Big Picture of Yugioh

by Michael Bonacini

Reasoning: September 2011 Banlist

When I first started playing Yugioh and did not know about the ban-list, I actually played MST at three... come Sept 2011, it is going to be legal. I've spend the last few days reading other blogs and pojo featuring their thoughts on the ban-list and now I'm going to list my personal comments about the banlist and try not to be repetitive of what has already been said by others.

Source: Shriek.twoday.net because I read it there first.

Banned

Fishborg Blaster, Mind Master - I've not been reading much about them but they must have something to do with some looping into OTK. I personally think that these cards are missing the 'you can only do this once per duel' and future card designs should be better, Spore and Growup Bulb are examples.

Giant Trunade - This "tags out" for Heavy Storm. I think there was a time where both were playable, along with Cold Wave but perhaps with all the special summoning, games will end too quickly.

Royal Oppression - This card does not promote xyz summoning. However, Kristia is still around and usable in Agents and Lightsworns so that makes her a very important card.

Restricted

Black Luster Soldier (BLS) - I think this might be released in the next OCG Gold Series as the 1 per box card. It is not too difficult to splash into many decks so you might find yourself staring at a 3000 attack monster every other game or so.

Primal Seed - Most people think that this is overkill as it only works with Black Luster Soldier but some guys at Pojo pointed out about Phantom of Chaos being able to copy BLS...

Debris Dragon, Lonefire Blossom, Pot of Avarice - Plant engine is getting so compact, along with 1 Dandylion and people mostly running 1 Spore and 1 Growup Bulb, it can be splash in many decks too.

Tech Genus Hyper Librarian, Formula Synchron - Necessary to stop Junk Doppel's dominance.

Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En, Shien's Smoke Signal - To stop Six Samurai?

Heavy Storm - This card defines the format. Whether you have the card in your hand or not, opponents are going to be wary of setting many backrows.

Semi-Restricted

Summoner Monk - This was restricted because of Rescue Cat and as it is banned and as Rescue Rabbit is designed differently, this card is going up to 2. Also, this is a "xyz ambassador card" and in my opinion, a 4 star not-so-broken version of TCG's Tour Guide from the Underworld.

Tragoedia - Meet your new defense against OTK, along with Gorz. It is splashable in quite a lot of decks and Gadgets can use them too.

Necro Gardna - "Lightsworn ambassador card". Graveyard BF and Zombies get a boost too.

Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier - Necessary to stop OTK looping.

Destiny Draw - Destiny Heroes are hardly used anyway...

Swords of Revealing Light - "Stall ambassador card".

Mind Crush - Perhaps this is to counter Pot of Duality and hence no restriction for it, as I'm reading some players tweaking the draw engine for lesser Dualities in favor of their deck's draw card(e.g. Cards for BF)

Call of the Haunted - "xyz ambassador card". My personal take on this is that unlike the Synchro mechanic which spawn a new class of monsters - tuners, which usually come with their own ability to be special summoned for synchro in a turn, xyz material monsters are mainly done using existing monsters which do not magically gain self-summoning effects overnight. Hence, Call of the Haunted and Monster Reborn serve to aid in xyz summoning.

No Longer Restricted

Judgment Dragon - If you are playing Lightsworns, no reason not to run 3. This is goes in line with the rest of the non-extra deck Boss Monster of a particular theme - 3 Hyperions, 3 Graphas, 3 Machina Fortress. (except DAD)

Spirit Reaper - "Stall + xyz ambassador card". This might stall long enough for you to summon another level 3 to xyz. Zombies get a boost although I'm not sure if 3 is needed.

Overload Fusion, Megamorph - I hardly see them being used?

Mystical Space Typhoon - As if Heavy Storm isn't enough, this just ensures that backrow will be minimal. It acts as a counter to Solemn Warnings so those do not need to be restricted further. I think this direction(if true) of releasing counters to cards is good and interesting for Yugioh. Instead of simply restricting, make players think it out and calculate the risk before using those cards.

Gravity Bind - "Stall ambassador card". xyz ambassador as all XYZ monsters are Ranks and not levels, hence they are totally unaffected. MST them on sight.

Icarus Attack - If you are running BF, no reason not to run 3. Pray it survives the "cyclone" and "storms" though.

Considered-to-be-ban-worthy-by-some-but-untouched cards

Mind Control - "xyz ambassador card". Staple and splash-able in so many decks during this xyz era unless you don't run any 4 star monsters.

Ultimate Offering - "xyz gadget ambassador card". I think it is going to get some trouble "dodging" "cyclones" and "storms" but 2-card OTK combo is just too good to be passed.

Limiter Removal - If you run machines, no reason not to run it.

Card Destruction - If you run Dark World, no reason not to run it.

Hyperion, Grapha - Please continue to abuse them.

Future Fusion - In Michael Bonacini's words, Foolish Burial 2.0/Themed Painful Choice

Royal Tribute - Very potent against most decks as people should be running higher monster count in this minimal-backrow format. However, 2 popular decks: Dark World and Lightsworns might actually benefit from it. Maybe that's why it is untouched as there is a "flip-side" to using it, Ura! (Sidetrack here, never thought I will be getting Life lessons in Yugioh anime from Tokunosuke Omoteura, a classmate of Yuma)

Rescue Rabbit - "xyz ambassador card". Supposedly, Konami has learned from the card design of Rescue Cat and curb some of the power. We will find out by next ban-list if that really is the case.

Other Six Samurai cards - Continues to be used at their maximum.

As always, I think the ban-list builds most of the deck for you, leaving you with your deck type's core cards. The staples have gone up with 1 more MST and Call of the Haunted so deck space is going to be tighter. I think the return of heavy storm will have already opened the door to more Lightsworn decks but in case you didn't notice, Judgement Dragons are at 3 too. I would have thought that previous no-heavy-storm formats will have attracted more GBs and Infernity but it seems not. We'll see how this interesting format goes.

Another use for Banlist predictions

While everybody is reading and making ban list predictions, it is good to take note of the cards mentioned and when the actual list comes, maximize the potential of the predicted cards that went untouched! I was still wondering why some Dark World OCG decks drop Card Destruction, which is bad for Mirror and Demon Roar God but Bahamut84 pointed out the possible +5. DuelingDays' Countdown to September Banlist Post.

I really gained a lot of tips and am also now looking at Yugioh from a different aspect after reading Micheal's Death Aspect blog. I've picked up 2 cards which are categorized under "I win" and that can fit into a single deck: Limiter Removal and Ultimate Offering. Limiter Removal is mentioned to be ban worthy but personally, I think not as Yugioh may be designed to be a game where it is possible to make a comeback even from the brink of losing. Just look at the anime battles!

With either of the 2 above mentioned cards and aftering clearing opponent's field/backrow:

- You only need an Ultimate Offering and a Gadget to loop into an XYZ/gadget swarm.

- You only need a Limiter Removal and 4000 worth of attack points on the field.

I believe Ultimate Offering will be affected by the ban list, probably semi-limited. 3 "I win" cards are still 3 "I win" cards.

Side-tracking: I managed to build "almost-completed" Machina Gadgets and Blackwings after doing side quests in DS Yugioh WC 2011. Still waiting to build the Agent deck! A tip about Turbo Duels, you only need to deal 7200 damage and the Speed World 2 field spell first effect can finish the job for you. Likewise, beware of dropping to 800 lifepoints.

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...