Yugilo Format

As I said in my previous post, I'm trying to revive this format at my locals.  So, this post is more oriented towards people who go to my locals, but it might be an interesting idea for others to try out as well.

So, if you went to my locals when Yugilo was still playing, you might remember that he made his own format for his friends to play in for fun.  It was basically a budget format, since you could only play Commons and Rares, essentially.  It's a little more complicated than that, but it still is pretty simple.

First of all, you couldn't play any cards that were on the Forbidden, Limited, or Semi-Limited lists.  Basically, if the card isn't at three, it's banned in this format.  Therefore, you can only play cards that are Unlimited.  However, there's a twist.  You can only play one of each card in your deck.  So, while any card that isn't at three is banned, most cards that are at three at Limited in this format.

Furthermore, your Main Deck can only consist of Common cards.  So basically, your deck would be forty (or more) different Commons.  Like, Common Common; no Duel Terminal Common or anything like that.  There is no Side Deck.

As for the Extra Deck, it can only consist of Commons, Rares, or holos that were in Starter Decks.  So you can use stuff like your Super Rare X-Saber Wayne from the third 5D's Starter Deck or your Ultra Rare Number 39: Utopia from the Xyz Starter Deck, along with any Commons and Rares.  As with the Main Deck, you can only use one of each card, which means that you should have a lot of space for random stuff that you might not even be able to use, like Baby Tiragon.

And, this should go without saying, but I want to say it just in case, only TCG cards would be legal.  So even though the OCG has stuff like Common Pot of Duality and Wind-Up Zenmaines, we can't be using any of that.

Back when this format was still around at my locals, there wasn't that much we could do with it.  I remember Yugilo used something having to do with Beasts or something, and JB had a Normal Monster-based deck.  My deck was just a "good stuff" deck with some Genex cards, some Psychic cards, some Yusei Tuners (Junk Synchron/Debris Dragon/Quickdraw Synchron), a Frog engine, and some Monarchs.

Now that a bunch of new sets and Xyz Monsters have been released, the format should be much more interesting.  And with the new Legendary Collection and Ra Yellow Mega Pack, some themes that weren't viable before, like E-HEROes would be possible.

So, even though we have a horrible format to look forward to for the next six months (or at least three, until the Battle Pack comes out and Sealed Play is official), we'll be able to look forward to some fun games in the Yugilo format.  That is, if you guys decide to join in.  All it takes is for you to dig up some Commons and make a deck out of them; perhaps your Sakuretsu Armor and Bait Doll will finally be of use...

Tournament Report 2/25/12

So, this would be the last tournament for the format for me, not that the ban list is going to change the format in any way... I could literally take my Scrap Worms to locals next week and it would be exactly the same as it was this week.  So yeah...

There were 19 players today, but quite a few of them were little kids.

Round 1: vs Newbie Agent Fairies

Oh right, this deck got killed by the ban list.  So yeah, I guess I won't have to worry about this next format...

-Duel 1: I didn't draw any Scrap cards and died to a double Hyperion rush with Return from the Different Dimension...
-Duel 2: I killed him pretty quickly with Scrap Twin Dragon.
-Duel 3: He went first and opened with Valhalla and Kristya... I just summoned Scrap Beast and Set two back rows.  He attacked with Kristya, and I used Scrapstorm to grab my Scrap Goblin to stall.  Next turn, he tributed Kristya for Tethys, then used Monster Reborn on the Kristya.  I had to use my Solemn Warning to negate the Monster Reborn, and he attacked to flip my Goblin.  From there, I was able to take control with Mind Control and Scrap Chimera.

Round 2: vs Tengu Plants

This was my Round 3 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: I opened with a really powerful hand of Worm Xex, Scrapyard, Mind Control, Fiendish Chain, and two Scrap Chimeras.  He made a couple of Synchros using Reborn Tengu and Glow-Up Bulb, but I bounced one with Worm Yagan and stole the other with Mind Control to make Scrap Twin Dragon.  His Main Decked Compulsory Evacuation Device bounced it a turn later, but I had the Chimeras to make Scrap Dragon and keep control of the game.
-Duel 2: The only Monsters I drew were Effect Veilers and Worm Yagans.  I was able to hold off his Tengus for a bit with a Yagan, then bounce the Stardust Dragon he made with the other Yagan, but I couldn't deal with his Utopia and died.
-Duel 3: I opened with a Set Worm Yagan and a couple back rows.  He Set a couple back rows and passed.  We went draw-pass-draw-pass for a couple of turns, then I summoned the only Scrap card I drew, Scrap Chimera to poke for some damage.  He banished it with Dimensional Prison after a turn.  He then used Foolish Burial to dump Dandylion, then summoned Spore.  He made Formula Synchron, then stole my Worm Yagan with Mind Control to make Gaia Knight.  I took its attack directly, then played Dark Hole on my turn.  I Set the Gozen Match I drew and ended.  He summoned Spirit Reaper and attacked.  My hand was Monster Reborn and Mind Control, so I wasted my Compulsory Evacuation Device to protect my cards.  But, then he flipped his Set Call of the Haunted to revive his Gaia Knight and attack directly.  I summoned Worm Xex, but he bounced it with Compulsory Evacuation Device so I couldn't revive Yagan.  So, I played my Mind Control and Monster Reborn, stealing his Gaia Knight and Formula Synchron, respectively, to make Scrap Dragon.  I attacked him to drop him down to 3400 LP.  He summoned Lonefire Blossom and tributed it to get Glow-Up Bulb in Defense Position and ended.  I summoned Worm Xex and  Set the MST I just drew.  I targeted my MST and his Glow-Up Bulb with Scrap Dragon's effect, forcing his Effect Veiler.  I attacked over the Bulb with Xex, then directly with Scrap Dragon.  He summoned Spirit Reaper, then activated Spore's effect.  I Chained Gozen Match, sacrificing my Worm Xex to seal the duel.

