It's impossible to predict the PERSON that will win the WCQ, but it IS possible to predict what deck that will win it all. Will a dominant deck take the crown, or will a Tier 2 deck reign supreme?
Speaking of Tier 2 decks, quite a few of them have splashed into top 8 in many different WCQ's all around the world! From Sea Lancer, to Machina Gadgets, to even Six Samurai! I've even seen a BS deck top! As much as I have to tell everyone. A Tier 2 deck is not as good as a Tier 1 deck, but if the player masters the deck frontwards and back, then the player will have the result of a Tier 1 deck. Many people play the deck in the tournament of their lives that represent what they're the best at. Others, just play a deck that wins all the time and know how to use it very well.
If you go on YouTube, you should be able to find most of the decklists that people topped with in different countries. It doesn't mean that they will do anything here in North America though. Usually what topped in recent YCS's are what's gonna top here. The only decks that I believe will have a chance to top here are Dino Rabbit, Inzektors, and Chaos Dragons. I really cannot see any other deck doing well as the rest of them are bad. It doesn't mean you can't come up with a nice story about how you won with Ojama's or something like that. It just means that too many of the big 3 decks will be played. Therefore, nothing else will have much of a chance.
As a Machina Gadget player though, I've figured out easily on how to beat each of the big 3 decks. Chaos Dragons are a pain in the ass because every game 3, they got Future Fusion and won the very next turn. I'm really good at locking down Inzektors. I'm x-1 with the deck against Inzektors. As for Dino Rabbit, I have almost no experience against it because my locals don't play it. Since I can get around a Laggia very easily with my build, I don't think it's too much of a problem since my deck doesn't care at all about Macro Cosmos.
All I will tell you is that this year, it should have been in Las Vegas. The entire game as of right now is about how lucky you are. Obviously it's been like that since the game came out. However, luck is even more important than ever. You might have a nice hand to work with, but does your opponent have one card that can win them that turn? Worst of all, did you open with Effect Veiler? The game is way too luck based today. I mean 2 of the 3 big decks do not require any thought whatsoever. You just drop cards, and they tell you how to play the rest of the deck.
To conclude to all of this, I must tell you what will win the WCQ this year. I hate to break it to everyone, but Dino Rabbit will win. They just have everything needed to win. The object to Dino Rabbit is to make your Main Deck as expensive as possible and you win the entire tournament. Are those RYMP Macro Cosmos? I GOT SUPER ONES! I WIN! I do also think that the winning Dino Rabbit deck will play a Banishing theme to it in the main deck. It kinda ruins everything if I'm not mistaken.
Well everyone, have fun this coming weekend. Don't punch holes in the wall if you get Future Fusion'd on turn 1.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The Psychology of a Premiere Event
With the North American WCQ coming up, if you're going, what are your expectations? Do you expect to go far? Do you expect to scrub out? In this blog, we're going to go over the healthy approaches to having a successful premiere event, and for some people, vacation.
First off, what deck will you be running? Some people have many decisions to make on that. I remember my trip to YCS Charlotte. My friend was deciding on Dragunity, Blackwings, Anti-Meta, or Plants. I'm usually the grand decision maker for what he runs. I told him to play the deck that you are going to have the most fun with. If you play a deck by force, you're going to lose because chances are, you're going to not know how to play it properly. Either that or you're not going to have any fun at all if you sit there and lose round after round.
Another thing that people fail to do is to be themselves. I don't mean that as in you being you. I meant that your card choices have to be you. Even if you play the cards only at your local tournament, there's still a really good chance that you will encounter a deck like the ones you play at your locals. This is what we call player preference. This means the cards that YOU play that bring you the results that you desire. Lets say 2 people play Machina Gadgets. I personally like to play 3 Gearframes, 2 Fortress, and 1 Cannon. My friend tries that out and doesn't like it. He gets better results with 3 Fortress instead of 2. The truth is, you will not be successful if you netdeck someone card for card. There will be cards that you wish you had in there that your normally like.
The hardest thing to do in any Premiere Event is to take a loss that you know you could have easily avoided. Misplays happen all the time, and that included very stupid ones. I remember at a Virginia Regional that I lost because I forgot to use Solemn Warning on a Chaos Sorcerer, and next turn I had game. Instead, I lost, and it made me wanna quit. The best players have the ability to recover from it and just move on. If you can have a short-term memory (not like 5 seconds short) for just one day, you'll be completely fine. If you even THINK about your last round misplay during the next round, you will misplay again, and you will eventually drop from the tournament because your head is just not into the game.
So how should I approach a Premiere Event? First off, you need to assume that you're going to have like an x-4 day because so many people will be playing. I tried this psychological method, and I ended up x-1 after 6 rounds in New Jersey a couple of years ago. After my mind woke up and realized what I had just done, I thought so much about it during the last 2 rounds of day 1. All I needed to do was win just ONE more round to make it to day 2 in my very first Premiere Event! Instead, misplays stormed against me and I lost both rounds. I took it quite hard when I left the building, and that night when I was lying on the hotel floor. To sum up the rest, don't even think about your record. Just take it one round at a time, and pretend it's round 1 each and every round.
I even understand the nervousness of the last round. Some people are on the bubble, and they need to win, or they're out. For those rounds, just play it slowly and take your time. Don't even put a card on the table unless you're absolutely sure that's the right play to make. If you're that nervous about the last round, then that's EXACTLY what it feels like to be in the same spotlight as of someone in the NFL or any professional sport. All you have to do is be very cool under pressure, and make sure that you don't think about anything else except what you're doing right now.
In conclusion, just don't think about winning every round. Don't even think about having a success story for fellow players to to look up to. You should assume that you're not going to hold a trophy or a Blood Mefist by the end of the weekend. As long as you do that, well...anything can happen!
