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...

September Banlist Info from other blogs

Dueling Days~: Countdown to September Banlist

20 August 2011 is the date to look out for! I'll try to stay clear from the Internet this few days to avoid the photoshop/fake list mayhem.

Team Arcobaleno: Rumours about September's Ban List~

Nice picture that is really genuine looking... (photoshopped?)

Looking ahead... Banlist coming next month

I've been reading that the current format is about playing a monster and setting 4-5 spells/traps. Banning heavy storm and cold wave are the main causes and it will be interesting to see if Konami returns them into the meta.

Some of the current top decks I've been seeing in tournament and nationals:

- Agent Angels

- Blackwings

- Tengu decks

- Debris Junk Doppel

- Six Samurai

- Offering Gadgets

Out of list above, I think Tengu, Debris Junk Doppel and Offering Gadgets being the highest targets to be hit by the banlist: Reborn Tengu, T.G. Librarian and Ultimate Offerings are the main culprits of each deck. I hope Blackwings do not get hit any further!

Over the Nexus mini-guide

I've just completed the game. This game was harder than before with some of the mandatory people that you have to battle along the way using competitive decks. The final few rounds also involve you going against 2-3 opponents at a go but if you play conservatively, you continue the next match with a very strong field and can take the game from there.

Speed World 2 is a better mechanic where the field spell has effects too. I think some of the speed spells changed to not require removing speed counters to activate but you are required to have a certain number. Overall, turbo duels are more fun now.

Unlike the previous games, I did not end with a lightsworn deck as Light of Destruction pack is has higher requirements to unlock. (Blessing in disguise as I think Lightsworn will mill itself out of the 2-3 consecutive turbo duels at the end!) Instead, I end up with a Debris Junk "without" Doppel deck. You get most of the key cards along the way, picking them up, given from duels, or buying from packs unlocked as you complete chapters. You can get the extra copies via the password system, requirement is that you own the card or have 80% completion of the set which the card belong to. The exceptions are Dandylion and Extra Pack 1 for Lonefire Blossom.

I had to battle the boy, West, multiple times to get Dandylion. It was only during the 4-5 star mini game progression when the card appeared after which I had to carefully end the game to avoid a reset card. Extra Pack 1 can be unlocked via a side quest at around chapter 6 where you talk to Klaus to investigate a weird noise in the apartment's level 3.

The packs I went for are the first 3 Duel Terminal packs, Duelist Genesis, Crimson Crisis, Crossroads of Chaos and Duelist Revolution. I had more luck with the packs here than in real life :p. You just need 80%, so I always buy 20-30 packs and get the rest via password.

I was looking forward to building decks from the Machina, Dragunity and Agents structure decks but they were not available. I suggest buying every Structure deck when available as I didn't and already encounter a repeat deck being offered.

Looking forward to World Championship 2012(on the 3DS, hopefully)!

Buyer Beware! Buyer Remorse

Duelist Revolution is a good set in my opinion. It gave 2 staple cards: Solemn Warning and Pot of Duality and 2 good cards: Effect Veiler and Scrap Dragon. I just found out that Scrap Dragon is good in Debris Junk decks in DS WC 2011: Dandylion tokens for one-for-one destruction. I wanted to buy a box of Duelist Revolution but the shop did not had any. It had 29 single packs though and thinking that was just 1 short of a box, I bought them.

Important Note: 30 single packs in a shop is not equal to a sealed box of packs!

To my disappointment, I opened all the packs to discover 0 Super Rare/Ultra Rare/Ghost Rare cards. I got all rare cards and none of them seems useful. The only scant consolation was that I got 3 Solemn Warnings but those are common cards in the box (OCG). On opening the packs did I realize about half of it has a safety warning sticker on them, which means the packs do not come from the same box.

I should have inspected all the packs before buying. I think this experience may not be new and others might have already encountered it. The shop people could have allowed the customers to feel/weight for packs or they might be the ones who sieve out the "good" packs? The shop happen to have a weighing machine at the counter too. This is a very expensive lesson for me. Buyer Beware!

Cards of the same rarity, stick together

Interesting video: Rarity Stacking by TeamPurplePanda

I think it's kinda true because back when Allure was Super Rare, I tend to see them getting drawn and played one after another. I'm going to mix gold cards into the deck to try!

I got my hands on Yugioh WC 2011 and have been playing for some time now. Rental deck dueling is very interesting and definitely a step up from Structure Deck duels. I tried out X-sabers, Dragunity and Six Samurai and felt their power! On a sadder note, there is no easy Lightlord deck creation now that the light of destruction pack is not unlock by story progress.

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.