Roan's Pro Yu-Gi-Oh!

Feature: Heavy Storm, the Ultimate Double-Edged Sword

2011-08-21T13:51:00.001-04:00

The new September forbidden list brought a lot of surprises to competitive Yu-Gi-Oh, and will surely change the entire pace of the current format, but there is one returning card that immediately and single-handedly will change the game as we have grown to know it over the past two formats, and that is Heavy Storm.

Heavy Storm is easily the most feared card in Yu-Gi-Oh, beating out even Dark Hole. While many players lamented the banning of Heavy Storm two formats ago, there can be no question that Heavy Storm being banned drastically altered the pace of the game and how it was played. Cards such as Trap Dustshoot and Starlight Road fell completely out of competitive play, replaced instead by cards like Trap Stun and Seven Tools of the Bandit to compensate for the lack of mass spell and trap card removal. Entire decks and archetypes fell out of competition because they were not able to keep pace with decks like Blackwings and Gladiator Beasts who could summon a monster and keep control of the game with 4-5 spells and traps set.

Now, the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction; Heavy Storm has returned and deck lists all across the internet have changed to reflect this. Whereas in previous formats decks have tended to be trap heavy, with some builds running up to twenty traps, decks now seemingly rely solely on monsters and spells, with most running a very slim six to ten trap count.

There is something to be said for the power of a card when the game state changes so drastically as a result of its return or banning. Lets take a look at the arguments both for and against the legality of Heavy Storm, and why it may or may not be important in keeping competitive play balanced and fair.

Most arguments that support Heavy Storm revolve around the idea that trap cards slow down the pace of the game and that with the ability to set so many disruptive spells and traps without fear of having them be destroyed, it leads to a less intellectually challenging meta game. Players are able to simply set all of their cards with reckless abandon and matches often boil down to whoever wins the dice roll, because the player who draws first is able to set all of their spell and trap cards first, gaining instant control of the game and forcing their opponent to fight an uphill battle against their disruptive back field. The psychological fear of Heavy Storm forces both players to carefully choose which spells and traps they set and when. Setting the wrong card at the wrong time could easily cost a player the game, and it is for this very reason that there are players who believe that Heavy Storm is a necessary card. Players argue that Heavy Storm's presence adds another layer of skill to the game, because it forces all players to read their opponent and determine whether or not they have Heavy Storm in their hand, similar to Dark Hole, and those players who do not have the skill to play at that high of a level will be punished for being careless with their spells and traps.

It is interesting then that the argument against Heavy Storm being legal revolves around the exact same premise, but on the opposite side of the coin. Heavy Storm's naysayers say that with Heavy Storm being legal, it is far too easy for players to simply drop it at no cost and score an easy +2-3, completely turning the tide of the game. They argue that Heavy Storm, rather than add to the skill required to play competitively, instead detracts from the skill level, because Heavy Storm is a card that takes no skill or any real competitive insight to play. With Heavy Storm in hand, a "bad" player can simply activate it and make a giant push for game, leaving their opponent nearly helpless to disrupt the attack outside of Effect Veiler and other in-hand OTK stoppers like Gorz and Tragoedia.

There is no denying that Heavy Storm is a great card, and it is one that will continue to be controversial for as long as competitive Yu-Gi-Oh is played. I think the arguments both for and against the legality of the card both raise good points, but they are also slightly misguided. There is a very clear reason why Heavy Storm was banned and just as clear of a reason that it returned: balance. While Heavy Storm was legal, creature heavy decks that revolved around effects, particularly ones that destroyed, ruled the format. No one played many traps, and at the time cards like Effect Veiler did not exist, so Heavy Storm was often a game ending card. Some players became cynical as a result, and so Heavy Storm was banned to try and re-balance the game. Subsequently, trap cards reigned supreme for two whole formats, so Heavy Storm was brought back to once again try to re-balance the game.

The simple fact of the matter is that Heavy Storm is a double-edged sword, both breaking and balancing the game in different aspects, and whether or not it is legal, there are always going to be a group of players that are not happy. In a perfect meta game, we could have a mixture of Heavy Storm and heavy trap line ups, but that is just not a reality; the two can never really exist simultaneously. I believe that Konami is experimenting to try and find the best balance between the two, and this newest forbidden list reflects that perfectly. Until they manage to strike that perfect balance, however, we as the player base will just have to enjoy the ride on the shifting meta tides.

It's been quite a while...

2011-08-20T12:27:00.000-04:00

But I'm back! I've really gotten back into the game lately, and because of the new format that's just around the corner, I'm legitimately excited to start playing competitively again. I'll be tracking my progress here on the blog throughout the format, similar to how I did a while back. I apologize for the extended absence, I had a lot of other things in my personal life to take care of. I'll also be writing up some new articles on the current trends and shape of the meta game, as well as tournament reports and maybe even some YCS coverage if I get around to going to any this format, which is likely!

I've also spruced up the blog's looks a little bit with a new banner to sort of celebrate the return of the blog. Look forward to lots of new activity both on the blog and on the forums. It feels good to be back at the reins, and I'm hoping you all are as happy as I am that RPYGO is back!

APRIL FOOLS -- Have a new video to make up for it!

2011-04-01T13:01:00.003-04:00

It's Been a Good Ride...

2011-04-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

I've been thinking about it a lot over the past few weeks and I've decided to close RPYGO. I have a lot of pressing things going on in my personal life and can no longer devote the time and effort it takes to continue delivering the type of high quality content I want to on the site.

Thanks for all of the support along the way guys, it's been amazing.

