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. 

Banlist Prediction Season!

No one seemed to notice this yet, but apart from a couple of WCQ here and there; might squeeze in a YCS or 2, I'm not sure, but this format is basically over. For the past 4 months or so, I've not heard one person said that this was a good format. The Malaysian WC Rep posted comments on FB numerous times on how bad the format was (not stopping him from getting to the finals of BOTH ACQ and WCQ). For the most part, this was a 2 deck format, either you play Dragon Rulers, or you play Prophecy, or you might consider playing on your kitchen table for 6 months.

Everyone knows both these decks need to be hit, we don't know how hard Konami is gonna hit them, but lets pray to god they know what they are doing. And hey, the September format had always been good for the past 5 or 6 years. I've asked some people for opinions, gave some as well, but we never seem to agree on what cards should be on this banlist.

I'm a firm believer of the banlist's job is to limit a deck's brokeness, not to kill a deck. Well, not being broken does kill the deck if you're like me, who thinks YGO means tournaments and nothing else, so I guess it depends on how you view not killing. Lets cut the chase and dive straight into my wish list. This is just my opinion, god allows us to have our own opinions, so don't get offended when I point out stuff you don't agree. 

Dragon Rulers:

I've seen people saying ridiculous stuffs like limit each Dragons to 1 or ban Big Eye. That either kills the deck and ruins a great engine for other decks, or doesn't do anything to the deck. (If you take out Big Eye, and not hitting anything else, you take out what skill is left in the mirror match; I'm just saying)

In my opinion, the card that needs to go to 0 is Super Rejuvenation. In all of my games against Dragon Rulers, that is the one card I never want to see in my opponent's hand. Making a huge ass field and then drawing into hand traps is just stupid. The card basically rewards players for over extending, in a mindless way. I'm not saying Dragon Rulers are a deck you can play without being good, true to fact that the best players tops consistently this format; but making Dragosacc and draw 4 isn't the hardest move to figure out, and I find it kinda hard to misplay with cards like that. "Maxx C? Sure, you get 4 cards and I get 4, fair" Wut!?

Super Rejuvenation makes it almost impossible for any control decks to comeback, unless you open nuts. You opponent is making threats while digging for Typhoons, not a really fun experience. Also, the fact that the only other deck that plays Super Rejuvenation is some sort of Exodia variant really doesn't help justify why this card is still allowed. I can go on with my rant on Reju, but thats gonna take forever to wrap up.

The other card I want to put on the list would be Dragosacc. I do not think Dragosacc is broken, but I do think that its too good, borderline broken maybe. However, my problem was never with getting rid of Dragosacc, thats the easy part. My problem is how am I gonna get rid of the next one. The only match ups where Dragosacc is not a legitimate threat would be the mirror and also Prophecies. Super Reju makes it hell to try to control Dragon Rulers, Dragosacc makes facing it a nightmare for any deck thats not gonna make a Big Eye easily or Fate it. In my opinion, Dragosacc should go to 1, or at least 2 (if Konami doesn't release another rank 7 thats too good).

With those changes, the deck is still very viable and can pull off wins easily, but I would not mind playing against it as much. Sure, it still has the best engine in the game (arguably), but in today's metagame, what deck doesn't repeat A-to-Z every turn. At least I know when my opponent wants to start with a big board presence, his not gonna have protection for his field.

Prophecies:

If you've been following my blog for the past 6 months, you'll know that I absolutely hate Prophecies as a deck. Spellbook of Judgment is retarded, no matter how you justify it, its not gonna change the fact that the card is too broke to be a card. "Prophecies needed someway to gain advantage, its not broke because Dragon Rulers have endless supply of cards too", someone told me this last weekend, please, give this guy a round of applause. 

I really hate Prophecies with a passion, if I could, I would ban everything with Prophecies in its name (and yes, I'm still butt hurt over my lost last weekend). But putting my personal agenda aside, this is a list that I think will contain Prophecies but not kill them ... 

Prophecies are a bunch that gains you advantage one way or another. Spellbook Tower is the best field spell in the game if you haven't notice, and its searchable by basically everything. If you are playing a control based deck, like myself, the Tower and Fate are the 2 cards you would hate, very very much. However, both cards aren't on my suggested list of change.

Limit to one both Spellbook of Secrets and Spellbook Magician of Prophecy. Limiting searchers has always been Konami's favorite move in hitting a deck, and for the most part, it works. If you play a game against Prophecies, going second, and knowing your opponent will not open Magician every game, its actually not that bad. Should Judgment get hit? If both searchers are hit, I doubt it'll be as good, but good lord the card is still too broke, KILL IT WITH FIRE!! In all seriousness, I'm not sure what I want to do with Judgment, obviously the card shouldn't even exist in the first place, but is banning it really the right move? I really don't know. Limiting it to one along with the other 2 might be good enough, since they have a million cards to recycle Spellbooks anyway.

