Strategy Jam's YUGIOH Blog

March 2011 Ban List [Rumour]

2011-02-13T10:16:00.004+00:00

Click for larger image

A possible leak, the pictures look real but it's hard to know at this early a stage.

The list translates to:

Banned
none

Limited
pot of duality
gateway of the six
magician of faith
debris dragon

Semi-Limited
solemn warning
royal tribute
fishborg blaster
solemn judgment
destiny draw
icarus attack
xx-saber faultroll
formula synchron
swap frog
pot of avarice

Unrestricted
mystical space typhoon
royal oppression
honest
magic cylinder

YCS Chantilly Top 32 Decklist

2010-05-21T16:21:00.002+01:00

The top 32 decklists from YCS Chantilly are up! Check them out on the Konami website here.

YuGiOh Championship Series Chantilly Coverage

2010-05-15T18:43:00.002+01:00

YCS Chantilly coverage is up on the official YuGiOh website! Check out the Konami website here for updates throughout the day.

Konami Announces Nationals Prize Support

2010-05-14T23:27:00.007+01:00

Who	Prize	Special Prize
Winner	Travel & Accomodation to the European Championships	Dark End Dragon
Top 4	Trophies	Binder
Top 16 (Open)	WCQ Gamemat
Top 32 (Invitation only)	WCQ Gamemat
1/8 Participants	Qualification to the European Championships
all	WCQ Sleeves

As many of you may already know, the European Nationals season is well under way. Konami have recently announced a brand new Infernity prize mat to be given out to at least the top 16 of each National. Find more information on prize support on the Konami website here.

Shonen Jump New Jersey Top 16 Decklists

2010-04-29T16:58:00.003+01:00

The top 16 decklists from Shonen Jump New Jersey have been released! See them all on the Konami website here.

YuGiOh National Championships Confirmed!

2010-04-28T21:55:00.012+01:00

The location and dates for the majority of 2010 National Championships has just been released! For more details, check out the Konami website here.

Country	Event Type	Event Date	Event Location
Denmark	open	May 01st/ 02nd	Vamdrup
Austria	open	May 02nd	Wien
Switzerland	open	May 08th	Basel
South Africa	open	May 08th	Johannesburg
Norway	feeds into Sweden	May 08th/ 09th	Stockholm
Finland	feeds into Sweden	May 08th/ 09th	Stockholm
Sweden	open	May 08th/ 09th	Stockholm
Greece	invitation-only	May 09th	Athens
Malta	open	May 09th	Msida
Germany	invitation-only	May 15th/ 16th	Kassel
Estonia	open	May 16th	Tallinn
Netherlands	open	May 22th	Utrecht
Lithuania	open	May 23th	Kaunas
Turkey	open	May 23th	Istanbul
France	invitation-only	May 29th/ 30th	Paris
Ireland	feeds into UK	May 29th/ 30th	London
United Kingdom	invitation-only	May 29th/ 30th	London
Italy	invitation-only	May 29th/ 30th or June 05th/ 06th or June 12th/ 13th	TBA
Latvia	open	June 5th	Riga
Portugal	open	June 5th	Coimbra
Belgium	open	June 05th/ 06th	Etterbeek
Spain	invitation-only	June 05th/ 06th	Madrid
New Zealand	open	June 6th	Auckland
Australia	open	July 10th	TBA
Bulgaria	invitation-only	TBA	TBA
Croatia	open	TBA	TBA
Slovenia	open	TBA	TBA

Shonen Jump Championship New Name Confirmed!

2010-04-25T11:40:00.008+01:00

“This is also, the last SHONEN JUMP Championship, as we are relaunching as the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series! The first Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series event will be held next month in Virginia!”
Konami's Vice President in charge of Card Business, Yumi Hoashi.

The statement was met by more cheers, but left attendees wondering: what did it all mean? We asked! On one hand, the shift from SHONEN JUMP Championships to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series is a change in name. But it’s also a lot more than that. “The biggest change is that the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series is going to be a global program.” That means Duelists from Latin America and Europe won’t have to travel nearly as far to compete in YCS events.

It's confirmed, the new name for Shonen Jump Championships is Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series. However it is more than just a new name - Shonen Jump Championships are being completely relaunched, and Yugioh Championship Series are now scheduled to take place in Europe and South America. Find more information on Yugioh Championship Series on the Konami website here.

