Wow I suck, in other news Control in Yu-Gi-Oh

First an Apology

So I haven't posted anything since early Feburary and that was the new Forbidden and Limited List. I wanted to post more but I simply haven't had any content that I thought was relevant as I've hit a wall with Deckbuilding as I haven't been considering small things as new or interesting. With the coming release of FLOD, Dark Saviors, and Lair of Darkness I needed to be playing with and testing the changes to the game in a relevant manner. YGOPro I realize isn't the answer if playing with randoms as there is no actual practice or Game 2 Considerations in the more efficient game modes. I got a little testing in with Sky Strikers, Vampires and Lair of Darkness and you seriously cannot test decks with interaction on YGOPro people will just surrender. So I am sorry I haven't had any new ideas or builds due to that disenchantment. I'm going to try my best to post about Meta Shifts in the TCG and possible future shifts based on releases no more than 2 months out. This means I can play around with everything that comes out up until June. Read More for the next part focusing on the idea of Control decks in Yu-Gi-Oh and what I believe that means in the context of the game.

TCG Banlist and what this means for the game

The New Banlist and You

Alright the one thing I've been waiting for has finally been announced and its perfect. This TCG banlist that goes into effect next Monday. With this change we have moved into a very amazing time in Yu-Gi-Oh history as this is the first time a deck has been Tier 0 and not gotten gutted in the TCG just love tapped yet is enough to take it from its Tier 0 status.

For those that don't already know for some reason here is the official list changes (Copied from Ygorganization.com)

NEWLY FORBIDDEN

Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow
Dandylion
Double Iris Magician
Level Eater
Maxx “C”
Performapal Skullcrobat Joker

NEWLY LIMITED

Apoqliphort Towers
Grinder Golem
Performage Damage Juggler
Firewall Dragon
Monster Reborn
SPYRAL Resort
Solemn Judgment

NEWLY UNLIMITED

Artifact Moralltach
Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginining
Card Trooper
Thunder King Rai-Oh
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Brain Control
El Shaddoll Fusion
Future Fusion
Mind Control
Preparation of Rites
Saqlifice
Bottomless Trap Hole
Ceasefire
Ojama Trio
Torrential Tribute

For my thoughts on this list click on "Read More" (Big Wall of Text you have been warned)

Yu-Gi-Oh Rarity Distribution Musings

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.

TCG/OCG Format is NOT real

OK, so this will be a short one as I work on things to actually post that should be interesting. I used to post a lot about OCG cards and using them alongside TCG cards which is never possible EVER. The realization came about while durdling around on YGOPro and playing in the "TCG/OCG" format with a TCG banlist. The reason this is bad is simply because the odds are low that the Format will ever allow this to happen in either OCG or TCG. As an example people who are brewing F.A's with Cryston Glassfiber are brewing for YGOPro format as there is a Banlist and possibly a whole other set release before these two things can even happen together. On the other hand I am fine with people testing Millennium Eyes and Skulldeat in their Vendreads or F.A decks but I am not fine with using Elementsabers with a TCG banlist as there is a gigantic possibility that you are wasting time testing something you'll never be able to have.

In the past I would use the newest revealed cards to try out awesome silly deck ideas and while fun it severely disconnected me from what is actually viable in real life. I would be testing decks using cards from sets such as the "Dimension Box" and even now none of these currently exist in the TCG aside from the alternate arts. Now I would love to use "Link Vrains Box" in conjunction with FLOD cards for Trickstars or Goukis but even though I have a guarantee FLOD will be coming out before Summer 2018 I have now idea when or if we will ever get the Box considering import slots in FLOD are most likely Link Vrains Pack cards.

One of the biggest issues is when people say "X Deck is BROKEN OP OP WTF KONMAI" and the deck in question is some form of OCG FTK using a TCG banlist making it far more powerful than it really is. A good example is videos with cards from FLOD + TCG Banlist + OCG Promos as that combo has to go through possibly TWO banlists and requires Promo's to be released in the TCG which generally takes a very long time to happen (On purpose for balance reasons most of the time).

So for the life of this blog I will only be doing posts or other media relating purely to the TCG format with exceptions for guaranteed releases such as currently Extreme Force and Legend Duelist 2 (OR W/E its TCG name is). I will occasionally cover OCG trends that are viable to be replicated in TCG with minimal changes but aside from that I'm sticking to things I can test in real life if need be.

Hyper Variance vs Hyper Redundancy

So I've been trying to figure out for a while now what makes a player able to consistently top in YGO as there is no obvious indicator of having an edge over your opponent. If everyone is playing Spyrals and half of them are playing Spyrals designed to beat Spyrals. That means out of the half who have a noticeable advantage how do you decide who wins? One goal of this blog is to ferret out the reason someone like Billy Brake can win more than one YCS and one time two back-to-back. This post has less to do with that but still something to do with successful deck building and a possible balancing factor designed into the game.

RTFC (Read the F**king Card)

RTFC (Read the F**king Card)

When was the last time you read every line of a Yu-Gi-Oh! Card? Did you read the requirements to activate your spell? Or the cost to use your monster’s effect? Maybe even what the card actually does? Did you understand what you read? Do you know what it really means? Those are some of the questions you should ask yourself every time you read a new card or a card you don’t perfectly understand. In this article we will dive into not precisely how to read a card (I’ll just leave a link to the official statement) but rather why you need to read them line for line and perform the text word by word. (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Problem-Solving_Card_Text)

The Revamp commences!

Hey everyone, this blog is returning to form ASAP. There will be changes as this blog has not been touched for 5 years. First and foremost, this blog will include information about ALL Card Games with a primary focus on Yu-Gi-Oh!. Second, I was literally 17 when I last posted meaning any and all posts before this one are from essentially a different person. Finally, there will be far more opinion pieces as I've had some insightful conversations about card games and the players of these games.

By the way, the Troll decks are back in full force so be prepared to see Local Reports and some YGOPro gameplay of silliness. I will be posting the first article sooner rather than later once I decide what would be most prudent to ease myself back into writing.