Sunday 29 January 2012

Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh! Briefer

Hello, and welcome to another post in the Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh! series. In this post we will be covering some common misunderstandings about our favourite card game on blimps motorcycles. When picking up the game for the first time, you may be attracted to cards that have shiny effects, or high stats. However, winning in Yu-Gi-Oh! is not about having better cards than your opponent, but rather about being able to execute your own strategy to win.

Misconception - Monsters with high ATK scores are always better
While it may seem tempting to put cards like Gene-Warped Warwolf and Chainsaw Insect in your deck, in most situations it is not a good idea. Though these cards are easy to Normal Summon, with high ATK to boot, in most situations they will let you down since they have no real positive effect - Chainsaw Insect even lets your opponent draw a card whenever it attacks, which just allows them to make plays faster.


Not as good as it looks


In the end, you won't win just by having cards that can overpower your opponent in battle. For example, one incredibly strong card in the metagame right now is Sangan - with a low 1000 ATK and 600 DEF, Sangan is one of the few cards rumoured to be Forbidden in the March 2012 banlist. Sangan is great because of its effect, which allows you to maintain advantage and hasten plays, which will be covered later.

However, just because a card has high combat stats doesn't mean you should shy away from it. Many cards have high ATK scores while also having very powerful effects, like the famous Thunder King Rai-Oh, who finds his place in many decks due to his powerful search lockdown, as well as being able to negate an inherent Special Summon. Cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh find themselves at the core of anti-metagame decks, as they can run over common low-ATK threats in the metagame such as Inzektor Dragonfly while still being able to stop plays.

A high-ATK threat
Misconception - Card Advantage
Card advantage is a term used to refer to how many cards one duelist has compared to his or her opponent. It is called advantage because if you have more cards than your opponent, you have more plays available to you and thus you are at an advantage. While there are cards with powerful effects, often they will come with a drawback, and that drawback is most likely to be a loss in advantage.


Raigeki's retarded little brother

Lightning Vortex, on the surface, seems to be a good card. It can destroy all face-up monsters your opponent controls, but at the cost of discarding one card. Depleting your hand like that, trading two cards in your hand for what may only be one monster on your opponent's side of the field. Tribute to the Doomed is even worse, only taking out one monster. A quick outline on card advantage follows:

  • When you or your opponent execute an action that would result in your opponent losing one card, or your gaining one card, it is said to be a +1 in card advantage, or a plus. The term "plussing" is used to describe a player who is rapidly gaining card advantage. An example of a plus is destroying a card in battle, such as Thunder King Rai-Oh destroying a Wind-Up Hunter in battle.
  • When you or your opponent execute an action that would result in your opponent gaining one card, or your losing one card, it is said to be a -1 in card advantage, or a minus. The term "minusing" is used to describe a player who is rapidly losing card advantage. An example of a minus is having one of your cards be destroyed in battle, such as Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer destroying your Junk Synchron in battle.
  • When you or your opponent execute an action that would result in both players gaining or losing the exact same amount of cards, it is said to be a "trade". There are cards in the game that usually remove one of your opponent's cards from the field. Such a card is Smashing Ground, which destroys one face-up monster your opponent controls with the highest DEF.
One of the simplest one-for-ones
And now, some common misconceptions made by new players related to card advantage:
  • Committing too many resources to taking down monsters - the biggest offender is Lightning Vortex. When you play a card to destroy a card, it is a one-for-one trade. If that card has a discard cost, you actually pay two cards to destroy one card, so you end up minusing yourself. This leaves you with less options to threaten your opponent with, an uncomfortable situation should they draw into something good.
  • Playing Ritual monsters that aren't Gishki or Herald of Perfection, and even then those archetypes are pretty shaky. Rituals like the regular Black Luster Soldier are just unnecessary minuses.
  • Playing Tribute monsters outside of Frog decks, or Caius the Shadow Monarch in Chaos decks. They are bad, and cause minuses. Additionally, none of them can really protect themselves.
  • Using Polymerization - the only viable Fusion deck right now is probably Gemini HERO or HERO Gate, both of which have ways of plussing and avoiding the minuses by using other Fusion cards.
  • Setting non-Quickplay Spell cards as a bluff. It is a desperation play, and should only be done as such, else you leave your backrow vulnerable to Heavy Storm.
  • Overcommitting to the field - things like Summoning another monster when your opponent is already have trouble with what you have on the field leaves you open to cards like Torrential Tribute. Why use that Spirit Reaper to Xyz if your opponent can't take it down anyway?
  • Valuing Life Points over card advantage. Life Points, with the banning of Cold Wave, in the grand scheme of things, are irrelevant. The 'Solemn Brigade', consisting of three very powerful Trap cards with high Life Point costs are run in almost every standard deck. 
I have talked a lot about how minusing is undesirable, but there are times in which it is acceptable to -1 yourself. These include the use of the card One for One, which, despite its name, is usually a -1. One for One can be used to discard cards you need in your Graveyard to accelerate some Synchro Summons, such as with Dandylion in the Plant engine.

