New blog has been up for awhile now

Harlow world, the new blog is up and is under the URL, nologicygo.blogspot.com. As of now there is only a Mermail post up that is actually incomplete but I will get to that shortly. So basically, stop coming here and go there.

Ya that's about it.

Prolly last tourney report here

Deck used : Infernity

Number of players : 12

Prolly last report here soo....

Match 1 vs Wen Liang (Ninja Chaos Dragon) OXO
Game 1 - Got 3 Necro, still won #3Necronokick
Game 2 - Got Super Transformed despite Night Shotting one, FML.
Game 3 - Played a passive game and jus played removal stuff, his Trooper milled trash and it was time to YOLO.

Match 2 vs Tristan (Lightlord) OXO
Game 1 - I heard going first with a going first hand was good.
Game 2 - I heard BLS was good.
Game 3 - He Creature Swapped an Honest for my Void Ogre and I Prison-ed it, next turn top deck RotA, took Grepher, #LVVChainstackOP, you know the rest.

Match 3 vs Edwin (Mermail) OXO
Game 1 - He drew his Leed, which is always bad, and jus didn't have the plays to do.
Game 2 - Got Double Megalo OTK-ed on Turn 3 #boohoo.
Game 3 - Grinding against Infernity is a bad idea I heard. Potential chance to top deck Armed Soldier once but YOLO.

Got cut to Top 4 here and insert conspiracy.

Cash is good.

The new blog is up, and it's under the URL nologicygo.blogspot.com

Hopefully, I can get it fully functional in a couple of weeks. Right now there is one post on it.

You guys can also follow me on my newly created Twitter account @NoLogicEustace. In fact, jus follow me. I'm desperate for attention. Must impress my peers with my number of followers.

I'm totally joking, jus follow me if you're interested, hopefully alot of YGO will be up there, but alot of personal stuff too. It's Twitter for crying out loud, I may Instagram my lunch for you guys.

Harlow World!!

All my major papers are over!! I'm left with like two multiple choice papers which are a week apart. LAWL.

Anyway some news flash.

I like the FIRE deck alot, only cos of Assault of the Fire King, it looks bloody imba IMO. Free 2700 attacker? I may chunk a small Laval engine to enable Synchros. Jus a thought.

I prefer the FIRE Moulinglace anyway, that shit is stronger than both Moulinglace and Grandsoil to me, simply cos that mofo can directly win the game for you. Agressive attack and bomb playstyle with FIRE art??

Also, I'm leaving this blog soon. I'm off to create a new group blog with a couple of old friends and a couple of new ones. You can expect more straightforward in your face "most of the world sucks at YGO cause they don't try" posts, LAWL.

Reason being I never liked the name of this blog, I didn't make it, and the creator of the blog and I have decided that we could and should have different blogs. Also, people who weren't part of YGO.noobs ! are going to involved in the new blog. Now I'm gonna sound like a copycat cos Johann announce he change blog first. But ya, that's the plan, stay tuned for updates.

Scrubbing spree

That's what I'm on now D= dropped a game to a Structure Deck, OMG time to quit.

Honestly considering quitting anyway, Wind-Ups OP.

They made Rabbit Rare so it won't foil stack. It's a conspiracy so people will spend lots of money to buy EP12 and build it.

Now have to help Sebas qualify for Top Shop liao. Most of the deserving players have it already anyway. Some sian sian last minute kena slot stolen, I feel for you bruh.

Maybe next year solely play at AMK and bootlick can liao. Liddat the uncle has to pick you cos you totally deserve it.

On a side note, it's good to see so many players with potential not put it to waste. Maybe one day they'll all #EARN their own Top Shop slot and not go there scrub 1-4 5th round bye. #itwastheGorz

I really should make Twitter, after 'A's. I'll do it.

Full Yen Mini Tourney (4/11/12)

I must be crazy, play day before A's.

Number of participants : 13
Deck used : Infernity

Round 1 vs Wenliang (Offering Gadget) OXO
Game 1 - Got Maxx "C" on turn 1 and stall behind a Barrier. Grind out lor.
Game 2 - Drew rubbish. Scrub lor.
Game 3 - He drop Maxx "C" and I YOLO. No Trago, win lor.

Round 2 vs Zheng Xian (GBs) XOO
Game 1 - Grind with him for 25 minutes, but Kasier Collosium OP.
Game 2 - Honestly, can't remember.
Game 3 - I set 3 he set 4 I Storm and we left to top decking but I was a Beetle ahead and made Gachi and after that a Parl and press on.

Round 3 vs Jason (Inzektor) OXO
Game 1 - Start first open very strong hand and just grind out with him.
Game 2 - Go second and open bullshit and got beatdown.
Game 3 - Opened damn well again. He no Maxx "C" lucky.

Round 4 vs Samuel (HERO Beat) OXO
Game 1 - I trash him.
Game 2 - He trash me back.
Game 3 - I not happy so trash him back.

At this point, I was in the final with 3 waves of lower bracket still running (double eli) when Sebas emerged from the lower bracket we jus split LOL. Lower bracket final damn funny, only sha one dunno is Eater.

Anyway, the build is working kinda like I planned. Go first and lock down. I'm not running Pot or Avenger, because I want to establish some sort of control ASAP (which equal Turn 1) and Avenger is just a bad card anyway. I won all my dice roll today, so obviously that helped.

Ok time get some shut eye, tmr is GP, I think GG.

Gold Sarco in Wind Up

Gold Sarco + Leviair = Pseudo Zenmaighty

Idea??

And with Rabbit stalling Sarco may actually be able to go off.

Got idea after Chain D Wesley's Rat and he tried to bring back with Leviair.

Worth a shot? I don't care, I'm never touching Wind-Ups. Well, at least not yet.

Why Kizan don't have Shark effect?!

Card Review: Tsukuyomi

Today I'm doing a card review for Tsukuyomi.

This card cannot be special summoned. This card returns to the owner's hand during the end phase of the turn it is normal summoned or flipped face-up. When this card is normal summoned or flipped face-up, flip 1 face-up monster on the field into face-down defense position.

This card has just been unbanned during September 2012 ban list. It has seen no plays at all but this is a card that i thought would be interesting to review. I personally had side decked this card for Asia Plus for trolling purposes and cause it kind of looks cool. It has a Vanguard counterpart also (but I'm not going into that).

Firstly, this card is a monster with a limited card effect. You can just flip any monsters that poses a threat to your plays face down. Secondly, you can use the effect once every turn as it is a spirit monster and it returns to your hand at your end phase when this card is face up. This means that the Book of Moon effect can be used multiple times in a duel which is kinda cool. It has 1100 ATK which isn't high and this means that you can't bottomless it. However 1100 ATK is quite ample to get rid of pesky monsters in the meta that many people play nowadays.

Now let us look at how this card can be used. As i mentioned earlier, it can get rid of pesky monsters. 

Rai-oh preventing your special summon or Duality? Tsukuyomi can kill it.

Same thing. Kill roach with Tsukuyomi.

0 DEF is food for Tsukuyomi.

Face down Christia means you can special summon and thus getting rid of Christia should be simpler.

Facedown Gachi cannot detach materials.

As you can see, the fun and troll things that Tsukuyomi can bring is endless and is only limited by one's imagination. It will continue to stay in my side deck for trolling purposes and because it is the only side deck card featuring a girl (as of now).

