The new Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden List for 09/09 should be released today. Before discussing the specific list, I am making two design posts. This first post discusses a few now-abandoned design guidelines Konami had consistently used throughout Yu-Gi-Oh!
A second post will talk about what Konami now wants. I want to analyze Konami’s actions in the context of its own design from years ago, then discuss whether the approach is a good or bad idea.
Pointing out Konami Design Metrics
As a long-time player, I have taken note of many historical aspects of Yu-Gi-Oh! and believe that certain sensible design restrictions were abandoned. The early designers of Yu-Gi-Oh! didn’t really know what they were doing, so the actual patterns may not have super deep meanings. It seems many of the following metrics were accidental and/or random in nature.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Metric 1- The “Strong” normal summon benchmark is 2000 ATK
As many players know, the baseline attack score for the “best in class beater” was always 1800 ATK. The early game was dominated by La Jinn’s and 7 Colored Fishies floating around. Mechanicalchaser briefly set the mark at 1850 until 1900 ATK monsters came around. Design-wise, Konami refused to print a monster higher than 1900 attack without drawbacks (look at Zombyra the Dark, Flash Assailant, Dark Elf, and others).
The first 2000 attack monster without a self-crippling drawback was Berserk Gorilla (in IOC). This means nearly twenty sets (rough estimate) had passed in Yu-Gi-Oh! without a single push past the 1900 ATK metric.
The existence of the 1900 attack metric suggests Konami intended for duels to finish in 5 direct attacks by the opponent’s strongest monsters. The games in the environment today that end in one turn are a perversion of this idea.
What Went Wrong with Yu-Gi-Oh! Metric 1- The first few threats to the best in class beater were swiftly handled. BLS and Chaos Sorcerer were both limited then banned. Breaker the Magical Warrior (exactly at 1900 with a positive effect) was limited and then banned.
Somewhere in the process of hyping a new show, Konami abandoned this reasonable approach and printed Cyber Dragon. According to Kevin Tewart’s (high ranking Konami official) words, Cyber Dragon made a healthy sum of money for Konami due to the show tie-in and the card’s appeal. Since 2+2= 4, it would seem that somewhere along this time Konami changed its design ideals in favor of more profitability. And profitability, based on set sales, revolved around explosiveness.
This put into motion the Dark remix set of Phantom Darkness and the game was changed forever. From that point onward, new cards have been printed at a breakneck, inflated pace to try to match Dark Armed Dragon’s power level. If the pace continues, this cannot end well.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Metric 2- Floaters were never intended to have large ATK and DEF scores.
At the dawn of the game, the flip effect was the classic floater. The classic Man Eater Bug into Summoned Skull play was frequent. And the list of amazing flip effect monsters, from Magician of Faith to Mask of Darkness, all topped out at less than 1000 ATK/DEF.
The other two true floaters (Witch and Sangan) came out at low ATK scores as well. Witch’s ATK score of 1100 was deemed too high for such a powerful effect, and it was then banned. Konami managed its floater ATK scores very carefully (even if by accident).
What Went Wrong with Yu-Gi-Oh! Metric 2- This changed with Gravekeeper’s Spy and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. These two were the first flip effects with strong ATK/DEF bodies, often leading to instant floats regardless of the opponent’s monster. Based on Spy and Deko being theme support combined with Konami’s long history of oopsies, it would appear that Konami never intended for Spy and Deko to be splashed into normal decks.
Since Japanese players weren’t using the cards the way the TCG eventually did, the “flipped floater with a body” threat never became apparent until much later. Note: To give you an idea how far Max Suffridge was ahead of his time, he was main-decking Deko, Spy, and Tsukuyomi in 3 Scapegoat format. Note 2: He was also using the abysmal Abyss Soldier, so alas his genius only stretched so far.
Konami does not understand or respect the floater mechanic despite ample evidence. Gadgets seem to have been a “floater” experiment that floated to the top tier instantly. Gladiator Beasts, as well, are an experiment in floating that have consistently performed well in every format, broken or not.
Since the players didn’t even understand it back then, it’s difficult to blame design at that time for printing cards like Spy and Dekoichi. The lack of understanding today, however, is a more troubling concern. It is unclear if design understands how powerful cards like Equeste, Black Whirlwind, and Mezuki are from a card advantage perspective. Every single floater Konami has printed, from Card Trooper to Stratos to Volcanic Rocket, has anchored some form of top tier deck that normal decks simply cannot compete against. The big ones such as DaD and Judgment Dragon border on ridiculous.
