My Return: Dante’s Inferno and Heading into the Burning Abyss

Hello everyone and I am back! Due to some sad news, Kaijudo (the game I have been committing most of my time to) is being discontinued. Now that this has occurred I am back to caring about YuGiOh (damn it…). So although I have been on hiatus, I have still be going to locals and keeping up to date. Less and less I want to play the game due to power creep but it is so hard to quit especially when the alternative game I liked is gone. Shaddolls are the deck to play at the moment being all sent to graveyard effects with the addition of flip effects. The deck also has a Miracle Fusion (Shaddoll Fusion) with two extremely powerful Fusions and more to come. Not only this, Duelist Alliance released Satellaknights. This deck relies on rank 4 plays that use Satellaknight Deneb to maintain card advantage since it searches whenever summoned. The last relevant archetype (Ya I’m gonna ignore Super Defense Robots, Melodious Divas and UA) is the Burning Abyss.

Similar to Noble Knights, this archetype is a TCG exclusive release with currently three monsters, a trap card and an Xyz monster. Unlike Noble Knights, I feel that this deck actually can do something. All the main deck monsters are level 3 DARK Fiend-Types with an exclusive effect along with the following:

If you control a monster that is not a “Burning Abyss” monster, destroy this card. You can only use 1 of the following effects of “Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss” per turn, and only once that turn.
●If you control no Spell/Trap Cards: You can Special Summon this card from your hand.

The first of the three is Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. It has 800 attack and 2000 defense and if send to the graveyard, you can search for a level 3 Fiend at the end of your turn. This is my favorite one since it allows you to search cards like Kuribandit and Tour Guide from the Underworld along with the other Burning Abyss monsters.

The second is Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. This one has 1600 attack and 1200 defense making it the strongest of the three. His effect is if he is sent to the graveyard you can special summon one Burning Abyss monster from your graveyard. This is really nice since it can also special summon the Xyz monster which is important fro reasons I will discuss later.

The third is Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Probably the most inferior due to its 1000 attack and 1500 defense, it has the ability that when it is sent to the graveyard you can special summon a Burning Abyss monster from the deck. Although very powerful, its weak stats and inability to get the Xyz is kind of restricting to the deck.

The next card I will talk about it the Xyz monster: Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss! The archetype is based on the Divine Comedy which follows Dante’s descent into Hell. Anyway, this generic Xyz is a rank 3 LIGHT Warrior with 1000 attack and 2500 defense. It’s effect is:

Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card and choose a number from 1 to 3, then send that many cards from the top of your Deck to the Graveyard; until the end of this turn, this card gains 500 ATK for each card sent to the Graveyard this way. If this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Battle Phase. If this card is sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 “Burning Abyss” card in your Graveyard, except this card; add it to your hand.

So it works as a more powerful Card Trooper which is strong since you can get all of your Burning Abyss effects. Also it works like Ghostrick Alucard where WHENEVER it is sent to the graveyard, you add back one of its archetype. This means even if you use Rank-Up Magic Astral Force, you will still get its effect when it is detached.

The last card is the trap card The Traveler and the Burning Abyss. Its effect is:

Target any number of “Burning Abyss” monsters in your Graveyard that were sent there this turn; Special Summon them in Defense Position. You can only activate 1 “The Traveler and the Burning Abyss” per turn.

This card is sub-par since it normally only works as a pseudo-Xyz play and is inferior to Soul Charge 90% of the time. But it is worth running one since it is playable at all points and you can also add it back with Dante’s effect.

Now that I have discussed the archetype cards, let’s talk about support cards that work well with the archetype.

Tour Guide from the Underworld – This card is clearly strong in this due to it being an instant Rank 3 and also gets and Burning Abyss monster. Thanks to Tour Guide, the monster also doesn’t kill itself so you can get their effects with a Dante. It is also searchable by Scarm which is soo powerful.

Rank-Up Magic Astral Force – Everyone has talked about this card so I won’t take too long discussing it, but it allows you to turn Dante into a Constellar Pleiades, Mechquipped Angineeer into a Tiras or Artifact Durandal, Ghostrick Alucard into a Crimson Vampire Knight Bram and lastly a Grenasaurus into a Volcasaurus. This means the extra deck is extremely cramped but it is still worth it since the Rank 5’s you have access to are too strong.

Monster Reincarnation – In testing, I always wanted this over Dark Eruption. It activates your card effects and can add back anything in case you play stuff like Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning or Dark Armed Dragon.

Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning/Dark Armed Dragon – I like both of these cards and I have only tested Dark Armed Dragon and plan to test Black Luster Soldier this weekend. All the main deck monsters are DARK monsters so you can sometimes summon DAD. But Black Luster Soldier seems like it will be viable in all scenarios so as of right now, BLS seems like the way to go. Most of the extra deck are LIGHT monsters and you can also run cards like Effect Veiler if you wanted to.

Genex Ally Birdman – I haven’t tested this card and I feel the Extra Deck is way too cramped but being able to make HTS Psyhemeth and Goyo Guardian seems amazing.

Crane Crane – Pseudo Tour Guide since it gets from graveyard instead but also negates the effect so it is an instant Rank 3.

Mathematician – This card is superior to Armageddon Knight in this deck since it is a level 3, making it available for Xyz summons. The draw effect is also sometimes relevant.

