Thoughts, comments, and updates

Well, since the new list came out, I began to wonder if people are "more geared" to the trio that was unaffected, listed below:

• Inzektors - fear of the Field not being safe.
• Wind-Ups - fear of the Hand not being safe.
• Rescue Rabbit - free negation

With that being said, I'm "more geared" to making archetype guides, so that if someone doesn't want to build one of the trio decks, they can always find an archetype guide of their choosing, so that six months from now, when the ban list actually hits the three decks, you wouldn't be affected by the ban list, and have something to fall back on.

In other blog posts that bloggers did, they pointed out how the "ban list was bad". Well, yeah, but who said that you had to stick around in real life and pay money for the game anymore. For me, I stuck with playing online for one reason: "To have fun and play the game the way it was meant to be"; however, there's a risk behind every idea which is: "People would most likely netdeck more and use the decks that top at the YCS."

Also, if I based my findings on real life actions, then I would have to take into account the budget and everything else that factors into real life actions, which one of those factors would be "stacking your own deck, so you'll get a good hand near 100% of the time". In my opinion, playing online is less biased and more reliable, because you wouldn't have the luxury of "cheating" by shuffling.

So, what am I going to do now? Of course, I could point out flaws that Konami has made within the ban list, OR I could do is make archetype guides with a sample deck list(s) attached to them.

Didn't I do something like this already? Yes, I have with the Cardfight!! Vanguard tutorial, but this time it would be "more geared" towards Yu-gi-oh! with these Archetype Guides.

Anyway, thoughts, comments, and discuss.

Yu-gi-oh! Deck Discussion and Deck Explanation - Necrovalley Dark World (March 2012 Format)

When I was asking the two questions, I wanted you guys to think of why I was asking them. Is it because I was deviating away from Dark World? No, it wasn't. It was because of the Wind-Up/Inzektor/Rabbit decks that were topping, and there's no side strategy against them at face value, besides the Hand Traps people use. So, I decided to come up with this:

3x Broww, Huntsman of Dark World

3x Fabled Raven

2x Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World

3x Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World

Morphing Jar

2x Sillva, Warlord of Dark World

3x Snoww, Unlight of Dark World

2x Trance Archfiend

Card Destruction

Dark Hole

3x Dark World Dealing

3x Necrovalley

2x Royal Tribute

2x Terraforming

3x Deck Devastation Virus

2x Eradicator Epidemic Virus

2x Mind Crush

2x Torrential Tribute

Extra Deck:

Ally of Justice Catastor

Ancient Fairy Dragon

Ancient Sacred Wyvern

Black Rose Dragon

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Red Dragon Archfiend

Scrap Dragon

Sirius the Blue Wolf Star

Stardust Dragon

T.G. Hyper Librarian

2x Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon

Daigusto Emeral

Lavalval Chain

Leviair the Sea Dragon

Deck Explanation:

While I was doing some testing for this deck, I noticed a common consistency while playing with this deck. When I faced a Wind-Up deck, if they can't get the loop off first turn, then you can set up your Field to never have the loop set-off during the middle of the match and have them take a very bad deficit while facing your Dark World monsters. When I faced an Inzektor deck, if they do NOT keep an Inzektor Hornet in their hand, then they can fall prey to Necrovalley, and a way to make sure that they don't have an Inzektor Hornet in their hand waiting is to have Deck Devastation Virus set off with a Goldd, Sillva, or Grapha being tributed.

If anyone wants to build this deck in the TCG currently, you can remove Daigusto Emeral and Lavalval Chain for 2 other Rank 4 Xyz and Sirius the Blue Wolf Star for any Level 6 Synchro monster that you want to Synchro Summon.

Yu-gi-oh! March 2012 TCG/OCG Ban List Discussion

Well, since the majority of the people commented about the list, I will do the same and share my two cents on the subject. First, the list (From Shriek. If you want to view it to see if it is a legit list, go here.):

NEWLY FORBIDDEN:

Glow-Up Bulb

Spore

Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Trap Dustshoot

NEWLY LIMITED:

Tech Genus Striker

Agent of Mystery, Earth

NEWLY SEMI-LIMITED:

Marshmallon

Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner

Emergency Teleport

Shien's Smoke Signal

Level Limit Area B

Torrential Tribute

Ultimate Offering

Reborn Tengu

NEWLY UNLIMITED:

Call of the Haunted

My thoughts are as follows:

• Agents and Tech Genus got hit.
• Plant Engine is dead with Spore and Glow-Up Bulb gone.
• Inzektors, Wind-Ups, and Rescue Rabbit decks remain untouched.

