Monday, October 27, 2008

Some new form of control

Its fun to tech cards once in a while. You will just love that face of your opponent whenever he sees a card that isnt supposed to be in a certain deck. It causes the element of surprise which is very good. A card that has caught my eye is psycho jumper.
Psycho jumper is a tuner. Which makes it a plus one =) its also psychic type and that makes it searchable by emergency teleport! Its not these little stats that made this card eye-catching. Its the fact that it can switch control of a psychic monster on the field with an opponent monster for a mere 1000lp. If my opponent had to choose the monster that he was giving me then it would make this card sucky. However it lets you choose the monster! With commited fields in the Meta now from stardust and red demon and goyou and dark end ruling the playing field it would be a shame if u lost your monster that u had done so much just to bring out. In fact it would be more of a shame if the monster wasnt destroyed but instead shifted control to the oponent! brainwashing does the job well but then its limited to one per deck =( and mind control forbids the monster that u just took to be tributed ot attacked. Now thats a very big disadvantage if you have no tuner to call out.

psycho jumper lets you take it like a tragoedia. Its not hard to give your opponent a psychic monster. Psychic decks just love this card. Besides its not all bad since the average DAD deck plays at least 3 to 4 psychics ranging from clevonse to psychic commando and even mind master! Mind master would be so good to give to your opponent and watch his face turn blue as you steal his biggy =) Psycho jumper would be good tech and i would like to try it out just for fun anyway. Its good as its still a lvl2 tuner just like a clevonse.

In the last few games i played against my friend's Ratbox zombie synchro deck and in all of the 3 duels i came across the most annoying situation ever came across by each player. =.=

Enter: Neo spacian ground mole

There is nothing to look down upon this lil smiley face dude. In most decks synchro cards happen to be the most hard to take down cards. Is stardust bothering you? or that big goyou guardian that keeps on stealing your monsters? Or even Gladiator beast heraklinos? Anything that is bothering you on your opponent field can be taken down by Neos grand mole. In all 3 duels, i lost a stardust, Red demon dragon and a dark arm dragon to this stupid little rodent.





Any Gladiator beast deck should run this card as it takes care of opposing stardusts for you for free. In any situation simply set it and it dioesnt matter wat deck you play! In zombie synchro your opponent probbaly thinks its a Goblin zombie. he attacks and instead he faces this critter! BB big monster =) In a Gb deck this card set will be able to bluff as hoplomus. When the opponent thinks of hoplomus with only 2100 defense he rams his stardust! Bye bye dragon =P





Grand mole only cost a summon. You may say its quite slow and costly. Considering majority of the games played most monsters are special summoned except in early game where some zombie masters, goblin zombies, ehero airman, dark grepher and thats about all! This card will do wonders in late game and mid game making your opponent make bad moves and think irrationally. It sure made me do so. Try it you wont be disappointed. Remember it can take down anything no matter how big the monster ;)





Next up is a card known as creature swap.



Off all cards i chose creature swap. Why? firstly i think its because recruiters are seeing a comeback in this format. With mystic tomato being run in many dark decks and even mask dragon in Hopeless dragon, and other decks like ratbox or stuff, creature swap is your best friend. Dont forget goblin zombie =) it gives it to yr opponent. Then summon yr zombie master n play creature swap targetting goblin and get your opponent's card, Then attack it and fetch your carrier. =) IMO its still better than psychp jumper cuz u don nid to sacrifice a psychic.

