Time for a Vacation

And that vacation is something known as University Final Exams.

I'll be on a 2 week hiatus as you know...I can't think about games for roughly the next 3 weeks.

It won't be long, for sure, but definitely, expect more posts to come!

Anyways, thanks for reading this post as always!

-MonarchVV ; #9

Yugioh 5ds Movie Pack

I find it kind of funny how the TCG Movie pack comes out three days before the OCG movie pack.

Konami America is surely getting faster and faster at releasing those OCG cards.

Star Battle

No, I'm not talking about my Starship deck.

I am talking about a Starcraft 2 custom map game.

It involves a ton of air battles, and I must say, is just as intense as the normal League games.

I've played it a few times, and it's crazy fun!

There is a reason it's the most played Custom map on the EU servers.

~~~

Something yugioh-related to end this.

While we are talking about the Europeans, and I'm sure you have already heard this, but it's always good to reinforce this point.

In official competitions in Europe, the Shonen Jump promotion cards are not available for use.

Meaning Hundred-Eyes Dragon cannot be used.

Goodbye Infernities.

In Europe at least. =\

Gravekeepers vs Blackwings

When a Blackwing deck already naturally pack triple Icarus Attack and double MSTs, really, what is there to fear from the GK deck besides a first turn Royal Tribute?

Side decking options extends to Thunder King Rai-oh, Cyber Dragon, Banisher of the Radiance, and Mind Crush.

Honestly, what is with all the hype about this deck?

Change of Direction

Well, first of all, sorry for no post yesterday.

I was rather distracted with homework and such and such.

Second, I was thinking of shifting the direction of my blog.

While Yugioh is interesting to talk about, information about the TCG and OCG game doesn't last forever.

So I'll be talking a little bit about some of my other interests as well.

It'll provide a different read to my bloggers, and hopefully it won't bore you until you sleep.

I'll make some posts about Maplestory, Starcraft 2, both games I play and very much enjoy.

Look forward to these posts in the future!

-MonarchVV ; #9

Premium Pack 13

10 New Cards, all from either the Yugioh GX or Yugioh 5Ds manga.

I expect more of the Planet Series to be printed in this.

I am also hoping for new Blackwings in this, as Crow used some pretty cool ones in the manga!

Yugioh 5Ds World Championship 2011

Another DS game is coming on in Japan sometime in 2011.

Perhaps I should look into buying it, as I did skipped over 2010.

I wonder just how many cards will be in it this time...

As well, just what will the promo cards be? Some more stuff from the anime?

Yu-gi-oh 3D Bonds Beyond Time -Movie Pack

Looks like the movie is finally being released to North America, come February 23rd, 2011.

Although, I'm sure people will be looking forward to buying Storm of Ragnarok around that time.

The five secret rare cards that are being released with the movie set could really be any thing from it, although more than likely, it'll be cards that have already been printed in the OCG but not in the TCG.

Elemental Hero Neos Knight comes into mind then, as well as Sin Red Eyes.

The others, I'm not so sure about, but all information will come out eventually.

-MonarchVV ; #9

YCS Atlanta

I have yet to address this, so I will.

The Top 3 spots are belonged to three people who all ran Gravekeepers.

Honestly, I didn't expect them to be such a hit.

However, I honestly think it is only the surprise factor that really caught a ton of people off guard.

Now, I think they won't stand out much more than before.

X-Sabers, Blackwings, and Quickdraw can all stand up to the deck with the proper side deck.

On that note, Dust Tornado, Mind Crush, and Nobleman of Crossout stand out to me as the cards to side.

Oh, and TKRO for that annoying Pot of Duality and Commandant.

EDIT: And also Recruiter.

XX-Saber Fulhelmknight

Looks like this baby is getting a Super Rare reprint in the new TCG product, X-Saber Powerup.

It comes with 2 Ancient Prophecy packs, 1 Stardust Overdrive pack, and 1 Hidden Arsenal pack.

Funny thing is, even though it calls X-Saber Powerup, XX-Saber Emmersblade was in Absolute Powerforce and XX-Saber Darksoul as in The Shining Darkness.

Go figure.

Sunday Locals Report

Well, I slept in and missed my chance to enter early.

Great.

It's been a while since I've taken a Round 1 loss.

But anyways, I decide to enter, because I had a new fun deck I wanted to try out.

It was LIGHT Beasts, and while it did well in testing last night, I wanted to see how well it would do in a tournament.

~~~

Round 1: Loss

Well, I was late, so I couldn't do much about it.


Round 2: XX vs. VayuSworn

Game 1: Never, ever, summon Voltic Bicorn against this deck. It ended up costing me the game because I milled 14 cards for him. =\

Game 2: Voltic Bicorn failed me again. I really should synchro for Scrap Archfiend instead.

Near the end, I was in control with Yellow Baboon and Elephun facedown and Rykos removed, but he tops a Sirocco after I had killed one the previous turn. No cards to stop an attack means I lose due to him having a Vayu in his grave. Sirocco pumping for the lose.


Round 3: OO vs. Exodia (?)

Game 1 & 2: It was easy wins really. This was the only time where I got a chance to bring out Thunder Unicorn and Voltic Bicorn in one duel.


Round 4: XX vs. Dark Fairies

Game 1: He sets up his grave, and then rushes me with Superbia, and Kristya with Honest in hand.

Game 2: Same deal as before, except this time after I used my sided D.D. Crow, he goes Orange Light. Then he follows with Trunade, Monster Reborn Superbia, bring out some Fairy, bring out in hand Kristya. Honest in hand also doesn't really help.


Round 5: BYE

While I had a bye, I had the best time since this morning just playing Blackwings. I switched my deck back because I was pretty sure I wasn't going to top anyways.

Playing my BW deck against my friend StormKing's old school (Hamsters) Quickdraw deck was fun. We had a good time!

~~~

So unfortunately, I go X-4, and totally scrubbed out.

The deck I built has potential, but really, without Summoner Monk and Rescue Cat, the deck isn't really worth playing.

Oh well.

I'll stick with Blackwings for a little while longer I guess.

Thanks for reading this post as usual.

-MonarchVV ; #9

LIGHT Beasts

It's just an experiment, but I'll be taking my new deck idea to a local tournament.

Tomorrow will be two posts, one about how my deck did in the tournament, and the decklist itself.

Look forward to it!

-MonarchVV ; #9

Karakuri Synchros

I never noticed this, but the Synchro requirements are

"1 Tuner + 1 or more Machine-type monsters"

Perhaps they need a second look at...

-MonarchVV ; #9

Divine Punishment

Counter Trap Card

Activate only if "The Sanctuary in the Sky" on the field. Negate the activation of an opponent's Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster's effect, and destroy it.

Kinda reminds me of that other card...doesn't it?


You got to wonder just what exactly is Konami up to this year.

-MonarchVV ; #9

Skull Meister

Looks like this card has receive a ruling which will sort some things out about this card.

From Konami Employee Jerome McHale

An update for everyone: Skull Meister's effect CAN be used during the Damage Step. This will be added to the Starstrike Blast Rules Booklet on the official website in the very near future.

Looks like this card just got a major boost in its usefulness.

I still don't know how well it'll be used, with Six Samurai coming up soon and having nothing to do with the graveyard, but it'll still be used well against Plant Synchro decks and Darksoul searches.

Ehh just how important is the graveyard nowadays?

- MonarchVV ; #9

Turbo Pack 4

I think I talked about this before, but here is the actually list.

Ultimate Rare:
Tragoedia

Ultra Rare:
Gottoms' Emergency Call

Super Rare:
Debris Dragon
Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn
Deep Sea Diva
Compulsory Evacuation Device

Rare:
Dunames Dark Witch
The End of Anubis
Psychic Commander
Advanced Ritual Art
Bark of Dark Ruler
Swallow Flip

Common:
Wattkid
Oscillo Hero
Mokey Mokey
Key Mace
King of the Skull Servants
Dark Hole
Amazoness Spellcaster
Gladiator Proving Ground
White Hole

~~~

Tragoedia being reprinted means that it can now be used in the European countries, which is a good plus for them

Compulsory Evacuation Device should of been Cold Wave, for it is deserving of a rarity bump.