It's not much to say about how, but what will you do to counteract the situation?

Now that you saw the Card Discussion on selected cards for Dark World, I'll ask you this: "What decks would be playable this format?" List would be as follows:

• Six Samurai
• Gravekeepers
• Dark World (with or without Skill Drain)
• Hieroglyphs
• ...and a few others.

And for the OCG, many new cards would be printed that could possibly overtake Wind-Ups/Inzektors. It's true that more people will quit because of the new list, but it doesn't mean that we can still have fun in whatever decks we use.

~~~

Now that the OCG Ban List is out, decks can be made to adapt to the new situation, which means I'll be able to do March 2012 OCG Ban List Deck Building soon.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Super Rejuvenation and why is it the main draw engine for Hieroglyphs?

The card:

Super Rejuvenation

[Quick-Play Spell Card]

During the End Phase of the turn this card is activated, draw 1 card from your Deck for each Dragon-Type monster discarded from your hand and/or Tributed during this turn. 

Why is it the main draw engine for Hieroglyphs?

Because most of the Hieroglyph cards tribute to Special Summon themselves to the field along with a Dragon-Type Normal monster, which then can be tributed for the Hieroglyph effect. Which means, you'll get to draw 2 cards every time you Special Summon the Hieroglyph monster (by tributing a Hieroglyph monster) and every time you activate a Hieroglyph effect (by tributing a Hieroglyph monster)

What I thought was interesting was this: (Please note that I could be wrong on this)

TCG: In the TCG, the hand size limit is the absolute last thing to occur, which means, you draw for Super Rejuvenation, and after you draw for Super Rejuvenation, if you have more than 6 cards, you discard until you have 6 cards.

OCG: You can choose when you can apply the hand size limit. For example, you can apply the hand size limit at the End Phase, before you draw for Super Rejuvenation. So, you discard 2 Dragon-type monsters from the hand size limit, then draw 2 more cards from Super Rejuvenation in addition to whatever you tributed for the turn. You do not apply the hand size limit twice per End Phase.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Inferno Reckless Summon

Why am I commenting about Inferno Reckless Summon?
With Hieroglyphs and Inferno Reckless Summon, you can bring out 3 Level 8 monsters, and push for a Xyz, namely Thunder-End Dragon to counteract the 2 monsters summoned by your opponent.

Wait, what? Why in Hieroglyphs then?
The effect that Hieroglyphs show is that they push for any Dragon Normal monster to be Summoned to their field for Exceed Summoning; however, their ATK becomes 0. Of course, you can use Burst Stream of Destruction on Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Inferno Fire Blast for Red-Eyes Black Dragon, but there's not much of a point where you can not mount a good offensive measure. So, by using Inferno Reckless Summon, you can Summon 2 other Dragon-type Normal Monsters with their ATK being greater than 0.

The card itself:

Inferno Reckless Summon

[Quick-Play Spell Card]

Activate only when 1 monster with 1500 or less ATK is Special Summoned to your side of the field while your opponent controls a face-up monster(s). Special Summon all cards with the same name as the Summoned monster from your hand, Deck, and Graveyard in face-up Attack Position. Your opponent selects 1 face-up monster they control and Special Summons all cards with that same name from their hand, Deck, and Graveyard.

Suggestion: Try it and see if it is worth it to use in Hieroglyphs.

Thoughts, comments, and discuss.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - White Elephant's Gift and Advance Draw

Right now, it's going into the third part of the discussion on White Elephant's Gift and Advance Draw. Let's take a look at both cards:

White Elephant's Gift

[Normal Spell Card]

Send one Non-Effect Monster you control to the Graveyard. Draw 2 cards.

Advance Draw

[Normal Spell Card]

Tribute 1 Level 8 or higher monster you control. Draw 2 cards.

For Hieroglyphs, the concept of the deck is to summon big dragons to your side of the Field. If you focus in on the Level 8 0 ATK 0 DEF Normal Monster, and that monster alone, you prevent ways to make sure that you don't dead draw whenever you decide to draw.

