Tournament Report 11/27/10

So, I was going to go with the Chaos Debris deck that's been on my channel recently, but that deck it terrible, like Quickdraw Plants. I tried a Karakuri deck, but the theme itself is terrible. Then, I was thinking about using a Monarch deck that will be featured on my channel next week sometime, but Monarchs are meh right now. I considered a Quickdraw Plants deck like dubkdad1's, but I realized that Quickdraw Plants are still bad. With all of the Gravekeeper's hype, I actually considered Gladiator Beasts. I eventually just went back to Scrap Anti-Stun, since I couldn't really figure out anything else. So yeah.

There weren't many people there today. There were only a few of the better duelists there, which made the tournament pretty easy...

Round 1: vs Six Samurai

-Duel 1: He gained too much advantage off of Gateway of the Six and kept drawing more Six Samurai to use with it.

-Duel 2: I don't remember much, but I just controlled the game and such. So yeah, I won.

-Duel 3: Same as Duel 2.

Round 2: vs Skill Drain

-Duel 1: He dropped Battle Fader when I attacked with Scrap Twin Dragon. On the next turn, I revived Scrap Golem with Monster Reborn, and used it to dump Scrap Goblin on his side of the field. I Normal Summoned Rai-Oh, and punched a mess load of damage through the Goblin. During Main Phase 2, I used Scrap Twin Dragon to bounce it to my hand and remove his Battle Fader. He scooped on my next turn.

-Duel 2: He Monster Reborned my Scrap Twin Dragon, and I kept drawing random Spells/Traps that were no help.

-Duel 3: He wasted half of his cards to summon Jinzo, and I just dropped Cyber Dragon to go for Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. He wasn't too happy about that.

Round 3: vs Gravekeeper's

This was my Round 2 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: He didn't use Royal Tribute, but he locked me down with Necrovalley and a bunch of Traps. It also didn't help that I stopped drawing Spells/Traps a few turns into the duel.

-Duel 2: This time, he did use Royal Tribute, taking my Effect Veiler and my Scrap Beast. It didn't matter much, though, since I was able to pull through with Nobleman of Extermination to remove our Bottomless Trap Holes and Rai-Oh (which I conveniently drew for my turn) backed by Forbidden Chalice to get over his Descendant. I basically controlled the duel from there.

-Duel 3: He used Royal Tribute, again, and I lost two Monsters, again. I was waiting behind an Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy his Necrovalley, but I had to waste it on his Zoma the Spirit; it was his only Monster at the moment, and I wanted to save my Banisher of the Radiance. I was so desperate that I had flipped Book of Moon to protect Banisher from Bottomless Trap Hole. He was so desperate that he used Solemn Judgment to destroy Banisher on its Flip Summon. But, I had just drawn Scrap Beast, so it was okay. I also drew into Zombie World a little after that, so I could get Necrovalley off the field. It also functioned as good fodder for Scrap Dragon, which I was able to summon against his Set Gravekeeper's Spy. I tried to destroy the Spy, but he used Effect Veiler to stop me. He used Book of Moon on my Scrap Dragon when it attacked, but I used Forbidden Chalice on the Spy when he Flip Summoned it. He was left in a terrible position, so I destroyed the Zombie World with Scrap Dragon to clear his Set back row, and he couldn't stop me from going for game.

Round 4: vs Machina Geartown

I was in the finals once again with Yugilo. He recorded the second and third duels, so they'll be up on his channel sometime tomorrow, I assume. As for the first duel, I just ran him through with Scraps and Rai-Oh, which he couldn't get over. I won't ruin the result of the match, but we split the store credit.

Using that, I ended up getting a Shooting Star Dragon tin, but I didn't pull anything worthwhile. The Super Rare E-Hero Ocean and Stardust Dragon are nice, though.

The Turbo Pack 4 that I got was also lackluster. I pulled Swallow Flip, but I gave it to Yugilo since I didn't need it.

So yeah, good tournament today, but it wasn't all that challenging, besides Round 3. I would consider going on Sundays, where there are more and better players, but I would rather get store credit than a booster box.