Phoenix Wing Wind Blast – Along with cards like Karma Cut and Raigeki Break, this deck is able to use the discard to its advantage. Although Raigeki Break has fallen off, bouncing and banishing are still relevant especially against Shaddolls so this card is a strong meta call.

 

Now, why should I play this over something else? Well the fact that this can utilize powerful cards like Phoenix Wing Wind Blast is always a plus, but also Rank-Up Magic makes the deck able to stare down El-Shaddoll Winda/El Shadoll – Construct. These two cards are the relevant beaters for Shaddolls and as long as you can overcome them (without sending them to the graveyard) then it is always good. Against other decks, being able to control a game with Rank 3s is good against stuff such as Satellaknights and Geargias.

This deck is control-based since you use a Rank 3 every turn to answer situations without giving up any card advantage. This makes it so players have to give up cards to answer your insane powerhouses like Dante and Alucard, and that’s without the Rank-Ups!

Last week, I used this deck and didn’t lose a single match. Although no one was playing Shaddolls, I was able to beat (for notable decks) two HAT players, a Spirit deck and a Madolche deck. The deck has a really strong HAT deck which I believe will still be one of the top decks in the coming months. As far as top decks go, I believe it will be:

1. Shaddolls

2. HAT

3. Satellaknights

4. Madolche/Geargia/Burning Abyss

Burning Abyss are a strong Anti-Meta choice, but still has flaws which include have no real “boss” monster since the main deck is composed of all floaters and maybe a DAD/BLS. But this deck can do well if played conservatively which is how I like to play (not like Light Rulers or something haha).

Alright then, I must be off now since I am doing battlegrounds in World of Warcraft with my guild. Now that I have returned I will try to get back into writing posts on a regular basis.

 

Dueling Network – FrenziedPanda

Take-Down!: Beating the Spellbook Deck

Greetings duelists! Although I have slowed in my blog posts, I still manage to get them in when possible. So for today, I will be discussing a topic about one of the up and coming decks in the following months: Spellbooks! I played around a little bit this format and I have several friends who have also joined in on the magical fun. A deck full of tutors seems so very strong, but in reality it only rewards one strong monster which is High Priestess of Prophecy; a inferior version of Master Hyperion. While all the Spellbooks get more Spellbooks or help filter advantage (Grand Spellbook Tower), most of the monsters are used to get High Priestess. Temperence special summons High Priestess from the deck while Justice add it to your hand. Let’s take a brief look at the Spellbooks:

-Spellbook of Power – Increase attack of Spellcaster by 1000 and add a Spellbook to hand if the monster destroys another by battle

-Spellbook of Secrets – Add a Spellbook card to your hand (Can’t be Secrets and can only be played once per turn)

-Spellbook of Life (Equip) – Special summon a Spellcaster by revealing a Spellbook and banishing another Spellcaster from the graveyard (the summoned monster gains the level of the banished monster)

-Spellbook of Eternity – Return a banished Spellbook to your hand

-Spellbook of Wisdom (Quickplay) – Select a Spellcaster and it is either unaffected by spells or traps during that turn

-Spellbook of the Master – Reveal a Spellbook and copy the effect of a Spellbook in the graveyard

-Spellbook of Fate (Quick-Play) – One of three effects depending on the cost (banishing Spellbooks in graveyard: 1) Return a set spell/trap to the owner’s hand 2) Flip a monster face down 3) Banish a card on your opponent’s field

-Grand Spellbook Tower (Field Spell) – During your standby phase, you can put a Spellbook from your graveyard to the bottom of the deck to draw a card if you have a Spellcaster on the field or in graveyard. If it is destroyed, you can special summon a Spellcaster with a level equal to or less than the number of Spellbooks in grave from the deck.

 

That is all the (relevant) Spellbooks spellls that we have right now. Now let’s go over the monsters:

 

-High Priestess of Prophecy – Can be special summoned by revealing three Spellbooks in hand (Mermail Abyssmegalo-like text) and once per turn you can banish a Spellbook in your graveyard to destroy a card on the field

-Temperence of Prophecy – If you played a Spellbook during your turn, you can tribute it to special summoned a level 5 or higher DARK/LIGHT Spellcaster from your deck (normally Priestess) and you can’t special summon any more level 5 or highers during that turn.

-Justice of Prophecy – During your end phase, if you used a Spellbook card, you can banish Justice to add a Spellbook and a level 5 or higher DARK/LIGHT Spellcaster from your deck to your hand.

-Spellbook Magician of Prophecy – When this is Normal/Flip Summoned, you can add a Spellbook to your hand.

 

Besides these Spellbook cards, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Injection Fairy Lily, Effect Veiler and Madolche Magileine are other played monsters along with many others for Spellcaster cards. Now even with what they have right now, the talk surrounding this deck more has to do with one card coming out in the next set.

-Spellbook Judgment Day (Quick-Play)- During the End Phase of the turn you activated this card, add Spellbook Spell cards from your deck to your hand, except “Spellbook Judgment Day”, up to the number of Spell Cards activated this turn after this card resolved, then you can Special Summon 1 Spellcaster monster from your Deck, whose level is less than or equal to the number of cards you added to your hand this way. You can only activate 1 “Spellbook Judgment Day” per turn.