With these changes, you might be able to slow Prophecies down to a more controllable state. Its still gonna be broke if they open Judgment and have 3 cards they can play, but knowing the game doesn't end if they go first is god sent to me. 

The other decks :

If the big 2 are somewhat contained, Evilswarm, Mermails and Firefist will all return as viable options. In case you've forgotten, Mermails were broke before Tachyon Galaxy came out. But to be honest, after this hell of a format, I'm not even sure what it meant to be good anymore. Sure, we know these decks are gonna make a comeback once the big 2 are gone, but I really have no clue what I should do to these decks. I mean, all of their plays seems really fair now if you ask me.

A lot of word still had to be done to make the next format fun. With no notable archtype coming out in Shadow Specters, at least in my knowledge, I don't see the pole position of these decks dropping anytime soon. A question I was asked quite a lot was, will Bujin be viable next format. I have to say I'm pretty sure its gonna be dependent on how heavy the backrow is. Bujin, if you've played with it as extensive as I've had,  is extremely weak to heavy backrow. Also, while the deck is fairly consistent, going first or second plays a very big part. So, by making the format somewhat slower and viable for control decks, I'm not exactly sculpting an ideal format for my deck here. 

What should come back :

For the love of god, please let me play 1 more Solemn Warning and Thunder King Rai-Oh. Part of the reason why control decks lost their ground this format was because of the limitation of Solemn Warning. Also, I feel like its okay for Scapegoat to come back to 2 or 3. Its not gonna be in a bunch for the top decks, and its not gonna be game busting, its just a card that makes you four goats.

...

Thats what I have on the top of my head. And these are all my very personal opinion. Anything you might wanna share or add, please feel free to leave me a message in the comment section below, I would love to read it. If you think I'm stupid and want to state it out, feel free, but at least let me know why I'm stupid okay?

...

Finally, I feel that this card should get banned. Its just too damn broke.

Do you agree Mike?

Wait! Wut!?

Just when I was preparing to put my OCG stuffs in a box and leave them there for a year, Kyde pm'ed me on Facebook late at night yesterday and showed me this.

I was like "Wait! Wut!? We have another event in July!? This is AWESOME!!"

The date is post Specters, meaning Bujin will be at full force this time and I can tell you Susanoo definitely wants to revenge kill Blue-Eyes.

Guess my days at OCG aren't really over yet. Sure, I still need to qualify for the event, but having an event by itself is a god sent to me.

Rise of the Bujin

WCQ Malaysia had officially came into a close and I can finally start test playing with the new Bujin (previously War Gods) cards from Shadow Specters. I had not been doing so because I want to focus on the cards I had excess to for WCQ. After a day's worth of test playing online, I've come to conclusion that they are amazing.

If you've talked to me a few days back during WCQ, you might had heard me saying the only good card from the bunch would be Kagutsuchi (the new XYZ). I must apologies to whoever had been mislead by my false lead. I had not been test playing with them at all and my previous opinion was based on the numerous encounters of the deck online (and quite frankly, most people fail at using the deck).

Before I start going into the review of my most recent build for Bujins, I must stress that Bujins still have a terrible match up against Prophecies. Yes, the match up is definitely better now as compared to pre-Specters because of the easy access to Rise of the Bujin (previously Advent of the Bujin). But that alone wasn't enough to turn the advantage around. Going second against Prophecies is still terrible unless you open with the right hand trap. Well, I guess thats a given since even Dragon Rulers main deck Droll & Lock Bird. 

However, Mikazuchi (the new 1900) makes the Dragon Ruler match up so much better. I've yet to lose a match against Dragon Rulers with this build (granted, the players behind the deck were no where near Wesley or Jeff's league). Three-Axis Firefist was one of this deck's worst match up, behind Prophecy, but the tide has now completely changed in Bujin's favor. Having easy access to Rise of the Bujin and a new ace monster that doesn't die easily is huge.

As for everything else, well, I'll have to agree with Mike, there are only 2 decks this format, the others just aren't relevant. 

Its been a while since I've build a deck with a 2-1-1 ratio. The monster line is very simple, Yamato is still our main guy. I only run 2 Mikazuchi because I search him with Yamato. The best opening for the deck would be to summon Yamato, grab a Mikazuchi and drop a Bujin. If your opponent kills Yamato, Mikazuchi will definitely go for a revenge kill next turn. If Yamato lives and Mikazuchi successfully resolves, the game is pretty much over. If you've played against me, you'll know that its very difficult to kill a Bujin thats successfully resolved itself, especially in this format.

