frog Monarchs.
Mario
Agents: This deck won Worlds and wasn't touched by the ban list in a negative way. 3 Hyperions and 2 Kristyas are enough to destroy most other decks. If players choose to implement Tour Guides, Sangan, Gorz, Tragoedia and BLS then the deck has more options and more destructive plays. Personally I think the chaos version of this deck will see more play simply because BLS, Gorz and Tragoedia are extremely good this format.
Lightsworn: People will play this deck because Judgment Dragon is at 3 and is therefore easier to summon. Including BLS, DAD, 2 Necro Gardnas, 2 Tragoedias, Gorz, Tour Guides and Sangan shifts the deck to a more explosive build but reduces the consistency of the deck. People will play this because of all the powerhouses the deck can summon. It is an extremely luck-based deck though.
Six Samurai: The deck wasn't hit too hard by the ban list. The deck can still summon first turn Shi En, Naturia Beast or Barkion. Gateway and United are still around to gather advantage. I believe this deck will see as much play as last format.
Frog Monarchs: Pure Frog Monarchs existed a while ago before Fishborg and Formula were implemented. I believe this deck will see some play simply because it is unaffected by 3 MST and Heavy Storm.
Tech Genus: This deck has seen some decent play in the OCG currently this format and I believe this pattern will stretch into the TCG. Oppression is banned but the rest of the deck is viable. Players can just tech in Starlight Road and Dark Bribe if they are concerned about Heavy Storm.
Gravekeepers: First turn Royal Tribute still exists and this deck is the most auto-pilot deck of them all. It will continue to see play regardless of Heavy Storm's existence.
Gladiator Beasts: This deck always (without exception) sees play at the beginning of every format. It is a good deck and at least 1 person will top with it at YCS Toronto.
Blackwings: Just re-read the explanation for Gladiator Beasts. Don't forget Icarus Attack is at 3 now.
X-Sabers: This deck wasn't negatively hit by the ban list so it will thrive. The deck has lots of searching power and explosive plays.
Machina Gadgets (Xyz): This deck is capable of swarming rank 4 Exceed monsters as well as 3 Machina Fortress. Even though MST is at 3 the deck will still be played.
Plants: This is my final deck predictions. Plants may have gotten hurt by the ban list but were not injured. The deck can still explode like mad with one Librarian, one Avarice, one Lonefire and one Debris Dragon. Plant players have to be more conservative and less reckless because of one Avarice. The deck is still a definite option.
These are my deck predictions. Personally I am unsure if I am attending because of university. However if I do attend I will play Plants, Fairies, Six Samurais or Frog Monarchs.
Mario
Monday, September 5, 2011
Essay: What Should You Purchase in Yu-Gi-Oh?
Mario here. I've been writing different types of essays recently because university starts in a week...
In order to participate in Yu-Gi-Oh money must be spent on various cards. People in today's world must budget their money and spend it wisely. Buying cards is also dependant on personal interests. Yu-Gi-Oh is no exception and the answer to the question "what should you purchase in Yu-Gi-Oh" shifts depending on the cards and what the buyer wants. Boxes with 24 packs of a single set can be effective or destructive. Tins of cards are usually a great source of cards and worth the price. Finally, structure decks make deck building easier but it isn't mandatory. The corresponding topics are listed by the single price for one item starting with the most expensive; the box.
Boxes contain 24 packs of one set and are $100 per box on average. One factor that contributes to the question of buying a box is the duelist's interests. This can greatly affect whether buying a box is the correct choice. If someone is interested in each ultra rare in the particular set then buying a box is a smarter decision. However is a person is only interested in a playset of 1 particular card of a set then buying the single cards is financially smarter. Putting aside personal interests, considering the value of cards affects the decision of purchasing a box from a business and profiting perspective. The greater the financial value of cards in the selected set, the better buying a box is. Typically, buying a box of Generation Force or Extreme Victory is financially more intelligent whereas buying a box of Raging Battle or Crimson Crisis is not as intelligent. I've stated before when one buys a box that person will either profit by pulling cards worth more money than what was paid for the box, break even, or lose money by pulling worthless cards. Single boxes are really expensive and the choice of whether or not to buy must bear considerate thought more than thinking about buying a couple of tins.
Collector tins contain promo cards and packs from the most recent sets. On average they cost about $25 per tin. Typically buying a tin is always a significantly smarter choice 95% of the time. For example, the first wave of the 2011 Collector Tins were released everywhere recently (except the Belleville local card shop...). Each tin contains a $10 version of Pot of Duality and everyone knows by now what else exists in those tins. First of all, the promo cards are almost worth financially as much as the tin. Second and last of all, there are still the packs where it is possible to pull significantly great cards. Every player should spend money on tins unless there is absolutely nothing the player in question is interested in. As a side note if that is ever the case that player should immediately quit the game. The only thing less expensive than a single tin is a single structure deck.
Starter/ Structure decks come with a 40 card main deck, sometimes accompanied by a few cards that belong in the extra deck. On average one deck costs $15. Recently, Konami has released structure decks that are really solid if 3 are bought. Machina Gadgets was the first top deck that could be created by buying 3 of its corresponding structure deck and staples that weren't included in the deck. The Dragunities followed and finally Agents were created and it was that very same deck that won the World Championships this year. The next deck to follow this pattern is Dark Worlds and the deck is definitely tier 1 in the OCG and especially in the TCG with Tour Guide (even though Tour Guide got fucked by the most recent rulings). Is this affordable and plausible? $45 for 3 structure decks is much more affordable than a box and it's ready to be played to an extent. Don’t buy decks though if you have no interest in their theme. It can't be over-expressed how affordable this is outside of other staples and extra deck cards.
Buying Yu-Gi-Oh cards is a touchy subject. Buying a box can be beneficial or catastrophic. Buying tins is rarely a poor choice. Finally, buying structure decks is purely a decision of personal interest. What players buy are dependant on interests and finances. Buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards wisely and then enjoy the game.
In order to participate in Yu-Gi-Oh money must be spent on various cards. People in today's world must budget their money and spend it wisely. Buying cards is also dependant on personal interests. Yu-Gi-Oh is no exception and the answer to the question "what should you purchase in Yu-Gi-Oh" shifts depending on the cards and what the buyer wants. Boxes with 24 packs of a single set can be effective or destructive. Tins of cards are usually a great source of cards and worth the price. Finally, structure decks make deck building easier but it isn't mandatory. The corresponding topics are listed by the single price for one item starting with the most expensive; the box.
Boxes contain 24 packs of one set and are $100 per box on average. One factor that contributes to the question of buying a box is the duelist's interests. This can greatly affect whether buying a box is the correct choice. If someone is interested in each ultra rare in the particular set then buying a box is a smarter decision. However is a person is only interested in a playset of 1 particular card of a set then buying the single cards is financially smarter. Putting aside personal interests, considering the value of cards affects the decision of purchasing a box from a business and profiting perspective. The greater the financial value of cards in the selected set, the better buying a box is. Typically, buying a box of Generation Force or Extreme Victory is financially more intelligent whereas buying a box of Raging Battle or Crimson Crisis is not as intelligent. I've stated before when one buys a box that person will either profit by pulling cards worth more money than what was paid for the box, break even, or lose money by pulling worthless cards. Single boxes are really expensive and the choice of whether or not to buy must bear considerate thought more than thinking about buying a couple of tins.
Collector tins contain promo cards and packs from the most recent sets. On average they cost about $25 per tin. Typically buying a tin is always a significantly smarter choice 95% of the time. For example, the first wave of the 2011 Collector Tins were released everywhere recently (except the Belleville local card shop...). Each tin contains a $10 version of Pot of Duality and everyone knows by now what else exists in those tins. First of all, the promo cards are almost worth financially as much as the tin. Second and last of all, there are still the packs where it is possible to pull significantly great cards. Every player should spend money on tins unless there is absolutely nothing the player in question is interested in. As a side note if that is ever the case that player should immediately quit the game. The only thing less expensive than a single tin is a single structure deck.