The rares and commons are just plain trash.

Doesn't help people at all to get them.

Well, besides collectors.

- MonarchVV ; #9

True Six Samurai

Ideally, what is the best counter to it?

More than likely, Gateway of the Six and mass destruction.

Both are the Six Samurai greatest weakness.

Without Gateway, suddenly Six Samurai are not so scary.

With mass destruction, nothing a Six Samurai player can do will bring them back into the game after losing so many cards.

However, both are countered by the Magatama of Musakani.

=\

Oh that, and Royal Decree hurts a ton too.

~~~

I propose Dust Tornado to strike up in popularity.

And Kinetic Soldier.

Effect Veiler

Just so you know.

If you use Effect Veiler on a monster, say Hyunlai, and your opponent chains Book of Moon to flip it face down, expect to see all your Spells and Trap cards gone.

I didn't know that the "Skill Drain" avoiding trick works on Effect Veiler also.

The tricks you learn every day.

-MonarchVV ; #9

Forbidden Holy Lance

Quick-Play Spell Card

Activate by selecting one face-up monster on the field. Until the End Phase, the selected monster loses 800 Atk, and it is unaffected by the effects of Spell and Trap cards other than this card.

~~~

Looks like Gladiator Beasts have a new card to play with.

The implications are simple.

Dodge everything that would make you lose those important monsters.

Well, short of running them into your opponent's monsters because of the attack decrease.

Gyzaurus combos really well with this card however.

- MonarchVV ; #9

Frozen Fitzgerald

DARK Tuner + 1 Beast-type non-Tuner monster.

At first it looks restrictive.

But let me translate that as "Junk Synchron + Ryko."

It ain't so bad now, is it?

Junk and Debris just got an badass Level 5 Synchro.

It also has a respectable 2500 Atk.

Take a look at it for yourself.

- MonarchVV ; #9

Six Samurai Post-STOR

Okay, we all know the story already.

Six Samurais are making their comeback.

A big one at that.

And you know, this new set is definitely going to break them.

Adding a destruction negating card, a Synchro monster, and some crazy loops in addition to powerful effects, beatsticks, special summons, and a search engine.

Now doesn't this seem a bit too much?

Expect a dominating metagame of only one deck type again.

That is, unless X-Sabers, Blackwings, and Quickdraw pull through somehow.

The Agent of Mystery - The Earth

Seems like he might be a pseudo-Stratos for the Agents.

With the fact that it's a Level 2 Tuner, in addition to being LIGHT, if he does have Stratos auto-add effect, he'll definitely be worthy in the deck at 3.

Good call Steve by the way.

Turbo Pack 4

http://shriektcg.twoday.net/

It's finally announced!

I believe that X-Saber reprints are coming in for us.

BF - Zephyros The Elite

This card is amazing in my opinion.

And yet, I haven't seen it at all in any recent Blackfeather decks.

Is there a reason why? =\

Starstrike Blast Sneak Peek Day

And this day has finally come!

While at first I decided that I wasn't going to enter, someone kindly offered to pay for my entry fee, which means in the end that I am entering. He would get all the good cards he wanted, and I keep the bad commons.

Oh well.

Out of the five packs I pulled, I got the Super Rare Dragunity Knight, The Fabled Rubyrada, and Mischief of the Yokai.

Pretty bad pulls in my opinion.

My brother entered with his own money, and he managed to get the Dance Princess as well as Skull Meister!

We just made our money back, which made me rather happy!

For the sneak peek, the mats were given out randomly, while the Top 8 would get Turbo Pack 3 packs.

Ehh, it was okay I guess.

In the end, neither me or my brother topped, both with 2-3 records, and we didn't win the random roll though.

However, my Infernity deck is now near completion! I managed to obtain the second Stygian Street Patrol, as well as my second Dark Grepher. The only cards remaining are the Infernity Barriers...T_T

I got two Ko'aki Meiru Walls for my brother's Rock Stun deck, so I'll be looking forward to playing against that deck again.

This post is kinda short, but it's been a long day for me.

Thanks for reading as always!

Enjoy the post.

-MonarchVV ; #9

STBL Sneak Peek TCG Exclusives

Well, tomorrow is the day of the release of Starstrike Blast packs.

Rather than do the last preview, which are getting kind of dry by now, I want to take a quick look at the new TCG exclusives.

Archfiend Empress - Ehh, pretty bad in my opinion. It helps Fiends for sure, but who plays Fiends these days?

Skull Meister - Now this is a useful card. It fits into the group of cards that drop from your hand, and it does stop a lot of things in the game, notably Dandylion, Darksoul, and Sangan.

Droll and Lock Bird - While not as spammable as Skull Meister, DL Bird still serves a niche purpose. He'll be seen every now and then. This card says GG to Machina Gadgets though.

Spellstone Sorcerer Karood - Designed to work with Power Sink Stone, but two card combos are looked down upon often. Its weak attack doesn't really compensate for its effect.

Scrap Mind Reader - A free special summonable Tuner from the graveyard, and its effect works darn well with Scraps itself. We shall see how effective this card truly is in the future.

Gravekeeper's Recruiter - Mandatory effect, adds certain useful cards. It's too bad it doesn't add Gravekeeper's Spy.

Psi-Blocker - I honestly don't understand the constant Psychic support. With Mind Master and Emergency Teleport limited, they'll never get higher than Tier 3.

Koa'ki Meiru Wall - Good support card for Rock Stun, rounding out the Trinity of the card-negating KM monsters.

Karakuri Barrel mdl 96 “Shinkuro” - I have no idea about Karakuri monsters, so I don't know what this support does.

Mischief of the Yokai - Situational card is situational. This card isn't worth it.

Darn, I didn't expect there to be so many cards to look at. O_O

Well, that's should do it for today.

Enjoy reading this post.

Look forward to tomorrow's review of STBL!

- MonarchVV - #9

Starstrike Blast Preview #4

It's almost hear! The STBL Sneak peek!

And promptly so!

Now onto the preview.

Today's card is....

Tuning

Normal Spell Card

Add 1 "Synchron" Tuner monster from your Deck to your hand. Then, send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard.

Well, it's a spell card.

And there really isn't much to say about a normal spell card.

Except that it rocks so much in certain decks!!!

Tuning is a card that lets you add a Synchron Tuner from your deck to your hand, followed by some milling.

As such, this card is compared to Reinforcement of the Army.

However, the difference between RotA and Tuning is the fact that you can run THREE Tunings in a deck.

Thus your search power has increased greatly!

Running a 37 card deck does seem smart...

The decks that I foresee using this card will be Junk and Debris, of course, and Quickdraw Plants.

Being able to add Quickdraw Synchron in Quickdraw Plants at will to your hand will speed up the deck for sure, but then again, he is your only target. The milling is only a plus for the deck as well.

A one-of tech or two Tunings could possibly be used there, but never three.

Of course, if you're running Junk and Debris, spam three. You want those free Synchros out as fast as possible.

All things considered, this card is definitely limited in what decks get direct support from this card.

However, the support is gets is so immense, that I think this card's potential is just great.

This card gets 3.5/5 for just being cool and for being useful.

~~

Well, that was short, but a Spell Card is a Spell Card.

Anyways, with one day left to go, the last card to be previewed is tomorrow!