Not to mention, it'll be easy for Hieroglyphs to make sure a Level 8 Normal Monster is on the field, so that you are able to recycle said cards, and develop a good draw engine to help you get through some of your Deck. Anyway, thoughts, discuss, and comment.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Dragged Down into the Grave

The next card up for discussion came from the second question I asked at the end of January: "What card would you prefer: Dragged Down into the Grave or Dark World Dealings?" Right now, let's start the card discussion on Dragged Down into the Grave:

Dragged Down into the Grave

[Spell Card]

You and your opponent look at each other's hands, select 1 card from each other's hands and discard them to the Graveyard, and each draw 1 card. 

Yeah, it does disrupt your opponent, but that's not what I want you to think about. Remember that there's Inzektors and Wind-Up/Inzektor hybrid out there in the OCG and the TCG, which if you set anything, it would cause more problems than what it would solve. There is some cases that it'll work in said deck types, but it'll do more harm than good.

The typical play for Dragged Down into the Grave is the following:

1. Set all Spell and Trap Cards making sure when you activate Dragged Down, you only have Dark World monsters for your opponent to pick from.
2. Activate Dragged Down into the Grave.
3. Opponent is forced to pick one Dark World monster from your Hand.

The way I see this is that Step 1 greatly influence those hybrids is that you have to set those cards, and then once they get Inzektor Hornet, they can gain massive pluses off what you had to do for Dragged Down into the Grave.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Dark World Dealings

Second part of the discussion on the second question I asked at the end of January: "What card would you prefer: Dragged Down into the Grave or Dark World Dealings?" Now, then, let's start the discussion off with Dark World Dealings:

Dark World Dealings

[Spell Card]

Each player draws 1 card. Then each player discards 1 card. 

Simple enough, eh? With this card, it'll give you the discard that you want and the draw that you'll most likely need, but you aren't able to disrupt your opponent; however, if you face off against an Inzektor or Wind-Up/Inzektor hybrid, would you prefer not to set that many facedowns or would you rather get nailed by Inzektor Dragonfly + Inzektor Centipede + Inzektor Hornet?

The reason why I'm holding the deck list of the Dark World deck nearby is because I'm going to edit it for the new March 1st, 2012 Ban List, and I saw no point in posting it when it's nearing the time where the new list is posted.

Yu-gi-oh! Deck Discussion - Hieroglyphs I

Normally, I wouldn't build a deck when it is near March 1st, but I had to think about a theory:

"What if and only if you want to use the Hieroglyph Seal of the God Dragon?"

Well, I decided to test the general concept on Duel Monsters Genesis and Dueling Network. Anyway, here's the deck list:

3x Hieroglyph Seal of the God Dragon
Debris Dragon
3x Dragorado
3x Hieroglyph Dragon - Aset Dragon
3x Hieroglyph Dragon - Dragon Geib
3x Hieroglyph Dragon - Nephthe Dragon
3x Hieroglyph Dragon - Shiyu Dragon
3x Hieroglyph Dragon - Tfeni Dragon

3x Advance Draw
Dark Hole
Heavy Storm
3x Hieroglyph Seal of Gathering
3x Inferno Reckless Summon
Monster Reborn
3x Super Rejuvenation
3x White Elephant's Gift

Extra Deck

3x Hieroglyph Dragon King - Atumus
3x Hieroglyph God Dragon - Ennead
3x Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon
3x Sacred Pleiades
3x Thunder End Dragon

The results vary:

The good: The deck synergy flowed well. Even when I moved the deck from Duel Monsters Genesis to Dueling Network, the deck remained consistant.

The bad: If your opponent has some sort of disruption effect (varies on the target), or if he Synchro Summons into Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (which coming back from a -2 doesn't seem to work well, unless you got a god hand), then you wouldn't be able to bounce back that well.

~~~

After I discuss about Dragged Down into the Grave and Dark World Dealings, I will take some time to explain why I'm using the cards that I'm using in this deck, so here's the scheduled post line-up for the next 5 times I post:

First post: Dark World Dealings

Second post: Dragged Down into the Grave

Third Post: Advance Draw and White Elephant's Gift

Why?: Discussion of both these cards and "Why are they in my Hieroglyph deck?"

Fourth Post: Inferno Reckless Summon

Why?: Elaborate on how many combos that Inferno Reckless Summon has and why does it expand into Hieroglyph archetype.

