I'm going to try and restart blogging. My life is extremely busy, with school and other activities that consume large proportions of time. I've decided to write an article on my thoughts of Yu-Gi-Oh! today. I probably wouldn't be writing this post if I didn't read this article: http://kperovic.com/blog/ygo-the-state-of-the-game/. I will be referring to this article, a little bit, in my discussion because there are numerous points I want to discuss myself. I will be dividing this post into 3 sections: The past, the present, and the potential future.
Past:
I remember when this card game first hit Canada, and I was a small kid who wanted to play it. I didn't understand competitive play immediately. I just bought packs and collected the cards for the most part. I remember when I pulled Change of Heart. That was a $50 card when it was first released and I had no idea. I immediately recognized it was a good card, and put it in my deck to play against my school-mates and neighbours (because back then everyone played this game). I still have my Change of Heart I pulled all those years ago, but that's beside the point.
When competitive play and tournaments first began, the card-pool was quite limited. The best deck-builders and more skilled players topped events and bathed in success.
Something I would like to draw attention to is the fact that there were less overpowered cards years ago, then there are today. Sure, back then we have Forceful Sentry, Harpies Feather Duster, Raigeki, etc. However, good players were able to use these cards to their maximum benefit, and also learned to mitigate their impact when used against the player. It wasn't that bad.
Things began to grow out of proportion when BLS, DMOC and Chaos Emperor Dragon were released. Those cards are game-enders. However, there was still skill to playing these cards. Skilled players, under normal circumstances, wouldn't summon their BLS unless they were certain BLS could end the game that turn. Despite these powerful cards entering the metagame, the players who were more skilled still topped events consistently. It was literally the same people, or same group, over and over again. The game had broken cards, individual cards, that didn't necessarily have broken combos with other cards (Chaos Emperor and Yata-Garasu, for example, is an exception).
I remained blissfully ignorant of this environment. I was just a kid in school, with controlling parents and no social life. Yeah, I collected cards, but didn't play with them too much. Honestly, I didn't even know this game was played competitively, because I lived in a bubble and all of that.
Fast forward the years, and let's visit 2009. What happened in 2009? I found out that my small village had a card shop. I decided to go on Saturdays and play in the tournaments. In the beginning I sucked, not horribly, but I would go 2-2 consistently. I played random crap like Elemental Heroes (Not with Shining and Absolute Zero, but Flare Wingman and Thunder Giant, like a boss), and random piles of cards with some strategy. I wasn't trying to be super competitive and be the best player of all time, but I did want to win.
I eventually ended up taking a hiatus from playing at the shop that summer and fall. I returned in the fall, and this was around the time LODT was released. People were playing Lightsworns and Dark.dek. I would consistently go 2-2, by beating the scrubs (even though I was kinda a scrub, but not as scrubby. I kinda scrubbed the scrubs if you know what I'm scrubbing at...). Eventually, Synchro monsters were released, and I built a synchro toolbox deck. I achieved better results, but still didn't top immediately.
Then the Zombie structure deck was released (the one with Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon). I built a zombie deck around that theme, and merging it with my synchro toolbox deck. At that time, I didn't have Plaguespreader or Mezuki because I was too good for that shit (just kidding, I was poor). I finally started to top once in a while. I was amazed with myself, when I look back, that such a horribly constructed deck was able to top, when people were playing Lightsworns, Gladiator Beasts, Tele-Dad, actual complete Zombies... I didn't top all the time; just a couple of times.
When Stardust Dragon Assault Mode was released, I built a deck that spammed Stardust Dragon so I can summon the assault mode version. It was a good deck and I topped a couple of times with that.
I eventually traded for the 5 pieces of Exodia, and built a really bad Exodia deck. It had Giant Germ, Nimble Momonga, Appropriate, Cup of Ace... I managed to top with that deck too somehow.
Looking back, I realized that I was developing some skills. I had to learn to play with budget decks and inexpensive cards because all the tier 1 decks back then were quite expensive. We didn't have as many reprints as we do now. I tried to become skilled and competitive, and my effort was paying off.