Starter/ Structure decks come with a 40 card main deck, sometimes accompanied by a few cards that belong in the extra deck. On average one deck costs $15. Recently, Konami has released structure decks that are really solid if 3 are bought. Machina Gadgets was the first top deck that could be created by buying 3 of its corresponding structure deck and staples that weren't included in the deck. The Dragunities followed and finally Agents were created and it was that very same deck that won the World Championships this year. The next deck to follow this pattern is Dark Worlds and the deck is definitely tier 1 in the OCG and especially in the TCG with Tour Guide (even though Tour Guide got fucked by the most recent rulings). Is this affordable and plausible? $45 for 3 structure decks is much more affordable than a box and it's ready to be played to an extent. Don’t buy decks though if you have no interest in their theme. It can't be over-expressed how affordable this is outside of other staples and extra deck cards.
Buying Yu-Gi-Oh cards is a touchy subject. Buying a box can be beneficial or catastrophic. Buying tins is rarely a poor choice. Finally, buying structure decks is purely a decision of personal interest. What players buy are dependant on interests and finances. Buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards wisely and then enjoy the game.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Updates
Hello. Mario here! I'm very tired so I will make this as brief is possible.
I've been busy all this week and barely had time to do anything card related. I couldn't access the Internet all week either with was depressing. When I finally get on the internet 2 hours before my locals I discover the Exceed monster rulings in the TCG now match the OCG rulings. Basically that means Tour Guide + Sangan combo is eliminated. Tour Guides will now reduce in price which is unfortunate for those who spent $150+ on one or $400+ on a playset. Fortunately I traded for mine when they were $40. Hopefully I can still sell them for a lot when I go to Ottawa.
Speaking of Ottawa I am supposed to leave for Ottawa Monday night. However I have to be back in Belleville for Thursday and Friday so there is a slight possibility I can attend a Belleville locals next week.
I sucked horribly at locals this week. I went 2-2 with Salvo Plants. It did really well in play-testing but not as well during the tournament. It's ok though because if I attend next week I'll play a deck I know will top.
Our card shop never received the 2011 collector tins. I am extremely pissed. So Jonathan convinced me to spend our credit on a box of Generation Force instead. It was worth it because we pulled a second Leviair, a second Hero Lives and a Steelswarm Roach. I'm taking the Roach with me and Jon took everything else.
That's all I want to mention today. If you guys give me blog ideas I can write about them. Later.
I've been busy all this week and barely had time to do anything card related. I couldn't access the Internet all week either with was depressing. When I finally get on the internet 2 hours before my locals I discover the Exceed monster rulings in the TCG now match the OCG rulings. Basically that means Tour Guide + Sangan combo is eliminated. Tour Guides will now reduce in price which is unfortunate for those who spent $150+ on one or $400+ on a playset. Fortunately I traded for mine when they were $40. Hopefully I can still sell them for a lot when I go to Ottawa.
Speaking of Ottawa I am supposed to leave for Ottawa Monday night. However I have to be back in Belleville for Thursday and Friday so there is a slight possibility I can attend a Belleville locals next week.
I sucked horribly at locals this week. I went 2-2 with Salvo Plants. It did really well in play-testing but not as well during the tournament. It's ok though because if I attend next week I'll play a deck I know will top.
Our card shop never received the 2011 collector tins. I am extremely pissed. So Jonathan convinced me to spend our credit on a box of Generation Force instead. It was worth it because we pulled a second Leviair, a second Hero Lives and a Steelswarm Roach. I'm taking the Roach with me and Jon took everything else.
That's all I want to mention today. If you guys give me blog ideas I can write about them. Later.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
How to Improve your Yu-Gi-Oh Community
*This post is specifically for my fellow Belleville players. Anyone else though can read it and hopefully gather ideas.*
The Belleville players for the most part are good players. I bear a liking for these good players but to be honest the only good thing about our Belleville Yu-Gi-Oh activities is this select bunch of players. Certain other players are either little kids or fucking ass-munching annoying idiots. Not to mention the owner of our card shop isn't big on Yu-Gi-Oh. There are also a few more contributing factors that I will get into later. Before I leave my fellow community for 8 months (even though I will be back periodically in those 8 months) I will leave some parting advice regarding how to improve the community so everyone is happier.
1. Address the Assholes: The biggest asshole I can think of is Bobby so I will use him in my examples for this post. Bobby, as everyone knows, is an asshole (putting it lightly). His presence for the most part is sickening to be around. His random comments are annoying and really stupid. He borrows decks and doesn't bear the skill to create his own (he made gravekeeper's a few months ago and it was terrible so he stopped using it). He believes is a really good player and his ego is sky-high. He bears no respect for anyone except the person he borrows decks from. He is really smelly... There are a few more reasons why he is very disliked amongst the majority of players. I believe someone should address him in person and tell him he is a waste of space in this universe (or some other alternative message). The community would be better is he was excluded. He was once banned from the store but then he was allowed back for unknown reasons. Someone should take a stand and eliminate him somehow, and then the other assholes could follow.
2. Nurturing: Yesterday Jon and I gave a little kid some cards to a little card to improve his deck. Mirror Force, Solemn Judgment and a couple other good cards. Personally, I don't want to exist in a community where the little kids are guaranteed to advance you further in the tournament while they stay behind. I was a little kid once and through my own power along with little assistance I became skilled. I think though the little kids should be assisted so they become great too. All of the skilled players should give the little kids a chance and shouldn't be eliminated quickly. Bobby yesterday, for example, was 1-1 and during his next round he quickly wiped out a little kid. I asked him how he won so quickly and then he said "I'm just really good". I later discovered he won so quickly because he beat a little kid. This isn't the way to do things. The little kids deserve more than this unless the little kid in question is a lost cause who believes Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana is terrible in Dragunities...
3. The Store Itself: The owner cares very little about Yu-Gi-Oh. He completely sanctioned Magic the Gathering and he's working with the Pokemon TCG. He refuses to even attempt to sanction Yu-Gi-Oh, or at the least hold more tournaments. He also does not get Turbo Packs or good card sleeves. Also, his single Yu-Gi-Oh cards are mostly slightly overpriced. If the store changes and the store owner changes his attitude it might make things better.
These are the three biggest things I want changed. Hopefully I can come back in 8 months and see some change. That would make me happier.
The Belleville players for the most part are good players. I bear a liking for these good players but to be honest the only good thing about our Belleville Yu-Gi-Oh activities is this select bunch of players. Certain other players are either little kids or fucking ass-munching annoying idiots. Not to mention the owner of our card shop isn't big on Yu-Gi-Oh. There are also a few more contributing factors that I will get into later. Before I leave my fellow community for 8 months (even though I will be back periodically in those 8 months) I will leave some parting advice regarding how to improve the community so everyone is happier.
1. Address the Assholes: The biggest asshole I can think of is Bobby so I will use him in my examples for this post. Bobby, as everyone knows, is an asshole (putting it lightly). His presence for the most part is sickening to be around. His random comments are annoying and really stupid. He borrows decks and doesn't bear the skill to create his own (he made gravekeeper's a few months ago and it was terrible so he stopped using it). He believes is a really good player and his ego is sky-high. He bears no respect for anyone except the person he borrows decks from. He is really smelly... There are a few more reasons why he is very disliked amongst the majority of players. I believe someone should address him in person and tell him he is a waste of space in this universe (or some other alternative message). The community would be better is he was excluded. He was once banned from the store but then he was allowed back for unknown reasons. Someone should take a stand and eliminate him somehow, and then the other assholes could follow.
2. Nurturing: Yesterday Jon and I gave a little kid some cards to a little card to improve his deck. Mirror Force, Solemn Judgment and a couple other good cards. Personally, I don't want to exist in a community where the little kids are guaranteed to advance you further in the tournament while they stay behind. I was a little kid once and through my own power along with little assistance I became skilled. I think though the little kids should be assisted so they become great too. All of the skilled players should give the little kids a chance and shouldn't be eliminated quickly. Bobby yesterday, for example, was 1-1 and during his next round he quickly wiped out a little kid. I asked him how he won so quickly and then he said "I'm just really good". I later discovered he won so quickly because he beat a little kid. This isn't the way to do things. The little kids deserve more than this unless the little kid in question is a lost cause who believes Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana is terrible in Dragunities...
