YGONovice

How to Play Yu-Gi-Oh! Part 3 - Knowing your Phases!

2013-07-09T21:00:00.001-04:00

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG is a turn based reaction card game. That means there are 2 players and they activate cards and your opponent would have a response to the turn player's actions. Very simple.

There are a few things that we have to understand, PHASES. Phases are window frames where a certain type of action is allowed. All phases must be gone through by a player except when you are going first in the game and for Battle Phase (more detail bellow). I will help you through these steps in a very basic manner. After the introduction, I will go further into details.

DRAW PHASE

First thing that happens here is the turn player, DRAWS 1 CARD. Simple, not much explanation needed :)

STANDBY PHASE

Any type of effects that needs to happen here will happen (the car will say so if it does). 50-80% percent of the time, this phase would be skipped unintentionally.

MAIN PHASE 1

Activating Spell cards or Summoning monster happen here. Also Setting your Trap cards and Monsters if player chooses to do so. This is where player interaction really starts. An example would be me summoning Gemini Elf. My opponent then has first response to the summon, they activate Torrential Tribute, destroying my monster(s)! OH NO! That's very sad. That's a simple interaction with my opponent and I. We will talk about, "What if I want to protect my Gemini Elf?" in a later post (Chains and Spell Speed).

BATTLE PHASE

This is where all the monsters collide and clash for who is stronger! If the player chooses not to go into Battle Phase, you will skip Main Phase 2 and go directly into End Phase. We can see the difference of power by the numbers written on the card! For example, taken from above, Gemini Elf has 1900 ATK and Psi-Blocker has 1200 ATK, so Gemini Elf wins! So now, we take the difference and subtract it from the weaker monster's Life Points (both players start at 8000). Again, this is another player interaction heavy phase. So your opponent can use cards like Mirror Force to destroy your Gemini Elf! Another sad story indeed. There are more advanced steps in here, but we can go into that at a later stage of this series.

MAIN PHASE 2

After the battles have been done, we head into Main Phase 2. Now we can reassess what damage has been done and set or activate more spells and trap cards! This allows you to set up for your opponent's turn. Maybe you can get them with your own Torrential tribute or Mirror Force! Bwhahaha!

END PHASE

In here, this is where you say, "My turn is over, it is now yours". Well, you don't have to say that exactly, but you get the concept. Any card that says that you have to activate at the end of turn will occur here. This phase is sometimes complicated, but can be easily simplified in a later post.

From here, your opponent does the same 6 phases and continue to go back and forth until someone's life points goes to 0 or wins through a game-winning effect (Exodia). Hope this teaches a little bit more about how to play this game. Comment below for any more specific details!

How to Play Yu-Gi-Oh! Part 2 - Forbidden, Limited, Semi-limited, and Restrictions

2013-07-02T21:00:00.000-04:00

So with every game there are restrictions to create a more balanced and fair type of game. Yes, it may be true that with each new set, there will be unbalanced cards, but that's to give the players and duelists a new taste of the cards. Sometimes, there will be a need of intervention because of the overpowering use of a card. (I forget which card at the moment, but I've heard from people that there was one that was forbbidened in the middle of a format).

There are also limitations to a person's deck, allowing them to only have a certain number of cards in the Main deck, Side deck, and Extra deck. They are the following:

Main Deck - 40 to 60 cards
Side Deck - 0 to 15 cards
Extra Deck - 0 to 15 cards

Some of these cards are AMAZING! Like Monster Reborn or Change of Heart. But these cards are so powerful! Well, there's a limit to these powerful cards! So check out for the Forbidden/Limited list! Here, you can check how many copies of each card you may play in your deck! Check about every March/September because that is usually the time that the list will be

So here we go:

Forbidden and limited list: (copied directly from their site)

Card Type	Card Name	Advanced Format	Traditional Format	Remarks
Monster/Effect	CHAOS EMPEROR DRAGON - ENVOY OF THE END	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	CYBER JAR	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	CYBER-STEIN	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	DESTINY HERO - DISK COMMANDER	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	FIBER JAR	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	FISHBORG BLASTER	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	GLOW-UP BULB	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	MAGICAL SCIENTIST	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	MAGICIAN OF FAITH	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	MAKYURA THE DESTRUCTOR	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	MIND MASTER	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	RESCUE CAT	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	SANGAN	Forbidden	Limited	Was Limited
Monster/Effect	SINISTER SERPENT	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	SUBSTITOAD	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	TRIBE-INFECTING VIRUS	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	VICTORY DRAGON	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	WITCH OF THE BLACK FOREST	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Effect	YATA-GARASU	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Fusion	THOUSAND-EYES RESTRICT	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Synchro	BRIONAC, DRAGON OF THE ICE BARRIER	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Synchro	DARK STRIKE FIGHTER	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Synchro	GOYO GUARDIAN	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Synchro	TRISHULA, DRAGON OF THE ICE BARRIER	Forbidden	Limited
Monster/Xyz	WIND-UP CARRIER ZENMAITY	Forbidden	Limited	Was Limited
Spell	BRAIN CONTROL	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	BUTTERFLY DAGGER - ELMA	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	CARD OF SAFE RETURN	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	CHANGE OF HEART	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	COLD WAVE	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	CONFISCATION	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	DELINQUENT DUO	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	DIMENSION FUSION	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	FUTURE FUSION	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	GIANT TRUNADE	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	GRACEFUL CHARITY	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	HARPIE'S FEATHER DUSTER	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	LAST WILL	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	MASS DRIVER	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	METAMORPHOSIS	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	MIRAGE OF NIGHTMARE	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	PAINFUL CHOICE	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	POT OF GREED	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	PREMATURE BURIAL	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	RAIGEKI	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	SNATCH STEAL	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	TEMPLE OF THE KINGS	Forbidden	Limited
Spell	THE FORCEFUL SENTRY	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	CRUSH CARD VIRUS	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	EXCHANGE OF THE SPIRIT	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	IMPERIAL ORDER	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	LAST TURN	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	RING OF DESTRUCTION	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	ROYAL OPPRESSION	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	TIME SEAL	Forbidden	Limited
Trap	TRAP DUSTSHOOT	Forbidden	Limited