That card is too good. Being able to add a handful of Spellbooks to your hand AND summoning a Spellcaster, possibly Priestess, from your deck! Not only that, you get searches off of cards like Heavy Storm, Monster Reborn and Toon Table of Contents (OCG plays this with Toon Gemini Elf). This deck just keeps searching and searching and with Grand Spellbook Tower putting cards back, you never run out of resources. Even without judgment day, the deck is fast if you don’t open a Thunder King Rai-Oh with defense against Priestess and Spellbook of Power attacks. So, how do you side against this deck? There are a handful of cards that can help take down this deck.

-Thunder King Rai-oh – If you don’t main this, it might be a good idea to side. It annoys me when Spellbook players say this card does nothing against them, but it shuts down half the deck. All of their tutors aren’t usable and they have to hope resolving High Priestess is a possibility. That is why I emphasized it’s text is similar to Megalo’s earlier, since it is being summoned by an effect, Thunder King can’t tribute to negate it. But with Traps, he is a strong defense.

-Mind Crush – You almost always know multiple cards in their hand, so this card is 99% live at all times. To add to the way Priestess works, you can also activate Mind Crush when they reveal it for the effect just like Abyssmegalo.

-Droll & Lock Bird – The $10 rare that everyone is skeptical about. When they activate that first Spellbook of Secrets, you can stop them there, but it is a -1, so I have mixed feelings on it. It is used to make sure they don’t resolve the opening Judgment Day which is good, but really only if they open Judgment Day and you open Droll. After the first explosion, it won’t matter too much.

-Anti-Spell Fragrance – Their deck is all spells. If they have to set them to play them, it puts them a turn behind.

-Doomcaliber Knight – One for one with any of their monsters, including Priestess effect to summon.

-Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell – Recommended in a deck with lots of spells to use, this card is the ultimate counter to the deck shutting down all copies of important cards like Power and Secrets.

-Puppet Plant – Mediocre side but serves as a Brain Control that can’t be stopped by Wisdom

-Spell Canceller – Recommended for Monarchs or Trap heavy decks. Weak for level 5, but shuts down more than half of the deck.

 

These are the cards that I feel will be the most devastating in the Spellbook match up. You could side other cards like Magic Drain or Sage of Silence but they just don’t do a significant enough job in these match ups. I plan on siding 3 Mind Crush 2 Thunder King (unless I main them) at the least for the rest of the format. The main factor to keep in mind is locking down their tutor capabilities.

Hope you gained some insight on this up and coming archetype. It will be vital to know how to counter this match up since it will be quite common after Tachyon Galaxy comes to the TCG.

Relevance of Tier 2 in the Current Meta

Hello fellow duelists in the world, and welcome back to another rare addition to my blog! Today I will be talking about the relevance of Tier 2 decks making significant showings at large events recently and how they impact the overall outcome of an event. Many of you have experienced those days where you are completely prepared to take on the best decks and then lose to a deck that is known but not the most common or powerful deck due to lack of preparation. I have posted about side decking and preparing for the meta/not the meta in the past, but I feel in a new format and with YCS San Diego and Austin that I should bring up a few key points.

Lets start with the Tier 1/1.5 decks!:

Tier 1

-Mermail (Mono first than Genex)

-Fire Fist

-Dino Fist

Tier 1.5

-Dino Rabbit

-Wind Ups

All of these decks are generally known by the public and at least 1-2 side deck slots are allocated for each or several for a handful of these. These decks are the most acknowledged by any player because of their competitive advantages. But when it comes to Tier 2 decks, the defining moment splits the good players from the bad.

Tier 2

-Six Samurai

-Inzektors

-Frog Monarchs

-Prophecies

-Machina Gadget

-Karakuri Turbo

-Geargia Variants

-Hunder Family

-Gishi FTK

-Electrum OTK/Other HERO variants

-Hieratics

 

Although many people know what these decks are, many players don’t know the exact cards or how to counter them effectively. Frog Monarchs randomly shot there way into Top 4 at YCS Austin and everyone was quite surprised. Two of my friends both lost to the player in Top 32 and Top 16. No one saw it coming since no one knew how to prepare for it and it was difficult to counter the constant amount of Monarchs and other powerful tribute monsters hitting the board. At YCS San Diego, many decks in the top 32 were the standard Tier decks, but several Geargia variants and Frog Monarchs topped along with a single Prophecy and Gishki FTK deck. Now everyone knows about Spellbook Judgment Day coming out and the big boost that deck will get making it a potential Tier 1 competitor. But as of right now, the deck cannot do very much besides sit on a High Priestess with the defenses of Spellbook of Wisdom and Threatening Roar. Even with that idea, the deck was still able to top and is competitive because of such a strong boss monster with high support.

Personally, I have been enjoying Inzektors for the past couple weeks. It may have been at locals, but the combos the deck can perform are astonishing. The obvious issue with this kind of deck is the consistency. Numerous games were filled with one Inzektor monster and maybe a Dark Armed Dragon and I would lose simply because I could not draw enough monsters. One game I had was 3 Centipede and 1 Dragonfly for monsters and I couldn’t draw Ladybug, Hornet or even the 1 Hopper I was playing. This is one of the key characteristics of a Tier 2 deck. Strong but has a significant issue such as consistency. Gishki FTK is a consistent deck overall but with only One Day of Peace does not do as much as it used to and suffers from various consistency issues. Electrum OTK can play as a control HERO deck or play by performing the OTK combo, but after watching the deck in action, Mystical Space Typhoon on Fusion Gate along with crappy Vanilla monsters were the deck’s Achilles heel.