Foolish Burial is another card that is a -1, but can turn into a plus, such as with the recently released Inzektors, which turn a -1 into a +3 in the same turn, and a +4 every turn onwards.

Bottom line - whenever you play a card, think of how many cards you lose from your field and hand when you play it, and how many cards your opponent will lose. If it's less than a +0, consider using different cards. Deliberate minusing is an advanced tactic and should be avoided by beginners. Good cards to substitute for supposedly powerful cards like Raigeki Break, Magic Jammer and Lightning Vortex would be Smashing Ground, Mystical Space Typhoon, Solemn Judgment, Torrential Tribute, Bottomless Trap Hole, etc.

Misconception - The more cards in my deck, the better
Most competitive decks run 40 cards. Some run 41. Fewer run 42. Only very rarely will you see a deck with 43 cards. Decks with over 43 cards are unheard of. The reason Duelists try to stick to the minimum of 40 is because every deck has a strategy they are trying to execute. If you can't draw into key cards, it's because your deck is bloated. 60 card decks will never win against competitive decks.

For example, say you are running a Dark World deck. It's a standard Dark World deck, except you've bloated it with cards like Brron, Mad King of Dark World, or you've crammed your Trap lineup with 'powerful' one-for-ones like Dimensional Prison. Even worse, you've added draw power in Into the Void and Pot of Duality.

Draw power is needed to thin a 40 card deck with little search options. Why would you want to draw one card if you could just take that card out and increase your chances of drawing key cards like Grapha or Snoww? What if your hand is clogged up with Spells and Traps, with no Monsters? 20 Spells are still 20 Spells, it doesn't matter what percentage of your deck that they represent.

If any of you have trouble getting your deck down to 40 cards, I advise building with the following formula:
  • Decide what archetype you want to run, and add key cards for that archetype. An example is the core 3 Venus/Earth/Shine Ball, 2 Hyperion/Kristya and Honest as the core of an Agent deck.
  • Add staple cards. These include Effect Veiler, Maxx "C", Spells like Dark Hole, Monster Reborn, Book of Moon and Heavy Storm, and Trap Dustshoot.
  • Flesh out the rest of the deck, making sure to cover threats and keep your card balance well.
You can always ask Alex or myself for help with getting your deck down to a good size, too.

Happy Dueling, and good luck!

Friday 27 January 2012

Tournament report:

Hey ! So most of our blog posts have been theory or discussion based, because of that there isn't much variety in the blog is there? Well I recently entered a tournament at the local store (in Australia 'local' means one hour away) and participated in a casual ladder based tournament. Though it is a local and small tournament it is still official and my results were stored in the Konami data base and ranks me on a worldwide scale. Anyways only 8 people participated so there were 3 matches. Top 4 people receive the new pack 'Order of Chaos' and a turbo pack 7 each. The higher you rank, the more packs you get obviously. The bottom 4 get a duelist league hobby card each. Not bad considering all you had to do was pay $6 yeah?