Card Type	Card Name	Advanced Format	Traditional Format	Remarks
Monster	LEFT ARM OF THE FORBIDDEN ONE	Limited
Monster	LEFT LEG OF THE FORBIDDEN ONE	Limited
Monster	RIGHT ARM OF THE FORBIDDEN ONE	Limited
Monster	RIGHT LEG OF THE FORBIDDEN ONE	Limited
Monster/Effect	BLACK LUSTER SOLDIER - ENVOY OF THE BEGINNING	Limited
Monster/Effect	BLACKWING - GALE THE WHIRLWIND	Limited
Monster/Effect	CHAOS SORCERER	Limited
Monster/Effect	DANDYLION	Limited
Monster/Effect	DARK ARMED DRAGON	Limited
Monster/Effect	ELEMENTAL HERO STRATOS	Limited
Monster/Effect	EXODIA THE FORBIDDEN ONE	Limited
Monster/Effect	GLADIATOR BEAST BESTIARI	Limited
Monster/Effect	GORZ THE EMISSARY OF DARKNESS	Limited
Monster/Effect	HONEST	Limited
Monster/Effect	INZEKTOR DRAGONFLY	Limited
Monster/Effect	INZEKTOR HORNET	Limited
Monster/Effect	LONEFIRE BLOSSOM	Limited
Monster/Effect	MEZUKI	Limited
Monster/Effect	MORPHING JAR	Limited
Monster/Effect	NECROFACE	Limited
Monster/Effect	NEO-SPACIAN GRAND MOLE	Limited
Monster/Effect	NIGHT ASSAILANT	Limited
Monster/Effect	PLAGUESPREADER ZOMBIE	Limited
Monster/Effect	RED-EYES DARKNESS METAL DRAGON	Limited
Monster/Effect	T.G. STRIKER	Limited
Monster/Effect	WIND-UP MAGICIAN	Limited		New
Monster/Ritual	EVIGISHKI GUSTKRAKEN	Limited
Monster/Synchro	FORMULA SYNCHRON	Limited
Monster/Synchro	LEGENDARY SIX SAMURAI - SHI EN	Limited
Monster/Synchro	T.G. HYPER LIBRARIAN	Limited
Spell	ALLURE OF DARKNESS	Limited
Spell	BLACK WHIRLWIND	Limited
Spell	BOOK OF MOON	Limited
Spell	BURIAL FROM A DIFFERENT DIMENSION	Limited
Spell	CARD DESTRUCTION	Limited
Spell	CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE	Limited
Spell	DARK HOLE	Limited
Spell	FOOLISH BURIAL	Limited
Spell	GATEWAY OF THE SIX	Limited
Spell	HEAVY STORM	Limited
Spell	INFERNITY LAUNCHER	Limited
Spell	LIMITER REMOVAL	Limited
Spell	MIND CONTROL	Limited
Spell	MONSTER GATE	Limited
Spell	MONSTER REBORN	Limited
Spell	ONE DAY OF PEACE	Limited		New
Spell	ONE FOR ONE	Limited
Spell	POT OF AVARICE	Limited
Spell	PRIMAL SEED	Limited
Spell	REINFORCEMENT OF THE ARMY	Limited
Spell	SCAPEGOAT	Limited
Trap	CEASEFIRE	Limited
Trap	MAGICAL EXPLOSION	Limited
Trap	RETURN FROM THE DIFFERENT DIMENSION	Limited
Trap	SOLEMN JUDGMENT	Limited
Trap	SOLEMN WARNING	Limited		Was Semi-Limited
Trap	THE TRANSMIGRATION PROPHECY	Limited
Trap	ULTIMATE OFFERING	Limited
Trap	WALL OF REVEALING LIGHT	Limited

Card Type	Card Name	Advanced Format	Traditional Format	Remarks
Monster/Effect	ARCHLORD KRISTYA	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	CARD TROOPER	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	DEBRIS DRAGON	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	DESTINY HERO - MALICIOUS	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	REBORN TENGU	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	RESCUE RABBIT	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	SUMMONER MONK	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	THE AGENT OF MYSTERY - EARTH	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	THUNDER KING RAI-OH	Semi-limited		New
Monster/Effect	TOUR GUIDE FROM THE UNDERWORLD	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	TRAGOEDIA	Semi-limited
Monster/Effect	TSUKUYOMI	Semi-limited		Was Limited
Monster/Synchro	DEWLOREN, TIGER KING OF THE ICE BARRIER	Semi-limited
Spell	A HERO LIVES	Semi-limited
Spell	ADVANCED RITUAL ART	Semi-limited		Was Limited
Spell	CHAIN STRIKE	Semi-limited
Spell	E - EMERGENCY CALL	Semi-limited
Spell	HIERATIC SEAL OF CONVOCATION	Semi-limited
Spell	MAGICAL STONE EXCAVATION	Semi-limited
Spell	POT OF DUALITY	Semi-limited
Spell	REASONING	Semi-limited
Spell	ROYAL TRIBUTE	Semi-limited
Trap	BOTTOMLESS TRAP HOLE	Semi-limited
Trap	MIRROR FORCE	Semi-limited
Trap	OJAMA TRIO	Semi-limited
Trap	TORRENTIAL TRIBUTE	Semi-limited

So that's it for the restrictions! So build your deck appropriately and let's duel!

How to Play Yu-Gi-Oh! Part 1 - What are these cards?!

2013-06-25T21:00:00.000-04:00

Today, as the first segment of the "How to Play Yu-Gi-Oh!" series, I would like to go over some of the basics of, what types of card is this? A lot of these cards have multitudes of information. So pay close attention!

Here are the basics!

MONSTERS

Normal and effect - The whole point of the game is to summon powerful creatures to knock your opponent's Life Points to zero! So we need these Monsters to win the duel. The color here is a tan or light brown color. The difference here is that tan colored cards are what Yu-Gi-Oh! calls, Normal Monster and the light brown ones are Effect Monsters. The effect monsters can have multitudes of power but the Normal monsters will not have any thing but a short description of the monster.
Extra Deck Monsters - There is another type of Monster, which comes from the Extra deck, in the colors of Purple, White, and Black. These are powerful monsters that are allowed to players only through certain conditions such as Polymerization or monsters that says "Tuner" on them. This allows a strategic maneuver that a lot of players needs to decide.
Ritual Monsters - These are represented in the color of blue! With the ritual magic card and the Ritual monster, the duelist can get out a ritual monster by fulfilling the ritual magic card's requirements!

SPELLS

Normal - Spell cards that can only be activated in Main Phase 1 or 2 as the first card in the Chain Link (more on a later post)
Continuous - A Spell card that remains face-up on the field that continuously has its effects being applied.
Quick-Play - Can be activated from your hand in response to something (during your turn) and you can activate this card on your opponents turn IF you set it down when it was your turn before.
Equip - Targets a monster and gives it an additional effect, it stays on the field as long as the mosnter stays on the field.
Field - A card that affects both players and acts similar to that of a continuous Spell card, however, it takes the Field Card Zone instead of the normal Spells and Traps Zone. (More on that later)
Ritual - This symbol signifies that this is to summon a Ritual monster.

TRAPS

Normal - All trap cards has to be set for one turn before they can be activated. Starting off is the Normal Trap cards. It now can be activated when it meets the condition OR whenever you feel is appropriate.
Continuous - Similar to that of a Continuous Spell card EXCEPT you can activate this card in your opponent's turn after it has been set for one turn.
Counter - The fastest type of card out there, only can a counter trap card negate a counter trap card

FIELD ZONES

"What are these field zones?" you ask? These are designated areas for where your certain cards should be placed! Here's a picture for reference.

