Expansion on the Previous Post

This is not E for once, its actually Michael and seeing what E had to say I'm just going to expand on that concept of understanding the meta appropriately in meta-heavy tournaments (i.e. Regionals, YCS', or even highly competitive locals).

A great place to start is to find someone you're well acquainted with who runs the deck you have questions about, and ask them to explain it to you from the person playing the deck's perspective so that you can be better equipped to play against it when you see it elsewhere. This is easier if you have a "team" as they have been dubbed and I will be breaking down that concept in an entry on our tumblr page within the next few days.

The next step is maybe building the deck based on a popular build or maybe a build that topped the most recent major event as it will be net decked pretty thoroughly as players will take out a card here and there in favor of another here and there as tech for the meta they expect to experience. I'm not saying go out and buy all the cards, but proxies work fine for test-play amongst friends. And if you can get your friend or someone you know to play your deck against this meta deck you will pilot it can help you to see the strengths of the meta deck and weaknesses of your own deck. Sometimes these weaknesses can't be fixed in the main deck, but a well constructed sideboard can help you turn these weaknesses into strengths within the match-up. This is especially a problem with the way the meta is shaping up. Dino Rabbit, Wind-Ups, and Dark Worlds punish you for leaving too many cards in your hand as you will either not have the necessary negation on field when you need it, lose them to the grave one by one as they loop you, or have your opponent picking and choosing problem cards and taking them from your hand. Against these decks field committing with protection is a good idea. Against Inzektors this is the worst thing you can do. Once they get the combo rolling its pretty much over and you field committing makes it much easier for them to make +1's at every turn. If you don't know what you're playing its tough to know what to do turn one sometimes, and this can cost you, so here's some things I suggest.

1) Play effect veiler in the mainboard!!!!

- If you're asking why its because its still good, and with torrential at 2 it actually got better.
- Example Scenario that I playing 2 Effect Veiler and 2 Forbidden Chalice as well as 2 Torrential run into somewhat frequently. They have Laggia up with materials you say? That's fine. They summon monster, I don't care what activate torrential, if they don't stop it with a spell/trap but rather Laggia's effect you chain veiler and now the laggia trying to negate can not as the chian resolves backwards and Torrential destroys everything. They could chain a lance on top of your Veiler but then they have a 1600 ATK Laggia that may be immune this turn, but next turn its pretty much a vanilla in a deck that already runs too many anyway, so all is good. Seems pretty boss to me, you know just saying. Veiler works very well against Barkion or a Shi-En as well. Not so much against Beast as most times your spells are on your turn instead of theirs.
- People say it sucks against Rabbit, you're wrong. Tour Guide is the win condition of the deck unless they draw double rabbit before they draw 3 vanillas to ruin the possibility of double rabbit without Avarice. Veiler their tour guide and what do you have? A 1000 ATK VANILLA MONSTER! Make their monsters vanillas. The deck plays a pretty good game of protect the vanilla, or Evolzar, and you need to make them burn up those cards when they don't want to to put yourself in a position to win.
- He also ruins the Wind-Up loop when used properly (When Zenmaity Special Summons is the proper time in my opinion as they are now stuck with a simple 1500 ATK monster as lance will not save them, and a Book of Moon will still allow the loop but a smaller version that pulls one less card from your hand.
- Veiler also punishes bad Inzektor players. This deck is extremely hot right now due to its consistency and relatively low price. Its very annoying but knowing your rulings here helps. When they say effect to equip an inzektor to dragon fly (Hornet) don't negate with veiler, just say ok. Then as they bring it down from their hand say the dreaded words inzektor players do not want to hear. "At resolution I use effect veiler." The only thing holding the equip on is the inzektor who no longer can hold it on, so it falls off and neither effect of the inzektors acritvates. Veiler is usually a -1, but in the prior situation regarding using it at resolution, you actually make them lose a card as well as their normal summon due to your veiler if you already have monster presence that can trump their likely tiny monster at 1000 or 1600.