Btw messing your opponent field is pretty much a good idea too =) When ur opponent commits to his field by setting it up with stardust sycnhros dark arm or whatever, its extremely pissing to just summon goblin zombie, sangan, zombiecarrier or some weak shit and then switch! sometimes your opponent has only one big monster n then you switch it for your lil dude n look at your opponent's sour face =D in fact that isnt even hard to come across as in this explosive meta, in mid game there is likely only one or two monsters on field (at max:3) U can have 4 or 5 monsters if u got imbal luck or ur opponent has a bad hand or maybe ur opponent is just noob shit. Remember this and picture this: Switch ur lil weak monster for a big big monster =)


Next up is a card i see many people tech in their deck or put in their sidedeck
Agianst zombie synchro this card is gold. It stops all their little face down cards and that pesky Card of safe return. It certainly spoils other decks' combos. Example Gladiator beast. U can destroy all their face down protection cards like Enemy controller, book of moon and dimensional prison (and the all new anti spell fragrance that many people are playing now!)
But most importantly we are teching this card to counter those anti-meta decks. Metabeat and Remove from play strategies are certainly a popular pick. Also u can destroy skill drain beatdown =) or destroy those annoying shadow imprisoning mirror. How would you like to have 4 heavy storms in your deck? =)
Lotsa tech can get any deck to the top, The more innovation the better the deck. =) BTW if you wanna tech do tech good stuff not crap as its not gonna get you anywhere. Try the above cards you might just be happy

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Magicians galore

With the new magician deck coming up its not hard to expect that people are going to try them out. Although like many ppl said, they will make a comeback but then nobody will play them because only the top decks are played. (top 3 in the meta i mean) I heard people saying the same things abt zombies, Now look at them they are on top =)

I guess this means we need to give it a go. Now why wouldn't anyone want to play them? Spellcasters are a very decent archetype and they have speed control and alot of cards that might make the deck playable. Lets look at the good points and compare them to the top deck of the format (DAD control)

While DAD beats have alot of speed its not hard to see that the spellcasters have that too. In the DAd deck ppl run 3 allures. Well thats not a problem cuz i think most magicians deck pack3 of them too =) Next DAd decks has 3 reinformcents to search out a warrior (airman, grepher bla bla dhero) Now this may not be a storng point but its solid enough: Magicians deck will run 3 dark magicians and 3 copies of Magic black curtain is enough to provide the speed. So long as you can control the field its worth paying half of your life points. magic black curtain is better 3reinforcements IMO because it can bring the monster directly to the field. Altough its targets are limited its still alright. Magician circle is probably another reinforcements too =) its so good and is just one of the best spellcasters support spells too

DAD decks have a field clearer such as DAD, other spells/ traps.
Simple. Run DADas well! its actually very easy. magicians are mostly dark so then DAD makes a great addition to the deck

They provide a certain control too =)
Cards like magic dimension and breaker are good too =) Dont forget there is a slower option like old revengeful magician but thats abit stupid =(

They have tricks=)
With the new deck being released, there are many MANY good cards being reprinted in there and i mean many good stuff like darkred enchanter (i can finally complete hand control deck yay!) and the coveted summon priest. Priest was damn expensive before in the last format cuz of the Rescue Cat decks. Its a shame now because i could buy 3 decks and get 3 priests and 117 other cards for a cheaper price than its previous price =( sori all but u guys who spent on priest just wasted money =( Oh well. Summon priest is just good because it can bring out a lvl4 card anytime from their decks. U can bring breaker out and with Magic City Endimion out you could have a heavy storm just like that. Endimion is just good as it lets you use the spell counters on it for other purposes =) Breaker, darkred enchanter and cards like skill black magician just got a bostup. Combine magic explosion with priest and u get a lvl4 monster every turn from your deck for the cost of merely relinquishing your draw turn. Its a great combo. If you need a monster simply relinquish your draw turn and get it out. If you don need one just take your draw. simple =) Magic explosion is just like a sinister serpent except not as good =(

Tuners
Although magicians dont have tuners its not all a goner. You can have teleport and clevonse/mind master/pyshcic commando combined all together.

they have power
attack strength isnt a problem either with cards like skil black magician with 1900 atk and dark magician with a 2500 atk. 2500 is enough to kill Stardust. In fact with the sudden craze in dragons (stardust, red demon, dark end bla bla) you can run buster blader in there too for pure fun. Buster blader is no goner because there is skilled white mage to bring it out. Although a simple goyou can take it down thats why the decks should pack book of moons, e-cons, and many other trap cards even dimension prison and phoenix wing wind blast are all good stuff to pack. Compulsory evacutaion device is excellent in there as it returns anything without a discard cost which the magician deck doesnt need any card in the graveyard.