Signing Off
~~~EMO~~~

Wind-up Rat + Tsukuyomi anyone?

Fuck Dnet noobs

Dnet should just have like a seperate channel for obviously good players.

Like program a random duel puzzle and if you can solve it you must be good so you get to play good players like you.

And if you can't you can mingle with those annoying prats that force their rulings on you.

Not that it matters, they're so bad you can't lose even if you started with 2 hand.

I know a random duel puzzle each visit sounds barbaric but hey, technology is evolving, it's possible.

Yaya papaya

Gratz to Johann, William and Bixuan for taking this year's qualifyer. I wished them luck three times so it must be my power.

My team ended 10th place in the swiss, after a 2-2 score, misising out on the Top 8 sian... Actually I expected to go 0-2 and drop lol so this is actually a great result.

My personal results were:
OXX
OXX
OO
XX

Ya I got carried. The deck felt funny today but I hadn't touched if for like a week, cos I had to study and cos I didn't really give a fuck about the whole thing, like I said, I expected to go 0-2 and drop.

Anyway, I've packed up my Sams, they're in my album, and they have been my good comrades for the last year and a half. I don't think I'll touch them again, simply due to the lack of rewarding plays they provide for my style of play.

As for now, I'm going MIA to study. I may not come back, YGO is going into the "Extra Pack destroying the meta" season again anyway, Mainspring is wrecking Japan right now.

If I do, I hope the FIRE stuff give me a deck worth playing. The plan now is Infernity or Laval, probably Infernity as I expect Laval to get crushed by banlist. Laval is 3 times easier to play than Infernity though, although twice as easy to mess up.

Today's the last day of play till the exams come, I'll be kinda free past the 17th November I think. Which is also my teammate fatty bombom Weiheng's birthday. Till then, I guess.

Inzecters now

After the apparent nerf on Inzecters in the most recent banlist, many people, myself included, have begun to overlooked the winner of the World Championships and the deck of March'12.

I knew that the deck was playable, even after the list. If we just compare it to WWBF after its 2nd hit (1 Gale, 2 Whirlwind) it looks rather similar in terms of consistency nerfs, whereas power plays before and and after the nerfs remain relatively unchanged.

You can say that Inzecters got hit harder, but looking at WWBF, the recruiter got hit, whereas Inzecters, the power cards got hit. The significance in this is, the power play, when enabled, is still as potent in both decks.

Basically, what banlists aim to do now instead of killing decks, is to cripple consistency. While both examples above did just that, there are substitute recruiters such as Mystic Tomato, and the lesser used Howling Insect, while there aren't many substitutes for Black Whirlwind in the case of WWBF.

More importantly, because of the "death" of Inzecters, the slower set up of substitute recruiters are actually counteracted by a slower meta.

And finally, because no one bothers about Zecter hate now, if you somehow get Damsel Hornet, YOU WILL WIN. This is something totally unheard of in the previous format due to mass Veiler effect, but if you open an identical hand to last format you are more likely to win that before.

TL;DR Inzecters are still very strong, very stupid. Lack of consistency nullified by slower format. Continuous derp still a possibility and more likely than before to suceed.

Some decks you should get to know

One of the biggest factors determining a good player and an average Joe is the knowledge of the game. I would go as far as to say many players have little or no knowledge of the game, simply because they don't bother.

After all, for many, Six Sam was a sacky deck that needs Gateway to win. Ofc that is total bullshit, Gateway plays are often high risk, high return, and most definately not worth the gamble when the Shi'en play is available.

What I mean is, to know how to fight the deck, you must know what the deck does. This would allow you to read baits and weigh the options with a clearer mind.

A good example would be baiting Bottomless or Warning with Venus. Most people fall for it, even though they can handle a Gachi but not some DOGSHIT called Hyperion. Don't get me wrong, sometimes there aren't any better options, and that's why Agents are so strong, they allow you to play right into their hand.

Anyway, the decks to get to know this format, IMO are Infernity, Mermail, Madolche and Karakuri. Wind-Up too I guess. You'd think that since Mermail is so strong people would bother to get to know the effects but NOOOOO, they just follow the label "balanced Inzecter" and play as though they fighting Zecter.

As for Infernity, they are much harder to understand, simply because of the amount of tech capabilities. It's actually a very simple concept, don't give them any chances, go all in, cos each Draw Phase is a chance to derp on you.

Madolche is prone to drawing total BULLSHIT and it shows. That's what drives me away from the deck, you draw crap and your opponent, if he bothered to learn about the deck, can tell immediately. Unless you drew Offering. That's bullshit too, but to your opponent.

Karakuri has been around for so long, and has a "high agression" label on it, and people thinking that they should save their Dark Hole and all that, well I heard you can't Dark Hole during your opponent's turn with 2x Burreido and Burei destroying your face. Also, bad hands show, so read them.

By no means is this a foolproof guide to how to counter the aforementioned. The only real way to learn about decks is not to play against them, whoever said that is bullshitting himself, but to play the decks themselves. Take a standard build, albeit netdecked, test it out, figure out the big plays, figure out the tech. I'm still trying to work out Wind-Up, but either my build isn't suited for the new format or drawing Shark alone is dumb.

Six Sam taking Indy

I didn't think I would have to write this cos I saw the decklist and I was like meh.... Looks overteched.

Then I read like twenty million comments going on about wow great use of Ascestism OMG Enishi's a card, and people jus shocked as a whole that Six Sams are supposed to be played with that build.

I mean, I disagree with the Maxx "C" but Wind-Up ain't in my meta yet, but the comments seemed to imply that people never thought that Six Sams could be played with skill.

Mind you, the winning build wasn't exactly teched out for skillfulness, Maxx "C" is quite easy to throw.

And I read a comment that playing Maxx "C" without other hand traps is dumb. Well turd, it's exactly people like you the Maxx "C" is supposed to stop.

All in all, the build is fine, it looks NORMAL to me, teched out to counter their meta. As long as he doesn't draw some bullshit 4 monster hand w/o Maxx "C" and he's good it should work fine.

Extra Pack 2012

6 Ultra
Tengu
TGU
Adreus
Dolkka
Shien
Seal

P.S I hope Shark is Normal Rare.

Anyway, I've finally decided what to play after 'A' Levels. Old deck that I should have built a long time ago.

Flame Dance

New archetype from Cosmo Blazar looks good so far, no Rekindling involved in the deck though.

The deck focuses heavily on its archetypical Spells and Traps, which seems abit meh... Only 3 of them catch my attention, the RotA, Komachi effect and the one which can be activated in Damage Step.

The Exceed is well designed too, negating all but Beast Warrior makes people think twice about splashing Barbaros, it makes them forget about it lol.

The only one that looks kinda broken is Suneirin, which looks to be a SR.

I may have found the deck to play after March'13! Still have to wait for new SD announcement in case of generic FIRE support.

How is the meta going?

IMO, Konami is doing what they usually do. They don't want to directly hit a power card so they attempt to make it ineffective. And it has worked.

Effect Veiler was like staple last format, you hav it or you get derped. Right now, it sees almost no play, Maxx "C" has taken over that Main Deck role.

Against current decks, Veiler only really KINDA hinders Agents. Ya that's it.

I think the increase in Maxx "C" play is kinda gross, I mean, it's supposed to be like, Oppression like, and it only really serves it purpose when you use decks that run OTK stoppers. It really can't replace Oppression.

Ya, biggest change would be Veiler so far, slowly traps are beginning to phase out a little, but definately more present than Sept '11.

And the only reason they cut it till DT03, is cos if they didn't, there'll be one guy whose deck will be called "Make Naturia Beast deck", shared staples, Agent take Royal Decree? Sounds good.

I wanted to go on saying that KFC is continuing to blow our "turf war" out of proportion as per usual, but ya, I'm actually interested in doing some testing with them. So ya, jus throwing it out there to get my inbox spammed.

And I MAY be going to Asia Plus, I dunno, I contacted the two buggers and it seems ok on Samuel's side, waiting for Dylan only. Library Exodia good meta call?

Lol whut? Part 2

Ya ya, it's old news, promo in Asia.

What this means, is people who were planning beforehand, kinda got scalded.

I don't really care, I'm not playing, but what this means is that:
HEROes are always a good call
D.D Warrior Lady in side decks
Final Countdown got BURNED
Empty Jar got BURNED
Basically every deck that dies to Shock Ruler gets burned, i.e Exodia, Chain Burn etc.
Agents, Dark World and Mermail all remain good choices.

All in all, this doesn't really change much IMO, maybe with Librarian some Junk Doppel or some Offering Gadget with Black Corn and Roach.

The reason this doesn't change much is cos, well, staples aren't promos.

The staple split amongst teammates is still a defining factor anyway.

The only new deck I can think of that benefits from this increased card pool is honestly HEROes. But even then with increasing numbers of anti-HERO stuff in most decks now that's not such a great call maybe.

Sharing 3 Snowman Eaters is gonna be funny.

Anyway, I need an idea for a new deck, Sams are gonna get crushed by March'13, I can feel it.

I want something with SIN Cyber End, but I don't want Dark World, GK or Madolche. I'm thinking some Machina Geartown Beat, hopefully one of you can give me a better idea.

Lol whut?

Looks like Six Sam is meta again in Japan.

GG tons of bandwangoners.

Lucky I'm familar with the deck's tricks.

Time to side Six Samurai United in every deck. Lol U MAD?

Actually TBH I think that's a legit strat, it's essentially siding a deterrent Shard of Greed.

Or I could be too used to abusing it. Time to look for new deck before mine gets crushed by March list.