Feature: Dimensional Forest

2011-03-26T10:07:00.002-04:00

So, as I'm sure most of you are aware, I've been teasing a new deck that I've been testing at a few of my locals over the past few days on Twitter and various forums. Well, after a lot of play testing both in tournaments and with my group of YGO buddies, I'm finally ready to reveal the deck list and concept! Without any further delay, here it is:

Monsters: (11)

3 GB Laquari

2 GB Equeste

2 GB Darius

1 GB Bestiari

1 GB Murmillo

1 GB Retiari

1 Spirit Reaper

Magic: (16)

2 Ancient Forest

1 Terraforming

2 Dimensional Fissure

3 Smashing Ground

3 Gladiator Proving Ground

1 Book of Moon

1 Monster Reborn

1 Dark Hole

2 MST

Traps: (14)

3 Gladiator Beast War Chariot

3 Trap Stun

2 Solemn Warning

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Dimensional Prison

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Mirror Force

1 Solemn Judgment

I have quite a few things to say about this deck. First up, this is a build very similar to the build I was playing in North Carolina around this time last year; it's literally been that long since I've played GB's in any fashion. As is tradition with the start of any new format, Gladiator Beasts are really good right now, and with all of the field spells floating around (Necrovalley, Dragon Ravine, Fusion Gate, etc.) among top tier decks, not to mention this is strictly an attack-based format, Ancient Forest is absolutely crippling to a lot of decks, and it essentially turns into an extra two copies of MST by ridding the field of another deck's annoying field spell.

For those that don't know, Ancient Forest reads:

When you activate this card, change any Defense Position monster(s) to face-up Attack Position. Flip effects are not activated at this time. If a monster attacks, destroy it at the end of that turn's battle phase.

This is good for a NUMBER of reasons. The first effect of the card may seem minor and not very useful, but you'd be very wrong in making that assumption. With all of the recruiters, Rykos, Spirit Reapers, Gravekeeper's Spy and all kinds of other annoying face down monsters floating around, the first effect of Ancient Forest comes in VERY handy.

While the first effect is cool, I'm obviously playing the card for its second effect. Gladiator Beasts compliment this card perfectly because they are able to play around its destruction effect by "tagging out" for another creature. Because you are turn player and because the effects of Ancient Forest and the Gladiator Beast that attacked resolve at the same time, you are able to choose which resolves first. Meaning, in simpler terms, that Gladiator Beasts are completely unaffected by Ancient Forest, while other aggressive, attack based decks (Dragunity, Gravekeepers, Six Samurai, etc.) are nearly shut down by it.

Combined with Dimensional Fissure, which Gladiator Beasts can also comfortably play around, the deck has a consistent, easy way of removing giant monsters from the field, which has always been an issue for Gladiator Beasts. I'm also playing 3 Smashing Ground for that same purpose, as well as to remove annoying monsters like Thunder King Rai-Oh. Dimensional Fissure also completely shuts down a lot of graveyard oriented decks, slowing them down enough for Gladiator Beasts to keep pace and control over the game. If you've ever played Anti-Meta Gadgets (and I'm not talking about the herp-derp Machina build) or Fifth Gadgets, this deck plays a lot like that. It's designed around the concept of easy one for one card exchanges that clear the field and allow you to rack up advantage via your Gladiator Beast's effects.

Having said all of that, let's take a look at my side deck (which isn't final, btw -- I'm always making changes to every side deck I've ever had) and the choices I've made there.

Side Deck: (15)

2 DD Crow

2 Consecrated Light

2 Cyber Dragon

2 Effect Veiler

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Dimensional Fissure

2 Chain Disappearance

2 Pulling the Rug

1 Mind Crush

Most of these choices are pretty self-explanatory, though I can see where some people might find some contradictions, namely in DD Crow and Effect Veiler, given that I'm playing Dimensional Fissure. Well, the simple fact of the matter is that you aren't always going to have D-Fissure, and more often than not it's going to be your opponent's first MST target after you activate it. Having a DD Crow or Effect Veiler back (depending on the match up; I never side both in at the same time) is great, because they aren't spells or traps, so they aren't susceptible to destruction or Giant Trunade.

Pulling the Rug is amazing right now with all of the Dragunity decks being played post-YCS Charlotte. I've also seen a rise in the number of Machina Gadget decks at my various locals, so it really helps out there as well and, of course, it's always good in the Frog Monarch match up, which is another deck seeing a rise in popularity this format.

So, after all that teasing, it's finally revealed -- my Dimensional Forest Glads. I'm really happy and proud of this deck, even though I know it's a concept that others (including myself) have already explored in the past. The difference is that this deck is better now than it has ever been and I'm amazed that more people haven't thought to play it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to blaze the trail!

What do you guys think? Was it worth the wait and all the teasing? Let me know in the comments!

Tournament Report

2011-03-26T01:14:00.001-04:00

Hey guys! Been a while since I last updated, but I wanted to post up a report on how I've been doing the past week or so in tournaments. This update is probably going to be pretty vague, given that I've been playing a "secret" deck (which I'll be profiling here on the blog and maybe YouTube sometime tomorrow), so until tomorrow when the deck list goes live, I suppose this will have to suffice!

Wednesday, 3/23/11: Wonder World
Deck Used: Dimensional Forest GBs
Final Record: 2-1 (Should've made top 8 since my only loss was to a 3-0, but I got gipped somehow)

Game 1 vs. Machina Gadgets (Won 2-1)
Game 2 vs. Machina Gadgets (Won 2-1)
Game 3 vs. Gravekeepers (Lost 1-2)

Friday, 3/25/11: Fun4All
Deck Used: Dimensional Forest GBs
Final Record: 4-1 (Undefeated through swiss, then lost first round top 4)

Game 1 vs. Scraps (Won 2-0)
Game 2 vs. Dragunity (Won 2-1)
Game 3 vs. Gravekeepers (Won 2-1)
Game 4 vs. Frog Monarchs (Won 2-0)

Game 5, first round top 4 vs. Dragunity (Lost 1-2)

Tournament Record to Date: 13-9

Tournament Report

2011-03-13T22:06:00.001-04:00

So I haven't done one of these in a while... That's probably because I'm not so interested in competitive Yu-Gi-Oh anymore and I've been playing dumb/fun decks and testing my Frogs out until I found a build I was happy with. Anyway, here's how I've done the past few tournaments:

Sunday (3/6/11): Fun 4 All
Deck Used: Frog Monarchs
Final Record: 3-3 (Made top 4 and lost)

Monday (3/7/11): Our House Games
Deck Used: Frog Monarchs
Final Record: 1-2 (Ouch lol)

Sunday (3/13/11): Fun 4 All
Deck Used: Frog Monarchs
Final Record: 3-2 (Made top 8 and lost first round)

Since I've missed doing these for a while, I'm only going to get into detailed stuff for this past Sunday's tournament.