Look forward to it!

- MonarchVV ; #9

Starstrike Blast Preview #3

Alright! Third day is here!

Which means the countdown to the Starstrike Blast sneak peek is 3 days! (on Sunday)

And I have chosen a card before I started my blog! For once!


Glow-Up Bulb

EARTH / Plant / Tuner / Effect / 1 Star / 100 Atk / 100 Def

You can send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card from the Graveyard. You can only use this effect once per Duel.

Now this is one crazy card!

Let's begin the analysis.

The EARTH isn't so important, but what is important is the fact that it is a Plant!

This means that Lonefire Blossom, Spore, and other such and such decks will get a new toy to play with!

In addition, notably, is its Tuner status. This opens the realms of possibilities as Synchro Summoning is one of the defined mechanics of this game.

If you don't take advantage of the Synchros, then your opponent will.

Being 1 Star means that it is a Level 1 Tuner, resulting in many different Level Synchros coming out.

The 100 Atk and the 100 Def isn't so important, as this card's main purpose is definitely for Synchro Summoning.

Its effect is basically saying "Free Synchro for You!"

You can send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card from the Graveyard. You can only use this effect once per Duel.

Now, as you can see, if it's in the graveyard, you can bring it back for no cost at all.

Essentially, this is a "plus 1" in terms of card advantage, which balances out the Synchro Summon you are going to perform, as Synchros can considered a "minus 1" usually.

This card can be seen similar to Junk Synchron and Debris Dragon therefore.

However, the loads of support this cards gets is far superior compared to those two cards.

Synchroing with Level 7s for 8s, good synergy with Foolish Burial, and so on.

If the last condition on this card wasn't there, this card would be ridiculous.

As well, Glow-Up Bulb is usable in practically any deck at all, even if they don't run Plants.

The advantage this card can bring you in a single move is devastating.

Certain decks can run this better than others however, such as Debris Plants and Quickdraw.

Overall, this card receives a 5/5 from me!

Great card, good support, all around general excellent.

~~

And that wraps up Day 3!

With two more to go, Starstrike Blast gets ever closer and closer.

Thanks as always for reading this post.

- MonarchVV ; #9

Starstrike Blast Preview #2

The second day is here, which means that there's only 4 more days until the STBL Sneak Peek!

And we move onto the second card to look at which is....


Gaia Drake, The Universal Force

EARTH / Beast-Warrior / Fusion / Effect / 10 Stars / 3500 Atk / 2800 Def

"Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth" + 1 non-Effect Synchro Monster

This card cannot be targeted or destroyed by the effect(s) of an Effect Monster.

And it's one of the new Synchro Fusion monsters!

Thankfully Konami has not totally given up on them yet, right?

And this card is what we're looking at today.

Gaia Drake, The Universal Force.

To be honest, I think "Gaia Drake, Knight of Sky and Earth" sounded much MUCH cooler.

The name means nothing in regard to the card, except that it belongs to the family of Gaia cards, which Yugi used. Not much support for those group of cards though, unfortunately.

Now usually, I would go into detail about everything in order, but as this is a Fusion, stuff must be done in order to make sense of this card.

Before even considering its Atk and its Def, we want to look at the number of ways it is possible to summon this guy. Because, if you can't bring it out fast, then there's no point in using him.

"Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth" + 1 non-Effect Synchro Monster

Well, isn't that...restrictive.

There are only three ways to bring this guy out given its fusion materials.

Gaia Knight + Gaia Knight.

Gaia Knight + Natural Leodrake.

Gaia Knight + Scrap Archfiend.

Hmm..not looking too good so far.

However! The card lacks certain features other Fusion monsters have had in recent times. This card can be special summoned from the Extra Deck not only by Fusion, but also by Special Summon!

The only cases that I can think of this working would then be The Earth - Hex Sealed Fusion, Metamorphosis, and Summoner of Illusions.

In addition, Fusion substitutes are viable as there are no clauses on what has to be used as the material. King of the Swamp and The Earth - Hex Sealed Fusion make the summoning of this guy much easier then.

With the fusion substitute material summoning though, you still require another non-Effect Synchro monster on the field.

The printing of Miracle Synchro Fusion and Synchro Fusionist makes bringing this guy out simple as well.

With so much support to summon this guy, I think there are more than enough viable ways to bring him out.

On to the Atk, Def, and Effect.

3500 Atk / 2800 Def

This card cannot be targeted or destroyed by the effect(s) of an Effect Monster.

Now that is one impressive effect. Destruction and targeting are negated when it comes from a monster, and boasting a great 3500 Atk, and an huge wall of 2800 Def, getting through this monster will seem impossible without the effects of Spells and Traps.

While this format may appear to be Spell/Trap heavy, bringing this guy out means that you won't have much to fear from monsters.

Its effect is also the reason Summoner of Illusions work great with him: he won't be destroyed by the Summoner's effect during the end phase.

~~

Being a Fusion does have its negatives, but this monster makes up for it in brute force.

With great power, not much can stand in this card's way once it is on the field, in terms of monsters at least.

Combined with a card such as Royal Decree or Trap Stun, this is one card you will definitely have to fear.

Perhaps non-Effect Synchro monsters may potetially see more play, who knows?

And now to wrap this up.

This card, while it appears weak at first, is rather impressive compared to what recent Fusion monsters have been like.

I give this card a 3/5.

And hey, its art is great to look at too. 5/5 on that.

With this, another card is previewed, and another post is up.

Thanks for reading as always.

The third card will be up tomorrow!

- MonarchVV ; #9

Starstrike Blast Preview #1

And so the long list of previews begin!

To start off, we shall roll a die and see which card I am going to preview!

And so, pretend I'm rolling a die.

This card shall be first!

Delg the Dark Monarch

DARK / Spellcaster / Effect / 6 Stars / 2400 Atk / 1000 Def

When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can select and remove from play up to 2 cards from your opponent's Graveyard. For each card removed, send 1 card from the top of your opponent's Deck to the Graveyard. This card cannot attack during the turn it is Normal or Special Summoned.

~~

And thus, we begin with the latest Monarch, Delg!

While its name does not provide any special keepsake to it, the Monarchs have always been classified as a strong group of cards.

Now for the detailed stuff.

Its attribute is DARK, which means it already wins a ton of bonus points. Good support in the form of Dark Armed Dragon, Allure of Darkness, etc, etc.

As well, you can synchro with this card for specific Synchros that require dark monsters (coughDarkEndcough)

Being from the spellcaster type, that means cards such as Hidden Village of the Spellcasters won't affect it, although a Monarch deck should already be fine against that card... Regardless, the typing isn't all too important, as there isn't any worthwhile Synchros that require a non-spellcaster type monster as the non-Tuner material.

6 Stars, 2400 Atk, and 1000 Def. These are the standards of the Monarch lineup. Nothing really to expect more from a card that has Monarch in its name.

Book of Moon makes this card easy fodder to run over, while its 2400 Atk hits the line for one-tribute monsters.

Lastly, it's time to look at its effect.

Delg's effect clearly targets the opponent's graveyard. So to compare, it would be kinda like D.D. Crow. However Delg can remove up to two cards versus the one Crow can remove, and Delg still has that 2400 Atk to use if it survives your opponent's turn.

Ideally, this card would hurt FrogNarchs and Quickdraw the most, both decktypes who are reliant on their graveyard. The occasional Infernity player would also cry.

The milling part of Delg isn't so spectacular, so i'm going to ignore it.

The effect triggers whenever it is special summoned or normal summoned. Therefore, some tricks can be played on your opponent's turn with such cards as Call of the Haunted, etc. etc. However, some good / pre-emptive summoning has to occur if you want to remove a card like Dandylion if you know they have Debris Dragon in their hand.