Round 3: vs Inzektors

This was my Round 2 opponent from this tournament, AquaBass of Dueling Network.

-Duel 1: He started with a Set Monster and some back row.  I searched Scrap Beast with Scrapyard and summoned it.  I attacked to kill his Inzektor Hornet, then Set a back row.  He summoned Inzektor Centipede, which I banished with Bottomless Trap Hole.  I poked for a little more damage using Worm Yagan and Scrap Beast, then Synchro Summoned Stardust Dragon and Set a Trap.  He summoned Inzektor Dragonfly, and I flipped Solemn Warning.  He then revived it with Monster Reborn, but I negated its effect with Effect Veiler.  He was stuck, and I was able to keep pushing with the Stardust Dragon to take the duel.

Since I had won the first duel, I decided to try an interesting Side Deck tactic, which was to side out my whole Worm engine.  I mean, the Scraps do pretty well against Inzektors since I have Scrapstorm to dodge Hornet, while the Worms are basically just non-Tuners that are there.

-Duel 2: He opened with Tour Guide for Sangan and ended.  My hand was kind of weird; something like Cyber Dragon, Scrap Goblin, Scrap Orthros, Effect Veiler, Bottomless Trap Hole, and something else.  I was able to make Stardust Dragon with the first two cards, then Set the Bottomless.  He held out behind the Sangan for a while, since I didn't want him searching the Hornet.  But eventually he Duality'd into it.  I used Bottomless on his Centipede, but he summoned Dragonfly, which I negated with Veiler.  He then dropped Dark Armed Dragon, then flipped Fiendish Chain on my Stardust Dragon, letting him destroy my Set back row safely.  I Chained it to Dark Armed Dragon's effect, however, using Compulsory Evacuation Device to send it back to his hand.  Then, I made Brionac using my Scrap Goblin, courtesy of Monster Reborn, and his Inzektor Dragonfly, courtesy of Mind Control.  I decided to attack over his Sangan and let him search his Dragonfly, since I had a Set Crevice Into the Different Dimension to deal with the Hornet.  But, he used Dark Hole before summoning the Dragonfly.  Crevice banished his Hornet and other Dragonfly.  Unfortunately, my last card was Scrap Orthros, and I kept drawing summon response Traps, so I died slowly to his bunch of 1000 ATK wienies...
-Duel 3: I opened with two Dust Tornadoes, Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, Effect Veiler, Scrap Beast, and Scrapstorm.  It was looking up, as I summoned the Scrap Beast and Set Scrapstorm and one Dust Tornado.  He Set two cards and ended.  I destroyed one of them in the End Phase with Dust Tornado and used its second effect to Set my second Dust Tornado.  I attacked directly with Scrap Beast for a little damage, then ended.  He played Dark Hole, to which I Chained Scrapstorm to grab a Scrap Chimera.  Then he summoned Inzektor Centipede to poke.  I summoned Scrap Chimera to revive Scrap Beast, then ran over his Centipede and made Scrap Dragon.  He Duality'd into Tour Guide, then Set another back row and ended.  I destroyed the newly Set card with Dust Tornado and Set my Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror with its second effect.  I Set a Scrap Beast from my hand to target with the Dragon's effect to destroy one of his two remaining back rows, which he Chained: Fiendish Chain.  I just ended.  He summoned the Tour Guide, and I Chained Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror to its effect.  He negated my Mirror with Solemn Judgment, then Special Summoned the second Tour Guide to make Wind-Up Zenmaines and attack over my Set Scrap Beast.  He Set another back row, I topped Cyber Dragon.  I Tribute Set it over my Scrap Dragon, then fused it with his Wind-Up Zenmaines for Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.  He used his Solemn Warning to negate its summon, dropping down to 350 LP.  I had most of my LP left with Mind Control, Dark Hole, and two Effect Veilers in hand, so I was feeling pretty good.  He Duality'd into Hornet and Set it.  I drew and summoned Scrap Goblin.  Mind Control took the Hornet so that I could Synchro into Brionac, and I attacked for game.

Round 4: vs Wind-Ups

This was my Round 5 opponent from this tournament.  Because there were so few players here today, this would be the finals.  And, because the prizes weren't too major, we decided to just play for it.