Round 1 vs. Gravekeepers

The guy I played this round must have been new to the game, because he was playing very poorly and didn't know his head from a hole in the ground when it came to what my cards and my deck were doing. I've never seen him there before, but it's pretty safe to say that after dropping Light and Darkness Dragon twice in both games that I came out on top this round.

2-0 Victory

Round 2 vs. Chaos Plants

Round 2 I played against Jon Waters, who is a regular there and pretty cool, with his Chaos Plants. Game 1 resulted in an easy win for me after he paid 4,000 LP to Solemn Judgment my Jinzo and had no real follow up, so I just pounded on him with Monarch summons.

Game 2 gave me probably one of my best/most memorable moments from the tournament. I had left a Genex Undine and Formula Synchron on the field so that I could chain Formula's effect to synchro if he tried anything funny. He sacked his facedown Plaguespreader Zombie for Caius and targeted my Formula, so I chained and synchroed up to Magical Android. He top decked for Plague and synchroed into Stardust, attacking over my Magical Android for 100 LP. On my next turn I made another Formula Synchron with Treeborn and Fishborg Blaster, played Monster Reborn to bring my Jinzo back from the grave, then normal summoned Genex Controller and synchroed into Locomotion R-Genex, which allowed me to steal his face-up Stardust permanently, which I then used to synchro into Shooting Star Dragon. He scooped as soon as he saw what I was doing and gave me props for making such a pro play. haha

2-0 Victory

Round 3 vs. Anti-Meta

This was a long duel against my friend Jake Thompson. I shuttered him game 1, and it looked like I had things in game 2 as well, but I misplayed and summoned Light and Darkness Dragon when I didn't have any Monarchs in my Graveyard to bring back with its effect and he continued to summon 1900 beaters and pound on me when I had no Monarchs to summon. Game 3 I drew a god-awful hand with no way to put Treeborn in the graveyard and the game didn't last very long. haha

1-2 Loss

Round 4 vs. Ice Barriers

Round 4 I played against a guy named Adam Freeman, who is a judge, and his Ice Barriers. Going into the match I told him that I had absolutely no clue what any of the cards did, but it turned out not to matter because the games ended so quickly that I never really got to see what the deck is supposed to do. Game 1 I just continually Monarch'd him until I had game, and in game 2 I got off a devastating Malevolent Catastrophe, which destroyed three of his backrow, including a Chain Disappearance that was waiting for my Treeborn Frog. I summoned a Caius to remove his creature next turn and he got all pissed off and scooped.

2-0 Victory

Round 5 (Top 8) vs. Gladiator Beasts

Well, go figure, first round of top 8 I WOULD get my absolute worst match up... haha I don't really need to go into specifics with this one. I drew bad hands both games and though I managed to set up Treeborn, he always had a way to Retiari it.

2-0 Loss

Tournament Record to Date: 7-7

How's Everyone Enjoying the new Format?

2011-03-10T13:09:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! It's been a few days since I last updated, and now that we're a couple of weeks into the new format, I'm curious what you all think of it? What does your local meta-game look like? Have you seen any new or interesting deck concepts crop up?

The past few tournaments I've been to have been flooded with all kinds of anti-meta decks, and even a lot of meta decks sporting anti-meta tech. It looks like we might be moving into an anti-meta meta-game! Doomcaliber Knight and Thunder King Rai-Oh have been seeing A LOT of play around here, as well as Dimensional Fissure and decks that can support playing it.

Surprisingly I haven't seen as big of a resurgence in Gladiator Beasts being played as I expected to, but I think that's largely because they have a really poor match against Gravekeepers (what doesn't? LOL), and of course, Gravekeepers are being played in huge numbers.

So, how is your local meta shaping up? Let me know in the comments!

New YouTube Channel and First Video!

2011-03-05T17:47:00.001-05:00

Well, I decided to take the plunge and start up a YouTube channel for the blog. The first video is a deck profile on the new deck I'll be playing this format, Frog Monarchs! Part Two of the video, which covers the Extra and Side deck, will be up shortly as well. Make sure to subscribe and pass the word on to your friends!

New Format, New Look!

2011-03-01T21:31:00.002-05:00

Out with the old and in with the new! To celebrate the change in the format, I've switched over to a new blog design, with a new header and everything.

Tournament Report: 2/28/11

2011-03-01T10:11:00.000-05:00

Well, I played in my last tournament of the September 2010 format yesterday, and I did really well! I decided to test out my new deck for March 2011 (Formula Monarchs!), which, ironically enough, is legal for both formats, and I was definitely convinced that this is my new deck!

We only had a free play tournament, so no COSSY points or prizes were available, but it was still a good opportunity for me to test my deck out against a variety of things. Surprisingly, the Gravekeeper match isn't absolutely terrible for me! LOL

Anyway, here's how I did, with my final tournament record for this format:

Monday: Our House Games

Deck Used: Formula Monarchs

Final Record: 3-0

Final Tournament Record for September 2010 format: 144-80-1 (draw)

Not too shabby! I'm proud of that! :)

What Are You Playing: March 2011

2011-03-01T10:06:00.001-05:00

Well, today is the first day of the new format! Lots of things have changed with the new ban list (in case you missed my analysis, check that out here!), and I'm curious... What are you guys all planning on playing this new ban list? Let me know in the comments!