But even through all this, they still top. This is because most players at an event net deck or only have the most basic idea of the meta. Many people say that the player base is getting weaker since the deck’s keep getting simpler and more destructive and it is easier for a poor player to simply OTK with no effort at all. Now good players can do this to. I played against Joe Giorlando yesterday and all I had was Threatening Roar but he had Solemn Judgment, then he said “I have Megalo and Diva, that’s an OTK”, and he knew I wasn’t running Gorz or Tragoedia so I conceded at full life points! But it is worse when a player who is not fully knowledgeable makes the same play and acts like a pro because he could run over you. But they end up losing to weird stuff that they just don’t know how to counter properly since they have no idea how Tier 2 and below decks operate and cannot counter them. I don’t know how many people come up to me and say something like “I just lost to (insert deck here), who plays that crap!?” I’m a big fan of worms and during Plant format, I was doing really well once at a regional and then I lost to Mist Valleys. I was so mad, but it is the same here that I didn’t know how to counter a deck that basically gained advantage off of my main card. I was demolished.

I feel players should be aware of all decks and how they work. And what cards need to be sided in and out to effectively counter these match ups. Simple examples include:

-Inzektors destroy cards, so Mirror Force/Dimensional Prison may be less effective to keep in and Macro Cosmos stops the destruction so may be worth bringing in

-Negating the effect of Electrum stops the OTK, so Breakthrough Skill, Fiendish Chain and Effect Veiler all help (Unless they have cards like Super Polymerization)

-Six Samurai/Hieratics/Karakuri Turbo need to summon a lot of monsters so Maxx “C”, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness and Tragoedia can help counter them

-Cyber Dragon is good against more Anti-Meta match ups such as Hero-Beat, Geargia variants and the Karakuri Turbo deck because of size and Chimeratech

-Most of the above decks lose to Mind Crush

 

There are also tips to prevent losing to these match ups such as:

-Frog Monarchs need you to commit to board to get Monarch effects, so be passive if they have Treeborn Frog or play 1 monster at a time so if they Soul Exchange they can’t summon a Monarch unless they destroy their own cards

-Don’t be intimidated by OTK decks when they say “I win this turn”, always tell them to play it out so you can play off a Gorz/Tragoedia/Fader/etc.

-Save Mystical Space Typhoon for Chain Material’s activation when playing against Electrum OTK

-This one is kind of obvious but, side versatile cards; there is a large selection of cards that work in most of these match ups which could overall benefit your gaming experience

 

I hope I helped with this quick little update. I am getting tired of people complain since they lost to some obscure deck because they weren’t prepared to face off against something that isn’t defined as the “meta” by the general public.

Whereabouts Unknown – Entering the Abyss

Greetings all! Hope everyone enjoyed the past weekend of Sneak Previews, as everyone scrabbled to get those cards for their decks. Unfortunately for me, after five registrations, I still ended up with only an Ultimate Rare Queen Madolche Tiaramisu. Most of the Mermail and Spellbook support had been swiped up by the competition before I even had a chance. Speaking about Abyss Rising, this carries me into the topic at hand. YCS Seattle and proceeding into the unknown.

Abyss Rising will be legal for the upcoming YCS in Seattle, Washington. With this being a new set with new cards to play around with, what are we going to see popping up at this tournament? Hype is running its course around my area, and probably many others. Mermail-Atlanteans have become the most talked about deck throughout the United States. After testing against it, the deck does show a lot of potential, and can make destructive plays that can shut down even the most powerful of decks. But then there is also the Madolches and Prophecy/Spellbooks. These two archetypes also received quite the boost with this set, making them competitive decks that can easily reach the top tables.

Spellbooks received a powerful Field Spell, which can continuously add advantage by recycling the Spellbooks and drawing numerous cards. They also got Spellbook of Eternity which can grab back the Banished Spellbooks. Added with their High Priestess to serve as a Master Hyperion, and the Spellbook of Power to make any of your Spellcasters big beaters, keeps this deck afloat and possibly tearing through the competition of future events.

Next up are the Madolche monsters! Of their new support, two cards stick out more than any other. Queen Madolche Tiaramisu and Madolche Ticket. Tiaramisu is able to shuffle back two Madolches from your Graveyard back into the deck to shuffle two cards on the field back into the deck! Not only that, but if combined with Madolche’s Ticket, they are able to add the Madolches back to their hand! Madolche ticket serves as a secondary Madolche Chateau. Being able to do the same effect makes it a good card, but it can only be used once per turn. Although it is a restriction, it does serve as a form of Black Whirlwind for the deck.

Mermails have become quite talked about and sought after by the most competitive players. Several of the monsters serve as recruiters, and then they have a boss monster along with the new Elemental Lord, Moulinglacia!

All of these new and updated archetypes are going to hit the players hard over the next few months. And with YCS Seattle only a few days away, it will set the stepping stones for further events. What will win Seattle? What should we side for going into Seattle? Will Seattle change the way people side deck for the next few months? So many questions and so little time.

Before I conclude this post, there is another factor I want to include. The relevance of older archetypes. When I was watching my friend Chris LeBlanc in his Top 16 Feature Match and YCS Providence, it sparked a thought in my head. Although the other player lost, he had been playing Gladiator Beast and made it further than most people. Does this mean Gladiator Beasts could make a showing, along with other decks like Blackwings or Lightsworns? It is a possibility, and the rogue aspect will catch players off guard.