The last sentence of Delg's effect is probably the worst part. Even though Delg can rip apart your opponent's graveyard, if they still have a field that can eliminate your monster, then you'll probably would of wanted to summon that Caius instead.

Waiting one turn to attack makes Delg rather weak in the eyes of many.

Overall though, he still has the qualities of a Monarch to make him fearsome. A good card to side in FrogNarchs, as his effect is rather strong, especially in the Frog vs Plant / QD matchup.

I expect some decks to run one if their metagame is filled with Quickdraw / Plant decks and Frogs decks.

Otherwise, this card can still be sided as great tech in certain matchups.

This card gets 2.5/5 on my rating list.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Delg looks like one BAMF.

~~

And that's the first review done!

Hopefully I didn't do too poor with my analysis, although who is judging really?

Just my viewers...(-__-;)

Tomorrow, another card gets picked, and until the STBL sneak peek, enjoy this post!

- MonarchVV ; #9

Starstrike Blast

With the STBL Sneak Peek coming out next week, I believe that a few card analyses are in order.

It's been a while since I've done them, although I'm sure I said how blogging is so nostalgic for athe longest time now.

In the next five days, I'll be choosing five cards at random, and we'll get a closer look just at what these guys can do.

.
.
.

Actually, I believe it would be better to just take a look at 5 of the BETTER cards coming out in this set.

The cards that more than like that I'll be previewing will be

Grow-Up Bulb
Delg the Dark Monarch
Gaia Drake, The Universal Force
Formula Synchron
Tuning

Look forward to these previews!

-MonarchVV ; #9

Sunday Locals Report

Oh man. It just feels like it's been forever since I've done a tournament report.

Oh wait....

Anyways, today I was playing Rauzes' LightxDark Beat deck, found on his joint blog, Only The Duel.

It was almost completely netdecked, but the fact that Wisel Infinity doesn't exist in the TCG means I had to change one card.

Still though, I loved the idea of the deck, and honestly, it's performance today exceeded my expectations.

On to the report.

~~

Round 1: vs. Ice Barriers

Game 1: While this deck is kinda unconventional, you still need to be prepared for it. Thunder-King Rai-oh and the Blackwings did most of the work today.

Game 2: Pretty much the same as Game 1, but using Nobleman of Crossout on a Penguin Soldier was pretty nice as well.

OO


Round 2: vs. Gladiator Beasts

Game 1: I open with TKRO and 5 backrows, one of which was Solemn Judgement. While he had a similar field, my play control was a lot better.

Game 2: While I don't recall the beginning, I do recall the end. It oils down to my inhand Gorz, no field, to his Retiari and face down Chariot. He attacks with Retiari, and I force the Chariot with Gorz. He opts to grab his Equeste and get Chariot back. With his life points under 1500, I top the Shura for game. =3

OO


Round 3: vs. Infernities

Game 1: I summon Thunder King Raioh first turn. He gets rid of it thanks to his Infernity Break, but my Call of the Haunted brings it right back.

Game 2: While I did not open with TKRO, I did open with Gorz. As well, my D.D. Crow makes an appearance in this matchup today. Afterwards, I summon Thunder King Raioh and from there it's all down hill for him.

OO


Round 4: vs. Blackwings

Game 1: Honestly, I don't really remember how I won this one. Simplifying the game with my cards and using Cyber Dragon and TKRO to my advantage helped to my win I believe.

Game 2: Same deal as Game 1.

OO

And so we move into playoff rounds. With a record of 4-0, I'm guaranteed a spot in the top.

Top 8: vs. Infernities

Game 1: Again I am against Infernity monsters. However, Thunder King Raioh does his job really well as usual.

Game 2: It boils down to his set up of Synchro monsters against my in hand Honest, CyDra on field, and face down Call of the Haunted. However, Mist Wurm said "Sup" to my cards and then I take over 6000 in one turn. =\

Game 3: So I draw into a hand of Gorz and Chaos Sorcerers and some pointless spells and traps. He summons Infernity beetle and I can't do anything about it as he just slaps me with it for three turns. However, he decides to use Giant Trunade allowing me to drop Gorz. Gorz wins me this game.

OXO


Top 4: vs. ScrapKeepers

Game 1: My deck does its stuff as I play control card after control card (mainly Book of Moon).

Game 2: I lose this one as he brings out Scrap Dragon after Scrap Dragon. While he did Solemn Warnings my first Chaos Sorcerer, I had a second one to help. But another Scrap Dragon owns me hard.

Game 3: Halfway through the game, he plays Dark Armed Dragon on me and pops three of my cards, which really hurts. I bounce back with Dark Hole and Thunder King Raioh. The momentum that I got back swings me into the favourable position.

OXO


Top 2: vs. Blackwings

Game 1: Through some simplication moves, and with me ending up with TKRO as the last card, I beat through the deck rather smoothly.

Game 2: Early on, he tries to play Delta Crow, but I have the Trap Stun to stop the play. Soon after, my Spirit Reaper and ThunderKing Raioh tries to get hit by Dark Hole, but Starlight Road wins out in the end. Unfortunately, he picks up the Kaluts and Shuras he needs at exactly the right time, and I'm left with no options. This game was really down to the wire.

Game 3: He gets off three Icarus Attacks over the course of the duel, but Chaos Sorcerer keeps me from just losing out straight up. However, with no cards to protect our plays, both me and my opponent had trouble due to both of our massive backrows. Eventually I make the push, but he wins out in the end thanks to a clutch Sirocco and Gorz.

OXX


So in the end, I end up getting second place, which isn't bad for me. I win three Turbo packs, but I don't pull much out of them; just D.D. Crow.

I had an awesome time today, especially in the Top 2. You don't get good Yugioh games like those in a long time.

As for this new deck, I really liked how it ran, and while I may keep playing it for a while longer, I have some fun decks in mind that I also want to play.

There's Quickdraw, Blackwings, and Infernities decks as well that I have to make.

Wait for it!

- MonarchVV ; #9

I'm Back!

Well, it feels like it's been forever since I've last had a blog post.

Last Blog Date: 7/7/10

Okay, so it's been four months since I've had activity here, but no worries!

I haven't died yet!

Anyways, I'll try to resume a daily / semi-daily schedule of blogging, but University work does get to me sometimes.

Don't kill me if I miss a day or something!

-MonarchVV ; #9

Battle Fader

This card is getting reprinted.

That's right.

In the same tins as Dark Armed Dragon and Vayu.


Oh snap.

Structure Deck Marik

So it appears that this is going to be coming out now.

And with common Mirror Force...just like the new Dragunity Structure deck...

As well, Cathedral of Nobles is coming out too.

~~~

Some crazy reprints if you're asking me!

For Infernities: What to Side

Yesterday, I spoke about the cards that players should be using to side against Infernities.

Today, I'll be speaking on behalf of the Infernity players out there, and be listing cards that I think are appropriate as counter side deck options.

~~~

Smashing Ground / Fissure

This is the first card that comes into my mind when I think of all the Thunder King Rai-ohs and Consecrated Light people are using against Infernities. Just simply use more card-for-card removal.

If you cannot attack over a certain attack threshold, you require more removal cards at that point. For Consecrated Light, Fissure does justice against it with its 0 Atk.

Hero's Rule 2

An effective Trap card designed to protect your graveyard. It negates the effect of a card targetting your graveyard and destroys it. This stops D.D. Crow and Crevice into the D.D.
However, this card also stops your opponent from targeting his own graveyard as well, so cards such as Call of the Haunted, Limit Reverse, or even specific graveyard cards such as Gottoms' Emergency Call and Infernity Launcher are negated.