So.......

I'm gonna try to be nice here.

People are unhappy that you allowed two rounds to go past time and 4 turns, causing the whole fiasco to end past 7.

People are unhappy that as a judge you left before the tourney ended. I'm glad you realised you have plans well guess what so do we.

I understand you were envisioning a "Double Elimination cut to Top 4 playoff" but what was announced was "Double Elimination" so follow that.

An example of an 11 man Double Elimination bracket can be found here.
http://www.printyourbrackets.com/pdfbrackets/11teamdouble.pdf

It really is alot easier to understand that it looks. The mistake was evident since the first round, as the bracket shows only 4 active tables.

Finally, I am currently using a website that allows for simple Single Eli, Double Eli and Swiss Pairings. You have your iPad, I have made a reusable bracket for all three formats strictly for Econ tourneys. If you want, I can provide the URLs for them in person.

I'm just trying to make sure that if you carry on as the judge, you do your job right. I don't claim to be a bracket genius, if I were I would hav spotted the mistake in Round 1. All I do is bother to give everyone the fairest tourneys possible.

Drafting in YGO

I enjoy drafting in everything. If you haven't noticed by now I watch alot of DotA and shit like that, and one thing I enjoy is looking at the draft. Naga is still imba, whatever Na'vi says.

Anyway, it doesn't take alot to realise that drafting with Battle Pack is shit. You can compared it to Magic but the truth is with such a constrained card pool, the pull from the pack becomes much more significant and the skill less.

Anyway, I've had some ideas of how drafting can be incoporated in the game. Although I don't actually see it happening ever.

Like for computer games, the hero/champion pool is fixed for both sides, and they are both fully aware of their opponents options. The same can be implemented to YGO. By making a bi-annual banlist for DRAFTS.

What happens from there is every card in the bloody game is available for picks, while a pool of the strongest cards in the game available for bans, I would envision the size of that pool to be roughly about a 100. We'll use 100 for this example.

From that pool, players take turn to ban say 10 cards in a draft, while picking 10 cards to use. The draft format will be 1-2-2-2-2-1 for the first five and again for the second.

So from those 10 picks, they would use any cards outside the restricted card pool to build the rest of the deck, essentially meaning that the 20 bans and 60 non-picks on the list cannot be used in the deck building.

If you're a retard and goin to ask me what the 20 bans are for, it's to ensure that they don't get secured as picks.

This means that if power cards such as Storm or Reborn slip through the bans, only ONE player will get them, so drafting does require a decent amount of skill, and Reborn will be perma banned.

With the above stated logic, the draft banlist should have a section strictly for banned shit (aka cards that should never have been made) and restricted cards only. Semi restriction cards will not be part of the draft and will follow the normal banlist. Ofc, that said the draft banlist could restrict some semi resticition cards like Tour Guide, and also some banned cards like Trishula and Glow-up Bulb.

Na'vi vs iG fight

This has nothing to do with YGO.

In a recent DotA2 tournament known as The International, this happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyKa6O_T7ug

And may I just add that it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

Oh new meta? Ya, looks ok enough, not as many Agents as I thought. Not sure if a good thing (less Hyperions) or a bad thing (things stronger than Hyperion).

Reckless Greed

Dark World is gonna be a competitor this format, whether we like it or not. Saying that they kill themselves is kinda dumb, if I put two of the same deck together in a playoff match, they are gonna kill themselves too. People jus make a fuss about Dark World cos they kill themselves with more "UMPH!"

I'm not gonna be talking about how to play the mirror, cos honestly, like any other mirror it's jus who draws better. Maybe you think there's some hidden skill in timing a Dealing or whatnot, Dark World wins with Grapha, whoever gets to keep their Grapha wins.

Anyway, Reckless Greed is a tech seen in Dark World since the release of the SD, and rightly so, considering the deck has about three million ways to draw outside of Draw Phase, Draw Phases aren't as important. Coupled with the potential plusing from stacking Reckless Greed, this card provides much needed consistency for the deck.

So the question now is more of, when do we activate the shit?

My theory for Reckless Greed is simple. If you can't stack them, it's a minus, so you'll want to force a minus out with stuff like MST first. Ofc with Night Shot around this is easier said than done, so if you are aware of your opponent running Night Shots, you may want to wait for another Reckless Greed to stack and force the minus.

That's all quite basic advantage calculations. I'm not gonna bother to do the math. Next, I'm gonna talk about using Reckless Greed when there is a strong tempo in one player's favour. In either cases, I believe you should use your Draw Phase, before activating Reckless Greed.

Why? Dark World is a deck that if given the right hand, can end games really fast. The logic of an End Phase Reckless Greed is to "reactivate" your Draw Phase quicker, absolutely nothing wrong with that logic, especially in the early game or when stacking Reckless Greed. However, when there is a huge tempo shift, if you're winning, you should aim to get furthur ahead, and when you're losing, you jus want to open the board and push with two Graphas.

So by activating the Reckless Greed later, you're essentially working with one extra card, at the same time missing one extra Draw Phase. The thing behind it is this. YOU SHOULD NOT EVEN BE REACHING THAT DRAW PHASE. If you're ahead, Dark World should be able to keep the advantage, and if you're behind, well, you really gonna need anything you can get.

Not to mention, it'll allow you to stack any Reckless Greed you draw more efficiently.

Hope all y'all understand this. I hope Grapha will be pleased with my service to his army lololol

Lalalala

A New Beginning?

New format, new tiers. New everything. People coming back from inactivity, will the new format really bring back the much needed diversity and freshness lacking in the past six months?

My honest opinion, is no. It'll be better probably, cos noobs will win less due to jus drawing right. But shit will still happen, and people will still complain about downright broken shit.

Heck, I'm already complaining about Hyperion.

Good luck for the next six months people, and may the odds be ever in your favour.

Everyone playing Laval.

I am visibly offended whenever I see people play Laval.

If all you want is a Librarian Scrap endboard on Turn 4, you really shouldn't be touching the deck.

It is so much more than just Sarco Rekindling Transmission Field. Any self respecting Laval player can tell you that.

Anyone who knows for themselves that they aren't very good, so decide to play Laval, is as good as deciding when you decided to play Inzecter, you jus want that cheap easy win.

I not doubting the person deciding that's it's ok to splash a deck which can win at 60% max potential, I'm doubting the player, whether or not he truly wants to improve and discover that extra 40%.

Trust me, Laval's true power is much more devasting than Librarian Scrap and drawing into Rekindling number two. You will win with that, no doubt. But you will just be stuck playing decks that win by themselves.

NOTE: I'm not attacking anyone in particular, I just don't see why anybody who doesn't understand the capabilities of a deck should have it, I just saw one today, and tipped me past my boiling point, I've bottled this in too long.

Madolche is irritating.

Oh ya, Day 1 on Doppel v.Sept'12, it's a bit shaky. But double Debris helps alot. Hyperion is still a bitch though.

Muh Agent decklist

Why everyone posting their Agent decklists? I oso wan post.

3x The Agent of Creation - Venus
3x Master Hyperion
3x Mystical Shine Ball
3x Vermillion Declarer
2x Effect Veiler
2x Death Guide Leaving the Underworld Bound for the Overworld
2x Junk Synchron
2x The Agent of Mystery - Earth
2x Archlord Kristya
1x The Agent of Miracles - Jupiter
1x Honest
1x Sangan
1x Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Pot of Duality
1x Heavy Storm
1x Monster Reborn
1x Reinforcement of the Army
1x Book of Moon
2x Torrential Tribute
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Call of the Haunted

BITCH ANGEL AND DOGSHIT HYPERION ARE BACK!

Funny what one Earth can do.

Y U MAX DECLARER?!
Trust me, everyone will max it soon.

JUNK SYNCHRON?!
I just like it. Can make Destroyer easy +1. If Hyperion rating as a top deck was 10, Junk Synchron is 7-8? Let's me play RotA, good deck thinner.

WTF NO TOUR GUIDE?!
Joking, but I thought the Jap name was damn cool, so I keep using it.

CotH IS A TRAP! IS SLOW!
Not when you have Declarer.

NO MIND CONTROL! NOOB!
I see the point, but don't really want to do it. I can win without it anyway.

Testing with the deck and it's really damn strong. Hyperion is really too imba.

Still, every card in the hand is important, needs to to be able to do something. Sometimes two Venus no different from having two Shine Ball in hand.

The balls remind me why I don't play this deck. I can't play anything with yellowskins.

And to anyone who's thinking WTF all OCG noob can't see Tele at 3? Yes please go fuck up your consistency with Tele, Krebons Ball Gachi too stronk.

The Gold Box

Is gonna depreciate Pot like fuck.
WOOT!

My experience on one pack.

Me : O.o SPELL!
Everyone else : O.O
Me : (Reveals first word) 强? Yes!!
Everyone else : EH?!?!
Me : (Stares at Creature Swap) NOOOOO.....

Next time must reveal from the right, 壶.

Second time in life, kena troll by Creature Swap.

Anyway, Dandy and C.Soc from pack telling me remake Doppel.

Banlist Aftermath

List is real and the low down is:
Inzecters are kinda dead.
HEROs have consistency slashed.
They REALLY don't like Book of Moon.
They REALLY don't like hand loops whether deck or grave.

What this means:
Format is safer, slower, more room for build up plays.
Format will punish people unprepared for explosive early agression.
Decks with explosive early aggression must commit or die.

Well, maybe must is a strong word, at least make the Warnings dead.

As for Doppel enthusiasts, sad to say but my all time 3rd favourite deck is unlikely to make a comback.