Additional YCS Atlanta Analysis

Now that the deck lists are up, I can do more in depth analysis.

So, after seeing the Gravekeeper's decks that topped, I see that my initial view of the deck wasn't completely correct. These were Trap-heavy builds that only ran 14 Monsters, three of which were used to search Necrovalley. Of course, Stele helps to get Monsters back, but I'm still surprised that the Gravekeeper's players didn't find themselves constantly running out of Monsters. Yes, Recruiter searches additional Monsters, but the searches run out eventually in a deck like that.

Apparently, "Royal Tribute Control" is a better name for the deck, since Royal Tribute basically did all of the work. Tearing apart your opponent's hand, then knowing what they have left over is a devastating opening play that it's nearly impossible to recover from. Looks like Gemini Imps and Reign-Beaux might see some play again.

That's enough about Gravekeepers, let's discuss (Quickdraw) Plants. Apparently, 13 Plant Synchro decks (which may or may not have used Quickdraw Synchron) topped. That's more than a third of the Top 32. Whether that's because the deck is good/consistent or because so many people played it will have to wait until the Konami Event Coverage Team decides to post the deck spread for the event, which usually occurs the day of the following event. So yeah...

I generally don't like (Quickdraw) Plants. It's just a personal thing, and also because I used to draw terrible hands all the time. So, I'm inclined to hate the deck. But, I just saw dubkdad1's take on the deck, and it looks very solid. I would actually consider making one like it.

Plant Synchro decks are usually too slow, and they can't really fill the Graveyard that quickly. Still, I'm hesitant to use a deck that relies on Dandylion too much. I mean, every play in the deck revolves around Fluff Tokens, so not getting Dandylion means an auto-loss. Sure, there are quite a few ways to search for Dandylion, but if it gets removed, then you can't really do anything about it.

So yeah, besides the four Gravekeeper's decks and 13 Plant Synchro decks, the field was fairly diverse. There were six Blackwing decks, three X-Saber decks, two Lightsworn variants (one straight Lightsworn, the other Zombiesworn), and the rest were one-ofs: Machina Gadgets, Dimensional Eatos, Infernities, and Frog Monarchs.

With that spread, it becomes apparent that Gravekeeper's were able to take advantage of the Graveyard-dependent decks to take the top three spots. Oh, and Royal Tribute probably helped a lot, too.

YCS Atlanta

Before I start talking about Atlanta, let me say that YCS Milan was as expected. The deck that everyone expected to win did win. So yeah.

YCS Atlanta, on the other hand, was a huge upset. Gravekeeper's took the top three spots, as you probably already know. Although Gravekeeper's Recruiter gave them a boost, no one thought that it would be that powerful.

In theory, Gravekeeper's would be a perfect meta call. Necrovalley halts Graveyard-dependent decks, while turning all of the 1500 ATK Gravekeeper's into 2000 ATK beaters. That means that practically all of the prominent decks in the TCG have a bad match-up against Gravekeeper's. The only one that I can think of that doesn't have a bad match-up is Frog Monarchs.

Gladiator Beasts, Blackwings, and Gemini Stun can't get over 2000 ATK very easily, and if they can, it's just a temporary solution. They all can destroy Necrovalley somewhat consistently, but it's easy for the Gravekeeper's player to just drop another one on their turn.

X-Sabers, Debris Plants, Scraps, and Absolute Zero decks lose access to their Graveyards. Half the time, they use Royal Decree over Mystical Space Typhoon, so they can't get rid of Necrovalley without wasting a bunch of cards or finding a way to protect their set-up. The latter is unrealistic, because Gravekeeper's Descendant can rip through a field pretty easily.

Machina Gadgets and Quickdraw Plants don't rely on the Graveyard as much, since they can Special Summon big Monsters from the hand, essentially. They aren't hurt as badly by Necrovalley, since Gadgets don't care if they die, and Quickdraw Synchron gives easy access to Junk Destroyer or tribute fodder for Caius. Dandylion also helps.