"We love Shonen Jump and they love us. You'll continue to see coverage of Yu-Gi-Oh! in Shonen Jump, as well as cards inserted in the magazines and graphic novels."
Kevin Tewart on Pojo.

There's more good news - according to Kevin Tewart, Yu-Gi-Oh!'s relationship with Shonen Jump and Viz is still very strong, meaning the name change will not alter the release of Shonen Jump promo cards or the appearance of Yu-Gi-Oh! manga in the magazine.

Shonen Jump New Jersey Live Coverage

2010-04-24T17:16:00.005+01:00

SJC New Jersey coverage has begun! Around 2,200 people have attended the largest Yugioh tournament of all time. Read all the latest deck profiles and feature matches on the official Yugioh website here.

Playtesting and Reading Your Opponent's Plays

2010-04-22T17:24:00.007+01:00

I recently stumbled upon a couple of very informative videos, made by two lesser known Youtubers; iamsixxy, and shinfitz. They are both invaluable in the advice they give, explaining how to playtest effectively, and how to read your opponent's plays. They put into words perfectly what I was aiming at in my previous article. I hope these videos will be useful for those lucky enough to attend Shonen Jump New Jersey this weekend, enjoy.

The Shining Darkness Sneak Preview Mat

2010-04-22T17:16:00.004+01:00

Click to enlarge image

The mat for The Shining Darkness Sneak Preview is confirmed, and looks remarkably similar to the Win-a-mat unveiled a few weeks ago. See the full details of the Sneak Preview on the official Yugioh website here.

Check out the Shonen Jump Championship win-a-mat here.

How to Read your Opponent's Plays

2010-04-18T12:35:00.006+01:00

Reading your opponent's plays can be difficult at best, however it is possible. If you are able to fully master being able to predict your opponent's plays, it puts you at a significant advantage over your competition. Some of the tips below may seem like common sense, but so often I see players fall into these common traps, which can often lose them the game. As long as you strictly abide by your common sense, and use the resources available to you, you will see yourself winning a far greater number of matches.

Check your opponent's graveyard

This allows you to examine exactly what cards you opponent has in their deck, as well as showing you what cards they have used up. You know that if your opponent has a Heavy Storm in their graveyard, you should be more confident in setting several spells and traps, piling pressure on your opponent. If you see your opponent mains Dimensional Prison, you should not be so thrift in Synchro Summoning a Stardust Dragon, as you know its effect will do nothing against Dimensional Prison. If your opponent still has Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute looming in their deck, you know it would not be a good idea to over extend too heavily to try and gain control, because your offensive play could easily be countered.

Many good players switch the position of their deck and graveyard from the orthodox way, so their deck essentially blocks off their graveyard making it harder to see or reach. This makes it more difficult for their opponent to make reads - but remember that the graveyard is common knowledge, and your opponent has the right to see your graveyard and vice versa.

Site Update

2010-04-16T22:31:00.009+01:00

Since the site started a few months ago, the 'Post a Comment' button hasn't been working properly for some reason. I've changed the HTML of the site around a bit, so now when you click 'Post a Comment' a new window will pop up and you will be able to share your thoughts about certain cards etc. Enjoy!

NB. If the 'Post a Comment' button isn't showing, try clicking the name of the post, eg. for this post it will be 'Site Update', and the link should show up.

How to Prepare for a Premier Event

2010-04-16T18:07:00.003+01:00

Dale Bellido put a really informative video on his Youtube Channel, outlining the best ways to prepare for a major event like a Shonen Jump or National Championship. For even more tips on how to prepare for a major event, I wrote an article on how to get the most out of tournaments a few months ago, which you can find here.

Looking Forward: Divine Warning

2010-04-16T10:06:00.009+01:00

Divine Warning (Solemn Warning) DREV-JP077
Counter Trap

Activate by paying 2000 Life Points. Negate the Summon of a monster, the activation of a Spell or Trap Card with an effect that Special Summons, or the activation of an Effect Monster's effect that Special Summons, and destroy that Spell / Trap / monster.