Welcome to March everyone! :)

Deck of the What-Have-You: Chaos Plants

2011-02-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, my name is Patrick Forsberg Bodette, but Pat's fine. I've talked with your boy for a while now about contributing something to his blog. I enjoy writing now and then, but he is much more on top of Yu-Gi-Oh news so I didn't see myself as an informant in that sense. What we thought of today is that I do enjoy making decks and changing decks, so I'm going to be doing some sort of deck of the what-have-you to give you ideas for competitive, unknown decks as well as (what I'll consider) the best versions of already common decks.

Some things you may want to know:

I, like any person, have preferences for cards. These are not always definitvely pro techs, but what I think are. One example of this is Chaos Sorcerer. I love this card and am the one who influenced Ryan in many of his opinions on what will come of it this format.

I'm lazy, haha. I don't like writing side decks because they will literally change daily as people change the decks they run card by card, and I think most synchro decks are staple. I don't think I need to post them but if you have questions, I have no problem saying what my extra deck would look like.

And finally, I, like any person, play some decks more than others. This means I have more experience with some decks and am more likely to play better in those decks than others. I feel it's only fair I say somewhere in the posts whether I've played the deck for 6 months (extremely rare for me) or that I've never drew a hand but rather that's what I'd go with.

Without an ado of a further variety.....

CHAOS PLANTS for March 2011

Monsters (27)
3 Chaos Sorcerer
1 Dark Armed
1 Gorz
1 Tragoedia
1 Caius
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Card Trooper
3 Mystic Tomato
2 Debris Dragon
2 Lonefire Blossom
2 Ryko, LS Hunter
1 Sangan
1 Spirit Reaper
1 plaguespreader
1 Dandylion
1 Spore
1 Glow-up bulb
1 Efffect Veiler

Spells (11)
3 Pot of Avarice
1 Allure of Darkness
1 Book of Moon
1 Enemy Controller
1 Monster Reborn
1 Da Ho
1 Foolish Burial
1 One for One
1 Charge of the Light Brigade

Traps (3)
3 Royal Decree

This has been my favorite deck since I've played. The sheer number of combos are nearly unlimited. Special summons can easily fall into the double digits, and, in fact, that's what the deck is designed to do. Your monsters should overwhelm your opponents by putting more creatures on the field than they have back rows to slow them down. It looks inconsistent as so many cards are at one, but the deck stalls and +1's until it fills its hand and graveyard to exactly what it needs. Inconsistentcy is the deck's only balance. If it didn't have that, it'd be tier 0.

Unlike Ryan, I like Decree. While I acknowledge that it's a cop-out to the soon-to-be trap heavy format, it's a very effective one. You will not get it off every game, even most games, but when you do, that game will end very soon.

Well, that's all that I have. Go out and wreck some fools. Thanks for reading.
Hugs!

Incoming: New Blog Author and Feature!

2011-02-26T15:59:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about something I'm implementing on the blog that I think is pretty cool!

My friend and teammate, Pat Bodette (that's him on the right!), who placed in the top 32 at YCS Atlanta with his Debris-Plants, is going to be joining me in writing content for the blog! He'll be contributing a Deck of the Week/Month (we haven't settled on which yet!) article, most likely starting sometime this week. He's been interested in contributing with my blog for a while, but would prefer to focus more on deck builds which I think will greatly help the content and authenticity of the blog!

This is pretty big news and I'm really excited about it. I hope you all enjoy it!

March 2011 Format: What to Expect

2011-02-26T13:26:00.001-05:00

The March 2011 format is just around the corner, and a lot of talk and speculation has been floating around the internet about the shape of the format to come. This ban list brings with it a lot of unexpected and game changing limits/unlimits, and I'd like to jot down a few words about what I expect to see in the next six months.

The March 2011 ban list is bringing a lot of changes to the game, but these I feel are the most important and are what I'm going to spend the majority of this article talking about:

- Goyo Guardian: Banned

- Cold Wave: Banned

- Blackwing: Kalut the Moon Shadow: Limited

- Honest: Limited

- Dandylion: Limited

- Book of Moon: Limited

- Gateway of the Six: Limited

- Card Trooper: Semi-Limited

- Spirit Reaper: Semi-Limited

- Icarus Attack: Semi-Limited

- Chaos Sorcerer: Unlimited

That's a lot of things to cover! Like I said, the landscape of the current meta-game is about to change dramatically, and the changes I listed above are going to be solely responsible for that.

Goyo Guardian and Cold Wave:

I don't really think anyone saw the banning of Goyo Guardian coming; it definitely took me by surprise. However, the more I think about it, the more it starts to make sense. Goyo is a 6-star, 2800 attacker that can steal a monster if it destroys it by battle. If it were a higher level monster, or even had lower attack for it's level, it would be balanced; but because Goyo is so easy to make and gets over so many powerful creatures, I can see the logic behind it. Not to mention the fact that Exceed monsters are right around the corner; I think Konami wanted to limit the number of effective 6-star monsters to encourage players to use Exceed monsters when they're released, and to also keep Exceed monsters from being run over too easily and stolen by Goyo.

So, what does the banning of Goyo mean for the upcoming meta-game? Brionac, and LOTS of it. Without the default six star option of Goyo, players are going to be resorting to Brionac plays a lot more frequently, simply because they don't have a better choice. Coupled with the amount of heavy trap hate that's sure to take place this format (Trap Stun, namely, though Seven Tools of the Bandit will be seeing a lot of play as well), Brionac is going to be a pretty common sight. As a result of both of these, I also expect to see Effect Veiler make a huge comeback, with at least one main decked in practically every deck.