The other Bujins are 2 Hetsuka, 2 Murakumo and a Bachi. Murakumo is the most powerful of the bunch, no doubt and I won't consider playing any less than 2 as of now. I was only running 1 Hetsuka until yesterday, but with Kagutsuchi, Hetsuka becomes so much better. The only good way to get rid of Kagutsuchi is Spellbook of Fate (that's why Prophecy is this deck's worst match up), in any other match up, if I resolve Kagutsuchi, it'll stay on the field and wreck havoc till the game is over. Bachi isn't very good this format because of the lack of backrow, but it is still good when you need it.

To complete the monster line up, I have a playset each of Maxx C and Veilers, along with a lone Firefist Bear. Maxx C is pretty much a staple in 3's now. Veiler is much more important now in this deck because the only real threat in Dragon Rulers will be Big Eye.

Spell line is generic, nothing too complicated. Rise of the Bujin is an amazingly powerful card. Its the kind of card that turns the game around and end games on its own. However, its not the easiest card to activate. You need to have a Bujin banished (trust me, you come across having nothing banish very often) and a Cyber Dragon condition to even activate the card. The problem with the card was actually, to draw into it at the wrong time. This card can be THE BEST or THE WORST top deck depending on situation. That is why I was reluctant to play the card before. However, because it was so powerful, I had 1 in my deck last weekend, and it won me a game. Mikazuchi changed this. Since he lets you grab Rise from your deck early in the game, you don't have to draw into it at the wrong time while having the most powerful card in your deck early. Personally, I think this is the key point that is going to make Bujin "a deck".

Trap is also generic, any beat down based deck would have similar trap line. Safe Zone is a personal pick over Bottomless Trap Hole. I feel BTH being terrible against everything if I go second or draw it outside of my opening 6. Safe Zone is a card I took a liking on since some time ago and I have a good field record with it. The trap line is anyone's pick, but don't bother wasting your trap on the Bujin traps. They're just awfully bad.

Crimson Blader is in my extra deck because I can borrow it on the spot when no one else can, LOL. Sorry, that was an inside joke within our community. The deck has only 1 way to get Blader out, which is the combination of Veiler and Reborn in a game against Dragon Rulers (and Mermails, but they're not a deck. Right Mike?) Only 1 Kagutsuchi as its not the easiest to make in my build. I know builds that ran triple Bear and even Wolberg can make it much easier, but I find those cards bad against Dragons and Prophecies. Also, I want to run more monsters and make my deck less consistent. I have yet need to make a second Kagutsuchi, but I will pump it to 2 if I really need to.

Side deck is random, I've not put much thought into it, so please ignore it. I have Foolish Burial in my side because I figure I need access to back row removal more than game 1, also Safe Zone and Zephyrus is pure advantage. Puppet Plant is in there because Wen Shen said its good.

Now, thats it for the deck list and lets move on to the game play.

For starters, always leave a Bujin banished. That is VERY VERY important. This is the key for making Rise of the Bujin live. Yes, I know this is very basic but people take it for granted and try to conserve ammo for bigger threats. If you have Murakumo in your grave and no Bujin banished. You opponent has a random Tenki face up, POP it. You might feel its a waste of precious ammo, but you can have Yamato ditch another one into the grave for you if you really want to. If you don't have a Bujin banished and your opponent kills your Bujin, you are gonna hurt so bad, having the most powerful card in your deck dead in your hand. I'm not saying you should mindlessly pop things, don't do so if you already have a Bujin banished (you can thank your opponent's BTH later).

Next, if you have Safe Zone or anything that could protect your Bujin; make sure they are live before you drop your Bujin. This doesn't really matter against the top 2 decks but against decks that play heavy back row, keeping your Yamato on the board for as long as possible is how you are going to win. The only time you would care less for Yamato is when you have Rise of the Bujin really to do some carnage. Heavy back row decks usually can't go for the kill off the bat. Taking a turn's worth of damage is well worth dropping your Bujin safely. 

Well, thats it for my Bujin decklist, hope this is helpful to anyone interested in the archtype. I would love to fit a Dark Hole and a Book of Moon in there, so if anyone figured out how you can do it, please let me know. Thank you for reading and please comment below (constructive criticisms only, no bullshit).

World Championship Qualifiers Report

I was at Sungei Wang Plaza yesterday doing a lot of scouting work, trying to figure out how some of the better players play and also what they tech. Then I proceed to do some light training with Kyde to 11pm.