3. The Store Itself: The owner cares very little about Yu-Gi-Oh. He completely sanctioned Magic the Gathering and he's working with the Pokemon TCG. He refuses to even attempt to sanction Yu-Gi-Oh, or at the least hold more tournaments. He also does not get Turbo Packs or good card sleeves. Also, his single Yu-Gi-Oh cards are mostly slightly overpriced. If the store changes and the store owner changes his attitude it might make things better.
These are the three biggest things I want changed. Hopefully I can come back in 8 months and see some change. That would make me happier.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Sacred Crane Chaos!
Today I will write an analysis of an interesting tech card that may be worth trying this coming format:
This card is really quite interesting. It is a light attribute making it BLS friendly. It can also be used greatly with 3 Icarus Attack. I'm planning to build a deck around this card because I can make anything work. It's difficult to explain but I have the rough draft of the deck to share:
Monsters (22):
3 Sacred Crane
3 Mist Valley Falcon
2 Summoner Monk
1 Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
1 Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite
2 Tour Guide of the Underworld
1 Sangan
3 Effect Veiler
1 Dark Simorgh
2 Tragoedia
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Spells (6):
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
Traps (12):
3 Icarus Attack
2 Call of the Haunted
1 Return from the Different Dimension
1 Escape from the Dark Dimension
2 Solemn Warning
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Starlight Road
1 Dark Bribe
Basically this deck abuses the drawing power of Scared Crane with Summoner Monk and Mist Valley Falcon primarily while preparing to drop the boss monsters. Here are some interesting combos with the deck:
Using Summoner Monk to discard a spell to summon Crane from the deck and draw. It's a +1. I'm thinking of including a few more spells in the deck to enable the Monk to become more viable.
Banish the Crane with Chaos Sorcerer or Bls. Then summon Leviair the Sea Dragon to special summon the Crane and draw.
The Crane can also be used as an Exceed Material for Number 39: Utopia. You can detach then use COTH to special summon it from the graveyard and draw a card.
This final combo is focuses around the bouncing power of Mist Valley Falcon. Use COTH to special summon Crane and draw, all during main phase 1. In your battle phase, use Mist Valley Falcon to Falcon Punch your opponent. Mist Falcon requires you to bounce a card back to your hand in order to attack. Bounce COTH, destroying the Crane, and set it during main phase 2. Next turn, activate COTH to summon the Crane and draw again. You can continuously repeat the pattern unless your opponent interferes with it.
In conclusion I can see this innovative deck doing well. I have to gather the remaining cards I need but once I do this deck will soar to victory... get it... soaring... birds...
Mario
This card is really quite interesting. It is a light attribute making it BLS friendly. It can also be used greatly with 3 Icarus Attack. I'm planning to build a deck around this card because I can make anything work. It's difficult to explain but I have the rough draft of the deck to share:
Monsters (22):
3 Sacred Crane
3 Mist Valley Falcon
2 Summoner Monk
1 Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
1 Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite
2 Tour Guide of the Underworld
1 Sangan
3 Effect Veiler
1 Dark Simorgh
2 Tragoedia
1 Dark Armed Dragon
1 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Spells (6):
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
Traps (12):
3 Icarus Attack
2 Call of the Haunted
1 Return from the Different Dimension
1 Escape from the Dark Dimension
2 Solemn Warning
1 Trap Dustshoot
1 Starlight Road
1 Dark Bribe
Basically this deck abuses the drawing power of Scared Crane with Summoner Monk and Mist Valley Falcon primarily while preparing to drop the boss monsters. Here are some interesting combos with the deck:
Using Summoner Monk to discard a spell to summon Crane from the deck and draw. It's a +1. I'm thinking of including a few more spells in the deck to enable the Monk to become more viable.
Banish the Crane with Chaos Sorcerer or Bls. Then summon Leviair the Sea Dragon to special summon the Crane and draw.
The Crane can also be used as an Exceed Material for Number 39: Utopia. You can detach then use COTH to special summon it from the graveyard and draw a card.
This final combo is focuses around the bouncing power of Mist Valley Falcon. Use COTH to special summon Crane and draw, all during main phase 1. In your battle phase, use Mist Valley Falcon to Falcon Punch your opponent. Mist Falcon requires you to bounce a card back to your hand in order to attack. Bounce COTH, destroying the Crane, and set it during main phase 2. Next turn, activate COTH to summon the Crane and draw again. You can continuously repeat the pattern unless your opponent interferes with it.
In conclusion I can see this innovative deck doing well. I have to gather the remaining cards I need but once I do this deck will soar to victory... get it... soaring... birds...
Mario
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Yu-Gi-Oh TCG vs Pokemon TCG: Part 1
Mario here!!
This is the start of a new set of posts comparing the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh card games. I recently re-started my competitive career in this game only about 6 weeks ago. I'm already part of a team, I've gotten more cards and my skills appear to be excellent. Playing this game has broadened my horizons unanimously. My skills for both card games have increased and my general knowledge about the games has increased. With my expanded knowledge I know better than before the problems with Yu-Gi-Oh compared to Pokemon or Magic the Gathering for that matter. This series of posts will help illuminate the garbage Konami is responsible for.
This first post will speak to the financial aspect of both games. Yu-Gi-Oh is ridiculously more expensive to play than Pokemon. Here are the reasons why:
In a box of Yu-Gi-Oh packs, this is the standard structure of what you will find in the box: 1 pack will have a secret rare. 1 pack will have an ultimate rare. 2 packs will have ultra rares. 4 packs will have super rares. That means there are 16 packs with only standard rares. When you purchase and open a box one of three things will happen:
1. You will pull really great and profit greatly.
2. You will get an average box and the value of the cards will be close to what you paid for the box.
3. You will pull terribly and cry in a corner.
In a box of Pokemon packs you will almost always profit, or at least break even. I don't know the exact structure of pack contents but profit will always be made.
Single Yu-Gi-Oh cards are generally more expensive than single Pokemon cards. The most expensive competitive Pokemon cards right now is going for about $50 the last I checked. Certain people may want to play a maximum four copies of this card and will only pay $200 at the most. The currently most expensive competitive Yu-Gi-Oh card is Tour Guide of the Underworld and right now one copy is going for about $200. A playset of 3 today costs on average $600. Competitive Yu-Gi-Oh decks can stretch to $1500 when you add the value of the 40 card main deck + the 15 side deck + the 15 card extra deck which can easily reach $300 on its own. My current Pokemon deck can be valued at $220 and it is a very good deck. My current Yu-Gi-Oh deck can be valued at around $1000 and it is also a very good deck.
That is all I wanted to talk about in today's post. Please let me know what you want me to talk about next in this series. I do not know when I will post the second post to this series (I still have to share an update with my fun ritual deck).
This is the start of a new set of posts comparing the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh card games. I recently re-started my competitive career in this game only about 6 weeks ago. I'm already part of a team, I've gotten more cards and my skills appear to be excellent. Playing this game has broadened my horizons unanimously. My skills for both card games have increased and my general knowledge about the games has increased. With my expanded knowledge I know better than before the problems with Yu-Gi-Oh compared to Pokemon or Magic the Gathering for that matter. This series of posts will help illuminate the garbage Konami is responsible for.
This first post will speak to the financial aspect of both games. Yu-Gi-Oh is ridiculously more expensive to play than Pokemon. Here are the reasons why:
In a box of Yu-Gi-Oh packs, this is the standard structure of what you will find in the box: 1 pack will have a secret rare. 1 pack will have an ultimate rare. 2 packs will have ultra rares. 4 packs will have super rares. That means there are 16 packs with only standard rares. When you purchase and open a box one of three things will happen:
1. You will pull really great and profit greatly.
2. You will get an average box and the value of the cards will be close to what you paid for the box.
3. You will pull terribly and cry in a corner.
In a box of Pokemon packs you will almost always profit, or at least break even. I don't know the exact structure of pack contents but profit will always be made.