First off, what deck will you be running? Some people have many decisions to make on that. I remember my trip to YCS Charlotte. My friend was deciding on Dragunity, Blackwings, Anti-Meta, or Plants. I'm usually the grand decision maker for what he runs. I told him to play the deck that you are going to have the most fun with. If you play a deck by force, you're going to lose because chances are, you're going to not know how to play it properly. Either that or you're not going to have any fun at all if you sit there and lose round after round.
Another thing that people fail to do is to be themselves. I don't mean that as in you being you. I meant that your card choices have to be you. Even if you play the cards only at your local tournament, there's still a really good chance that you will encounter a deck like the ones you play at your locals. This is what we call player preference. This means the cards that YOU play that bring you the results that you desire. Lets say 2 people play Machina Gadgets. I personally like to play 3 Gearframes, 2 Fortress, and 1 Cannon. My friend tries that out and doesn't like it. He gets better results with 3 Fortress instead of 2. The truth is, you will not be successful if you netdeck someone card for card. There will be cards that you wish you had in there that your normally like.
The hardest thing to do in any Premiere Event is to take a loss that you know you could have easily avoided. Misplays happen all the time, and that included very stupid ones. I remember at a Virginia Regional that I lost because I forgot to use Solemn Warning on a Chaos Sorcerer, and next turn I had game. Instead, I lost, and it made me wanna quit. The best players have the ability to recover from it and just move on. If you can have a short-term memory (not like 5 seconds short) for just one day, you'll be completely fine. If you even THINK about your last round misplay during the next round, you will misplay again, and you will eventually drop from the tournament because your head is just not into the game.
So how should I approach a Premiere Event? First off, you need to assume that you're going to have like an x-4 day because so many people will be playing. I tried this psychological method, and I ended up x-1 after 6 rounds in New Jersey a couple of years ago. After my mind woke up and realized what I had just done, I thought so much about it during the last 2 rounds of day 1. All I needed to do was win just ONE more round to make it to day 2 in my very first Premiere Event! Instead, misplays stormed against me and I lost both rounds. I took it quite hard when I left the building, and that night when I was lying on the hotel floor. To sum up the rest, don't even think about your record. Just take it one round at a time, and pretend it's round 1 each and every round.
I even understand the nervousness of the last round. Some people are on the bubble, and they need to win, or they're out. For those rounds, just play it slowly and take your time. Don't even put a card on the table unless you're absolutely sure that's the right play to make. If you're that nervous about the last round, then that's EXACTLY what it feels like to be in the same spotlight as of someone in the NFL or any professional sport. All you have to do is be very cool under pressure, and make sure that you don't think about anything else except what you're doing right now.
In conclusion, just don't think about winning every round. Don't even think about having a success story for fellow players to to look up to. You should assume that you're not going to hold a trophy or a Blood Mefist by the end of the weekend. As long as you do that, well...anything can happen!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Six Samurai: The New Local Bandwagon?
Earlier, like a couple of months ago, there were so many Six Samurai decks that I had to sit there and come up with a side deck specifically for stopping the overrated deck. As a HERO player back in that time, I couldn't get the record against the deck that I wish I could have gotten. The one thing that I absolutely hated about HERO's was that the deck gave me the middle finger now and again, and I opened up with mainly useless cards at that point and time.
Konami reprinted Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En, in the Ra Yellow Mega Pack - Special Edition, which is available at Target, and Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, Naturia Beast, and Naturia Barkion were reprinted in Gold Series Haunted Mine. The hardest card to get now for the deck is Ally of Justice Catastor. Now we're getting an entire Structure Deck full of Six Samurai reprints, and with the results of Six Samurai around here, I believe that the people that can't top with anything are going to turn to the deck for results.
So lets price the deck up, assuming that we bought a Special Edition, 3 Structure Decks, and then we bought the remaining 4 cards from Troll and Toad.
Decks: $32 (after tax)
Special Edition: $14 (after tax)
Brionac: $12
Beast: $10
Barkion: $10
Catastor: $18
Shipping: $4
Grand Total: $100
Wow. For a very competitive deck in the format that we're in, that's a really cheap deck! I'm going to assume that you have the rest of the staples, Xyz's and cheap Synchro's necessary to build the deck. Of course, if you buy the cards from people, you'll be paying less than that for the deck. So if you're looking for a competitive budget deck, this is the deck for you.
By looking at the spoiler here, you'll know that EVERYTHING you need to make a Six Samurai deck is right in the box! The only cards that you'll need to have that are not in the deck are Shi En, Kagemusha of the Six Samurai, and Asceticism of the Six Samurai. Other than that, you should be good! Also if you have Effect Veiler's, you should use those too. If you don't have them, then you can use Forbidden Chalice, which is available in the Battle Pack.
Am I looking forward to seeing so many Six Samurai players when the deck comes out? To be honest, I'm really not. Well, my Machina Gadgets are an excellent matchup against the deck, so I should have no problem wrecking a local tournament full of them. However, it'll suck having to play the same deck over and over again. I remember when I spent 3 out of 4 rounds playing Samurai, and it got boring. Least I beat 2 of them, where the other one I just wasn't thinking for whatever reason. Oh well.
Anyways, enjoy the budget builder tips. I just hope that not too many people do this. I don't wanna spend the day playing Samurai!
Konami reprinted Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En, in the Ra Yellow Mega Pack - Special Edition, which is available at Target, and Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, Naturia Beast, and Naturia Barkion were reprinted in Gold Series Haunted Mine. The hardest card to get now for the deck is Ally of Justice Catastor. Now we're getting an entire Structure Deck full of Six Samurai reprints, and with the results of Six Samurai around here, I believe that the people that can't top with anything are going to turn to the deck for results.
So lets price the deck up, assuming that we bought a Special Edition, 3 Structure Decks, and then we bought the remaining 4 cards from Troll and Toad.