If you were a good enough Doppel player you'd realise by now you have nothing to fall back on if your board blows.

And for BF enthusiasts, my opinion is that the deck REALLY needs Book of Moon. My 2nd favourite deck of all time is gonna get crushed by the Tier 1 of free boss mobs decks.

_|_ Hyperion.

Agents will reshape the meta with their reintroduction, as will Laval. And the speed of the format allows Dark World much more breathing space.

And there is one move I totally do not agree with on the list, and that is E-Tele to 3.

You just wait, free tuners are not cool.

If 99.99% banlist is true

Tier 1:
Mermail
Gadget (Offering and Machina)
Laval
Dark World
Agent

Tier 1.5:
Six Samurai
Rabbit Ragia
Chaos Dragon
Wind-up
HERO

Tier 2:
Any mass Synchro deck
GKs
Photon / Galaxy
Final Countdown
Inzecter
Hiero

Nope I didn't Tier BF cos I really don't think it's playable.

Aftermath of Worlds

Jus met up with current World No.4 Wesley, and we had a little chat over his experience in Tokyo. It's all confidential, but after it all, I guess he left a better impression of Memoli and Winston.

Anyway, the cards in Japan, in case anyone who doesn't have a brain hasn't realised, are fucking cheap. Verz Ophion is worth about as much as toilet paper there.

Shiny toilet paper.

Anyway, I jus hav a new found respect for both Memoli and Winston, who've both taken alot of flak for whatever "wrongs" that they did. And anyway, for those with doubts over Memoli's sportsmanship, I can say Wesley has cleared all of mine, he speaks very highly of the Italian.

That is all.

So it's over for Singapore

Congratulations on Wesley Seek aka Lamby from Insane Tech YGO on taking 4th place in World Championships. Top 8 already very good but he went one step furthur great job.

Now all that's left is Dragon Duel Final and Expert Class Final. Japanese pride on the line in both games.

As for the banlist, it appears the Airman ban one is not legit, but the Brio/FF ban one is, not sure which is better but I really don't see the need for Tsukyomi back in the format seriously. I really rather dual Book of Moon.

Anyway, the one that fucks HERO and Zecter the hardest will be most welcome. Reborn not banned on both lists WTF.

Thoughts on WCS so far

I only watched 3 of the stream matches, namely Japan (Dark World) vs Inzecter (Hong Kong), Japan (Skill Drain Valley) vs USA (Exodia WTF) and Malaysia (Chaos Dragon) vs Thailand (Chaos Dragon)

My thoughts so far:
Japan did well to overcome the disadvantage from D.Fissure in Game 3 but Zecter jus too strong.

I thought it was Countdown, but good showcase of One Day of Peace being hit worthy.

I think the extra Normal Summon wouldn't have changed the tempo of the game at all IMO, but still should hav been stopped. Judge's fault.

Wesley so imba Top 8. Inzecter as a whole imba, taking up SIX of the Top 8 slot, and the only Japanese player not to qualify was poor guy who got owned by Zecter as mentioned above.

If Exodia wins, FUCK THE WORLD.

Edit: I believe the list with the Airman to be real, the only problem with it is no Reborn ban, which seems very funny yet totally believable.

One Day of Peace

I've been seeing this on alot of TCG players lists recently, and all I got to say is though I feel the flak on rogue decks is too damn high over there, One Day of Peace is broken as fuck.

Like, anything that uses One Day of Peace is unhealthy for the game, maybe not threatening, but most definitely unhealthy.

So I may go as far as to say that this piece of shit is banworthy. They did it to Fishborg because it was unhealthy and same goes for Substitoad. So the new 3 to 0 card in the September list I'm expecting is One Day of Peace.

Just some discussion I had with a friend

My friend likes to run GBs and though the deck has lost a lot of viability, I guess it's safe to say that GBs are OK to be allowed some free rein in the format?

But for those who are too dumb to see it, Bestiari to 2 alone is gonna do as much as Bestiari to 3 for GBs. Nothing at all.

The problem is that GBs playstyle is a turn by turn control playstyle, where you tag in and out based on whatever your opponent is having. Gyzarus is much less of a problem these days because of Warning and the fact that it is so hard to keep that 1 GB before you set the Bestiari on board now. Bestiari is completely balanced and was never the problem card for GB, and with Gyzarus being less of a problem each format, GBs as a whole became less of a problem.

If the format stays as fast as it is GB will continue to have no say in it simply because of how quick they will lose their board. I do believe that GB in the meta now would be healthier than probably WWBF, but in order to that the format really must slow down another 5-8 turns.

In fact, if any sort of revival is to be made for old school control decks in general, the format needs to be slowed by at least 3-5 turns, as none of them can one card one turn lock on turn 1 like Rabbit can.

If I were to choose a meta between control or action, I would choose control, and have a 15-18 turn format, where the slightest misplay could push one's disadvantage through the roof, as compared to jus failing to OTK.

All that said, Chaos Dragons should remain in the format as a form of a polar opposite and in any case is a good deck in the meta no matter what people say.

Yaya that's all

Lalalala

As we await the new format

I dunno man, YGO has come to the point where, there's really nothing to talk about anymore.

It's all banlist predictions and shitty format declarations.

We could talk about Vanguard, but don't get me started on how so many people can't realise that in order to win you jus hav to build a deck that wins.

Really, I don't get why people play shit like Pendragon or Butterfly Man, and Megablasters in general bar CEO, Pacifica and Robert.

Jud build an MLB deck, without any insane tech, standard stable MLB and you can win without racking your brains or even sacking too much.

Ok I better end my Vanguard rant now.

Hope for a better September. The game's a wreck now.

Lalalala

Final banlist predictions

I call this the 'counter the Brain Drain' list, that's basically what needs to be done to the format.

Forbidden
Sangan
Logically, if I intend to bring back Trunade, I hav to get rid of the best CotH target. That aside, great floater, potential game changer with the speed it gives with Tour Guide. Tour Guide is imba, this is one of the causes, get rifd of it, see how it goes.

Monster Reborn
Most bullshit card of the format, everyone loves it, everyone hates it, everyone knows somewhere in their hearts it should be banned. Unless..... You don't hav a heart.... LOL random!

Mind Control
Something that could allow for a total board flip or reset, what IS the difference with this and any other of those banned 'take control' cards anyway? It has no cost? Lol?

Card Destruction & Gateway of the Six
These two come tgt as I realised that they are essentially the same. Card D can't go off without DW mobs, Gateway can't go off without SS mobs. If you ban one you should ban the other.

Future Fusion
Like I mentioned, this card isn't the main culprit, but who are we kidding, Konami's never gonna hit a SD cover card.

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary
Not to kill Synchros, this should hav been done a long time ago. Too much bullshit happening with this.

Limited
Inzecter Damsel
They know that they HAVE to hit Inzecter, so they'll aim first and foremost for the OTK enabler, giving the deck as much playablilty as possible without being 'imbalanced' to those naggy prats who never touched the deck.

E - Emergency Call & Miracle Fusion
Cos fuck HERO Beat that's why, the deck has been around for too long without a hit to jus make a preemptive one. In theory this would cripple all varients, will wait so MAYBE Miracle to 2.

Giant Trunade
Trust me, with this back in the game, games will be fun, because the power card that you lose to requires your opponent to HAVE SOMETHING, unlike Reborn or Storm. Let's not kid ourselves that Storm is easier to negate. We all negate it with Solemn anyway.

Mystical Space Typhoon
Should never have went to 3. Unfair card all around to backrow relient decks. Brainless inclusion to both Main and Side. STOP THE BRAIN DRAIN.

Royal Oppression
In Exceed spamming era, I think Oppression is great, causes players to play around it and more importantly, force those not so bright opponents to pay themsleves to death, which is not unheard of.

Ultimate Offering
Well, I decided that one Offering is ok.... But it doesn't STOP THE BRAIN DRAIN. It will essentially function as the Gateway of the deck though, Goldfish still giving it a legit engine.

Evolkaiser Ragia
Ragia is the problem, there is no dodging that. No one would be conplaining if Rabbits made Hopes or Pearls. Evols don't do shit anyway, so hitting it to 1 doesn't hurt them.

Mainspring Carrier Zenmaighty
Hunter is balanced, limit this mofo, and we'll see how many Hunters stay in the deck.

Semi Limited
Rescue Rabbit
Don't limit Rabbit, cos limiting Ragia will STOP THE BRAIN DRAIN of Dino Rabbit. Rabbit has a lot of potential, though they may not be as good, Rabbit in the meta will make people THINK, something that is sorely lacking. Semi it as a preemptive move, becos if we have another brain drain moment with this furry guy, well, it won't be as bad.

The Agent of Mystery - Earth
I hate Agents, and I want them back in the meta so I can kill them. Other than the fact that, actually they will require skill to play now.

Book of Moon
We've waited long enough for this.

Rekindling and Sweltering Laval Foolish Burial
Cos they are off the meta anyway, semi should be enough.

Unlimited
Anything that can be unlimited is anything I don't care about. Bar Book of Moon.

Stuff that should but won't
BF - Kulat the Moon Shadow - Semi
It's Konami, you got your Book of Moon back, don't expect too much.

Solar Recharge - Limit
Trust me, the Future Fusion hit does NOTHING to the winrate of Chaos Dragons.

Pot of Duality - Limit
BRAIN DRAIN

Compulsory Evacuation Device - Limit
While it may take awhile, in fact probably not until March, Compulse is in fact, a brain drain card. As was Thunder Break, but we are seeing a shift more toward Compulse right now, who knows? Maybe a new brain drain card will replace it in 3 months? If it doesn't Compulse has to go.

Goyo Guardian - Limit
With Brio likely to go, we need a solid Level 6, and I don't think Konami wanna give us a new one. Still, Goyo is too strong for the game IMO.

Ok ya that's about it lazy think..... FIGHT THE BRAIN DRAIN!!!

Lalalala

Compulse is limit worthy

I dunno why trolls can't seem to understand that Spiral Gate essentially has the same effect as Compulse.