So here are the Zones! The top left Lime Green area is the field zone, this is where the field card is placed. The next 5 light brown zones to the right are the monster zones, this is where the monsters should be summoned or set. And the last zone, the dark gray area, is the graveyard or the "discard pile".

The next one is the light gray area on the bottom left, this is the extra deck zone, you may put your extra deck cards here for ease of access. The next 5 aqua colored zones are for your spells and traps. And the last and most important of them all, the deck zone, where you will begin to play your duel with your opponent!

In the next segment of "How to Play Yu-Gi-Oh!", we will be discussing what are the step by step process a duelists goes through each turn! So come back for some more dueling tips.

Welcome to Yugioh!

2013-06-18T21:00:00.000-04:00

What is Yu-Gi-Oh!? And no, I'm not yelling, that is part of their franchise name. The name is literally translated into "King of Games" as I have learned from my parents who read it off the television screen. So what is this game about? It is about summoning monsters and using spells and traps to support these powerful monsters. It is all fun and games and making it a competitive and fun environment for the players to enjoy. How do I go about learning more about this game?

There are a lot of products out there to start off. I started, and recommend, watching the television show. However, there are some rules that are different from the Trading Card Game (TCG); the TV show is still still quite entertaining and exciting. With that, you'll have an idea what the TV show is about and relatively what happens when playing the card game (excluding the explosions and criminals). Also, if you want to find out more about the actual card game, check out their website for their multitudes of products.

As for what follows up this post is what I would like to discuss about the game and how to get batter at the game. There are indeed tutorials on Konami's website which I gave above, but I would like to reiterate the important things that the tutorial may or may not have gone over. And after that, we will be discussing what kind of strengths and weaknesses certain decks have. I hope you come back to this blog and read up more about the different ideas and concepts. Thanks!

Update!

2013-06-07T02:00:00.000-04:00

So I've been ignoring this blog for the longest time, NO MORE! I will be posting regularly about once a week on Tuesday nights about random Yu-Gi-Oh! Stuff. I'll be starting from scratch and introduce the game. While doing that, if I travel, I will also be posting up the pictures from the locals/tournaments I head out to.

Hope to see you duelists soon! Keep dueling!

YCS Austin

2013-03-29T13:03:00.001-04:00

It has indeed been a week after the event. It was to once again work with a bunch of fellow judges. Compared to the regional I just ran, it was a lot smoother and fun. Maybe it was because I wasn't in a "leadership" role, but it was much more organized. I am super grateful for having these types of events around and not lose my mind. I now understand, especially after having to run a regional, how the HJ and the TO feel about an event during it occurs. It is quite hectic.

What did I think was gonna win, it was gonna be water OR MacroRabbit (or anything that could run Macro). I think the water has good matchups against a lot of deck because it becomes huge beaters and forces the opponent to use some sort of removal, which most decks now lack. Also, we can add to the fact that a lot of players were running water (more like more than 50%). I wasn't surprised when 50% of the players in the top 32 was water, but it was still interesting. What was more interesting was the people that weren't playing water. Read more here.

As for my experience, I blew a casket you can say... During round 2, a player went into time and then the match ended in a draw. He proceeded to complain about how it became a "draw" and that the system is stupid. I then threw back, maybe if you didn't slow play so much, you'd have time to play out the match. This was me stressed from the previous weekend... He then proceeded to request to talk to the HJ, I followed up with an apology as I knew my head wasn't in the right place. WOW, I can't believe I did that. This was definitely a sign that I needed to get out the judging scene for a bit, but I can't help it, it's so much fun with the people I work with. As for customer service, I don't know if I can continue with such hard work. I'm not quitting, no. I want to continue this expedition, but I want a break :\

What can I say? That wasn't a good customer experience for that player and I do apologize for that. Especially making Konami look bad in front of other players and especially making that person's experience not very welcoming. I as a well experienced judge, should have known what to do and should have said the right things, however, I was out of my mind... We shall see how things turn out in the future. :\

Besides all this, here's some pictures from Austin :]

First meal in TX

Water fall pool... I keep forgetting to get swimming trunks.

Working hard to make the place clean!

Lining up for judge dinner! BBQ!

Lobby on the 10th floor?

The was a fire place... LOL

Outside the convention center, so many stairs!

From the 18th floor! GOSH it is high...

Jadges

Cool looking building

Someone stole my iPod

Congrats on making Day 2 Galo!

BOSTON!

HJing my first event!

2013-03-29T11:54:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, it has been almost 2 weeks since this event, have been super busy about this YGO thing. Let us say that it wasn't the most pleasant experience that I've had in a while. It is due to the fact that it was the first regional in the Massachusetts area for over 1.5 years. I applied as a judge and I became the Head Judge because I was the "most experienced". This wasn't the fact for the Tournament Organizer (TO) as he believed that he didn't need my help. I didn't offer it. Instead, I took it into my own hands. I contacted the potential judges and talked to them about what was expected and tried to prepare them for what is needed.

The HJing experience was one of the most difficult due to the fact of the lack of experience coming from me, and especially the TO. Coming from me, I understand what HJ is supposed to do, however, I had little to no experience of how to do it. Player management was one of things I wanted to work on. Luckily another judge volunteered for the event and was really helpful. Thank goodness. Overall, not going into too much detail, we, the judges, saved this fiasco of a Regional and we got through and got all the results at the end.

What did I learn from this? A LOT. Judges don't want to read the material, players don't want to listen, TOs need their materials to have the tournament run much more smoothly. I had to become TO, Scorekeeper, and HJ at this moment. The TO/Scorekeeper was too busy cleaning up after and selling products to the players. Anyways, I hope that we all learned something because I definitely have over the 1 year judging at premiere events.

Being a Player and a Judge - The Conflicts

2013-02-26T17:58:00.001-05:00

As a "well-experienced" (there's always something to learn from judging) judge, I always have a nick to be a judge even though I'm a player. As one player said, "WTF Allen, you're always instigating about the game." Well, that's what judges have to do, keep a gamestate. I do have to step down because I am not the judge at the locals and I am a player at that moment. The issue I have is when I am a player and my opponent insults me and my rules knowledge.

An incident occurred where I did a play where my opponent was confused. His first reaction was, "You can't do that!" Now I look at him and I wonder why I couldn't have done that. I gave him my reasoning and he continues to say that I can't do it because it would make that deck "broken". Then I asked him if my reasoning made any sense to him. He ignored my question and then continues to say that his reasoning was correct. I did the proper thing to call the judge over to get the ruling. While we waited for the ruling, he said to me one of the lowest comments ever. "____ and ____ played the deck longer than you, they're experts at this deck, call them. I've played that deck since it came out. You never topped a YCS, you don't know the rulings nor do you know how to play the deck."