Single Yu-Gi-Oh cards are generally more expensive than single Pokemon cards. The most expensive competitive Pokemon cards right now is going for about $50 the last I checked. Certain people may want to play a maximum four copies of this card and will only pay $200 at the most. The currently most expensive competitive Yu-Gi-Oh card is Tour Guide of the Underworld and right now one copy is going for about $200. A playset of 3 today costs on average $600. Competitive Yu-Gi-Oh decks can stretch to $1500 when you add the value of the 40 card main deck + the 15 side deck + the 15 card extra deck which can easily reach $300 on its own. My current Pokemon deck can be valued at $220 and it is a very good deck. My current Yu-Gi-Oh deck can be valued at around $1000 and it is also a very good deck.
That is all I wanted to talk about in today's post. Please let me know what you want me to talk about next in this series. I do not know when I will post the second post to this series (I still have to share an update with my fun ritual deck).
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Chaos Frog Monarchs
This is my first innovative project of the September 2011 format. I like this deck because it is really aggressive and immune to 3 MST and Heavy Storm. Here is my rough draft of the main deck and the extra deck:
Monsters (29):
1 BLS
2 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Sangan
2 Tour Guide
3 Tengu
3 Treeborn Frog
2 Swap Frog
3 Caius
1 Zaborg
2 LADD
3 Veiler
1 Genex Ally Birdman
1 Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite
1 Battle Fader
1 Gorz
2 Tragoedia
Spells (11):
3 MST
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Pot of Avarice
1 Foolish Burial
3 Enemy Controller
Extra Deck (13):
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Trishula
1 Locomotion R-Genex
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac
1 Catastor
1 Librarian
1 Armory Arm
1 Formula
This deck fully supports BLS with the plentiful amount of light and dark monsters. Birdman, Zephyros and Swap Frog allow for the same monarch of LADD to be utilized continuously. LADD in particular is a card I favour for this format and I think it will shine. Consider this awesome move: You already properly summoned BLS and it went to the graveyard somehow. LADD is summoned later and destroyed... You can re-summon BLS!! It's very crafty and skillful in my opinion. Zaborg in the main build is random tech that I actually favour, especially since it is a light monster. 2 Tragoedia is very good for the deck because it will generally have at least 2400 ATK or higher.
This deck currently is meeting my expectations. I'm personally afraid that this deck may be over-achieving and attempting to do too much. Only proper playtesting though, which hasn't been done yet, will assess the deck.
The extra deck is missing two spots which is good for right now. If I choose to include more tuners I may have to add more synchro monsters. One space could allow a Chimeratech Fortress Dragon for my sided Cyber Dragons. Anyway please leave thoughts and advice.
Mario
Monsters (29):
1 BLS
2 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Sangan
2 Tour Guide
3 Tengu
3 Treeborn Frog
2 Swap Frog
3 Caius
1 Zaborg
2 LADD
3 Veiler
1 Genex Ally Birdman
1 Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite
1 Battle Fader
1 Gorz
2 Tragoedia
Spells (11):
3 MST
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Pot of Avarice
1 Foolish Burial
3 Enemy Controller
Extra Deck (13):
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia
1 Trishula
1 Locomotion R-Genex
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac
1 Catastor
1 Librarian
1 Armory Arm
1 Formula
This deck fully supports BLS with the plentiful amount of light and dark monsters. Birdman, Zephyros and Swap Frog allow for the same monarch of LADD to be utilized continuously. LADD in particular is a card I favour for this format and I think it will shine. Consider this awesome move: You already properly summoned BLS and it went to the graveyard somehow. LADD is summoned later and destroyed... You can re-summon BLS!! It's very crafty and skillful in my opinion. Zaborg in the main build is random tech that I actually favour, especially since it is a light monster. 2 Tragoedia is very good for the deck because it will generally have at least 2400 ATK or higher.
This deck currently is meeting my expectations. I'm personally afraid that this deck may be over-achieving and attempting to do too much. Only proper playtesting though, which hasn't been done yet, will assess the deck.
The extra deck is missing two spots which is good for right now. If I choose to include more tuners I may have to add more synchro monsters. One space could allow a Chimeratech Fortress Dragon for my sided Cyber Dragons. Anyway please leave thoughts and advice.
Mario
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Good and Bads of Next Format
You have probably heard about 100 different people say what decks they believe will be on top of the upcoming format. I will do the same like so many others and give reasonable explanations regarding my decisions:
1. Fish OTK/FTK - Both of these are slaughtered with the murder of Fishborg Blaster. I'll also mention that the new fish monsters from Generation Force are nowhere near Regional or YCS worthy in my opinion.
2. Water Synchro - Once again, banning Fishborg injures this deck almost beyond repair. I plan to revisit an old build of mine with Genex Undine and Controller though and this will be the closest to the present generic Water Synchro build (minus Fishborg and including other tech).
3. Formula/Frog/Monarchs: Formula Monarchs are finished, once again, because of Fishborg going away but also because the limiting of Avarice and Formula Synchron. Frog Monarchs is still definitely a contending deck (I am constructing a build for this).
4. Plant/ Junk Doppel - Restricting Formula, Avarice, Debris Dragon and Lonefire Blossom does hurt the deck a little but it's definitely still playable.
5. Six Samurai - Limiting Smoke Signal is an opportunity for more tech or including alternative methods for first turn Shi En, Naturia Beast or Barkion. Hitting Shi En is almost more of a present because it allows for extra space in the extra deck.
6. Fairies - This will undeniably be one of the strongest decks in the format. It wasn't attacked by the ban list which makes it a great contender. The deck will also see increased play with the release of the tins at the end of the month. The existence of Heavy Storm though will eliminate many Sanctuary in the Sky builds.
7. Gravekeepers - Royal Tribute first turn does still exist. However, because of the existence of Heavy Storm, players may not set their entire hand and then use Royal Tribute. Otherwise, the deck is still a concrete option.
8. Tech Genus - Banning Royal Oppression and limiting Librarian does not hurt the deck too much. Also, intelligent and skilled players won't let Heavy Storm interfere.
9. Lightsworn - 3 Judgment Dragon makes this deck almost auto-win with a decent opening hand and decent milling. I will talk about BLS later in the post.
10. Zombies - The deck has updated support and the Exceed rulings with Goblin Zombie make the deck all the better.
11. Flamvell - This is a little random but I believe with Heavy Storm around, people will set less traps allowing Flamvell Firedog to do what it does best. Also 3 Rekindling is auto-win all day everyday.
12. Gladiator Beasts - Heavy Storm does hurt the deck a little but it will always be good.
13. Malefics - This deck does deserve mentioning because I simply love it. 3 MST and Heavy Storm seems to show increased hatred toward the deck but it's still playable and I will still continue working with it.
14. Heroes - OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! x 567341789!! Legendary Collection 2 + Super Polymerization + all the rest of the excellent hero cards = tier 1. Wait and see! This is a deck I will definitely be playing.
(I think I just had a Hero-gasm...)
15. Dark World - When the structure deck is released in the TCG it will become tier 1 instantly. It deals with Gravekeeers and Lightsworn very well and can combat everything else.
16. Blackwings - +1 Icarus Attack but -1 Royal Oppression. I believe it will remain at the same status.
17. Scraps - This is another deck that is somewhat hurt by the presence of Heavy Storm. They do benefit from having a 3rd MST to chain with Scrap Dragon's effect (+1).
18. (Machina) Offering Gadgets - The more Exceed monsters the TCG receives the more the playability of this deck in the TCG. It is definitely hurt by 3 MST and 1 Heavy Storm. Numerous duelists may become too afraid to try the deck because of this.
19. Rituals - I made the deck for this format.... I think it will be good.... with Megamorph at 3.... but I may have to drop a Relinquished because of 3 MST...
20. Crystal Beasts - Another random deck I am trying this format. It should be ok but Heavy Storm is a problem for certain cards other than Rainbow Dragon...
21. Psychics - Mind Master is banned this format so I would advise to toss this deck aside. Effect Veiler rapes this deck more than it already did now.