Play by Play:
Match 1: Agents vs Six samurai
I got off to a shaky start with a bad opening hand but thankfully my opponent also had a bad hand ( I knew this because I did a 'dust crush' play on him). Eventually the duel started to progress as we drew into our monsters. I managed to swing for game before he could establish a field though.
Result: 1-0
My opponent had a much better opening this time and I had a not so bad opening myself. He threw out a lot of Six samurais such as Legendary six samurai- Shi En and a lot of Kizans and Grandmaster of the Six samurai. A well played smashing ground and dark hole combo helped me to clear his field and drop my boss monsters to dish out some major damage. My opponent managed to bring out Naturia beast and Naturia darkion and a Shi En so I was in a tough spot. Luckily Master Hyperion worked his magic for me and I managed to tear his field apart.
Result: 2-0 , My win
Match 2: Agents vs Dragons
TERRIBLE OPENING! One thing an Agent deck never wants to see is a hand loaded up with boss monsters in the early game. That's exactly the hand I opened with. So needless to say my opponent piled on the pressure and took me down quite quickly in round 1.
Result: 0-1
By this point I was rather nervous, I had lost to this guy before and it was also because I opened poorly and I wanted to prove to him that I could win. My opening hand was a little better this time as it contained some Agents but it was all monsters so I was left very vulnerable. My opponent activated Trap dust shoot for the second time this match and sent my Agent-Venus straight back to my deck and I summoned Earth only for it to get Solemn Judgment-ed. He started to apply pressure by summoning dragons that limit my summoning potential. With bad draws and overwhelming disadvantage, the round went to my opponent.
Result: 0-2 My loss
Match 3: Agents vs Six Samurai 
I knew exactly what to expect and exactly how to fight back. Six samurai was all about fast and furious assaults in the early game, once you pick apart their monsters and disrupt their traps you were on the road to victory. A lucky turn 1 dustshoot for me allowed me to see my opponents' hand which only had one six samurai monster so I dusted it into his deck. My opponent then did a common misplay of using Reinforcements of the Army. A spell card that allows you to add a level 4 or lower warrior into your hand. Why was it a misplay? Because I had Thunder King Rai-Oh on the field who has the passive ability to stop searches.
By mid game I was in the preferred position for a match up against Six Samurais. I had taken some hits while stocking up cards for a come back. But my plays kept getting disrupted by my opponent's trap cards and I actually lost round 1.
Result: 0-1
By now I was losing confidence in my ability but I continued to play anyway. As always a flurry of synchro summons and special summons cost me over half my life points but I was in control this time. A well timed Agent of creation- Venus and Gachi Gachi play allowed me to stall for more time while destroying the opponent's field. Then in one turn I dropped Master Hyperion and Archlord kristya to swing for game.
Result: 1-1
This was it, the final round to decide where I placed in this tournament. I was satisfied with my opening hand which contained Effect Veiler (refer to 'Where'd my effect go?!) and two Thunder King Rai-Oh's which I knew would come in handy if I wanted to give my opponent hell. And indeed I was right, a turn 1 Rai-Oh shut down my opponent's search cards and pressured him into synchro summoning to force the ability of Rai-oh. It was looking great for me, my opponent had wasted materials to take down Thunder King Rai-Oh and here I was with another one chilling in my hand. The look on my opponent's face when I dropped my second Rai-Oh was priceless and with the assistance of my Master Hyperion, I  went on to swing for game.
Result: 2-1 My win

At the end of the day:
In the end I ranked third place out of 8 people and to be honest I was quite satisfied but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that I did not win against the Dragons player, it was an easy tournament that I should've come first for. My prize was one 'Order of Chaos' pack and a Turbo pack 7. Interesting thing about turbo packs. You can only win these from tournaments, it is forbidden by Konami to sell these over the counter. As I went back to my table with two packs ready to be opened I had a feeling I'd pull some fine cards and boy was I right.
The prize packs I got

The notable cards I got


So as you can see both my packs contained something worth collecting or useful to me. Number 96: Dark Mist is worth approximately $7 and Horn of the Phantom beast is Super rare and since it is from Turbo pack 7( making it extremely hard to get) is valued at $21. I checked these prices myself on E-bay which means total value I got was $28.
Let's recap, I spent $6 to join a tournament and won $28 worth of cards just from participating and having fun. So 28-6 = $22 , therefore I made almost four times the money i paid to play. Quite a good profit don't you think?

On Sunday I shall be attending a sneak peek for the new set 'Order of Chaos' I shall also be giving a report on that and may film a video of what we (my friends and I) got, if not, just a photo of the notable cards.




Huh? My where'd my target go?