Basically, decks that drop big Monsters from the hand have a good chance against Gravekeeper's. Their Trap line-up is generally thin, since they devote a lot of the deck to the Gravekeeper's Monsters. That gives decks like Six Samurai or Karakuri a good match-up against them, theoretically, of course.

Or, it could have just been a fluke. Either way, it's time to start Main Decking Mystical Space Typhoon again, if you were silly enough to take them out in the first place.

2K Tournament Report 11/20/10

There was a 2K tournament today, so I decided to go. I met up with vadangchoinga and kisforkapono pretty early, and we took some duel videos, so those will be uploaded in a few days or so.

Anyway, I was using my Scrap Anti-Stun build. I changed it a little, running Royal Decrees in the Main Deck. I still have mixed feelings about them.

Round 1: vs Scraps - XOO

-This was my Round 3 opponent from this tournament. That meant REVENGE. So yeah. He drew the Golem/Goblin loop first game. We both drew all-Monster hands second game, but mine was better. The only Scrap Monsters he drew third game were Scrap Golems.

Round 2: vs Macro Stun - XOO

-This was my Round 6 opponent from this tournament. He drew his perfect set-up first game, but I beat him down the next two games, with the help of Forbidden Chalice. The universe always seems to make it so that I beat him.

Round 3: vs X-Sabers - OXX

-I just controlled him in the first duel, but he drew broken Faultroll combos all three games. This guy ended up getting into the Top 8.

Round 4: vs Six Samurai - OO

-He didn't draw Gateway first game, so I won. He drew two Gateways (not at the same time) during the second duel, but I destroyed them with Scrap Dragons.

Round 5: vs Debris Plants - XX

-He drew amazingly both games. I actually drew my sided cards in the second game, but he had outs to all of them.

After that round, I went out to the vendor to buy some Starstrike Blast packs. My Round 4 opponent claimed that the top pack on the right side of the box had a Glow-Up Bulb in it. I bought it, and sure enough, it did. I pulled an Ultimate Rare Glow-Up Bulb. That made my day.

Round 6: vs Stun - OO

-I play Scrap ANTI-STUN. Enough said.

Round 7: vs Blackwings - OO

-In the first duel, he had complete control with four back rows. I topped Summoner Monk with Cyber Dragon on the field. I played Giant Trunade, putting his field back into his hand, then I summoned the Monk and used its effect to discard my last card (Mind Control) and get Scrap Beast. He was at 5100 LP, so I Synchro Summoned Red Dragon Archfiend for game. I usually lose the first game to Blackwings, but pulling a win out of nowhere was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and Forbidden Chalice stopped his Dark Armed Dragon play in the second duel.

So, I went 5-2 and got 12th place. Even though I didn't win any money, I won three Starstrike Blast packs. One of them had a Formula Synchron, so that was nice. The ironic part was that I traded for two Formula Synchrons beforehand, so now I have four.

The reason why I traded for them is because I'm starting to get bored of Scraps. So, I picked up some cards for new decks. The Glow-Up Bulb was the last card I needed for a Debris Plant deck, and I picked up some Karakuri stuff, since I'm considering making a Karakuri variant. I'm not sure what else to make, though. Nothing really stands out.

So yeah. Even though I didn't Top 8, it was a pretty good day overall.

Scrap Zombies

I've been bogged down with stuff for the past few days, but that's all over for about two weeks. So, yay.

I'm planning on attending a big tournament this Saturday, and I've been trying to fix up my Scrap deck to cover its main weakness (lack of non-Tuners) and to enable it to fight against the new decks that Starstrike Blast will bring.

So, I was thinking about Zombies. Mixing the old Zombie engine from a year ago with Scraps could potentially work well. Goblin Zombie is a great Level 4 non-Tuner that's also a floater, enabling +1 Synchros and such. Moreover, it's searchable by Mystic Tomato, which was the main concept back in the day.

Although it would seem pointless, there is a good reason to use Scrap Beast as the primary Tuner. It would allow for free Scrap Dragons through Scrap Chimera. It also makes Scrap Dragon a bigger threat, because it can revive a Scrap when it's destroyed.