They have a one-sided imperial order!!!
The past Crossroads of chaos box gave them a field spell which most people just ignored. Yes they have Secret village of the magicians. It effect prevents opponent from activating magic cards as long as we have magicians on the field! its totally costless~ (although the magician player cant activate magic if they dont have magician on field its not a problem! its a spellcaster deck right so the the deck should have many magciians in there ;) thats basically a no cost =)]
The DAD deck just stops right there. Allure cant move, the dheros cant be discarded, the reinforments cant move either. GB cant play their book of moons, and stuuf like that. iN TCG lightlords cant play charge of the light brigade. Also, solar exchange cant be played. =) how good is that?

Magicians are a very potent and versatile deck. If we can learn to use the power of magician wisely, they might just become a meta deck that is ahrd to deal off =)

(sorry i promised a magician deck but no time to test out and think of one. =( next time lar )

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Simplying the game





Okay before i start the post here are the pics for that dark synchro card. And the second pic is the proof that its coming out. According to http://www.yuginewz.blogspot.com/ its is an ultra rare and its coming out in Crismon crisis. Thanks to Sunny for the pics! ^^


Most decks nowadays are focused onto speed speed and more speed. But what is speed with out control? You could run 3 ddraws 3 allures n 3 or any speed card in your deck just to draw it out but with no control? What use is that?


If you look at the top decks GB, Lightlords, metabeat(nt really top but owns fast but too expensive so =/) and the new DAD teleport they are all about control. While in the TCG ppl are still playing 3 d-draws i can see that the OCG is changing. The recent MH cup played on Duel Online i think top 3 decks were (in order) Light undead, Tele DAD with undead and Gladiator beast teching 3anti-spell fragrance!


I think now we can see that the spell fragrances make a great GREAT tech as it so kills Tele DAD which needs spells to function fast. ith 3 dd crows, 3 spell frgrances and 3 compulsory evacuation devices the GB deck just slowed down the Tele-DAD duelist by a Hell lot!!! As much as i hate to say it, it looks like GB is innovating n MIGHT just be on par with teleport-DAD now.


I dono why ppl plays Light in undead anyways it seems so inconsistent of course they teched 3 raious and 3 honest in there but....Sigh...I dont see the c0nnection. I mean Raiou kills the zombie player's own goblins. And well....=.= swt la probably just pure luck that he won


Anyway on to the topic, simplifying the game. This is a term that we always see in metagame.com. Some of u know what it means some of u dont know what it means. K here is the explanation. U basically control the game taking out every single option of your opponent. Let me give you a situation:


(This situation was never played, Maybe it was i dont know but it just came out of my mind)


Kyle set a card. His opponent James chained [thunder break] n discarded destiny hero diabolicguy as a cost n destroyed that freshly set monster. Kyle ended. James drew a card activated urgent teleport n special summoned his clevonse and another malicious to the field and synced into stardust dragon! Kyle fingered his set torrential tribute which has just been rendered useless. James re-summoned another malicious from his deck and sumoned zombie carrier and synchro again into Red demon dragon! Then he summoned Dark arm dragon with exactly 3 darks in grave! He set 2 cards to his spell/trap zone and attacked. Then he ended. Back to Kyle. Kyle played his own dark arm dragon and his opponent James flipped solemn judgment! Kyle summoned Judgment dragoon (ok im crazy but assume that the game is like this liau bla bla ) . Kyle attacked stardust hoping to be able to recontrol the game. His opponent chained phoenix wing wind blast and chained it to return JD to topdeck. If kyle would choose 2 play monster priority he would just lose out anyway because there is stardust. Also he will just lose 1000 lp. Kyle looked through his cards and scooped =(