22. Hopeless Dragon - This deck never changes between formats and unless more support is released this deck won't achieve anything mighty, except topping a locals possibly.
23. X-Sabers - This deck has always been good and this deck will definitely be a contender next format. Skilled players can do a lot with this deck and un-skilled players can still spam the field if they open with a good hand.
24. Dragunity - This deck's success will depend more on whether you play first or second. Playing first allows a first turn Stardust Dragon which prevents 3 MST and Heavy Storm. Being second increases raping possibilities with 3 MST and Heavy Storm (assuming those cards are drawn, it is only 10% of the deck maximum).
25. Black Salvo - I believe the deck is still great because you can constantly gain advantage with it and blow up the field with Black Rose Dragon anytime you want.
26. Worms - W Nebula Meteorite is a chainable trap and can be chained to all the massive MST action of the format. It is an anti-meta deck so Heavy Storm does suck. However Starlight Road and Dark Bribe address that issue.
27. Chaos/ Twilight - I saved this for last because I personally believe any deck that originally begins predominantly with Light or Dark monsters, and then adds monsters of the opposite attributes qualifies this deck as Twlight. It also adds "Chaos" to the title. Chaos Plants, Chaos Frog Monarchs and Chaos Lightsworns are all examples of this. With the return of BLS, twilight decks are more encouraged. Players an splash Gorz, 2 Tragoedia, 2-3 Tour Guide and a Sangan into a light-based deck. Players can splash Effect Veiler into a dark-based deck. These builds will see the most play of the format guaranteed, especially with the pending release of Rescue Rabbit.
These are my thoughts. If I missed a deck let me know and I can post my thoughts about it on my next post.
Mario
1. Fish OTK/FTK - Both of these are slaughtered with the murder of Fishborg Blaster. I'll also mention that the new fish monsters from Generation Force are nowhere near Regional or YCS worthy in my opinion.
2. Water Synchro - Once again, banning Fishborg injures this deck almost beyond repair. I plan to revisit an old build of mine with Genex Undine and Controller though and this will be the closest to the present generic Water Synchro build (minus Fishborg and including other tech).
3. Formula/Frog/Monarchs: Formula Monarchs are finished, once again, because of Fishborg going away but also because the limiting of Avarice and Formula Synchron. Frog Monarchs is still definitely a contending deck (I am constructing a build for this).
4. Plant/ Junk Doppel - Restricting Formula, Avarice, Debris Dragon and Lonefire Blossom does hurt the deck a little but it's definitely still playable.
5. Six Samurai - Limiting Smoke Signal is an opportunity for more tech or including alternative methods for first turn Shi En, Naturia Beast or Barkion. Hitting Shi En is almost more of a present because it allows for extra space in the extra deck.
6. Fairies - This will undeniably be one of the strongest decks in the format. It wasn't attacked by the ban list which makes it a great contender. The deck will also see increased play with the release of the tins at the end of the month. The existence of Heavy Storm though will eliminate many Sanctuary in the Sky builds.
7. Gravekeepers - Royal Tribute first turn does still exist. However, because of the existence of Heavy Storm, players may not set their entire hand and then use Royal Tribute. Otherwise, the deck is still a concrete option.
8. Tech Genus - Banning Royal Oppression and limiting Librarian does not hurt the deck too much. Also, intelligent and skilled players won't let Heavy Storm interfere.
9. Lightsworn - 3 Judgment Dragon makes this deck almost auto-win with a decent opening hand and decent milling. I will talk about BLS later in the post.
10. Zombies - The deck has updated support and the Exceed rulings with Goblin Zombie make the deck all the better.
11. Flamvell - This is a little random but I believe with Heavy Storm around, people will set less traps allowing Flamvell Firedog to do what it does best. Also 3 Rekindling is auto-win all day everyday.
12. Gladiator Beasts - Heavy Storm does hurt the deck a little but it will always be good.
13. Malefics - This deck does deserve mentioning because I simply love it. 3 MST and Heavy Storm seems to show increased hatred toward the deck but it's still playable and I will still continue working with it.
14. Heroes - OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! x 567341789!! Legendary Collection 2 + Super Polymerization + all the rest of the excellent hero cards = tier 1. Wait and see! This is a deck I will definitely be playing.
(I think I just had a Hero-gasm...)
15. Dark World - When the structure deck is released in the TCG it will become tier 1 instantly. It deals with Gravekeeers and Lightsworn very well and can combat everything else.
16. Blackwings - +1 Icarus Attack but -1 Royal Oppression. I believe it will remain at the same status.
17. Scraps - This is another deck that is somewhat hurt by the presence of Heavy Storm. They do benefit from having a 3rd MST to chain with Scrap Dragon's effect (+1).
18. (Machina) Offering Gadgets - The more Exceed monsters the TCG receives the more the playability of this deck in the TCG. It is definitely hurt by 3 MST and 1 Heavy Storm. Numerous duelists may become too afraid to try the deck because of this.
19. Rituals - I made the deck for this format.... I think it will be good.... with Megamorph at 3.... but I may have to drop a Relinquished because of 3 MST...
20. Crystal Beasts - Another random deck I am trying this format. It should be ok but Heavy Storm is a problem for certain cards other than Rainbow Dragon...
21. Psychics - Mind Master is banned this format so I would advise to toss this deck aside. Effect Veiler rapes this deck more than it already did now.
22. Hopeless Dragon - This deck never changes between formats and unless more support is released this deck won't achieve anything mighty, except topping a locals possibly.
23. X-Sabers - This deck has always been good and this deck will definitely be a contender next format. Skilled players can do a lot with this deck and un-skilled players can still spam the field if they open with a good hand.
24. Dragunity - This deck's success will depend more on whether you play first or second. Playing first allows a first turn Stardust Dragon which prevents 3 MST and Heavy Storm. Being second increases raping possibilities with 3 MST and Heavy Storm (assuming those cards are drawn, it is only 10% of the deck maximum).
25. Black Salvo - I believe the deck is still great because you can constantly gain advantage with it and blow up the field with Black Rose Dragon anytime you want.
26. Worms - W Nebula Meteorite is a chainable trap and can be chained to all the massive MST action of the format. It is an anti-meta deck so Heavy Storm does suck. However Starlight Road and Dark Bribe address that issue.
27. Chaos/ Twilight - I saved this for last because I personally believe any deck that originally begins predominantly with Light or Dark monsters, and then adds monsters of the opposite attributes qualifies this deck as Twlight. It also adds "Chaos" to the title. Chaos Plants, Chaos Frog Monarchs and Chaos Lightsworns are all examples of this. With the return of BLS, twilight decks are more encouraged. Players an splash Gorz, 2 Tragoedia, 2-3 Tour Guide and a Sangan into a light-based deck. Players can splash Effect Veiler into a dark-based deck. These builds will see the most play of the format guaranteed, especially with the pending release of Rescue Rabbit.
These are my thoughts. If I missed a deck let me know and I can post my thoughts about it on my next post.
Mario
Monday, August 22, 2011
Stunning the Next Format
I've recently heard varied opinions concerning the playability of Stun (anti-meta) decks in the next format. I'm going to give my opinion because I'm realistic.
This format we have Heavy Storm at 1 and MST at 3. 10% minimum of the deck is now hatred towards spells and traps. Not to mention certain other decks have alternatives ways to destroy more spells and traps. Some of these cards include Ryko, Lyla, Worm Apocalypse and Icarus Attack.
Here is the thing: spell/trap hate as always existed whether it's in the form of Malevolent Catastrophe, Cold Wave, Giant Trunade or Heavy Storm. Now to stop playing stun decks simply because Heavy Storm is back and MST is at 3 is childish and stupid. YOUR OPPONENT WILL NOT ALWAYS HAVE HEAVY STORM, MYSTICAL SPACE TYPHOON OR A DIFFERENT FORM OF SPELL OR TRAP HATRED!!!!! I've playtested sample hands with my deck ideas in the next format and I don't always open with a single MST or Heavy Storm. If you do open with one of those 4 cards then that's great but the game doesn't always end if your opponent gains advantage off of a Heavy Storm.