The problem I have with this idea is that Zombies are generally weak by themselves and die really easily. So, it'll be hard to keep them on the field. Sure, Mezuki and Book of Life can revive them, but I'm probably not going to get that opportunity more than once per duel.

Also, I don't like the fact that some of my Monsters (Mystic Tomato) have to die in battle to get their effects. Sure, it was good two years ago when Shura and Flamvell Firedog didn't exist. But now they do exist, so yeah.

I'll still look into this idea, though, since it seems like it's worth trying. But, I probably won't be able to refine it in time for this weekend.

Tournament Report 11/13/10

So, I took my Scrap Anti-Stun deck to locals, again. I'm trying to make it so that it's not Anti-Stun anymore, but the fact that half of the people at my locals play Stun makes that hard. Maybe after Starstrike Blast, I'll make the deck a little faster.

Speaking of which, this was the last week before Starstrike Blast is legal. So, I couldn't use my Scrap Twin Dragon, yet. But, it also meant that (Quickdraw) Plants didn't have Glow-Up Bulb and Formula Synchron. Even so, my first match was against...

Round 1: vs Quickdraw Plants

This was my Round 4 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: He milled a bunch with Card Trooper, but it didn't help much against my Scrap Dragon.

-Duel 2: He top-decked Debris Dragon when I was at 2600 LP. He used Giant Trunade to clear my back row, then Synchro Summoned Black Rose Dragon using Debris Dragon and Dandylion, and Brionac, using Spore and the tokens. He switched my Scrap Goblin to Attack Position and attacked through it for game.

-Duel 3: Zombie World prevented him from using Lonefire Blossom or Caius, as planned. He finally got rid of it after Cyber Dragon beat him down to 2100 LP. Time was called, and he was down to his last turn. He dropped Lonefire Blossom, but Effect Veiler negated its effect (he tried to tribute a Fluff Token). He scooped, since his hand was Tytannial, Caius, Card Trooper, and some random Spell.

Round 2: vs Lightsworn

-Duel 1: He started with Charge of the Light Brigade, searching for Garoth, meaning that he had Lumina in hand. Sure enough, he summoned them both, milled a Wulf, and drew a card off of Garoth. I was able to hold him off with Scrap Goblin, Scrap Dragon, and Forbidden Chalice for a while, but he dropped Judgment Dragon and killed me. And he only had one card left in his deck, too...

-Duel 2: He drew badly, and I controlled the game with Scrap Dragon and Rai-Oh.

-Duel 3: Same as the previous duel, except he actually got to drop Judgment Dragon. It was okay, though, since I had Scrap Dragon out and a Bottomless Trap Hole Set.

Round 3: vs Scraps

This was the Scrap player from these videos.

-Duel 1: He dropped Scrap Dragon on the first turn with Summoner Monk. I tried to use Mind Control, but he used Scrapstorm. I Normal Summoned Scrap Beast, he used Bottomless Trap Hole, and I activated Scrapstorm. On my next turn, I Synchro Summoned Naturia Beast. "That's a slap to the face," he said, since his hand consisted of mostly Spells, including Giant Trunade, Monster Reborn, and Mind Control. I Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon a little later to seal the game.

-Duel 2: He drew a bunch of Traps, and I had sided out my Anti-Stun cards. Moreover, I drew all Monsters, so I couldn't go on the offensive.

-Duel 3: I had control of the duel with Rai-Oh, but he dropped Gorz and Giant Trunade to get rid of it. Later, he dropped Tragoedia, and I had a tough time getting rid of the Goyo Guardian he Synchro Summoned. I had to waste a Book of Moon to turn it face-down and attack over it with Cyber Dragon. However, he Special Summoned his own Cyber Dragon to fuse for Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. I got beat down by it for a few turns, but I finally top-decked Monster Reborn to steal his Goyo Guardian. Unfortunately, he he killed it with Divine Wrath, and top-decked Scrap Beast to take out the rest of my LP.