Hello readers, meet an old friend, some say he's the very first 'hand trap' to be used at a competitive level of play. Introducing:
During either player's turn: You can discard this card from yourhand to the Graveyard to target 1 card in your opponent's Graveyard; banish that target.
The breakdown:
You guys all know this type of card by now right? A 'hand trap'.
During either player's turn. No surprise why this card is a hand trap right? 
'Target 1 card in your opponent's graveyard; banish that target' Not bad yeah?

Discussion:
You guys must be sick of reading about hand traps by now but we're trying to reinforce just how important hand traps are. Firstly let's take a look at D.D crows' stats. The typical attack and defense for the making of a hand trap, 100 attack and defense respectively.
How can this card cripple my opponent?
Well, there are many scenarios where you will be thankful that D.D crow is resting in your hand.
Example 1:
 Take for example synchrocentric/plants. When they summon debris dragon or junk synchron and select a target in their graveyard; you may chain D.D crow and banish that monster from play, that will leave your opponent with a helpless tuner ready to be run over during your turn. 
Example 2:
Against Agents, when they're about to summon Master Hyperion, you could potentially banish their only Agent target. Or keep your opponent's Archlord Kristya  at bay with a well timed D.D crow.
Example 3:
When taking on the mighty Inzektors, you can banish their 'Inzektor Hornett' from the graveyard and leave them with a pathetic dragonfly floating about ready to be exterminated next turn. 

There's just so many possibilities with D.D crow, and if anything it's also a dark type monster to help decks that summon Chaos based monsters such as 'Chaos Sorceror' or 'Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning'. 

But how do I make room for this card?
Personally, I would put D.D crow in my side deck, and I would put 2 copies of it. The reason why this card doesn't deserve a spot in my main deck is because some decks just don't get crippled by D.D crow and that can leave D.D crow uselessly sitting in the hand. It could also be a devastating mistake that costs you the first game of any match. So I believe side deck is where this card belongs. Two copies is the number to run because 1 gives you very little chances of drawing it and 3 gives you too much chance of drawing it and odds are it will blog in your hand because any player who knows how to time D.D crow well would only need 1 or 2 at most. 


Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh!- XX-Saber beatdown

Beatdown: These kind of decks focus on throwing down monsters with extremely high attack for their level such as:
DoomcaliberKnightGLD4-EN-GUR-LE.png


This is a level 4 monster which means it can easily be summoned, and 1900 attack is one of the highest attack points a monster at this level can reach without any kind of special requirements.

So beatdown decks are all about these kind of monsters and they usually have an effect that wreaks havoc for the opponent. A classic beatdown deck is the X-saber deck.

Monsters: 19
3 XX-Saber Darksoul
3 XX-Saber Faultroll
3 XX-Saber Emmersblade
3 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight
3 Giant Rat
3 X-Saber Pashuul
1 XX-Saber Boggart Knight
.
Spells: 13
3 Enemy Controller
1 Dark Hole
2 My Body as a Shield
3 Creature Swap
1 Book of Moon
1 Mind Control
1 Monster Reborn
1 Level Limit – Area B
.
Traps: 8
3 Gottoms’ Emergency Call
2 Trap Stun
3 Royal Decree
.
Extra Deck: 15
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Naturia Beast
1 XX-Saber Gottoms
3 XX-Saber Hyunlei
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Stardust Dragon
1 X-Saber Urbellum
1 Colossal Fighter
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Magical Android
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Ally of Justice Catastor

So this is a classic XX-Saber build 

The deck revolves around enduring some attacks from your opponent and then launching a devastating counter attack with monsters over 2000 attack. X-sabers such as emmersblade and darksoul are known as floaters because whenever they are destroyed or sent to the graveyard, they replace themselves with another card. Another edition to the 'floaters' is also Giant Rat because all the monsters are Earth type so Giant rat can search out any of them when it is destroyed by battle.