With the hype of new decks arising and the return of older archetypes, this event will surely be one to remember. Although it may be different from the rest of the events of the format, it will be interesting and unique. So what do you all think will win? The heavily talked about Mermails? Or maybe a Blackwing variant that will stun the competition? Comment your thoughts down below!

 

*This was a quicker post than usual due to lack of time. I apologize in advance if this was not as informative as some of my prior articles*

Why is it so Splashable?: Viability of Rescue Rabbit

Greetings world! Hope everyone is having a great week so far, and is ready for weekend of some YuGiOh! Today I will be discussing a card that seems to be a centerpiece of deck building. Many people I know have heard of different reasons why this card should fit in certain decks. Being able to create basically any Rank 4 or below Xyz Monster in the game is definitely a strong attribute, but is it really worth fitting into such a large range of decks? The card I am speaking about is Rescue Rabbit.

Over the past year or so, Dino-Rabbit has been one of the most-seen decks at any event. Being able to make Evolzar Laggia or Evolzar Dolkka frequently made this deck a formidable threat on the field. Although it rarely won, it normally took up the majority of the top decks. When I went to Nationals earlier this year, I expected to see many Chaos Dragons, but I played against 4 Dino-Rabbit and 1 Chaos Dragons. The deck was loved by many, but was considered one of the most expensive decks at the time. But with the semi-limitation of Tour Guide from the Underworld and Rescue Rabbit, the deck’s relevance has been slowly decreasing.

For those of you who read my post last week,I discussed a deck concept I had made that involved using Rescue Rabbit with a Machine engine. This shows one of the innovations of Rescue Rabbit. Many people I know personally use it with the Noble Knight monsters. This is because it can make Blade Armor Ninja and Heroic Champion – Excalibur, and Noble Knight Gawayn can open up Number 16: Shock Master plays. This deck is not one I prefer due to the fact that Shock Master is a -1 in card advantage, and the Warrior Xyz Monsters do not generate that much advantage besides damage dealers.

Another archetype that was recently released in the Duel Terminal was the Evilswarm. Although it has limited Xyz Monsters at the moment, it has several that are really strong like the Evolzar Xyz Monsters. Evilswarm Heliotrop has 1950 attack, being a DARK Rock vanilla monster. It may be less than Alexandrite Dragon, but it fulfills the needs of the Xyz Monsters, and is still able to take down the strong opening Thunder King Rai-Oh. So by running 3 copies of Heliotrope and 3 copies of Sabersaurus, there won’t be any pesky Kabazauls sitting in your hand not doing anything, and you will be able to make two different kinds of destructive Xyz Monsters. Although they are still not playable, it won’t be too long until they will make a showing!

Near the end of last format, some people online had discussed the idea of Rescue HEROs. By using Fusion Gate and Elemental Hero Sparkman, it opened up plays with the Warrior Xyz Monsters, and the Elemental HERO Fusion Monsters. This idea was strong at first, since Gate HEROs were somewhat competitive, and this made it possible to spam the Fusion Monsters without opening Elemental HERO Stratos. Another addition to this deck is Daigusto Emeral. If your Stratos is in the graveyard, you can now use Emeral’s effect to basically make another free Fusion. Normally, Stratos is not in grave though, so I do not think this is very viable either.

Evilswarm, Dinos, HEROs, Machines, and Noble Knight has become the five main targets of Rescue Rabbit in the current format. The question still stands… Will Dino-Rabbit still be the best? Or will one of these other contenders eventually take over, as the most competitive Rabbit deck of the format! We shall see, at YCS Providence!

YCS Providence: What I Am Considering

Hello readers, and hope everyone had a great weekend of locals and such. Today I will be discussing the upcoming event, YCS Providence, and the considerations I am taking at the moment, including the deck I think I might be playing.

At YCS Indianapolis, Six Samurai astonishingly took the event, sweeping the competition with the little preparations taken to take on these powerful warriors. As always, the top was composed of decks like Wind-Ups, Geargia, Chaos Dragons, HEROs and much more. Dino-Rabbit is sadly falling out of circulation, and does not seem to be doing well enough to survive the field. Hopefully, the new Duel Terminal will change that around with the Evilswarm Normal Monster and Xyz Monsters.

With that being said, these are what I think the most played decks will be (In order from most played to least):

1) Wind-Ups

2) Geargia

3) HEROs

4) Six Samurai

5) Chaos Dragons

6) Dino Rabbit

What I believe is keeping Dino-Rabbit afloat is the price. Since it is no longer one of the most expensive deck, and is now considered the “budget” deck of the format, players with less money to work with will be able to play this deck. Six Samurai will have the net-decking votes, and players will follow blindly after Junior Dorcin. Chaos Dragons did quite well, with my friend Steffon Bizzell piloting the scaly friends to the Top 8 of YCS Indy. This has always been quite the budget deck, and will see a significant amount of play. HEROs have always been a solid choice to play at any event, being a strong Anti-Meta deck, with the ability to summon big monsters, while maintaining advantage with cards like Elemental Hero the Shining and Skill Drain. Geargia variants and Wind-Ups are extremely strong, with explosive abilities added onto the card advantage. Gear Gigant X and Geargiarmor generate lots of cards, while the Machina engine and Karakuri engine add to the spamming/searching. Wind-Ups have Number 16: Shock Ruler to stomp on the competition, and the ease of access to a large array of different Xyz Monsters.

