TCG Banlist Update!?

This is gonna be great! Sucks that Stratos is gone but I have my Hieratics almost back to full force (aside from REDMD)!

Post Sep'13 banlist decklist #1

Hey, I've just got back from international orientation at UNT, and let me add it was one of the best orientations I've experienced (been through orientation in under-grad and helped a few times), definitely gonna help the school out next year. Okay, back to YGO.

I've been testing some Hieratics builds last night since Sharmir "Malaysia #1 Windup" was talking to me bout it. After some thoughts, and assuming the big decks of the format prior to next set be Verz and Mermail. I do think HEROs are gonna be very good, they were only 2 decks they had a bad match up against last format and both of them are dead now. Hieratics actually have a better match up against heavy back row orientated decks as compared to high monster count ones, because of (1) hieratics aren't very big if your compare them to the other monster based decks and (2) hand traps. Nonetheless, I find this build quite interesting.

Lets not discuss the obvious. I tech a copy of Dragon of Gebeb (1800 Shura) since its a one card Trident Dragon, sometimes, having a 3000 vanilla on the board keeps you alive. Also, it allows me excess to Rank 4s with Alexandrite Dragon. This deck has a terrible match up against Verz and no one is there to argue about that, however, its not an auto-lose if you know what you're doing. I play a copy of Exploder Dragon to get rid of Ophion, it can be brought out with Atum (getting Atum out with Ophion on the board is the problem, I'll get to that).

Next, the card you guys must be having shit load of questions for would be Gagaga Guardna. Why the hell am I running this over cards like Gorz (which got back to 2 in case you didn't already knew), Trag or Fader? Well simple, Ophion! I played Fader in my older builds to get pass Ophion and gives me a tribute fodder. Why is Guardna here instead of Fader? Guardna is level 4, simple as that. I want more access to rank 4 XYZs. Also, while this card doesn't end the battle phase, so Ophion could still attack into it, you can protect it by discarding a card in hand. That may be bad at times but sometimes thats not such a bad thing, since there is Castle of Dragonic Souls and Call of the Haunted in your deck. I must stress that you can't drop Guardna whenever you have the chance thou, the deck isn't as simple as you might think, and please, take my word for it, winning consistently with Hieratics is no easy job. Also, I have a RoTA in the side board.

Last but not least, I tech a copy of XYZ Reborn to give me access to dead Atum if I need to. This is one way to get Atum out when Ophion is on the field. Getting rid of Ophion isn't actually hard, problem is, you lose advantage doing so, and they make their second one very easily. Normally, if I were to get killed by Verz, it would be by the second Ophion. XYZ Reborn serves as a counter to that. I can't really run more than a copy of this card since it brings the consistency down a bit. If I don't need it, I can always discard it via Guardna.

I'm still not a 100% with my extra deck line, Gauntlet Shooter can be switched to any Rank 4s, maybe Constellar Omega (I think I really should do that)? In case you're wandering how I'm gonna make level 8 synchros, Maxx C and Cardcar D are both level 2 non-tuners. Maybe another Gaia since Scapegoat is at 3.

Off to the side board! I have a RoTA and 2 copies of Vampire Hunter. Obviously Verz hate, and the RoTA can even search for Gagaga Guardna (I doubt I'll ever do that, but it is an option). I don't think I like Decree since I run a pretty high trap count myself (for a monster based deck), also MSTs are gonna be played in 3s since the 2 abominations of the past format are gone. Thats why I'm running 2 Dust Tornado and a Trap Stun. Dust Tornados are good against heavy back row decks, not only because it destroys backrow; it lets you set a card from your hand, allowing you drop Call of the Haunted safely onto the board.

I'm not sure if I want to play Mistake. Maybe I'll play something like Mirror Force or Waboku instead. I might also play a copy of DD Survivor, just cause I have RoTA and Dimensional Fissure in the side board. With Pot of Duality back at 3, I foresee Macro based decks gaining popularity. Also, Survivor has enough attack to get pass Fossil Dyna and Jowgen. Of cause, with Scapegoat back at 3 in a long long time, I might add that into consideration since it is one of the more annoying cards ever to be printed; but for a deck that relies on special summon, I try to keep Special Summoning out of my side board as much as I could.