So once you've taken a few hits from your opponent you should have assembled the 'pieces' to your combo. The base XX-saber combo focuses on getting two x-saber monsters on the field so you can special summon XX-saber Faultroll
XXSaberFaultrollTU03-EN-R-UE.png
This card is easily summoned and packs quite a bit of attack on it's own. The best trait of XX-Saber Faultroll is his ability to revive an X-saber and create more loops or synchro summons. Another extremely strong monster this deck has access to is XX-Saber Gottoms.
XXSaberGottomsCT06-EN-ScR-LE.png

This XX-saber monster has a whopping 3100 attack points. which is above pretty much every synchro monster in the game. His ability to discard one card from the opponents hand for each xx-saber you tribute is also devastating because you have targets like darksoul that you want in the graveyard anyway.

This isn't my own personal build and some changes i'd make to this deck are cutting down on the creature swaps and the enemy controllers. They might work well with darksoul and whatnot, but most of the time they're a dead card.

Deck rating: 7/10
The XX-Sabers have plenty of potential but they lack speed. Blocking attacks and maintaining field/hand presence is crucial and if you cannot, don't expect to win. Cards like maxx 'c' can harm this deck so when you're going for explosive plays keep in mind maxx 'c' will keep you in check





Monday 23 January 2012

Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh! Empty Jar Mill

About Mill
In Yu-Gi-Oh! terms, to mill is to have cards sent from your Deck to the graveyard. You lose if you must draw a card and you have no cards left to draw, so mill decks work on this principle by making opposing players draw cards repeatedly from their deck, hence decking them out. Mill is considered a rogue strategy in that it is neither reliable nor competitive enough to compete with the top level decks, though unprepared Duelists will find themselves out of cards to draw, and as such, Mill is a strategy that must be understood. It is also cheap, and relatively easy to play, so for the beginner interested in Mill, the following deck is great.

Empty Jar 
Monsters - 11
1 Morphing Jar
1 Sangan
3 A/D Changer
3 Deep Diver
3 Swift Scarecrow

Spells - 29
3 Book of Eclipse
3 Book of Taiyou
1 Book of Moon
3 Pot of Duality
3 One Day of Peace
3 Upstart Goblin
3 Magical Mallet
1 Card Destruction
3 A Feather of the Phoenix
2 Magical Stone Excavation
1 Heavy Storm
3 Gold Sarcophagus

The lack of Traps in this lineup emphasises the amount of speed in this deck. It is entirely possible to perform an FTK with this deck, that is, winning on the first turn of the Duel. The deck abuses Morphing Jar's Flip Effect, making opponents continuously draw five cards from their deck while sending all cards from their hand to the graveyard in order to stop potential plays. Morphing Jar replenishes the player's hand, due to all the minuses caused from playing deck thinners.

The key card of Empty Jar

A/D Changer, Book of Eclipse, Book of Taiyou and Book of Moon all serve to repeatedly flip Morphing Jar over and over, forcing its effect. The Spell lineup is dedicated to draw power, as well as searching key cards like Heavy Storm to prepare for a mill.

Decks with alternate win conditions often involve getting the correct pieces of a combo to the hand. For this reason, cards like Magical Stone Excavation and Gold Sarcophagus, usually slow cards, are used.

Swift Scarecrow is used because it activates from the hand (this card is known as a hand trap) and protects your Life Points while you stall for cards. It's pretty easy to understand - the main problem with this deck is the risk of decking yourself out before your opponent, but intelligent use of A Feather of the Phoenix and Card Destruction should save you.

Conclusion
Mill is an underlooked, strong strategy and a fun, budget way to win duels. It is a bit all-or-nothing though, so it isn't the most reliable way to win. However, don't let this stop you from trying this alternate win strategy. The most important thing to take from this post is that there are alternate ways of winning other than reducing your opponent's life points to 0.

Welcome to dueling!

Alright this is just a simple segment designed for those who might not understand the game or might just need that little push to see the game at a whole new level. Let's start with the basics.


How to win:
Why do we play a game other than having fun? To win of course!
Here's the most basic ways to win a duel.
1. Deplete your opponent's life points to 0
2. Your opponent has 0 cards left in their deck and cannot draw during their draw phase
3. Special effects that allow an instant win , don't let this prevent you from playing yugioh, they are rare.
The Creator God of Light, Horakhty
TheCreatorGodofLightHorakhty-YGOPR-JP-OP.jpg
Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must be Special Summoned(from your hand) by Tributing 3 monsters whose original (printed) names are "Obelisk the Tormentor", "The Winged Dragon of Ra" and "Slifer the Sky Dragon", and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. The Special Summon of this card cannot be negated. The player that Special Summons this card wins the Duel.