-Duel 1: I won my first dice roll of the day and Set Worm Yagan and a couple back rows.  He Set a Monster and a couple back rows.  Mystical Space Typhoon destroyed one of them in the End Phase, and I used Mind Control to steal his Wind-Up Magician.  I searched Scrap Beast with Scrapyard and made Stardust Dragon, attacking directly for 2500 damage.  I Set a second back row and ended.  He used his Set MST to try and destroy the card I had just Set after he drew for his turn; I negated with Stardust Dragon.  He summoned another Wind-Up Magician, then activated Wind-Up Shark from his hand.  I Chained Fiendish Chain to negate his Magician's effect, forcing him to overlay for Utopia.  He declined to attack, expecting the Worm Yagan, so I just revived Stardust in his End Phase and took my turn.  I Flip Summoned the Yagan, but he negated its effect with Veiler.  So, I just summoned Scrap Chimera to revive Scrap Beast and make Scrap Dragon to destroy his Utopia.  He scooped at that.
-Duel 2: I opened with a really awkward hand of two Worm Xex, Scrap Beast, Effect Veiler, and some other Monster (it might've been another Scrap Beast or Veiler...).  He went first and Set a couple of back rows.  I used the MST I drew on his Set Bottomless Trap Hole, then summoned a Worm Xex, sending Yagan to the Graveyard and reviving it.  I attacked directly and ended.  He Set a Monster and ended.  I attacked with Xex to flip his Wind-Up Magician, then sent it back to his hand with Yagan and overlaid for Utopia.  He negated Utopia's summon with Solemn Warning, so I summoned my second Worm Xex, using its effect to dump the third Xex from my deck.  He used Crevice Into the Different Dimension to banish a Xex and Yagan in the grave to prevent me from reviving Yagan again, and I ended.  He Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, attacked Xex, and Set a Monster.  I drew Maxx "C" and Set Scrap Beast.  He attacked again and Set another Monster.  I topped and summoned Scrap Chimera, but it got destroyed by his Solemn Warning.  He summoned Sangan, Flip Summoned Tour Bus from the Underworld, and overlaid them for Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity.  He then played Wind-Up Factory and activated Zenmaity's effect.  He thought that Factory's effect Chained to Zenmaity's effect so that he could search Shark, then Special Summon it, but I explained to him why this was not the case.  So, I Chained Maxx "C", and he ended up Special Summoning Wind-Up Rabbit and searching Shark with Factory.  I drew a card for Maxx "C", then he sent my Scrap Beast back to my deck with Tour Bus' effect.  He attacked to flip my Scrap Goblin, but didn't want me getting back my Chimera, so he stopped there.  He left out his Zenmaity and Cyber Dragon, so I fused them for my Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.  I entered my Battle Phase and he assumed that I wanted to attack his Wind-Up Rabbit.  I instead attacked his Set Monster, which was obviously the Wind-Up Magician I had bounced earlier, then he said that he wanted to use Effect Veiler on my Chimeratech, so I would be back in Main Phase 1.  I Tribute Summoned Cyber Dragon using the Chimeratech, then attacked over his Magician anyways.  Then I Set a Solemn Warning and Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon.  I used its effect with priority to destroy his Factory and my Warning, playing around the Rabbit's effect.  He summoned Wind-Up Shark, reduced its Level, and overlaid for Wind-Up Zenmaines. He then played Dark Hole.  I had to think a bit to understand his intentions; he wanted to destroy Scrap Dragon, then the Scrap I would revive by using Zenmaines in the End Phase.  So, I Chained Effect Veiler to Dark Hole, negating Zenmaines' effect.  His Zenmaines died and I got back my Chimera.  Over the next few turns, he just drew a bunch of random useless back row, and I poked him four times with Scrap Chimera for game.

Random note: If you end up reading this, Wind-Up guy, then here's a link describing the whole situation with Effect Veiler.  I link to the second page because the first page is just them arguing about the ambiguity of the rulebook; the answers to the main questions are on the second page, and it is an interesting read if any of you who want to learn a little more about how the Phases work.

So, I ended up going undefeated and getting 1st place!  So I guess that Scraps are somewhat viable for this format, seeing as how people at my locals don't seem to have Maxx "C"s.  Personally, I'm thinking about selling my play-set, since that would net quite a bit of money, and it doesn't really help my Scraps that much...

So yeah, I got a bit of store credit and ended up buying Inzektor Exa-Beetle and Wind-Up Arsenal Zenmaioh with it.  Not bad, seeing as how they're both good generic Xyz.  I'm thinking about buying a box of ORCS Special Edition, but it honestly just seems like a waste, since I don't really want to play any themes from ORCS anymore, and I still have my five Effect Veilers...

Hmm, so I'll basically have a bunch of money to spend with nothing to spend it on.  No, I'm not going to waste money on Tour Guides or Wind-Ups.  I was thinking Inzektors, but playing against them showed me how bad they can be.  I do have a nearly-full Infernity deck (missing one Mirage, one Barrier, and one Dark Grepher), but I don't want to take it to tournaments until I learn how to use it properly.  Perhaps HEROes will be a good choice once the Premium Collection Tin comes out.  We'll see, I guess...

Honestly, I feel like using another mish-mash deck that can use Rank 5 Xyz for some reason... Eh, we'll see what happens.

Oh, by the way, for everyone who comes to my locals, I want to revive the Yugilo format.  I'll post about it later this week, so yeah.

EDIT: I have scheduled the Yugilo format post to go up in a couple days.  I wanted to write it now while I had the time, but I didn't want to double post or anything like that... So yeah, you'll have to wait until then for that.