Anyway, anyone which is not in denial will know that Compulse is splashed everywhere it can and is a good, maybe not the best, removal card.

So it deserves to get limited.

And Yoong Kang, let's play a children's card game that you think you can beat me at! Kettou da!

That is all.

Lalalala

Banlist predictions already?!

Forbidden
Sangan
Monster Reborn
Mind Control
Future Fusion
Ultimate Offering
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary

Limited
Inzecter Damsel
Rescue Rabbit
E - Emergency Call
Giant Trunade
Mystical Space Typhoon
Compulsory Evacuation Device
Royal Oppression
Mainspring Carrier Zenmaighty

Semi - Limited
The Agent of Mystery - Earth
Solar Recharge
Book of Moon

Ya this is just a rough draft I made, guess I have alot of explaining to do.

Not today lalalallala.

Banlist Talk - Gadgets

With the introduction of Geargianto X into the game, as well as good generic Rank 4 Exceeds, Gadgets have propelled themselves back into the meta with both hyper agressive and slow control playstyles. Consistent advantage flow coupled with the stupid card called Offering has given Gadget near free reign in this format of little summon negation bar Warning.

So powerful is the deck that Offering Machina Gadget a.k.a OMG managed several showings in the top of Japan's nationals, and it's agressivness did well to combat the set up plays of other meta decks. Taking advantage of the need to farm for most of them, OMG was able to press a ton of damage on the board, whilst mantaining advantage at the same time.

While the control playstyle of the deck has had less success, it is also a solid deck that took a hard hit as their key removal cards such as D.Prison and Smashing Ground have lost potentcy over time. Nonetheless, the deck is still more than capable of controlling any meta deck, and can tech into almost any anti-meta card.

As a whole, Gadget cards are balanced, Geargianto X is balanced and so are the Exceeds they go into. What isn't balanced is Offering as well as Limit Break, which simply gives them too much OTK potential as they are both near impossible to stop cards despite being easy to read.

Final verdict: The success of OMG will spell it's doom, Offering to be banned. Simply ridiculous.

Banlist Talk - HEROes

The #1 choice for players in Singapore, probably #2 from all the showings in Shriek, the age old HERO deck has been the deck of choice in the OCG for people who jus do not want to play Inzecter. So balanced is the deck that despite being around since Gemini Spark, it never got directly hit by the banlist.

For the typical HERO Beat varients, the deck focuses so much more and the build than the play that it really shows the player's fundamentals in the game, which is control and beatdown. I really can't find a fault in the deck that would cause it to be "broken" per say, which would explain why they have been around without taking a hit.

The same can be said for the "Arrive HERO" which tests the fundamentals of timing the attack properly due to the 'OTK or die' nature of the deck. There really isn't anything horrendously overpowered or something that makes people go "this card is the reason they win, take it out". It's jus a bunch of cards that have good synergy plus backrow removal.

Pretty much, HERO is not expected to come of untouched this time around, the problem is where, and many are calling E-Call. Well, that's the easiest option that makes sense, considering Konami likes hitting toolbox cards to lower consistency, though I'm pretty sure losing two E-Calls won't do shit to their performance.

Final verdict: One of the big three candidates, E-Call, Super Poly or Miracle Fusion to be limited.

Banlist Talk - Laval

Although the deck has seen alot less play in the second half of the format, the only exsisting Tier 1 Synchro deck does not spell well for the "BAN ALL THE SYNCHRO DECKS" movement Konami was initiating previously. Though recent signs have been showing that they want to try and push Synchros slighty, the explosiveness of the deck and it's balance is questionable.

The standard plays of the deck, as of every deck this format, is to farm till they feed their grave with Lavals to Rekindle. WTF man, every deck this format opens with OTK or farming. Anw, the ability to farm with jus one card (Sweltering Field) allows Pot for greater consistency.

Big plays of the deck could lead to OTK and/or a control board of Librarian and Scrap. Sooooo, Rekindling is clearly the problem card. Damn it I lazy to think of intelligent stuff to say.

Final verdict: Konami may not straight up kill the deck. Rekindling and Sweltering Field both to Semi.

Banlist Talk - Rabbit/Verz Ragia & Dark World

I'll be talking on two decks today cos I may not be able to cover everything I want to in time. Anw, the above are both control decks, and I can't think of any other intelligent similarities so next paragraph pls.

The standard plays of Rabbit is to farm alot of shit and make Ragia/Dolkka/Ophion using Rabbit or
Sabersarus normal summons. For Dark World they focus on feeding Grapha into grave and using him as a recurring 2700 beater, whilst controling the gand and board of opponents with Skill Drain/Mind Crush.

Both decks have managed to allow us to look at old forms of YGO, as consistentcy levels in recent formats aren't great, it is actually viable to first turn Heliolope and sit on it the entire game, something that would have been laughed at 3 formats ago. Also, an old card Dragged Down to the Grave has been singled out to the key card in Dark World allowing them to fully utilise Mind Crush's potential even without Dustshoot.

There aren't really any problematic big plays for Rabbit as the deck is focused on controlling and Rabbit is a once per turn effect, Dark World however can be focused on gaining ridiculous advantage over time and the card that enables it all in one turn is ofc Card Destruction. And being a deck that fucking ABUSES Reborn, Dark World has shown that it has near limitless capabilites, just shitlike consistency, as in the early game, no single card in the engine works by itself.

Final verdict: Due to being overplayed in the TCG, as well as a slighty above average win ratio in the OCG, Rescue Rabbit it likely to take a hit to 2, similar to Cat originally. Card Destruction should also really be banned, but if not the only other hit Dark World should take is to Dragged Down.

Banlist Talk - Hieroglyphs

I actually wanted to make a post on Rabbit today, but then I saw something totally WTF in today's tourney and decided that it is time to give the attention to the OTK stunt deck of the format.

The standard plays of a Hieroglyph deck involve farming and setting up defences for backrow via Solemn or Trap Stun, whilst getting rid of them using MST and shit.

The deck revolves around the special summoning of some large dragons and eventual swarming of the field with large beaters than could potentially include a Bouncer, giving an element of control even if the OTK fails.

Now, comes the reason of changing the post today from Rabbit to Hiero. I saw a noob with a totally substandard build of Hiero that played jank like Lightray Sorceror and he could still tale games against better players, simply because he drew Tfeni, Shiyu, Shiyu and played Atum and Dragoon.

Really with just these three cards the rest of your deck could be Ojama and you can still take the game. That's rubbish, I didn't really think much of it previously but seeing how he won games when his deck is crap just cos he drew those three cards makes me think that the deck is a problem. I mean, no other deck really has an autowin if they have three cards in hand, other than maybe Damsel Hornet Mantis, or double Sweltering Field plus Rekindling. But even those need other cards in the deck not to be crap.

I could go on forever, but you get what I mean. I really didn't think Hiero was that big of a threat in the format cos it had a healthy win rate, but the way they win simply isn't good for the game.

Final verdict: I really don't think Hiero will take ANY hits, not even REDMD. They suck, and showing your opponent three cards and watching them scrub is not something to be proud of, but what the hay, it's a new deck and it's not wrecking the format so ya, no hits.

Banlist Talk - Six Samurai

Six Samurai has slipped down the ladder since its initial nerf in Sept'11, while making a mild comeback in March'12. It has had several showings at some tournaments, and with the ability to side into Macro easily, is considered one of the better anti-Zecter decks.

The standard plays of the deck include basic control with Spells and Traps, whilst utilising United and Ascestism to gather field presence and eventually control with Shi'en and Beast. Also, monsters in the deck tend to bigger than the average Zecter, allow them to easily squash them bugs.

The big plays of the deck involve Kizan vommitting and/or opening with Shi'en and 2 monster protection. The usual balance in this is the lack of hand and backrow at the end of such an extension, a problem easily remedied by Gateway.

With the new improvements in Warrior exclusive Exceeds, archetypical toolbox and in general large Level 4s in this format, Six Samurai are a flexible deck who are about to have their options branched out even greater. The deck of choice for DAT retarded noob, Konami may decide that it is time to step up the level of playing for Six Samurais, giving them more support, yet restricting them from going off too easily.

However, it can be easily argued that the deck has done jacksquat in really affecting the format as it really isn't the best deck to play anymore. While being able to shift easily from control to rush, Rabbit and Chaos Dragons are simply better options, it really comes down to whether any new support may put the Samurai back on the radar.

Final verdict: Due to relative balance in the meta, Six Samurai deserve to remain untouched. However, Gateway is indeed a problem card, and could go with the upcoming banlist to silence haters.
P.S Any self respecting Six Sam player would agree that Gateway going is not really a bad thing.

Banlist Talk - Inzecters

Obviously the Tier 1 deck of choice the last format and a half, Inzecters are obviously on most (not everyone's, some TCG find it BALANCED O.o) people's banlists.

The standard plays of both builds (CardCar and Trooper) are to farm the pieces needed for TOTAL
HAVOC!! After which they continuously build advantage with small plays.

The only real big plays in the deck come from extensive use of Damsel effect. The mobs vommited aren't very big, but the ability to utilise Hornet make them a pain. Even if they don't kill you, you really can't commit anything if you can't clear their board.