As you can see, effects like these are rare and are almost impossible to use. The requirements are far too hard to meet and there are much more simple and let's admit it, more realistic ways of winning.
How to deplete your opponent's life points to 0:
This is the most common way of winning in Yu-Gi-Oh and is accomplished through attacking your opponent directly or attacking your opponent's monsters with your own monsters. The other way to inflict damage is using card effects that inflict what is known as 'effect damage'. The player who hits 0 life points first loses, in the rare event that both players should hit 0 at the same time, the round is considered a draw.


The next few posts will be about different decks that you are very likely to see in the mainstream decks and how they work to achieve victory.

Tuesday 17 January 2012

How to Maxx Out Your Hand



Forgive the obvious pun, but this post is about Maxx "C", a polarising card that has been seen as a staple in many YCS decks. Maxx "C", on the surface, is a pretty good card. You can chain it to any Special Summon for a one-for-one - discard it, and draw another. However, you'll also draw an extra card for any other Special Summon that your opponent performs. This alone gives it an edge that can stop a player in his tracks, stifle a combo, discourage further Summoning, or even gaining hand advantage. There are two aspects to the power of Maxx "C" - the psychological, and the physical. These aspects influence the decision to drop Maxx "C", and the response to a Maxx "C" drop.

To Summon or not?
It's generally agreed that the earlier Maxx "C" is played, the more beneficial. This is because decks have easier access to swarm tactics earlier in the duel rather than later, when duels revolve down to who has outs for certain cards, or who gets luckier with the topdeck. With cards like The Agent of Creation - Venus and Tour Guide From The Underworld running around, it's not hard for a player to get some Special Summons off on their first turn. Since Maxx "C" can be activated in either player's turn, you can use its effect before you even draw your first card. Chaining Maxx "C" to a Tour Guide activation might discourage your opponent from using the Monster that's Summoned to perform an Xyz Summon, as you will get the +1 if they do.
Maxx "C"'s favourite victim
Whenever a Maxx "C" is dropped on me, there are two things that go through my mind.
  • Is my opponent on the defensive or not?
  • Why would he drop Maxx "C" on this particular Special Summon?
The answer to the first influences whether or not I will allow my opponent to draw. Many amateur players will be spooked by Maxx "C", and will immediately stop what they are doing. Naturally, this is not always the correct option. It may not even be the safest option. For example, if I used Venus' effect to bring out a Shine Ball, upon which my opponent chains Maxx "C", is it really a good idea to just leave my low-attack Monsters on the field vulnerable? Wouldn't it be better to bring out another Shine Ball and let my opponent get the +2 while I Xyz for Gachi Gachi Gantetsu? If Maxx "C" is chained to my Rescue Rabbit, should I let my Kabazauls hit the grave and leave myself wide open, or should I let my opponent get the +1 and Xyz for Laggia? These are all questions that have to be answered when Maxx "C" is used against you.

The second question can be answered by simply looking at the state of play. Desperate players on the verge of losing do whatever they can to grab small bits of advantage to pull themselves back into the game. Things like immediately dropping Maxx "C" the turn after it's drawn is an immediate tell that your opponent has nothing. Watch the movement of your opponent's drawn cards. IF it's obvious that they topdecked Maxx "C", they're just looking for ways to not lose in their next few draws. It might be a good time to pile on the pressure and push for game.

When to drop it?
The best possible situation in which you can drop Maxx "C" is when Special Summoning is the only option your opponent has to prevent themselves from losing. For example, you are playing against a Plant Synchro deck, and you've whittled their field down with simple one-for-ones. You've got, say, a BLS and Leviathan Dragon on field that's going to threaten a swing for game. Your opponent topdecks into Debris Dragon, and can only see one way out - to bring back a Card Trooper and Synchro for Black Rose Dragon. If you know that this play is available to them, immediately drop Maxx "C" when the Card Trooper is Summoned. You are guaranteed to plus off it, otherwise your opponent will lose. And with a bolstered hand for the next turn, you have another shot at victory.