Imperial Iron Wall

Another card designed to protect your graveyard. But instead of stopping your opponent from targeting your graveyard, it stops them from removing cards from the game. It stops key removal cards like D.D. Crow and Crevice as well.

~~~

These are the key counter side cards that I envision in the Infernity player's side deck.

Hopefully, you won't mind trying them out a bit.

That's all for today's post.

Until the next time.

Against Infernities: What to Side

So with the coming and going of YCS Chicago, and with the coverage, I would like to reflect upon what would be the ideal side deck when going against a particular matchup.

In this post, I would like to go over what would be the most effective method against Infernities.

~~~

Ideally, most, if not all people, have realized Infernities dependance on the graveyard.

As a result, this cards were the first to come up in most people's lists for their side deck.

D.D. Crow

A natural pick, being able to be activated from the hand during either player's turn. As well, it's easily mained without disrupting your main strategy.

Crevice into the Different Dimension

A more specific designed card , with a few more applications outside of Crow. Able to strip two cards out of the graveyard, this card is effective against Infernities as well. However, it's a Trap card, meaning it has to be set one turn prior unfortunately.

Thunder King Rai-oh

One of the more effective choices against Infernities. Being unable to search out Infernity Launcher by Infernity Archfiend's effect, this card is rather effective as their main win condition is now locked. As well, it's 1900 Atk works for beating over most of the Infernity monster line-up, short of Infernity Necromancer.

Doomcaliber Knight

Similar to Rai-oh, it's ability to negate monster effects is key. Unfortunately, DCK can be tricked into activating its mandatory negation effect by other cards, which is rather unfortunate.

Consecrated Light

For some reason, this appears to be the most effective of all Infernity hate cards. An Infernity player just has absolutely no out to Consecrated Light once it appears. As well, should Light be turned facedown thanks to Book of Moon, there's no doubt that there will be other outs to the Infernity deck's combos.

~~~

As such, with these five possible choices for your side deck, there are a lot of options to choose to counter the Infernity matchup.

Tomorrow, I'll be discussing the options an Infernity player can use in order to counter side against these choices.

Sunday Local Report

Well, I forgot about doing the last three new Blackwing cards, but they'll be up and coming over the next three days.

I also forgot to post yesterday because Maplestory likes to drive me into a corner a hammer me there so I cannot access my Yugioh stuff!!!!

~~~

Got to my Locals on time thanks to my rollerblading (man, it's so fun rollerblading when it's hot outside), but I didn't feel like playing my Quickdraw variant at all.

Thankfully, Steve was there with his Quickdraw variant. So I get to enjoy using his High Monster Beat deck for the day.

But of course, since there were six Quickdraw variants there, we would get to see which is the Top build of the day.

~~

Round 1: XOO vs Infernities

Game 1: So basically I open with no D.D. Crow, and he goes off on his first turn. Enough said.

Game 2: This game I opened a lot better, but I wasn't able to beat him in a few turns. He had set up his combo, and was waiting to OTK me at any moment. Fortunately, I managed to go off first and win right before he top decks an Infernity Launcher.

Game 3: I survive again as he has no answers to Stardust and Junk Destroyer. Royal Decree did its job this game as well.


Round 2: OO vs Quickdraw (Obelisk)

Game 1: Now this was interesting. I wasn't expecting to hit a Marshmallon when I summoned Junk Destroyer to destroy it. Regardless, I win cause I was able to get my combo off first.

Game 2: This time, he pulls off Gravekeeper's Spy on me, which caught me off guard. He hits my Decree by bringing out Descendant, but I still manage to go off. Man, Quickdraw and Plaguespreader is one hell of a godly combo.


Round 3: XOX vs Gladiator Beasts

Game 1: I opened extremely nasty here. Almost all Tuners, and nothing to use for synchroing. Him attacking my graveyard with Retiari doesn't help either.

Game 2: Here, I was able to ride Jinzo and Ally of Justice Catastor to a win. My opponent was forced to get rid of Jinzo in order to open up his traps, but Catastor destroyed his Murmillo afterwards. When he tries to drop Gorz, I flipped Swallow Flip, destroying his only answer to Catastor.

Game 3: He goes first and set a monster. I could of play Junk Destroyer first turn, but I opted against it. Instead I bring out Dandylion through Lonefire Blossom. Then next turn he flips D.D. Warrior Lady. I cry. Nothing I can do as I lose my main synchro material. I make a comeback thanks to Jinzo, but then he drops Gorz as my facedown Swallow Flip is locked by my own Jinzo. Then he plays Brain Control.

Sigh...Gorz and Brain Control...Of course.


Round 4: OO vs Quickdraw

Game 1: Quickdraw mirrors are hard to describe I guess. There really isn't much to say. He goes off and I go off. We trade cards with his Grand Mole and my Drill Warrior. Eventually, I bring out a Caius on his Grand Mole and I deal enough damage for game.

Game 2: Same deal as Game 1 I suppose.


Top 8: Autowin vs Quickdraw

Well, my opponent was the same as the one from Round 4, but he really didn't feel like playing my deck again, so he decides to scoop to me.

Instead I play a Stall Exodia deck for fun this round, but Junk Destroyer does his job and wrecks 2 cards on the field at once against him.


Top 4: OXO vs Gladiator Beasts

Game 1: At first, I was losing to a massive field of two set S/T and a boosted Laquari and a Gyzarus. However, Debris manages to get me out of this pinch thanks to Black Rose Dragon, and thankfully, there was no Starlight Road or Book of Moon. He also didn't have a GB to summon next turn, so I was safe. From there, I played the game safely to a win.

Game 2: Yet again, I open massively bad. A bunch of Tuners with no synchro material is bad news. It doesn't help that he has a lot of backrow cards also.

Game 3:

He hits me hard with Heraklinos early game, but Black Rose Dragon stops it the first time. He brings it back with Call of the Haunted, but thanks to me forcing a facedown backrow (Compulsory Evacuation Device) with Debris Dragon, I managed to destroy Herakilnos a second time with Junk Destroyer. As well, with Plaguespreader Zombie in my graveyard and a bunch of tokens on the field, I wasn't about to make the same mistake as I had last time: Leaving Attack fodder for Gladiator Beasts. I bring out Ally of Justice Catastor. My opponent couldn't follow up after that.


Top 2: OO vs. Quickdraw (Obelisk)

Game 1: What can I say about this matchup? I play the deck normally, and it goes off faster than the regular Quickdraw variant thanks to a lot more milling.

Game 2: Same deal as Game 1.

~~~

So in the end, I win the tournament with Quickdraw! It's been quite a while since I've played and won a tournament, so this was a nostalgic feeling.

d(^_^)d

Junk Archer is a really sick card by the way. It lets OTKs happen when you may not see it possible.

Nitro Warrior is beast in the matchup against Quickdraw mirrors. Just goes through those tokens like nothing.

Nothing else to say really.

Anyways, that's all for this report.

Thanks for reading.

Until the next time.

Black Feather - Aurora the Northern Lights

And we continue with the new Blackwing monsters!

Today's monster is:

Black Feather - Aurora the Northern Lights
LIGHT/ Winged Beast - Effect/Level 10/? ATK/ 0 DEF

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play, 1 "Black Feather" Tuner and 1 non-Tuner monster. Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 "Black Feather" Synchro monster from your Extra Deck, and until the End Phase, this card's name is treated as being that monster's name, its ATK becomes equal to that monster's ATK, and it gains that monster's effect(s).

~~~

Now that is a lot of text!

Let's first start off with its name.

The name Black Feather is good, as it fits with the archetype. Kalut can be dropped to increase its Attack points when needed. However! That's as good as it gets.

With ? Atk, you cannot search this card out with Black Whirlwind. That's very bad. This card is now going to be overlooked just because of that one fact.

Let's keep moving though.

It has a LIGHT attribute.