There u have it! Look how every single move by Kyle was controlled and defeated by James. If you can simply tune your deck togive you situations and hand like this then you will surely be able to win without doubt. Of course meta beat is different matter but sometimes it is possible 2 secure a win, SOMETIMES ar dont take 4 granted that i said victory is possible
Now like i mentioned before in the past few posts is speed really better than control? Lets look at just this statement: control can prevent speed. This alone is enough reason to tune your decks to control. In fact any decks can play control: the top4, even sub theme decks like dragons, psychic n magicians. lol
I think we come to a conclusion here that control is more important than speed. I have cut the d-draws from my deck and reduced the allure number to two. Michael Santoso(baha) is doint it too he removed draws from his deck and added raio and more stuff tech to his DAd tele deck.
Japan is doing it. Look at the MH cup decklists (if u dont know how to look at them just copy n go to google translator n paste it there Easy=) even the second deck that was tele-DAd ran zombies and cut down allure of darkness to two. The top deck dint run a single card and well Gb is...urmm nvm
While speed alone is important if we can simplify the game i think we can make a sacrifice here. Of course dont FORSAKE speed. Still run 2 to 3 allures, dark grepher, reinformcents, urgent teleport n stratos. Its that easy. U still have speed there. Today's post trys to tell u that speed n simplifying the game is equally important. Having both in the deck is best.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Numbers and synchros

Numbers seem to be one of the most important things in the card game. Its involved in life point count, time count n most importantly : Synchros.

If i just write on the main content i think the post will be too short. So im gonna talk abt numbers for just a few paragraphs. In yugioh, the most important thing is to nvr act recklessly. In any circumstances you must never play simply unless you r very sure that u have lost the game and in that situation there is no use to simply play anymore anyway just scoop.

This small advice is given to the people who play the game COMPETITIVELY. If you dont read up on articles on websites, blogs or play at least once a week or touch yr cards at least thrice a week there is no need to read this. If you do play competitively remember to always carry along a notebook and a pen. WHY? Because of advantage. Here i hope to be able to deliver my info clearly. Its always important to run numbers so you can find out the most advantage. Sometimes a play may seem more big and better somehow but maybe another combo or move that you can make might give you mjore advanatge. In this crazy explosive game its no more a consevative or aggresive playstyle. you must decide your playstyle on your own or based on the deck youn play. Eg: GB doesnt exactly play aggro neither conservative but somewhere in between. The DAT (Dark Arm Teleport) deck however plays all out in first few turns to take control of game)

Conclusion
Never ever do not run numbers especially in a tournament. Its also important to do it in casual play n playtesting times so you can be more familiar with ur deck n get to noe the game better. Its also important to do it in playtesting times so you can cultivate a good habit n remember to do it tourneys. Dont be lazy, Its only a pen and some paper


Next topic: OCG synchros
You may wonder what happens to the [d-hero malicious]s when they are used in the synchro summon with either [clevonse] or [zombie carrier]. I dont mean what happen i mean which synchros they turn to. In the TCG they turn into either [stardust dragon] or the malignant [thought ruler archfiend/mental sphere demon]. But in OCG it is different

While Stardust is great on its own it doesnt possess the attack power that is important in this game. 2500 means even a simple [goyou guardian] can take it down (and yes this is damn damn damn frustrating!!!! seriously) Sometimes i even run another [goyou guardian] just to attack my stardust and change possesion. Its useless to attack into the other Goryo as when the 2 destroy each other (its basically counted as destroying a monster by battle) they just special summon themselves onto each opponent's field n that is stupid =.=