Along with these decks are the decks like Agents, Gravekeeper’s Hieratics, and Gadgets that are strong choices that many will consider going into the event. I feel as if Psychics are quickly dropping in play since that element of surprise is no longer available.

Potential rogue uprising?

Several decks I feel could do well at this event if piloted correctly.

1) TG – Tech Genus have strong availability to a large engine of searching each other. Being able to utilize Horn of the Phantom Beast and Skill Drain makes this deck extremely strong. Added with TG1-EM1, any big monster your opponent is able to get out can instantly be yours at the cost of a measly Warwolf or Striker.

2) X-Sabers – Jarel Winston had been looking into this deck before YCS Indy. With Soul of Silvermountain being released, the deck has gained multiple Fulhelmknights, and is able to obtain even more advantage out of it. Some are considering this deck with Grandsoil, the Elemental Lord. After Jeff Jones showed us it could work well with Psychics, many people have been considering decks like Rock Stun and X-Sabers which can easily manipulate the use of Grandsoil.

3) Evols – This deck seems extremely strong, and could easily replace Dino-Rabbit. The deck can summon the Evolzar Xyz Monsters as easily as Dino-Rabbit, and they have their own copies of Gravekeeper’s Spy (Evoltile Westlo), Reinforcements of the Army (Evo-Diversity), and Debris Dragon (Evolsaur Vulcano). The deck has extremely strong effects that can destroy cards, special summon monsters, add more cards to hand, and end with the army of negation-dragons (Evolzar Dolkka and Evolzar Laggia). This deck could easily dominate if played correctly in my opinion.

4) Frog Monarchs – This deck has the availability of numerous destructive Tribute Summon monsters. Caius and Raiza are a +1 on summon and can take out cards like Zenmaines and Maestroke. Light and Darkness Dragon forces out all of your opponents cards. It also has the ability to run a large amount of hand-traps to make up for no actual Traps. Gorz, Tragoedia, Battle Fader, Maxx “C” and Effect Veiler all can be utilized in this deck. Soul Exchange and Enemy Controller uses your opponent’s monsters to your advantage, which can make it difficult for them to commit.

The rogue aspect intrigues me since they are strong decks that are capable of taking on the meta. They all have the ability to do well, it just needs the right build an the right player. The deck I am considering for the event I made myself. I had heard about it a long time ago, and it seems it is much stronger now.

MACHINA-RABBIT

Monsters:

3 Mechanicalchaser

3 Blocker

3 Machina Fortress

3 Machina Gearframe

2 Tour Guide from the Underworld

2 Black Salvo

2 Rescue Rabbit

1 Sangan

1 Gorz, the Emmisary of Darkness

1 Dark Armed Dragon

1 Karakuri Muso MDL 818 “Haipa”

Spells:

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Limiter Removal

1 Allure of Darkness

1 Pot of Avarice

1 Monster Reborn

1 Dark Hole

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mind Control

1 Book of Moon

1 Soul Taker

Traps:

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Solemn Warning

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Starlight Road

1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

Extra Deck:

2 Gear Gigant X

1 Leviair the Sea Dragon

1 Maestroke

1 Number 11: Big Eye

1 Number 17: Leviathan Dragon

1 Number 39: Utopia

1 Photon Papilloperative

1 Wind-Up Zenmaines

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

1 Stardust Dragon

1 Black Rose Dragon

1 Ancient Fairy Dragon

2 Karakuri Shogun MDL 00 “Burei”

*Side deck still in testing*

This deck has been doing extremely well, and has a strong match up against most, if not all of the meta. Let me explain a few cards

Blocker – Besides Mechanicalchaser, Blocker is the only other Level 4 DARK Machine type monster with a stat above 1400 (Cyber Soldier of Darkworld).

Karakuri Muso – The deck has a difficult time playing around Thunder King Rai-Oh, and is a target to summon with Burei.

Starlight Road – This is unexpected with a low trap line up, but there’s a lot of strong monster removal as well. The deck normally has several monsters on the field, and can easily lose to Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute, and Mirror Force. I also have 1 Book of Moon and 3 Mystical Space Typhoon, which means I have about 10 cards I can set into my back-rows and use.

Here are some questions I have received about the deck:

Q: Why this over something like Dino-Rabbit, Noble-Rabbit, or just other Geargia decks?

A: This is superior to Dino-Rabbit in my opinion since you can actually do something with your Normal Monsters. They can be used to summon Machina Fortress and are fodder for Allure of Darkness. Geargia variants have been targeted by players as a main threat, and this deck plays much differently. Although it still has a difficult time playing against a System Down play, Cyber Dragon does not do much, and the play style of the deck is much different. I also enjoy being innovative, and Geargia is an obvious meta choice.

Q: Why no Machina Cannon?

A: Can’t risk having any dead draws at any given time. Only really good late game.

Q: I don’t understand the viability of Blocker. Explain?

A: Several builds of this prior to now used X-Head Cannon with a Chaos engine. Being an 1800/1500 LIGHT supports Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Sorceror. Blocker supports Dark Armed Dragon, Black Salvo, and Allure of Darkness. The ability to use Normal Monsters for other purposes makes me love this deck. Black Salvo opens up so many play, and the vast amount of DARK monsters are easily manipulated, allowing easy access to Dark Armed Dragon. Blocker may have bad stats, but it definitely has its purpose here.