Tournament Report 2/19/12

So, I went to locals today with a revamped version of my Scrap Worms.  I added Gozen Matches to the Side Deck and changed the Main Deck a little bit.

There were about 50 players there today, but at least half of them were newbs.

Round 1: vs Karakuri

-Duel 1: I dropped Gorz early, but then he Synchro Summoned Karakuri Shogun mdl 00X "Bureido" and Naturia Barkion and beat me down a bit.  I Special Summoned Cyber Dragon, then used Monster Reborn on my Scrap Beast.  I Special Summoned Scrap Orthros, then Chained Scrapstorm to its effect.  I sent Scrap Goblin to the Graveyard and destroyed the Orthros to add a Scrap Chimera from my grave to my hand.  I Normal Summoned the Chimera to Special Summon the Goblin, then played Mind Control to steal his Barkion and Synchro up to Scrap Twin Dragon.  I then fused my Cyber Dragon with his Bureido to make Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.  1600 + 1700 + 2000 + 3000 = 8300 damage.
-Duel 2: I just made a Scrap Dragon and he couldn't deal with it.  That's why Scraps are good.

Round 2: vs Wind-Ups

This guy said that he remembered dueling me before when he was using Quickdraw Plants a long time ago.  He was familiar, but I didn't really remember.  Anyways, he's not a very good player, to say the least.  He dropped Gorz in game one and swarmed with Wind-Ups to kill me while I kept drawing random Spells/Traps.  I won game two after he looped me because I had dropped Maxx "C" and he still went for his combo.  I had drawn eight cards and just beat him up in a couple turns.  And because he took so long to think through simple plays, our third duel would be sudden death.  I lost to Magic Cylinder.

Round 3: vs Six Samurai

This was my Round 4 opponent from this tournament.  He had gotten a little better since last time, but he was still pretty bad.  But...

-Duel 1: I opened with no Monsters and did not draw any Monsters for many successive turns.  He just kept swarming, and while I was able to simplify the game with some Traps, his Monsters eventually overwhelmed me.
-Duel 2: I opened with a Set Scrap Beast and a couple back rows.  He started with Gateway, and searched Elder with Smoke Signal.  I dropped Maxx "C" preemptively, and he still pushed through with his Shi En.  He didn't have much back row, and after topping Scrap Chimera, I was able to control the duel with Scrap Dragon.
-Duel 3: He opened with Dojo, Elder, and Asceticism to make Shi En and Special Summon a Kagemusha to protect it.  I Set Worm Yagan and a couple of bluffs; I hadn't drawn any Traps.  He used Reinforce Truth and Elder (courtesy of Monster Reborn) to make Catastor, then pushed over my Worm Yagan.  I targeted Shi En with its effect, but he used Kagemusha's effect to redirect the target.  He then summoned the Kagemusha in his Main Phase 2 to protect Shi En again.  I summoned Worm Xex to Special Summon a Yagan and attack over the Kagemusha.  It didn't really matter, though, since he flipped Double-Edged Sword Technique on his turn and had the Magatama to protect it from my Warning.

So, I had just lost to two relatively bad players just because their decks carried them through their duels.  I guess that's what next format is going to be like... I considered dropping, but there would be three more rounds, so I'd just be sitting there for a few more hours doing nothing.  I wanted to record some duels for YouTube, but it would've been kind of awkward, since not many of my friends were there, and it'd be weird to just ask random people.  I was able to record one duel, though.

Round 4: vs Newbie HERO/Gem-Knights

I didn't even make Scrap Dragon.  I just beat him up with Utopia.

Round 5: vs Gladiator Beasts

This was my Round 3 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: He opened with Equeste and a couple back rows.  I played Scrapyard, searching and summoning Scrap Beast.  I played another Scrapyard after the summon was successful to add an Orthros to my hand.  He didn't want me to summon it, so he played Compulsory Evacuation Device to bounce my Scrap Beast.  I was okay with that, so I let him attack me with his Equeste and tag to Hoplomus.  I played Dark Hole to destroy it, then summoned the Scrap Beast again.  I attacked directly and Set the Scrapstorm I had been holding to go next to my Solemn Warning.  He Set a Monster and a back row.  I attacked with Scrap Beast, and he played Book of Moon.  I Chained the Scrapstorm, drawing Cyber Dragon and grabbing back Scrap Chimera.  I Special Summoned the Cyber Dragon and summoned the Chimera to revive the Scrap Beast.  I made Scrap Dragon, destroying Cyber Dragon and his Set Secutor.  I then Special Summoned Orthros to destroy itself and grab back my Chimera.  He summoned Murmillo and Set a back row, making it obvious that he had Gladiator Beast War Chariot.  I topped MST and used it on the card he just Set; it turned out to be a Dimensional Prison.  I used Scrap Dragon's effect to bait out the Chariot, and he did have it.  I revived Orthros with Dragon's effect, then summoned Chimera to revive Beast and make another Dragon.  I destroyed his last back row and my Orthros to grab my Chimera again, and he was top-decking.  And, we all know what happens when you're top-decking against Scrap Dragon.  That's right, you lose.
-Duel 2: I started with an awkward hand of all Monsters, but I was able to control his play with Worm Xex, an Effect Veiler, and a bluff Scrapyard.  The game went on to a point where he had Chariot Set and a Laquari and an Equeste.  I had a Set Worm Yagan and my bluff Scrapyard.  He switched the Equeste to Defense Position to avoid the Mirror Force I don't play, then attacked with Laquari.  Yagan's effect forced the Chariot, and he tagged for a second Equeste to get back the Chariot.  He Set it and ended.  I topped Cyber Dragon and summoned it and Scrap Beast.  I ran over both of his Equestes, then made Scrap Twin Dragon and ended.  He drew to two cards in hand, then summoned Bestiari and Set a back row.  I attacked with Scrap Twin, and he played Icarus Attack to destroy my Dragon and my Set Scrapyard.  Scrap Twin Dragon's effect Special Summoned Chimera, and I continued attacking with that over the next few turns while he kept drawing useless back row to seal the duel.

