Don't Space Out

Apologies for the terrible pun, but this article is about our good friend MST.

Mystical Space Typhoon may be one of the most versatile Spells in the game. It's close to Book of Moon as most versatile, in my opinion. The ability to instantly pop a backrow cannot be underestimated, and for a long time Mystical Space Typhoon was Limited due to its power. Times have changed, however, and we saw MST go from 1, to 2, and finally at 3. Being able to play Mystical Space Typhoon at 3, however, opens up a certain phenomenon that Alex and myself refer to as the 'Backrow Paradox'. If you open with two backrows, say a Solemn Warning and a Mirror Force, do you set two and risk losing them to a Heavy Storm? Or do you set one and have no protection after your opponent plays Mystical Space Typhoon?

It's easy to say that you'd rather set two because there are three Mystical Space Typhoons in most decks compared to one Heavy Storm. But losing two backrows puts you at a severe early game disadvantage. I have spoken elsewhere about how having your opponent Heavy two cards on their first turn has its advantages for you, but speaking strictly in terms of card advantage, it's not desirable. This paradox exists because we are in a format where Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm coexist at their full strength.

However, we're seeing a move away from Mystical Space Typhoon. The winner of the European WCQ only ran 2 MSTs in his deck. The reason for this was because recently, many 'no-Trap' decks have risen to the forefront. Traps are powerful, for sure, but they are often slow and clutter the deck. It's easy to get carried away with power cards like Bottomless Trap Hole. Chaos Dragons and variants of Monster Mash choose to forgo Traps. For this reason, Mystical Space Typhoon has dropped in usage.

But the irony here is that as Card X, the counter to Card Y drops in usage, it's more viable to run Card Y. We can apply this to the metagame in general, such as the recent Wind-Up phenomenon.

Increase in Maxx C -> Decrease in Wind-Ups -> Decrease in Maxx C -> Increase in Wind-Ups -> Increase in Maxx C

The cyclical nature of the metagame means that I could just be speculating in an uncertain period. However, there's no denying that the introduction of Chaos Dragons as well as Monster Mash being played more often has led to the decrease in Mystical Space Typhoon usage, and that those decks are here to stay. But with the decrease in Mystical Space Typhoon, isn't it more viable to run Trap-heavy decks focused on control such as Rabbit Control Wind-Ups or Dino Rabbit or even Gravekeepers? It's an interesting question for sure, and with no major tournaments left for this format, it may be a question that goes unanswered.

So, next time you draw a Mystical Space Typhoon, think about the influence that that little green piece of cardboard has over the metagame. And appreciate what you have, because you never know, come September 2012, you could be searching for a new deck...

Tournament Report - 10th June 2012

Alex and I went to Good Games in the city to participate in a tournament, with a $15 buy in. He was running Inzektors, and I was running a Chaos Dragons build incorporating Lightsworns and Judgment Dragon that we built on the train. Both of us ended up 2-2, pretty disappointing results overall for the both of us. Even for my first live event, I feel like I underperformed considering I did make a few misplays which I was able to pick out.

The tournament was in Swiss format, with the best 4 out of 10 participants moving onto the finals.

Match 1 - vs Nathan (Dino Rabbit)
Game 1: I don't remember if I won the diceroll or not, but he opened with Rabbit and Lance and I had no real mill outlets in my hand so his Laggia controlled the board pretty hard. I managed to mount a small comeback with a well timed Red Eyes, sweeping his monsters by baiting Laggia's negation with a Monster Reborn I didn't care about anyway, but he topdecked a Tour Guide into Leviair into Rabbit, and then the game was over.

Game 2: Once again I opened poorly (despite siding in three Mystical Space Typhoons, two Spirit Reapers and two Soul Takers), but going first allowed me to stall a little with Ryko. At one point I was ready to push for game with Red Eyes and Lightpulsar after baiting Laggia negations and reading his backrows correctly. However, when I went for game, I started out with Heavy Storm on his two backrows, straight into a Starlight Road. I lost Red Eyes on the next turn and the game was over quickly. I never saw any of my side decked cards.