However, this situation does come with a flaw - they will still make the play. And perhaps, they will come back into the game. Do not confuse 'best possible situation' with 'only situation'. I believe that the Effect Veiler that Mr. Dang wrote of in his last post is much more effective than Maxx "C" when your opponent is backed to the wall with only one way out. For this reason, I believe that both Maxx "C" and Effect Veiler are staples in any competitive deck.

Do not drop Maxx "C" when your opponent is making really basic inherent Summons that aren't part of a combo. Things like using Monster Reborn just to stall for some more time probably doesn't warrant using Maxx "C". While Maxx "C" does delay plays, it does not stop them. Do not use it when you have no aggressive plays on the next turn to capitalise on, and if you know you can't stop the play you're delaying. For example, you are against Six Samurais, and you draw into an MST, Maxx "C", Spore, Solemn Warning, Book of Moon and Dandylion. Do not be tempted to blow Maxx "C" on your opponent's first turn, in which they are seeking a Shi En. Instead, use your simple one-for-ones to stall plays until you are truly out of options, in which Maxx "C" is a great desperation play as it can either bring you back into the game at full force, or stall for one more turn. Solemn Warning and Mystical Space Typhoon cannot bring you back into the game, at least with Maxx "C"  you have a chance.

Summing up
I don't pretend to understand all the strengths that Maxx "C" brings to a deck. However, I know enough to consider it a staple. Hand traps are so powerful as they are impossible to anticipate without the use of Trap Dustshoot or a failed Mind Crush.The former is overpowered anyway, and will be discussed later, and a failed Mind Crush is essentially a -2 to see your hand. I will end with one statement about Maxx "C" that I hope you will consider: run at least one in your Main Deck, and at least one in your Side Deck. Though you may not know much about the card at first, I guarantee that with use you will come to appreciate and take advantage of it.

Monday 16 January 2012

Where'd my effect go ?!


Yeah you know what I'm about to discuss. The card that vanishes a monsters' effect.
Say hello to: 
During your opponent's Main Phase, you can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard to select 1 face-upEffect Monster your opponent controlsNegate the effect(s) of that monster until theEnd Phase.
 Why is such a weakling with 0 attack and defense points worth a spot in my deck?
Firstly Effect Veiler is a 1 star tuner which means she has the ability to bring out virtually any star synchro. 1 star tuners always make for fine tuning. This means your deck can be completely XYZ based and still run the staple synchros. Next the effect. This is the reason why Effect Veiler has sealed its' spot in many top decks. During the OPPONENT'S main phase. That is part 1 of what makes this card great. Monster effects that work during the opponent's turn are rare. You can send this card from your HAND to the graveyard. This is known as a 'hand trap' in the Yu-Gi-Oh world. Cards like this are hard to predict and very rarely can the opponent do anything about it. 

Finally, negate the effect(s) if that monster till the end phase. There is so much potential this card packs and so many plays this card can stop in it's tracks. Take the 'The agent of creation- Venus' card for example. If you drop Effect veiler on this card you save yourself for one turn and prevent them from bringing out 3 shineballs and summoning a Gachi Gachi. Drop Veiler on Tour guide from the Underworld? Stop them from getting a plus one and getting a Numbers 17: Leviathan dragon onto the field. 

Now I want to put forward a more personal opinion of my own. 
"I believe Effect Veiler should be ran at 3 in every deck"
Why do I say this? Why no stick to just 2?
The 'Order of Chaos' booster pack which is about to come out will unleash what is known as the 'Zenmaighty loop' in which your opponent can potentially make you start your turn with only 2 cards in hand.  How can you prevent this? Effect Veiler. Drop that veiler once the threatening effect appears and your opponent will be left with a weak monster sitting there effectless ready for you to run over next turn. 

Note: Effect veiler doesn't work on Rescue Rabbit.
This is because tributing itself is a cost so therefore effect veiler has no effect to negate.


This card cannot be Special Summoned from theDeck. You canbanish this face-up card you control; Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters with the same name from your Deck.Destroy them during the End Phase. The effect of "Rescue Rabbit" can only be activated once per turn.

  

I hope this is enough reason to support my statement about why Effect Veiler  should be run at 3. Another reason why I think this statement is true is because of the new Effect Veiler reprint. It is possible that Konami wants to give people more of a chance to stand up to these new over-powered decks. 