I played Bujin for the event, because my build is good against Dragon Rulers in general. However, Prophecies are a very bad match up. Since there are a little over 15 Prophecies (I suppose) by Top 64, I guess my chances of actually meeting 1 is rather slim, so I went with Bujin.

Before I forget, I was depending on the format to be swiss because I don't really think I can win in a match against Prophecy. So, when they announced the format to be Single Elimination, I shit bricks.

Game 1 : VS Prophecy

Why god? What did I ever do to you?

Duel 1 : I open 2 Tenki and 2 Yamato without traps. I wasn't really sure how I'm gonna win this, but since Tenki are pretty much useless I set them. Somehow, my opponent either didn't open well or that scared him. I was able to win when I YOLO and made Susanoo with Reborn and Habakiri.

Duel 2 : I open 3 Yamato and he starts. Yeah, best opening ever.

Duel 3 : I open Tenki, Bear, Tengu, Kycoo and Hetsuka. I wanted to cry that exact moment. I run 12 monsters not including Maxx C (it was Droll&Lock in this game) and Veiler, how did I even open a full monster hand. I start and drew into my six, Droll&Lock. I search for Yamato and ended. Luckily my opponent didn't open very well either. When he was trying to resolve a big Judgment play, I had the bird for it and somehow won this game.

I won but I don't know how I won. I was not sure what was wrong with my deck and how the hell I open multiple Yamatos without trying. I went for a light "sembahyang" session before round 2.

Game 2 : VS Prophecy

There are 8 Prophecies left in Top32 and I met another one. Nice ...

Duel 1 : I open Compulse, Judgment and Emptiness; no monsters. His Kycoo murdered me in a few turns because God answered my prayers and gave me no monsters.

Duel 2 : I was in an equally bad situation as duel 2 of game 1, where I open 3 War God (NOT YAMATO) for no real reason. I just set them since Kycoo and Star Hall is big. I decided to go YOLO and make Susanoo with Reborn again, he Veilers it and I kill Kycoo. I set Autonomous as a bluff holding Veiler and Habakiri. He flips Storm and plays Secrets to get Magician. I used Veiler on it. He then plays Masters to copy Secrets. If he takes Fate now, I'm a dead man. But I knew he might take Powers since he has Maiden on the field and Blue-Eyes has field presence. I put on EMO Face #1 and keep passing responses. His Blue-Eyes took was murdered and I won next turn.

Duel 3 : Although I won game 2, he starts in game 3 so I don't feel good at all. He ends with Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon, Judgment for 2 and a random Magician. I have Yamato kill his Magician set Compulse, Safe-zone and Judgment. I play Compulse on his draw. He shows me Storm, I play Judgment, he shows me MST, and a Dark Hole, and a Reborn (the Spell Book one) and a Secrets and a Masters. Yeah, most back and forth game I've played in my life ...

Well that wraps up the event. I'll be moving to the US this August so this will be the last OCG event for me (not including locals). 

Countdown to WCQ - 1 Day!

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are. Sorry for a month of absence, I've was working as an application engineer for the past month and have been following a project since then (any engineers reading this should feel this). I've finally had some free time and what good timing it is. A day before the start of WCQ Malaysia.

How is this event any different from previous event you might ask. Well, this is the first time (correct me if I'm wrong) we have a 2-day event. I know quite a number of us were begging for this for some time now and we finally have it. Finally, we can proudly say, "I've made Day 2!" LOL

As many Malaysian bloggers had explained, Day 1 will be single elimination and cut to top 32, where they will join the 32 seeded players for a Top 64 Day 2 Swiss. Nice!

Personally, I prefer swiss over single elimination. Double elimination is still the better format, but I understand its much difficult to pull out with 64 players (or am I wrong?).

Since I was qualified for Day 2, I originally planned to do coverage for day 1, BUT, the Singapore coverage team would be here tomorrow it seems and they have a good track record at doing coverage at their event. Guess no one would be missing my crappy writing.

Well, not writing for a month really took its toll on me, as I have nothing more I wanna put in words as of now. Again, I wish everyone the best of luck come tomorrow and Sunday, and to whoever gets the air ticket, hopefully Malaysia can finally take home a World Championship trophy!

WCQ SEED Qualifier TB Tourney Report

Today was the last leg of the seed qualifiers for TB. Me and Kyde went there to get the seeding because not having a seed means you'll be ditching out money for a booster box to participate in WCQ. Since this was one of the last qualifiers is KL, the turn up rate was way higher than usual. I played War Gods / Bujin.

Match 1 : VS Firefist (4 axis)

Duel 1 : I won the die role and summons Yamato, he can't do shit once Yamato gets on the field.

Duel 2 : I open with Rai-Oh and Safe Zone, they stood on the field the whole game.

