Random tourney report

February tournament report

32 players I think, 8 tables then cut to top 16

I used Karakuri btw

Round 1: Quickdraw Junk Doppel

G1: He started with a Tuning for Junk Synchron, milling another Junk Synchron, then followed with another Tuning for Quickdraw Synchron, this time milling Level Eater. He then proceeded to summon Quickdraw Synchron and reveal Synchron Explorer. I saw Quasar coming, so I just scooped to hide the deck I'm playing

G2: I started with 2 Bureidos, Nishipachi and 5 set traps (2 Rivalry of Warlords, 2 Solemn Warning, 1 Macro Cosmos). I keep that field for like 2 turns, netting me 4-6 cards from Bureido and then he Heavy Stormed for a +4. However he couldn't make a comeback due to the massive advantages I had farmed

G3: He just died to Burei turning his small monsters to attack and chopping through

XOO

Round 2: Mermails

G1: I started with 2 Bureidos and a Stardust Dragon (I fucked myself after for forgetting that I did had Abyss Dweller in my extra deck). He just discard Heavy Infantry for Megalo to prevent my Stardust from activating, then farmed with Diva and Undine and whatever

G2: This time I started with Bureido, Burei and Landoise. He Dark Holed and proceeded to win like the last round

XX

Round 3: Prophecy

G1: He started good with Spellbook Magician, High Priestess and whatever. My hand contained irrelevant cards (like Inashichi and Saizan without anything else) and he killed my in 2-3 turns

G2: I won, don't remember much. I think he got bad draws and I just won

G3: I started with Burei + Beast. 1-2 turns later he cleared with Treacherous Trap Hole (again) but that was too late. I made 2 Bureidos and a Scrap, destroyed a random spell and his High Priestess, and YOLO for 8400 damage

XOO

Top 16: Dino Rabbit

I wasn't prepared for this deck (it never appeared in my area) so I was ready to die

G1: I started with Saizan and Inashichi again but managed to make a Bureido before he cleared it with Grand Mole. He ripped the Rabbit off the top in 2-3 turns and I died

G2: Irrelevant hands. Struggled thanks to Smashing Ground but all my top decks were 1 turn late (Smashing Ground, Nishipachi, Rivalry of Warlords,...) and I scooped because even if I activated Rivalry, he still had enough damage to wipe my remaining 1700

So it ended lol. Haven't played for too long so I think I scrubbed but not so bad. And my deck missed the 3 De-Synchros too so it was hard (I added 2 Solar Wind Jammers and 1 Karakuri Anatomy in their slots)

OCG March '13 Wind-Up OTK combos

1. Magician + Shark + 1 level 4 (Summoner Monk, Thrasher, Instant Fusion,...)

=> Magician + Shark (4) + Rat (DEF) + Thrasher
=> Papillo + Shark (4) + Rat (DEF) Activate Papillo detach Magician change Rat to ATK, Rat ss Magician
=> Papillo + Shark (4) + Rat (DEF) + Magician Shark to level 3
=> Papillo + Shark (3) + Rat (DEF) + Magician + Rabbit banish Rat, xyz Rabbit and Shark into Leviair, ss Rat (ATK)
=> Papillo + Leviair + Magician + Rat (ATK) Activate Rat ss Rabbit/Shark whatever you detached, xyz Invoker, ss Warrior
=> Papillo + Leviair + Invoker + Magician + Warrior
=> Papillo + Leviair + Invoker + Zenmaister/Utopia/Pearl (8000-8100)

2. Magician + Shark + TG Warwolf/Junk Forward/any level 3 that you can summon

=> Magician + Shark + Rat (DEF) + Warwolf
=> Papillo + Rat (ATK) + Warwolf
=> Papillo + Rat (DEF) + Warwolf + Magician
=> Papillo + Invoker + Warrior (4) + Magician
=> Papillo + Invoker + Warrior (4) + Magician(5) + Shark (5)
=> Papillo + Invoker + Warrior + Shark Fortress obvious OTK
(2100 + 1600 + 2400 + 2400)

3. Magician + Shark + Cyber Dragon/Solar Wind Jammer/Instant Fusion/...

=> Magician + Shark (5) + Rat (ATK) + Cyber Dragon
=> Magician + Shark Fortress + Rat (ATK) Shark Fortress detach Shark
=> Magician + Shark Fortress + Rat (DEF) + Shark (3)
=> Magician + Shark Fortress + Invoker + Warrior
=> Invoker + Shark Fortress + Zenmaister
(1600 + 2400 + 2400 + 2500)

4. Magician + Shark + Shark

=> Magician + Shark + Rat (DEF)
=> Papillo + Rat (ATK) Rat to DEF, ss Magician, ss 2nd Shark from hand
=> Papillo + Rat (DEF) + Magician + Shark (3) + Rat (ATK)
=> Papilo + Magician + Invoker + Rat (ATK) Invoker detach Shark ss Warrior
=> Papillo + Magician + Invoker + Rat (ATK) + Warrior
=> Papillo + Zenmaister + Invoker + Rat (ATK) Rat ss Shark, Shark down to level 3
=> Papillo + Zenmaister + Invoker + Acid Golem/Giga Brilliant
(2100 + 2500 + 1600 + 3000) or (2100 + 2500 + 1600 + 1800 + 300*4)