Say what? A Blackwing monster with a LIGHT attribute?

Yes, I know that it's very strange that they would print this card out, but think about it! You can use Honest and Kalut to boost this guy! As gimmicky as that would be though...You cannot even Allure away this card should it be dead in hand.

The Winged Beast typing means it still is a target for Icarus Attack at least.

The ? Atk is based upon its effect, but it only gets the Atk gain until the end phase of the turn, so this card wont survive your opponent's next turn for sure. 0 Def doesn't help this card much either.

This card, being a Nomi monster only adds to the bad qualities this card already has.

To special summon it, you have to remove from play a BF tuner and only 1 non-Tuner monster. This makes it easier to bring out than most synchros that require more than 1 non-Tuner monster.

Its effect is really good, as copying a Blackwing Synchro's effect and attack for that turn is kinda useful.

~~~

Overall, this card is still bad stuff.

The only benefit this has versus normal Synchroing is that this card can be used to bring out Silverwind a lot easier than Synchroing for Silverwind.

However! Bringing this guy out in order to copy Armed Wing or Armor Master is just dumb! You have a Tuner and a non-Tuner on the field already! Why not just Synchro for those two monsters if you can!

As well, the only time when you can expect to see that you would need this guy is when you cannot Synchro, right? But for that to occur, more than likely you cannot special summon, so Aurora is pretty dead itself!

As stated before, this card is dead stuff.

Don't try to run it.

Use this card as an alternative to Synchroing? What I see is more minuses.

That's all for today.

Until the next post.

New Blackwing Cards

According to the anime, Crow is set to go against Jaeger, who uses a ton of anti-Synchro cards.

So, along with the anime, there are going to be new Blackwing cards released in the new set, Starstrike Blast!

And I'm going to be previewing these new cards one at a time because it seems that there will be too much text in one post if I post it at once!

The new cards are:

Black Feather - Etesia the Twin Longswords

Black Feather - Aurora the Northern Lights

Black Feather - Abroholos the Megaquake

Black Feather - Mine

Black Back

~~~

And today's card is!

Black Feather - Etesia the Twin Longswords
DARK / Winged Beast - Effect/3/400/1600

If, at the end of the Damage Step of a battle between a "Black Feather" you control and an opponent's monster, that opponent's monster is still on the field, activate by sending this card from your hand to the graveyard. Inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponent.

Ehh...

So it's time to analyze this card.

Well, it's low attack means that this card is a constant target for Black Whirlwind. Even Vayu could search out Etesia with its 800 Atk.

Etesia doesn't have much purpose on the field though.

It's effect activates in the hand, much like Kalut does, so it shouldn't necessarily count as a monster.

It's defense is mediocre, as high attack monsters can still run over it rather easily should you be in the position to set it. Mistral would definitely be a stronger card to set for defensive purposes.

However, it does have the DARK attribute, which is always good to have.

In addition, its low attack means it is a target for Shura so that you don't have to bring out Gale or Kalut when you run out of Vayus in the deck.

As well, 1000 points of damage is a lot.

1/8 of your opponent's life does takes its toll.

It's effect also serves to be a game ender, should the opponent's life reach that low.

Overall, this card is still meh, but it definitely warrants testing. In the right builds, this card could be as devastating as Sirocco.

That's all for today.

Until the next time.

Gold Series 3

All of the Gold Rares are now confirmed!

Vice Dragon
Exploder Dragon
Elemental Hero Prisma
Dimensional ALchemist
Judgement Dragon
Mezuki
Plaguespreader Zombie
Thunder King Rai-oh
Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
Infernity Archfiend
Stardust Dragon
Blackwing Armor Master
Blackwing Armed Wing
Mystical Space Typhoon
My Body A A Shield
Smashing Ground
Enemy Controller
Icarus Attack

~~~

This set looks to be a good one!

Structure Deck Draguinity Drive

It seems like the full list is finally out.

http://shriek.twoday.net/

Stuff that stands out in the set are:

Bottomless Trap Hole
Mirror Force
Icarus Attack
Foolish Burial
No REDMD (LOL)

And that big one: Draguinity Arms Laevateinn.

~~~

Who's willing to bet Mirror Force is going to be taken out of the deck in the TCG?

Qucikdraw Deck

Looks like my Quickdraw Plants variant just can only go so far.

I may have to take up my friend's variant after play testing with it a little bit just today.

I need to pick up a lot more cards now than just Synchron Explorer.

Darklord Desire

Besides the CRAPPY three new promo cards, there is one more being released in the TCG.

That card is Darklord Desire. Although Fallen Angel Desire sounds much better, IMO.

DARK/Fairy - Effect/Level 10/3000 Atk/2800 Def

This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card can be Tribute Summoned by Tributing 1 Fairy-Type monster. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can have this card lose 1000 ATK, and send 1 monster your opponent controls to the Graveyard.

Well, this card won't probably be put to use as much as the other Darklords such as Superbia, but it does have some merits.

Only tributing one Fairy-type monster does help when you intend to use Tribute Fodder as the main way to bring this guy out.

In addition, the DARK type it has means that this card has a lot of support from Dark cards, such as Allure of Darkness...and others...Dark Armed Dragon I guess..

The attack and defense of this card is definetely great assets.

Being a Fairy means that Archlord Kristya would work as well in a deck with this card.

The effect of this card is excellent: it's like a pseudo-Dark End Dragon, and with its high defenses, can be protected by Book of Moon from attacks in order to reset its attack points.

Unfortunately, this is where the benefits stops, because the ability to be unabled to be special summoned really hampers the card.

In a deck that likes to special summon a lot, such as one that would include Valhalla, Kristya, and Superbia, this card would appear to be very weak.

Light and Darkness Dragon is also a better choice to tribute summon, due to your opponent being forced to commit cards that get rid of Light and Darkness Dragon.

Overall, this card is meh~

~~~

Anyways, thanks for reading this card analysis.

Until next time.

Turbo Pack 3

Shiny Rescue Cat.

OMG. That is amazing...I can't wait for it!

Also, Rekindling is getting a shiny upgrade as well. And Morphtronic Celfon.

Does Celfon becoming a shiny mean Morphtronics are going to get some broken support in the near future???

As well, Magical Android is getting reprinted, most likely as a common. It's due time.

~~~

Sorry about no post yesterday. My week has just been hectic.

Gold Series 3

Mystical Space Typhoon and Exploder Dragon.

Both Gold. Both reprinted.

Proof here.

Just open your eyes.

http://www.konami.com/yugioh/articles/

X-Saber Wayne

EARTH/Warrior - Synchro - Effect/Level 5/ 2100 Atk / 400 Def

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster from your hand.


My friend made me play this card, so I feel like I should take another look at it at the very least.

Well, the fact that's it's a Level 5 Synchro doesn't really help much, because both Ally of Justice Catastor and Magical Android are many times superior to this Synchro monster.

It's Attack stat isn't so great either, because the Level 5-6 Atk threshold is established to be 2400 Atk, the same Atk value of the Monarchs.

So overall, the card is really bad right?

Wrong.

There is one deck where this generic Level 5 Synchro can fit in, and that would be in an X-Saber deck.

Have a Pashuul and a Darksoul, as well as a Faultroll in your hand? Why not Synchro for X-Saber Wayne, as well as letting you summon that Fulhelmknight?

Of course, situational event is situational, but still, if you have that Sangan instead of Darksoul...

I would say that one X-Saber Wayne is fitting for an X-Saber deck. You never know when he can save your face.

The fact that he has X-Saber in his name helps a lot too.