Match 2 - vs Connor (Chaos Dragons)
Game 1: I lost the diceroll and he opened with Tour Guide into Zenmaines. I played Ehren, but he Veilered it and I lost Ehren on the next turn. I managed to push through Zenmaines by making it use its effect on itself, and had established presence with Lightpulsar, but he took it out while I had no Red Eyes in the yard and rolled me with his Red Eyes.

Game 2: I went first, and we went blow for blow. He had sided in three Electric Viruses and two Victorias, two of the Viruses were milled by he still hit me pretty hard with the Victorias. Eventually, a timely Chaos Sorcerer drop finally banished his Lightpulsar and I pushed for game.

Game 3: At one point I had an Eclipse Wyvern on the field with Honest in hand and Lance set. He had Lightpulsar, Zenmaines and Red Eyes on the field, and attacked my Wyvern. I made a misplay here - I should have used Honest, but instead I let it fall and every time I tried to come back, his Electric Viruses and Victorias shut me down.

Match 3 - vs Lucas (Blackwings)
Game 1: This guy was a kid and probably not very good at the game, but I decided I wouldn't take him easy. He had a pumped up Sirocco on the field at one point, and even managed to Dark Hole my field of Lightpulsar and Wyvern with no Darkflare or Red Eyes in the yard. I was dangerously low on Life Points at one point, but I dropped BLS and swung for game.

Game 2: He had stalled me for at least 5 turns with a Marshmallon. Instead of waiting for a good topdeck, however, he Tributed the Marshmallon for Sirocco to end the game by swinging at my field. However, I had Honest in hand and won.

Match 4 - vs Roman (Citadel Spellcasters)
Game 1: I won the diceroll and opened strongly, milling Wyvern on the first turn (and Gorz too...). He managed to use Arcane Barrier (or whatever the card is) to draw 4 cards, and nearly gamed me with a souped-up Arcanite Magician, but I just banished it with Chaos Sorcerer and he couldn't come back.

Game 2: I dispatched of his Citadel and Defender pretty early, and I constantly applied pressure with Lightpulsar. I had about 3000 points left from going blow for blow with him. A few turns in, he said "time to try something new..." and he ended up stacking about 4 Spell Counters in one turn on his Arcanite Magician and swinging for 3400 at my points. I was dumbstruck as I reached for my Side Deck.

Game 3: He had little outs to an early Jain, which managed to get some good enough mills that I was able to play beatstick after beatstick whenever he got rid of them and I eventually pushed for game and ended the day 2-2.

I was aware of my misplays in the four matches and I'm working towards rectifying them. I think live practice is very important - there's stuff you can't pick up on in Dueling Network (the wince on the other player's face when he gets poor mills, or the subtle encouragement of attacking into a Mirror Force - 'do you still want to attack?') that you can pick up on in real life. Overall it was a pretty good day and I did manage to get some more experience with Chaos Dragons, though I won't be using the Lightsworn build again probably.

Big things coming!

I don't want to have to apologise for our recent delay in getting posts up, but the workload of the HSC is starting to get to me. However, Alex and myself are currently putting together two decks - a Lightray/Lightsworn hybrid, and a Chaos Dragons deck. We expect to be able to use these decks at a competitive level eventually, attending local tournaments and such.

I'll briefly talk about the merits of both decks: the first is, obviously, based around the Lightray archetype. The Lightray monsters, for those who are unaware, can be Special Summoned when enough Light monsters are banished. They have powerful effects and are strong beaters too. Their ease of use definitely reminds me of Chaos monsters in a way.

What's also cool is that all the cards are essentially corrupted, Light versions of other cards. We have Gearfried, Chaos Sorcerer, and even our old friend Daedalus with Lightray counterparts. Sort of like the Verz monsters, but more awesome.

The Lightsworn engine is used primarily to get Light monsters banished through use of Macro Cosmos and milling. I'm sure more alternatives will open up to us, but at the moment Lightrays look like a very promising casual deck, maybe even with some competitive potential.