Then... UDE was replaced by Konami, and shit hit the fan. From OCG to TCG rarity bumps in sets, to less tournaments and more overpowered cards, the skill level in the game required to succeed dropped. It wasn't that bad right away, and I was still enjoying the game.
I remember the first time I won Locals. It was done with a Dark Monarch deck with random cards like Level Eater, Veil of Darkness, and other tech cards. I saved up and went out to get the cards for this deck, my own creation mind you, and it won. I was extremely proud of myself. I realized that day I do have the potential for greatness, at least being able to win Locals.
I started to top more and more. Then a deck was created that changed everything for me... Quickdraw Dandywarrior: A deck that spammed my favorite synchro monsters. I went out of my way to collect the cards for this deck, including the plant engine, and both Jon and myself started to test Plant Synchro variants religiously. This was around the same time SkillOverLuck was born.
The Plant Engine taught both of us so much about this game: Anything is possible with certain cards and combos. Eventually Spore and Glow-Up bulb were released, and the Plant engine was complete. Both Jon and I became consistent winner of our Locals. We fought through so many challenges and decks together, since we build many decks and played a variety of decks at our Locals. Since we were a team, it was also easier to get the staples as they were released... such as Veiler, Warning, and Scrap Dragon. Eventually, both Jon and I both topped our first Regionals as competitive players. It was a good feeling indeed. It was the beginning of a chapter, an era actually, of competitive card games.
Present:
This is where the article starts to become depressing. Overpowered decks and archetypes are being released more and more. Notice how back then we only had overpowered cards... Also, some of these decks anyone can play because they require minimal financial investment, like Agents of Dark Worlds. A lot of people were unhappy and quit this game, while others tolerated it and tried to find the light, like I try and do.
These overpowering decks reduce the skill level of this game substantially. Random scrubs can top Locals, Regionals, YCS tournaments, Nationals with only basic skills and some luck... It's honestly unfortunate that this game has turned in this horrible direction. However, Konami needs to make money so making cheap, tournament topping decks is a good idea financially.
In the past year or so, YCS tops have been random. Players have been coming and going, some good players and some bad players. This is caused be the decrease in skill required to play this game. There are a few notable exceptions to this, though: Joe Giorlando topped 7 YCS tournaments in a row, which is impressive. Billy Brake won 2 YCS back-to-back, which does take skill.
This leads me to my next point, that there is still a good amount of skill necessary to succeed. The above two players used their skill, and likely some luck, to achieve their accomplishments. Compared to previous years, the difference is that skilled players have an increased chance of losing to "sack" than before. Years ago, the levels of overpowered cards weren't even close to what they are. For example, when BLS was legal years ago, it wasn't terribly difficult to overcome and BLS didn't have any significant game-ending combos. Now, we have Forbidden Lance to protect it from any spells and traps, and Honest + BLS can immediately end the game, much like a hand containing the 5 pieces of Exodia.
Outside of the cards themselves, there are other factors that have a detrimental effect on the card playing society. Konami does horrible event coverage, compared to UDE, and has stopped posting top 32 deck lists from YCS tournaments and other related tournaments. It's not the biggest deal because Youtube exists, however, Konami isn't it making it easier to play the game, and become good at it. The top 32 deck lists of each YCS were a plethora of valuable information that I personally used to understand the game better.
Another detrimental factor is that there isn't a lot of advanced theory-oh online, both in the form of videos and articles. Youtube exists, and videos containing theory-oh and deck lists are uploaded daily. I find a lot of this content basic time-wasting. Hell, people post videos of their car ride to a YCS. Honestly, what's the point? How is that useful to theory-oh? The theory-oh content on Youtube is becoming stale, because people don't know what to discuss, and the same contents over and over again. Try looking for a video with an advanced discussion of different types of card advantage, because there a lot of videos on Youtube that doesn't delve past "Destroying 2 cards with Heavy Storm is a +1". Regarding deck lists, I've watched a lot of basic deck profiles over the years. Unless the deck is something unique or different, or unless it topped a Regionals, YCS, or even 10 Locals in a row, it's usually a waste of time. If you go on Youtube and search "September 2012 Wind-Up decklists", you will be presented with a lengthy list of results. How many good or unique Wind-Up decks are their, and how many Wind-Up decks are roughly the same?