Decks: $32 (after tax)
Special Edition: $14 (after tax)
Brionac: $12
Beast: $10
Barkion: $10
Catastor: $18
Shipping: $4
Grand Total: $100
Wow. For a very competitive deck in the format that we're in, that's a really cheap deck! I'm going to assume that you have the rest of the staples, Xyz's and cheap Synchro's necessary to build the deck. Of course, if you buy the cards from people, you'll be paying less than that for the deck. So if you're looking for a competitive budget deck, this is the deck for you.
By looking at the spoiler here, you'll know that EVERYTHING you need to make a Six Samurai deck is right in the box! The only cards that you'll need to have that are not in the deck are Shi En, Kagemusha of the Six Samurai, and Asceticism of the Six Samurai. Other than that, you should be good! Also if you have Effect Veiler's, you should use those too. If you don't have them, then you can use Forbidden Chalice, which is available in the Battle Pack.
Am I looking forward to seeing so many Six Samurai players when the deck comes out? To be honest, I'm really not. Well, my Machina Gadgets are an excellent matchup against the deck, so I should have no problem wrecking a local tournament full of them. However, it'll suck having to play the same deck over and over again. I remember when I spent 3 out of 4 rounds playing Samurai, and it got boring. Least I beat 2 of them, where the other one I just wasn't thinking for whatever reason. Oh well.
Anyways, enjoy the budget builder tips. I just hope that not too many people do this. I don't wanna spend the day playing Samurai!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Deck Profile: Lightraysworn
For weeks, I have been slowly collecting everything necessary to complete my own version of the deck. I've seen so many builds, and eventually, I know the one which I will be building my deck around. However, we'll just go over the build that I currently have. Of course, the deck needs some work, but you all can try it out on DN and see if it can do anything for you.
This build doesn't have any Judgment Dragons, and it doesn't have as many Lightsworn monsters in it, but it's more original than most of the builds that I've seen so far. The only thing that I am currently working on right now for this build is the ability to speed the deck up. Sometimes, you will draw very slow hands, and you'll get absolutely nowhere.
With that said and done, lets go over some key cards.
Freed the Brave Wonderer: Some of you may be asking this. WHY?! This is part of my originality. In case you don't know what it does, it's a 1700 beatstick, and you can banish 2 LIGHT monsters from your Graveyard to destroy a face-up monster with higher ATK than this card. What are the chances of a monster higher than 1700 ATK being on your opponent's field? Pretty damn good actually! Just by getting this effect to activate once is a giant step in bringing out Lightray Sorcerer. Chances are, another one of your monsters will somehow be banished, and thus, Sorcerer is live!
Lightray Daedelus: This is the easiest of the 4 Lightray monsters in the deck. All you need is ANY 4 LIGHT monsters in your Graveyard. It doesn't even matter if it's 3 of one card. It's effect isn't very significant because of the requirement of a Field Spell card being needed on the field to use the effect, but the fact that you're dropping a 2600 ATK beater for NO REASON is a very nice thing! Think about it. You can get over Lightpulsar Dragon, Any Evolzar Xyz, Monarch, and Shi En!
Lightray Diablos: One of the 2 harder Lightrays to bring out. It's a solid 2800 ATK beater that needs 5 or more different LIGHT monsters in your Graveyard. This isn't hard to do with all the milling power you have. It's effect, however, is very nice! You banish a LIGHT monster from your grave to target an opposing set card. Reveal it, then determine whether it goes to the top or bottom of the deck. It's so nice that you can take your opponent's card and choose what to do with it! Think about this. If that's the only card your opponent possesses, just keep putting it on top and you win!
Lightray Gearfried: Same requirements as Diablos, but this one is only a semi-nomi monster! Meaning that if you summon it properly, you can bring it back! It's effect is that you can banish a LIGHT Warrior monster from your grave to negate a Spell/Trap and destroy it! However, you must ONLY control Warriors to use the effect. It's still a nice 2800 ATK beater that you can drop for no reason, but if you can ever use it's effect, you'll be in great shape!
Lightray Sorcerer: Probably the harder Lightray to pull out. All you need is any 3 banished LIGHT monsters to Special Summon this card. Due to the use of Freed the Brave Wonderer, this card can easily become live! However, this may be kicked for probably another Diablos and Gearfried, depending on testing results. Anyways! You can shuffle a banished LIGHT monster back into the deck to banish 1 face-up monster your opponent controls! However, you cannot attack the same turn you use it's effect. It's great for recycling cards like Honest, Effect Veiler, and other LIGHT monsters that you wouldn't want in your grave.
The rest, should be quite obvious to the eye. This may not be the exact deck that I have right now, but these are my intentions whenever I get all the cards! After that, I go for the next level of making this deck, and that's making it tournament-level! Without further reading, here's the decklist!
Monsters: 30
3x Lightray Daedelus
2x Lightray Diablos
2x Lightray Gearfried
2x Lightray Sorcerer
3x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3x Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
1x Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
1x Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
2x Freed the Brave Wonderer
2x Effect Veiler
1x Honest
2x Card Trooper
2x Necro Gardna
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1x Tragoedia
1x Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Spells: 12
1x Charge of the Light Brigade
1x Reinforcement of the Army
3x Solar Recharge
2x Monster Reincarnation
2x The Warrior Returning Alive
1x Heavy Storm
1x Dark Hole
1x Monster Reborn
Fill in your Extra Deck here since I'm too lazy to type it in.
This build doesn't have any Judgment Dragons, and it doesn't have as many Lightsworn monsters in it, but it's more original than most of the builds that I've seen so far. The only thing that I am currently working on right now for this build is the ability to speed the deck up. Sometimes, you will draw very slow hands, and you'll get absolutely nowhere.
With that said and done, lets go over some key cards.
Freed the Brave Wonderer: Some of you may be asking this. WHY?! This is part of my originality. In case you don't know what it does, it's a 1700 beatstick, and you can banish 2 LIGHT monsters from your Graveyard to destroy a face-up monster with higher ATK than this card. What are the chances of a monster higher than 1700 ATK being on your opponent's field? Pretty damn good actually! Just by getting this effect to activate once is a giant step in bringing out Lightray Sorcerer. Chances are, another one of your monsters will somehow be banished, and thus, Sorcerer is live!