The balance of the deck comes from how easy it is to counter their plays, Effect Veiler, Macro Cosmos all work well, as well as the deck's reliance on effects going off, Skill Drain also does the trick. The monsters in the deck are not particularly big as well, furthur making use of Skill Drain's power.

The big talk has been of either Hornet or Damsel, and in my honest opinion, the deck will prolly retain Tier 1 status somehow. Similar to BF, the card everyone predicted was Gale, likewise majority of the players are calling for Damsel. I find any arguement that hitting Damsel to 1 will kill the deck invalid TBH, cos you really only need to loop once, and most OTKs involve Damsel as the main engine.

Final verdict: Damsel to 1, Hornet to remain untouched. If Hornet gets hit it should be 0 anyway, as it is really too easy to filter out with so many deck thinning capabilities.

Banlist Talk - Chaos Dragons

From today till I release my predictions (which I haven't even decided yet) I will start with an article on some, maybe all decks, depending on my brain juices, highlighting their playstyle, standard plays, big plays, and how they could/should/would be affected by the banlist. I'm hoping to do one everyday, but like I said, I may not be able to even think of stuff to write. Also, I might miss out a few things, and opinions are most welcome.

I should be starting off with Inzecter, but I decided to start with C.Dragons because of the hot topic of Future Fusion.

The deck's big plays are basically its standard plays, vommitting out a field of big recurring boss mobs. The balance of the deck comes in its inability to utilise backrow, as well as dependcy on milling.

All in all Chaos Dragons, though winning now, is hard to pinpoint a certain problem area and say, this is what makes them imba.

Which comes to the topic of Future Fusion.

90% of the time opening with FF, enables the final turn board to open next turn, or maybe even there and then. However, due to milling as a key engine in the deck, FF often gets milled.

I mean, let's face it, if we just take FF out, Chaos Dragons will still win, simply because a closer look will show that Lightpulsar is the problem card.

REDMD is not a difficult monster to get rid of, it is huge yes, but has no defensive abilities, and the same goes for Pulsar. But when they are on the board together you know you're fucked. And is it FF that let's them do that? Well ya kinda, but they can do it still without FF.

Final verdict: Because everyone says it, FF will likely get banned, though I don't think it is THE problem, it certainly is one. Deck is unlikely to be affected furthur for next format due to relative youth in competitve scene.

Banlist talk

People say banlist is made from OCG perspective right?

Then why all the Youtube vids all made by TCG players?

I mean, they hardly bother to check out our meta, and that's why they're still playing the balls in Hiero, and some Dojo crap in Sams. They seem to be under the impression that Chaos Dragons is skillless, which, I think knowing what to dump for Future is a skill, cos sometimes I dunno what to dump myself, maybe they dump it like me, standard 5, 2 Wyvern, Pulsar, REDMD, random DARK.

I'm just saying man, I can't understand the logic of some of their ideas, with like what, Zecter and Rabbit not getting touched? LOL?

Anyway, it's about this time that any relavant cards get on the list sooooo, my banlist prediction will be up prolly somewhere around the end of the month.

Shadow of the Six Samurai - Shien

With all the exams over and realisation of flunking everything finally settling in, I decided that the TCG exclusive Six Sam card needs some attention.

All I can say is, why didn't they make it as broken as Tour Guide?

Nah, the last thing Six Sams need is another support to give all their haters the reason to call them "autopilot" and lalalalaaa.... Six Sams are one of the strongest balanced archetypes out there, period. What the new Exceed does is give them a much needed Bushido counter producer.

Previously, the only way to produce Bushido counters outside of wasting hand cards was through Shi'en, which, after a couple of ban lists is not reliable anymore. With the new Exceed, this essentially takes up the spot of the second Shi'en in the Extra Deck that we used to play. Albeit having a heavily nerfed effect.

Another thing to note is that since Shadow is a Shi'en monster, it can be revived by the Gateway remove 6 effect, and will give an additional 2 counters upon summon, making it a 4 counter Monster Reborn in itself.

Furthurmore, its 2500ATK is relatively good, and the effect can cause some drastic plays that could force an OTK or even and opponent mistake. Being able to use its effect during the opponent's turn is no joke.

All in all, I'd use it, mainly for the Six Samurai in the name to produce counters and keep Maga live. Also, with the 2500ATK it gets over Ragia which is why people run Hope in Six Sam anyway, so this could alsonserve as a Hope replacement.

Good eff, good ATK, easy summoning, and Six Sam in name, worth it.

Random rant

Tmr is my last paper yaaaaay!! But still now that Worlds is over I have to greatly cut down my playing time and prepare for A Levels in November, but then again it's me and I may decide to not give a fuck.

Anyway, I haven't done a Worlds report yet and believe me, I planned to. What I didn't plan to do is get top decked four times in 11 games. That's some high odds on getting sacked. The only good thing I got out of it was the revelation that Mind Control deserves a ban. A whopping 50% of the sacks were Mind Controls!

For anyone who didn't know I was actually playing Inzecter so ya. Not as though I would have a world of goodness with Six Sam though.

Anyway, everyone is calling time on YGO, cos it's boring. But ofc I'm a Doppel player and once you play Doppel too much everything else is boring. Fact.

I'm actually thinking that the reason for the boring format is HEAVY STORM! No joke, with Trunade formats, people actually had to think if the backrows were real. And good plays weren't the only thing that won games, poker faces and mindfucking skills did too, and you can't deny that adds an all new dimension to the game, making it interesting.

So ban Heavy Storm, it sucks. Same time, ban Reborn. Retarded card.

Also, I'm not ashamed to say this, but the guy who got perfect Swiss at Worlds didn't deserve it. Offering Gadget, WTF. Call it a good meta call or what, it's a bullshit deck that requires fingers and colour differentiation to play. I've seen that guy play before and as far as skill goes......... Ya you get it.

So while they're at it, limit Offering.

Anyway, the problem is with how boring the game is right now, and the reason for that is the lack of REACTIVE decks. Like Doppel, what you did was based on what your opponent did. Right now we're in a format of, "I'll do my shit and hopefully my opponent doesn't stop me." That's how decks nowadays run and the only reason god players win still is cos they can see the timings better than bad players. But everyone says it's BORING. In general September formats are better anyway, though TGAA was dominant, it was at least a reactive deck kinda.

Okay I dunno what else to say. May play in locals this weekend, so maybe you can expect a report.

Oh ya! New DEs! Can expect Ultra Black Whirlwinds and Super Kulat and maybe some Rare Blizzards! Actually I'm just waiting for Trap Stun reprint, need to grab a playset.

No I'm not dead

But I am kinda mugging for exams coming up right after WCQ, although now I'm starting to find it all kinda meaningless cause I'll never get it all in my head in time. I'm considering putting all my eggs in the Chemistry basket, which is my best subject, and flunking everything else. But we'll see.

Anyway, the YGO world hasn't been distorted here in Singapore or anything, Chaos Dragons are starting to pick up popularity Zecters still the mainstream deck, though majority of those I see are shifting toward the Trooper build which is having so much success in Japan.

As for the release of SD23, I have come to the conclusion that Poseidra sucks and as such Treeborn Frog doesn't deserve the space in the deck. The Dragon Rider / Sniper board is extremely potent if you can protect the duo for a couple of turns though. 3600 damage that goes past both Trago and Gorz is kinda dumb.

Anyway, I will have to take time off YGO to focus on my exams after WCQ, unless I win, if that happens fuck life, cos that means YGO is my calling LAWL. Nah, I won't, I'll study, but I'll have a better excuse for flunking everything.

Even after my exams I don't know for sure if I'm coming back. The game has lost its meaning. For me at least. And I really want to get into DotA 2 or SC2 casting, I mean, some of the casters, are like, WTF?! They really have no idea what they are saying. Ofc there are the really good ones like Day[9] and IJB, but there are some who, no offence, I sleep through every single one of their casts.

And I've done abit of it before, you know, like take a replay and click around doing the commentary for my friends watching it with me, and I do think I'm quite good :)

That's all in the air right now, I do intend to do well for at least Chem, but who knows, I may end up asking if you want fries with that. Or I could be flown to major events such as ESWCs and MLGs casting beside some of the biggest names in SC2, ya I would like that......

More than likely though, I could just come back and play YGO. Maybe they'll want casters for the games, which will be played in soundproof rooms. That's an idea.

Explaining Priority Ruling

As most people know the TCG recently had the March 2011 Priority Ruling implemented into their play. Due to the complexity of YGO rulings in general, some players fail to grasp what this ruling actually does.

The official word is that Ignition effects no longer have fast effect timing or priority of whatever bullshit they call it. This simply means what it says, Ignition effects no longer have priority.

However to the layman they assume any effect will not be able to activate if the summon was somehow disrupted by say, Bottomless Trap Hole or Compulsory Evacuation Device. While this is true for Ignition effects, the same cannot be said for Trigger and Quick effects.

I'm sure all youse testing your Gadget builds hav had your Gearframes BTH and told you cannot search. This is UNTRUE, as Gearframe's effect is a Trigger effect. Trigger effects are effects that are activated when some sort of condition or action is met, ie there must be some sort of window for which the Trigger effect can activate. In Gearframe's example, the condition would be its Normal Summon. Other example would be E-HERO Airman (Stratos) and Tour Guide of the Underworld.