I kept as calm a demeanor as I could being a player at the moment. What I want to bring up is that I as a player have to abide to what a player is. No matter what the ruling the Head Judge of the locals give, whether you know is incorrect or correct, we abide to it. As for the behavior of this player, I do not like it one bit. If I was the judge, I would not have tolerated it and would have brought it up to the TO and/or the store owner for this rude behavior. I try to keep an open mind about rulings as the transition from UDE to KDE has made drastic changes in rulings and in wording (PSCT). There is a time of learning for players and judges alike and from that, I learned quite the lot. Especially in the player's shoes (similar to an incident in Miami). And it would have been even worst if I was surrounded by a lot of players.

Even as a player, I want to be a judge. It was true that I should "stop instigating" games, but the inner me just wants to judge people xD

YCS Miami

2013-02-26T17:09:00.000-05:00

Hi all! It has been a while since I posted something up on this page and I start it off with the first YCS of the year! SO EXCITING! Before I start, I will post up some pictures for everyone to see!

The Hostel I stayed in on Thursday night! One of the best hostels around on South Beach

Fences to the beach!

All over that beach! ;D

So many palm trees!

It was a really good day! The sun ALMOST came out... haha

My friend Galo pre-registering for the YCS.

Getting seated for round 1 of the YCS Miami!

Mid round bantering with players.

View from hotel room! It was such a sunny day on Sunday, but chilly for Miami.

Judges assembling! Michael Lee!

After day 2, we were exhausted. A few good judges here, except Uzo... ;P

It was a fun time, especially getting out of the cold weather in Boston to go to Miami. It was 3 times the difference (20 degrees F to 60 degrees F). I had my small bit of traveling up and the beach and then walked through the "shopping district" although there wasn't much to shop for because they were all small local stores. I was carrying around a 20 pound duffle bag at the time too. I didn't volunteer this time at Miami because I wanted to look around Miami and hang out with a friend who came down with me to Miami (Galo). I saw a bunch of the older judges and greeted them as I ran into them. We went to the judge dinner after the Pre-Reg was over and I was super excited to get some food in my belly.

The dish I ordered sounded better than it tasted. There were inedible tissues left on my steak and I just left the rest on the table for the chefs to deal with it. I understood that there was a huge party that the cooks may not have been prepared for, but the group made a reservation ahead of time. Why was the restaurant not prepared? I'm not sure. But we got out of there relatively late. The manager tried his best to help out the waitresses to no avail, the group was just too overwhelming for such a small restaurant.

Day 1!

The amount of people trickling in was any typical YCS. Big waves of people, then small amounts, and then big waves of people again and then the stragglers. Those who just like to get the round 1 loss. hahaha, no, the whole day went pretty smoothly. There were a few issues and hiccups that came up. I had to bring up a few of the issues with the TOs and the judges. It was a rough day for me, but I pulled through. It was definitely a HUGE learning experience for me. Player management, rules knowledge, and many other aspects of the community I learned more from this YCS. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, got some food, looked at some trade binders and went to sleep. Luckily, I didn't catch anyone trying to intentionally draw to make it into day 2.

Day 2!

Players were excited to play for day 2. Some people were completely dominating and some... forgot to wake up. Sadly, with this loss in the beginning of day 2, the player didn't make it to the top 32. I stayed in as a floor judge for all the top tables and also was a feature match on a top 16 table! Fire Fist versus Wind-Ups! It was a close battle, good communication from the players and everything went smoothly. This was my first time judging a feature match. And from that, I learned a bunch! ^_^ Our top tables Lead, Natalie, did a great job, especially from all the experience she's had. It was a smooth top tables! I've heard that side events went pretty smoothly. Good job Uzo and judge staff!

Our Winner?

I'm sure you've heard already, Wind-Ups! It was a WU mirror match in the finals, so there was no chance another deck would have won... haha. There was a bunch of other good decks out there, including Billy Brake's 3rd place water deck (Water deck w/out Undine engine), and 4th place Karakuri deck (w/ Solar Wind Jammer + Emergency Teleport techs for first turn shenanigans). Congratulations to all those attended and I hope you learned as much as I have in this event, judges and players alike!

Rules I learned and told to YCS

Wind-up Rabbit still banishes the card even though the monster is targeted by Book of Moon afterwards. It will be banished facedown due to the wording of WU Rabbit that says "banish it" rather than "banish that target". It will also return back facedown.
Although agreed upon by judges, Altantean monsters should not get their effects if it was returned to an area of private knowledge before they activated, it was ruled at YCS that they still get their effects. (Broken much?) ~~We hinted on a sense of Konami trying to push for the water deck.~~ But this ruling was in a limbo for a while.
Dark World Dealings doesn't make both players discard at the same time, instead, it is whenever one player discards and then the other. Players can "change their cards of selection" after seeing that it was a Dark World match up (discarding their Moulinglacia).
There is less incentive of a double game loss, instead, it will more likely be an "accepted game state" instead of handing out game loss/warnings to players. (I know, this is less of a ruling than a judge/player management thing)

And here's the last and one of the most important picture around, the judge staff! I believe there was a few people missing. :[ But that always happens for the judge photos. :P

Stolen From Julia! RUV U!

What Products Should I Buy?!

2012-09-07T22:10:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Ever had that feeling where you want to buy all the packs behind the shelf? All the decks, all the tins? Today, I will be talking about what type of product that a player should invest in. This may be biased, but there is a solid amount of truth behind it. I'm always an advocate of knowing what you get and not take the chance at some unknown kind of product. Compared to your work environment and your hobby, I think money investment in a hobby is more important because you don't want to use more than unnecessary money into something that may dwindle. So let's get started in smarter investment in the YGO products.

PRICE

Each product has it's monetary value. Each pack should be $4. Each deck should be $10. Each Gold Edition should be $20. Each Legendary Collection should be $20-30, depending on what you get. Etc. But if your locals has packs going for $5 or a funky range of prices, then there's some kind of issue. That's the time you try to figure out what's up with the store OR go some where else to find another store to buy your product.

GUARANTEED

What cards are guaranteed in your product? Personally, I like buying product where my cards are 100% certain. For example, a Collector's Tin, I know that I get the cover card and the 5 extra super rares. No chance in those, and majority of the time, it's useful cards, not like booster packs where it's completely ratio'd by Konami. I'd rather be able to utilize those promos and also get a chance to pull some good cards out of the packs. Structure decks always gave the player 100% guarantee that you will get those 40 cards promised on the back of the box. Especially the new archetypes that are included in the box. Don't chance the 12% that you might pull one in a case ($700) of the newest set. It's not worth that much, in that case, just trade for it.

