Time to Reminisce

Hey, sorry about the long delay between posts, I've been caught up playing the newly released Final Fantasy 13-2. Just a quick note on that, I highly recommend it to anyone. I even managed to convince my history teacher to buy it and he never even played Final Fantasy 13. He enjoys it a lot and we're competing to see who will finish the game first.


Anyways on a Yu-Gi-Oh note. It's time to reminisce, the September 2011 format is in the final moments of it's reign and with that March 2012 will take it's place with a whole new banlist, a whole new format. A whole new game. So let's just go back 6 months and take a look at the impact of September's banlist shall we? (Talking about travelling through time is weird after you've played ff13-2) 


When the September banlist first hit, Six Samurais were destroyed immediately, they still had a chance but it was nothing in comparison to when gateway was at 3. Synchrocentric took a devastating yet expected hit, T.G. Hyper Librarian going to 1 and Formula Synchron going to 1 as well. Yet Synchrocentric still proved to be able to stand after being hit by the banlist so many times. I think the wonderful thing about Synchrocentric is that it can adapt to pretty much any banlist. Not to mention that despite not being the best deck out there, it takes the most skill to pilot this deck. Anyone can just pick up an inzektor deck and plus 4 off it. But knowing how to use Synchrocentric is a whole new story. 


Mystical space typhoon was released to 3 and heavy storm was also forbidden but released to 1 again so spell/trap destruction was heavy. This forced players to consider how many cards they should set at any one time. Should I set 1 card and risk losing it to Mystical Space typhoon or set a lot and risk losing it all to heavy storm. 


This era also holds what I refer to as the 'God spells'. It's my fancy little way of naming them because Dark hole, Heavy storm and Monster reborn can single handed-ly turn the tides of any game. Heavy storm isn't as great but it's always good when you feel safe about your opponent's backrow. 


Tour Guide from the Underworld and maxx 'c' were seeing an instant soar in their prices because of how popular they suddenly became after Billy Brake carried them to the top spot in YCS. Maxx 'c' has now become a staple in just about any deck with the ability to power through the deck and also stop an opponent in their tracks.


To be honest I was drifting away from the game so I don't remember too much about how it felt to be in the September era. But that's how much I know about it. 

A sign of things to come - YCS Atlanta

Hi guys, YCS Atlanta is imminent with YCS Guadalajara finishing recently. The winner of the Mexican tournament was Oscar Zavala, piloting what many duelists now consider to be a weak deck - Six Samurai. I cannot say for sure why Six Samurais won in a format where Wind-Ups, Inzektors and Dino Rabbit are not hindered by the banlist, but I can probably hazard a guess and say that it's because Mexico doesn't have a hold of all the powerful, rare cards needed for the top decks. That's not to say that Six Samurai is a weak deck though, even with Gateway being limited, the Samurais have gained support in Asceticism of the Six Samurai that still pumps out the early Shi Ens. But this post is not about Six Samurais, rather what we can expect at YCS Atlanta.

We have talked about Maxx "C" and Effect Veiler already. I expect every meta deck that tops YCS Atlanta to run both, probably three copies of Maxx "C" and at least one Effect Veiler. The reason for this is Maxx "C" stops the Wind-Up loop cold, as it allows you to draw more cards than the Wind-Up player can mill from your hand. Veiler also prevents their Ignition effects from being used. Veiler also stops Inzektors, the other strong archetype of this format, as well as Dino Rabbit. Keep an eye out for the kind of plays that the top players initiate with these hand traps - the ubiquity of the cards means that some interesting counterplays will be seen too. One of my favourite plays to force out Maxx C is to Summon Tour Guide into Sangan, and simply set back row. I'll leave with my +1 while my opponent has dropped Maxx C just to draw another.

One of the most powerful cards of the format

It was interesting to see that in Top 16 at Guadalajara, 5, or just over a quarter of the decks were of the Wind-Up archetype. This was consistent with the 9 pure Wind-Up decks found in the top 32. However, no Wind-Up decks were found in the top 4, instead Inzektors represented two of the Top 4 decks, with one falling to Zavala and his Samurais in the final. I expect Wind-Ups to top Atlanta, however, as I feel that the North American Yu-Gi-Oh! community is much more aware of the power of the Wind-Ups.