Yu-Gi-Oh Metric 3- Effects were never allowed to target either a monster or a spell/trap. Effects that received this type of versatility, such as Raigeki Break and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, were tied to significant costs
While monsters such as Celestia, DaD, Judgment Dragon, and Gyzarus are now common place, they actually represent a new breed of cards that were never before seen in Yu-Gi-Oh!
In the past, monster and s/t effects were never allowed to roam freely between the two realms. Cards were specialized to the point where Fissure and Nobleman of Crossout were devoted to different states of monster summons. Spells and traps would either target other spells and traps or target monsters. Merging the two for increased versatility was dangerous.
One need only look at the progression of Monarchs to see Konami’s hesitation. Zaborg destroyed 1 monster. Then Mobius destroyed up to 2 s/ts. Granmarg, the first “versatile” one was given a drawback so severe that to this day it is the least played Monarch. It wasn’t until literally a year later that a Monarch (Caius) was released with the ability to destroy one card freely.
What Went Wrong with Yu-Gi-Oh! Metric 3- It’s difficult to tell if Dark Armed Dragon’s design was accidental or intentional. It would appear Konami believed three Darks in the graveyard was a condition stringent enough to prevent large amounts of Dark Armed Dragon’s from seeing play. This is not their first miscalculation (Yata being made a spirit comes to mind) but it may be their worst.
It seems the design team of PTDN (and the loony buffoon who designed Grepher and Allure for the TCG) threw caution to the wind and set out to create the most explosive, best-selling set possible (at the cost of the “classic” Yu-Gi-Oh! game).
Every set after PTDN has struggled to match its sales and power. Gladiator Beasts were given the monster and s/t targeting Gyzarus to break DaD’s dominance. Lightsworn were created. X-Saber Airbellum and Summoner Monk were released, giving rise to yet another versatile multi-targeter (Arcanite Magician).
Yu-Gi-Oh Metric 4- One Turn Knockouts (OTK) were swiftly dealt with
Since players had the right to last five direct attacks under the Konami rules, the company swiftly dealt with OTK decks. Empty Jar, Scientist-Catapult OTK’s, and even Stein-OTK were managed quite carefully. This trend has not really been broken. Konami has done a consistently solid job of preventing players from losing in a single turn.
However, errors have still been made and we must watch carefully. It would appear X-Saber builds in the new format have the chance of reducing opponent’s hands to zero on turn 1, effectively ending the game with certain hand combinations before the game even starts. Other decks such as Blackwings can also end the game in one big turn.
Closing Thoughts
What’s most interesting about Yu-Gi-Oh! is pondering what would have happened if Konami had learned from its well designed cards. We can see with pre-PTDN design that the team created quite a few gems. The subtypes (Warrior, Spellcaster, etc) and attributes (FIRE, WATER, etc) could have been fleshed out far better into something appealing.
We can see glimmers in half-hearted attempts such as Attribute-recruiters (Mystic Tomato, Shining Angel) from MRL and Attribute-specials (Gigantes, Inferno) in IOC that an incredibly diverse subtype/attribute-centric game could have been created. Duels could have become tactical affairs where different synergies met others.
Design could have created numerous cards balanced cards similar to Legendary Jujitsu Master, D.D Warrior Lady, Royal Firestorm Guards, and such. Since the next article will get into Konami’s current design philosophy, I’ll leave you with this question:
What if the game still revolved around Normal and Flip summons, with strategies being linked to Subtypes/Attributes such as FIRE being burn, Beasts doing trample, Spellcasters manipulating spells and counters, Zombies coming back from life and other such ideas better fleshed out with sharper card design. Would it be more enjoyable or less?
Related posts:
I say “yes” to that last question of the article.
I ould say that Dinos currently have the shortest end of the stick, but I’d like to remind that we don’t have a huge number of the Duel Terminal cards, so we don’t have those awesome Jurac Dinos, or any of those awesome other archetypes, especially the 7-9 X-Sabers that are left, or the ‘Ally of Justice’ machines to crush Lightsworn.
I agree that these cards like DAD and Gyzarus, as you mentioned, have really crushed the versatility players can have to play anything they feel like playing. Although my deck actually benefits from them being used.