Fifth Post: Super Rejuvenation

Why?: Discussion on this card and why it is a major draw card in Hieroglyphs.

~~~

Anyway, rate, comment, fix, thoughts, and discuss. Enjoy!

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Necrovalley

For the second part of the discussion, we discuss about Necrovalley being an option to Dark World.

Necrovalley

[Field Spell Card]

All "Gravekeeper's" monsters gain 500 ATK and DEF. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be removed from play. Cards in either player's Graveyard cannot be affected by card effects, except for their own effects.

For this card, it'll cause disruption to Inzektors, which will be a necessity in this format, since the majority of Inzektor players want to equip their cards from the Graveyard. Here's the advantages to this:

• Cards won't be banished from your Graveyard by your opponent's card effects.
• Dark World effects would not be affected by Necrovalley besides Snoww's second effect.

A disadvantage is:

• All Gravekeepers gain 500 ATK and DEF.

Then, why am I suggesting this?

With this card, you can force your opponent to lose all their monsters, then use Mind Crush to crush their hand to pieces. Thoughts and comments?

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - The Gates of Dark World

If you remember the question I decided to ask at the end of January, I asked "Which Field Spell do you prefer in Dark World?". Now, the discussion begins with The Gates of Dark World.

The Gates of Dark World

[Field Spell Card]

All Fiend-Type monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. Once per turn: You can banish 1 Fiend-Type monster from your Graveyard; discard 1 Fiend-Type monster, then draw 1 card.

The discussion that is at hand is "What would you do in the current meta, if the current meta doesn't decide to shift in the next couple of months? What would you do if Inzektors do not get hit, and Dark World becomes obsolete, because everyone else would be running 3 "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors", but what can Dark World do to potentially stop Inzektors? Would no one run them? Would players find a way around it? You can't expect to win the first duel against Inzektors if you can't think outside of the box, and make sure that your opponent gets nailed hard. Even if your opponent decides to not run Inzektors, you need to have a solid deck to face off against your opponent first turn, and hit them hard where it counts.

The question becomes "Will you use The Gates of Dark World, or will you use Necrovalley?" The Gates of Dark World has a few advantages:

• 300 Power Boost for all Fiend-type monsters.
• Discard effect.
• Draw 1 effect.

 A disadvantage is:

• Removing 1 Fiend-type monster in your Graveyard as a cost.

Now, would the question be "Would this card be good for me if I run Dark Worlds, or will this card be not good enough when I play Dark Worlds?" The choice is yours.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Meklord Emperor Wisel, Granel, and Skiel

Right now, I'm going to discuss the three probably, in my sense more underrated in the September 1st, 2011 Ban List Format, because of how players set up their hand traps (Effect Veiler, Maxx "C") in their decks. So now, let's go into the discussion at hand:

Meklord Emperor Wisel

* Attribute: Dark

[Machine/Effect]

Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must be Special Summoned by its own effect, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When a face-up monster you control is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. Once per turn: You can target 1 Synchro Monster your opponent controls; equip that target to this card. This card gains ATK equal to those equipped monsters' combined ATK. Once per turn, when an opponent's Spell Card is activated: You can negate the activation and destroy it.

ATK: 2500   DEF: 2500

Right now, this seems to be more likely to be main decked because you are going into destroying your own cards, potentially; however, more players decided to play Dimensional Prison over Bottomless Trap Hole, which does not destroy and send to the Graveyard, but just plain flat-out banishes the monster. If you run cards that destroy your own cards, run Meklord Emperor Wisel, otherwise, there's not much of a point.

Meklord Emperor Granel

* Attribute: Earth

[Machine/Effect]

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by its own effect. When a face-up monster you control is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. This card gains ATK and DEF equal to half of your Life Points. Once per turn, you can select 1 Synchro Monster your opponent controls and equip it to this card. This card gains ATK equal to those equipped monsters' combined ATK. During your Main Phase, you can select 1 of those equipped monsters, and Special Summon it to your side of the field in face-up Defense Position.

