Hey all, I have been paying attention to trends in TCG Yu-Gi-Oh sets recently to see if I can glean any information about how Konami designs the Core sets and what this means for how the game is played at all levels. In doing this I noticed a few important things such as:
A. Common Archetype is always the simple one (Regardless of Powerlevel)
B. Secret Rares are not meant to sell boxes
C. Konami designs sets with MTG New World Order in mind
After the break there are a couple of my thoughts and examples of these occurrences.
Okay, so when it comes to Archetypes released in sets there will be no less than 3 in a set. This is because you need an archetype that is comprised of mostly commons for new players who will open less than a box of cards in the course of a set (by new players I mean the target audience). The best example of this is Gouki's which are an anime archetype where there is no piece above Super Rare in their initial release meaning with a Guaranteed Rare and a minimum of a Super in every pack you'll be able to collect the whole deck fairly quickly with minimal effort. The deck in exchange has to be less complex to allow players to see the power of their deck without thinking too hard about timings of effects or serious misplays due to lack of understanding what the deck is meant to do. Trickstars are not for new players hence why their lowest rarity card at release was Trickstar Lillybell at Rare, the deck is simply too complicated to pick up and just play with only the knowledge from the starter deck rulebook (a plethora of Instant Speed effects and timing windows).
In the newest set Extreme Force the only archetype that makes sense at common is Tindangle which are barely more complicated than Crawlers as they do have effects that work in the graveyard but they are obvious such as the Spells returning from the Graveyard and their only Trap also being a graveyard piece that requires simply reading what it does there is no responding to things with this deck and very little chain management. But this is complexity creep as the prior two sets had common effects on all their common archetype monsters (Gouki's all search, Crawlers all Multiply). Tindangles have a lot of different effects but none of them require you to use the chain properly and all deal with Monsters exclusively.
With the Secret Rares you'd think with them making Firewall Dragon and Borreload secrets is just to sell more product but in reality that doesn't make any sense. Other more likely reasons include but are not limited to: Complexity, Chase Value, Cool Factor and Low-Level Unfairness. Firewall Dragon is simply too complex to be an Ultra Rare (Arguably so is Excode Talker but the other options are even more so). Firewall Dragon is the coolest card in the set as it is the Face of the set, as a new player when you see what it can do when your best friend pulls one and uses it poorly you'll want your own. This same card also has instant speed interaction that also has a rarely used restriction on its use while requiring a Co-Link which at the time was the only one that did (to my recollection). Also though the player summoning this with their overall low power deck was nigh unbeatable simply because starter deck Scapegoat summons it and it gets to rule the board for a turn (One Bounce is enough). Looking at Heavymetalfoes Electrumite the card is very complex and destroying your own cards doesn't make sense to a new player who started with Vrains. Electrumite also is support for the High rarity Mythical Beast deck and older Pendulum decks that new players won't have (If they obtain this card though they will want and trade for those cards). The final example of this is Hey! Trunade, this card in a low level game is simply unfair as is almost all S/T interaction that doesn't involve creatures (Trap Hole beats Linkslayer but folds to MST), starter and structure decks come with traps and often 1 piece of Spell or Trap based S/T removal if you add Hey! Trunade your friends won't enjoy being unable to defend themselves against you until they obtain their own High-Level cards (These players are also more likely to have less Chainable Trap cards available or even know that they can).
These both tie into the NWO that Wizards put into place. YGO has been cutting back on complexity at Common which leads to more fun games for new players (Note they have not cut back on power considering new players will complain about how OP Crawlers are.) Yet as you increase in rarity the sheer amount of possibilities per cards escalates. The New F.A support while strong is still very one-dimensional as they have to play F.A spells to increase their levels to have high attack and their effects. The deck having graveyard activations of Quick-Play spells is cool but they limit it in such a way that they become Normal Spells in the graveyard. The opposite is Vendread which utilize the Ritual Summon which no new player who started with Vrains will understand (You should not teach new players any summon method aside from Tribute and Link Summon). Once a new player has Vendread cards then you teach them ONLY Ritual Summon, Tribute and Link Summons. The real issue with Vendread though is their complexity their Ritual Fodder has effects that last forever on the new monster while none of them have the same summoning method, their Traps do unorthodox things and they have Instant Speed effects and permanent stat changes which must be kept track of. These two archetypes are separated by rarity with Vendreads being on average Super Rare while F.A are nearly all Commons.
There are exceptions to these rules but since Vrains began its been pretty consistent overall. (I don't do TL;DRs). Most Importantly please keep in mind Konami expects new rules to lose them old players and get them newer players (hence why the majority of high-level YGO play is High-School to early adult age players while MTG is majority Adults often with actual things to do). In other words if you have been playing long enough to notice a difference in their set design philosophy (Which changes every 3-4 Years) then you probably are no longer the target audience and should not expect to be catered to aside from a Banlist as that doesn't affect schoolkids playing at lunch or recess.