It was disappointing to lose, since I had been winning for the past few weeks. But, no one can win all the time. Besides, I still had a chance at some store credit.

Round 4: vs Watts

This was my Round 2 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: I got killed by double Honest. I also drew pretty badly.

-Duel 2: I drew badly again, but I kept pushing through damage with Scrap Beast and Cyber Dragon. I was able to win without Synchros, which happens more often than you'd think.

-Duel 3: My hand was actually good, so I was able to mow him down with Scrap Dragons.

That ended up being the last round, so I went 3-1 and got 4th place. Because of that, I got enough store credit to get an Infernity Avenger and a pack of sleeves. I'm planning on making a deck with an Infernity engine, like I referenced to in my last post, so that's why I got the Avenger.

So yeah, today was pretty good. I was planning on getting a Shooting Star Dragon tin if I got 1st place, but that'll have to wait.

Random Stuff #21

Storm of Ragnarok is out in the OCG, so everyone's going crazy over the True Six Samurai. I'll post on them later, once I actually see what they can do. I just have a feeling that they'll be terrible without Gateway, so I'm not going to hype them up too much, yet.

Being a TCG player, I'm more worried about (Quickdraw) Plants now that Starstrike Blast has been released. The deck isn't that good, but when it draws well, it wins. Kind of like Infernities, except better.

So, I'm going to be siding Zombie World and Vanity's Emptiness against them. They also work against Frog Monarchs, which may pick back up again, due to Formula Synchron.

Speaking of which, I'm trying to find a way to abuse Formula Synchron outside of (Quickdraw) Plants. I'm thinking about an Infernity engine with Dandylions or something. I just need to figure out some good Level 1 Tuners and non-Tuners that could work together. Usually, it's Glow-Up Bulb and Fluff Tokens, but I'd rather not play (Quickdraw) Plants. I do like the deck, it's just really susceptible to terrible hands.

Scrap Twin Dragon is a lot better than I thought. I might try to find room for a second one, but it doesn't seem like more than one is necessary for my Anti-Stun variant. It's too bad that my area is full of Stun decks. If it wasn't, I could actually play a faster Scrap variant.

Lastly, I've been thinking about running a deck with ten "draw 1" cards (Legacy of Yata Garasu, Jar of Greed, Upstart Goblin, and Pot of Duality). It essentially makes the deck 30 cards, but it can lag for a turn or two because a bunch of those "draw 1" cards are Traps. Either way, it would make the deck more consistent. I'm going to try it out and see what happens.

Starstrike Blast Sneak Preview

Aki wasn't able to come, which was sad. Riku was there, though.

The holos I pulled were Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana, which will go into Aki's Dragunity deck, and an Ultimate Rare Supreme Arcanite Magician, which was nice. I like Miracle Synchro Fusion, so I might find a way to use it.

Anyways, I scoured the area for Scrap Twin Dragons. The only person who had it was planning on making a Scrap deck, so I couldn't get it off of him. So, I gave up and decided to duel someone.

He was running Hopeless Dragon, and we played one match without siding. I lost the first game since he swarmed me too quickly. I was able to win the other two duels, though. During the first duel, someone pulled a Scrap Twin Dragon and offered to sell it to me since he knew I needed it. I bought it off of him for a price higher than I would've normally paid, but other people were trying to get it off of him, and it was an Ultimate Rare.

Then, I was able to trade an extra Scrap Chimera to the guy who was planning on making a Scrap deck. I wanted his Formula Synchron, but he only had one. He traded for another one a few minutes later, and traded it to me for the Scrap Chimera.

Next, I played a match without siding against the guy who sold me the Scrap Twin Dragon. He was running straight Flamvells. He kept drawing only Tuners and no Flamvell Firedogs, so I was able to win pretty easily.

I then played two matches against the guy who was planning on making a Scrap deck. He was running Naturias with cards from Duel Terminal 3. I won the first match 2-0, since I kept drawing Scrap Chimeras and got up my Scrap Golem loop. I wasn't as lucky in the second match, but I still won 2-1. The end of the second match was pretty cool.