Lightray Daedelus: This is the easiest of the 4 Lightray monsters in the deck. All you need is ANY 4 LIGHT monsters in your Graveyard. It doesn't even matter if it's 3 of one card. It's effect isn't very significant because of the requirement of a Field Spell card being needed on the field to use the effect, but the fact that you're dropping a 2600 ATK beater for NO REASON is a very nice thing! Think about it. You can get over Lightpulsar Dragon, Any Evolzar Xyz, Monarch, and Shi En!
Lightray Diablos: One of the 2 harder Lightrays to bring out. It's a solid 2800 ATK beater that needs 5 or more different LIGHT monsters in your Graveyard. This isn't hard to do with all the milling power you have. It's effect, however, is very nice! You banish a LIGHT monster from your grave to target an opposing set card. Reveal it, then determine whether it goes to the top or bottom of the deck. It's so nice that you can take your opponent's card and choose what to do with it! Think about this. If that's the only card your opponent possesses, just keep putting it on top and you win!
Lightray Gearfried: Same requirements as Diablos, but this one is only a semi-nomi monster! Meaning that if you summon it properly, you can bring it back! It's effect is that you can banish a LIGHT Warrior monster from your grave to negate a Spell/Trap and destroy it! However, you must ONLY control Warriors to use the effect. It's still a nice 2800 ATK beater that you can drop for no reason, but if you can ever use it's effect, you'll be in great shape!
Lightray Sorcerer: Probably the harder Lightray to pull out. All you need is any 3 banished LIGHT monsters to Special Summon this card. Due to the use of Freed the Brave Wonderer, this card can easily become live! However, this may be kicked for probably another Diablos and Gearfried, depending on testing results. Anyways! You can shuffle a banished LIGHT monster back into the deck to banish 1 face-up monster your opponent controls! However, you cannot attack the same turn you use it's effect. It's great for recycling cards like Honest, Effect Veiler, and other LIGHT monsters that you wouldn't want in your grave.
The rest, should be quite obvious to the eye. This may not be the exact deck that I have right now, but these are my intentions whenever I get all the cards! After that, I go for the next level of making this deck, and that's making it tournament-level! Without further reading, here's the decklist!
Monsters: 30
3x Lightray Daedelus
2x Lightray Diablos
2x Lightray Gearfried
2x Lightray Sorcerer
3x Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3x Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress
1x Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
1x Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
2x Freed the Brave Wonderer
2x Effect Veiler
1x Honest
2x Card Trooper
2x Necro Gardna
1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1x Tragoedia
1x Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
Spells: 12
1x Charge of the Light Brigade
1x Reinforcement of the Army
3x Solar Recharge
2x Monster Reincarnation
2x The Warrior Returning Alive
1x Heavy Storm
1x Dark Hole
1x Monster Reborn
Fill in your Extra Deck here since I'm too lazy to type it in.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Card of the Week: 6/4/12
I'd have brought this segment to my YouTube channel, but I decided that I'm much better off writing it out rather than explain everything via video, considering that I'm very bad at talking and explaining things when it really counts.
Every Monday night (when possible) I'll post a card that I'll review that can be very effective against the meta. I try not to review cards that are typically used in the meta, but if it's something very significant, I'll go ahead and review it. I don't rate cards or anything. I just tell you how recommended it is for certain decks and why.
Anyways! On to the first card of the week!
Mirror of Oaths
Normal Trap
Activate only when your opponent Special Summons a monster(s) from their Deck. Destroy that monster(s) and draw 1 card.
We keep it nice and simple tonight with a trap that can be sided against the majority of the decks in this format. I'd say main deck this, but it's just not consistent enough for it to be mained. However, with the mass reprint of Tour Guide, I could consider otherwise. It would stop your opponent from Xyz Summoning, and it lets you draw one card, which could be a key factor in the game! Now I'm sure that you actually have to destroy the monster in order to draw the card, so if that monster is hit by Forbidden Lance, you're screwed. If it's Sangan that you're going to destroy, then you got a choice to make! Let them Xyz and not get a search, or let them search and draw a card. That choice is quite tough.
It's not just Tour Guide that you can stop. You can stop other cards that you may see on your way through the tournament! Here are a few of them!
Gladiator Beasts: When they tag in, you can use it on the monster(s) that they tagged in! It can likely mess what they were trying to do up, and we all know how important draw power is in this game. It's very unlikely, however, that you would even get to use this when they tag out Gyzarus.
Inzektor Dragonfly: Say you set a couple of backrow, and they miss Mirror of Oaths. You can use it to destroy Centipede and draw a card! However, if they do the Zektkaliber combo, you will only get to destroy one of the Inzektors that they Special Summon.
Gravekeeper's Spy: Whichever GK they summon will get destroyed. This can be used to stop Descendent from doing anything to your field. I'm pretty sure that your opponent won't scrub MST on it with lots of backrow. However, this does not work during the Damage Step.
Rescue Rabbit: Even if you only hit one, you disturb the strategy, and you draw a card! Nothing better than not letting your opponent get an Evolzar Xyz out on the field!
Overall, it's not a bad card to use. Personally, I think it's a great local card to use in your side deck. However, not as good at a Regional or YCS. If anything, you should try it! Study the decks that are played at your local and give it a try! I guess if you have that kind of luck playing local decks at Regionals, then you should play it as well.
Every Monday night (when possible) I'll post a card that I'll review that can be very effective against the meta. I try not to review cards that are typically used in the meta, but if it's something very significant, I'll go ahead and review it. I don't rate cards or anything. I just tell you how recommended it is for certain decks and why.
Anyways! On to the first card of the week!
Mirror of Oaths
Normal Trap
Activate only when your opponent Special Summons a monster(s) from their Deck. Destroy that monster(s) and draw 1 card.