My Round 6 opponent ended up dropping, so yeah...

So, I ended up going X-2, which isn't very good.  I'm not sure of what to do, though.  I've been thinking about making Wind-Ups, since it's my type of deck, but everything's so expensive now.  People have been saying that the Wind-Up Rabbits have gone up to $50, and Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity is around $30.  I would've been okay with the old prices ($30 and $20, respectively), but this is just crazy.

It makes me feel as though this format is just going to be another money format.  And while I do have the money, I'd rather not use it on children's trading cards that will be useless in another six months.  The last time we had a money format, I just played decks I liked to play and accepted the fact that I wouldn't win tournaments very often.  I might just have to do that again this format...

March 2012 Ban List

The list that has been floating around has been confirmed.

 Forbidden:

• Glow-Up Bulb
• Spore
• Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
• Trap Dustshoot

Limited:

• The Agent of Mystery - Earth
• T.G. Striker

Semi-Limited:

• Marshmallon
• Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
• Emergency Teleport
• Shien's Smoke Signal
• Level Limit - Area B
• Torrential Tribute
• Ultimate Offering
• Reborn Tengu* (there's actually a little asterisk next to it that says it will be released in Japan in the near future...)

Unlimited:

• Call of the Haunted

Unfortunately, this ended up being the real list.  I was really hoping that it was a fake, but the initial pictures were too convincing, even with the various odd card choices.

So, Wind-Ups, Inzektors, and Rescue Rabbit were not harmed at all.  The Plant engine (plus Reborn Tengu) was completely slaughtered.  These moves were obviously a way to promote the newest themes and Xyz Monsters in general.  As usual, Konami has used the ban list to force people to buy the new products...

Thankfully, there are a few good things that this list brought.  Trap Dustshoot is now gone, and the ultimate floater, Reborn Tengu, has been made into just another good card.  Xyz Gadgets and T.G. Agents, decks that have been fairly popular in the OCG, were hit a little bit.  In my opinion, the hits they got were proportional to their power during the format, which wasn't very much.

On the other hand, Lightsworn and Six Samurai each received a little boost to their consistency.  They got back Lumina and Shien's Smoke Signal, respectively.  For Lightsworn, this doesn't really mean that much, but this is huge for Six Samurai.  Six Samurai still have a fairly high percentage of opening with Shi En, so I don't really see why Konami saw fit to help them even more.

Trishula was banned.  I did kind of expect it, which is why I traded away my extra, Secret Rare Trishula.  I still have the Duel Terminal Trishula that I won, but it's okay; it'll symbolize good memories, like the Duel Terminal Goyo Guardian I still have.  But yeah, Trishula's broken, so it's good that it was banned.

Level Limit - Area B and Marshmallon help stall decks, I guess.  Level Limit - Area B is just a subtle push for Xyz Monsters, though.

Konami has made a bold move by Semi-Limiting Torrential Tribute.  Cards like Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force, Dark Hole, and Heavy Storm have always been the power cards that you only have one of.  They all have amazing potential when played correctly, but you wouldn't have to see them more than once per duel.  Giving us another Torrential Tribute has a huge impact on the game.  It can prevent swarms, which is good, but it still doesn't do anything about all of the first-turn shenanigans that Konami has been promoting...

Yay, Emergency Teleport!  We now have access to a second E-Tele, which is good enough to allow for a decent Psychic engine again.  So, even though my T.G. Zombies have lost two Strikers, they can now be replaced with Krebons!  T.G. Tele-Zombies!

Um, that's pretty much it.  I'll probably talk about what I'm considering playing next format in a later blog post.  There's still two weeks left of this format, and just because the new ban list is out doesn't mean I'm going to abandon the current format.

Tournament Report 2/11/12

I considered buying a box of Order of Chaos so that I could make a Ninja deck for fun.  But, with Order of Chaos: Special Edition coming out in a few weeks, it would be better to buy a box of that and get a bunch of Effect Veilers, too.

So yeah, I ended up going to locals today with my Nordic Diva deck.  I really, really wanted to switch to another deck, but I couldn't really think of anything else I could use.

There were about 28 players today, and only a couple little kids.  There were still quite a few newbs, though.