1-0

Match 2 : VS Hieratic (Kyde)

Duel 1 : He played Reckless Greed but was not able to kill me, I summon Susanoo, he scoope since he can't draw for the next two turns.

Duel 2 : He starts with Nebthet and Atum (which was veilered). I set 2 Mirror Forces and a Judgment. He special a Su, hits a Mirror Force. His second Atum was Solemn'ed. He makes Ancient Sacred Wyvern, Gaia Dragoon and Nebthet to walk over my Yamato but was surprised by my second Mirror Force (which he believed was a bluff).

2-0

Match 3 : VS Mono-Mermails (Rex)

Duel 1 : His deck doesn't play Abyss Spheres but 3 copies of Decrees, those lock my traps real hard. He played the equip spells too to negate my spell so I couldn't get rid of the Decree.

Duel 2 : He played Light Imprisoning Mirror which was very effective but I was able to come back using Gem Knight Pearl with Safe Zone to kill all of his monsters and proceed to beat down.

Duel 3 : He opens with 1 set, I have MST in hand. I was still under the impression of the card being Sphere, thus setting 3 and ended. He passes the next turn and I had Yamato attack him directly which he responded with Malevolent Catastrophe. It went down hill from there since I lost 3 back roll and stuck with a useless MST in hand.

2-1

Match 4 : VS Six Samurai

Duel 1 : My opponent doesn't seem to know how War Gods work and made stupid mistakes like attacking into Yamato with Shi-En.

When I was shuffling my opponent's deck, I found out that he had more cards in it then there was in game 1. He tried to say that his deck had 49 cards, but I've confirmed with him that his deck had 40 when I was shuffling his deck in game 1. He show me a 15 card side deck but some of the cards were sleeved and some were not. Judge rule a game loss to him  and I won the match.

Top 4 : VS Incarnate Dragons / Dragon Rulers (Weiyann)

Duel 1 : I was able to hold on my own for quite some time but lost when he played cards to force his own LaDD to negate them so that he could make Big Eye.

Duel 2 : I open 2 Habakiri, which was bad, but Iron Wall stop him from doing anything. I was able to make Susanoo next turn and won from there.

Duel 3 : This game was intense, I walk over LaDD and he summoned Lava Golemn with its effect. I had Habakirir and Safe Zone in defense and have his own Golem wear him down. It all came down to a top deck Tenki to make Susanoo, and attacked over his Tidal leaving him with 800 life and Golem burnt them away next turn.

Finals : VS Mono-Mermails (Rex) - Revenge match

Duel 1 : I open Yamato and he didn't open very well and I was able to set up and beat him down.

Duel 2 : He had Big Eye, Pike and a Yamato he stoled in attack. I top Reborn, summon a War God and special another, making Susanoo. I grab Habakiri to my hand, walk over his 2 level 4s with Susanoo and 2 Habakiri to win the match.

So, I won the seed qualifiers with War Gods. Safe Zone was an MVP today as expected. I didn't have 3 Vanity's Emptiness with me which hurt during my game against Dragon Rulers. Overall, my current build proved to be quite consistent and I'm liking it thus far.

Irrelevant Side Deck Options

Hi guys, sorry for not posting for the past week, I was caught up with a lot of PS3 action and there wasn't much happening in YGO anyway. Today, I really wanna talk about some misconception regarding how you play against War Gods and stuff. From the get go, we all know that the War Gods aren't gonna be meta determining because it just lacks the firepower and consistency shown by Prophecies and Incarnate Dragons. However, if you rule them out as irrelevant, its gonna come back stinging your ass, although I doubt anyone would even try playing the deck since its not winning much. Still, some extra knowledge can't be bad.

Now, when I go around asking what cards you would side in against War Gods, most answered "Imperial Iron Wall, Soul Drain or Macro Cosmos". True, these cards stop Murakumo and Hetsuka from going off, but in reality, the only one that really slows the deck down would be Macro Cosmos. I doubt many would realize this, but the only important War Gods are Yamato and Habakiri (the Honest), Macro stops all Honest, making it a big pain in the ass. Thats why if you start the game by going first, send Murakumo into the grave first to destroy any Macro set up.

Why wouldn't Soul Drain and Iron Wall do anything? Simple, cause I side into 3 Soul Drains myself. Hetsuka may seem extremely good at first glance, but who in their right mind would target a War God? The only cards that targets right now are Compulsory Evacuation Device (which doesn't really hurt), Fire Fist Bear (somewhat relevant but you run a very trap heavy deck) and the 2 Rank 7s in Incarnate Dragons (Dragosacc would just crash into you wasting your Habakiri). As the current format stands, I strongly believes that good ol' Forbidden Lance is a much relevant card to be played in 3s. 