YOU WANT TO PLAY IT

Don't just buy it for that one card, but for the entire deck/cards. Don't spend $700 on a case of YGO cards because you want that super awesome shiny card. Even this isn't very helpful as a lot of the "Good cards" are going to be super hard to pull, you may not even meet the number of cards for the deck that you would be building. But God willing, you can pull it off.

MOVING THE PRODUCT

What do you do with the excess amount of cards? Go and use them as trades or get them out onto eBay. If you're too young, find stores that are willing to buy bulk cards and sell it to them. They are more than willing to buy 1000 commons for $10 or more depending on your local store or website. These places are much better than one person slowly trying to move all those Normal Monsters that aren't that good. (If a Frostosaurus can run it over, it's not worth it)

OVERPOWERED!!!

You have to play the deck, or know of an overpowered card in there. That's gonna be hard unless you know the HUGE VAST and GROWING YGO card database. You'd have to know what cards people would use, what the current meta consists of, and how it would be game changing. An example would be Maxx "C". With Royal Oppression around, it wasn't necessary, but as soon as that disappeared, the demand for Maxx "C" increased. Why you may ask? It's because it gives your opponent the potential to OTK you the next turn, unless you OTK him with your special summons.

Ban List

2012-08-01T13:05:00.000-04:00

August, the biggest time for the September Yu-Gi-Oh! banlist. As many of you, Konami is capable of throwing Screw(you)balls when they want to, especially with the new holiday wave 1 tins. Coming out with GAOV and PHSW packs, but reprinting PSHW and GAOV cards in the 6 promotional cards as well. Also, last years ban list was a big confusion as they semi-limited Reborn Tengu when OCG didn't get their Reborn Tengus (the old saying is, if it is exclusive, it won't get touched, WRONG).

Here are my ban list predictions:

Inzektors -

This deck is huge in OCG and dominant in Regionals/Locals in TCG. People say that limiting Inzektor Hornet will help the situation, however, after playing the deck for a few months, thinking about how the deck works, and talking to a few more experienced players, Inzektor Dragonfly is what makes the deck so OP'd. Yes, the Hornet is a key component, but if you look at OCG, they run 3 Inzektor Ladybug because it creates more targets for DFly and Centipede. So anything, Konami will be limiting DFly.

LS/Chaos Dragons -

We all know that decks that has to do with milling are the luckiest and one of the most sac-iest. As a player in my local always tells me, "You're such a sac. You would have all the answers" well, maybe if you built a deck that aimed for your locals, then you'd win your locals more often, just saying. Anyways, tangent. Future Fusion (or FuFu) will get banned. Not just because of this particular deck, but with future cards coming out, such as Mermail (mermail E. Heros = win) and countless other things. I was thinking FuFu, Cyber Eltanin, and cyber monsters in the deck. Ridiculous. Lightpulsar must be hit, going to semi(2) or limit(1). Same with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. Lightpulsar = recycle of REDMD or said other dragons. REDMD for obvious reasons, but from what I'm learning, they might just put him to semi-limited because Konami is still trying to push for XYZs, (Gustav Max). Chaos Sorcerer may go back to 1 or 2 maybe even back on the ban list with Black Luster Soldier - Envoy.

Wind-Ups -

Well, guess we saw this coming. With Wind-Ups topping a lot of the World Championship Qualifiers (or more known as Nationals to the older generations), we can see why this deck is getting hit by the ban list. First off, it destroys your hand turn one, leaving you with max 2 resources left in hand and worst case scenario, you're top decking yourself to a victory. 3 very main key cards are in this deck, Wind-Up Hunter, Wind-Up Zenmaighty and Wind-Up Rat. You may ask, "which one is going to get hit?" Personal Opinion, both Wind-up Hunter to 1 and Wind-up Znemaighty to 1. This way, you'll have dead Wind-Up Rats in your deck and you can only loop the hand max 2 times. Some say to ban Hunter and problem is solved, but I think there's a larger problem. To kill the deck, no, to force the player to play other cards, yes.

DinoRabbits -

I personally don't think Konami will do too much about this. Maybe force the Evolzar Laggia to 1 and Evolzar Dolkka to 2 will make the deck less viable. My reasoning of not touching Rescue Rabbit is because of Konami's push for the XYZs and the usage of Normal Monsters. This may sound silly, but in all good business perspective, it does make sense. Maybe in another year, we will have a different type of monsters, Maybe a RED colored card!? Who knows? *cough Konami cough*

Miscellaneous -

Mystical Space Typhoon is going to go to 1. With Night Beam out, there's no point. Also with so many new archetypes requiring backrow support, I can see this being quite possible.

Tour Guide From the Underworld is another really popular target for a lot of players. Especially after Konami really sold on the Battle Packs, they have a good push for the next meta and they can semi-limit/limit this card for no reason. Some people have told me that Sangan was gonna get banned, but 75% of people would just XYZ into something.

These are what are going to get hit by the ban list. Just my own personal opinion of what is "OP'd" in this meta. What's your opinion?

NAWQ - Long Awaited Update

2012-07-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

Almost two months later, this person finally puts up a post. Sorry about the long awaited post. I've been busy with work and trying to figure out some logistics in my life. Anyways, as you can read from the title, I judged in the North American World Qualifier for Yu-Gi-Oh!. It was an exciting news when I got an email confirmation that I were to be judging at such a prestige level of event. Before I continue, I want to thank for all those who got me on the staff and those who supported me. I am very thankful and grateful for such an opportunity.

A small tid bit about the event. It was an attendance of a little over 1600 in the main event. I believe that Konami tried to put it in the middle of the United States so that people from the East coast and the West Coast was able to attend at the same price where as if it was in California or in New Jersey, it would be too "expensive" for some of the players. However, I also believe that it was just that they try to put the NAWQ at different places in the country every year. Also, with this being the case, the amount of people were well below what was expected. With 4400+ players having invites to this event, we expected at least 2500+ players and max 3500 players. However, it wasn't the case, having "unnecessary" rooms. But, as we always say, "better to have too much than have too little".

A lot of the staff members were a bit stressed because of the amount of things going on. Not exactly sure what was going on, but a lot of hustle and bustle was rousing around in the back area of the judge area. The staff were talking to this player and that player for doing something that they weren't allowed to, etc. etc. It was quite the unexpected behavior of the players and I, as a judge AND a player, am upset about the player's behavior. Besides all this, the event staff moved swiftly and quickly which made the event end sooner and on time.