Agents

Monsters: 23
The Agent of creation- Venus x3
The Agent of mystery- Earth x3
Master Hyperion x3
Mystical Shine Ball x3
Archlord Kristya x2
Junk Synchron x2
Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the beginning x1
Spirit reaper x2
Thunder King Rai-Oh x2
Morphing Jar x1

Spells: 10
Smashing Ground x2
Pot Of Duality x3
Monster Reborn x1
Heavy storm x1
Dark hole x1
Mystical Space Typhoon x2

Traps: 7
Solemn Judgment x1
Torrential Tribute x1
Dimensional Prison x1
Mirror Force x1
Mind Crush x2
Trap Dustshoot x1

Extra Deck: 15
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x1
Ally Of Justice Catstor x1
T.G. Hyper Librarian x1
Junk Warrior x1
Stardust Dragon x1
Junk Destroyer x1
Black Rose Dragon x1
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x1
Leviair The Sea Dragon x1
Number 17: Leviathan Dragon x1
Number 39: Utopia x1
Gachi Gachi Gantetsu x2
Wind-up Zenmaines x2


Side deck is really your own preference.
I don't think I will post up my side deck list because as I said it really is your own preference and a wise duelist wouldn't reveal it until a YCS is over.

Deck discussion time:
The agent deck is a fairy themed deck based around the 'Agents'. With cards like Black luster soldier- Envoy of the beginning (BLS for short) and Master hyperion and Archlord Kristya as the boss monsters. The ideal start would consist of The agent of mystery - Earth or The agent of creation- Venus.

Your aim:
1. Use Venus and bring out all the Shine Balls. Form gachi gachi and watch as his presence applies pressure to your opponent.
2. GRAVEYARD CONTROL keep an eye on your graveyard and know exactly how many faries will be in there by the end of each play. It is crucial to have cards like Master Hyperion for fine graveyard control.
3. Clear any threats with cards like smashing ground and remove any cards in the back.
4. Drop boss monsters such as BLS, master hyperion and archlord kristya. Swing for game with certainty, Hyperion blows up any cards with his awesome effect. Kristya makes any chance of comeback almost impossible.

Try this out:
Summon Earth and add Venus to your hand. If your Earth is lucky enough to survive summon Venus and bring out all them shine balls and xyz for two Gachi Gachis. Next turn summon another level 3 such as Junk Synchron or Venus and xyz for Wind-up Zenmaines. Now you have on the field what I personally call, ' The Great Wall of China'. If you have ever faced down a Gachi Gachi or Wind-up Zenmaines you will understand the hell it causes. For those who don't understand those cards must be killed 3 times in total in most situations. The only realistic way to break through this wall is to use Neo spacian Grand mole or use multiple copies of Compulsory evacuation device.

Interesting Choices:
Junk Synchron:
I choose this card because this deck has little synchro potential and I believe synchros are too important to be written off just yet, even with the dawn of the xyz. Thinking beyond the synchro dimension, Junk synchron also helps xyz summoning, he's a level 3 which means more xyz material and the level 2 he brings back can be used as xyz material for gachi gachi. Junk synchron isn't the best card in my opinion and in majority of matches I will side him out for game 2.
Thunder King Rai-Oh:
Not really much of a personal tech some people run it. Summoning a Rai-oh can cripple an opponent before their turn has even begun. Those search cards just sit dead in the hand and more often than not Rai-oh will always force a 1 for 1 which is great. Just be careful not to have any earths or pot of dualities in your hand while Rai-oh is on the field.
Morphing Jar:
A recent addition to the deck. There is no real purpose he serves other than allowing more draw power because hand advantage can get low and Agents really struggle to come back if they don't have Hyperion. Also that level 2 makes him a Junk synchron target and gachi material.

Conclusion:
This deck performs well with it's strong openings and devastating late game potential. The only downfall to this deck is the chance of opening with 1 or more Mystical Shine Balls in hand. But that possibility happens to every deck, it's just this deck has it worse when that happens. Overall the plays this deck can make are great and Kristya really gives the opponent no options once he's dominating the field.
Deck rating: 8.5/10
Negatives: Slow openings for this deck can leave it very vulnerable to decks such as Rabbit Dino.