Warriors

Warriors are the most supported Type in this game. There are several archetypes that, while not Warrior-exclusive, possess numerous splashable monsters at their disposal. Destiny Hero - Malicious, Colossal Fighter, Don Zaloog, D.D. Warrior Lady—these are but a few examples. In fact one of the, if not the most supported monsters in the game is Elemental Hero Neos, a Normal Monster!

Why do I bring this up? Well, at the Extreme Victory Sneak Preview last weekend, while going through the commons and rares in the set I came across T.G. Striker and Elder of the Six Samurai. 

T.G. Striker (Warrior-Type/EARTH/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 0)

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. During the End Phase of the turn this card on the field was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add 1 "T.G." monster from your Deck to your hand, except "T.G. Striker".

Elder of the Six Samurai (Warrior-Type/EARTH/Level 3/ATK 400/DEF 0)

If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Now I'm sure I'm not the first to think up of this particular combo but Striker + Elder = Legendary Six Samurai  - Shi En. 

With this new trick, combined with the handful of splashable Warriors in Extreme Victory, Warrior Toolbox just got one heck of a lot better.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

To Infinity & Beyond

The metagame in Yu-Gi-Oh! is a volatile thing, for months, even years, a decktype can be competitive. All it takes is one bad banlist and it's playability can be totally shot. But the banlist isn't the only factor that comes into play. In the TCG, being a few sets behind the OCG, the differences in player mentality can be notable especially when compared to our Eastern compatriots. Generally speaking, the Japan and the other OCG countries will always have a larger card pool to work with. The only stabilizing factor is the existence of the TCG exclusives which cause the metas to diverge, on occasion. Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, Allure of Darkness, and recently Reborn Tengu—cards like these generate creative spikes in the TCG which otherwise draws most of its strategies from the OCG.

Gradually, however, these "exclusives" become available in both regions, which drastically impact either meta. For example, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, previous limited to one in the OCG was recently released on Western shores. Due to previous not being available the card was not mentioned on the previous banlist for TCG players (March 2011). As such, players here can enjoy the privilege of using Triple Trishula for the next few months, at least until the September list is released. Trishula, being the devastating card that it is, has hindered some playable predominating decktypes in the meta. Users of Formula Monarchs, previously a top rated decktype, can be completely overwhelmed by an opponent playing one Trishula, let alone three.

In times like this, if a deck isn't able to evolve, it will die out completely. Now I've been a long time player of Monarchs. However, the emergence of Formula Monarchs, or Frog/Genex Monarchs as the deck's also been called, several months back put me off from competitive play for quite some time. The reason being most players of the deck refused to work on exploring the other variants of Monarchs. Recently, thanks to my good friend Chris Oyola, I've discovered the marvel that is Water Synchro. I won't give his exact build but basically the deck uses the Genex engine to set your Graveyard for future Synchro Spamming. I've constructed my own variant minus a few cards. I'm not running Effect Veilers (needed to counter Trishula) or teching any Monarchs in my variant, lacking the appropriate cards for such tactics, at the moment anyway.

HOHENHEIM & TRISHULA (MARCH 2011)

MONSTERS (25)
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
1 Meklord Emperor Skiel
3 Reborn Tengu
3 Genex Controller
3 Genex Undine
1 Sangan
1 Spore
1 Plaguespreader Zombie
1 Dandylion
2 Fishborg Blaster
2 Treeborn Frog
1 Glow-Up Bulb
3 Battle Fader
1 Meklord Emperor Grannel
1 Tragoedia

SPELLS  (15)
1 Dark Hole
1 One for One
1 Mind Control
1 Foolish Burial
1 Giant Trunade
1 Monster Reborn
1 Allure of Darkness
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
3 Enemy Controller
3 Pot of Avarice

Honestly only real complaint I have with the deck is that I have trouble deciding what Synchros to run. The sky's the limit when it comes to level manipulation. With regard to the Meklords, Skiel and Grannel are just personal tech with Wisels being preferred over the two more often than not. Unfortunately we've yet to to hear any word of the last Machine Emperor's release, so until then I'm stilling experimenting with substitutes.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

You Can NEVER Catch 'Em All

So I bet most of you are wondering why I haven't been posting the last month and a half. Well long story short, I was consumed...by Pokémon that is. Having played the handheld series for years I just had to get my hands on the latest addition to the franchise. Unfortunately once I got my hands on the game I couldn't quite them off. Battling, catching, training, hacking...I did it all.

Had it not been for the Extreme Victory Sneak Preview yesterday I'd still be clinging onto Pokémon White Version. But as I've come to realize that as long as they keep making newer and newer Pokémon you'll NEVER be able to catch 'em all. -__-

So hopefully this will be the first of many more posts to come. And remember players, the game ends with you.

To Be, or Not to Be...

Thunder King Rai-Oh (Thunder-Type/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 800)

Neither player can add cards from their Deck to their hand except by drawing them. You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard to negate the Special Summon of 1 of your opponent monsters, and destroy it.

Thunder King Rai-Oh CAN negate Special Summons that DO NOT start a Chain. 

Thunder King Rai-Oh CANNOT negate Special Summons that DO start a Chain. 

Formula Synchron, given the right circumstances, can fall into either category.

Formula Synchron (Machine-Type/LIGHT/Level 2/ATK 200/DEF 1500)
1 Tuner + 1 non-Tuner Monster

When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can draw 1 card. During your opponent's Main Phase, you can Synchro Summon using this face-up card you control as a Synchro Material Monster.

For example, if you have a face-up Formula Synchron and Caius the Shadow Monarch on the Field, I CANNOT negate your Synchron Summon with Rai-Oh during my turn, but I CAN during yours.

Make sense?