We keep it nice and simple tonight with a trap that can be sided against the majority of the decks in this format. I'd say main deck this, but it's just not consistent enough for it to be mained. However, with the mass reprint of Tour Guide, I could consider otherwise. It would stop your opponent from Xyz Summoning, and it lets you draw one card, which could be a key factor in the game! Now I'm sure that you actually have to destroy the monster in order to draw the card, so if that monster is hit by Forbidden Lance, you're screwed. If it's Sangan that you're going to destroy, then you got a choice to make! Let them Xyz and not get a search, or let them search and draw a card. That choice is quite tough.
It's not just Tour Guide that you can stop. You can stop other cards that you may see on your way through the tournament! Here are a few of them!
Gladiator Beasts: When they tag in, you can use it on the monster(s) that they tagged in! It can likely mess what they were trying to do up, and we all know how important draw power is in this game. It's very unlikely, however, that you would even get to use this when they tag out Gyzarus.
Inzektor Dragonfly: Say you set a couple of backrow, and they miss Mirror of Oaths. You can use it to destroy Centipede and draw a card! However, if they do the Zektkaliber combo, you will only get to destroy one of the Inzektors that they Special Summon.
Gravekeeper's Spy: Whichever GK they summon will get destroyed. This can be used to stop Descendent from doing anything to your field. I'm pretty sure that your opponent won't scrub MST on it with lots of backrow. However, this does not work during the Damage Step.
Rescue Rabbit: Even if you only hit one, you disturb the strategy, and you draw a card! Nothing better than not letting your opponent get an Evolzar Xyz out on the field!
Overall, it's not a bad card to use. Personally, I think it's a great local card to use in your side deck. However, not as good at a Regional or YCS. If anything, you should try it! Study the decks that are played at your local and give it a try! I guess if you have that kind of luck playing local decks at Regionals, then you should play it as well.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
March 2012 Format: What should be hit?
I can't believe we're only now half-way through the format, and for the second half, it's more of the same. All we're getting is a Six Samurai Xyz and Gem-Knight Pearl between now, and September. I personally don't count sets that come out right before the next list. With that said, I can safely predict the September 2012 banlist!
So what should be hit? I really think that the format is really bad. We have a deck that has EVERYTHING to support it, and it destroys your opponent's stuff one card at a time just to get into your life points. Once one card goes off, the whole thing goes off, and it's very annoying! Next, we have a swarming high ATK beater powerhouse! The player that uses Future Fusion in that deck and has it resolve has a 90% chance of winning the duel. And finally, we have a deck that somehow finds a way to win with it's Evolzar Xyz's. As for the under looked deck, we have a deck that's theoretically unbeatable!
I will now go over what cards should be banned, limited, etc. and why. Please note that this is just my opinion (with a few facts) and I'm sure that I will be wrong on most of this stuff.
Banned
Future Fusion: Did I just mention that whoever plays it essentially wins? If you did and you lost, you must be a total scrub. Not to mention that this card is very universal, meaning that the card can be used in multiple decks and can still be very effective. Go ahead! Kill my Jinzo/Machina combo! I just want the Chaos Dragon crap to end!
Wind-Up Zenmaines: This card is the ONLY reason why Tour guide is so broken and expensive these days. I'm very aware of the fact that it has some holes that make this card not as broken, but it doesn't matter. The fact that you get a turn 1 card that has 3 lives and it destroys a card each time it loses a life(s). Japan, you've had this card long enough to know how broken it is! It's time for this Zenmotherfucker to get it's ass banned!
Limited
Inzektor Hornet: This card right here is the only reason that it's too broken for words. I can't say ban it because it's used in pretty much one deck. If they limit this card, then they probably won't hit the rest of the deck. I'd be very surprised if this card and Dragonfly got hit in a way. Either way. How many games have you won/lost because of this card? Exactly! Hornet shouldn't be at 3.
Rescue Rabbit: I will say this. I want luck to be a major factor in making this card really broken. I want people to abuse Gold Sarcophagus to have this card in possession. If this card doesn't get hit along with the rest of the decks, then this deck will dominate once again. Not much else to say about hitting this card. If at anytime one card leads to a free Solemn Judgment effect, it needs to get touched.
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: It's really annoying that this card can call up a huge Dragon from your hand or Graveyard. Sometimes, if you negate it with Effect Veiler or Fiendish Chain, another one will just get Special Summoned by Banishing the negated one. Not to mention that this card is the reason that Lightpulsar Dragon is so broken right now, because we have access to up to 3 of this card. I'd want this card banned, but as you may know, Konami will promote another FTK before they try to ban it.
Royal Oppression: This card can come out of the closet. I want this at 2, but it won't happen. Although I think this card will come back at 1, it won't solve too much as we're already maining at least 2 MST's, which kills this card upon paying the life points for it's effect's activation. With all of the Special Summoning going on right now, we need something to put that in check, and a couple of Solemn Warnings won't do everything.
One Day of Peace: At most YCS events, at least one deck that stalls opponents and wins by another method rather than taking the opponent's life points down to 0 has been doing well in the event. If you've seen the top 16 Philly deck, you'll know why I put this card on the list. The deck is theoretically unbeatable! It's a cheap ticket to an invite if played right. For this card's concept, both players draw a card, and you take no damage until your next turn. That's what makes these kind of decks stupid!
Super Polymerization: With Elemental HERO Escuridao on it's way here in August, it's time that HERO decks got hit a little. This means that this card can fuse with ANYTHING and an Elemental HERO monster! With that, we need some balance for the future meta. For mirror matches, it will take much more skill to get the most use out of what I think will be a single Super Polymerization. It's not that Escuridao is a good card or anything. It's just that Super Poly will make it and any HERO deck really broken.
Semi-Limited
Tour Guide From the Underworld: This will shut the absolute necessity of this card up! You get the effect once, then it's done! This should make the Turn 1 Tour Guide get Tour Guide play be much smarter due to the lack of Tour Guide #3. This means your Sangan should be able to search peacefully instead of being imprisoned by an Xyz monster. If Zenmaines also gets banned with this card's semi-limit, then I will be happy that this card is not a necessity anymore!