Chaos Dragons, on the other hand, are also an inexpensive build, however they have had massive success at recent YCS tournaments. TCGPlayer and Alter Reality Games have some articles on this deck, so I won't go too much in detail. The key points to note about this deck are basically that it's the cheapest competitive deck available right now, and it wins by applying pressure through sustained use of beatsticks. Everyone loves a beatstick.

Decklists will be posted later when we finish the decks. Until then, take care!

March Musings

Sorry for not being very active lately guys, I've been busy with Year 12, but I promise to put out some posts during the school holidays, possibly concluding the Introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh! series. A lot has happened since my last post - we saw Six Samurais win Guadalajara, Dino Rabbit take out Leipzig, and now Dark World winning the 100th YCS in Long Beach. I'm going to do a metagame analysis as my next post near the start of the holidays, as I saw some very interesting things in the Long Beach reports.

The main deck I've been playing is Dino Rabbit. It's too good. It has no negative matchups, and any deck that goes out of its way to stop Dino Rabbit is going to be crushed by the Rabbit sideboard. The recent practice of running Forbidden Lance at 3 has really limited the options players have at stopping the Rabbit. We've also seen Kaiser Colosseum being sided in to Dino Rabbit - a first turn Laggia and Kaiser Colosseum not only stops the Six Samurais, Dark Worlds and other swarm-happy decks, but it also gives the Rabbit mirror a good kick in the balls. Of course, you always run the risk of it being Typhooned, but most of your set cards will cry to MST like Starlight Road, Warning and Torrential anyway.

I've also looked into Chaos Dragons. It's a tier 2 deck at best, but there are some fun lockdowns and it's very explosive. It's my favourite deck to play with by far, though I will admit it is inconsistent at times and gets hit hard by the Inzektor matchup.

I think Maxx "C" and Effect Veiler are still important cards. I would still run three of each (between your main deck and your sideboard), maybe 1 or 2 Veilers at most if your deck isn't worried about Inzektors or anything. Veiler is still really versatile. Maxx "C" stops you from getting looped by Wind-Ups, and is a good tech against the surging Six Samurais and Dark World decks.

Another cool deck is Hero Beat, which is back for the new format. It's now incorporating Skill Drain, which hits a lot of decks very hard, as always. I don't think we'll ever see a meta in which Skill Drain isn't effective. The high ATK of Stratos, Neos Alius, Rai-Oh and Beast King Barbaros just applies constant pressure. It's also fairly consistent, as the deck runs Skill Drain at 3 and there are five ways to search out a Neos Alius. Miracle Fusion antics are great as always, and Super Polymerization gets around the undisputed king of this format, Evolzar Laggia.

I'll just leave you with a picture I found rather humorous. I think it was taken at Long Beach. Thanks for your patience, we promise more to come!

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.

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!

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.

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.

Deck Profile: Wind-Up Inzektors Hybrid

Wind-Up Inzektors

Monsters - 33

Inzektor Hornet x3
Inzektor Centipede x3
Inzektor Dragonfly x3
Wind-Up Hunter x3
Wind-Up Rat x3
Tour Guide From the Underworld x3
Gallis the Star Beast x3
T.G. Warwolf x2
Tragoedia x2
Effect Veiler x3
Maxx "C" x2
Sangan x1
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning x1
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness x1

Spells - 7
Mystical Space Typhoon x2
Heavy Storm x1
Allure of Darkness x1
Pot of Avarice x1
Monster Reborn x1
Foolish Burial x1

Extra Deck
Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity x3
Wind-Up Zenmaines x2
Leviair the Sea Dragon x2
Number 17: Leviathan Dragon x2
Number 20: Giga-Brilliant x1
Ally of Justice Catastor x1
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x1
Black Rose Dragon x1
Stardust Dragon x1
Chimeratech Fortress Dragon x1

Part 1: Inzektor Destruction Engine
The Inzektor destruction engine revolves around Inzektor Centipede and Dragonfly repeatedly using their effects to either pull a Hornet from the hand or Graveyard, then sending Hornet to the Graveyard to destroy one card on the field, upon which their effects will activate for a +2. The most famous Inzektor combo ends up with a +4, destroying two of your opponent's cards, while putting one on your field and one in your hand.