Round 1: vs Six Samurai

This was my Round 5 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: I went first, Setting Tanngnjostr (black goat) and two back rows.  He used Mystical Space Typhoon on my Compulsory Evacuation Device, then played Gateway.  He swarmed the field with Shi En, Grandmaster, and Kizan, Set one back row, then attacked with all of his Samurai.  I topped Reborn Tengu, Special Summoned Guldfaxe, then summoned the Tengu.  That made Scrap Dragon and got me the second Reborn Tengu.  I forced Shi En's negation with Mind Control, then tributed Tengu for my Set Enemy Controller to steal his Kizan.  Scrap Dragon destroyed the Kizan and the Gateway, and I attacked over his Grandmaster.  Unfortunately, he just flipped Double-Edged Sword Technique and swarmed me again.

-Duel 2: I started with a Set Super-Nimble Mega Hamster.  He activated Six Samurai United, then summoned Spirit of the Six Samurai and Kizan.  He drew two cards with United, then equipped Spirit to Kizan to attack over my Hamster.  I Special Summoned Tanngnjostr (black goat) and he drew for Spirit's effect.  He Set two cards and ended.  I flipped Tanngnjostr to get Guldfaxe, then summoned Reborn Tengu.  I Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon and Special Summoned the second Tengu.  I then used Enemy Controller to tribute the second Tengu to steal his Kizan.  After I got the third Tengu, Scrap Dragon's effect destroyed my Tanngnjostr and his Set Mirror Force.  I overlaid his Kizan and my Tengu for Utopia, then attacked directly with it and Scrap Dragon.  He was able to make Colossal Fighter, but Utopia protected my Scrap Dragon, letting me go for game on the following turn.

-Duel 3: He summoned Kageki to Special Summon Kagemusha, Synchro Summoned Shi En, then Special Summoned Grandmaster and Set two cards.  The sixth card I drew was Maxx "C"... I Summoned Deep Sea Diva to grab a second Diva, and he flipped Rivalry of Warlords.  I Set a couple cards and ended.  He attacked the first Diva with Shi En, then ended.  I summoned my third Diva to grab Lost Blue Breaker to destroy Rivalry, letting me overlay for Gachi Gachi Gantetsu.  Unfortunately, my hand was too passive, so I just sat there for a while while he just attacked over all of my Monsters.  I even had to drop Tanngnjostrs just to protect my LP, and lost soon afterwards.

Losing the first round to a luck-based deck isn't fun... Oh, and speaking of luck-based decks...

Round 2: vs Infernities

Okay, I guess that Infernities aren't that luck-based, but if you open well, you don't even have to know what you're doing to win... And this guy really didn't know what he was doing...

-Duel 1: I started with a Set Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and one back row.  He Set four and ended.  I flipped the Hamster to Special Summon a Ryko, then attacked directly.  I Set three back rows and ended.  He drew, then flipped Infernity Inferno to discard Infernity Archfiend and send Infernity Beetle to his Graveyard.  He used Smashing Ground on my Hamster, then flipped Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my Book of Moon.  He summoned Infernity Mirage, and I MST'd his Dimensional Prison.  He used Mirage to grab his Archfiend and Beetle, searching Necromancer.  He attacked with Archfiend, and I used my other MST on his Set Dark Bribe.  I used Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir to search Tanngnjostr (black goat) and Ryko destroyed his Beetle with its effect.  When Ryko was destroyed in battle, I Special Summoned the Tanngnjostr and he ended.  I used Tanngnjostr's effect to grab Guldfaxe, then made Scrap Archfiend.  I Normal Summoned Deep Sea Diva to make Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, then ran over his Archfiend with my own.  I Set Torrential Tribute and ended.  He Set the card he drew, then summoned Infernity Necromancer.  I had to respond with Torrential, but it turns out that he had drawn Monster Reborn.  He grabbed his Archfiend to get Launcher, and used that to revive Necromancer and Beetle.  He then used Beetle's effect to grab two more, and he used them to Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon.  He attacked to detach the second Xyz Material from my Gantetsu, then ended without using Necromancer's effect.  I topped Monster Reborn and used it and the Guldfaxe in my hand to make Scrap Dragon, attacking over Stardust.  Scrap Dragon's effect destroyed by Gantetsu and his Necromancer.  He didn't top anything to save himself, so I was able to win.

-Duel 2: The end of this duel was basically the same as the previous duel.  Scrap Dragon dominated the field, and he couldn't stop it.

Round 3: vs T.G. Plants

I've played against this guy for fun a few times after tournaments, but I don't think that I've ever played him in a tournament before.

-Duel 1: I lost a lot of LP to a Striker/Warwolf/Tengu into Trishula play.  I was able to make Ally of Justice Catastor with Deep Sea Diva, but he drew two cards off of Maxx "C".  He then made a Stardust Dragon to destroy my Catastor, and ended up being able to make a Shooting Star Dragon because he drew so well.

-Duel 2: I had to grind out advantage with my Hamsters and Tanngnjostrs, eventually blowing up the field with Black Rose Dragon.  I attacked with Rai-Oh after that, but he dropped Gorz, the last card in his hand.  I was okay with that, because I could deal with it on my following turn, but he topped Mind Control to move my Rai-Oh out of the way and go for game.

So, after losing two rounds, I decided to drop from the tournament.  I had brought my video camera, so I was able to record a couple of matches to put up on my channel.  Those should be going up over the course of the week.