Oh well, only time and more play test will tell. Thanks for reading, comment below if you find something to talk about.

Banlist Reaction!

I'm not gonna try to attempt to go into every card and how its a good/bad/fucked-up change to the game, everybody is doing that and you should have already known by now what these changes will do. Trishula coming back to the game really makes me wanna play Mermails, problem is I'm no longer in Malaysia and my playset of Trishulas aren't legal here in the US. Besides, I already know which deck to build here once I've settled down, obviously, with Emergency Call coming back to 3 and Mirror Force to 3, I am gonna build HEROs.

I don't like Pot of Duality in HEROs, the deck is consistent enough without it and it kinda slows it down.

I'm not sure how viable Firefist is gonna be with Tenki at 2 and Rooster at 1, but I'm sure Mermails will definitely be one of the top decks as of now. The deck has can make Trishula with 1 card, what did you expect? Ophion will still stand as one of the top decks since it didn't get hit in anyway and its worst match up Firefist lost some consistency.

Thats my reaction to the banlist. Sorry for such a short post, I'm still trying to get used to the US. If anyone knows where YGO players meet in Denton, TX, please let me know.

Another Possible Banlist!? Again ... Maybe ...

Just to follow up on my previous post, I've found yet another banlist that a lot of people are debating on. I'm not saying its real or anything, nor do I believe its creditworthiness. However, its just fun to analyse "fanlist" before the real thing surfaces sometime next weekend. Who knows, this might turn out to be the real thing ... or not.

Also, big thanks to FB group YGO Edition Singapore for adding a massive viewcount to my blog a few days back.

I've found this list about half an hour ago, on FB. I'm not gonna leave any links because it was a private group. By the time I saw this list, many are already discreditting it as the real list, but I figure it would be an interesting banlist to play.

Forbidden :

Spellbook of Judgment

Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon

Restricted :

Super Rejuvenation

Gold Sarcophagus

Spellbook Magician of Prophecy

Semi - Restricted :

All 4 Dragon Rulers

Spellbook of Secrets

Monster Gate

Mezuki

Plaguespreader Zombie

Unlimited : 

Agent of Mystery - Earth

T.G. - Striker

Archlord Krystia

Mirror Force

Pot of Duality

Discussion :

Spellbook of Judgment should never had existed in the first place, so it makes perfect sense to kill it with fire. Red-Eyes on the other hand came as a surprise. The card is massively overpowered, no doubt, but had not been actively doing anything for the past 6 months. Sure, being an overpowered dragon lands it in Dragon Rulers, but it had never once played an important part in the deck. Granted, I'm very bias towards Red-Eyes thus my judgment call on it might not be fair at all, but I see no reason to ban it. (Note : You no longer need it to preform OTKs in the new Hieratic decks, but you still need to count on it to get you out of shitholes)

The limited and semi-limited list are fairly easy to understand, not much discussion needed, aside from the 2 Zombies. Plague to 2 is fine but Mezuki to 2 proved time-over-time to be too much of a powerhouse. Zombies are unplayable with Mezuki at 1 but overpowered with it at 2. Vampires are a real force to be reckon with if the 2 broken tier 1s rotates out. Paying 2000 life for an M7 without using any card on board or in hand is no joke. (Mezuki specials a level 6 Vampire, triggering Grace)

Monster Gate had been proven many times to be a potentially dangerous card to have around.

Finally, the unlimited list. TG Agents goes back to full power, but with Firefist and Mermails around, the deck isn't gonna do anything.

With Duality and Mirror Force going to 3, I can easily see Bujin as a Tier 1. Even with 2 Dualities, Bujin had proven as a fairly consistent deck, capable of holding their own against Dragon Rulers (to some degree of success). More tutors are always welcome in control decks. 3 Axis is Bujin's worst matchup aside from Gayphecies. Mirror Force to 3 does ALOT of work. Same goes to the Evilswarms, which gains a lot of power from this list. 

That's it for my opinion on the "banlist". I do feel this banlist wasn't as good as the previous one on my blog as it doesn't do anything to Firefist and Mermails, but interesting nonetheless. Thanks for reading and please don't take anything seriously, as no hard evidence is there to prove it.