Miracle Fusion: It's a really good card, but the free Fusion monsters should chill out just a little bit. I think HERO players should be happy that I'm even predicting this. This is because you'll get one extra space for your deck, and you'll still have enough Miracle Fusions to live on.
Lonefire Blossom: No Spore or Glow-Up Bulb? Why is this card limited? Lets make some creative Plant decks that don't Synchro a lot! If this card goes up to 2, I'll bring back Gigavise!
Mirror Force: This is my call for Konami's non-sober move to adjust the semi-limited list in some way possible. I'll laugh so hard if I call this right
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: Why not? Synchro's aren't as good anymore, and no more priority. I wouldn't be surprised if this hit 3 because of the reprint.
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow: This one's pretty random, but damnit! Give Blackwings at least one more good card!
No Longer Limited
Marshmallon: Just another card that climbs out of the list. I don't think it's that good anymore.
Level Limit - Area B: No good anymore. Xyz's made this card worse.
And that's that! I hope you enjoyed reading this piece of shit I call my September 1st banlist prediction! Lets hope I get at least a B grade on when the answer key arrives then. For now, enjoy the shitty ass meta, and hope it doesn't get shittier in a few months!
So what should be hit? I really think that the format is really bad. We have a deck that has EVERYTHING to support it, and it destroys your opponent's stuff one card at a time just to get into your life points. Once one card goes off, the whole thing goes off, and it's very annoying! Next, we have a swarming high ATK beater powerhouse! The player that uses Future Fusion in that deck and has it resolve has a 90% chance of winning the duel. And finally, we have a deck that somehow finds a way to win with it's Evolzar Xyz's. As for the under looked deck, we have a deck that's theoretically unbeatable!
I will now go over what cards should be banned, limited, etc. and why. Please note that this is just my opinion (with a few facts) and I'm sure that I will be wrong on most of this stuff.
Banned
Future Fusion: Did I just mention that whoever plays it essentially wins? If you did and you lost, you must be a total scrub. Not to mention that this card is very universal, meaning that the card can be used in multiple decks and can still be very effective. Go ahead! Kill my Jinzo/Machina combo! I just want the Chaos Dragon crap to end!
Wind-Up Zenmaines: This card is the ONLY reason why Tour guide is so broken and expensive these days. I'm very aware of the fact that it has some holes that make this card not as broken, but it doesn't matter. The fact that you get a turn 1 card that has 3 lives and it destroys a card each time it loses a life(s). Japan, you've had this card long enough to know how broken it is! It's time for this Zenmotherfucker to get it's ass banned!
Limited
Inzektor Hornet: This card right here is the only reason that it's too broken for words. I can't say ban it because it's used in pretty much one deck. If they limit this card, then they probably won't hit the rest of the deck. I'd be very surprised if this card and Dragonfly got hit in a way. Either way. How many games have you won/lost because of this card? Exactly! Hornet shouldn't be at 3.
Rescue Rabbit: I will say this. I want luck to be a major factor in making this card really broken. I want people to abuse Gold Sarcophagus to have this card in possession. If this card doesn't get hit along with the rest of the decks, then this deck will dominate once again. Not much else to say about hitting this card. If at anytime one card leads to a free Solemn Judgment effect, it needs to get touched.
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: It's really annoying that this card can call up a huge Dragon from your hand or Graveyard. Sometimes, if you negate it with Effect Veiler or Fiendish Chain, another one will just get Special Summoned by Banishing the negated one. Not to mention that this card is the reason that Lightpulsar Dragon is so broken right now, because we have access to up to 3 of this card. I'd want this card banned, but as you may know, Konami will promote another FTK before they try to ban it.
Royal Oppression: This card can come out of the closet. I want this at 2, but it won't happen. Although I think this card will come back at 1, it won't solve too much as we're already maining at least 2 MST's, which kills this card upon paying the life points for it's effect's activation. With all of the Special Summoning going on right now, we need something to put that in check, and a couple of Solemn Warnings won't do everything.
One Day of Peace: At most YCS events, at least one deck that stalls opponents and wins by another method rather than taking the opponent's life points down to 0 has been doing well in the event. If you've seen the top 16 Philly deck, you'll know why I put this card on the list. The deck is theoretically unbeatable! It's a cheap ticket to an invite if played right. For this card's concept, both players draw a card, and you take no damage until your next turn. That's what makes these kind of decks stupid!
Super Polymerization: With Elemental HERO Escuridao on it's way here in August, it's time that HERO decks got hit a little. This means that this card can fuse with ANYTHING and an Elemental HERO monster! With that, we need some balance for the future meta. For mirror matches, it will take much more skill to get the most use out of what I think will be a single Super Polymerization. It's not that Escuridao is a good card or anything. It's just that Super Poly will make it and any HERO deck really broken.
Semi-Limited
Tour Guide From the Underworld: This will shut the absolute necessity of this card up! You get the effect once, then it's done! This should make the Turn 1 Tour Guide get Tour Guide play be much smarter due to the lack of Tour Guide #3. This means your Sangan should be able to search peacefully instead of being imprisoned by an Xyz monster. If Zenmaines also gets banned with this card's semi-limit, then I will be happy that this card is not a necessity anymore!
Miracle Fusion: It's a really good card, but the free Fusion monsters should chill out just a little bit. I think HERO players should be happy that I'm even predicting this. This is because you'll get one extra space for your deck, and you'll still have enough Miracle Fusions to live on.
Lonefire Blossom: No Spore or Glow-Up Bulb? Why is this card limited? Lets make some creative Plant decks that don't Synchro a lot! If this card goes up to 2, I'll bring back Gigavise!
Mirror Force: This is my call for Konami's non-sober move to adjust the semi-limited list in some way possible. I'll laugh so hard if I call this right
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: Why not? Synchro's aren't as good anymore, and no more priority. I wouldn't be surprised if this hit 3 because of the reprint.
