Until Further Notice

As 鱼缸 wrote on Team Arcobaleno's blog two days ago, there's apparently a new ruling regarding the Colossal Arms OTK. A common tactic players would use to end games is by equipping Armory Arm to one of their opponent's monster and then have a Colossal Fighter attack into the stronger monster. Armory Arm's effect would inflict damage equal to Colossal Fighter's attack and Colossal would revive itself to repeat the process until it was game. However, in the OCG this no longer the case:

Ｑ：《アームズ・エイド》を装備したモンスターが《ギガンテック・ファイター》を戦闘破壊しました。

　　チェーン１：《アームズ・エイド》、チェーン２：《ギガンテック・ファイター》とチェーンを組んだ場合、チェーン１の効果解決時に《ギガンテック・ファイター》は墓地に存在しませんが《アームズ・エイド》効果は適用されますか？

Ａ：いいえ、戦闘によって破壊されたモンスターが墓地に存在しない場合、適用されません。（10/12/22）

The reason being because Colossal Fighter would not be in the graveyard when Armory Arm calculates the damage to be inflicted. After asking sources here in the TCG, it looks like this new ruling with not be applied, yet anyway.


Remember players, the game ends with you.

The Otaku Ascetic

When I first made this blog I vowed to limit my blogroll solely to Yu-Gi-Oh! However, anime was my first obsession so when a good friend asked me to help him out, I couldn't refuse.

As some of you may already know, the Fall Season of anime in Japanese is coming to a close and the Winter Season is just beginning. Now like myself, a bunch of us don't know what to look out for in the upcoming season. That's where the Otaku Ascetic comes in. 

Needs previews, reviews, or analyses of anything anime-related? He's got you covered. So drop by his blog:

http://moonlitsojourn.wordpress.com/

You'd be surprised at how informative he can be. ^__^

Doomsday Machine

Unlike his brethren, Malefic Cyber End Dragon just screams for abuse, in fact it's borderline ban-worthy. Like Malefic Stardust Dragon it requires no additional Main Deck support save for Field Spells and carries enough bulk to hold its own in a game. It's compatible with Allure of Darkness or Machina Fortress in a pinch, can OTK with Limiter Removal, serve as Tribute fodder for two Virus cards, and is immune to the likes of the Allies of Justice, notably Catastor. Expect to see Gravekeeper's and Geartown variants teching some of these bad boys once the Movie Pack is released. 

And the art is sexy as hell. ^__^

Malefic Cyber End Dragon (Machine-Type/DARK/Level 10/ATK 4000/DEF 2800)

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play 1 "Cyber End Dragon" from your Extra Deck. There can only be 1 face-up "Malefic" monster on the field. Other monsters you control cannot declare an attack. If there is no face-up Field Spell Card on the field, destroy this card.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Even Wikia Can Be Wrong

Several months ago some friends of mine asked me if a player could Tribute their only monster out to summon another monster of a different attribute while the Gozen Match was in play. Now since I wasn't too familiar with the rulings for the card I had to look them up on Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia. Since Rivalry of Warlords set the precedent for this kind of effect I checked its rulings first. This was what I saw:

If you have only 1 monster on the field face-up, you may Tribute it for a monster that is a different Type.^[1]

The link at the end of the ruling went to Netrep, which is a database of old rulings. Thinking nothing suspicious of it, I passed on this ruling to my friends which they accepted.

Unfortunately it appears that ruling was revised some time ago and never updated on Wikia OR Netrep.

It's things like this that make me wish that Konami stored all their rulings on their main site instead of a second party like Wikia. It would certain make issuing ruling reversals much easier.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Man on Fire

Burn is one of those strategies that will never truly die out. My friend Raf is always experimenting with new tactics of inflicting direct damage. Even others simply enjoy the satisfaction of the Solar Flare Dragon lock. Without the presence of Heavy Storm in the meta it's easier than ever to protect your burn locks with back-row support. The concept is far from Tier 1, but it certainly has potential especially among the mid to lower tiers (no offense Raf).