Youtube

Go on over and check it out!

www.youtube.com/user/MonarchVV

~~~

Slow news day today, I don't really have much to talk about.

=\

Sunday Locals Report

Today was yet another Sunday at my locals. Luckily it was a normal constructed format, so I did not need to do anything weird to my current set of cards.

I made it early, so I was there a bit doing some trading, etc...

Tournament finally got started, and it was four Swiss rounds, cutting to a Top 8.

Round 1: OO vs Infernities

Game 1: He just had a really bad hand for some reason. I pull off a lucky mill off Card Trooper sending Dandylion to the graveyard, and then with the tokens I summon Light and Darkness Dragon the next turn. It was all downhill from there.

Game 2: Pretty much the same deal as Game 1. He had a bad setup and my transformational side did its job. Siding in Crows, Monarchs and Royal Oppression gave me the edge in this match-up.


Round 2: OXO vs Machina Gadgets

Game 1: Oh boy. I really did not expect to see this match-up today. I had not side for this match at all.
=\
Somehow though, I managed to outlive my opponent's resources through his minus from summoning a Fortress into my Bottomless Trap Hole, and a LADD late game wins me this duel.

Game 2: Drawing into only Monarchs and Chaos Sorcerer early game, while having my only summon-able monster sent by Trap Dustshoot is brutal. REAL BRUTAL.

Game 3: He pulls off Chain Disappearance on me in this duel, but it doesn't stop me from getting off my Lonefire Blossom play. From there, it was rather similar gameplay to Game 1: he gains advantage, but I get through it through his minuses from Machina Fortress.


Round 3: OXX vs Gladiator Beasts

Game 1: Early control through Drill Warrior and my S/T removal wins me this game.

Game 2: I don't remember much detail, but I recall having bad hands.

Game 3: Now the last duel this was a misplay by me. I get out Turbo Warrior, but leave a token on the field. I had a Spore in my graveyard, but didn't use it to synchro with the token into AOJ Catastor. Because of that, while I did have My Body as a Shield face down as an answer to his Smashing Ground, I did not have an answer to his Book of Moon.

=\ Bad plays by me there, but you learn when you misplay.


Round 4: XX vs Rock Stun

This two duels were rather lousy, as I was against my brother and I really had no motivation to beat him into the ground. Also, my deck pretty bad against his deck.

Monster heavy deck against Neo-Spacian Grand Mole = GG


Alright, so I go 2-2, and somehow make it into the Top 8 through tiebreakers (as usual)

Top 8 Match-up: XOO vs Machina Gadgets

Yes, against the same person from Round 2.

Game 1: Another Trap Dustshoot sends away my LADD, but I could not do much anyways with Quickdraw, two Caius, and two useless spell and trap cards. I get beat down rather quickly.

Game 2: I manage to pull off the Drill Warrior plays, and I win with him staring down Drill Warrior and Light and Darkness Dragon.

Game 3: This was a good back-and-forth match, as the exchanges were rather even. In the end, Caius wins me the duel as he just couldn't get Caius off the field after I removed his Machina Fortress.


Top 4 match-up: OXX vs LIGHT Anti-Meta

A good duel against my friend and teammate Jimmy.

Game 1: Early control through Drill Warrior wins me this game, as Jimmy just couldn't remove it off the field. Dust Tornado hitting Royal Oppression was a lifesaver also. Also this duel was the first time I used Junk Destroyer all day. Although it was only for a final finisher though.

Game 2: His anti-meta antics work, as I just couldn't get through D.D. Warrior Lady, Thunder King Rai-oh, and Royal Oppression.

Game 3: A rather similar repeat of Game 2. Just throw Honest in there somewhere.

~~~

Today's Top 8 was one Gladiator Beast deck, one Quickdraw deck, one Infernities, one Machina Gadget, one Synchro Cat, one Rock Stun, one Anti-Meta deck, and one Zombie deck.

The Top 4 consisted of the Anti-Meta deck, my Quickdraw deck, the Infernity deck and the Gladiator Beast deck.

Top 2 was the Anti-Meta deck and the Gladiator deck going head to head, with the GBs coming out on top eventually.

~~~

So I end with a Top 4 finish today. It's been quite a while since I've last seen a Top 2 or Top 1 finish. Lately, Quickdraw Plants just aren't as efficient. I may switch back to a different variant of Synchro Cat next week. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for reading this blog post as usual.

Until tomorrow~

Maplestory 3rd Job Advancement

Today is June 5, 2010.

At 4:42 pm today, I reached Level 70 with my first Maplestory character.


IT'S BEEN A GOOD FIVE YEARS!

Scar-Red Nova Dragon

This card gains 500 ATK for each Tuner monster in your Graveyard. This card cannot be destroyed by your opponent's cards effects. When your opponent's declares an attack or targets this card, you can remove from play this card to negate 1 monster's attack. During the End Phase, Special Summon this card that was removed from play by this effect.
.
.
.
.
.
When your opponent's declares an attack or targets this card, you can remove from play this card to negate 1 monster's attack.
.
.
.
.
.
targets this card


Daaaaaaamnnnnnnn

Does this card keep getting better text or what?

Baaack!

What happens when a person gets his hand on an Ace Attorney game?

He MUST complete all five episodes before returning to his normal life!!!

So yea...I picked up the new one and I haven't been on the computer at all in the past two days.

But anyways, I beat the game and I'm back to my regular posting schedule!

Expect more updates to come!

Mask of Restrict

Neither players can Tribute any monster under any conditions.

While the usefulness of this card has gone away, this card still has many purposes in the meta, such as stopping Stardust Dragon, annoying Monarchs, and even monsters which have to tribute themselves as a cost.

Particularly, this card stops the new Tier 1 deck: Frogs.

Worth side decking in a meta full of Frog decks out there?

MS: Aquaroad Area Boss

Yesterday, I ran into a new enemy that I have never seen before.

Seruf. (Pronounced "SURF" [I think...])


I understand that he's an area boss though, seeing as how a little bit of blue text popped up as I was traversing the map.

Being a shellfish, it has it's original form, and its attacking form, as seen above.



Being Level 67, it was rather easy to beat, and it dropped its own unique drop, the Seruf Pearl.


With it dropping a pearl, and pearls being known as super expensive, I thought I could sell it for a lot of money.

I guess not...

Sunday Locals Report

Well, this isn't really a report, seeing as how I did not enter the tournament because I was too tired to wake up on time.

Turns out I really didn't feel like going to Yugioh as well, BUT I still went and managed to do some trades.

As well, I got a record of what topped and such.

In the Top 8, there was 2 X-Saber decks, 1 Blackwings, 1 Infernities, 1 Gemini City, 1 Gigavise, 1 Machina Gadget deck, and one Flamvell Monarch deck.

In the cut to the Top 4, Gemini City beat Infernities (due to bad hands), Flamvell Monarchs beat Blackwings (with Flamvell Commando!!), and the two X-Saber decks advanced respectively beating Gadgets and Plants.

Cutting to the Top 2, Flamvell Monarchs and X-Sabers were all that remained, and in the end, Flamvell won the tournament!

I have the match uploaded on Youtube, so I'll link you to my channel for now.

www.youtube.com/user/MonarchVV

Enjoy watching all of my new footage!

Maplestory: Evan

Sorry about not having a blog post yesterday; I was busy celebrating my graduation with some friends.

=p

Anyways.

Today, my blog won't be about Yugioh for once. It's going to be about Maplestory.

I'm finally back into the game (again) after about a 6 month hiatus, or whenever my last blog post about Maplestory was.

With the recent patch update for April, the new Legend class, Evan, was introduced.

He's a farmer boy who becomes chosen to be a Dragon Master, and as such, gets a dragon which follows him around everywhere.

Of course, this Dragon kicks some ass like no other.

Convinced? No? Well, it can also EVOLVE!!!

Well, he'll get bigger as I level, so expect updates as I go.

So far, the class is really fun. A mob attack at level 20 as well as the ability to Teleport is really sweet.

I wonder how far I'll manage to level this class...my highest character so far is my Ice/Lightning Wizard, and he's only Level 67...

(>.>)

Pegasus League June 2010

From what I know, on the main website, it's known as "A Rare Format."

It's very similar to the first Pegasus League, in which the deck is based on rarity, but this time around, there is a set rarity ratio for the deck, instead of having the deck all one rarity.

The ratio is:

2 Secret Rare
2 Gold Rare
2 Ultra Rare
6 Super Rare
20 Rare
8 Common

This sounds like a rather fun format actually, compared to the last one, "Double Deck."

I'm looking forward to making Quickdraw Plants work for this format.

Synchron Explorer

Synchron Explorer adds some very fun tricks to certain decktypes out there.

Bringing back Quickdraw Synchron means a free Junk Archer or Nitro Warrior.

Bringing back Junk Synchron means a free Level 5 Synchro monster.

Bringing back Drill Synchron means Naturia Beast.

=p

And also his effect negates Road Synchron's effect, which means Road Synchron is now a Level 4 LIGHT tuner!

Not sure if that serves any importance..

Gold Series 2010

Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind.


It's finally getting that all important shiny reprint.


WHOOOO!!!

Quickdraw Deck

Today, I managed to get more testing in.

It seems that D.D. Crow isn't as effective as I thought it would be main decked in a Quickdraw deck.

In other news, S/T removal is boss in this game.

More updates to come later.

Weekend Fun

SATURDAY

Well, this past weekend was really a blast so far.

On Saturday, I went with a bunch of friends to OtaFest, and also to join the Yugioh tournament that they were holding.

Going to the vendors, I bought a new wallet for myself. It's has designs from One Piece, and I really like it a lot more than my old one.

Going to the Yugioh tournament, I believe I did relatively well with my Quickdraw deck.

It was single elimination instead of swiss rounds, which was kinda a disappointment.

Going there, I didn't really expect strong players, as they were mainly anime otakus, so I dominated pretty badly.

However, my GOOD friend James was there, and ripped me apart with his P.A.C.M.A.N. deck.

Dang his "Pure Advantage Camels Munch All Noobs" deck!

So I made it to the Top 6, and got a pin/badge thingy, but the Top 3 all got a Shadow Hat.

Really disappointed I didn't get one. =\

In the end, it was James against Steve in a PACMAN against X-Sabers duel, with Steve winning thanks to Jinzo!

I really need to get me a few of those cards now.

The top 2 won stickers unfortunately. It seems the Top 3 prize was a lot better...>_>

Overall, Saturday at OtaFest was a really fun day. I kinda feel bad for not doing much, as well as not cosplaying since there were so many cosplayers there.

I plan to go back next year, and win this time! I'll probably cosplay too, or even vend there with my friends.

We'll all figure out how to do it next year.