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow: This one's pretty random, but damnit! Give Blackwings at least one more good card!
No Longer Limited
Marshmallon: Just another card that climbs out of the list. I don't think it's that good anymore.
Level Limit - Area B: No good anymore. Xyz's made this card worse.
And that's that! I hope you enjoyed reading this piece of shit I call my September 1st banlist prediction! Lets hope I get at least a B grade on when the answer key arrives then. For now, enjoy the shitty ass meta, and hope it doesn't get shittier in a few months!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Machina Gadgets: Take 5
Yes, I counted the amount of takes I put on this deck. This will be the 5th different time I use this deck competitively. Machina Gadgets have been what I'm a natural at since the day they came out of a structure deck. I guess I'll go over the history of my other takes.
Take 1: Jinzo OTK: Since I thought about the Jinzo - Returner/Jinzo combo with Future Fusion, I thought I could score gold with a deck build that I came up with myself. This deck came out to be a HUGE success against the Summer 2010 format, and has won EVERY local tournament from July to the end of August. I was so good, that people even thought I was cheating! Some of you might have lived to tell the tale.
Take 2: Post-Summer Gadget Stun: I took another approach and decided to wipe out the all-machine build and go with something more control-based. Although the results weren't nearly as great, it did win a couple of tournaments!
Take 3: Wrath of D.D. Warrior Lady: This was a very budget, yet, very well-built deck. DDWL was so good against the March 2011 format, that I had to try my take at using it! The result, a perfect 16-0 (game) tournament win, followed by a 6-3 record at YCS Charlotte, then another tourney win right after that!
Take 4: Anti-Meta Control: In March 2012, I made the deck very difficult to beat against the meta. It had excellent records against Inzektors and Wind-Up's. I had a solid run at the Richmond VA Regional, but was stopped short by a rule-shark call. You don't know how pissed I was, and I was rushed to drop so we could leave early anyways, so yeah.
And now for take 5! This build is to try to adapt to the current meta. This Summer's meta is full of Chaos Dragons, Inzektors, and HERO decks. I got a really good idea from a deck profile I watched on YouTube. The guy's deck got 1st place at a Regional in Europe, and it really made me think about the choices that he made. Since I don't have CardCar D's, I'm forced to replace them with a couple of cards. I think his deck was 41 anyways, so I guess it worked out! Click here to watch the deck profile!
Tragoedia: I really don't know what to say about this card yet. In all my duels on Dueling Network, I've yet to even draw it! I run 2 of them, so I'm bound to drop it at some point! With my hand advantage due to the Gadgets, I'm able to keep this beast at around 2400 or higher most of the time. I wouldn't count on it's effect to steal a monster from your opponent though. It does make it easier to bring out the one Rank 7 Xyz monster that I play with: Number 11: Big Eye!
Forbidden Lance: I was actually really impressed by this choice! Although I didn't use it the way it was meant to be used, I used it a couple of times to save my ass from losing! Once to keep my life at bay so that I could drop Gorz on the next attack, and the other to get over what was an 1800 ATK beat stick. The purpose is to keep Machina Fortress alive and to be able to use it's effect to destroy any card your opponent controls. Although you will take a few extra life points, it's well worth getting rid of a big or annoying monster.
Chain Disappearance: He actually did it! The thing that I've warned everyone that could do it to do so! Tech the damn thing! With about every deck having SOMETHING to use it on, it's well worth a slot in the deck. Although typically used against Tour Guide, this card can do some damage against Inzektor Dragonfly or Hornet. Believe it or not, if you hit Hornet, you banished the winning condition out of the deck! There are other ways to use this card, but you should be able to figure that out.
Other than that, the choices seemed standard to me. Also, his side deck seemed to be pretty standard stuff. Although, I do need to go over 2 cards that I thought were pretty cool to side.
Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo: Why is this card $3 now? With Chaos Dragons running around taking the gold, this card should be able to do some good damage to your opponent's field. I'd even think about getting it in there for 1200 if necessary. Against Chaos Dragons, you should be able to protect yourself from a Lyla or Eclipse Wyvern about to hit you. I honestly like this card over Vanity's Emptiness because it's not as unstable, and your opponent can just simply chain MST on another card to get a 2 for 1 deal.
Macro Cosmos: I really don't know how to adjust my deck to side these in yet, but I know why it's played. You've got to have some sort of hate against Chaos Dragons, and it's also an asset against Inzektors since it shuts down it's entire strategy. I was thinking kick the Machina engine and some other stuff for the Macro's and Fossil Dyna's, but I'm not 100% sure. If all fails, I may just play Prohibition instead. In all, this card puts in a lot of work while it's on the field.
And another reason why this deck has gotten a lot better is because of the 3 new Rank 4 options that have recently came out! We had nothing but Utopia, and Roach for some people. Now we have 5 different options to choose from, and more to come when Return of the Duelist comes out!
Maestroke the Symphony Djinn: This card is the Rank 4 version of Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, but it also has a Book of Moon effect attached to it! With the cost of detaching an Xyz material, you can keep it alive, or put a monster face-down! Although he's only at 1800 ATK, his 2300 DEF makes him a very solid wall! It's great to force your opponent to use Ryko on...essentially nothing! This card made this year's Starter Deck worth buying!
Photon Papilloperative: When I first read this card, I knew right off the bat that this card was going to be broken. If your opponent is sitting on a Spirit Reaper or some other wall, this bug can force it into Attack Position and weaken it's ATK by 600! It's at a solid 2100 ATK, and it can very well force your opponent to use one of their important defensive cards to stop it from happening! This card is only a Rare in the new Galactic Overlord set!
Gem-Knight Pearl: Fresh out of the new Battle Pack, this card is the only non-effect Xyz monster. This jewel sits at a nice 2600 ATK and 1900 DEF. So what's so good about it? Gadgets can FINALLY be able to get over a Gravekeeper's Spy with Necrovalley on the field, Stardust Dragon, and more! It's a pretty solid card overall, and it should be played in this deck. I play 2 of them just in case!