Now to one of the least important part of the event, the winners. As you can read a lot of this stuff on the Konami website, I will also make a quick note on this post. Tyler Tabman was the winner with the deck, Wind-Up. It was an interesting deck that won it, but was one of the few decks that had a huge advantage. However, I think that DinoRabbits should have a huge advantage in this format, the only issue is the inconsistency it does have. But it should have a favorable match up against Wind-Ups, so I was confused when I heard that Wind-Up won. Here's his deck list. (found off yugidojo)

Monsters: 21

3 – Wind-Up Rabbit
3 – Wind-Up Rat
3 – Wind-Up Shark
3 – Tour Guide From the Underworld
3 – Effect Veiler
2 – Wind-Up Magician
1 – Wind-Up Hunter
1 – Spirit Reaper
1 – Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

Spells: 13

3 – Mystical Space Typhoon
2 – Wind-Up Factory
2 – Instant Fusion
1 – Heavy Storm
1 – Book of Moon
1 – Dark Hole
1 – Pot of Avarice
1 – Mind Control
1 – Monster Reborn

Traps: 8

2 – Solemn Warning
2 – Torrential Tribute
2 – Bottomless Trap Hole
1 – Solemn Judgment
1 – Mirror Force

Extra: 15

3 – Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity
1 – Wind-Up Zenmaines
1 – Number 20: Giga Brilliant
1 – Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 – Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 – Temtempo the Percussion Djinn
1 – Number 39: Utopia
1 – Acid Golem
1 – Steelswarm Roach
1 – Tiras, Keeper of Genesis
1 – Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon
1 – Cyber Saurus
1 – Dragoness the Wicked Knight

Side: 15

3 – Dimensional Fissure
3 – Shadow Imprisoning Mirror
2 – Maxx C
2 – Snowman Eater
2 – Dimensional Prison
1 – Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 – Soul Taker
1 – Dust Tornado

This was a surprise for a lot of North Americans because a lot of people are in the state that DinoRabbits and LS Dragons will win it for sure, but never saw that Wind-Ups had a decent matchup against any and almost any deck. Again, it really matters one what you were paired up against. Maybe he got paired against an easy matchup, maybe he got the first round bye. Only he would know, but so far, the deck looks solid and I really can't complain too much. After all, it is Yu-Gi-Oh!, there's not much explanation to this card game. :\

Until next time, Blog to you soon!

Opening a Case

2012-06-03T11:03:00.000-04:00

This was my first time opening a case of some sort of packs from Yu-Gi-Oh! It was pretty awesome, not gonna lie. Especially after waiting 2 months for it to arrive at my door steps. I opened every single card possible and I even traded some of those cards for some newer cards out there. I was really satisfied. All you need to know is, I'm not using the inzektor engine to get my leviairs for my rescue rabbits lol. Any who. I have enough resources to build several decks now. SUPER HAPPY!

YCS Chicago [Judge experience]

2012-04-30T10:20:00.002-04:00

This is my second premier event that I am judging. I LOVED IT. It was another amazing event and like the 100th, I learned a lot from judging and from watching players play. We relied on each other for rulings and sometimes a judge overhears one of my rulings and corrects me. Thank God for that or else I would have been obliterated. My first ever appeal from these 2 premier events that I've judged came from a well known player. It was super satisfying when I got it right and he got it wrong. Maybe I wasn't firm with my call, but I was super happy that I got it right. Hopefully, this player will learn a few things about that happened there.

As for the rest of the event, it was relatively slow and a lot of drama going on that was completely unnecessary, but once there's money and pride on the line, things will happen. Theft, arguments, cheating, card sharking (purposely not maintaining the game flow/state), and fights. I wished that we played this game to enjoy it and not for the prizes or feeding our own ego. This is small paragraph is irrelevant, but I felt a lot of it throughout the event.

On day 2, I may have been a bit rude to the players, but I felt it was necessary because they have been through this since day 1. There was no need to continually do the same thing two days in a row. Just my opinion. We were all tired and I'm sure them not understanding where they were standing and me being tired did not help. I learned a lot about patience and a lot about where I should be trying to help players and judges grow. I needed a lot of patience to teach players each rule and to help judges, but it was awesome. I felt like there was a good connection in this group.

However, there were a few disconnects between the judges, but I think they were minor and I think that's a good thing. We need to put those issues aside and work on bringing a good event for the players and that's what I felt we did. Keep it up judges. Thanks for the opportunity again Julia.

100th YCS Judge

2012-03-30T10:23:00.000-04:00

I was super excited and at the same time, super nervous. As I'm listening to Keep Ya Head Up by 2Pac, I'm reflecting about how thankful I am with such great judges around me. My friend's judge from Ecuador came up to help with judging and he was my supervisor for the event. It was great because I could tell people if they were right or wrong, catch people trying to cheat and to create a fair and enjoyable time for the players. Even though I don't know 100% of the rulings, it was good to help people to understand why certain cards interact the way they do. I did mess up on one ruling, but it was forgivable since it was mid rounds and at the last tables (x-2) so they wouldn't make it to the tops, especially with the decks they were running... Sorry, but it's the truth. I saw a dude run a Tour Guide From the Underworld Inzektor build and was in the last tables for the 11th and 12th round.

What I've learned from this YCS judge event is that, there are a lot of players, but it really is up to the players to read the card text, read the opponent, judge the circumstance, and figure out what the best option is for the hand that was given to you. That is if you want to win/top the YCS events. If you were there to have fun, by all means, do so. I had a blast judging and I hope as a player, I get that same enjoyment. Although my legs were super tired and wanted to do nothing but sleep after the first day, it was great. One thing that Konami has started to do is Problem Solving Card Text, PSCT as some judges call it. It helps the players understand from previous card texts by rewording punctuation and misleading card text. I give a round of applause to Konami for that. So it's less work for the judges. The only/bigger issue is the certain card interactions, (e.i. - Neo-Spacian Grand Mole vs. AoJ Catastor.)

For the first round, I was given a situation where one player drew an extra card, he was honest enough to tell me that he drew an extra card, but he shuffled his hand. I asked him if he could verify what card it was, but he "believed" it was this card, but the game state was irreversible. He already used Pot of Duality, normal summoned a Barbaros and set one card. So, I give him credit for telling me, but without verification of what card he drew extra into, I can't help him. Game Loss. As much as that sucks, it is what it is. Worst part, he could have beat his opponent from what deck he was playing. What can I say, if you try to cheat, you're cheating yourself. Later on, same instance happened, again, game loss, irreversible game state. *sigh* Please stop doing that...