Banlist September 2013!? ... Maybe...

"It has "??" on it, so it MUST BE REAL!! INCOMPLETE, BUT REAL! ARGGGG!!"

Anyway, this is one of those list that pops out of nowhere twice per year around 2 weeks before the banlists. Not saying its the real one or anything but this looks like one list I do not mind playing in. Believe on your own risk!

"September 2013 Banlist

Banned

- Big-Eye

- Magic book of divine judgement (Spellbook of Judgment)

Limit

- Atlantean Dragoon

- Deep sea diva

- Fire formatioin Tenki

- Evilswarm Ophion

- Gold sacrcophagus

- ??

Semi

- blaster incarnate dragon

- redox incarnate dragon

- tidal incarnate dragon

- tempest incarnate drag

- dark hole

- super rejunavation

- solemn warning - return from another dimension - ?? - ??

Unlimited

- Tsukuyomi

- Archlord Kristya

- ??"

My only problem with this "banlist" would be Super Rejuvenation. That thing deserves to be banned, at least limited. I've written a whole paragraph a month back so please refer to it if you want to know why I hate the card with a passion.

Tenki and Dragoons are good precaution hits because once the power of Dragon Rulers and Prophecies died down, 3 Axis and Mermails will undoubtedly be the powerhouse of the format. Hitting Tenki means hitting Bujin, which I love very much, but I understand why it had to be done. I mean, Firefist Chicken was just release in the TCG, so we obviously can't hit that right? Seems like a legit explanation.

Tsuku can come back to 3 and makes no difference. Krystia to 3 may or may not be important, only time can tell. Warning to 2 is Amazing good, any control player will tell you that. I have no comments on Dark Hole to 2 thou, it seems okay, since punishing players for overextending is obviously good; but is it?

Now, does this banlist answers the problem of this format *cough*prophecies*cough*? Quite simply, it does! Prophecies might have one of the best searchers in the game, it will almost always lose if it can't resolve a Judgment Day. If Konami really decides to not beat around the bush and kills the damn card, it'll be great, although experience tells us that Konami ain't one to do just that. We'll see.

Most of the banlist is dedicated to weaken Dragon Rulers. Does this list do the job? Absolutely, not to the point it being off the competitive field but enough for most tier 1's and control decks to catch up. All the Rulers to 2 might have a bigger effect than most people think. Think about it, when you banish your Ruler and grab either the Chibi or another copy of itself, THATS IT. Sure, you can return it from the grave over and over again, but you are down in 4 Dragons and chances are you won't be playing as much Chibi's because of that. The deck will not be dead, but it won't be a Tier 0.5 like how it is now. Return from a Different Dimension to 2, however, is a very dangerous move.

Ophion to 1 because Shi-En is at one. Fair. The card is not healthy for the game (well, not as much of a cancer as Judgment Day) and it punishes Synchro based strategies and more importantly my Hieratic deck.

Well, thats it for this post. I'm not posting regularly because there was absolutely nothing to post about. Ghostrick turns out to be a very interesting deck, and surely deserves some attention, not that it has any chance in the current metagame.

TB July Ranking Tourney Report

Since I had nothing better to do with my time yesterday, I've decided to drop by Toysbar for some ranking locals. I've not really played any ranking this season so you can kinda expect my ranks to be quite near the bottom. Anyhow, I was testing this new build of Elemental HEROs I've come up with. It focuses on making Shock Master and beating both Dragon Rulers and Prophecies. At least, that was the plan.

Match 1 : VS Firefist 3-axis - Megat

Duel 1 : He opens with 3-axis usual stunt, making a board of monsters while not losing any advantage in hand; however, that just look too cute as compared to what Dragons and Prophecies have been doing, so I don't mind much. I open Stratos, set 5 and passed. I was making him believe that I have a Torrential set by asking him if he was summoning the monster he grab using Tenki, he attacked and walked into Mirror Force. He summons Spirit next but I had a Super Poly to stop him from Synchro summoning, he end and I flip a Call of the Haunted. Next turn, I special Bubbleman and flip a Warrior's Returing Alive to grab Alius and made Shock Master, game basically ended there.