The major problem is the massive variety of anti-burn cards out there. A simple card like Prime Material Dragon completely destroys anything a burn player hopes to accomplish. Even Synchro Monsters like Thought Ruler Archfiend, Black-Winged Dragon, and Magical Android can thwart burn strategies when played correctly.

One frequently employed combo is using UFO Turtle to search for Solar Flare Dragon. However, the card always seemed a bit out of place in my eyes as burn strategies usually involved locking down the Battle Phase with Gravity Bind out. Not to mention that there's no support for FIRE Attribute Machines aside from Cyber Phoenix. That's when I stumbled across this new card from the OCG Premium Pack 13:

Heavy Bombing Bird Bomb Phoenix (Pyro-Type/FIRE/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2300)

1 Machine-Type monster + 1 Pyro-Type monster 

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each card on the field. This card cannot declare an attack during the turn this effect is activated.

Fusion Monsters are getting better and better these days, and Bomb Phoenix here is no exception. In the past I've seen burn decks fail because they've been unable to draw their key cards. Now Future Fusion is an option and can be used to dump Volcanic Shells in the Graveyard while further thinning the deck. Even Cyber Phoenix can be used for draw power and provide another Fusion Material Monster for Bomb Phoenix although you'll need to watch out for opposing Cyber Dragons.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

UPDATE: As one of my readers pointed out, there's another Pyro + Machine Fusion I've neglected to mention:

Explosive Beast Vulcannon (Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 6/ATK 2300/DEF 1600)
1 Machine-Type monster + 1 Pyro-Type monster

When this card is Fusion Summoned, you can select 1 monster your opponent controls. Destroy this card and the selected card and send them to the Graveyard to inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of that selected monster.

Both Bomb Phoenix and Vulcannon were used by Bommer (Greiger) in the 5D's manga. While Vulcannon does contribute to the overall burn strategy, it requires you to -3 yourself (-2 when you include the +1 one for eliminating one of your opponent's cards) in the process, which takes away a lot of its appeal.

Tangled

Occasionally when a card is imported into the TCG from the OCG, its text may not accurately reflect how the effect should work. Actually, scratch that, it happens a lot more times than I'm sure Konami's willing to admit.

Take the following card for example:

Ancient Fairy Dragon (Dragon-Type/Light/Level 7/ATK 2100/DEF 3000)

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters

Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase the turn you activate this effect. Once per turn, you can destroy a Field Spell Card. If you do, gain 1000 Life Points, and you can add 1 Field Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.

Now the rulings for this card state that if there are two Field Spells on the field when its second effect is used, both would be destroyed. (This could only occur if one or both Field Spells were set of course.) However, the effect clearly states that it can only destroy a Field Spell.

Hopefully the card will be errata'd in time, but that won't stop people from misplaying the card. That's why I encourage all players to look up the rulings for all the cards they use. The last thing anyone needs to a game loss in the middle of a tournament.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

P.S: My little sister's been pestering me to go take her to see Tangled. I usually like Disney's animated films so I'll get to that, one of these days.

St. John's Championship - Dec 2010

Here are the Top 4 Decklists from the first ever St. John's Championship!

Christopher Oyola (1st - Formula Monarchs)

Monsters (25):

2 Light and Darkness Dragon

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

1 Tragoedia

3 Caius the Shadow Monarch

2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch

1 Raiza the Storm Monarch

1 Mobius the Frost Monarch

3 Genex Undine

2 Genex Controller

2 Swap Frog

2 Treeborn Frog

3 Battle Fader

1 Effect Veiler

1 Fishborg Blaster

Spells (13):

3 Enemy Controller

2 Pot of Avarice

2 Soul Exchange

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Dark Hole

1 Foolish Burial

1 Monster Reborn

1 Cold Wave

Traps (2:

2 Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

Extra Deck (15):

3 Formula Synchron

1 Shooting Star Dragon

1 Stardust Dragon

1 Colossal Fighter

1 Red Dragon Archfiend

1 Scrap Dragon

1 Black Rose Dragon

1 Goyo Guardian

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Magical Android

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Armory Arm

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Side Deck (15):