Stun players can still main certain cards like Dark Bribe or Starlight Road to stop Heavy Storm and other significant cards like Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute or Mirror Force. Certain players may question Dark Bribe but I believe it's better to let your opponent draw a card than your opponent clearing 3 traps with Heavy Storm or gaining more advantage with a different spell or trap. Again that's just me... However with all the spell/trap hatred this format Stun players should add more chainable traps like Compulsory Evacuation Device, Waboku, Threatening Roar, Trap Dustshoot, Mind Crush or Deck Devastation Virus.
MST and Heavy Storm aren't the only reasons some players are questioning the playability of Stun decks. The banning of Royal Oppression is definitely a contributing factor. Certain Stun decks (T.G. for example) preferred running this card to control their opponent's special summon capabilities. However that is no longer possible. However is shouldn't be the end of the "Stun" world if this card is banned. It can now be easily replaced with Starlight Road or Trap Dustshoot. Besides not all Stun decks always play Oppression so its non-existence isn't that apocalyptic.
I will agree that Stun decks will lose a little amount of strength this format but they are nowhere close to extinction. Perhaps it isn't the best choice but it shouldn't be omitted entirely. Since I will have 3 Pot of Duality shortly I will attempt many of these slower decks because I don't believe they are dead. Maybe I should play them just to prove the people who question my theories wrong...
Mario
This format we have Heavy Storm at 1 and MST at 3. 10% minimum of the deck is now hatred towards spells and traps. Not to mention certain other decks have alternatives ways to destroy more spells and traps. Some of these cards include Ryko, Lyla, Worm Apocalypse and Icarus Attack.
Here is the thing: spell/trap hate as always existed whether it's in the form of Malevolent Catastrophe, Cold Wave, Giant Trunade or Heavy Storm. Now to stop playing stun decks simply because Heavy Storm is back and MST is at 3 is childish and stupid. YOUR OPPONENT WILL NOT ALWAYS HAVE HEAVY STORM, MYSTICAL SPACE TYPHOON OR A DIFFERENT FORM OF SPELL OR TRAP HATRED!!!!! I've playtested sample hands with my deck ideas in the next format and I don't always open with a single MST or Heavy Storm. If you do open with one of those 4 cards then that's great but the game doesn't always end if your opponent gains advantage off of a Heavy Storm.
Stun players can still main certain cards like Dark Bribe or Starlight Road to stop Heavy Storm and other significant cards like Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute or Mirror Force. Certain players may question Dark Bribe but I believe it's better to let your opponent draw a card than your opponent clearing 3 traps with Heavy Storm or gaining more advantage with a different spell or trap. Again that's just me... However with all the spell/trap hatred this format Stun players should add more chainable traps like Compulsory Evacuation Device, Waboku, Threatening Roar, Trap Dustshoot, Mind Crush or Deck Devastation Virus.
MST and Heavy Storm aren't the only reasons some players are questioning the playability of Stun decks. The banning of Royal Oppression is definitely a contributing factor. Certain Stun decks (T.G. for example) preferred running this card to control their opponent's special summon capabilities. However that is no longer possible. However is shouldn't be the end of the "Stun" world if this card is banned. It can now be easily replaced with Starlight Road or Trap Dustshoot. Besides not all Stun decks always play Oppression so its non-existence isn't that apocalyptic.
I will agree that Stun decks will lose a little amount of strength this format but they are nowhere close to extinction. Perhaps it isn't the best choice but it shouldn't be omitted entirely. Since I will have 3 Pot of Duality shortly I will attempt many of these slower decks because I don't believe they are dead. Maybe I should play them just to prove the people who question my theories wrong...
Mario
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Mini Tournament Report and Combining Card Collections
I don't feel like typing a whole lot today so my tournament report will be very small:
Round 1: Jordan (Frog Monarchs) 2-0
Round 2: Jonathan (Plants) 2-0. Tee-hee
Round 3: Vince (Six Sams) 0-2. Not too much tee-hee
Round 4: Jason (Frog Monarchs (with Gravekeeper Spy's)) 2-0
Top 4 was I, Ryan (Worms), Vince and Josh (Six Sams). We agreed to a four-way split immediately however I still played who was going to play in a fun match regardless.
Round 5: Ryan (Worms) 2-1
Anyway today I'm going to briefly talk about the positive and negative factors of sharing card collections with other players. In the beginning it is really hot having access to a more diverse collection of cards and makes deck-making and trading easier. The other positive is that normally (not always) you and the other people(s) you are sharing cards with will split the cost with you when getting other good cards (again I emphasize the "not always").
All in all the negatives are very miniscule. Occasionally one person will want a particular card and the other person(s) will be stubborn and could prevent you from obtaining the card. The other small issue is sharing. Sometimes you cannot get as many copies of a card that multiple people want to use and someone will be unable to use it for a while.
That's all for today. In conclusion combining collections is an intelligent idea. It makes people happier and better at the game.
Round 1: Jordan (Frog Monarchs) 2-0
Round 2: Jonathan (Plants) 2-0. Tee-hee
Round 3: Vince (Six Sams) 0-2. Not too much tee-hee
Round 4: Jason (Frog Monarchs (with Gravekeeper Spy's)) 2-0
Top 4 was I, Ryan (Worms), Vince and Josh (Six Sams). We agreed to a four-way split immediately however I still played who was going to play in a fun match regardless.
Round 5: Ryan (Worms) 2-1
Anyway today I'm going to briefly talk about the positive and negative factors of sharing card collections with other players. In the beginning it is really hot having access to a more diverse collection of cards and makes deck-making and trading easier. The other positive is that normally (not always) you and the other people(s) you are sharing cards with will split the cost with you when getting other good cards (again I emphasize the "not always").
All in all the negatives are very miniscule. Occasionally one person will want a particular card and the other person(s) will be stubborn and could prevent you from obtaining the card. The other small issue is sharing. Sometimes you cannot get as many copies of a card that multiple people want to use and someone will be unable to use it for a while.
That's all for today. In conclusion combining collections is an intelligent idea. It makes people happier and better at the game.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
My Thoughts on the September 2011 Ban List
Mario here.. with the thoughts on the ban list...
New Banned cards:
Fishborg Blaster
Mind Master
Giant Trunade
Royal Oppression
New Limited cards:
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
T.G. Hyper Librarian
Debris Dragon
Formula Synchron
Lonefire Blossom
Heavy Storm
Primal Seed
Shien's Smoke Signal
Pot of Avarice
New Semi-Limited cards:
Summoner Monk
Tragoedia
Necro Gardna
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
Destiny Draw
Swords of Revealing Light
Mind Crush
Call Of The Haunted
New Unlimited cards:
Judgment Dragon
Spirit Reaper
Overload Fusion
Mystical Space Typhoon
Megamorph
Gravity Bind
Icarus Attack
Banning Fishborg and Mind Master was very intelligent because they are ridiculous tuners. Giant Trunade banned is also good because it's a trap clearer that is skill-free. Banning Royal Oppression was Konami's first fuck up on this list (Remember, we are dealing with Konami and they always make some bad choices on each list). Royal Oppression is a card that requires a little bit of skill because you can stop at any special summon at the cost of a little bit of your life each time. It was also a risky card to use because you can pay the life points and your opponent will MST it or something. Special summons are the bread and butter of Yu-Gi-Oh and Royal Oppression was a great card because of all the above mentioned reasons. It should've stayed especially with MST at 3 now...
BLS shouldn't have come off the list. It's true that we have many more ways to stop it today then we did when it was big last time. However the card is broken and can easily eliminate any other boss monsters of this format. Trishula, Shi En, Avarice, Formula, Smoke Signal and Storm I wrote about why they should be at 1 in my prediction list and my reasons were valid, thus I am happy for the sake of the format they are all at 1. I won't get into it again why they went to 1 but my explanations are on prediction list somewhere on this blog. Librarian should've been banned because with 1 Formula and no Fishborgs I can still draw many cards in one turn the way I play. Lonefire at 1 reduces the chance of drawing it but I don't care because I was playing Lonefire at 1 from May to July. It also makes particular combo plays a little harder but once again I don't care. Debris at 1 doesn't bother me either. That actually helps me more than it hurts me because recently I wasn't playing Debris because I couldn't successfully throw two copies in my deck without going over 40 cards. You only need 1 Debris, especially with Tour Guide... Sangan...