Divine Warning is a card just out in the OCG set Duelist Revolution, and has been relatively under-hyped. In case you didn't understand its effect, it is able to stop EVERY summon in the game - this includes Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Battle Fader, Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame, Flamvell Firedog as well as recruiters like Mystic Tomato and Giant Rat. As well as this, it has the ability to negate normal summons, rendering cards like Gadgets and Monarchs useless.

However this effect comes at a hefty price, eliminating a quarter of your total life points. This makes the Divine Warning slightly situational - it will be difficult to pay the cost during the later stages of a game, which is when the card is the most game swinging. What made Solemn Judgment so widely played was no matter how many life points you had left, you could still activate its effect - making it a great card for late game scenarios. Divine Warning may see less play due to this.

Shonen Jump Championships Have a New Name?

2010-04-15T08:41:00.011+01:00

Following Shonen Jump New Jersey, it appears the name of Shonen Jump Championships will change, possibly to Yu-Gi-Oh! Premier Tournaments beginning with Yu-Gi-Oh! Premiere Tournament Chantilly, VA (Washington DC) coming up in mid-may. This could be due to a conflicting name with a new series of tournaments in the Naruto TCG also named Shonen Jump Championships. Naturally this raises several questions, for example does this mean Yugioh is dropping out of the monthly Shonen Jump Magazine? Will this put an end to Shonen Jump promo cards? We will have to see in the near future.

Looking Forward: Pot of Greed and Modesty

2010-04-14T13:36:00.007+01:00

Pot of Greed and Modesty (Pot of Greederosity) DREV-JP062
Normal Spell

Reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Choose 1 of them, and add it to your hand. Shuffle the remaining cards back into the deck. Only 1 "Pot of Greed and Modesty" can be activated per turn, and you cannot special summon during the turn this card is activated.

Pot of Greed and Modesty is a card recently released in the Duelist Revolution OCG set, and is one of the most splashable cards released in Yugioh so far. It provides draw power for almost every deck available, and provides a great boost for both top tier as well as less commonly played decks. The ability to dig three cards out of your deck taps into what made the long since banned Graceful Charity such a good card. Statistically, you are three times more likely to draw a card that is useful in your situation than if you played a card like Upstart Goblin. Pot of Greed and Modesty provides the closest effect available in the game to drawing three cards from your deck, which is what makes it so powerful.

However with every great card there are a few drawbacks. The inability to special summon during the turn you activate it, and the fact you can only use one per turn may limit its use in OTK variants, which in my opinion is a good thing. As well as this, you need to reveal the three cards you picked up to your opponent. This may give your opponent a good idea of what cards to look out for in your deck, and assist them when making reads later in the game.

Konami Announces New Mats

2010-04-13T09:21:00.011+01:00

Click above to enlarge images

Q: Will there be anything new and exciting at the 75th SHONEN JUMP Championship - Edison, NJ?

Yes! There will be some new and exciting things to see, win, and do at this event. Take a look!

*UPDATED 4/12*
Get new Game Mats, available at the 75th SHONEN JUMP Championship – Edison, NJ!
At this event, you can be among the first to earn the newest Regional 2010 Game Mat and the newest Win-A-Mat Game Mat. You can also receive a 75th SHONEN JUMP Championship Game Mat just for participating in the SHONEN JUMP Championship main event. You don’t want to miss that.

Konami have just announced four brand new mats - a new Regionals Mat, a new Shonen Jump Championship Top 32 Mat, a new Win-a-Mat and a Shonen Jump Championship New Jersey Participation Mat! It looks like Konami did a great job with the mat designs, and I look forward to seeing even better designs in the future!

See the full details on the Konami website here.

Looking Forward: Ally Genex Birdman

2010-04-07T09:24:00.013+01:00

Ally Genex Birdman DT08-JP018
Dark
***
Machine/ Tuner
1400/400

Activate by returning 1 face-up monster you control to the hand; Special Summon this card from your hand. If the returned monster was a WIND monster, this card gains 500 ATK. When this card is Special Summoned by this effect, it is removed from play when it is removed from the field.