5. Spam 4 level 3 monsters, xyz 2 Invoker ss 2 Warrior, xyz Shark Fortress
1600 + 1600 + 2400 + 2400 = 8000 TROLOLOL

6. On-field Rabbit + Magician + Shark

=> Papillo + Rat (ATK) + Rabbit
=> Papillo + Rat (DEF) + Rabbit + Magician banish Rat
=> Papillo + Rabbit + Magician + Shark (3)
=> Papillo + Leviair + Magician Leviair detach Shark ss Rat
=> Papillo + Leviair + Magician + Rat (DEF) + Shark (3)
=> Papillo + Leviair + Invoker + Zenmaister/Utopia/Pearl

Some of these can be done in the TCG, but Shark Fortress is a real bitch LOL

Finally here is the banlist

The OCG ban list is confirmed on Shriek

For those who never heard about that, check here

For those who don't want to go to another site, here is it:

Forbidden:
Sangan
Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity

Limited:
Wind-Up Magician
One Day of Peace
Solemn Warning

Semi-Limited:
Thunder King Rai-Oh
Tsukuyomi
Advanced Ritual Art

No longer under ban list:
Spore
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner
Blackwing Kalut the Moonshadow
Shien's Smoke Signal

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Some thoughts on it:

• Wind-Up is dead, no matter how you look at it
• Goodbye legendary searcher
• Final Countdown and Exodia and Gishki FTK and such lose a lot of power: Stall + Draw in 1 card is too good
• The second best trap in the game is now limited just like the best trap in the game; Solemn trio is now Solemn duo
• The semi-limited cards don't have much impact at all. Rai-Oh is usually played at 2, Tsukuyomi is rarely seen, Advanced Ritual Art... Yeah
• Spore at 3 but no Bulb means no Plant Synchro
• Lumina at 3 means Lightsworn is still dead
• Kalut at 3 means Blackwing is a little better, but 1 Whirlwind equals dead
• Samurais are full power again, but with 1 Shi En... And Shi En is easy to be run over now

I'm disappointed that Mermail and Fire Fist are not hit at all. Everyone knows that's how Konami makes money but... Take a fucking look at Mermails, they do not deserve to exist

To sum it up, we're coming to the same format without degenerate decks and Wind-Ups, that's all

Bye bye

I can't find a good deck to play against Mermails, Wind-Ups, Fire Fists,...

Aside from my all-time favourite Chaos Dragon and Lightsworn and such luck-based (or at least milling-based) decks, which has like 50:50 chance against the meta

Recently I took Lightsworn to a tournament and win quite a bit, but in play-off rounds I scrubbed to myself with that hand of Judgment Dragons and Lightray Diabolos and no Lightsworn

Probably posting that decklist soon, but for now I've decided to wait for the next sets/banlist/...

Yeah I know I said I wouldn't quit. I love this game, but it makes me tired now. No deck has a chance to compete with the meta now

I tried Wind-Ups, and just won every game I play

I switched to Mermail, and draw some unholy combinations of cards that lead to absolutely no play at all

And Fire Fist, it relies too much on Bear and Tenki, and with my luck there's no chance of getting that frequently

So, I just "fuck it" and threw my cards in the collection, downloaded some games and continue my life as a student and PC gamer

But at least after some random testing I realized that Wind-Up must be hit, Mermail should be hit, and Fire Fist is just... a good deck, like how Geargia was overrated at the start of the format

Until Chicken and Wolfberk are released, of course

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Bye

Tribute summon

Nah we all know tribute summon is an outdated form of summoning a monster as now we have Synchro, Exceed, Fusion summon as our main ways to special summon, whereas normal summon'ed monsters are almost always level 4 or lower

By tributing a monster for another one, you minus yourself by at least 1. And you don't always have something to tribute for. Moreover, when you do, that monster is important. Therefore, aside from decks like Frogs and Macrocosmos.dek, no tribute summon is performed in our current metagame

That makes people think those tribute summon monsters are bad

No, the monsters are not bad, but the way to summon them is stupid

Assume that you have free tribute fodders, you can really control the game with the high-level monsters. Let's take a quick look. Popular choices, weird choices, I'll list them all here