Murakumo is not much different. The only good target it has are Ophion and thats about it. It might be good against some non-Tier 1s. But it really does nothing against the Big 2. My current build only plays 2 copies of each "grave trap" and focuses more on the beat down element of the deck. 

Also, hand traps are pretty much useless against the deck in case you've not notice.

If you really wanna side against War Gods, just side in Bottomless, Torrential, Mirror Force and other non-targeting traps, they do their very well. If Yamato doesn't hit the field, the deck can't really do anything big. 

In reality, you're most likely not gonna meet any War Gods if your playing in a larger event, but please keep in mind what I've said just in case.

Update May 2013

I'm sorry for not updating for a week or two, I'm having my final exam now, final paper for my Bachelor's Degree is on Monday, so wish me luck. Today's update won't be much on YGO, I wasn't doing much since I'm having my exams. I just wanna confirm that I'll be heading to the US this August, I've finally receive my confirmation of admittance from University of North Texas, Denton. Orientation will be on the 16th of August and I expect myself to be there a week earlier to kinda settle down a bit.

So yeah, this coming WCQ will be my last OCG event, hopefully I'll still be playing YGO when I finish my Masters Degree. Expect lesser OCG stuff come August. 

Sorry for posting something that has nothing to do with YGO, and hopefully I pass my final paper! Thats it for now, I'll be continuing my battle with the books.

Update on War Gods! To the Battlefield People!!

JOTL had officially reach our humble Malaysian shores this morning/afternoon and many like myself had enlisted the War Gods as a top contender for this years WCQ. But the question remains, can the War Gods overthrow Incarnate Dragons or even fight on par with them. Also, will Prophecies, and their Judgment Day be to big an obstacle. 

A few days ago, I've posted a sample decklist to the deck, this is a revamped decklist, that had proved itself to be more consistent and also allows the deck to do more plays. 

As you can see, not only do we see Tenki in the deck, we actually have Fire Fists joining the fray. Its like the Chinese Warlords joining hands with the Japanese Deities to take down evil Sorcerers and stupidly huge Mythical Beasts, directed by Michael Bay. 

Fire Fist Bear is a staple in any Fire Fist deck because its good. Free pluses turn after turn is good. With 2 Bears in the deck, I basically have a total of 8 Yamatos, not to mention POD and Maxx C. Sweet! I doubt I have to explain how is Bear good, unless your hiding under some rock for the past 4 months or so?

Now, for the new card, Fire Fist Boar is a level 4 Tuner. Its also a recruiter, which makes it the 3rd Bear. Why is he so good in here? Crimson Blader! We all know how good the card is in Incarnates and how can we forgot how good it is AGAINST them lizards. Hell yeah, a tuner monster that doesn't take away consistency (and adds to it, no less) is good. 

Oh yeah, Vivid Knight is like the Battle Fader of this deck. LaDD attacks your Yamato? Reveal it to make it lose 500. Attack Susanoo? One way ticket to hell bro. Best part, it stays in the hand. LOL.

Spell and Trap line up remains majorly identical, aside from 3rd MST to a Gyokko. A searchable MST that prevents your opponent from dropping Gorz is absolutely amazing. Although I couldn't just replace the MSTs with it because Gates of Dark World and D.D.R are very much cards. Also, I never like the number of the deck to go over 40 (its 41 now already).

Aside from Blader, the other noticeable changes was the inclusion of more Fire Fist cards. I've bumped Tiger King up to two because his just amazing against decks that like to hide behind Zenmaines. Also, since I've bumped the Formation count, he gains me free advantage every time I make him. What more, because we have Boar now, making him is easier than ever.

The other new card, Fire Fist - Kirin doesn't really do all that much. It basically just serves as another target when I need it. The card can stand its ground against the 2800 line, which is good since thats the standard line at the moment as oppose to 3000. I'm not sure if I wanna have him in the deck or another Blader, but you never really synchro twice per game and it can't make anything thats not FIRE. Normally, I rather just make an XYZ instead of Blader isn't good.

To the side board, Droll & Lock is for Prophecy, nuff said. Gozen is for Incarnate, it kinda messes with the Fire Fist part of the deck, but locking down the biggest deck of the format (for a few turns) is quite enough for me.

Prison is in here for random beat down decks, Fire Fist, HEROs, and in some case Dark World and Machina. Skull Meister is a card I'm still very much on the fence of (with DD Crow), but Meister stops DW better if they are going first. As I mentioned in my earlier post, Autonomous Unit is good versus Fire Fist, DW (stealling Grapha is nice) and also, the mirror match. Grab their "grave trap" make a Susanoo, win sounds like a great plan. Debunk is another card thats good in the mirror match too. Finally, the Rai-Oh is for the mirror, any antimeta, Prophecy (if I go first), Mermails and also Fire Fist.