So yeah, I was pretty disappointed with my Nordic Diva deck today.  It's just too passive, which is the initial problem I had with Nordics at the beginning of the format.  So, I'm definitely going to switch decks for next weekend.  If I can't think of anything else to run, I'll probably just use some sort of Scrap variant.  Scraps do pretty well against Six Samurai, and they're quite popular at my locals for some reason...

Tournament Report 2/4/12

Again, I went to locals with my Nordic Diva deck.  I'm not really satisfied with it, but there's not much else I would want to play...

There were about 24 players, with most of them being regulars.  There were about four little kids (one of them had Rescue Rabbits and Inzektors and claimed that he would be getting Tour Guides soon...) and a few other newbs.

Round 1: vs Dragons

This was my Round 5 opponent from this tournament.  I don't really know what to call his Dragon deck; it wasn't Hopeless or Disaster for sure...

-Duel 1: He thought I was playing Scraps, since that's what I used to always beat him with.  He Set two back rows and ended.  I played Heavy Storm, then attacked him with Reborn Tengu.  He Set a few more cards and ended.  Apparently, the only Monsters he drew were Horus LV6, Horus LV8, and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, since I just beat him up with Tengu until he died.  Luckily for me, he didn't see any of my other cards, so he had no reason not to think I was still playing Scraps...
-Duel 2: This duel, I just beat him up with Guldfaxe and Scrap Archfiend for a while.  The only Level 4 Dragon he drew was Axe Dragonute, so I was able to capitalize.  After this duel, I helped him fix his deck, since he was playing too many high Level Monsters...

Round 2: vs Stun

This was my Round 5 opponent from this tournament.  Apparently, he knows people who knew me from my high school... Either way, he hadn't really improved from the last time I dueled him, so I won 2-0...

Round 3: vs Six Samurai

This was my Round 3 opponent from this tournament.  We had a lot of fun playing this match, as we dramatically declared all of our phases and such.  "Draw.  Standby, Main Phase..."

-Duel 1: He opened with Mizuho, Grandmaster, and three back rows.  I just drew too passive of a hand and kept losing cards to his Mizuho.  It didn't help that I couldn't get through his Grandmaster, since the only destruction I drew was Smashing Ground...
-Duel 2: Again, I opened with a passive hand, Setting Super-Nimble Mega Hamster and a couple of Chainable back rows.  He searched Shinai with Reinforcement of the Army, summoned it, then Mizuho.  He used Mizuho's effect, tributing Shinai to target my Monster, then Chained Cunning of the Six Samurai to swap his Mizuho for Shinai.  My Hamster was destroyed, and he got back Mizuho with Shinai's effect.  Combined with Shien's Dojo, he was able to make Shi En and destroy my whole field.  And, his Shi En and Mizuho were backed by two Musakani Magatamas and a Mirror Force, so while I was able to bait out two Magatamas with Heavy Storm and Lost Blue Breaker, I lost the Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon (which was at 3000 ATK because I had tributed Lost Blue Breaker that turn) to the Mirror Force.  Either way, I'm glad that I was able to make effective use of Lost Blue Breaker and Gishilnodon.

Round 4: vs Newbie Six Samurai

He really had no idea what he was doing.  Still, he was able to play the deck as well as anyone else, since it was Six Samurai... I still won 2-0, though.

Round 5: vs Dark Worlds

This was my Round 2 opponent from this tournament.

-Duel 1: I basically pushed through her Gates with Scrap Dragon and won fairly decisively.
-Duel 2: Morphing Jar into Card Destruction gave her about ten cards over me, but she wasn't able to kill me.  I used Solemn Judgment on her Torrential Tribute, then made Scrap Dragon and Gachi Gachi Gantetsu.  That let me run over her Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon after destroying her Gates.  She had another copy, however, and used it to Special Summon another Sillva.  Sillva took an Xyz Material off of my Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, but I used Book of Moon on the Grapha to prevent it from crashing into my Scrap Dragon.  From there, I was able to pick off her Monsters with Scrap Dragon, as her back rows weren't a threat.

So, I went X-1 and got 5th place.  Unfortunately, only the Top 3 got store credit today, so I just walked away with the worst Turbo Pack 7 in existence: Seiyaryu, Serpent Night Dragon, and Tail Swipe.  Nothing usable; if I were the type of person who ripped cards if I didn't want them, I would have burned that Turbo Pack.  It was that bad.

But yeah, I'm still not really satisfied with my Nordics.  I'd like to play T.G. Zombies, but I don't like getting killed by Chain Disappearance, and I'd like to be able to play Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror.

Apparently, HEROes aren't doing too badly in the OCG.  Perhaps I might try them out... I've always liked the theme, but I've never really had the motivation to make the deck... We'll see...

Hopes for the March 2012 Ban List

Everyone has been asking me what I think will be on the next ban list.  Honestly, I have no idea.  Konami usually finds some way to fix some of the bigger problems with the format while also making some crazy changes to promote new products.  But, even though I can't really predict the ban list, I do have some hopes for what might be on it...

Again, these are HOPES, not a realistic prediction.  I would like for all of these things to happen, but I know that it won't be so.