1 Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn

2 Snowman Eater

1 Cyber Dragon

1 Effect Veiler

1 Mobius the Frost Monarch

1 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter

1 Dimensional Alchemist

1 Burial from a Different Dimension

1 My Body as a Shield

1 Nobleman of Extermination

1 Gottoms' Emergency Call

1 Malevolent Catastrophe

1 Trap Stun

1 Mind Crush

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Rasheem Henry (2nd - Blackwings)

Monsters (19):

3 Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North

1 Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind

1 Blackwing - Vayu the Emblem of Honor

3 Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame

3 Blackwing - Bora the Spear

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

3 Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn

1 Dark Armed Dragon

3 Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow

Spells (11):

2 Book of Moon

1 Cold Wave

1 Dark Hole

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Black Whirlwind

1 Mind Control

1 Gold Sarcophagus

1 Monster Reborn

1 Allure of Darkness

Traps (10):

2 Icarus Attack

1 Royal Oppression

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Deck Devastion Virus

1 Mirror Force

1 Delta Crow - Anti Reverse

1 Dimensional Prison

1 Seven Tools of the Bandit

1 Mirror Force

Extra Deck (15):

1 Scrap Archfiend

1 Goyo Guardian

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Magical Android

2 Blackwing Armed Wing

2 Blackwing Armor Master

1 Black Rose Dragon

1 Colossal Fighter

1 Dark End Dragon

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Stardust Dragon

1 Blackwing - Silverwind the Ascendant

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Side Deck (15):

2 D.D. Crow

2 Legendary Jujitsu Master

2 Banisher of the Radience

2 Chain Disappearence

1 Mask of Restrict

1 Skill Drain

1 Power Filter

2 Nobleman of Crossout

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Eric Del Grande (3rd - XX-Sabers)

Monsters (21):

3 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight

3 XX-Saber Boggart Knight

2 XX-Saber Emmersblade

2 X-Saber Airbellum

3 XX-Saber Darksoul

2 XX-Saber Ragigura

1 X-Saber Pashuul

1 Effect Veiler

1 XX-Saber Gardestrike

2 XX-Saber Faultroll

1 Super-Nimble Mega Hamster

Spells (9):

2 Book of Moon

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Dark Hole

1 Saber Slash

1 Monster Reborn

1 One for One

1 Giant Trunade

Traps (11):

2 Dimensional Prison

1 Solemn Judgment

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Seven Tools of the Bandit

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Trap Stun

1 Gottoms' Emergency Call

1 Robbin' Goblin

1 Mirror Force

Extra Deck (15):

1 Armory Arm

1 Naturia Beast

1 Ally of Justice Catastor

1 Flamvell Uruquisas

1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

1 Goyo Guardian

2 XX-Saber Hyunlei

1 Black Rose Dragon

1 X-Saber Urbellum

1 Colossal Fighter

1 Stardust Dragon

2 XX-Saber Gottoms

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Side Deck (15):

1 Effect Veiler

2 D.D. Crow

2 Nobleman of Crossout

2 Crevive into the Different Dimension

2 Mask of Restrict

2 Imperial Iron Wall

2 Consecrated Light

1 Chain Disappearence

1 Power Filter

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Steven Ching (4th - Machina Gadgets) 

Monsters (25):

2 Green Gadget

2 Red Gadget

2 Yellow Gadget

3 Machina Fortress

3 Machina Gearframe

1 Machina Peacekeeper

1 Machina Force

1 Cyber Phoenix

2 Cyber Dragon

3 Swift Scarecrow

1 Jinzo

2 Scrap Recycler

1 Drillroid

1 Morphing Jar

Spells (13):

3 Smashing Ground

2 Pot of Avarice

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Dark Hole

1 Limiter Removal

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Monster Reborn

1 Giant Trunade

1 Book of Moon

Traps (8):

1 Ceasefire

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Mirror Force

1 Dimensional Prison

2 Bottomless Trap Hole

1 Solemn Judgment

Extra Deck (2):

2 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Side Deck (15):

1 Malevolent Catastrophe

1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

1 Royal Decree

1 System Down

3 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Imperial Iron Wall

1 Dark Bribe

1 Drillroid

1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer

1 Divine Wrath

1 Burial from a Different Dimension

2 Dust Tornado

MEGA BUSTER!