I had bounced his Naturia Pineapple earlier with Scrap Twin Dragon. He Set it and three back rows. On my turn, I Normal Summoned Scrap Chimera, but he negated its effect with Royal Oppression, paying down to 2600 LP. So, I used Mind Control on his Set Pineapple and destroyed it with Scrap Twin Dragon to bounce his two Set back rows. I can see why Scrap Twin Dragon is good.

Next, I played against someone I met at this Regional. I hadn't played against him before, but I knew him because I had traded him a Solemn Warning. Anyways, we played six duels, three without siding and three with. He ran Lightsworn, and we each won three duels. After that, he left, but he came back after a little bit, and we dueled another match. That time, he used Machina Gadgets with Solidarity and Ultimate Offering. I was able to win that one 2-1.

That was all I did at the Sneak Preview. All of the duels were fun, and using Scrap Twin Dragon for the first time was pretty cool. Most of all, I'm glad that Starstrike Blast didn't break any decks, so the meta should be the same as it is now, more or less.

Starstrike Blast Sneak Preview... Preview

I stopped by the card shop to get some Starstrike Blast packs, and hopefully Scrap Twin Dragon(s).

Out of my packs, the holos I pulled were Karakuri Ninja mdl 339 "Sazank" and Power Giant. Sazank is nice, and I wouldn't mind keeping it. Power Giant was so prevalent from what I was seeing; half of the people I talked to had one. It's not surprising that the worst Ultra Rare in the set was the easiest to get...

I got a Scrap Searcher, Scrap Lube, and Scrap Soldier. They're nice to have, not that I plan on using them. I also pulled a decent amount of Karakuri stuff, so I might eventually make a Karakuri deck.

Apparently, only two people there pulled Scrap Twin Dragon. The person I saw who pulled it said that he needed it for his deck. Why are so many people playing Scraps now?

I was able to trade two Common Watt Monsters for a Vanity's Emptiness. That was pretty nice. No one even knows what it does, so no one knows how good it is, yet... I'm planning to use it in my Scrap deck when it becomes legal, so I'll see how that works out.

I was only there for about 15 minutes, so I didn't really do much. I'll be going there tomorrow with Aki, though. So, yeah.

Scrap Searcher...

...cannot activate its effect during the Damage Step.

Therefore, it cannot activate when another Scrap is destroyed by battle.

Therefore, it can only be used in situational combos with Scrap (Twin) Dragon, Scrap Mind Reader, or Scrapstorm.

Therefore, it should not be used outside of a deck that abuses Scrap Mind Reader.

Therefore, it should not be used in a good Scrap deck.

Therefore, it is bad.

Starstrike Blast

I think that it's a great set, overall. More on that later.

Anyways, I'm discussing the set today because the rarities have recently been confirmed. So, onto the cards I'm looking for:

-Glow-Up Bulb (I could try it out in various decks...)

-Scrap Searcher (see the above post...)

-Supreme Arcanite Magician (it's nice to have)

-Formula Synchron

-Red Nova Dragon (no Shooting Star, how sad)

-SCRAP TWIN DRAGON!

-Koa'ki Ring (it's a Koa'ki Meiru card...)

-Red Screen (lame name change...)

-Vanity's Emptiness (it's good in decks that can't use Oppression)

-Scrap Mind Reader (only if I pull it or get a good deal)

-Gravekeeper's Recruiter (it's nice to have)

-Psi-Blocker (again, nice to have)

-Koa'ki Meiru Wall (makes Rock-based Koa'ki Meiru decks viable)

-Genex Ally Duradark (it's a Genex)

-Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana (awesome in the Dragunity deck)

-Genex Ally Axel (a nice option to have for a Genex deck)

Besides those cards that I would like to have, I wouldn't mind pulling some of the other cards in the set, like the Karakuris or some of the stand-alone Spells.

So, the best thing about Starstrike Blast is that it has some nice cards for everyone, but nothing is broken, which will keep the balanced meta that we have right now relatively the same. Quickdraw Plants and Lightsworn decks might become slightly more popular, but they're still not all that great.

