Posted on July 13th, 2010 |
For the biggest Yu-Gi-Oh! card tournament of the year, I ran through quite a few options before settling on a subpar one.
Potential Yu-Gi-Oh! Nationals Deck #1: Triple GEC X-Saber
Many of you have seen the two videos I recorded for my Yu-Gi-Oh! Youtube channel regarding X-Sabers. That Ryko/GEC strategy was actually what I was using to sweep multiple Yu-Gi-Oh! local tournaments. The theory behind it was to swarm Infernity quickly while retaining an edge in the mirror due to powerful face-down monsters and triple Emergency Call. Unfortunately, as I tested with Saber players I began to realize that the edge against the mirror was relatively minor. It would still come down to who drew the Faultroll and Cat to explode.
As I dropped matches to players making noticeable misplays, it began to dawn on me that using this variant of Sabers would only give me a rough 60/40 edge in the mirror (without factoring in a skill gap).
Potential Yu-Gi-Oh! Nationals Deck #2: Anti-Meta?
I had been play-testing constantly with Yu-Gi-Oh! legends Evan “Sandtrap” Vargas and Wilson “Mr. Shonen Jump” Luc. Wilson and I built an incredible anti-meta toolbox that had very sharp matchups against Infernity, Herald, and Gladiator Beast.
Unfortunately during this testing, we were unable to stabilize the matchup against Frog Monarch and X-Sabers. We had a problem consistently defeating those two prevalent strategies. I predicted the Nationals metagame would be swarmed with X-Saber and Frog variants. (Boy was I wrong. I saw numerous duelists use a number of outdated decks at the biggest tournament of the year, from Lightsworn to Quickdraw to others that did nothing to stop or counter the expected metagame).
Because our Anti-Meta was only about 50/50 game one against these expected strategies (game 2 and 3 would be a lot easier against Frogs), it didn’t seem like a wise choice. While Wilson moved on to Gladiator Beast, as of the Friday evening before Nationals I did not have a finalized decklist.
Settling on a Mediocre Yu-Gi-Oh! Strategy
Here is the decklist I piloted to a 6-3 finish. My losses came to Infernity, Frog FTK, and Gladiator Beast (in round 9).
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Posted on July 3rd, 2010 |
How many Yu-Gi-Oh! cards should you be using?
I was never really concrete on the exact math until I used this probability calculator. Now that you can run some of the surprising figures for yourself, let me just lay out the quick pros and cons of each approach.
40 Cards:
- The closer to 40, the more consistently you [...]
Posted on April 14th, 2010 |
I want to discuss a curious Yu-Gi-Oh! card design decision today. This decision has made a certain set of cards unplayable at a premier event. Let’s start with a riddle:
What is the main drawback of playing small monsters?
…. ……………………………………….. (take your time).
If you said “low attack scores,” please e-mail me your address and I will FedEx you a scrumptious cookie.
Most players find this drawback perfectly fair. If you have a good effect, you can have a lower attack score. This means your smaller monsters will generally lose in battle frequently and require spell or trap support to remain on the field. This historic balance between strong effect and low ATK score has always been present in Yu-Gi-Oh! strategy and relatively well balanced.
A Very Puzzling Design Decision
It’s not clear whether the card designers for Yu-Gi-Oh! (who presumably work in Japan for Konami) are entirely aware of a lot of the ramifications of the cards they print. I do not mean this in an insulting manner; as many players of TCG’s and even video games (such as World of Warcraft) know, it’s very difficult to introduce new mechanics/abilities to a game and foresee every single interaction on the macro scale.
There are numerous examples of this in Yu-Gi-Oh! lore. From my time at Upper Deck/Metagame, I heard through the grapevine that the Metamorphosis into Thousand Eyes Restrict (through Scapegoat/Sinister Serpent) was never anticipated. Or that Yata-Garasu was made a Spirit because the “drawback” of a Spirit monster would weaken its powerful effect. These types of oversights are understandable when creating thousands of cards.
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Posted on April 9th, 2010 |
 I want to address the strongest play in this format. The recent design of monsters has created an unfortunate situation for the duelist who loses the opening dice roll. As many of you know, I am a Yu-Gi-Oh! purist (or old man) who constantly whines about the frequency of targeted “versatile” removal.
For a very long time (the first three years or so, to be exact), Yu-Gi-Oh! had clear rules that protected the security of the set monster or spell/trap card. All forms of removal– Fissure, Smashing Ground, Nobleman of Extermination, Nobleman of Crossout to name a few– affected one type of field condition. Any card that was versatile (affecting monster or spell/trap in any condition) had a cost attached — i.e Granmarg, Raigeki Break, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.
I’m not sure why Yu-Gi-Oh! decided to depart from this balanced philosophy. Nevertheless, recent sets have introduced a seemingly unending list of monsters that have upset the balance. Dark Armed Dragon, Gladiator Beast Gyzarus, Caius the Shadow Monarch, and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter are clear examples. Unfortunately, there is a far more dangerous trend that you have to deal with now as a player. Adapt or lose consistently.
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Posted on March 3rd, 2010 |
The results from Shonen Jump Nashville are in and it looks like Roy St. Clair did it again. Say what you want about him but the man’s Yu-Gi-Oh! card analysis is clearly in the upper rung of all players worldwide. He saw the power of XX-Saber Emmersblade and its ability to anchor the X-Saber [...]
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