Notice I have next to nothing effective against Verz, but, that deck is breakfast, so who cares. (>0<)

Entering the Battle Field

Judgment of the Light, unlike Tachyon Galaxy, seems to be a fair balanced-out set. Yes, there might be a few cards that are "too good" here and there, but nothing the likes of Spellbook Judgment Day and Incarnate Dragons. The set introduces a few archtypes and supports some older ones, Archfiends being one of the highlights of this set, hope it doesn't become Harpies 2.0, Firefist's 4-axis gets amazing boost from the set and seems like High Priestess wasn't broke enough so they gave Prophecy another boss monster, this time a Judgment Dragon to go with High Priestess's Dark Armed Dragon.

Today, I want to discuss a deck I've been super hyped about since its announcement, War Gods.

War Gods are an archtype heavily centered around beat down. Their standard play is to summon Yamato and his XYZ counterpart, Susanoo, and beat the field down. They rarely will have 2 monsters on the field by the end of the turn, not that they can't, its just that they don't need to. For War Gods, the graveyard acts as your "other hand", they have numerous cards that let you activate in the grave to support your beat down and also protect your War God. Also, they have their own, searchable, Kalut, which is pretty much a game ender in itself.

Note that all of the war God supports needs a War God Beast-Warrior (either Yamato or Susanoo) on the field to activate their effect. While that might seems like a very big let down, it is, but after a month of test playing (on YGOPro), I felt that if that weren't the case, this deck would be overpowered (well, if you compared everything to Incarnate Dragon, then yeah, thats not overpowered at all). Yamato is no doubt the card you want to open with each game, however, you don't just lose because its not in your opening 6, just like how opening 2 normal monsters in Dino Rabbit doesn't really mean anything but a slower start. Yamato lets you search your deck for a War God and ditch a card at the end of your turn (every end of your turn). This lets you add Habakiri (the Kalut) to your hand while sending Murakumo or Hetsuka (the "grave traps" to your grave), with no cost. This makes killing Yamato a hell of a job if the War God player plays right.

Susanoo is the reason why I took interest in this deck. This card is a real monster and games can be won by just summoning it, no joke. Susanoo is a 2400 (2500 if you have Tenki on board) that lets your attack EVERY monster on your opponent side of the field once, yup Blade Edge effect is good. Firefist 3-axis made a wall of monsters and gonna kill you next turn, Susanoo takes the damn wall down. Dragosacc and two tokens make it impossible to kill, Susanoo willl take in down (with Habakiri). Linde thinks she's broke and summon another Mermail, sorry bro, Susanoo is gonna take them down. Not only that Susanoo have an amazing effect that doesn't require a detach to activate, it also lets you either add to hand or send to grave a War God from your deck. Its very difficult for any deck to take down Susanoo if played right, the War God Emperor lives up to its name and WILL be a force to be reckoned with.

monster (17):

3 War God Yamato

3 War God Murakumo

3 War God Hetsuka

3 War God Habakiri 

3 Maxx C

2 Vivid Knight

spell (13):

3 Fire Formation - Tenki

3 Mystic Space Typhoon

2 Pot of Duality

2 Forbidden Lance

1 Monster Reborn

1 Heavy Storm

1 War God Advent

trap (10):

2 Bottomless Traphole

2 Mirror Force

3 Compulsory Evacuation Device

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Solemn Warning

1 Starlight Road

extra (15):

1 Stardust Dragon

2 War God Emperor Susanoo

2 Abyss Dweller (Luckily, we are getting this before WCQ)

1 Firefist Tiger King

And other generic good Rank 4s

The trap line up is very basic to a beat down based deck, theres nothing much to say about it. As for the spells, Tenki lets you search for Yamato (and Vivid Knight if you already have Yamato) and makes it a 1900 beater. Lance makes sure your Beast-Warrior War God stays on the field, either from Battle or Effect. The only effective cards to get Susanoo off the field (aside from the Solemn Duo) are Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute and Dark Hole. You don't summon much, so TT isn't really much of a threat, Lance deals with Mirror Force and Dark Hole.

War God Advent is a very powerful mid to late game spell card. If your opponent has a monster and you don't, it lets you special summon a War God from your grave and another one from your banished pile. They can only be used for xyz summon for a Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast. It doesn't have any other draw backs. You can attack with them if you wish and they don't get destroyed at the end of the turn. Its super powerful especially when you can special summon Susanoo with this card as well. However, this card is very much dead early in the game, and for consistency, I only play one of it, but I win the game every time when this card successfully resolve.