2) Be able to remove cards from the game
- Players don't realize how crucial this is. No current metagame strategy deals with RFG cards very well unless they were banished by their own effects. Yes Shining can add some back, but what about if you take them out of the grave so they never get to make their shining? Its an important thing to think about when you are working on your strategy in both your main and side deck.
- Even in match-ups you think its not great in its better than you think it is. Lets take Rabbit. Seems awful right? Wrong. When they avarice use D.D. Crow on one of their targets probably an exceed monster as it can not be re-summoned by a leviair, and they don't get to recycle their monsters the way they want to. It also goes about negating monster reborn, and I guess that's a good card to negate also.
-Another ruling for the Inzektor matchups. They say effect and you chain DD Crow to that 1 hornet in the grave. If they don't have another inzektor in grave they have to equip something due to the way the cards are worded. If they have any inzektor in hand they have to equip it, if they don't they must show you their hand to prove so and everyone likes knowing whats in your opponents hand.

3) Play Compulsory Evacuation Device
- Its the new Book of Moon for extra deck cards. It gets rid of answers at no cost and very consistently. It kills the shining and zenmaines, without effect. Its a good call for the metagame. Even use it on a dinosaur after a rabbit summon and watch the other one have to pop itself at the end of the turn.


The whole gist here is to be smart and thorough in your preparation and assess the major strengths and weaknesses of the meta and how can lessen their strengths and breakdown their bad matchups. There's a site out there that has a phrase I don't really care for as it gives the game a bad connotation so I'm going to coin my own because I can and that's what I want to do.

Play Smart and Have Fun.

Do the first every time and make sure you still enjoy the game. If you've stopped enjoying the game, step back and make sure you are still playing for the right reasons. Don't get me wrong I love winning and the competitive part of the game, but its important to still enjoy it too so that you don't find yourself fading away as time wears on, but instead growing a deeper bond with the game we all love to play. Don't ever miss an opportunity to learn something new either. Its important to learn the cards that the metagame will try and win with and use against you, and know how best to fight them.

Until next time, play smart and remember to still have fun,

Michael

Misconception

So with all the crazy shenanigans going on in the meta I thought I take a moment and address an issue that affects players transitioning into competitive play. This is something my friend Al brought to my attention and I figured I should shed some light on this lingering phenomenon. Whenever you prepare and playtest for events there is misconception that because you "think you know" how the top decks run that you are aptly prepared for them when you face them. Consequently, you end up losing 9 times out of 10 because you weren't prepared. Playtesting shouldn't be taken lightly when you go into a meta heavy tournament. Being prepared and understand what functions in your deck and what doesn't is the process that allows you sidedeck accordingly and ultimately become the victor of the match. Until you fully understand that, you will never ever be ready to take the next step so keep that in mind when you enter your next premier event. As always thanks for stopping by this is E signing off.

News Friday

Whats up guys, I apologize for the unexpected hiatus. We're back now with news that you will enjoy.  As you may all know this past weekend was Y.C.S. Dallas and Toulouse. I had the privilege to judge at Dallas and witness the meta first hand. When I say organizing these events is a lot of work, I am not joking.  Players don't realize the time and energy that goes into making the venues run smoothly. Julia and company go above and beyond to get the best qualified judges and staff to get things going so whenever you go to a Y.C.S. and have a chance to thank anyone that the head judge and Julia for being awesome! Back to our coverage. Nizar Sarhan won out in Dallas for the second time piloting Dino Rabbit while Peter Gross won out in Toulouse with Chaos Dragons. As you would imagine the meta has been all over the place, Inzektors come in as the majority but can't swarm to the finish line to the likes of Rabbit and Dragons.  Dark Worlds could of been more pertinent but they're numbers were to small to begin with so they did not make a significant impact at the venue. Overall the venue was pretty amazing. There are things that could of been handled differently to minimize cheating, rule sharking, and other things harmful to the game state. Whether players agree to it or not the staff is held to a very high standard and because of that players should be held to that standard as well. Think of all the things that are wrong with the T.C.G. and holding the players accountable with stricter rules and punishments could alleviate those problems. Anyway, that's just my take. Thanks for stopping by and as always its not a proplay unless its a misplay.