Ally Genex Birdman is another cool 'Ally Genex' card just out in the OCG's Duel Terminal. Just like the previously reviewed card Ally Genex Crusher, Birdman is highly searchable using Sangan and Mystic Tomato, however what really makes Birdman shine is its effect. It is essentially a reset button for many monsters, take Machina Gearframe for example. You can return Gearframe to special summon Birdman, then normal summon Gearframe again, search a card from your deck then synchro summon into a Stardust Dragon! This same principle applies to monarchs, allowing you to re-summon them using Birdman's effect so you can use their effects multiple times in the same duel.

However this is just the tip of the iceburg, Birdman can also be used to reset flip effects like Gravekeeper's Spy and Super-Nimble Mega Hamster. Imagine this scenario; you set Spy, your opponent attacks netting you another, then next turn you special summon Birdman, synchro summon X-Saber Urbellum, then set spy all over again - essentially netting you a free level 7 synchro monster.

+ Can easily abuse cards like Elemental Hero Stratos, Machina Gearframe, Gravekeeper's Spy, Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and Monarchs.

+ Highly searchable with Sangan and Mystic Tomato.

+ Dark Type, so it can be used with Allure of Darkness.

+ A level 3 tuner, which means easy access to cards like X-Saber Urbellum and Black Rose Dragon.

The Format so Far: Machinas

2010-04-05T10:32:00.015+01:00

First off, sorry for the delay in articles recently. I've been coursework swamped, as well as having a throat infection which isn't helpful. At the moment the site's a one-man-band, which means things had to slow down for a while. I'm feeling alot better now, so I'll try to keep the site as updated as possible. Thanks for your patience, much love!

Machinas are a really solid archtype that were released in the Machina Mayhem structure deck a few weeks ago. As you can see from the previous metagame analysis post, Machinas have made a surprising impact in major tournaments so far, being the fourth most successful deck. The deck's success is mainly due to its two power cards, Machina Gearframe and Machina Fortress. Gearframe essentially gives the deck three Elemental Hero Stratos-esque cards which help thin the deck, provide instant advantage as well as reinforce your field position with its high attack. Used in conjunction with the gadget cards available in Machina Mayhem, it is clear how the deck can pile up massive advantage over a few turns.

The deck gets an even bigger boost with Machina Fortress, which is essentially the deck's boss monster. With an easy summoning condition from the grave or the hand, Fortress makes up for the deck's inability to synchro summon, and provides extra attack power as well as a great effect.

However, a problem with machina decks, is the ease at which they are countered. For example, System Down can cripple any field advantage you had built up, as well as removing from play those crucial Fortresses from your graveyard. Pulling the Rug also stop the gadgets in the deck, as well as the Gearframes. If you decide to run Machina's, make sure you play to avoid these cards. To avoid getting hit badly by System Downs, don't overextend too much and conserve your Fortresses until you really need to drop them (eg. going for game, or removing an opponent's monster).

For more information on the deck, and how to build it while on a budget, Robbie Kohl and Dale Bellido gave some really useful tips on their Youtube channels.

The Format so Far: Which Decks Have Made an Impact?

2010-03-29T09:14:00.012+01:00

We are almost a month into this brand new format, so I thought it would be interesting to compile a list of the decks that have made a splash at the largest tournaments of the format so far. Below is what I found, enjoy!

Top Decklists (84 in total) from 10 Tournaments

22 Cat Synchro Variants (of which 18 Flamvell Cat) (26%)
14 Blackwing (17%)
14 Gladiator Beasts (17%)
11 Gadget Variants (of which 9 Machina Gadgets) (13%)
6 Lightsworn Variant (7%)
5 Stun (of which 1 Gemini Stun) (6%)
2 Dark Variant (2%)
2 Burn (2%)
1 Flamvell Variant (1%)
1 Ben Kei (1%)
1 Six Samurai (1%)
1 Light and Darkness Dragon (1%)
1 Gravekeeper’s (1%)
1 Dragons (1%)
1 Lightsworn-Zombie-Blackwings (1%)
1 Elemental Heroes (1%)

Generally it seems to be a fairly healthy, diverse format. Synchro cat seems to be the most successful deck, yet it still only accounts for a quarter of the playing field. I hope for a good, competitive meta in the next few months!