Cold Wave may have been banned, and while I'm sure most of the dueling public couldn't be happier, I wouldn't count your blessings just yet. With the limiting of Book of Moon, traps are going to be the new name of the game, and thus Trap Stun, Seven Tools and Royal Decree are going to be huge this format as well. It's up to the player and their deck's play style to decide which route they want to go, but all three of these cards are going to be everywhere. The days of Cold Wave into a Black Rose or Judgment Dragon nuke may be over, but rest assured that players will find other ways to safely make these huge plays.

Kalut and Honest:

Let's be honest here (no pun intended!) -- both of these limits have needed to happen for a while. I admit that I was surprised to see Kalut go to one, but just like with Goyo, the more I thought about it the more I saw the logic behind it. Being able to drop either of these from your hand when attacking or attacked (or, in Kalut's case, when you're attacking directly, potentially for game), is some pretty broken stuff.

For Kalut and Blackwings, this is going to pose a serious problem for the deck moving forward. While Kalut plays were never the focus of the deck, having that support to help Blackwings' relatively low attack monsters get over the biggest boss monsters in the game was a huge advantage for the deck. Blackwing players are going to have to be much more cautious with their single Kalut now, and will be forced to find cards to replace it. The general consensus seems to be a pair of Smashing Ground, which I expect to become staple in the deck as it does a decent job of removing huge monsters, similar to Kalut's purpose, and also helps push through for advantage with direct attacks from Spirit Reaper. Of all the limits on the new list, I think this hurt more than anything else and may have effectively knocked Blackwings down to tier 2 all by itself.

Limiting Honest, however, is not nearly as much of a devastating blow to the decks that use it as Kalut was for Blackwings, particularly in pure Lightsworn decks which can easily re-use and abuse that one Honest via Beckoning Light and Pot of Avarice.

Dandylion:

This is a limit I don't think anyone was surprised to see. With the advent of the Synchro mechanic and the abuse that allows via Fluff tokens and Debris Dragon (a whole deck was made around it, for God's sakes), it was a limit that really needed to happen. With this limit, the semi-limit of Debris Dragon and the unlimiting of Chaos Sorcerer, I expect current Debris-Plant decks to switch over to a more Chaos oriented build. Debris-Plant decks are the most poised to easily abuse Chaos Sorcerer, and I think in order to remain competitive they'll have to do just that. Debris-Plants have been tier one for this entire format, and I wholeheartedly expect Chaos Plants to carry that torch in the new format.

Book of Moon and Gateway of the Six:

This is the single most game changing limit on the entire list, and anyone who disagrees clearly hasn't been playing this game long enough to know any better. When I first started playing Yu-Gi-Oh competitively, Book of Moon was limited. When it came to three, it singlehandedly defined that entire format and has continued to be a staple at three in almost every deck. Before Synchros existed it wasn't as useful, but being able to stop a synchro play, re-use flip effects, stop direct attacks and all kinds of other things, ultimately led to Book of Moon reclaiming its place on the Limited list, and I wasn't at all surprised. I actually predicted that this would happen back on September's ban list.

The single best defensive spell in the game is now down to one, and there really are no replacements. Enemy Controller is the next best thing, and I'm sure plenty of people will be trying that out in Book of Moon's place. Forbidden Lance may also see some play to try and fill the hole. Being such a universal card, this has a huge impact on a lot of decks, but the primary concern here is Blackwings. Without Book of Moon AND Kalut, the deck has really taken a huge defensive hit, one that it may not be able to recover from in the new format.

Synchro plays are going to be a lot more successful in Book of Moon's absence, however. The effects this is going to have on the game are really too far-reaching to completely predict, but I can guarantee by the time we reach the end of this format, everyone is going to be lamenting their lost Book of Moons.

Gateway is one of the most broken support cards we've seen in a really long time. I wasn't surprised to see it hit by the new ban list, but I WAS surprised to see it limited. Most of us expected Gateway to go to two so that Samurai's would still be overpowered and thus make all kinds of money for Konami. Apparently Konami had other ideas! Gateway being at one definitely makes a huge dent in Six Samurai, but it's not even close to being the proverbial nail in the coffin. I fully expect this deck to stay firmly seated in the realm of tier one decks, especially after Shien's Dojo releases in Extreme Victory, which will likely break the deck all over again. Hold on to your Kinetic Soliders and Puppet Plants; Samurais aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Card Trooper, Spirit Reaper and Icarus Attack:

Continuing the trend of changes no one saw coming, Card Trooper and Spirit Reaper are both back to two. It's hard to really predict the impact these two cards are going to have on the meta-game, but I can safely say that both are going to be seeing heavy play this format, most likely in Chaos Plants! Spirit Reaper is an excellent stall card with a devastating discard effect; coupled with its Dark attribute, the card is instantly splashable in a lot of decks. I predict that 2 copies will become staple in Blackwing builds moving forward, as well as in Chaos Plants. The meta-game may have also just found its MVP side card of the format in Spirit Reaper as well!

Card Trooper is a bit murkier at this point. Outside of Chaos/Debris-Plants and Lightsworn/Twilight, I don't see it having much use at two, but I'm sure that some ingenious player will find some way to abuse it in a way that none of us could have predicted. I think this might be the dark horse card of the new ban list; we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Icarus Attack is yet another hit to Blackwings. Clearly Blackwings were hit hardest on this banlist, and when combined with the other limits the deck recieved (Kalut and Book of Moon going to one), Icarus Attack at two may just be the end of Blackwings' tier one reign of terror. The amount of players using Blackwings is obviously going to plummet; the deck will be no where near as ubiquitous as it was before, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it fall safely into a tier 1.5/tier 2 position as a deck that still does its job of keeping the broken tier one decks in check.

Chaos Sorcerer:

I'm going to be upfront about this from the very start -- I think Chaos Sorcerer being at three is going to define this format. I think that, a format or two from now, people are going to look back at March 2011 as being the "Chaos Sorcerer format". I think decks are going to be made and tailored specifically so that they can play Chaos Sorcerer at three. Chaos Plants are just the first, most obvious option, but I think Twilight is going to see a resurgence in play as well, with the focus of the deck being on spamming and reusing Chaos Sorcerer.