E

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We're back!

By the end of the week I plan to report everything that happened at Y.C.S. Dallas plus recaps and thoughts on the state of the meta.  Stay tuned!!!

E

YCS Dallas

So this was something I mean to post before going to Dallas, oh well I guess. A lot of this has to do with how I feel one should prepare for a big event like this and how you some of your decision making processes go. The mainr eason I wanted to post it was for predictions and I really regret not doing it. I almost nailed the top 4, just one deck off, nailed the winner, and nailed the final round. If you watched our video on our Youtube channel, the first thing I said was to watch out for Lightsworn engine in different decks as that deck gives Dino Rabbit fits, and it almost finished the job but fell just short in game 3. Don't look for this deck to pick up a lot of steam, I see it going the way of Dragunity. Dragunity was really solid upon release and did well at a couple of regionals and YCS', but once the playstyle was learned by most players and people pinpointed major weaknesses, the deck fell by the wayside.

This next part will be what I had typed out and saved in a Word document last Monday morning, I just forgot to post it is all.

 So this blog is going to be all about YCS Long Beach and YCS Dallas and the effect the former is going to have on the latter. 

What we saw at Long Beach was by all means an anomaly, but in a 4300 player tournament it’s the perfect environment for rogue decks to slip through the cracks and make it to the top, and that’s exactly what we all saw. If you aren’t aware of the results, Piper Chaos and Hero Beat-Skill Drain made top 4 and ended up in the tie for 3^rd, with Dino Rabbit coming in 2^nd, and Dark Worlds taking home the trophy. All of these are decks most duelists have some good experience against, except for Piper Chaos that is. That reason, that most duelists had limited experience against it, was a major factor in how it finished out at Long Beach as players didn’t know what to expect from the deck when playing against it, or if they were equipped to side against it, they may not have known how best to go about it. When preparing for Dallas these results are important to notice, as they will have a great impact on the field in Dallas, but don’t get too carried away preparing for them, there weren’t any new broken combos introduced that are just downright lethal. The only deck packing a new punch is Inzektors and they didn’t break the top 4, so they clearly can be tamed.

Next point I need to make. Don’t just go changing your deck at the last minute! Be prepared and create the skeleton of your deck you want to play. Find the cards that absolutely have to be in there and the ones that don’t and work towards making that final build. Don’t just switch from Lightsworn to Hero Beat at the last minute or something similar. You likely won’t have the experience needed to be able to pilot that deck properly, and even if you have the best build possible a misplay can lose you a game and possibly a match. Also to be noted, the play styles of different decks can cause you trouble if you’re used to playing one way such as with Lightsworn and the aggro style it uses and then last minute switching to a control based deck like the aforementioned Hero Beat. Decide what deck you are going to play way ahead of time. Test it against as much of the meta you can find, and also some rogue decks to see if it can adapt properly to nonconventional matchups. Don’t get discouraged when your deck gets beat by an opponent who draws the nuts, its Yugioh that happens sometimes, and its why you play 2 out of 3 with a side deck. You will most likely play more games with a side deck than without one, as in the worst possible scenario you would play exactly the same with and without, so make sure your side deck gives you the advantage you need against those bad game 1 matchups. 

You need to know how you will side against the meta you expect to see. A lot factors into this. Are you going first or second in the upcoming game makes a big difference. If you’re going second against wind-ups, you better bring the hand traps in, but if you’re going first don’t worry about those hand traps as much, as you will have a turn to put a set-up down to stop their shenanigans. er HHHHDon’t side more than a couple of cards per matchup. The most I would say is acceptable is 6 in a regular deck for 1 particular matchup as any more will change the flow of your deck too much. There is the idea of transformational siding and that’s okay at times, but if you are doing well in a tournament word will spread about what you’re doing, and your element of surprise will be ripped from you. 