This deck is only going to get better at the end of the Summer! When Return of the Duelist comes out, we'll be getting a nice Xyz Gadget card, and a few other support cards for this deck! Take 6 might come when the format change arrives on September 1st, 2012, so stay tuned for that!
Take 1: Jinzo OTK: Since I thought about the Jinzo - Returner/Jinzo combo with Future Fusion, I thought I could score gold with a deck build that I came up with myself. This deck came out to be a HUGE success against the Summer 2010 format, and has won EVERY local tournament from July to the end of August. I was so good, that people even thought I was cheating! Some of you might have lived to tell the tale.
Take 2: Post-Summer Gadget Stun: I took another approach and decided to wipe out the all-machine build and go with something more control-based. Although the results weren't nearly as great, it did win a couple of tournaments!
Take 3: Wrath of D.D. Warrior Lady: This was a very budget, yet, very well-built deck. DDWL was so good against the March 2011 format, that I had to try my take at using it! The result, a perfect 16-0 (game) tournament win, followed by a 6-3 record at YCS Charlotte, then another tourney win right after that!
Take 4: Anti-Meta Control: In March 2012, I made the deck very difficult to beat against the meta. It had excellent records against Inzektors and Wind-Up's. I had a solid run at the Richmond VA Regional, but was stopped short by a rule-shark call. You don't know how pissed I was, and I was rushed to drop so we could leave early anyways, so yeah.
And now for take 5! This build is to try to adapt to the current meta. This Summer's meta is full of Chaos Dragons, Inzektors, and HERO decks. I got a really good idea from a deck profile I watched on YouTube. The guy's deck got 1st place at a Regional in Europe, and it really made me think about the choices that he made. Since I don't have CardCar D's, I'm forced to replace them with a couple of cards. I think his deck was 41 anyways, so I guess it worked out! Click here to watch the deck profile!
Tragoedia: I really don't know what to say about this card yet. In all my duels on Dueling Network, I've yet to even draw it! I run 2 of them, so I'm bound to drop it at some point! With my hand advantage due to the Gadgets, I'm able to keep this beast at around 2400 or higher most of the time. I wouldn't count on it's effect to steal a monster from your opponent though. It does make it easier to bring out the one Rank 7 Xyz monster that I play with: Number 11: Big Eye!
Forbidden Lance: I was actually really impressed by this choice! Although I didn't use it the way it was meant to be used, I used it a couple of times to save my ass from losing! Once to keep my life at bay so that I could drop Gorz on the next attack, and the other to get over what was an 1800 ATK beat stick. The purpose is to keep Machina Fortress alive and to be able to use it's effect to destroy any card your opponent controls. Although you will take a few extra life points, it's well worth getting rid of a big or annoying monster.
Chain Disappearance: He actually did it! The thing that I've warned everyone that could do it to do so! Tech the damn thing! With about every deck having SOMETHING to use it on, it's well worth a slot in the deck. Although typically used against Tour Guide, this card can do some damage against Inzektor Dragonfly or Hornet. Believe it or not, if you hit Hornet, you banished the winning condition out of the deck! There are other ways to use this card, but you should be able to figure that out.
Other than that, the choices seemed standard to me. Also, his side deck seemed to be pretty standard stuff. Although, I do need to go over 2 cards that I thought were pretty cool to side.
Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo: Why is this card $3 now? With Chaos Dragons running around taking the gold, this card should be able to do some good damage to your opponent's field. I'd even think about getting it in there for 1200 if necessary. Against Chaos Dragons, you should be able to protect yourself from a Lyla or Eclipse Wyvern about to hit you. I honestly like this card over Vanity's Emptiness because it's not as unstable, and your opponent can just simply chain MST on another card to get a 2 for 1 deal.
Macro Cosmos: I really don't know how to adjust my deck to side these in yet, but I know why it's played. You've got to have some sort of hate against Chaos Dragons, and it's also an asset against Inzektors since it shuts down it's entire strategy. I was thinking kick the Machina engine and some other stuff for the Macro's and Fossil Dyna's, but I'm not 100% sure. If all fails, I may just play Prohibition instead. In all, this card puts in a lot of work while it's on the field.
And another reason why this deck has gotten a lot better is because of the 3 new Rank 4 options that have recently came out! We had nothing but Utopia, and Roach for some people. Now we have 5 different options to choose from, and more to come when Return of the Duelist comes out!
Maestroke the Symphony Djinn: This card is the Rank 4 version of Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, but it also has a Book of Moon effect attached to it! With the cost of detaching an Xyz material, you can keep it alive, or put a monster face-down! Although he's only at 1800 ATK, his 2300 DEF makes him a very solid wall! It's great to force your opponent to use Ryko on...essentially nothing! This card made this year's Starter Deck worth buying!
Photon Papilloperative: When I first read this card, I knew right off the bat that this card was going to be broken. If your opponent is sitting on a Spirit Reaper or some other wall, this bug can force it into Attack Position and weaken it's ATK by 600! It's at a solid 2100 ATK, and it can very well force your opponent to use one of their important defensive cards to stop it from happening! This card is only a Rare in the new Galactic Overlord set!
Gem-Knight Pearl: Fresh out of the new Battle Pack, this card is the only non-effect Xyz monster. This jewel sits at a nice 2600 ATK and 1900 DEF. So what's so good about it? Gadgets can FINALLY be able to get over a Gravekeeper's Spy with Necrovalley on the field, Stardust Dragon, and more! It's a pretty solid card overall, and it should be played in this deck. I play 2 of them just in case!
This deck is only going to get better at the end of the Summer! When Return of the Duelist comes out, we'll be getting a nice Xyz Gadget card, and a few other support cards for this deck! Take 6 might come when the format change arrives on September 1st, 2012, so stay tuned for that!
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