You can find all the decklists from above at Duelistgroundz.com* (see links below)

March 27th/ 28th
Las Vegas Regional

March 20th/ 21st
The Hague Regional (Netherlands)
Tampa Regional
Maplewood Regional

March 13th/ 14th
Greenville Regional
Mobile Regional
Paris, Dark Leeroy Tournament (France)

March 6th/ 7th
Greensboro Regional
Jacksonville Regional
Fargo Regional

* Registration is required

How to be a Yugioh Pro

2010-03-27T23:02:00.012+00:00

Chris Bowling has put up a great video on Youtube, explaining the thought processes that many 'pro' players go through when playing the game. Hopefully you should find the tips really useful, I know I did.

For more videos from Chris Bowling, visit his Youtube channel here.

Gold Series 3

2010-03-26T18:03:00.005+00:00

Gold series 3 is confirmed, with cards such as Infernity Archfiend, Judgment Dragon, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Plaguespreader Zombie, Blackwing Armor Master, and Blackwing Armed Wing all being reprinted! See the news on the official Konami website here.

Gold Rare Cards are back for another round, with Gold Series 3! Gold Rares are the shiniest, rarest, and most blinged-out cards you can get. And Gold Series 3 brings some flash and flair to more of your favorite cards.

This time around, you can get your hands on Gold Rare versions of cards like Infernity Archfiend, Judgment Dragon, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Plaguespreader Zombie, Blackwing Armor Master, and Blackwing Armed Wing.

As a super-special bonus, Gold Series 3 is the first place you can get a hold of Jack Atlas’ Vice Dragon monster – available for the first time, AND as a Gold Rare!

If you’re looking to hop on board the latest and hottest Decks, Gold Series 3 can help get you started. The 32 Common Cards in Gold Series 3 include most of the Blackwing monsters from 2009, so it’s easy to get your Blackwing Deck together just with Gold Series 3 and the new Blackwing cards available in The Shining Darkness packs.

Gold Series 3 also includes most of the Amazoness cards, originally released way back in 2003, so you can take advantage of the new Amazoness monsters in August’s Duelist Revolution booster set.

Other Common Cards in Gold Series 3 include Destiny Hero – Malicious, Goblin Zombie, Destiny Draw, and many more.

Each box of Gold Series 3 contains 25 cards from this elite 50-card set.

Gold Series 3 Contains:
18 Gold Rare Cards
32 Common Cards

Infernity Barrier

2010-03-24T16:12:00.008+00:00

Activate only when your opponent activates a Spell Card, Trap Card, or Effect Monster's effect, if you control a face-up Attack Position "Infernity" monster and have no cards in your hand. Negate the activation and destroy that card.

Infernity Barrier is a powerful new piece of support for Infernities coming out as a TCG exclusive in the Shining Darkness. Infernities have already been heavily hyped due to their OTK potential, and this card will act as a devastating Solemn Judgment-esque card in the deck, allowing you to make massive pushes with relative security.

For those interested in how Infernity decks work, Cesar Gonzalez gave a great explanation about the deck on his Youtube channel here.

Looking forward: Ally Genex Crusher

2010-03-22T21:41:00.009+00:00

Ally Genex Crusher DT08-JP019
Dark
****
Machine
1000/2000

Trigger Effect: Once during either player's turn, when a monster of the same Attribute as this face-up card you control is Normal Summoned to your side of the field, you can select and destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

Ally Genex Crusher is an interesting card that has recently been released in the OCG. The ability to destroy ANY card on the field is extremely versatile, and the card has great synergy with cards like black salvo and mystic tomato. As well as this, Crusher has a hefty 2000 defense, which means it will often be able to stall out your opponent for a few turns until you manage to pull off its effect.

In summary:

+ Has an effect with the potential to net you huge advantage, and eliminate the majority of common threats in the game.

+ Highly accessible from your deck using mystic tomato and Sangan

+ Dark type, so it can be used in conjunction with Allure of Darkness and contributes to the summoning condition of Dark Armed Dragon

+ Machine type, so it can be special summoned using Black Salvo

+ Has great synergy with cards like Ultimate Offering

Dark Leeroy Challenge Top 16 Decklists

2010-03-19T22:43:00.006+00:00

13 March 2010 - Paris - 315 Players

5 Blackwings (31%)
4 Cat Synchro (25%)
3 Gadgets (19%)
2 Gladiator Beasts (13%)
2 Lightsworn (13%)

Find all the decklists on Metagame.be here.