Genex Ally Duradark DESTROYS Blackwings. Enough said.

Genex Ally Duradark (Machine-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 1800/DEF 200)

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can select 1 face-up Attack Position monster your opponent controls with the same Attribute as this card, and destroy it. This card cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Lock 'n Load

There seems to be a lot of confusion among players when it comes to targeting effects. The problem appears to be due to players viewing two or more different effects that accomplish similar goals as identical effects. Take the following example:

Your opponent has Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the Field. You have Soul Taker and Smashing Ground in your hand. It is your turn.

While each of these Spells accomplishes the more or less the same goal in this instance, they do so in different ways. One targets (Soul Taker), the other doesn't (Smashing Ground). But why is this?

Well in this case, Soul Taker allows to select a monster to apply its effect on, whereas Smashing Ground indiscriminately hits the opponent's monster with the highest defense. While the latter does allow to choose in the event of a tie, a card cannot target in one instance and not target in another so the effect is ruled as a nontargeting.

It's also important to note that for an effect to be considered a targeting effect, any card(s) affected by it must selected prior to resolution. It's for this reason that an effect like Magical Dimension is nontargeting.

Now there is one last distinction that players should find helpful in figuring out which effects target and which don't. In this game their are six zones each player owns: a Deck, a Hand, a Field, a Graveyard, a Removed From Play Zone, and an Extra Deck. These zones can be divided into two classes:

1. Targeting Zones: Field, Graveyard, Removed From Play Zone
2. Targeting-Free Zones: Hand, Deck, Extra Deck

Any effect that affects a card(s) in a Targeting-Free Zone is a nontargeting effect even in cases of overlap with a Targeting Zone. This is why Gigaplant's effect doesn't target and Zombie Master's does.

And that's as clear as I can make it. Hopefully my efforts won't have been in vain. ^_^

Remember players, the game ends with you.

My Degrees of Skill

I have a special treat for everyone today. A friend mine recently posted an article at DuelistGroundZ concerning skill with regard to Yu-Gi-Oh! players. With his approval I've posted it here:

I always get arguments with people, especially with friends whenever I rate another person's skills. I was wondering what DGZ thinks of my rating system. This is for people you would see in tournaments like Regionals or YCS's.

Basement Dwellers:

People who use no sleeves, have 1000 card deck, summons Battle Ox.

Competent:

This stage of people now understand that there are tier decks in Yugioh. They have no understanding of strategy still, but still may beat you if they run decks like Lightsworn, which they purchased. They rarely top a local, and you never see them in the top tables of your local regional, unless its round 4. You see a little inner Yugioh player forming for now they feel high and mighty for occasionally winning a duels with Lightsworn. These players make tons of misplays, but there misplays sometimes do lead to their victory.

OK:

I say 90% of all Yugioh players are at this level. You have a basic understanding of strategy. You occasional top a local. You understand tier 1 decks, how to play against them. This level will have occasionally 1-2 people topping each regional and 6-8 at each YCS. This stage of people are one of the most cockiest players of all of Yugioh. Since they have had a few successes, they feel that they are unbeatable. You will constantly hear them badgering about how someone lucksacked them, when they failed to realize odds of it happening. They fail to acknowledge their misplays. They claim to know everything. They feel the need to show off or talk out of their ass.

Jarel Winston, yes I knew him way before all his success, was ok to competent. No one thought he was a good player in NY and a few months prior to his first SJC success, Shane Scurry went on a rant why him and his team suck. Now I will say he is at the Good level, but no where near pro. Due to his recent youtube fame, many people try to copy him saying pro this and pro that. This level of players try at any moment to be the center of attention. They need reassurance that they are the best. When they draw the nuts, they say they won skillfully and when they draw bad, they lost to a scrub. These players make up the majority of all YCS's, which is why pros from Europe, Canada, and all over the place do consistently well each YCS.

I talked to Bobby Chambers on why he does so well at SJCs and does ehhh at regionals. He told me that 95% of the people are bad. In SJCs, since they are so many people the likelihood of playing good to pro players throughout the tournament are quite slim, maybe once or twice throughout the whole swiss. Regionals on the otherhand are much harder to top since it is a smaller player base, there are familiar faces so people may know your give-aways, and by Round 5 you are playing only quality players.