It's anyone's guess what other crazy Chaos decks we see spring up as a result of this, but again, I have no hesitation in saying that Chaos Sorcerer is going to be THE card of the March 2011 format.

So, now that we've waded through all of that, let's talk about the new tiers and how they're going to shakedown!

Tier 1:

- Chaos Plants

- Six Samurai

- X-Sabers

- Gravekeepers

Tier 1.5:

- Gladiator Beasts

- Frog/Formula Monarchs

- Light Hero Beatdown/E-Hero (Post- The Shining release)

Tier 2:

- Blackwings

- Lightsworn/Twilight

- Machina

- Disaster Dragon (Dragon Ravine is about to give this deck the boost it needed to really be competitive)

- Scraps

Gladiator Beasts always see a resurgence at the start of every format, and I don't expect this format to be any different. Keeping in that vein, I also expect this format to follow the pattern of GB's falling off the tier list a month or two into the format when it's had time to define itself.

Gravekeeper's will keep their top tier position due to their amazingly favorable match-up against Plants and all of their variants and the fact that the deck really has no inherently unfavorable matches.

X-Sabers received almost no limits on the new list outside of the universal hits in Cold Wave and Book of Moon, the latter of which benefits the deck more than hindering it. With Trap Stuns flying everywhere and traps in general sure to be huge this format, Hyunlei is going to be that much deadlier.

Six Samurai are still a strong, very competitive deck post-March. Though they lost two Gateway, I know the deck will find a way to rain on everyone else's parade. I do expect the sheer volume of the deck being played will decrease pretty substantially, but the deck isn't going anywhere. It may see a dip in play until Extreme Victory releases, bringing Shien's Dojo along with it, but rest assured Samurais are here to stay.

Everything else in the tier lists is pretty self-explanatory. If there's one thing I'd like to say about the tiers for this coming format, it's that the lines between tiers 1, 1.5 and 2 are pretty blurry; any of these decks could easily top a YCS or regional, holding its own against the rest of the meta-decks. In my opinion, that's a good thing! Variety in a game like this is never bad.

So, there you have it! Better get your decks primed and ready, because next week the new ban list takes effect and we're all in for a whole new landscape of dueling!

The Irish Duelist: "Priority" rule to change in Japan.

2011-02-21T13:45:00.000-05:00

Notice as to a change in the way Ignition Monsters work:

Thank you Yu-Gi-Oh! Patrons for playing the game.

For those who play the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game, we always wish to improve the game so that our customers can enjoy an exciting Duel at any time. Though we commonly change the rules of each card we make for the concerns of Game Balannce, at this time, we would like to announce we are changing the way monsters' Ignition Effects work.

Date of the Ruling Change being applied
Saturday, March 19, 2011

This ruling goes into effect on Saturday, March 19th, 2011, which is the same date as the release of our Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Official Card Game "Starter Deck".

The Point of the Rule's Change:
Before:
Monsters with Ignition Effects could activate their effects at the same time they were Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned.

After:
Monsters with Ignition Effects cannot activate their effects at the same time they were Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned.

A monster's Ignition Effect basically becomes an effect that can be activated during the Main Phase so long as there is nothing else going on at the same time. So now, if another effect or action is resolving, you cannot activate an Ignition Effect until the timing of that specific effect has ended.

You can continue to use the old ruling of using Ignition Effects when you Normal, Flip, or Special Summon until March 18th, 2011 ends. Afterward, it is forbidden to do so from March 19th, 2011 onwards.

Source: http://theirishduelist.blogspot.com/2011/02/priority-rule-to-change-in-japan.html?spref=bl

Wow you guys, this is kind of crazy! Priority effects are about to be done away with. I wonder what made Konami decide to do this? What are your thoughts?

Announcement About Ads

2011-02-17T22:43:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I just wanted to give everyone a heads up and let you all know that I've enabled some basic advertising on the blog. It's nothing intrusive or obnoxious, but I wanted to get out ahead of things and address the issue before anyone noticed and started asking me questions.

This won't change anything at all about the blog or how I proceed with it from here on out, I just saw an opportunity to make a little bit of money on the side and decided to take it. Having a bit of extra cash would definitely help in making this blog better!

Anyway, that's all. Talk to you all again soon!

OFFICIAL March 2011 Banlist!

2011-02-17T09:56:00.000-05:00

Forbidden:
Goyo Guardian
Cold Wave
Mass Driver

Limited:
Honest
Dandylion
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow
Book of Moon
Gateway of the Six

Semi-Limited
Card Trooper
Archlord Kristya
Spirit Reaper
Debris Dragon
Royal Tribute
Overload Fusion
Megamorph
Solemn Warning
Icarus Attack

Unlimited:
Chaos Sorcerer
Demise, King of Armageddon
Snipe Hunter
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
Gold Sarcophagus
Skill Drain
Ultimate Offering

I got a few things right, but mostly I was way off! This list is really weird. What do you all think?

It Lives!

2011-02-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

Good news, everyone! The forums for RPYGO are now up, running and waiting for your contribution! It took less time than I expected to get the board set up and ready, so I'm launching early.

I look forward to seeing all of you regulars and even some new faces around on the board. Go ahead and sign up and let's get this discussion started!

Click here to join RPYGO Forums, or use the link in the header above!

Who Likes Forums? I do, I do, I do-ooooo!

2011-02-10T11:39:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. So this here blog of mine has really taken off recently (I'm pulling in hundreds of hits in a week, which is still mind-blowing to me), and in light of this I've started thinking about ways I can expand the blog and the community surrounding it.

The next logical step seems to be to open up a forum. I've been hesitant to do this, because I know how hard it is to build up an active user base for a forum surrounding a hobby like this. But considering all of the new and extra traffic the blog has been pulling in, I also feel like it would be a good way to reach out to those people who are reading the blog and not really contributing. It would also be a great way to further discuss strategies and whatnot.