I'm not sure what to think with the new semi-limited cards. Monk at 2 interests me because of exceeds and Rescue Rabbit soon... It is a risky card though so I will be interested to see what happens with it. Tragoedia and Gardna at 2 are really good because it stops explosive plays, plus Tragoedia in general is a very good card and assists when summoning other synchro and exceed monsters. Dewloren at 2 is very smart because now there are no more loops with Symbol of Heritage... Fish FTK... D-Draw at 2 gives destiny heroes a little more chance but they will be rarely played competitively unless they are splashed into other Hero builds. Swords at 2 is just stupid and no one really cares. Mind Crush at 2 is a nice pick because of all the searching, particularly because of Tour Guide... Sangan... Call of the Haunted at 2 was another stupid move by Konami because having 3 general special summon cards like that isn't exactly helpful. Maybe it's Konami fucking with us. Everyone wanted Reborn banned so instead of doing that they just give us another Call... assholes....
The unlimited list is absolute bullshit. JD at 3 along with BLS and Necro Gardna at 2 makes Twilight extremely sacky and extremely un-skilled. More Konami bullshit I guess... Spirit Reaper at 3 with 3 MST is very stupid as well because you can eliminate cards from the hand all the time now. 3 Overload Fusion make machine players a little happier. I can possibly see offering gadgets splashing Cyber Dragons and 3 Overload Fusions to summon big machines. 3 MST is really stupid because traps are no longer safe, especially with Heavy Storm back. Megamorph at 3 is a little random and a little insignificant. Gravity Bind at 3 is interesting simple because of exceed monsters rising in popularity. Icarus at 3 gives Blackwings a little more support which is random but nothing big for me.
This is list is both good but bad. Unfortunately my hope for a more skilled format has been extinguished. Then when Dark World and Rescue Rabbit become big in the TCG almost every bit of skill will be thrown out the door. I guess there is a tiny bit of hope that the official TCG list might hit Tengu or Tour Guide and make things a little more fair... but other than that...
New Banned cards:
Fishborg Blaster
Mind Master
Giant Trunade
Royal Oppression
New Limited cards:
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
T.G. Hyper Librarian
Debris Dragon
Formula Synchron
Lonefire Blossom
Heavy Storm
Primal Seed
Shien's Smoke Signal
Pot of Avarice
New Semi-Limited cards:
Summoner Monk
Tragoedia
Necro Gardna
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
Destiny Draw
Swords of Revealing Light
Mind Crush
Call Of The Haunted
New Unlimited cards:
Judgment Dragon
Spirit Reaper
Overload Fusion
Mystical Space Typhoon
Megamorph
Gravity Bind
Icarus Attack
Banning Fishborg and Mind Master was very intelligent because they are ridiculous tuners. Giant Trunade banned is also good because it's a trap clearer that is skill-free. Banning Royal Oppression was Konami's first fuck up on this list (Remember, we are dealing with Konami and they always make some bad choices on each list). Royal Oppression is a card that requires a little bit of skill because you can stop at any special summon at the cost of a little bit of your life each time. It was also a risky card to use because you can pay the life points and your opponent will MST it or something. Special summons are the bread and butter of Yu-Gi-Oh and Royal Oppression was a great card because of all the above mentioned reasons. It should've stayed especially with MST at 3 now...
BLS shouldn't have come off the list. It's true that we have many more ways to stop it today then we did when it was big last time. However the card is broken and can easily eliminate any other boss monsters of this format. Trishula, Shi En, Avarice, Formula, Smoke Signal and Storm I wrote about why they should be at 1 in my prediction list and my reasons were valid, thus I am happy for the sake of the format they are all at 1. I won't get into it again why they went to 1 but my explanations are on prediction list somewhere on this blog. Librarian should've been banned because with 1 Formula and no Fishborgs I can still draw many cards in one turn the way I play. Lonefire at 1 reduces the chance of drawing it but I don't care because I was playing Lonefire at 1 from May to July. It also makes particular combo plays a little harder but once again I don't care. Debris at 1 doesn't bother me either. That actually helps me more than it hurts me because recently I wasn't playing Debris because I couldn't successfully throw two copies in my deck without going over 40 cards. You only need 1 Debris, especially with Tour Guide... Sangan...
I'm not sure what to think with the new semi-limited cards. Monk at 2 interests me because of exceeds and Rescue Rabbit soon... It is a risky card though so I will be interested to see what happens with it. Tragoedia and Gardna at 2 are really good because it stops explosive plays, plus Tragoedia in general is a very good card and assists when summoning other synchro and exceed monsters. Dewloren at 2 is very smart because now there are no more loops with Symbol of Heritage... Fish FTK... D-Draw at 2 gives destiny heroes a little more chance but they will be rarely played competitively unless they are splashed into other Hero builds. Swords at 2 is just stupid and no one really cares. Mind Crush at 2 is a nice pick because of all the searching, particularly because of Tour Guide... Sangan... Call of the Haunted at 2 was another stupid move by Konami because having 3 general special summon cards like that isn't exactly helpful. Maybe it's Konami fucking with us. Everyone wanted Reborn banned so instead of doing that they just give us another Call... assholes....
The unlimited list is absolute bullshit. JD at 3 along with BLS and Necro Gardna at 2 makes Twilight extremely sacky and extremely un-skilled. More Konami bullshit I guess... Spirit Reaper at 3 with 3 MST is very stupid as well because you can eliminate cards from the hand all the time now. 3 Overload Fusion make machine players a little happier. I can possibly see offering gadgets splashing Cyber Dragons and 3 Overload Fusions to summon big machines. 3 MST is really stupid because traps are no longer safe, especially with Heavy Storm back. Megamorph at 3 is a little random and a little insignificant. Gravity Bind at 3 is interesting simple because of exceed monsters rising in popularity. Icarus at 3 gives Blackwings a little more support which is random but nothing big for me.
This is list is both good but bad. Unfortunately my hope for a more skilled format has been extinguished. Then when Dark World and Rescue Rabbit become big in the TCG almost every bit of skill will be thrown out the door. I guess there is a tiny bit of hope that the official TCG list might hit Tengu or Tour Guide and make things a little more fair... but other than that...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Return of the Soldier
Mario here. The September 2011 format re-awakens an old boss monster that will definitely impact the format... Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning.
For those who are unaware it has the exact same summoning conditions as Chaos Sorcerer. Then it can either banish any opponent's monster (regardless of position) or possibly attack multiple times. I didn't play competitively before when this card tormented everyone but now it's back to torment everyone again.
This card can be splashed into Chaos Plants and Twilight. People will splash light monsters in dark-based decks or vice-versa just to summon this card. I am a solid example of someone like this.
Also going to 1 this format is Primal Seed. It can add any two banished cards to your hand when BLS is on the field. You can bring back any two of your banished cards at all. Free pluses anyone...
Here are some basic combos with this monster. It is a light monster unlike Chaos Sorcerer so it works with Beckoning Light and Honest. You can Leviair the Sea Dragon to special summon one of the Soldier's banish prerequisites that is lv 4 or lower. Finally, if you tech in Spell Strikers you can use Primal Seed to return a banished spell or two since Spell Striker banishes spells to special summon itself. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with double Monster Reborn...
This is a short post and I only wrote it because someone wanted me to. Overall BLS will be a dominant card this format and gives enormous assistance to older decks that can take advantage of this card. That is all.
For those who are unaware it has the exact same summoning conditions as Chaos Sorcerer. Then it can either banish any opponent's monster (regardless of position) or possibly attack multiple times. I didn't play competitively before when this card tormented everyone but now it's back to torment everyone again.
This card can be splashed into Chaos Plants and Twilight. People will splash light monsters in dark-based decks or vice-versa just to summon this card. I am a solid example of someone like this.