Duel 2 : He opens a Synchro, a XYZ and both Fire Formation trap set. I E-Call for Alius and set Call, Torrential and 2 Spark. He attacks and I let it pass. He summons a monster and I wiped his board. He sets a FD and I flip Call on Alius and then destroyed the FD with Spark. I know what his two facedowns were, and I have RoTA and Reborn in hand. I'm guessing no one will leave Veiler in deck going against HEROs (not the right thing to do thou), so I just went for an OTK and won.

Match 2 : VS Prophecy - Mark

Duel 1 : I open Allius and set 4. He starts with Priestess, I let it pass; he summons Kycoo and I flipped Warning (I'm guessing he was confused), he walks over Stratos, set a Facedown and play Tower. I special Thrasher, flip Warrior's Returning Alive and summons Allius. Flip Miracle Fusion and then flip Spark to destroy Tower (to make it lose timing). Shining attacked into Book of Moon, I played my last 2 cards which are Super Poly to make another Shining and attacked for 3200. He didn't have an out to Shining cause he had no Spellcasters left.

Duel 2 : He opens and go plus 4 with Judgment and had Jyogen out. I have Stratos attack the Jyogen, special Bubbleman and E-Call another to make Shock Master, sadly he had a Veiler for it. Died next turn when he plays Heavy Storm on my 4 facedowns and Fate my Shock Master.

Duel 3 : I open Goblinberg, Bubbleman and Bubbleman to make Shock Master, setting Hero Blast, Miracle and RoTA. Sadly, he had a High Priestess and Magician in hand, but luckily he can't play his spells just yet. I drew Allius, summon it and RoTA for Bubbleman. I risked it out and made Emerald instead of anything bigger, returning Shock Master, Goblinberg and a Bubbleman to draw into Mirror Force. I play Miracle to make Zero and traded for his field, Emerald landed an attack. He summons Kycoo, played Judgment, Secrets, Starhall and Powers to try walk over my Emerald, but I had a mirror force ready. He ended with Jyogen and plus 3. I asspulled Stratos off the top, summon it to grab Bubbleman, attacked the Jyogen, special Bubbleman, played Emerald's other effect that lets me special a normal monster and grabs Allius (Emerald says non-effect monster, but me and my opponent were under the impression of normal monster, apologies for the misplay), and made Shock Master. He conceded.

Match 3 : VS Dragon Rulers - Yunkang

Duel 1 : I only open an Allius but I was controlling the board, making him run out of Dragons to banish and no hand. I made Shining sometime later and attacked him directly. He used all his resources (literally) to make Big Eye in defense and took Shining, I have Mirror Force set. I was feeling very good since he can't special his Rulers back now with no resource and I have Allius and Bubbleman in hand, but I topped Stratos. I set the Stratos and he took it with big eye, summons a Chibi and made Peark, attacked with it. No big deal right? I topped another Allius ... 

Duel 2 : Resolved a Judgment on his broke ass plus 4 Rejuvenation. Summoned Stratos, he played Veiler but I had Super Poly and I have Soul Drain in hand.

Duel 3 : He makes a field of a facedown, Dragosack and 2 tokens. I played YOLO, I mean, A HERO Arrives to grab Stratos, he had Veiler, but I had Super Poly. I summon Goblinberg and specials Allius, sets all and special Bubbleman. He played Book on Allius, Bubbleman and Tornado took the tokens and I made Abyss Dweller. Since I hand Debunk set, I'm pretty much in a winning position already, he topped Dark Hole ... His baby Dragon was Debunked and he passed. I had Torrential set and drew into Super Poly, but he had a Storm. Made Big Eye and set a card, since we all knew that was a Virus, I just concede. 

Still lost to Dragon Rulers, but I do think the results was very satisfactory. The side deck still needs some work thou.

Number 74 : Master Of Blades

Definitely one of the most hyped up card in the up-coming Numbers Hunter TCG set, I'm not sure when is OCG getting this card as of now. The card is also getting quite some attention back home, as a new staple to replace Big Eye and Drago-sack once they get hit by the banlist one way or the other.