Quick effects are another type of effects which are not affected by the new ruling. They are similar to Ignition effects in that they can be activated for no reason in the Main Phase without any specific window required for some of them. A simple way to distinguish them are effects that can activate during the opponent's turn ie Stardust Dragon, Shi'en and Enishi. Note that certain conditions must still be in place for some of the to activate in the first place. The reason these effects are not affected by the ruling is because they are Spell Speed 2, and can be chained to the activation of those disruption traps.

While lesser seen, Continuous effects are DEFINIATELY NOT affected by the priority ruling. Effects such as Jinzo are active the moment the summon is successful, and cannot be Bottomless-ed just cause priority is gone. They have no Spell Speed, and hence are not part of any Chain.

You can check what the effect types of your cards on Yugioh Wikia, some cards are Quick just BKSS. It is good to know whether or not your stuff is affected by the priority ruling. The big decks that get hit are still Rabbit and Wind-Ups in the TCG, as their decks revolve mainly around Ignition of Rabbit and Hunter. Even Zenmaighty's effect is Ignition. Laggia's effect is Quick and so is Dolkka's.

Solemn Warning and Judgement and any counter trap that writes "negate the summon" means just that, with the summon negated the monster won't even have the chance to activate any Trigger or Quick effect, let alone Ignition. So please don't crap that it was a Trigger effect.

Upcoming WCQ

Congrats to my friends Wesley and Stark for qualifying for the Top 16 of the World Championship Qualifyers here in Singapore this weekend.

Looking forward to the event, I personally would prefer going through the 6 round swiss to test the consistency of the deck I'm bringing, though testing in locals recently has shown rather postitive results.

Anyway, today we learnt that when Gadgets set a monster it is an Eater so we have to tell them they didn't give us a window so we can Mind Crush Eater.

I'm just saying.

Some advice for first time tourney go-ers.
1. Beware of rulesharkers, THAT INCLUDES YOU WESLEY. Cos they shark but expect you to give chance.
2. Be a rulesharker, if your opponent tries to take something back, no replay.
3. Know the rulings of your own stuff. This will benefit you greatly.
4. If your stubborn opponent makes a judge call, don't take it out on the judge, give a clear sustaintiated arguement. Shouting at the judge or your opponent won't do you any favours.
5. Respect every judge call, even if you know it's a misrule. Judges have feelings too, they may find some legal way to make it up to you, embarassing the judge isn't going make you any friends.
6. Don't say shit while watching an ongoing game, you'll just piss the players off. An irritated one will say "excuse me, we are in a tournament", a really pissed off one may go as far as a judge call.

This is WORLDS people, this is not your 13 man Ranking Single Eli. The stakes are high. Losing because you got sharked or replayed is stupid and should be avoided at all costs.

Good luck to all those who are particpating in the remaining qualifyers. See you all at Worlds.

Questioning Konami's Card Design

-What is this Knife of Stone?

Or Inzecter Damsel? Or Master Hyperion? Or Grapha, Dragon God of the Dark World? I'm sure there have been times we are thinking WTF is wrong with the Konami design team. And today I'm gonna express my views on some of the most scrutinized cards in the game.

Inzecter Damsel: You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise this card is a problem, at 1000ATK it is as hard to stop as a Trunade, which is banned for that very reason. Even without Hornet this card can abuse Mantis and Gulf to net pluses. An engine on its own, the consistentcy and potential of it must be nerfed.

Card Car D: Pot of Greed is banned for a reason, and the only reason this isn't is cos of all its restrictions. Giving rogue decks a boost is one thing, giving Tier decks more consistentcy is another. The only things the restrictions do is define which decks can play it and which decks can't. Bad design is bad.

Master Hyperion: Everyone knows I hate Agents, and this is why. At 2700, beaters with good effects never looked so free. Hyperion comes out way too easily and gives the Agent player way too many options. The typical opening of Earth -> Venus, Pot -> Hyperion is already enough to force players is olay conservatively. It isn't banworthy per say, but the design can seriously be improved, such as lower ATK.

Grapha, Dragon God of the Dark World: On the topic of free 2700 beaters, Grapha has taken alot of flak for being a recurring one. Able to utilise field clearance whilst losing a minimal, Grapha is truly a force to be reckoned with. However, what many fail to realise is that with Grapha, the Dark World playstyle has already been defined, that is to pitch Grapha and revive him. This isn't hard to stop as compared to the variations that Agents can do, hence I belive Grapha is balanced in every regard.

Snoww, Magician of the Dark World: HOWEVER, the real reason Dark World can win probably lies in this card. Snoww gives the deck much needed consistentcy and also serves as a backup beater. Recurring toolboxes are still a problem though, as Snoww searches any Dark World card, including itself. If the basic set up of Gate is not stopped in time, Snoww could potentially rip 6 cards out of the deck by herself, a feat that no other toolbox can do.

Glow-up Bulb: I think I speak for all Junkdo players who have truly abused this onion time and time again that Bulb is indeed, banworthy. A +1 that can be used to garner more +1s with Formula and such, Glow-up Bulb is too splashable to remain in the game.

Tour Guide of the Underworld: A +1 anyway you look at it, with a potential +1 after that, Tour Guide is really a pain. However, with the exception of Sangan, there really isn't any more targets which could truly prove to be a problem. Still, a free Rank 3 is not cool and Tour Guide's reign has to be cut short, one per deck would be fair.

Wind-Up Rat: Did they not see the ridiculous loop that they had made? The card attempts to balance itself by allowing Rats to call Rats in DEF, but it doesn't take a genius to see that when put with Zenmaighty this card was dumb. Zenmaighty just wanted to give Wind-Ups some playablility, but Rat defined the way Wind-Ups were played.

True Six Samurai - Shi'en: I'm bashing on my own card! In Post March'11, Six Samurai was still dominating despite Gateway's limit, largely due to the fact that a double Shi'en board was easy to build, and difficult to break. I myself have never lost on a double Shi'en. Now that it is Limited, and Veilers are everywhere, too much emphasis to keep the Shi'en alive can lead to a less experienced Six Sam player's downfall.

Dark Dive Bomber: The first Synchro to be banned, DDB defined a format by itself, games were won and lost by this Machine too often. It looks ok to the average player, but put in the hands of a pro, and the monstrousity of this chunk of cardboard can be seen even before it hits the field. Fucking bad design.

Evolkaiser Ragia / Rescue Rabbit: Both cards are not bad design IMO, Ragia is one use only anyway. The reason they win so much in the TCG, is cos of TGU, which was already discussed above.

That's all I have for now. Lalalala.......

Oh ya, I think the new Knight of the End for WATER mobs, is SICKKKKKK!!

OMG PEOPLE

I dunno if anyone else noticed.

BUT THE MIGHTY BOO KOO HAS BEEN REPRINTED.

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Tournament_Pack_2012_Vol.1

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY BOO KOO!

On a more serious note, the reprint of of Gaia Plate makes it Asia legal and really some Skill Drain bullshit might make the deck actually playable. Or Dark Fusion into Dark Gaia with Malicious Edge. With new Rock support the possibility can't be overlooked.

Coping with Stress in games

-Steady! Steady! Steady!


Before I start I just wanted to credit WDF, Odin Thor Loki Iron Man, in particular, that there is truly no limit to human stupidity. His article is a clear attack on my theory that people play to win in this game and the room for fun and enjoyment is largely occupied by people's desire to win. I dunno about you but I find burning $8 a week to have fun an extremely dumb way to spend your money in any currency. So fuck you, KFC. Speaking of arrogance, I don't recall flaunting my Lavalval Chain in front of anyone but my close friends. Hope that rings a bell, hypocrite.


Anyway, let's dwell into today's topic of stress. Very often, we find ourselves in a tournament situation shaking, though I only credit 50% of that to poor air conditioning. This is usually the case in matches to decide the Tops, or when time is called and both player's LP are extremely close. In these situations, it is often the player with the clearer head that emerges victorious.

For me personally, I usually start shaking in my first match of every tournament, be it Single Eli or Swiss. Because in both cases losing the first round is BAD. Everyone knows in Swiss the first round is the most important round as you will be facing people with 1win in round 2 hence your tiebreaker will be better if you win and not as bad if you lose. As compared to a second round 0win, the chances of going up is almost out of your hands and you will have to rely on the tiebreakers of your opponents to pull you up. For those who do not understand the Swiss system, refer to the following link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_system


Next on to the topic of tilt. Tilt is when a player is put in a situation where he'll be so stressed he'll end up doing shit he normally wouldn't do. One example is often seen in Game 2s of these decisive matches. Very often the player a game down would tend to throw everything he has and win ASAP. Likewise, a less mentally composed player could end up throwing the game because he went to aggressive in game 2 despite winning game 1. 


One must realise that losing games because of bullshit like that is a problem in their game and has to be eradicated. Many a time I see people trying so hard to win or not to lose even in casual play that the shit they do is a clear example of tilt, like throwing a whole board only to get Gorz-ed halfway or Storming 5 backrow and getting SLR-ed. These are poorly timed, poorly executed plays as Gorz and Road are both easy cards to read.