Now I’m going to peer into my crystal ball and project some results. First place will be Dino Rabbit finally breaking out and winning in the US, a feat they have yet to accomplish. You will either see Inzektors or Dark Worlds in the top 4, but probably only one or the other not both. Look for Wind-Ups to do about the same as they did in Long Beach cracking the top 16 but not getting any further. The deck is good, but the player count is down for that deck. They will benefit from the trend of decreased hand trap usage, but Dino Rabbit is still going to play 2-3 Maxx C and that will be enough to keep them out of contention. Look for another rogue deck to crack the top 4, and probably fall victim to Dino Rabbit in the final matchup. Something like a chaos build could have great matchups all day long, as well as Six Samurai or maybe even X-Sabers as they have seen increased play since March ban list. So to summarize:

·         Rabbit takes first over a rogue deck in the final match.

·         Either Dark Worlds or Inzektors will break the top 4 but won’t be able to finish it out.

·         Look for Wind-Ups to be a presence but not that big as the deck is too linear to win.

      So I almost got it, but regardless get ready for Galactic Overlord and all that has to offer the game, and until next time happy dueling.

      Michael

News Fridays

The Galactic Overlord Sneak Peek kicks off April 29. I'm really excited for the new card releases especially Card Card D! Hieratics make their debut too so be ready to pick all that up.  Y.C.S. Dallas is next week and I have been given the privilege to judge at the venue. Updates will ensue, as of yet Justin is planning on playing so keep a look out for him. Hope to see you all there!

Card Review

Fiendish Chain

So I hear you're having trouble with Inzektors? No problem Fiendish Chain is here to help! Oh its Wind-Ups now? Again no problem, Fiendish Chain will put them in there place. You want to stop an attack for that one more turn, fret not Fiendish will do that too. Almost no situation is too much for this card to handle so keep a look out for it or wait for the reprint.

The Team Misplay grade: B-

The importance of Mystical Space Typhoon

So there is an ongoing debate about this card, not really I'm just kidding, but people don't see that this card being unlimited has a very important impact on the game. Monsters at this point have built in effects that are inherently a plus 1.  The only thing stopping you from gaining that advantage are your opponents backrows.  With Heavy storm floating around your opponent usually won't commit more than 3 backrows unless they can protect them.  End phase Mystical on an opponent's sole backrow is also very commanding when you have the set up and card economy to push. Don't underestimate the potential of this card with all the decks running around that are negation based. Mystical space typhoon forces thought so keep that in mind when you blindly activate it.

Tournament Report 4/1/12

Void Ogre Dragon wins games!! With its release I wanted to showcase my Infernity build. The deck has picked up some very crucial potency with this card, no joke.  I am going to keep my build a secret until I play at a Y.C.S. BUT I will give you the details of my duels.  Any deck that has dark tuners gained a considerable boost with this card so experiment with it. Anyway here was my Saturday at Legacy.

Round 1:

Lightsworn - OO

Game 1

I won the dice roll and opened up with Infernity Launcher, Dark Grepher, Necromancer, Infernity Barrier, Archfiend, and Infernity Break. I Summoned Grepher pitched Necro to send Beetle to grave.  I then activated Launcher and discarded Archfiend and set my Barrier and Break. I sent Launcher to grave to special Necro and Archfiend searched for Barrier via Archfiend and then set it. Used Necro to special Beetle then sent Beetle to grave to bring out 2 more. Synched into Gaia Knight with Grepher and Beetle then went into Void with Gaia and a Beetle and passed.  My opponent draws and activates Solar Recharge pitching  Jain to which I negate with Void Orge. I locked him down from that point.