Also going to 1 this format is Primal Seed. It can add any two banished cards to your hand when BLS is on the field. You can bring back any two of your banished cards at all. Free pluses anyone...
Here are some basic combos with this monster. It is a light monster unlike Chaos Sorcerer so it works with Beckoning Light and Honest. You can Leviair the Sea Dragon to special summon one of the Soldier's banish prerequisites that is lv 4 or lower. Finally, if you tech in Spell Strikers you can use Primal Seed to return a banished spell or two since Spell Striker banishes spells to special summon itself. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with double Monster Reborn...
This is a short post and I only wrote it because someone wanted me to. Overall BLS will be a dominant card this format and gives enormous assistance to older decks that can take advantage of this card. That is all.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Rarity Review: Generation Force (Part 2)
Yesterday I revealed the ultra/ultimate rare cards in Generation Force and explained whether they deserve to be that rarity or not. Today I will do the same with the 8 secret rares keeping in mind you only pull 1 secret rare in a box of 24 packs. Now let's begin:
1. "Tiras, Keeper of Genesis" Light, Fairy/ Xyz/ Effect, rank 5, 2600/1700, requires 2 lv 5 monsters: This card's effects can only be applied or activated while it has Xyz Material(s). This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked: Target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy the target. During each of your End Phases: Detach 1 Xyz Material from this card.
This card has really great effects. However it is difficult to summon unless you main Instant Fusion... because of this card's summoning conditions I wouldn't qualify this card as a secret rare. I wouldn't want to pull this card out of a box.
2. "Lost Blue Breaker" Water, Sea Serpent/ Effect, lv 3, 1400/0: If there is another face-up Fish, Sea Serpent or Aqua-type monster on the field: You can tribute this card to target 1 Spell/Trap card on the field; destroy that target.
Basically this card is a Spined Gillman that can tribute itself to destroy a spell or trap. Unless you are playing a Deep Sea Diva build this card is almost useless. This card should not be a secret rare at all and I believe it is the worst secret rare in the set.
3. "Pain Painter" Dark, Zombie/ Tuner, lv 2, 400/200: While this card is face-up on the field, its name is treated as "Plaguespreader Zombie". Once per turn: You can target up to 2 face-up Zombie-Type monsters you control, except this card; they become Level 2 until the End Phase. They cannot be used as Synchro Material Monsters except for the Synchro Summon of a Zombie-Type monster.
This card makes Zombie decks a little better because now there is another tuner to help synchro summon. This card though does not deserve to be a secret rare primarily because Plaguespreader Zombie is 100 times better and it made Zombies and other decks 100 times better. I don't really want to pull this card.
4. "Orient Dragon" Wind, Dragon/ Synchro/ Effect, lv 6, 2300/1000: When this card is Synchro Summoned: Target 1 face-up Synchro Monster your opponent controls; banish that target.
This card is another staple synchro, necessary for removing Shi En, Stardust, Scrap Dragon and other synchro threats. This card should especially be played with Debris Dragon. This is a really good and a great secret rare.
5. "Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon" Dark, Fiend/ Xyz/ Effect, rank 5, 2600/1700, requires 2 lv 5 monsters: Once per turn: You can detach a Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up monster card your opponent controls; destroy it.
The dark version of Tiras. Its effect is fairly selective and Tiras is better in my opinion. If I don't think Tiras should be a secret rare then neither should this monster.
6. "Smashing Horn" Counter Trap: When a monster effect or Trap Card is activated that negates the Normal or Special Summon of a monster(s): Negate the activation and destroy it.
This card stops Solemn Warning and Thunder King Rai-Oh. I don't want this card because I think it's too particular. It could be an ultra/ultimate but shouldn't be a secret.
7. "Vision HERO Adoration" Dark, Warrior/ Fusion/ Effect, lv 8, 2800/2100, requires 2 HERO monsters: Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls and 1 face-up "HERO" monster you control, except this card; the opponent's targeted monster loses ATK and DEF equal to the ATK of your targeted monster, until the End Phase.
This card is an Elemental Hero Gaia on steroids and very open with fusion prerequisites. This card deserves to be a secret rare.
8. "Steelswarm Roach" Dark, Fiend/ Xyz/ Effect, rank 4, 1900/0, requires 2 lv 4 monsters: When a Level 5 or higher monster is Special Summoned: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the Special Summon and destroy it.
Right now it's the most expensive card in the set and can negate any big special summoned monster excluding other Xyz monsters. It definitely deserves to be a secret rare.
Out of 8 secret rares only 3 of them are worthy of their rarity. Konami didn't do a good job with the secret rares unfortunately.
1. "Tiras, Keeper of Genesis" Light, Fairy/ Xyz/ Effect, rank 5, 2600/1700, requires 2 lv 5 monsters: This card's effects can only be applied or activated while it has Xyz Material(s). This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked: Target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy the target. During each of your End Phases: Detach 1 Xyz Material from this card.
This card has really great effects. However it is difficult to summon unless you main Instant Fusion... because of this card's summoning conditions I wouldn't qualify this card as a secret rare. I wouldn't want to pull this card out of a box.
2. "Lost Blue Breaker" Water, Sea Serpent/ Effect, lv 3, 1400/0: If there is another face-up Fish, Sea Serpent or Aqua-type monster on the field: You can tribute this card to target 1 Spell/Trap card on the field; destroy that target.
Basically this card is a Spined Gillman that can tribute itself to destroy a spell or trap. Unless you are playing a Deep Sea Diva build this card is almost useless. This card should not be a secret rare at all and I believe it is the worst secret rare in the set.
3. "Pain Painter" Dark, Zombie/ Tuner, lv 2, 400/200: While this card is face-up on the field, its name is treated as "Plaguespreader Zombie". Once per turn: You can target up to 2 face-up Zombie-Type monsters you control, except this card; they become Level 2 until the End Phase. They cannot be used as Synchro Material Monsters except for the Synchro Summon of a Zombie-Type monster.
This card makes Zombie decks a little better because now there is another tuner to help synchro summon. This card though does not deserve to be a secret rare primarily because Plaguespreader Zombie is 100 times better and it made Zombies and other decks 100 times better. I don't really want to pull this card.
4. "Orient Dragon" Wind, Dragon/ Synchro/ Effect, lv 6, 2300/1000: When this card is Synchro Summoned: Target 1 face-up Synchro Monster your opponent controls; banish that target.
This card is another staple synchro, necessary for removing Shi En, Stardust, Scrap Dragon and other synchro threats. This card should especially be played with Debris Dragon. This is a really good and a great secret rare.
5. "Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon" Dark, Fiend/ Xyz/ Effect, rank 5, 2600/1700, requires 2 lv 5 monsters: Once per turn: You can detach a Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up monster card your opponent controls; destroy it.
The dark version of Tiras. Its effect is fairly selective and Tiras is better in my opinion. If I don't think Tiras should be a secret rare then neither should this monster.
6. "Smashing Horn" Counter Trap: When a monster effect or Trap Card is activated that negates the Normal or Special Summon of a monster(s): Negate the activation and destroy it.
This card stops Solemn Warning and Thunder King Rai-Oh. I don't want this card because I think it's too particular. It could be an ultra/ultimate but shouldn't be a secret.
7. "Vision HERO Adoration" Dark, Warrior/ Fusion/ Effect, lv 8, 2800/2100, requires 2 HERO monsters: Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls and 1 face-up "HERO" monster you control, except this card; the opponent's targeted monster loses ATK and DEF equal to the ATK of your targeted monster, until the End Phase.
This card is an Elemental Hero Gaia on steroids and very open with fusion prerequisites. This card deserves to be a secret rare.
8. "Steelswarm Roach" Dark, Fiend/ Xyz/ Effect, rank 4, 1900/0, requires 2 lv 4 monsters: When a Level 5 or higher monster is Special Summoned: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the Special Summon and destroy it.
Right now it's the most expensive card in the set and can negate any big special summoned monster excluding other Xyz monsters. It definitely deserves to be a secret rare.
Out of 8 secret rares only 3 of them are worthy of their rarity. Konami didn't do a good job with the secret rares unfortunately.
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