When Vincent won a SJC and said US is trash, he is partially right. Most of the US is horrible, but the players who are good or pro are amazing, and in my opinion are only matched by a few Europeans, and I do not consider Vincent one of them.

The ok player does not pay attention to one thing that is so key in yugioh, which is something YVD will never teach you, INTERACTION. Yugioh is one on one, so it is not just enough to play with the cards, you are playing the opponent as well. Look at how Jerry, Dale, Jeff, Corn, etc win consistently. Do they draw the nuts all the time, NO. They beat their opponent. When you see at the pairings list and you see Adam Corn's name or Jerry Wang, most players shit their brains out. THEY ARE JUST PEOPLE LIKE US. When I see a well-known to pro player, I get excited finally a challenge, got to be on my top game. By being intimidated from the start, you already lost the match. Every card they play will always be assumed to be the best card. People fail to realize Solemn Judgment is at 1, and I can't believe how many people passed on game versus a pro because they assumed every card was a Solemn Judgment. The OK player fails to realize what are LOW RISK PLAYS.

This stage is quite hard to leave, but some do. The key is to actually follow a pro, not cocksuck, but learn from them. Jerry never taught me directly, but through the matches I did play against him and seeing him play against others is how I became a good player. You need to lose the arrogance. Look at the pros, they do not get angry, unless your Adam Corn and cry about it. The pros do not need others to tell them their good, they know it. The ok player is like a dried up slut, they need the reassurance that they are good, because deep down they have little confidence in themselves as a player.

Good:

CONGRATS IF YOU ARE AT THIS LEVEL, YOU ARE BETTER THAN 90% OF YUGIOH PLAYERS. But you are still unknown to the Yugioh community, so no one actually knows your skill level. Topping Locals is no longer a feat, the only true cred now is topping regionals or YCS's. You understand Yugioh is more about the cards, it is also about the player as well. You make quality reads, or understand the probablity of something to occur. You occasionally misplay, but not to a high degree (this limits you from making the PRO level). You are not easily intimidated by pros, for you actually pose a challenge to them. You have high Yugioh IQ in strategies. You think a few moves ahead of the current turn, or think of different scenarios that can occur with each action and its probability. You go on your instincts, what may look like a misplay is actually going on your intuition. Another limiting factor to reaching the top level is consistent success at regionals and YCS's.

People often say topping locals is not a credential, which I fully agree, but I say it can be a barometer of determining a skillful player. Kings Games "supposedly the best local of all the US" is far from that in my opinion. I played there 5 times, topped each time and the first 3 times I went I won, got 2nd and won. If an outsider goes there once and basically demolishes everyone at the hardest local, it must say something about the player. My friend, who rarely plays at tournaments but is a good player, played for the first time at Kings Games and got 2nd place, going 5-0 in swiss. The player base are the players who assume they are the best or think we suck, yet we destroyed their locals whenever we decide to play. This has happened in various other locals I have attended around NY, it all remains the same. MOST YUGIOH PLAYERS ARE OK, that's it. It is just embarrassing when your home turf gets invaded by just a bunch of random duelists, when its supposed to be your local.

This level no longer feels the need to hear people saying they are good. I have gotten people saying I am trash or I am garbage or you won with a skillless deck. I am like K, WHO ARE YOU? People at this level recognize another's skill level, but does not say anything about it. The ok player assumes everyone is trash, resulting in misplays or a great amount of body language. I love playing cocky players, for I know what is facedown or what is in their hand. Since NY is mostly filled with cocky players, the result is typically the same. I win, they go on a rant how i luck sack, and I sign the match-slip form as the winner.

The Pro Player:

Jerry, Jeff, Dale, Shane, Corn, etc. What separates them from the rest? They have the qualities of a good player, but have perfected it and consistently done it. You are known at this level, people quiver playing you, which makes it easier to succeed once again.

It is easy to determine skill level simply by having a Yugioh discussion on the skill of a player or theory. 

~ Article by Christopher Oyola

Remember players, the game ends with you.