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Order of Operations

The first time someone experiences the Debris Dragon into Dandylion into Black Rose Dragon combo they always question why the Fluff Tokens wouldn't get destroyed. It's happened to me and it's happened to nearly every player I know. Basically it happens like this:

Dandylion + Black Rose Dragon

Dandylion's Effect is mandatory, while Black Rose's is optional. When creating a chain with effects that stack, the mandatory effect(s) will always take place first (Dandylion) followed by any optional effects (Black Rose).

Chain Link 1 = Dandylion (Mandatory)

↓

Chain Link 2 = Black Rose Dragon (Optional)

The chain then resolves backwards—Black Rose Dragon's effect resolves destroying the Field, then Dandylion resolves summoning 2 Fluff Tokens.

Now recently a problem arose with the introduction of Doppelwarrior in Storm of Ragnarok. A handful of players assumed that since Doppelwarrior creates Tokens in a similar manner to Dandylion that any chain involving it would resolve the same way.

Now it is far from the way things actually work. Take the following example:

Junk Warrior + Doppelwarrior

Junk Warrior's effect is mandatory (like Dandylion), while Doppel's is optional (like Black Rose). So just like before, their effects stack and resolve the same:

Chain Link 1 = Junk Warrior (Mandatory)

↓

Chain Link 2 = Doppelwarrior (Optional)

Resolving backwards, the 2 Doppel Tokens are summoned, then the Junk Warrior will gain attack equal to all level 2 or lower Monsters on your side of the Field.

Now let's say someone decided to use both Doppelwarrior AND Dandylion as the Non-Tuners to summon Black Rose Dragon:

Dandylion + Doppelwarrior + Black Rose Dragon

Since Doppelwarrior and Black Rose Dragon are optional, Dandylion must be Chain Link 1.

You can choose the order of Doppel and Black Rose's effects on that chain, but if you are not stupid you'll place Doppel as Chain Link 2 and Black Rose as Chain Link 3.

Chain Link 1 = Dandylion (Mandatory)

↓

Chain Link 2 = Doppelwarrior (Optional)

↓

Chain Link 3 = Black Rose Dragon (Optional)

Simple enough, right?

Keep in mind that Doppelwarrior triggers its effect when it is sent to the graveyard and not upon the successful synchro summon, unlike with Beast of the Pharaoh, so even if the summon is negated you'll still get your Doppel Tokens.

Remember players, the game ends with you.

Zero Logic 2

It's rare for me to post twice in the same day, but due to the seriousness of the matter at hand I thought it would be best not to wait. Some of you might remember my previous post regarding what happens when two 0 ATK Monsters battle one another. Julia Hedberg of the KDE Judge Program recently released an update on the matter:

Hi everyone, 

There has been an important change made to the latest version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG Official Rulebook, which is included with the Structure Deck: Dragunity Legion.  

The current version is listed as Version 7.2, you can find the version number on the lower right corner of the Rulebook cover. 

On page 43 in the “Other Rules” section, the following clarification has been made:
• “0 ATK monsters
Monsters with 0 ATK cannot destroy anything by battle. If two Attack Position monsters with 0 ATK battle each other, neither monster is destroyed.”

So that's one less ruling that needs to be carried over from the OCG to the TCG. We're one step closer to having universal rulings. ^__^

Remember players, the game ends with you.

The Shining Zero

So I've been the last few days, what with schoolwork and a near-death experience and all. But of course, even with all this craziness I haven't failed to pre-order my copies of Elemental Hero The Shining. I've run the new deck through several simulations and let me you: the deck is AMAZING!

Elemental Hero The Shining
(Warrior-Type/LIGHT/Level 8/ATK 2600/DEF 2100)
1 "Elemental Hero" monster + 1 LIGHT monster

This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. This card gains 300 ATK for each of your removed from play "Elemental Hero" monsters. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can select up to 2 of your removed from play "Elemental Hero" monsters, and add them to your hand.

In the past I've always had to wait to set-up my graveyard unless I happened to open up with Prisma or E-Call in hand. But back then my main go-to hero was Absolute Zero and later Gaia. Now any combination of the Elemental Heroes that I run will fuse, making the deck play much smoother. I had to scrap the General Raihos from the previous build, however, after noticing a flaw in its effect. Apparently it can only negate effects that resolve on the Field, making it much less playable than I had initially believed. Thus I'm currently running a Hero Beat/Light Gemini Variant, shown below:

THE SHINING ZERO (MARCH 2011)

MONSTERS (18)

1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

3 Elemental Hero Neos Alius

2 Crusader of Endymion

1 Elemental Hero Stratos

2 Elemental Hero Prisma

2 D.D. Warrior Lady

1 Elemental Hero Wildheart

2 Elemental Hero Ocean

1 Honest

1 Glow-Up Bulb

2 Snowman Eater

SPELLS  (19)

3 Miracle Fusion

3 Gemini Spark

2 Pot of Duality [PROXIED]

2 Forbidden Lance [PROXIED]

2 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Super Polymerization

1 E – Emergency Call

1 Monster Reborn

1 Book of Moon

1 Future Fusion

1 Dark Hole

TRAPS (3)

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

I've been using the deck for about two weeks now and I really like it. It's very consistent. I've run many Hero variants in the past and this one has got to be my favorite. The only real issue I've faced in my trials is running into Eradicator Epidemic Virus which obliterates my hand if I have mostly Spells, which tends to happen, a lot. I can still survive the three turns but it makes games much more challenging. Fortunately Malefics are not consistent enough as is, so for now I haven't had too much trouble winning the match-up.

I was thinking about replacing the Glow-Up Bulb with a Neo-Spacian Grand Mole but losing the ability to summon Black Rose Dragon might definitely hurt. I've won quite a few game thanks to Black Rose's second effect and a powered up Shining on the Field.

Remember players, the game ends with you.