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