This set helps my Scrap deck a little bit, with Scrap Twin Dragon. I hadn't really known it before, but Scrap Twin Dragon can help a lot. I might even find space for two of them in my Extra Deck.

It's quite lucky that nothing that I need is going to be too expensive. Scrap Twin Dragon won't cost more than $15, and I'm not exactly dying to get the other holos. Also, much of the stuff I want is Commons and Rares. The only thing I'm worried about is Formula Synchron, since it's really hyped right now. Still, it's a Rare, so it shouldn't be too hard to pull.

Scrap Mind Reader

It's decent, but it's not all that great. So, it's not surprising that all of the people who don't play Scraps are hyping it up.

The most referenced combo is the one that ends with Scrap Chimera in hand plus a draw from Formula Synchron. You're supposed to have a Scrap Tuner on the field to destroy with Scrap Mind Reader, allowing you to revive it and Scrap Searcher. You would use the Scrap Tuner's effect to get Scrap Chimera back to your hand, then Synchro Summon Formula Synchron.

That requires a completely filled Graveyard, with Scrap Mind Reader, Scrap Searcher, and Scrap Chimera. Having a Scrap Tuner in hand or on the field isn't very hard, so I'm excluding that. But setting up the Graveyard without wasting a bunch of Normal Summons or drawing into the cards you want in the Graveyard is hard. Sure, Scraps have Scrapstorm, but you normally don't put Scrap Searcher or Scrap Mind Reader in the Graveyard with it. It also requires a Scrap to throw away.

Honestly, if you're lucky enough to be able to fill your Graveyard that quickly, just play Flamvells. You'd get more Synchros out of one Rekindling.

The second argument for why Scrap Mind Reader is good is that it's Level 1, so you can pair it with Scrap Golem. Yeah, you can revive it with Scrap Golem's effect and go for a generic Level 6 Synchro or Naturia Barkion, but wouldn't you rather have a Scrap (Twin) Dragon? When that Scrap Dragon is destroyed, you get to revive Scrap Golem and start the whole thing again. Scrap Synchros are the top priority in a Scrap deck, so you don't want to break your loop just for a Goyo Guardian or Brionac. Besides, if you are going for game, Scrap (Twin) Dragon would most likely be a better way to accomplish that.

Scrap Mind Reader is a nice option to have, but it's nothing more than a weaker Scrapstorm that requires a Graveyard set-up. The only upside is that it leaves you with a Monster on the field.

While I'm talking about Scraps, I might as well say that if you find yourself running out of Scrap Dragons in your Extra Deck, you're doing something wrong. It shouldn't take that many Scrap Dragons to win.

Random Stuff #20

I'm not sure where to start. I guess that works.

I've realized that Pot of Duality is much better than I thought. On the other hand, every time I drew the card was in the first two turns of the duel. That's generally when Special Summoning isn't necessary. Either way, it's a better top-deck than Gold Sarcophagus when I'm about to lose.

Some people I know are starting to use Forbidden Chalice. It's kind of weird, since now I have to watch out for it. And, it's such a versatile card that it's hard to play around it completely. At least it's easier to read than Effect Veiler.

I decided to forgo getting a Scrap Mind Reader at the Sneak Preview, since it's probably a Secret Rare that will cost a mess load of money. If it turns out to be good, I'll get it afterwards. I also realized that Scrap Searcher isn't as amazing as it could be. I e-mailed Konami for a ruling, since the OCG rulings didn't cover whether or not it can activate in the Damage Step. If it can't, then it's almost worthless. I'll have to see if I get a response. Either way, it's hard enough to get them into the Graveyard consistently without drawing them...

Since I'm going to be saving money on those unnecessary Scrap cards, I decided to go out and get Kirby's Epic Yarn. It's a bit underwhelming in the beginning, but it looks like it's be worth the money I spent on it.

The only card I'm completely set on getting at the Sneak Preview is Scrap Twin Dragon. Once the rarities are revealed, I'll make a post on what exactly will be worth getting.