Lets move on to the monsters. Vivid Knight being the odd ball of the bunch. Its function in the deck is to protect Yamato and sometimes, Susanoo. Its effects lets you banish a LIGHT Beast-Warrior when it was targeted for an attack or card-effect, banish it until your next stand-by phase (Thunder Bird shit) and special summon Vivid Knight from hand. Vivid Knight normally gets run over, no doubt, but thats no issue as your War God is safe and gonna wreck havoc come next turn. Basically, this card acts like a searchable Forbidden Lance (sorta).

I run 3 Maxx C because 3 Maxx C is a staple this format, nuff said. No really, there is no single match up now that I wished I had Veiler instead of Maxx C, that includes Verz and 4-axis Firefist.

Now, the "what if you don't open Yamato" situation. Hetsuka, the "grave trap" that lets you protect your War God from target effects has 2000 defense, not to mention, 1700 attack. Murakumo, the one that lets you destroy an opponent face-up, has 1600 attack. Together with your spells and traps, they can easily last a turn, and you just have to make Susanoo, either search for a Yamato then or just continue with the beat down with Susanoo.

...

This deck is still far from completion, and I have no idea how its matchup with Prophecies are considering they get a broken boss from the new set. However, it has decent match up with all existing top tier. Bad game 1 against Incarnate because first-turn LaDD is a bitch, but otherwise not much of an issue. This deck eats Verz for breakfast. No joke, you can open Ophion all you want, it doesn't mean shit. Firefist' is a coinflip match up. I might wanna play a few Automation Units for the 4-axis match up as I am more than happy to grab their Bear.

In conclusion, this deck is one hell of a control deck and will win games against any careless opponent. It has one of the best staying power I've seen in a long time (Incarnate's endless revival doesn't count) and its very basic, that's a good thing. I would not say this deck is Tier 1, I'm not sure, but this is definitely a must try for fans of good-old beat down. 

Samurai Kicked My Ass

Last weekend, there was this special tournament where the winner gets a playmat featuring CNo39, CNo32 and Neo Galaxy-Eyes. Every official shop held it last Sunday, so I went to TB since I had mid terms in the morning and TB's tourney started late due to a Cf! Vanguard event earlier that day. The format is 4 rounds of swiss and the one ranking 1st wins, no top 8/4 what so ever and basically meant, if you loss 1 round, your out.

I wanted to try out my new Hieratic build, similar concept to my ACQ build, but featuring more draws, I played Escape for Hope. Together with 3 Cardcar, 3 Reckless and 1 One Day at Piece, this deck now runs 10 draw cards. At least that WAS the concept I wanted to test, the end result of testing that day was the build sucked and no where near as consistent as I've imagined. Oh well, thats why testings are important I guess. 

But, I did not enter the tournament with that Hieratic build, simply because I left half of my extra deck at home, specifically, I didn't bring any of my rank 5's and also missing in 1 M7. So, I just played my E HERO deck instead. Theres a problem here too. I did not have a side deck with me. I didn't plan to play the deck that day, and I've took the side deck apart for ACQ a week before and had no time to rebuild it. The tournament started 5 minutes after I arrive, so I went into a tourney with a deck that needed its side deck badly, without a side deck. Genius!

Round 1 : Vs Samurai

A friend from Vanguard warned me that my opponent was a stacker and I've also seen him stack multiple times. But my ego was like, "Chill bro, this is Samurai, just cause it has "Sam" in part of its name, doesn't make it any better ..."

Duel 1 : I lost the die roll and my opponent open with Gates, Shi-En, and Great Shogun Shien. I look at my hand, and I was like "Ok ... fuck! Game 2"

Duel 2 : I open with Bubbleman, 5 S/T (1 of them being Super Poly). I set 4 and Bubbleman, and said "You have Storm, you win." He open the nuts again with double Typhoon, double Shi-En (United instead of Gates this time) and attacked. I flipped Super Poly and made Nova, continued to beat his way for game. If I've set 2 like a normal guy would, I would have lost at this point.

Duel 3 : I open HERO Alive, E Call, Super Poly, Warning and Judgment. Pretty good hand, my next card was Mirror Force. I was like "As long as I don't see double ShiEn across the field, this game is pretty much in my pocket". But guess what, I did see double ShiEn, along with an Invoker and Inverz Roach (which I don't understand why he made). I drew to 6 and was like, "fuck this ... scoop" 

At this point, I basically just drop and watch other people play. And tested my Hieratic deck with some friends, proxies nonetheless. Which is how I knew the deck fails. Note to self, next time, bring a side deck coming into a tourney.