To overcome tilt, one must be mentally composed as mentioned above, but how do we actually go about doing it?


Well first and foremost, I believe the first step to overcoming tilt is to familiarise yourself in a tournament setting. Many non tourney go-ers don't know about how playing in a tournament is like. It is different from your casual games, because every there will be playing to win, and everyone there will look better than you. I'm sure there are those of us who go think someone's way of shuffling is cool, way of drawing is cool, way of hand shuffling is cool and all that fanboy jazz. This can prove intimidating cos you think you don't shuffle cool enough, or draw cool enough or hand shuffle cool enough and all that bullshit which I thought when I was newb. This is the first step to losing your composure, by telling yourself you are not good enough.


Building on that, the status of the opponent should never faze you. This will only lead you to make extra conservative plays cos all his backrow must be real. Similarly, never get too overconfident, as 1 backrow is still backrow. But this is easier said than done, considering I am occasionally guilty of both.


Lastly, improve your thinking speed. This is the only thing I can say that every player can do, the above two may not be as easy for some people because of different personalities, or lack of confidence to take part, but this is a technical point that some people are born with, some people lack, but all can improve in. Very often we do stupid shit in games because we did not evaluate the situation carefully. Of course, you can't take 10mins to do that so what we have to do is improve out thinking speed to prevent going into time with a deficit or whatnot. 


Of course, all this is not foolproof and if your mind goes blank in stress situations there's very little I can say to you but to get something for all that anxiety. This is also why many top players advise younger players to get enough sleep before big tournaments. Lack of rest results in blank minds.


Stress is all part of a competitive game like YGO, no one likes losing, and stress leads some people try too hard not to lose. What matters is how to combat it effectively, and make it close to a null factor in all your games.

Marymount Tourney Report 25/5/12

-Better than nothing though. Can we get up to it?

Number of participants:

Deck used: Ascestism Six Samurai

Round 1 vs Jon (Dark World) XOO
Game 1 - He sets one and ends, I didn't attempt to first turn Shi'en since I dunno what he playing. He ends up Card D-ing me next turn so I lose LOL.
Game 2 - I open Shi'en with protection so I win.
Game 3 - I open Beast, and Night Shot his Skill Drain. And Compulse his Trance Daemon. That's basically all I did.

Round 2 vs Amo (Laval) XOO
Game 1 - He threw his whole hand to open Stanon. I threw abit back to get rid of it. He Rekindling twice after te first got Warning and I was fucked by a Gemknight Parl RAWR.
Game 2 - He opens poorly, after his Raiou goes I Reborn it to stop his Pot and any big play, drop Maxx "C" on his Rekindling, and he SPs 3 times to get his Black Rose out, Mind Crushing after that to call Smoke Signal, which missed. This left him almost naked and I went it right after.
Game 3 - He drew alot of Spell and I made Beast.

Round 3 vs Da Tou (HERO Beat) OO
Game 1 - He drew no monsters so jus beat. Nv show me what deck he play. Zzzz....
Game 2 - When kinda back and forth till he try to Spark my Shi'en which I divert with my Kagemusha. He then Compulse when I going for final blow and I negate LOL.

Round 4 vs Daniel (HERO Beat) ???
I let him win cos he got people to pull.

Swiss Ranking: 3rd I think
Proceed to Top 8

Top 8 vs Amo (Laval) OO
Game 1 - I start first this time and I heard first turn Shi'en is good.
Game 2 - He drew very badly having to Thunder Break my GM to keep his Raiou alive which still died after I Ascestism on Kizan. I make Brio about Turn 4 hoping no Veiler Gorz or Trago and really don't have any.

Top 4 vs William (HERO Beat) XOO
Game 1 - I go second and I heard that drawing jank is bad. You know you're fucked when you set Kageki.
Game 2 - I open Shi'en with protection and I heard that was good.
Game 3 - He gets Stormed 3 cards but chains Spark and HERO Blast to it to minimise loses so in the end is jus a MST. I make Shi'en and hold it and he jumps Trago but it attacks into my DP and I jus beat already.

Top 2 vs Calvin (Arrive HERO) OXX
Game 1 - I opened Shi'en and Maga his Storm and let MST pass, negate Future he HERO Arrive and I'm like this is bad, but he has no Miracle so I next turn Normal Enishi to bounce his Parl who attacked my Kizan and swing for game.
Game 2 - Drawing bullshit is bad when your opponent wants to kill you.
Game 3 - Made a Turn 2 Beast but made a mistake in attacking into Gorz and lose from there. He told me his hand was 5 Spell plus Gorz, maybe should have waited.

Result: 2nd
Prize: Atum

Actually I seriously considered taking the Miracle Contact cos I heard that someone bought it for $50 but personally after much thought I think that's ridiculous. Glad to get 2nd as my initial aim was only Top 4, but abit sian couldn't win my 2nd Chain.... Still quite pleased with today's performance and really the side deck is so damn dog cos SG meta is so diverse but when half the Top 8 is HERO, I think my Puppet Plants are staying. Really regret siding the 2nd Chain D though I'm pretty sure I'm taking it out.

Six Samurai engine is so damn big is annoying I wish they would just ban Gateway so I can take it out same reason they should ban Reborn. Anyway, for those looking for Six Samurai stuff, my advice is to wait for Kizan reprint in TCG deck cos foil Kizans always CLUMP. There hasn't been a day that my Kizans haven't clumped and that is FUCKING annoying, CLUMPED KIZANS AND A ZANJI OMG. I would play common Kizans if they existed in Jap. Stop CLUMPING.

BTW, anyone who hasn't read LFN's new post on Konami's reasoning for the banlist, should go have a look. It's a great read, and while I don't hate the banlist as much as before, I think that they are being full of shit.

The Deck

- In our world, a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.

Well I've decided to begin every article with a quote from Eustace Scrubb of the Chronicles of Narnia. The article will be somewhat related to what Eustace says.

The reply given to Eustace was that in even in his world, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of. Likewise, so is a player's deck.

To any layman who has never touched a TCG, a deck is simply a pile of cards, put together to win locals, nationals and all that jazz. However, seasoned players will tell you differently.

A deck is a projection of a player's mentality, vision, and ability. It is easy to jumble 40 cards together, but difficult to make them actually work. An example I can take is back in the Junk Doppel days, both me and Wesley ran EXTREMELY DIFFERENT builds yet both builds were able to give us the desired results.

Netdecking is not wrong, complaining about a netdeck is, saying shit like how the fuck did he win YCS with this jank is an insult to the player and not the deck. He chose to put these 40 cards together in this way, by questioning it you are questioning his ability so what right do you have to netdeck him. Ofc, when looking at your average champion decklist, there are bound to be points that you disagree with. If there are, change them on the spot. For example, I don't side Macro in my Six Sams cos it constricts the United. So everytime I see Macro in the side I will not even bother to look at it when trying to find inspiration for side decking. Does this make Macro bad in Sams? Er.... To me, yes. To the majority of Sams players in the world, no.

I don't believe in the whole heart of the cards shit, so I will choose to play stuff that increase the probability of drawing stuff to shift the game in my favour. On the other hand, my shinjitae polar opposite would rather have more big plays present in his deck, and all he needs to do is believe which he is already very good at.

A good example would be in Bottomless Trap Hole. I know Bottomless will help in disruption as well as mantaining board control. It can also be the shittest top deck in the world. Being a more careful player, one may think that playing one copy would balance out the pros and cons, or none as the cons outweigh the pros.

The deck is a sacred object and is supposed to be unique to every player, make sure you don't ever play stuff just cos the pros played it, or someone told you to, but because you really like it and is comfortable with it. The deck should be a representation of you and no one else.

WATER boost

Met a foreign TCG player today and realised how lucky we are to be playing in the OCG, the game is not so money based and we have less to worry about such as the threat of Tour Guide and Tengus durh. Card Car D and Zenmaines, stuff that some of them struggle to get, are also easily available to us.

Anyway, appreciate the OCG, not everyone is as lucky to own a Gold Zenmaine for like 1/20 of the price of a Secret one.

That said, more craps from the upcoming SD23 has made me more excited and almost certain to play it after release.

Dragon Rider is a good card that combos well with Sniper. However it is slightly harder to trigger its recruiter effect as not many things can force it into Grave, the only ones I can think of off the bat are Brio and Gungnir. Though allowing Sniper to attack directly is good enough as it can transition into a Rank 3 or 4 play easily.

Roar of the Sea Dragon makes Treeborn Frog obselete in the deck. I initially wanted a Swap Frog engine in it with Veilers, but looking at it now that seems totally unecessary. Will have to wait and see though, won't be easy feeding 3 mobs in anyway. Could prove cloggy.

The new Mermail archetype is a fucking rip off off Bermuda Triangle, seriously, mermaids that are good? This will get a whole bunch of skillless noobs into the game who just wanna look at boobs. I mean, I like the design of the archetype but the ART!!! Why can't we have something more macho, more masculine, mermaids? I'm not sexist or anything, jus don't like the idea they are jumping on the Bushiroad bandwagon and now we gonna have otakus running some of the best design Konami has made in a long while.

All that out of the way, the WATER archetype does look to be semi competitve, and could be able to fight for a berth in Tier 1. I believe that DARK has been given too much support and LIGHT has Lightlord and FIRE has Laval, so potentially the huge boost will push WATER decks in general to actually have a Tier. Still in desperate need of testing though. Anyone saying Poseidra is bad though is mad. Or noob. Or both.