Early Sept 2011 OCG Meta prediction: Chaos format anyone?

A few OCG tournaments have started using the ban-list and they have some interesting results.

Of the 4 tournaments published in shriek.twoday.net so far, all the top decks:

- use over 24 monsters and a number of traps no higher than 5-6

- use/rely on little to no back rows

- use Lightsworn engine (hence more monsters) and the Chaos monsters

- rely on Graveyard (we need D.D. Crow back in the main deck, no?)

Sidenote: "The Warrior Returning Alive" should be read as "Black Luster Soldier Returning to eat you Alive"

Those decks are Lightsworn, Junk Doppel and Undead. Lightsworn and Junk Doppel are already established to be able to use Chaos monsters effectively and rely on the lightsworn engine for milling and as light fodder. They have the least amount of "transitioning" over to the new format. While the other decks are being considered for readjustment to 3 MST and how to survive without the defensive back rows (Blackwings especially), Lightsworn and Junk Doppel just continue with their game.

Early prediction of Tier 1 for OCG

- Lightsworns (Twilight/chaos included)

- Junk Doppel

- Decks with high monster count, low traps + little to no reliance on back rows + lightsworn engine + Chaos Monsters + summons from the graveyard (Undead and Graveyard Blackwings are candidates because they can easily fit the above conditions)

Cards that I'm calling Staple:

- 2 Tragoedia

- Mind Control

- Heavy Storm

- Monster Reborn

- Dark Hole

- Torrential Tribute

- Trap Dustshoot

(Whirlwind of the Chaos Lightlord deck actually has the same idea with the trap selection!)

New players might want to look towards building the above instead of buying 3 Agent/Dark World structure decks or wait for more Sept ban-list tournament results to decide. Of the top 2, Junk Doppel will be more consistent than lightsworns.

On the other hand, Mike Ting's Dark World built for March 2011 ban-list seems very Sept 2011 ready! I've seen quite a number of top OCG decks that uses the lightsworn engine in Dark World but I think the Dark World cards are meant to be discarded, not milled but with the Chaos monsters splash-able with them, I could be wrong.

The Current State of Yugioh

I've been going through Yugioh blogs to see what I've been missing since I was away. 2 very interesting ones (Rauzes = G-Ray !?!?!?) came up and they both are about quitting/leaving Yugioh.

In OCG, Rauzes is quitting Yugioh to free up his time for other things. All the best Rauzes!

In TCG, Michael Bonacini is switching his focus from Yugioh to Magic The Gathering(MTG). His blog is really informative and thought-provoking(mainly TCG) so I urge everyone who have not read to check it out, reading his analysis and ideas about the game! I have started out from MTG and actually still have the cards and a couple of decks.

His comparison between the 2 card games have led me to start thinking and also take a step back to try to see the "big picture". One of his most interesting post is the one where he brought up about MTG and Konami's way of dealing with banning cards: Will Konami fix Yugioh, or let it die?

In OCG, people are saying it is a "play one monster and set 4-5 spells/traps" format. In TCG, Micheal puts it best, calling it the "dice-roll" format; winning the dice roll usually can mean a match win due to going first and setting up first.

2 different states of Yugioh but similar heavy backrow format...

Lucky Number 13?

I've been checking out shriek's tournaments and seeing all the decks. Agent Angels are aplenty. Offering Gadgets seems to be the best exceed deck and I've seen a few variants running Deep-sea Divas. I think Divas benefit from Gachi Gachi Gentetsu. It used to be pretty dead when you draw it with only a Diva left in the deck and no monsters in the field to synchro. The other exceed deck I noticed are Gravekeepers and Dark World.

I read in the comments that the TCG exclusive coming in Extra Pack 4 called Gravekeeper's Recruiter is going to boost the deck-type. Gravekeeper's Spy are excellent 4 Star Exceed summons. Perhaps Diva can splash into Gravekeepers but I've yet to see a version. Gravekeepers'(GK) key card, Royal Tribute is kinda like a Crush Card Virus and Recruiter will aid in getting Commandant to get Necrovalley, making Royal Tribute a live card.

As for Dark World (DW), the structure box cover already specifies Zexal which should signal the dawn of the XYZ age. However, most of the DW decks are using Demon God Raven as a tuner for synchros. Most of them also do not use Dark World Dealings and I guess it is in fear of mirror matches. The main point I brought up about this 2 decks is because of a particular player that runs both these decks.

Google for "site:shriek.twoday.net efu"

I noticed his deck in that search result list always pack 13 monsters only. I can understand for GK as it synergies well with Royal Tribute. I'm not too sure about DW and its mechanics and looking at the trap, I guess the point of the deck is to cycle through the deck and OTK with an Return from the Different Dimension? His decks also seem to focus on exceeds and I wonder if 13 monsters is a winning formula or his personal preference.

There are a couple of other decks that can work with 13 monsters that I can think of: offering gadgets, gladiator beasts and infernities. You will have to force yourself to choose 13 of the best themed monsters mixed with the most 1 splashed monster like Sangan. Be sure not to run Allures in the dark decks!

September is around a month away and the banlist is coming. Newcomers might want to stray building the current top tier decks as they might get hit and limited. In my opinion, DW should be safe as it has not dominated as much as Agent Angels going from the Nationals (It's not allowed in SG Nationals) and OCG tournaments but I keep my fingers crossed nevertheless!

Will you be running 13 monsters in your deck?

Update: I think it works because of 3 pots of duality. The 13 monsters can still act as reference as the base monsters.