Articles are written for many different reasons regarding this game. Tournament reports, deck analysis and lists and theory-oh are the only subjects that people consider reading, for the most part. One of the reasons I will take a break from blogging is because I find my material to become stale and not overly useful. I stopped posting deck lists (written and video format) because I don't see a point. Unless someone requests of build of a certain deck for whatever reason, I don't see a point in sharing because I don't participate in too many big tournaments for my opinions to stand out to the rest of the world. A deck list Billy Brake posts will be acknowledge more than I deck list I post online, for example. I stopped tournament reports when I stopped blogging. I do find them an intricate and beneficial resource because it shows how Deck A fairs against Deck B. I stopped writing theory-oh because for two reasons. Firstly, I wasn't offering too much game-breaking material after a certain point, and secondly, my life became really busy, which ultimately stopped my blogging.
Continuing with articles, I want to discuss Alter Reality Games (ARG for short). ARG is a card vendor, and the team of some of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s finest delists of this generation (Billy Brake, Joe Giorlando, Jeff Jones, and the list goes on). ARG does try to assist this card playing society multiple ways. Firstly, they are a vendor, and they try and sell cards for as cheap as possible. Sometimes, there prices are a little exuberant, but for the most part are cheaper. The other thing they do to try and help players is pay the popular skilled players of today's metagame to write articles relating to mostly theory-oh, deck lists and sometimes tournament reports.
In the article Kris Perovic, he mentioned many articles written today, using ARG written articles as an example, are lacking quality and theory-oh. To an extent I agree, because I have a critical view on written material. I believe if you write something, it should be either entertaining, educational or both. Sometimes, I will learn something from reading their articles, but more often than not it's the same old stuff. I believe they should be writing articles with revolutionary material and theory-oh not too many people consider or understand, if they are getting paid to do this. I'm not hating on the ARG members at all, because they are skilled players in today's metagame and do occasionally present useful material, but they should repeat this pattern often.
As an aside, these articles would benefit players who aren't that skilled, and haven't been playing for the longest time. I personally don't find a lot of their material useful because I've read, and theorized about it numerous times over the last few years.
Compared to last format, I will admit this format is healthier for the metagame. YCS Providence, that just concluded, proved this. The top 32 consisted of many different decks; some rogue decks and some newer unique decks as well. Wind-Ups, thought to be the bane of the format, only sported 1 spot in top 16. I believe YCS Providence proved that anything can win, if the skill is present.
Visiting my community now, things have changed in the last year to affect our local community. I can split the players of Belleville into a few simple groups that basically reveal the entire picture:
1. Players who consistently top using different decks
2. Players who consistently top using luck-based decks only
3. Players who don't consistently top
4. Scrubs and retards
What I've written I'm sure can be acknowledge by readers everywhere, and I'm sure these classifications occur in other communities. Because of the overpowered decks, this classification will be true for a long time. Unless we reach a point where overpowered cards are completely removed, and skill becomes a necessity like it used to be, these classifications will continue to exist, unfortunately.
Future:
What awaits the future of Yu-Gi-Oh!? Right now, we are heading in a dangerous direction. If this doesn't change, more people will quit and people who don't deserve glory will receive it. I have a few suggestions that might help:
We need a website, exclusively for Yu-Gi-Oh, where only good players and judges can post material (unlike Pojo). This material should include top deck lists, useful tournament coverage, theory-oh, in-depth tournament analysis and other beneficial information.
Konami needs to eliminate the luck-based nature of this game, as much as possible, by not printing broken cards and archetypes, and limiting the right cards every 6 months. We could complain to Konami about the rarity bumps in cards, but they won't address it because they need to make money.
That's really all we can hope for. I'm positive that the game will change direction if these are put into place.
I want to continue playing this game. I have a passion for this game that drives me to strengthen my skills and collection. The luck-based nature of this game has depressed me, but I still continue to fight it. Yu-Gi-Oh! is a great card game, but desperately needs improvements so more people can enjoy the game and grow.
Please feel free to leave your comments and opinions, so that they can be discussed.
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