After the YCS, I ran into some "locals". Not sure if you can call them that especially if they're about 30 miles from the city. I approached them and asked if they were going to the airport and wondered what time their flight was. 930pm and 1130pm, I look at my watch, 10am... LOL I asked them if they wanted to join me to go to the local Long Beach Aquarium. They said sure, we went to eat brunch first, at Hooters (normal burger restaurant, just some eye candy for the guys). Then we went on an adventure at an arcade and a hunt for the aquarium... apparently I led them to the wrong place and eventually, we found it. We had a blast as nerdy as we already were, we found ourselves enjoying our time in the Aquarium. After the Aquarium, we went to the Airport, found our flights and that was it for that. I made new friends and met new people this entire weekend. It was great. I can't wait to do it again if I could :]

Thanks for reading!
Allen Fung

Judging in Long Beach

2012-01-26T13:38:00.001-05:00

Wow, I didn't think I would be a judge for such an important event. Even though it is a normal YCS (Yugioh! Championship Series), I think it will be a huge event because of the things that are given out to the players and after all, it is the 100th one being set out in the YGO community. I've talked a lot about being a judge with my local TO (Tournament Organizer) and other various RC-1 qualified and other judges around my locals. It was interesting. Not only that, people started noticing me that I was a judge and a reliable source of information. That is not how I wanted it to go since I did get back into YGO last year (2 formats) and I have just gotten back into YGO from a 4 year break. I think I need to get myself accommodated to the huge database of cards out there before I can do something about it.

From the current experience in locals, I've learned that a lot of casual players do not read the card text that is in front of them and that aggravates me. The problem solving text is right there in front of them. There are game mechanics that a lot of people don't know like how optional effects and mandatory effects fall in a chain (e.g. Catastor vs Grand Mole) that I can understand, but where as can I special summon this from my hand, that's a different story, that is based on text and what was activated on the field.

Hopefully, this will carry over into the Judging experience in Long Beach because if I can see a YCS as a large locals rather than any thing else. The only thing I feel sorry for is the amount of people that might be playing Inzektors or Wind-Ups because their opponent will cry a lot because they might as well lose first turn to Wind-Up or lose turn 2 to Inzektors. The Inzektors are an aggressive type of deck and the wind-up as well, but they thing is that if the wind-up goes second, it can hardly make a come back if they have some sort of back row. With wind-up out, it really depends on who goes first that will determine who wins the match rather than who has more skills.

Until another post about my YGO adventures and blogging. Hmmmm, maybe something that will help you guys out next time. :P

Plant Synchro Deck Profile

2012-01-14T23:16:00.001-05:00

With the acquirement of Tour Guides, I am finally able to play plant synchro deck. It's a format late and soon to be two formats late, but sometimes, when a duelist has a chance at these "tier 1" decks, we play it and see how it goes. It went well to say the least. My friend and I talked about how the deck is a mix of random cards in a deck, but it works so well because it has the random +1s and the random answers to the opponent's cards. The Tour Guides are always an aggressor in any deck and in this deck, it makes it 10 times more aggressive. Not only that, it's also dark material for the BLS. Spirit Reaper is when the poop hits the fan and we need to set or become the aggressor as well. Well, anyways, here's the deck profile:

MONSTERS [22]

1x B.L.S. - Envoy of the Beginning
1x Caius
1x Dandylion
2x Effect Veiler
1x Glow-up Bulb
1x Gorz
1x Lonefire
2x Maxx "C"
3x Reborn Tengu
1x Sangan
1x Spirit Reaper
1x Spore
3x Thunder King Rai-oh
3x Tour Guide

SPELLS [13]

1x Book of Moon
2x Creature Swap
1x Dark Hole
2x Enemy Controller
1x Foolish Burial
1x Heavy Storm
1x Mind Control
1x Monster Reborn
1x Mystical Space T.
1x Pot of Avarice
1x Scapegoat

TRAPS [5]

3x Dimensional Prison
1x Solemn Judgment
1x Torrential Tribute

SIDE [15]

2x Cyber Dragon
2x D.D. Crow
2x Kycoo the Ghost D.
1x Spirit Reaper
2x Smashing Ground
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
1x Mirror Force
1x Chimeratech Fort. Dragon

EXTRA [15]

1x A. of J. Catastor
1x Armory Arm
1x Black Rose D.
1x Brionac
1x Formula Synchron
1x Gaia Knight
1x Orient Dragon
1x Scrap Dragon
1x Stardust Dragon
1x T.G. Hyper Librarian
1x Trishula
1x Leviair
1x No. 17 Leviathan
1x No. 39 Utopia
1x Wind-up Zenmaines

Monster line up is quite normal, I do not have a third Maxx "C" as it is too out of my budget. As for why I do not run the these cards, Debris Dragon, One for One, and Solemn Warning.

Debris Dragon - must synch into a dragon, monster 500 attack or less, attack mode reborned monster, Maxx "C" would stop play, therefore would rather synch, causing your opponent to plus off a possible Maxx "C" as most players play 3 Maxx "C"s or just make a side deck of anti special summon.

One for One - Same issue, possible pluses for opponent's Maxx C but also, if I don't have a good discard outlet, I won't have a monster to special summon nor do I have a follow up after the level one tuner I just summoned.

Solemn Warning - What can I say? I just like my life points too much to waste it on a summon. Also, if the deck has so many outs to cards, what's an issue with one monster summon? Would rather save that 2000 LP for something else.

As for the side, I wanted to hit those pesky backrows (Vanity's Emptiness, D. Fissure, etc. etc.) And I think Dino Rabbit is a big issue for the plant deck because they can run some cards that normally a plant synchro can't (Vanity's Emptiness, D. Fissures, etc. etc.) It' another control deck.

I chose to replace the above named cards for Creature Swaps instead. This is typically a surprise for a lot of people as the Plant Synchro deck can take enough hits to OTK them the next turn. And with them over extending so far, C. Swap can turn the game in your favor in one turn. Also chose to have a 40 card deck rather than a 41(or some random number) card deck because that's just the way I grew up with. The less cards in the deck, the higher the chance to draw the cards. Not too big of a difference, but it's just good to be concise about the deck.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this deck profile of mine. (enter catchy end phrase here)

How to Side Deck

2011-12-31T16:57:00.000-05:00

A lot of people have thought about what to put in their side deck and this is one of the things that is constantly changing with the meta. However, it isn't necessary for a side deck to stop the opponent's deck constantly. Today, we will talk about different ways of siding into game 2 and game 3.

The first way some people side is to side against the opponents. What I'm saying is that you guess what your opponent might be running and you throw in a few cards that may hurt your opponent. An example is Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror or Fossil Dyna. These cards stop specific decks from gaining their effects or stopping them from continuing their push.

Another way to side, which is my favorite, is to figure out your deck's weakness and how you can accommodate to it. An example is from the first style of siding. Your opponent sides in Shadow-Imp. Mirror, what do you side in? Dust Tornado and MST. Not only is it good that it destroys those cards, but it can clear their back row cards and save your monsters or your back rows. Basically, we can stop their prevention so that you can continue with your plays as you would normally.

One of the last ways that I will mention that is quite potent is siding into a different deck completely. This may surprise your opponent very easily. An example would be like Gravekeeper's siding out into Malefic Skill Drain. This gives your opponent an element of surprise because your opponent would not have the necessary components to deal with such heavy hitters and also they sided in the Shadow Mirrors just to help you.