Q: Why don’t you play Torrential Tribute?

A: Normally, I do not want my own monsters to die, and I commit a lot of them to the field since I maintain advantage with most of their effects.

The deck has a lot of combos, is very consistent, and is as “rogue” as you can get. This deck is what I am considering bringing to the YCS in a few weeks, and unless I decide Machina-Geargia last minute, this is looking solid. All the deck needs is some side-decking assistance, and this deck will be good to go!

Please comment with any thoughts on the deck. I would like to hear some feedback before I take this to the top tables of Providence! Thanks again for reading everyone!

****PS*****

If anyone wants to play-test, my DN Name is: FrenziedPanda

Also check out my YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkShukaku7?feature=mhee

CARD WARS: Goyo Guadian vs Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Welcome my valued readers to one of my older segments. I have not done one of these in a while, but it is a great way to add more posts. Today I will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses for two of the most powerful level 6 Synchro monsters ever to exist within the confounds of the YuGiOh Trading Card Game. So powerful, that they were forbidden from Advanced format play!

When Synchro monsters were first released, several of them were so powerful that they molded some of the main decks for month, some for even a couple of years. One that stood out to me was Goyo Guardian.

Level 6

EARTH

Warrior/Syncrho/Effect

2800/2000

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card destroys an opponent’s monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon that monster to your side of the field in face-up Defense Position.

Being able to Special Summon your opponents defeated monsters is quite the powerful effect, and 2800 for a Level 6 monster is quite the monster on the field. Being able to take monsters such as Stardust Dragon, Thought Ruler Archfiend, and even Elemental Hero Stratos during the TeleDAD format was quite a play that retained many perks. Although it is arguably one of the best Synchro monsters ever to exist, another Level 6 monsters remains up there as a powerhouse in any game.

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

Level 6

WATER

Sea Serpant/Synchro/Effect

2300/1400

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
You can discard any number of cards to the Graveyard to target the same number of cards on the field; return those targets to the hand.

The ability to use Compulsary Evacuation Device as long a you have cards in your hand is a devastating effect. Your Synchro monsters would fall in the presence of this card. This year, if Brionac existed when Atlanteans were released, it would destroy the playing field at all events. Imagine with each use of its effect, it generated a +1? What if Brionac was cost free? It would gain effects involved destroying cards or searching cards from the deck. Banning it was a smart choice in Konami’s position.

With both these cards being strong enough to be removed entirely from competitive play, which one would be better? If played against each other, the first one summoned would fall to the other. But in playability. I would have to say…

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is the stronger card here. In the current format, cards like Snowman Eater, Wind-Up Zenmaines and Black Luster Soldier will have no trouble dealing with a pesky Goyo Guardian without assistance. If a problem is in your way, just bounce it. It can take out Zenmaines with one card, it is able to get Black Luster Soldier and Snowman Eater off the board for a turn, and most Synchro and Xyz monsters would not be able to tear this sucker down (unless played afterwards of course, but that would not be the turn at hand).

Please let me know if you enjoy these. They were not receiving many views, and I assumed everyone was not interested in this.

Future of the Six Part 2: YCS Indy – Future

Well, this is awkward. I have an exam tomorrow, and I decided to spend my time posting about recent events that made me want to bring up an old topic I mentioned quite some time ago. With YCS Indianapolis being over, and the victor being announced, I would like to congratulate Junior Dorcin with his… Six Samurai? That is correct everyone, through the competition of Geargia-variants and Wind-Ups and many other decks, Six Samurai would be the deck to come out on top.

For those of my frequent readers, one of my first posts was about Six Samurai, and how they received a beat-down by two different Forbidden lists. Until this past list, Shien’s Smoke Signal was at one, and Gateway of the Six will remain at one, unless banned, and their boss monster, Shi En, had been knocked down to one copy. The deck has struggled yet persevered where it was thought to have failed. But this YCS Indy has shown us that they are not going out without a fight. Before Day 2 of this event, it never came to my mind that this actually had a chance at taking home the title of YCS winner. Everyone thought it would once again be Wind-Ups, or one of the several Geargia variants, or maybe even HEROs. But Samurais?

With Dark Worlds and HEROs being a strong competitor in the current meta, Samurais are able to shut down those decks with their boss monster – Legendary Six Samurai-Shi En. Having access to the powerful Naturia Synchro monsters also add to the Spell/Trap negation, making many of the anti-meta decks (Gravekeepers, HEROs, TG) all unable to do very much against this formidable foe. I would think a deck like Chaos Dragons or Wind-Ups would be able to easily take this match as a win, but apparently they were unable to follow up with the hype. Even in the final match, Wind-Ups fell short to the title.