With Dragonfly on field, at least two cards on your opponent's field, and Hornet in Graveyard:

• Activate Dragonfly's effect to equip a Hornet from the Graveyard (+1) [+1]

• Pitch Hornet to destroy one card (+0) [+1]

• Special Summon Centipede with Dragonfly's effect (+1) [+2]

• Activate Centipede's effect to equip a Hornet from the Graveyard (+1) [+3]

• Pitch Hornet to destroy one card (+0) [+3]

• Retrieve Dragonfly from the Deck with Centipede's effect (+1) [+4]

No matter what metagame you're playing, a +4 is incredibly strong and beneficial to have, at any point of the game. It can be a crushing turn 2 play when the opponent isn't backed by Solemn Warning, or a Dragonfly topdeck could bring you back into the game. The combo doesn't end there - with Dragonfly and Centipede on field after the combo finishes, as well as a Centipede in hand, you have other plays available to you, such as:

• Using the on-field Inzektors to Xyz Summon a Rank 3 such as Wind-Up Zenmaines or Leviathan Dragon
• Swinging for 2600 points
• Using the in-hand Dragonfly to produce a +4 the next turn

All this is very well and good, and it's certainly possible to have a deck with just this mass destruction, with staple cards like Black Luster Soldier and Tour Guide thrown in, as well as protection and negation to support big pushes. However, I believe with the existence of cards like Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, this is impractical, and as such, the second part of the deck is as follows.

Part 2: Wind-Up Hand Destruction Engine
Wind-Up Hunter
Level 3 / DARK / Beast-Warrior
1600 ATK / 500 DEF
You can Tribute 1 face-up "Wind-Up" monster, except "Wind-Up Hunter"; send 1 random card from your opponent's hand to the Graveyard. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.

This effect is relatively good at first impression, and some people have theorycrafted plays with Wind-Up Shark to force 1 for 1s, but it isn't the best card in most situations. However, combined with some Order of Chaos releases in Wind-Up Rat and Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity, a strong early is opened up to us, which can be performed in different ways.


With Wind-Up Hunter and Gallis the Star Beast in hand:

• Activate Gallis' effect, which has a (27 + x) / 34 chance of activating successfully, where x is the number of Spell cards in your hand, dealing burn damage and Special Summoning it (+0) [+0]
• Normal Summon Wind-Up Hunter (+0) [+0]
• Overlay the Gallis and Hunter for Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity (-1) [-1]
• Activate Zenmaity's effect, detaching Wind-Up Hunter to Special Summon Wind-Up Rat from your Deck in Attack position (+1) [+0]
• Activate Rat's effect, changing it to Defense position to Special Summon Hunter from your Graveyard (+1) [+1]
• Activate Hunter's effect, Tributing Zenmaity to discard a card from your opponent's hand (+0) [+1]
• Overlay Hunter and Rat for Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity (-1) [-0]
• Activate Zenmaity's effect, detaching Wind-Up Hunter to Special Summon Wind-Up Rat from your Deck in Attack position (+1) [+1]
• Activate Rat's effect, changing it to Defense position to Special Summon Hunter from your Graveyard (+1) [+2]
• Activate Hunter's effect, Tributing Zenmaity to discard a card from your opponent's hand (+0) [+2]
• Overlay Hunter and Rat for Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity (-1) [+1]
• Activate Zenmaity's effect, detaching Wind-Up Hunter to Special Summon Wind-Up Rat from your Deck in Attack position (+1) [+2]
• Activate Rat's effect, changing it to Defense position to Special Summon Hunter from your Graveyard (+1) [+3]
• Activate Hunter's effect, Tributing Zenmaity to discard a card from your opponent's hand (+0) [+3]
• Overlay Hunter and Rat for any Rank 3 Xyz Monster (-1) [+2]

It's quite a long play, but this simple loop results in an overall +2, with your opponent having only 3 cards at the end of their first Draw Phase, while you have a powerful Xyz Monster on the field. This is crippling to many decks, though this play is stopped dead in the water by a Maxx "C", due to the amount of Special Summoning it does. 