Agents have always been the dark horse - people are aware of their power, and they are expected to be hit by the banlist due to the power of their boss monsters. However, the solitary Agent deck at Guadalajara was a Fairy-based one, as opposed to Chaos Agents or T.G. Agents. I think the Chaos variant will top Atlanta, since it does not care too much about the Wind-Up matchup. While Hunter is capable of killing 4 cards in hand (until Daigusto Emeral is released in the TCG), Chaos Agents are capable of topdecking strong cards like Tour Guide from the Underworld, Chaos Sorcerer, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Archlord Kristya and Master Hyperion, all of which can turn a duel around even with card disadvantage.

I am looking forward to the performance of Ninjas and Karakuris, considered to be second-tier decks. I feel that the Ninja engine hasn't been fully fleshed out yet, the fact that they have 3 Stratos equivalents in every deck should be enough to have them considered viable in competitive play.

It's hard to deny that with the release of Wind-Ups, the game is becoming a diceroll. However, smart players will be able to play around them, as seen at Guadalajara. I am very excited for YCS Atlanta, and as it is the last YCS in which Wind-Ups, Inzektors, Dino Rabbit and Agents are untouched, we should see what may be the last, most refined variants of those deck types. A lot of players couldn't find a way to improve Dino Rabbit after Ping Xiao's performance at Brighton, for example. However, the North American community should be able to build upon the knowledge they gained from Brighton and Guadalajara to give us a good show.

Up coming banlist discussion

This segment will probably only be help once every 6 months or so because in the Yu-Gi-Oh world has a list called the 'Banlist' which tells players cards which can be played at:
3 (maximum copy of any card)
2 (known as semi-limited)
1 (known as limited)
Forbidden (no copies allowed)

As new packs are released into the game, players tend to have strategies formulated which are over powered or ridiculously game breaking in a way in which the opponent cannot put up a fair fight. These banlists change every March and September. Hence why they are named the 'March banlist' and 'September banlist'

You can find a copy of the official banlist here:

http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/limited/

My theory for the upcoming banlist is that Wind-ups, Inzektors, Rabbit decks, Agents and Synchrocentric will be hit in some way or another. I don't think they will hit Wind-ups and Inzektors too hard because the set just came out and Konami would obviously want to make money out of them. But at the same time they can't just leave them untouched because the game would just be so one sided and the winner would basically be decided by the roll of the dice. So overall, Wind ups and Inzektors will be hit, but only enough to stop them from being over over-powered.

Rabbit decks are yet to have their future decided by the up-coming YCS, though everyone believes they're the most likely deck from the current meta to survive once Inzektors/Wind-ups wreak havoc on the field. In my opinion rescue rabbit will be cut down to 1 or 2 but definitely not forbidden.

Agents...They're not completely broken but I admit they do have cards that make them really formidable. Master Hyperion and Archlord Kristya are the two main examples. Master Hyperion is no doubt, one of the most broken boss monsters to have ever hit the game. It requires a single Agent in either hand/field/grave in order to special summon itself and when it does, it usually blows up cards or destroys them through battle with it's massive 2700atk. Archlord Kristya requires exactly 4 fairies in the graveyard to special summon itself and add another fairy to the hand. I have a feeling Agent-Venus might get hit, it really is the card that gives Agents such a advantageous start.

I can't really see Synchrocentric being hit too hard as they aren't expected to survive the changes. But if they were to be hit it would only be cards like Junk Synchron or possibly spore/glow-up bulb. The deck is barely managing to stay alive as it is so any further reductions to certain cards and the deck might die out for good.

Synchro monsters/ XYZ monsters... No synchro monsters are proving to be too much of a threat at this era as only the best of the best synchros have passed the test of the xyz. In terms of xyz monsters, Wind-Up Zenmaighty will definitely be hit by the banlist unless Konami wants to make life hell for the next 6 months.

I'm sad to say this but I think it's about time Black luster soldier- Envoy of the beginning laid down his sword for at least another 6 months. He has left his mark on the dueling society forever. But in all seriousness, dropping a 3000atk monster which can potentially attack twice or instantly removea card from play regardless of position is too great.

Heavy storm, dark hole and monster reborn are all powerful spells which can change the tides of any game if they go through. I have a feeling at least one of these three spells will be hit in some way. Heavy storm is probably the least threatening card although it does force the opponent to set only about 1 or 2 cards unless they have starlight road. Dark hole and monster reborn are extremely game breaking in the sense that you can easily set up combos with monster reborn or just bring back a huge beater like Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the beginning.

That's about all I can think about for now, the list is due in roughly 3 weeks so brace your decks and subject them to the necessary changes. Now that school has officially started for both Manisier and myself, posts will become less regular but I will definitely have some ideas to bring up post March banlist.

Until then good luck dueling!

Quote: "Play hard or go home"