Game 2

Opened up Laucher again with a somewhat decent hand.  I go into Void and pass.  He activates cards to bait my effect and fall victim to his Dark Hole.  At that point he had dwindled his resouces to the bare minimum and had two Judgement Dragons in the grave.  His field at this point was Card Trooper, Aurkus, 2 fluff tokens via Dandylion, and Wulf. I don't remember what his backrow was maybe 1 or 2 cards. I topdeck the Archfiend and proceed to regain my advantage. I searched for Mirage and summoned it.  I then used its effect to special Necro and another Archfiend.  I search for a Barrier via Archfiend and set it.  I then use Necro to bring back Beetle from grave and synch into Mist Wurm to bounce the 2 tokens and Card Trooper. I proceed to use Break to pop a backrow he was sitting on since the start of the duel and removed my Mirage. It was a Monster Reborn. I activate my set Zero-Max to special Necro and then special Archfiend again via Necro. At this point he had milled 2 Judgement Dragons.  He summons Card Trooper and mills sending his last Judgement to grave and conceeds.

Round 2:

*Secret* - OO

Game 1

Wong the dice roll and opened Stygian Street Patrol + Dark Grepher + Archfiend + 2 Barrier + 1 Break.  Yep.

Game 2

My field by turn two was 2 Beetle, Necro, Arcfiend, Barrier, Mystical.  I synch into Hyper Librarian and then Brionac.  I have no hand when I top the Archfiend via Hyper Librarian to search Launcher.  I set up into Void with Zero-Max destroying my Necro in the process because I had to bring back Beetle.  Slowly poke for game.

Round 3:

Heroes piloted by Al(a.k.a. Beast mode, he doesn't know I call him that lol) - OXO

Game 1

Void Ogre plus protection versus Heroes equals game.

Game 2

He just destroys me, I can't keep him from summoning Thunder King and Aliuses.

Game 3

I'm just sitting on monsters waiting for an opportunity to push.  He has 2 back rows, Thunder King, and the Shining.  He attacks my facedown Snowman with a Thunder King and I pop his Shining.  He adds Stratos back to hand via effect.  I end phase Break a facedown and remove Mirage.  One of his backrows was a Fiendish Chain which he chained onto my Necro so I draw a Beetle I summon it. I stupidly tried to use Necros effect for some reason while it had been Fiendish Chained lol.  I overlay to exceed Necro and Snowman to bring out Leviair to reuse Mirage.  I can't search so I just synch into Gaia and wait for a response.  He was low on lp so he didn't want to tribute and let me attack for game. I didn't try to push because I didn't want to lose my field to Torrential so I attack with Gaia and he books it. So now he has just a faceup Thunder King and dead Fiendish.  I end phase Break his Thunder King and remove a Break.  He sets and passes. I draw, set, and flip Gaia.  I use Necro to Bring out Void and he concedes.

Good friend of mine, I enjoy playing against him at tournaments!!!! XD

Round 4:

Inzektors piloted by Luis - XX 

Game 1

Passive cards get destroyed by Dragonfly and Hornet. :(

Game 2

I draw alright.  I set up and pass. He Mysticals my Phoenix Wind Blast which was the only discard outlet I had to help with my heavy monster hand and consequently do not recover. I get murdered by Dragonfly and Hornet.

Another good friend of mine, I hate my Inzektor match up but oh well need to find better side cards for them even if they are losing popularity.

Thoughts:

Good turn out. I'm glad the player base in Laredo is growing. Good playtesting.

Update

So I'm trying to finalize a schedule that will keep me motivated and excited about the blog. I enjoy talking about strategy so it seemed like the logical thing to do.

Sundays
Tournament report if I entered in one during the week.  I will randomly post things about rulings and outlooks if they are relevant or to my liking.

Mondays
Weekend recap of Regionals, Y.C.S., and/or Worlds.  Otherwise I will give strategy advise.

Tuesdays
I will randomly give a deck analysis and/or add decklist(s) on the tab bar.

Wednesdays
News and updates if there are any to my liking.  I will try to consistently give card reviews.

Thursdays
Nothing

Fridays
News Fridays will resume.

Saturday
Nothing

Hope you enjoy!!!!


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