Part 3: Putting it together 
Though the two engines are powerful on their own, and could make a stand-alone deck, when put together they help each other out to win Duels. Firstly, the Inzektor engine is an out to field disadvantage often incurred through the physically weak Wind-Ups. It's an instant +4 that gets you out of a bad situation should your Wind-Up play be interrupted, and it just needs two cards to start. 


Wind-Ups support the aggressive field control of Inzektors by taking out hand cards that could threaten you, but haven't been played yet such as Dark Hole or Thunder King Rai-Oh. In essence, the theme of the Wind-Up Inzektor deck is mass simplification, forcing multiple 1 for 1s, and sometimes better, like in the case of the Inzektor's 4 for 0. Mass simplification allows for pushes made by Xyz Monsters such as Giga-Brilliant and Leviathan Dragon to be uninterrupted. It's basically a beatdown deck, with a complex, multi-faceted and dynamic simplification engine. 


Hand traps like Tragoedia also help us out in protecting ourselves. They have the bonus of not being able to be negated as easily as cards like Bottomless Trap Hole or Mirror Force. Veiler is a tuner, allowing for Synchro plays with big Synchro Monsters that have good, immediate effects. 


Conclusion
The deck is difficult to understand fully - I still am not happy with the way I've been playing it on Dueling Network. There are so many plays and so many options to take at any point of the game, and the standard dueling skills apply - reading your opponent, risk analysis, etc. I advise you all to try the deck out, as I feel that the amazing combos available to you when using this deck will have an impact on the metagame not seen since the devastating turn 1 Shi En plays of March.

Introducing myself

Hello, my name is Alex Manisier. I've been playing Yu-Gi-Oh! for a long time, probably since I was about five. I didn't really understand the game back then, it wasn't until recently that I really got into it, though I've played a bit in the past. I'm currently studying for my Higher School Certificate, so I apologise for any infrequency in updates or general laziness. I also don't have as much of a basis in the game as my good friend Mr. Dang, so my posts will generally be limited to theorycrafting.

I've been rolling a Wind-Up Inzektor hybrid build on Dueling Network recently, though I've used decks like Plant Synchro, Rabbit Xyz and the less competitive but still strong Chaos. I really enjoy that website since I get to play around with cards I could never get in real life ($600 for a Tour Guide playset, you must be dreaming). My username is manisier on Dueling Network, contact me for a game or for a request or something. I hope that you guys enjoy reading the blog!

Introducing myself

Hello there. This blog was designed by Manisier and myself to serve several purposes:

1. Give our own perspective of the game and its' ever changing style.

2. Contribute information about up coming cards and releases.

3. Present ideas about our own personal favourites.

4. Detail tournaments and events attended. 

A little insight about myself (Dang):

I have been playing Yu-Gi-Oh since grade 3. So I was about 8 years old at that time. Let me take you down memory lane. I remember my very first booster pack like it was yesterday. A young naive little child walked into a corner shop and foolishly spent $9 on a 'legacy of blue eyes white dragon' pack. I don't remember clearly what i pulled but I do remember trading it away for a can of coke. Oh the shame.

 Since then I have owned several decks that I have used casually with my friends. It wasn't until 2010 that I started to play at a more competitive level and attended tournaments. My first competitive deck was Blackwings. Their speed at that era was incredible and I guess my first loss was to Blackwings so they had a huge impact on me. Soon afterwards I began to move onto the feared X-sabers. We all know that era right? Activate cold wave, summon rescue cat, bring out airbellum and darksoul, Special Faultroll, Synchro Hyunlei, Destroy back row. And so on. 

From there I drifted from the game a little because i couldn't afford cards like pot of duality at $150 each. Or solemn warning at $80 or so. I saved my money for other items. Then late 2011 my friend showed me his new Darkworld deck and it reminded me how some decks can be built in a cheap and competitive way without blowing $1000. So I slowly moved back into the game with my variant of Synchroecentric. My current deck is Agents. The decklist will be up soon on this blog and I will gladly discuss the mechanics of this deck and any interesting techs I have.