1. Caius the Shadow Monarch: This card, to me, is a weakened version of the legendary Trishula. No destroy by battle, no destroy by card effect, can take care of spells and traps, with the cost of your normal summon and a monster on the field. Not too good, but good enough. Trishula is stupid enough not to target anything (like Spellbook of Fate), thus can't do shit against Slacker Magician (LOL)
2. Raiza the Storm Monarch: The same reasoning as above, but it's sweet when you target something your opponent don't want to draw. Top deck Genex Controller or Wind-Up Magician? Which also means this card is stupid against easy-special summoning boss like BLS, Master Hyperion,... It's also good against Moulinglacia and Megaloabyss if your opponent exceed the number of 5 WATERs in graveyard
3. Jinzo: People play a lot of traps again. And they have 3 traps to stop Jinzo (2 Solemn Warnings and 1 Solemn Judgment). In decks that play a lot of traps, most of the monsters are often not strong enough to get past Jinzo on their own, so Jinzo can put a lot of pressure on your opponent
4. Vanity's Fiend: Because it's big enough with a good enough effect. It shuts down Wind-Up, stop Mermails if you can't avoid a Heavy Infantry play. Vanity's Fiend + Jinzo is a good lockdown
5. Prime Material Dragon: Good against destruction-based deck (Fire Fist LOL), also too good against burn
6. Kaiser Glider: Fucks Laggia
7. Light and Darkness Dragon: Draining opponent's cards. He has to play at least 2 cards to get rid of the dragon. At least it slows the game down, and you have time to gather your resources
8. Dark Simorgh: Obviously good against trap-based deck, even better against Chain Burn, Final Countdown,... If you somehow get a first-turn Simorgh, or simply Simorgh after Heavy Storm, you're in a good position
9. Obelisk the Tormentor: Too big, and too hard to be run over (Dark Hole, Mirror Force, Smashing Ground,... Not many)
10. Slifer the Sky Dragon: Look at number 11
11. The Wicked Dreadroot: Not worth 3 tribute on its own, but if you somehow get Slifer and Dreadroot on the field, nothing can survive
12. Beast King Barbaros: Fuck them all!
13. More and more and more...

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What do I mean?

I mean Frog Monarch is a good choice because there're are too many choices against the meta nowadays. The problem is the deck cannot set up as fast as current stupid decks, so the stalling power of Gachi Gachi Gantetsu is really important

It's probably a good decision to try Lancer Frog now: The deck can stall long enough against Mermails, Fire Fist, doesn't fear Shock Master calling spell (the whole deck relies on monster effects), and if Shock Master prevents your monsters you can always Enemy Controller it then tribute summon something

Just try it. It's the end of the format, when all people have their chances to play stupid decks LOL

Gold Sarcophagus

The purest, simplest form of searching

I suggest this thing over draw cards like Card Car D, Trooper engine because you can get exactly what you want from your deck. 2 turns is not too long for this current game, considering the fastest deck is probably Mermail, which needs setup for 2-3 turns unless some broken draws happen

Not every deck can abuse this card well enough. Fire Fist, Wind-Up, Mermail all have very imbalanced ways of searching cards, and that's what makes them so strong. Other decks, to catch up with all those consistency, need something to do to get all those unsearchable "boss" card

Activating Gold Sarcophagus on a "boss" card does not only guarantee your 2-turn-later plays, but also puts much pressure on your opponent. People all know that letting your opponent know what you play is not a wise thing to do, but sometimes you can simply trick them with the card you'll get in 2 turns.

For example, you are playing Chaos Dragon and you just went through a series of Charge of the Light/Solar Recharge(s), and now, with a set graveyard, you activate Gold Sarcophagus to search Black Luster effing Soldier. You summon Tour Guide from the Underworld, and your opponent has a Solemn Warning set.

What should he do now? Normally activating Solemn Warning on Tour Guide seems obvious, but he's gonna face that BLS 2 turns later, and with Solemn Warning used, BLS can do a lot of damage (not only battle damage but also card advantage and such) on him. If he refuses to play Warning there, Tour Guide will make some good plus(es) for you (as everyone knows, Tour Guide is good, I'm not talking about this anymore). Otherwise, you still have your BLS waiting.

And sometimes you can just to it in the reversed order, baiting the Warning with Tour Guide and then search BLS with Sarcophagus. This will push your opponent to make some real moves before getting punished with BLS, and that would be good if you are holding Maxx "C". If he overextends, you draw. If he doesn't, BLS punishes them

The same thing an be applied to decks with boss monsters (or spells/traps) like Lightsworn (Judgment Dragon), Agent (Master Hyperion), Dino Rabbit (obviously), Malefic Necrovalley Skill Drain whatever (Malefic Cyber End Dragon), Fire King (that summoning Spell Card), Laval (Molten Conduction Field and/or Rekindling), Gadget (Ultimate Offering), HERO Beat (Miracle Fusion/A Hero Lives)...

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I mean, using Sarcophagus is not purely searching, it's also some kind of mind trick on your opponent. Once, I Gold Sarcophagus'd for Honest on my first turn, and my opponent saving his traps for the whole duel for my in-deck BLS. During that time I managed to get my engine rolling (Tour Guide, Lightpulsar, Lylas,...) and when he realized his LP was dangerous, it's too late. I forgot to mention that I discarded the Honest to summon my Lightpulsar LOL

Another time when I Gold Sarcophagus'd first turn for Miracle Fusion. My opponent was like "OMG are you killing me now" and activated his over-aggressive mode. Of course he ran into my Maxx "C", had to choose between letting me draw a lot of cards or leaving his field there unprotected. From that advantage I built up my momentum and ended up killing him with Summoner Monk discarding that Miracle Fusion LOL


TL;DR: Good card for slow decks with "boss" power cards