I wanna say, though, that I really don’t think ‘Witch of the Black Forest’ was banned because its stats were too high, it’s that the effect was (and still is) just too powerful, as back in the pre-Chaos days, she could grab any beatstick to over power your opponent and be able to hit their LP. Sure, Sangan could (and still can) grab any high-DEF defender, but their inability to be powered up as much as an attacker meant a temporary blocker at best (the face-down defender could never power up enough to block an Equipped attacker).
I can’t see why ‘Tsukuyomi’ is still banned though… She was that answer to Monarchs and Beatsticks that saved people that couldn’t get any Monarchs before they came out in the SDs. The only good excuses of why she still is is beause of ‘Gravekeeper’s Spy’, ‘Dekoichi’ and ‘Morphing Jar’.
‘Thousand-Eyes Restrict’ may be a crazy-good at stalling, but I think it can come back too. I mean, we don’t have ‘Metamorphosis’ anymore, so it can only be Fusion Summoned (even by ‘Instant Fusion’, but that’s kinda pointless) by its listed materials or a substitute, but with ‘Fissure’ at 3, it’ll be the first target, plus it’s pretty much a Direct Attack if ‘Skill Drain’ or ‘Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror’ is out.
I think that’s it… I have a big headache now from all the reading and thinking. LOL
honestly if the game was the way it was back then ppl wouldve stopped playing long ago too much of the same thing gets boring, the special summoning super bad monsters out of thin air with no real cost may have gotten out of hand, but i think the only real problem is that the themes arent balanced if they were then everything would be ok, ppl want to win and if only 5 decks out of a million dead and undead themes have a chance, why waste time with them jus skip on to the top 5 and get a shot at fame.
It is really important to know what is the efect of the parther warrior card for not lose a game?.. sorry but I know the efects of almost all the monsters in the game and that never help me to win a duel just because the other player has the right to read the card text and we all know that the decks that we all see are 95% the same with the same cards.. what age had Austin Kulman when he became the US champion?… as you see the game will always change to be attractive to catch next generations, a simple example is the sincro cards introduction.. but Jae has the true point of this.. the design of the cards is not the correct for the game but is the best for the creators of the OCG and the TCG..
It seems to me a few bad choices have went a long way in this game. I have no problem with people playing a game with two or three strategies dominating. The formats that were most fun in my mind were spicer monarchs and gladiators. I think that blackwings could have been a calm and calculated format if darkstrike could have remained unprinted. Just like this upcoming set would have been better with out JD. What’s the difference between the contenders right now no other deck has a monster that can end the game and swing momentum like lightsworn has in not one but, two JD’s. Bosses with very litlle draw back and simple summoning conditions are ruining this game!!!
Clearly Konami wants us to stop setting backrow. First they bring Breaker to three and then they semi BTH, one of its best counters. On top of that Solemn Judgement’s restricted meaning you can’t protect your sets. Dark Bribe is useless vs. Breaker. Yeah you can make your stuff chainable but it still sucks. Just because you can chain your Waboku to Breaker doesn’t mean that that is the point you wanted to do so.
Looks like stall decks are officially dead! The Breaker becoming unlimited did it!
breaker probably wont be a big deal jus how would breaker affect ls, gb, or bw, but yes stall decks are gonna have a harder time
To Shadow Queen:
Although I used to agree with you about Restrict’s ban being unfair, imagine with it a copy of secret village and royal decree.
I think between restrict and metamorposis, morph should come back. Think about it this way: Synchro summoning and morph are essentially the same. In both case you ditch 2 cards to get out another, stronger card. Think about it another way: Emergency Teleport and Metamorphosis are basically the same card. Granted they are slightly different but basically after everything is done resolving the end result is still the same. Take Cyber Dragon. If we use Metamorphosis, we can get Dark Balter or Fiend Skull Dragon. We sacrifice 100atk points for mediocre effects. On top of plenty of removal that already snares them, Gene Warped Warewolf is an answer! Meanwhile if we use teleport we have access to EVERY synchro monster Lv6-8 (though especially 7) each of those options giving us a decent attack BOOST versus the shrink of attack from morph. Some may argue that because you have to use two monsters its harder to synch than to morph. I say because its two monsters its easier. Special summoning tuners is so easy its amazing. Plaguespreader and Gale do it all by themselves and are totally searchable unlike morph. This concludes my rant on morph.