A. Common Archetype is always the simple one (Regardless of Powerlevel)
B. Secret Rares are not meant to sell boxes
C. Konami designs sets with MTG New World Order in mind
After the break there are a couple of my thoughts and examples of these occurrences.
Okay, so when it comes to Archetypes released in sets there will be no less than 3 in a set. This is because you need an archetype that is comprised of mostly commons for new players who will open less than a box of cards in the course of a set (by new players I mean the target audience). The best example of this is Gouki's which are an anime archetype where there is no piece above Super Rare in their initial release meaning with a Guaranteed Rare and a minimum of a Super in every pack you'll be able to collect the whole deck fairly quickly with minimal effort. The deck in exchange has to be less complex to allow players to see the power of their deck without thinking too hard about timings of effects or serious misplays due to lack of understanding what the deck is meant to do. Trickstars are not for new players hence why their lowest rarity card at release was Trickstar Lillybell at Rare, the deck is simply too complicated to pick up and just play with only the knowledge from the starter deck rulebook (a plethora of Instant Speed effects and timing windows).
In the newest set Extreme Force the only archetype that makes sense at common is Tindangle which are barely more complicated than Crawlers as they do have effects that work in the graveyard but they are obvious such as the Spells returning from the Graveyard and their only Trap also being a graveyard piece that requires simply reading what it does there is no responding to things with this deck and very little chain management. But this is complexity creep as the prior two sets had common effects on all their common archetype monsters (Gouki's all search, Crawlers all Multiply). Tindangles have a lot of different effects but none of them require you to use the chain properly and all deal with Monsters exclusively.
With the Secret Rares you'd think with them making Firewall Dragon and Borreload secrets is just to sell more product but in reality that doesn't make any sense. Other more likely reasons include but are not limited to: Complexity, Chase Value, Cool Factor and Low-Level Unfairness. Firewall Dragon is simply too complex to be an Ultra Rare (Arguably so is Excode Talker but the other options are even more so). Firewall Dragon is the coolest card in the set as it is the Face of the set, as a new player when you see what it can do when your best friend pulls one and uses it poorly you'll want your own. This same card also has instant speed interaction that also has a rarely used restriction on its use while requiring a Co-Link which at the time was the only one that did (to my recollection). Also though the player summoning this with their overall low power deck was nigh unbeatable simply because starter deck Scapegoat summons it and it gets to rule the board for a turn (One Bounce is enough). Looking at Heavymetalfoes Electrumite the card is very complex and destroying your own cards doesn't make sense to a new player who started with Vrains. Electrumite also is support for the High rarity Mythical Beast deck and older Pendulum decks that new players won't have (If they obtain this card though they will want and trade for those cards). The final example of this is Hey! Trunade, this card in a low level game is simply unfair as is almost all S/T interaction that doesn't involve creatures (Trap Hole beats Linkslayer but folds to MST), starter and structure decks come with traps and often 1 piece of Spell or Trap based S/T removal if you add Hey! Trunade your friends won't enjoy being unable to defend themselves against you until they obtain their own High-Level cards (These players are also more likely to have less Chainable Trap cards available or even know that they can).
These both tie into the NWO that Wizards put into place. YGO has been cutting back on complexity at Common which leads to more fun games for new players (Note they have not cut back on power considering new players will complain about how OP Crawlers are.) Yet as you increase in rarity the sheer amount of possibilities per cards escalates. The New F.A support while strong is still very one-dimensional as they have to play F.A spells to increase their levels to have high attack and their effects. The deck having graveyard activations of Quick-Play spells is cool but they limit it in such a way that they become Normal Spells in the graveyard. The opposite is Vendread which utilize the Ritual Summon which no new player who started with Vrains will understand (You should not teach new players any summon method aside from Tribute and Link Summon). Once a new player has Vendread cards then you teach them ONLY Ritual Summon, Tribute and Link Summons. The real issue with Vendread though is their complexity their Ritual Fodder has effects that last forever on the new monster while none of them have the same summoning method, their Traps do unorthodox things and they have Instant Speed effects and permanent stat changes which must be kept track of. These two archetypes are separated by rarity with Vendreads being on average Super Rare while F.A are nearly all Commons.
There are exceptions to these rules but since Vrains began its been pretty consistent overall. (I don't do TL;DRs). Most Importantly please keep in mind Konami expects new rules to lose them old players and get them newer players (hence why the majority of high-level YGO play is High-School to early adult age players while MTG is majority Adults often with actual things to do). In other words if you have been playing long enough to notice a difference in their set design philosophy (Which changes every 3-4 Years) then you probably are no longer the target audience and should not expect to be catered to aside from a Banlist as that doesn't affect schoolkids playing at lunch or recess.
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