Enter: Red dragon Archfiend
He's probably one of the best synchros in the game now and most worthwhile to spend your [dhero malicious]es on. Why? He is just versatile and while the game intends to generate advantage to the fullest this card can do it just fine! While he attacks a defense postion monster on your opponent field, he destroys any other defense position monster on the opponent field. Yes he might be an "unstable advantage" as you can never be sure of opponent field but thats the advantage. It will make ur opponent stop n think twice abt setting a monster on the field. Also while other monsters take out onli one other monster in battle this card's minimum detsruction target is 1. His high attack is sure to take out anything short of a BIG BIG [tragoedia] or a [FGD] which no one plays anymore. You destroy any other monsters in defense so ya he kills more than one (if there r any which there r bound 2 be)
Dark End dragon is GAYY. While i spoke off a card that can generate you advantage i think i found a card that can do crazy stuff. While most cards give you an advantage of a (+1) or at the most a (+2) this card gives you a (+4) so long he stays alive. Sharing the same mechanic as [Light n darkness dragon] this card decreases its attack n defense by 500 to destroy a monster on the field. With 2100 attack the most it can do is 4 monsters destroyed {2100-(500*4)}
Now thats a crazy card not even [allure of darkness] does that (in fact it gives u no advantage in terms of card presence since allure+dark monster=2. N the number of cards u get r 2 anyway. So no card presence advantage. However, it gives you 2 new options n the chance to cut the number of cards in the deck so yaa its good. Anyway back to the topic this card is just crazy n i think if u can backup with [mirror force] or [necro gardnar] you can practically control! Here's a combo abusing it with the new [arms aid] from the Yusuei pack:
1) summon DED and arms aid (i dono lets just assume they r out liau)
2) equip arms aid to DED and gain 1000 atk points. Use the 1000 gained to destroy 2 cards
3) unequip n then reequip each turn for a (-2) from yr opponent each turn! Wicked!
Anyway in Japan ppl r crazyily summoning [AOJ catastor] as this guy just kills any non-dark deck. So bye bye Lightlords and so long GB !(damn test tiger larh), His advantage is just awesome and actually lvl 5 isnt hard to get at all. You can use [necro gardnar] as your lvl 3 to pair with carrier or teleport. You can use [psychic commando] as your lvl 3 tuner n another lvl2 card(i dono wad) Its actually easy to get out Haha.
Anyway the real conclusion is that Level 6 summonings arent that popular anymore. while Goyou guardian remains gold, since the banning of [premature burial], i dont think ppl are so focused to summoning their [briunac dragon of ice boundary]s anymore. Stardust and Thought Ruler are not so consistent in the OCG. A stardust and a red demon on the first turn or stardust and dark end might just be the delinquent duo for the tele-DAD decks. Use your [d-hero malicious]es wisely!!!!
Side topic #1: im still not liking Gb any less than the last time so :
Go to hell Gyzarus!!! =P. I added a "Say No to GB" pictures at the side of the blog. Do support =)

Side topic #2: [Necroface] is quite good tech in the DAD teleport decks. Good tech =) Jason Grabher Meyer was right =) Just remember to side it out in your mirror matches! =D
Side topic #3: Synchro mechanic might change again. If u hav been keeping up with the YGO 5ds anime u will know of [freezing fritzgerald] a new synchro monster (dark synchro actually) that is used by the mysterious man with the spider birthmark ( following the Nazca lines spider).
Fritzgerald is a "dark synchro" and can only be summoned by using a "dark tuner". Nothing different? Let me enlighten u guys =)
A dark synchro monster can only be summoned by subtracting a DARK TUNER MONSTER FROM A NON TUNER'S MONSTER. Yes yes it should be adding the tuner and the non tuner monster together. So basically the normal equation would be:
non tuner+ tuner= synchro
This time its:
Non tuner- dark tuner= dark synchro
The spider gyus summoned level5 Frizgerald by summoning a lvl8 monster and subtracting a dark tuner's level from it(the dark tuner's lvl was 3)
So 8-3=5
Lololol check out the picture of the cards here!: http://www.janime.info/5DS/series027.html or simply go to youtube n type "yugioh 5ds episode 27"
Side topic #4: i love rendang and Hari Raya. visited so many houses =P fat liau