I want this blog to be more than just a website that people visit and read. My original goal with the blog was to develop an interactive, community-run platform where users could write and submit their own material for consideration on the blog, as well as interact with one another, whether that be to arrange trades or to swap strategies and tips, etc. The problem is that I'm not sure how to go about building that kind of experience.

So, for now, I think a forum is in order! I'll be working on it over the next few days and I expect to launch it early next week. I'll keep you all posted!

Crystal Gazing: March 2011 Ban List Predictions

2011-02-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure all of you competitive Yu-Gi-Oh players are already aware, the March 2011 ban list is just around the corner, likely leaking in Japan before the end of the month, and with it will bring an entirely new format. It's always fun to make predictions about what's going to happen, so that's exactly what I'm taking this opportunity to do! Brace yourselves, I could (and most likely will be; Konami is completely unpredictable sometimes) be wrong about this!

Banned:

Cold Wave

Monster Reborn

Limited:

Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Dandylion

Pot of Avarice

Semi-Limited:

Gateway of the Six Samurai

Pot of Duality

Mind Crush

Royal Oppression

Royal Decree

Icarus Attack

Unlimited:

Mystical Space Typhoon

Bottomless Trap Hole

Magic Cylinder

Skill Drain

So, what's the reasoning behind all of this? Cold Wave and Monster Reborn are both incredibly broken cards, and in a format where Dark Hole was also limited, the game tended to quickly devolve into sacky top decks. Cold Wave, however, is one of those cards I feel SHOULD be banned, but most likely won't. I guess you could say it's on my "wish list". I'm fairly confident, however, that Monster Reborn is going to get the boot and I'll be surprised if it doesn't.

Trishula is an obvious choice for limiting. It's already limited in the OCG, and its release in the TCG is imminent. Might as well nip the problem in the bud.

Dandylion would be a completely fair card if the Synchro mechanic didn't exist in this game. Unfortunately it does, so token and synchro spamming is a really big problem this format. I don't think the card is ban worthy, but at 1 it's going to slow down Debris Plants enough. Combined with a limitation of Pot of Avarice, Debris Plants are going to have to work a lot harder to make the broken kind of reverse-toolbox plays that they're grown to be known for. Pot of Avarice itself is a broken card that's needed to be limited for a long time now, it just needed a deck to come along and really abuse it for Konami to do anything about it. Now is the time.

Konami isn't stupid; they're going to want to milk Storm of Ragnarok as much as humanly possible, yet they also don't want to have a one deck format, so semi-limiting Gateway seems like a good enough compromise, at least for now. I predict that eventually the card will get limited, but I doubt it will be this March.

The same thing could be said for Pot of Duality. Konami is still making plenty of money from Duelist Revolution, and while the card itself is pretty fair, it adds a lot of consistency to decks that otherwise wouldn't be able to compete. Putting it to two seems fair for now, though eventually I also expect Duality to become limited as well.

With all of the searching that's bound to happen in the next format via X-Sabers and Six Samurai, bringing Mind Crush back to two seems like a simple, obvious way to balance that out. I'm not too sure that Konami will do this, but it's something that I would like to see happen.

The next three things on the semi-limited list will probably be the most controversial. Royal Oppression really should never have gone to one, and with the next format shaping up to be a pure contest of speed, it seems like a no-brainer decision to bring it back to two. However, with the lack of Heavy Storm AND Cold Wave, Royal Decree absolutely cannot stay at three. Finally, Icarus Attack... Blackwings have been performing very well in both the OCG and TCG this format, consistently topping and I think a combined semi-limiting of Pot of Duality and Icarus Attack would be a fair way to help further balance the deck, even though I don't believe the deck really needs anymore balancing in the first place. However, I'm basing this prediction on track record; there hasn't been a single ban list to pass that hasn't hit Blackwings in some way or another, and given that the deck is still performing so well, it's almost a given that it will be hit.

As for the cards I've predicted to become unlimited, I think they're all fairly obvious choices. With no Heavy Storm or Cold Wave, MST can come back to three without a hitch. Most players are dropping Bottomless Trap Hole from their decks anyhow, so I think that can come back to three as well. Magic Cylinder was brought back to two last ban list and hasn't done anything at all this format, so I think that going to three would be fine as well. Skill Drain absolutely NEEDS to come back to three in a Monster effect driven format to keep things balanced.

That's about it! Like I said, I very well could be completely off base with these predictions, but that's half the fun! We'll see in about two weeks just how right or wrong I was. What do you all think? Share your predictions in the comments!

Tournament Report

2011-02-07T23:48:00.000-05:00

I realize these are way too close together, but that's because the last one was posted so late... lol

ANYWAY, we had a "free-entry" tournament today at locals, since none of us really wanted to pony up the cash to do a prize-supported tournament. It still counted towards our COSSY points for Konami or whatever, so that was cool.

I still haven't been able to settle on a build I'm completely happy with yet, and I almost feel like it's pointless to try now that the end of the format is so close and the ban list may or may not wreck Blackwings (yet again lol). If anything they'll probably hit Pot of Duality, which won't affect my build at all, but I'm concerned that they could go after Shura, Black Whirlwind, Icarus Attack or any combo of the three as well. Losing Whirlwind wouldn't really matter, and I think the card is fair at one, so I doubt that will happen. Losing Icarus and/or Shura, however, would almost certainly kill the deck off for good. Only time will tell what happens!

Nevertheless, I did really well and definitely accomplished my goal of boosting my win-loss ratio before the end of the format!

Monday: Our House Games

Deck Used: Blackwings

Final Record: 4-0 (1st place)

Tournament Record to Date: 141-80-1 (draw)

Tournament Report

2011-02-06T00:14:00.000-05:00

I realize this post is almost a week late, but I wanted to go ahead and make it anyway to keep my Tournament Record up to date.