This was Dorcin’s Deck List:

Monsters:

3 Legendary Six Samurai- Kizan

1 Grandmaster of the Six Samurai

1 Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi

1 Six Samurai – Zanji

1 Six Samurai – Irou

1 Elder of the Six Samurai

3 Kagemusha of the Six Samurai

2 Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki

2 Maxx “C”

Spells:

3 Asceticism of the Six Samurai

2 Shien’s Smoke Signal

3 Six Samurai United

1 Reinforcements of the Army

1 Gateway of the Six

1 Monster Reborn

1 Heavy Storm

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps:

2 Solemn Warning

1 Solemn Judgment

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Dimensional Prison

2 Musakani Magatama

2 Compulsary Evacuation Device

1 Double-Edged Sword Technique

Extra Deck:

1 Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En

1 Naturia Beast

1 Naturia Barkion

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Mist Wurm

1 Ally of Justice – Decisive Armor

1 Temtempo the Percussion Djinn

1 Wind-Up Zenmaines

1 Blade Armor Ninja

1 Number 16: Shock Ruler

1 Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien

1 Heroic Champion – Excalibur

1 Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon

1 Number 39: Utopia

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Side Deck:

3 Rivalry of Warlords

2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

2 Dimensional Fissue

1 Mystical Space Typhoon

2 Cyber Dragon

3 Puppet Plant

1 Effect Veiler

1 Six Samurai – Kamon

I was kind of shocked to see the amount of one-of cards he was playing. Mained 1 Mystical Space Typhoon, sided 1 Effect Veiler, mained 1 Enishi, 1 Irou, 1 Zanji, 1 Elder, it seemed inconsistent. This is my opinion, but I have not topped a YCS such as this guy. 3 Rivalry of Warlords seems really strong against decks such as Wind-Ups, and Dino-Rabbit, and Cyber Dragons played against the Geargia variants. It seems like Zanji is preferred over Hand of the Six Samurai, possibly due to instant destruction with no tribute required.

Samurais are pushing there way back, even when they had very little to work with. Now that it topped though, people will be prepared for this match up. Since the element of surprise is no longer there, will this deck continue to remain as the king of the hill? Or will it fall down to the bottom, where many other have…

Astral Calling – End of the Turbo

Never thought I would be writing two posts in a row like this, but hey! More content for you guys, keeping you updated on the latest in YuGi-News! Today, I bring some news that makes me sad, but is a change to the way Local Tournaments distribute their packs. We have known the Tournament Pack from the beginning, to the Champion Packs from before/during the Synchro Era! But the recent Turbo Pack is on its last edition. The eighth installment of Turbo Pack is the last run we will see, just as Tournament and Champion packs ended with their eighth. Now, what will Konami give us when we enter events at our hobby shops? Well, they are changing it up to all of these past sets in a way that may seem great to you, but I am skeptical on these changes.

The new Astral Pack! The next eight additions to the Tournament Participation packs will be different from the last three types. Each pack had 4 Super Rares, 1 Ultra Rare, and Turbo Pack had 1 Ultimate Rare. Instead of this, they are taking out Ultra Rares, upping the 4 Super to 10 Supers, and upping the 1 Ultimate to 3! But, it gets even better. They are replacing Rares all together, and changing it to one foil per pack! Never again will you be disappointed at pulling a Ready for Intercepting. Instead, you will be glad with what ever you pull!

Astral Pack 1 has several confirmed cards already including:

Ultimate Rare – Tsukuyomi

Super Rare – Gates of the Dark World

Super Rare – Terraforming

Super Rare – Mask Change

Super Rare – Kagemusha of the Six Samurai

Common – Swift Scarecrow

Common – Thunder of Ruler

 

This is only a fraction of what is to come, and it is already exciting with the foil reprints of competitive cards. The one problem I feel with this set is that if foils are replacing rares, won’t it eventually feel as bad pulling a Super Rare as it used to be to pull a Rare? I feel it degrades the excitement factor of pulling a rare card, and the value of these cards may be lower do to this. Hopefully, this will be an interesting change that everyone will enjoy, and maybe when I get that first pack, I will be happy to pull a foil again.

I will make sure to keep this post updated for the release date of this product.

PS These cannot be purchased in stores.

Is This Card Good Now? #1

Welcome to another installment of the Herald of Perfection everyone! Today I will be discussing a card that is currently the card in the Shonen Jump Alpha subscription. TCG begged for this card, and now it has come the states a format late. This card is Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!

Besides having a crazy name, his effect is simple, to the point, and amazing!

Rank 10

EARTH

3000/3000

Machine/Xyz/Effect

2 Level 10 Monsters

Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, inflict 2000 damage to your opponent.

Many people may look at this and say, “All it does is a little bit of burn damage, so what?” Well, in Hieratics, FTKs were viable with this card and its burn damage. Dropping your opponent from 8000 to 0 on your first turn is quite ridiculous. As the deck ravaged the OCG, it crumbled in the TCG without this card to back it up. As people awaited its arrival, it never showed. Now, a format later, where Hieratic Seal of Convocation is at two copies per deck and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon which is at one copy for deck, how well will this card fair?

Well, the difficulty of making this card is ridiculous. Requiring two Level 10 monsters does not often happen. There are ways that require using numerous amounts of cards to apply, and the easiest way of doing it (without losing any advantage) was REDMD with the spam-ability of Hieratics, it was no problem to get at least two on board. There are still methods of performing such a summon. The easiest way no is Tragoedia and Monster Reborn.

Tragoedia can use its effect to become Level 10 if REDMD is in graveyard, and Monster Reborn brings it back to Xyz with. You can also use its effect before you use it to maintain advantage. Besides that, I do not think you will make this card often.

So, is this card good now? If applied correctly, it can still be a strong card, and a possible finisher for any game. People just need that innovation of being able to perform such a play. I did this more to inform you of its release, and to let you know that if you do not subscribe to SJA soon, it will be out of print FOREVER (Well, this copy of the card, reprints happen all the time haha). Well, I have class in the morning. Bye everybody!