What's there not to like? Its big, 2700 is over rank 7's 2600 line. Its effect makes it impossible to target leaving the only cards good against (that you normally see in main decks) it Dark Hole, Bottomless and Torrential. Making this the best card to come out in recent sets to boost the already powerful Dragon Rulers ... yeah right ... if you want my opinion, this card is mediocre at best. Its a 2700 you can summon easily, thats about it.

Now, before you go rage and I'm somehow the biggest idiot on the planet, please allow myself to explain; chances are I'm still an idiot that doesn't know how YGO is meant to be played by the end of this post. I must point out that all the things I'm gonna type down below is based on this card's place as a staple in Dragon Rulers (only), if there is another deck out there that can utilize this card better than Dragons, so be it; I am addressing this to my fellow countrymen that is in believe that this is gonna be a broken addition to the Rank 7 arsenal for Dragon Rulers.

Like I've said, Master of Blades is a 2700 that is impossible to target. Its blow another card up effect is optional, so you can't do a Zenmaines stunt on it. Zenmaines stunt basically meant, do something to the Zenmaines and let it blow itself if its the only card on the field. So, with all that, how can it possibly be bad? Its not bad at all! Its just not as good as people think it is.

Look, people aren't dumb, no one is gonna target this card with a card effect. I only run 1 Hetsuka in my Bujin main deck, why? For the exact same reason, no one in their right mind will be targeting you knowing its not going to work, let alone its going to pop another card. Remember how Zenmaines was the most broken card ever? Truth to fact, Zenmaines is gonna be a bad card if it had not been indestructible; and Master of Blades is gonna be bad if it had not own a 2700 body.

My point is, his effect will NEVER be played, unless you target him with one of your cards to blow one of your opponent's. Turning Compulse into MST isn't that bad an option. Other than that, its not going to be worth it.

Another reason why people think its good is the card's 2700 attack. But, that to me is this card's greatest weakness. This is a card you would never want to make in a Dragon Mirror match. The moment Master of Blades hits the field, you can bet your money on Crimson Blader coming down next turn. The mirror between Dragon Rulers are a battle between Big Eye and Blader. Sure, your opponent can't make a Big Eye and grab your Master of Blades, but whats the point, they can make Blader when ever they want. Even Dragosack, a card you rarely make in the mirror can stand itself against Master.

If its 100 attack higher, as in 2800, then it might be relevant, but there's always Colossal Fighter, and you are getting hit by 2800 for free. But, at least it ensures you a safer Blader drop if you're holding Veiler for Big Eye. If Master of Blades want to be good, it had to be 2900 or higher. I'm just saying.

Now, do I think this card is bad? Not at all! You might have misunderstood me stating that this was not as good a card as you think it is, I meant, in the Dragon Ruler mirror match. This thing is not gonna do anything against Prophecies as well, none of their card targets (if you're still playing Priestess, I have news for you bro). BUT, this card can be amazing against the other decks, namely the big 3 under the Top 2, Firefist, Verz and Mermails. Most antiMeta deck run 3 copies of Compulse to get rid of Dragosack, this card exploits that. However, these deck normally loses out to Dragon Rulers in the first place, its like getting a solution to something that was not a problem to begin with.

To wrap things up, this card sucks in the Dragon Ruler mirror match, leaving a 2700 on the field with no protection is a disaster waiting to happen. I'm no pro or anything, so you don't have to take everything I said for granted, heck, you don't even need to listen to a word I said; but I'm no believer that this card is gonna be big in the Dragon Ruler mirror match.

Is Crimson Blader out in the TCG? It should be right, since its a relic from the synchro era. If its not, then I guess I could understand why people are thinking this card is good. I guess I could understand the importance of this card once Big Eye and Sack are hit by the list, but before that, I see only 1 copy at best in the extra deck, for the rogue matchup (if you misread the BTH as a Compulse, well, sucks to be you).

Well, that was only my opinion, I may be dumb and this turns out to be the most broken cards ever. I may be the only one on Earth thinking this card is bad, but hey, I'm a believer of the saying, if a card is not broke, its not good. Please comment below, I really wanna know what you guys think of the card in general.