My Perspective on Next Format

This was supposed to be a random stuff post, but I suppose it's time I talked about the ban list and how next format will be.

Well, the only things we don't really have to worry about any more are a consistent Wind-Up Hunter loop and a consistent Inzektor destroy-everything-you-put-on-the-field loop.  Chaos Dragons and Dino Rabbit got minor hits.  HEROes and Dark Worlds didn't really get hit at all.

So, the obvious conclusion to draw from this is that HEROes and Dark Worlds will be the most popular decks at the start of next format.  People already have them and people already know how to use them.  Dino Rabbit will probably also be as popular as it used to be, seeing as how the difference between two and three Rescue Rabbits is negligible.  And I think that people will still stick to Chaos Dragons because it is still viable, but honestly it wasn't that great of a deck to begin with.  It's like how Agent Fairies were when they were viable.  They were inexpensive and easy to play, so everyone played them.

Tele-DAD and Plants won't do anything; they'll be just as dead as they used to be.  Getting one Spore back at the cost of Brionac is not really going to help Plants, and all Tele-DAD got back was one Emergency Teleport and one Destiny Draw.  I know that a lot of people didn't play back when Tele-DAD existed, but here's a history lesson for you all: the top Tele-DAD builds only played two Emergency Teleports.  Also, they played three Malicious.  You can try to replace Malicious with Reborn Tengu, but it's not going to be nearly as powerful.  Not to mention, a Stardust Dragon and a Thought Ruler Archfiend aren't really that hard to get rid of nowadays.  Oh, and we only have one Dark Armed Dragon.

Continuing on with Emergency Teleport, the only decks it really helps by being at three are pure Psychic decks.  Decks that only splash a Psychic engine would only play two anyways.  And, I tried to make a Psychic deck a while ago.  It's good, but if you're using the banishing Psychics, then you're too dependent on Serene Psychic Witch and Esper Girl.  It may become popular, but it's probably too difficult a deck to use for it to become a top tier deck.

Agent Fairies got back almost everything they lost, which is basically just Earth.  They can still make due with one T.G. Striker, so I expect to see some Agent Fairy decks at locals at least.  They're still going to be worse than they were before, and they weren't that good to begin with.

Besides Dark Worlds, HEROes, and Dino Rabbit, the deck that worries me the most is Six Samurai.  It literally did not get hit at all (unless you count Brionac), and a couple of its worst match-ups (Inzektors and Chaos Dragons) got hit, meaning that it will be a more powerful force in the meta.  Also, it's supposed to have good match-ups against Dark Worlds, HEROes, and Dino Rabbit from what I can tell, which means that it might actually be a good meta pick for next format, which scares me...

I guess that's about it.  I still don't know what I want to play next format.  Assuming that top decks are Dark Worlds, HEROes, Dino Rabbit, and Six Samurai, my options would be to use Scrap Worms and lose to Dino Rabbit or to use Nordic Diva and lose to Six Samurai.  If I could just figure out a deck that only loses to Dark World and then side heavily for that match-up, then it'd be great.  I guess I'll have to keep looking...

By the way, basically none of the cards from Return of the Duelist will affect the meta at all.  That's why there were no money cards in the set, because nothing was competitive, except maybe for the Geargia.  Everything will change when the Atlantean Structure Deck and Abyss Rising come out over the next three months, though.