Anyhow, I only got to play at Our House last week, but I still did really well. I keep monkeying around with my Blackwing build. This time around I tried a build I had made that was more or less customized to decimate Six Samurai. Obviously, since there were no Six Samurai decks there, it didn't do as well as it should have. But it was worth testing, at least to see how Thunder King performs in the main deck. (Which, btw, results are kind of meh -- Thunder King isn't as good as it used to be.)

Monday: Our House Games

Deck Used: Blackwings

Final Record: 3-1 (Took 3rd)

Tournament Record to Date: 137-80-1 (draw)

Deck Analysis: Legendary Six Samurai

2011-01-31T13:28:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure the lot of you are all aware, the release of Storm of Ragnarok and the Legendary Six Samurai are just around the corner, with many a sneak peak taking place this coming weekend. There has been a lot of discussion recently concerning the impact that Six Samurai are going to have on the TCG meta-game, and I have quite a few thoughts of my own concerning the subject. This is going to be a lengthy article, so brace yourselves!

First off, I'd just like to come out and say this: Legendary Six Samurai are NOT a tier zero deck, despite what all of the hyperbole in the greater Yu-Gi-Oh community would have you believe. I've been testing the deck extensively for about a month now against all kinds of different things (GBs, Blackwings, Gravekeepers, etc.) and while there's no doubt that the deck is very, VERY good, it's certainly not "the new Tele-DAD".

For those of you who are completely unfamiliar with what the deck looks like and how it functions, let's break it down with a typical, cookie-cutter OCG build (For the record, this is the exact build I've been using to play test against):

Monsters: (11)

1 Hand of the Six Samurai

1 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai

3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan

3 Legendary Six Samurai - Kageki

3 Kagemusha of the Six Samurai

Magic: (21)

3 Gateway of the Six

3 Six Samurai United

3 Upstart Goblin

3 Book of Moon

3 Shien's Smoke Signal

2 MST

1 Monster Reborn

1 Dark Hole

1 Giant Trunade

1 Reinforcements of the Army

Traps: (8)

3 Solemn Warning

2 Double-Edged Sword Technique

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Trap Dustshoot

1 Mind Crush

As you can see, the deck runs frighteningly few monsters, but the thing is, it doesn't really need to run any more than 11-12 creatures given the fact that almost all of them are searchable via Smoke Signal or RoTA.

So, what does the deck do? Well, basically it revolves around swarming and searching via Gateway of the Six. The things you need to watch out for when playing against Six Samurai are Gateway and a Legendary Six Samurai - Shien backed by a Solemn Warning. Once per turn, Shien can negate a spell or trap card that you activate. This might not sound like much, but given the rather small amount of monster removal cards being played in the current meta, it can be incredibly problematic, especially if the Six Samurai player has a Solemn Warning waiting in the wings to shut down your summons.

In essence, Six Samurai performs like a mixture of pre and post-September Infernity. They swarm to get searches from Gateway and then set up mini-locks where their opponent can do almost nothing, or at least force them to make very suboptimal plays to break their board. Essentially then, as an opponent of a Six Samurai player, what you need to do is to make sure that Shien never hits the board. Without Shien the deck is still very strong and can make some very nice pushes, occasionally even performing an OTK, but Shien is more or less their fail-safe, allowing them to make those pushes without concern of a Mirror Force or something similar.

Having said all of that, let's move on to the potential changes the introduction this deck may have on our current meta game. Oh, wait... There won't be any changes. Well, not any significant ones anyway. The standard tier one line-up will still be around: Blackwings, X-Sabers, Gravekeepers, Debris Plants, etc, as none of them have an outright bad match-up against Six Samurai. Blackwings definitely have the best chance out of them all, but Six Samurai don't pose any immediate threat to any of the other decks' performance. Of course, for the first few YCS's of this and the new format in March, Six Samurai will most likely sweep the top spots due simply to the large number of people that will surely run them.

I don't think, however, that this is going to be indicative of the rest of the format at all. Looking at recent tournament results in the OCG more than backs this up. When Storm of Ragnarok first released in November of last year there, Six Samurai were literally everywhere and it looked as if the OCG was moving into a Six Samurai-Blackwing dominant format. Now, however, things have shifted pretty dramatically, and while Six Samurai consistently still top events, it's not nearly as prevalent or unanimous as it used to be.

I predict the exact same thing will happen in the TCG. It only took time until OCG players found the best builds of their own decks and the best side cards to take Six Samurai out of the spotlight, and the same thing will likely happen here. Chain Disappearance, Puppet Plant and Thunder King Rai-Oh are going to be anyone who isn't running Six Samurai's best weapons in combatting them.

It'll be much more interesting to see what happens, if anything, to Six Samurai on the March 2011 ban list.

The release and initial dominance of the deck is imminent, but it's certainly not permanent, and defeating the deck isn't impossible at all. Being prepared and knowing what to side against the deck is in any player's best interests. So prepare yourselves people, because the Storm of Ragnarok is coming in just under a week!

Tournament Report

2011-01-23T20:34:00.001-05:00

I'm back from my temporary little hiatus. My tournament participation will probably be spotty at best from here on out, but I told you all I wasn't quitting!

I destroyed at my locals tonight. My new Blackwing build is really working for me, even without Pot of Duality. I actually didn't miss the card at all today. Solemn Warning, however, was absolutely amazing and I was definitely happy with my decision to bump it up to 2 and drop Bottomless from the main deck. I didn't miss Bottomless at all either!

I split for first, only losing once all day today. Not bad for my first time playing in a couple of weeks, with a brand new, completely untested build! lol

Sunday: Fun4All
Deck Used: Blackwings
Final Record: 5-1 (Split 1st)

Monday: Our House Games

Deck Used: Blackwings

Final Record: 3-0 (1st)

Tournament Record to Date: 134-79-1 (draw)