When do you side in certain cards? I've had some talk with some other players and they've told me that it really depends on if you're going first or not. What I felt to that was a lot of "what ifs". What if you don't draw them? What happens if your opponent doesn't draw those cards? That's really normal when your opponent sides. They could even go into the third method, a completely new deck, rendering your side completely useless. So I won't go into too much details about this siding method. Only if your deck is really versatile can you do this *cough* Plant Synchro *cough*.

Just remember, try to make a side deck that does not hurt you more than your opponent. From a personal experience, I sided in Dimensional Fissure in my GK deck and it hurt me more than it did my opponent. As we know, Recruiter and Commandant needs to hit the grave before its effect activates. As I was too into thinking about how to stop my opponents cards (Dark World and Plant Synchro) rather than trying to help my deck's weakness.

Dark World Deck

2011-12-30T21:53:00.000-05:00

Hi there YuGiOh! fans and players! This is my first post on my new blog today and it's my first attempt to share some of my thoughts and ideas of decks out in the meta (most played). I will tell you what deck I'm analyzing, some history of the deck & the cards, what the idea of the deck is supposed to be, and then show you my build (with side and extra) with my reasoning. Of course, links will be provided for your purposes and for mine because I do not want to type out the card effects myself.

Today, I will be sharing with you my Dark World deck build. Yes, *sigh*, Dark World. With the new structure deck that came out, Gates of the Underworld, the Dark World deck now has expanded their uses and their capabilities. A few new cards in the structure deck to name are, Grapha, Snoww, Ceruli, and Gates make this deck have more "power" I guess you can say.

I wasn't around for a few years (2006-2009) because I left YuGiOh to focus more on school and a lot of the people I played with were not the most pleasant of folks. But from the amount of information I collected from the internet and from other players, Dark World wasn't the best deck at that time. It was reasonable with the amount of drawing and special summoning that occurred, but that was it. Now with a few more cards left and right, Gates, Grapha, and Snoww, it made the deck much more consistent and less reliant on miscellaneous support cards.

For those who do not know what Dark World is, it's basically DW monsters that needs to be discarded through an effect so that DW monster can get its effect. What I mean be "discarded through an effect" is that it cannot be a cost. To tell the difference is to see whether is says "to" or "and" and whether it was the first sentence to discard and then the resolution. An example of the "to" is: Brionac. Notice the effect says,

You can discard any number of cards to the Graveyard to target the same number of cards from the field; return them to the hand.

This is what we call a "cost". Another "cost" is just a plain and simple sentence that tells you to discard a card. And then the resolution of the effect. An example of this is: Darkness Approaches. (I know, it's a classic)

Discard 2 cards from your hand. Select 1 face-up monster and flip it face-down, but do not change its battle position.

Now, what we want for the DW deck to work properly is having cards that has the effect (or the resolution) of the card as a discard effect rather than a cost for the card. A few to name off from the top of my head are Dark World Dealings, Dragged Down Into The Grave, Morphing Jar. These cards are quite pivotal within this deck. A lot of the cards in the structure are reintroduced from older sets that were already out. However, with the new ones, it has more potential than it ever had.

There are a lot of builds out there, but I want to share mine. I can list all those other builds out there, but I will tell you the reasoning behind my choice of cards and why I didn't select certain cards for my build. First off, the list:

MONSTER:

2 Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World
3 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World
1 Fabled Raven
3 Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World
2 Malefic Stardust Dragon
1 Sangan
3 Snoww, Unlight of Dark World
3 Tour Guide from the Underworld

MAGIC:

1 Allure of Darkness
1 Card Destruction
1 Dark Hole
2 Dark World Dealings
2 Dragged Down Into The Grave
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
3 The Gates of Dark World
3 Upstart Goblin

TRAP:

2 Deck Devastation Virus
1 Mirror Force
3 Reckless Greed
1 Torrential Tribute

EXTRA:

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Ancient Fairy Dragon
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Brionac, the Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Orient Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
2 Stardust Dragon
1 T.G. Hyper Librarian
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2 Leviair the Sea Dragon
1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
1 Number 39: Utopia

SIDE:

2 Cyber Dragon
1 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
2 Thunder King Rai-oh
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Debunk
1 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
2 Royal Decree

The main monster lineup is pretty standard, 3 Snoww, 3 Broww, 3 Grapha, and 3 Tour Guide (if you have them). These are the MUST HAVE in this deck. I chose Beiige over Sillva or Goldd because I'd rather have the capability of normal summoning without having to tribute in a certain case I have no discard outlet.

The Malefic SD is for a few reasons. As many of you know, Gates removal is a cost, therefore my opponent can use MST on my Gates and I would not be able to discard my card nor draw. So I would typically drop my MSD, using its effect to protect my field. Then I can proceed to draw my cards. Not only that, it uses it to bait out my opponents backrows (Warning or BTH) creating a safer field for my potential Grapha. ANOTHER amazing thing is that it's a target for my DDV and my EEV! AMAZING! I actually thought another step further into thinking about the side deck people use, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror. This being main decked, I don't need to side into it nor do I have to side it out. However, I have noticed that it does stop me from spamming the field and attacking for game, I usually have a DDV set in that case.

I opted out of the Ceruli/Sillva build because I was thinking one step ahead of the game, Skill Drain and Shadow Mirror. Some people in my locals run Skill Drain main decked and Shadow Mirror sided for their dreaded match up, Dark World. Therefore, I don't want to have to side them out and side in cards that can already be useful in the main. Small technicalities here, but yes. Let's continue.

The magic and trap lineup was basically something to make the deck a little more turbo-y. I could draw more monsters and more cards for discarding my DW cards. Some protection (torrential, mirror force) I thought was needed in this deck in case I didn't draw some kind of outlet to my DW cards.

Extra deck, plain and simple, although, I do wish I had a Wind-up Zenmaines, a Leviathan can do as well as that for now. I can go into rank 3s easily with TGUs (grabbing Broww, Sangan, or another TGU).

Side Deck, here are my reasons for side deck. I figured that the side deck isn't about how to use cards to push my opponent into a corner, it's about how to improve your weaknesses in the deck and how you can respond to your opponent's cards that they might side in.

Cyber Dragon = karakuri/gadgets
Fossil Dyna = Plant Synchro/special summon heavy
TKing = search/inherent summon heavy (rabbits)
MST = I know my opponent will go trap heavy to kill me (shadow mirrors, debunk, D. Prisons, BTH, etc)
BTH = Rabbits, slower decks with one normal summon after another
Debunk = mirror match or other hand/grave activation decks
EEV = magic/trap heavy also knowing that they side heavy traps against me, I can use it against them
Royal Decree = knowing that they go trap heavy, I can use it against them. Also focuses his MSTs towards this rather than my field

Well, that's all the info for my deck and some tips about Dark Worlds. Hope you enjoyed this information. Some feedback on my first post would be really nice! Thanks for your time!