Forbidden:

• Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning: Um, it's a broken card.  I've OTK'd several times with it, and I don't even put it in my deck...
• Dandylion: Gives you Tokens too easily.  It's practically free cards.
• Gorz the Emissary of Darkness: Promotes bad play more than skillful play.  Ideally, OTK's should not exist, so there would be no reason to keep this card around.
• Morphing Jar: Kills Empty Jar and hurts Dark Worlds.
• Sangan: I really like this card, but it's just gotten too good.
• Card Destruction: Kills Empty Jar and hurts Dark Worlds...
• Future Fusion: Super Foolish Burial plus summoning a huge Monster?  Yeah, that's fair.
• Gateway of the Six: You don't deserve to win just because you play Six Samurai and opened this card.
• Limiter Removal: You don't deserve to win just because you play Machines and drew this card.
• Mind Control: It's better than Brain Control.
• Monster Reborn: Shouldn't need explanation.
• Trap Dustshoot: You don't deserve to win just because you went first and opened this card.

Limited:

• Archlord Kristya: It's an extremely powerful boss Monster and will be the go-to boss for Fairies if they lose Hyperion.
• Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World: Makes all of your Dark Worlds into 2700 floaters?  Yeah, no.
• Inzektor Dragonfly: The reason I want Dragonfly Limited (or even banned) instead of Hornet is because Dragonfly is the main culprit behind the dreaded self-perpetuating plus-4 that Inzektors can make.  If they just have Centipede, then it's not nearly as threatening.  Besides, Limiting Hornet doesn't do as much because they play so many ways to search it or get it back if it's banished.  With Dragonfly Limited, they only get their big play once per game, and that's even if they draw their combo.
• Judgment Dragon: The problem I have with Judgment Dragon is that once you can summon one, you can summon all three.  If it had some sort of clause that you could only summon it once per duel, then it'd be fine.
• Rescue Rabbit: The new-age Rescue Cat, capable of making a walking Solemn Judgment for free.  Limiting Evolzar Laggia doesn't do nearly as much as Limiting this.
• The Agent of Creation - Venus: This is the core of the Agent deck.  If you only have one Venus to search for with your Earths, then you have to play crummy Agents like Jupiter.
• Wind-Up Rat: A one-card Xyz for Zenmaity that's an integral part of the Wind-Up Hunter loop?  Yeah, Limit it.
• Mystical Space Typhoon: This ought to tone down the crazy amount of Spell/Trap destruction.  Play Dust Tornadoes instead.
• Rekindling: This isn't doing anything in the TCG, but it will in a year or so when Hidden Arsenal 7 is finally released.  Either way, Lavals are already taking advantage of this in the OCG.
• Royal Tribute: Just because Gravekeeper's are bad doesn't mean that this isn't a broken card.
• Wind-Up Factory: Black Whirlwind for Wind-Ups that doesn't care if the effect is negated (by Effect Veiler; negating the activation with something like Divine Wrath will stop it).
• Solemn Warning: Negating Normal Summons with no card advantage loss is really powerful.
• Ultimate Offering: This is the card that breaks Xyz Gadgets.  They may not be good, but that doesn't mean that this card isn't crazy in that deck.

Semi-Limited:

• Master Hyperion: The only problem I have with Hyperion is seeing multiples of it.  Semi-Limiting it should reduce the possibility of that.
• Reborn Tengu: The ultimate floater.  It's still playable at two; I would actually still play it in Nordics or something if it were at two.
• Emergency Teleport: This card is nothing compared to the craziness that we have now.  By that, I mean that it doesn't gain card advantage by itself like other cards (Tour Guide and such).  It could honestly be Unlimited, but let's see how it goes if it's Semi-Limited.

Unlimited:

• Magical Stone Excavation: There's really no point to having this Semi-Limited
• Primal Seed: There's really no point to having this Limited, even if BLS is legal.

Okay, so that's that.  I really don't have high expectations for this upcoming ban list.  If it just deals with Inzektors, the "Synchrocentric" deck, and maybe Wind-Ups, then I'll probably be okay with it.

Also, I think I'll discuss the topic of Heavy Storm a little bit.  Now, Heavy Storm being legal hasn't really made this format better or worse than the previous format.  Honestly, Heavy Storm's legality only effects the amount of Stun decks that are played.  Aggressive decks always find a way to do well, regardless of Heavy Storm's position on the list.

With Heavy Storm legal, Stun decks are just played less; it doesn't cause them to be any worse off that if Heavy Storm were banned.  The fact that Stun decks are played less often means that they are sided against less often.  Most people don't even side against Stun decks.  They just have the third MST in their Side Deck just in case and hope for the best.  The thing is the people expect Heavy Storm to prevent Stun decks from even existing, but it doesn't work like that.  Your Heavy Storm and MST's aren't enough to take out 20 back rows, so if your opponent draws a good hand, you'll lose.

If Heavy Storm were banned, then half of the decks played would essentially be Stun decks.  That would mean that people would be siding or even maining multiple Dust Tornadoes, Trap Stuns, or even Seven Tools of the Bandit to combat them.  That, plus the fact that Stun decks lose to Stun tactics, would severely weaken them.  Of course, this is all ignoring that Stun decks are horrible in general.

So basically, the position of Heavy Storm doesn't really affect the format that much.  People will play Stun decks regardless, it's just that more people will play Stun if Heavy Storm is banned, causing Stun decks to be worse than usual.  Honestly, I don't care either way.