ATK: 0  DEF: 0

Right now, this seems to be the second most likely to be main decked because you are more or less going for an early game kill; however there is a different weakness, because of how the effect is used. If it gets hit by Effect Veiler, it does not gain its ATK back for the turn, and because of this format, where Meklord Emperor Granel can die easily, that one turn could be fatal, so when you decide to use this card, beware of hand traps (Effect Veiler, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness).

Meklord Emperor Skiel
* Attribute: Wind
[Machine/Effect]
This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by its own effect. When a face-up monster you control is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. Once per turn, you can select 1 Synchro Monster your opponent controls, and equip it to this card. This card gains ATK equal to those equipped monsters' combined ATK. You can send 1 monster equipped to this card to the Graveyard to allow this card to attack your opponent directly this turn.
ATK: 2200  DEF: 2200

Right now, this is most unlikely to run; however this discussion wouldn't be complete without it. The only practical use I see you using this is that if your Deck is a Weenie Rush deck. Even then, this format is really meant to beating your opponent's face in.

EDIT: Updated with more fixes.

Chain Disappearance and What It Targets

Some people are wondering why am I setting up a post about Chain Disappearance. I'm doing it because it's becoming more and more popular by the minute, because of how the current meta is at. So, here's the card in question:

Chain Disappearance

[Normal Trap Card]

When a monster(s) with 1000 or less ATK is Summoned: Banish that monster(s), then your opponent banishes all cards with the same name as that card(s) from their hand and Deck.

Some targets would be the following:

• Alien Ammonite
• Dandylion
• Debris Dragon
• Doppelwarrior
• Karakuri Watchdog mdl 313 "Saizan"
• Inzektor Ant
• Inzektor Dragonfly
• Inzektor Giga-Weevil
• Inzektor Hornet
• Karakuri Barrel mdl 96 "Shinkuro"
• Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 "Ninishi"
• Karakuri Merchant mdl 177 "Inashichi"
• Karakuri Strategist mdl 248 "Nishipachi"
• Lonefire Blossom
• Mystical Shine Ball
• T.G. Striker
• The Agent of Mystery - Earth
• Tour Guide of the Underworld
• Wind-Up Rat
• ...and several others

I decided to list a few, but there's several others to list. Anyway, enjoy!

Tour Bus of the Underworld vs. Pot of Benevolence vs. Transmigration Prophecy

There's something been bothering me about the list at its current state. Why is Transmigration Prophecy banned while Pot of Benevolence (which has the same effect, except it is a Normal Spell card, and it gets removed) and Tour Bus of the Underworld (which only returns 1 card, but it's a Level 3 Fiend which can be used with Tour Guide of the Underworld, and it was released in Order of Chaos)?

Transmigration Prophecy: Chainable Trap that can return 2 cards from the Graveyard to the Deck.

Pot of Benevolence: Normal Spell Card that can return 2 cards from the Graveyard to the Deck. It also removes itself.

Tour Bus of the Underworld: Level 3 Fiend that can return 1 card from the Graveyard to the Deck when it is sent to the Graveyard.

I'm wondering why Transmigration Prophecy is on the list now. Maybe, it'll be the one that'll bounce from being Limited to Unlimited. Only time will tell.

Yu-gi-oh! Card Discussion - Gem-Knight Citrine

For the month of February, I have decided to do Card Reviews, because it would be pointless to do new decks before the ban list is revealed. Anyway, here's the first card on the list: Gem-Knight Citrine. (Information came from Yu-gi-oh! Wikia and from Dueling Network)

Gem-Knight Citrine

*******    Attribute: Earth

[Pyro/Fusion/Effect]

1 "Gem-Knight" Monster + 1 Pyro-Type Monster
Must be Fusion Summoned, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. If this card battles, your opponent cannot activate the effects of Spell, Trap, or Effect Monsters until the end of the Damage Step.

ATK: 2200     DEF: 1950

Pros:

• Being able to be fused by any "Gem-Knight" monster and a Pyro-Type monster is good advantage point, because you don't have to strictly go for two specific monsters.
• When this card battles, your opponent cannot activate anything until the end of the Damage Step. Within the "Set 4 backrow" format, this card was used mainly in Gem-Knights to get over specific cards. It also causes people to waste cards like Solemn Warning on Gem-Knight Fusion to dodge Gem-Knight Citrine for a turn.

Cons:

• It can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summoning.

With that being said, what do you think will happen in this upcoming ban list? Will it becomes a "Setting backrow" format again, or will it be something else? Anyway, enjoy!