~~~

SUNDAY

Going to my locals the next day, being Sunday, I decided to go with my Quickdraw deck one more time.

With 15 people here, we were going to play 4 rounds of Swiss, with a cut to a Top 8.

Round 1 was a pretty bad game IMO. I was going against a rather poorly made Exodia build. Naturally, I won both games in a few minutes.


Round 2: OO vs. Lightsworn Monarchs

This was a really good match, with close games and no misplays.

Game 1: Good exchanges between both me and my friend. We were almost always the same on card advantage. I win eventually as Jimmy runs out of resources as I drop a LADD late game.

Game 2: I can't remember much about this duel, but it was really close again. A good duel with same resources and such. In the end, I believe Debris Draogn wins this one for me.


Round 3: XOX vs. Rock Stun

Going against my brother was something I always hate to do.

Game 1: He gets me with Brain Control after hitting me earlier. Can't do much here with a really monster heavy deck.

Game 2: I had outs to his monsters and Royal Oppression, and Quickdraw Synchron and Debris Dragon does its job.

Game 3: Nobleman of Crossout gets rid of all my Rykos and Royal Oppression stops a key Debris Draogn, and it's all downhill from there.


Round 4: XOX vs. Flamvell Cat

Game 1: It was a war of attrition as me and Alan kept going back and forth with card exchanges. Eventually, I couldn't keep a monster on the field, and he beats me down with BW -Gale the Whirlwind.

Game 2: I stop his summons and such with my sided cards, being Compulsory Evacuation Device and Trap Hole, and I win this duel with Quickdraw shenanigans.

Game 3: He drops a Caius and removes my Sangan, tributing his Sangan to search for Summoner Monk. I couldn't stop his advantage play.

=\

So this was the first time I had not topped at Myth Games in quite a while. I've been saying that I didn't wanna top for quite a bit now, and it actually happened this time.

Still, I dislike losing to the worse version of Synchro in the fourth round: the Flamvell variant.

In the end, it was a Top 8 consisting of Fader Control, 2 Blackwings, Rock Stun, Flamvell Cat, Lightsworn, Twilight, and Dragons.

Top 4 was the two Blackwing decks, Lightsworn and Twilight.

Top 2 was the Blackwing deck against the Twilight deck, with Blackwings winning in the end.

~~~

Commenting on my Quickdraw deck, I really liked using Spore today. It was a good tuner, being able to become Level 4 by removing either Lonefire Blossom or Dandylion.

Chaos Sorcerer and Light and Darkness Dragon are both good cards to use in this deck. They saved me a lot of times today.

Phoenix Wing Wind Blast was alright, as I didn't get to use it as often as I wanted to. Spinning just isn't as useful as it was before.

Nobleman of Extermination was great mained. Got rid of their backrows, leading to safe plays for my deck.

Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind was great in the deck. I really prefer it over Plaguespreader in this type of deck.

~~~

Personally, I may switch to a different deck soon. The speed of this deck just isn't enough to compete with Frogs, Infernities, or X-Sabers.

The deck which I can potentially switch to is probably Frogs, but we shall see in the near-by future.

Thanks for reading this blog still.

Until tomorrow.

TCG Reprints

Super Dark Armed Dragon.

Super Rare Elemental Hero Stratos

Super Rare Chimeratech Fortress Dragon.

Didn't even need to see the second two...

XP

Vision Hero Trinity

This has been one of the more interesting cards to come out of the first V-Jump Edition Pack.

VE01-JP003

Vision Hero Trinity

DARK/Warrior - Fusion - Effect/Level 8/2500 Atk/2000 Def

3 "HERO" monsters

During the turn in which this card is Fusion Summoned, its ATK becomes an amount equal to double its original attack. If this card was Fusion Summoned, it can attack thrice during the same battle phase.

So this card looks like it has definete potential.

Being able to be summoned from a fusion of any 3 Hero monsters, it has a lot of flexibility and can be ran in several different decks.

However, its weakness lies in its name. You cannot use Miracle Fusion to summon out V-Hero Trinity as it is not an Elemental Hero.

Still, Future Fusion can be used to bring out this guy. With that, you can dump whatever monsters you need in the graveyard with Future Fusion, such as Destiny Hero Malicious, D-Hero Dasher, and other Hero cards you do not want to topdeck in the late game.

In addition to having a difficult way of being able to be summoned, it cannot attack your opponent directly. This severely limits the potential this card has outside of dumping with Future Fusion.

With such a big attack stat though, I can see why Konami made such a limit to this card. OTK anyone?

People will definetely include one in their Extra Deck most likely, just for those flexible situations, but we will see what will happen in the future.

XX-Saber Boggart Knight

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "X-Saber" monster from your hand. This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "X-Saber" monster.

This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "X-Saber" monster.

except for the Synchro Summon of a "X-Saber" monster

"X-Saber" monster

.
.
.

Something to keep in mind really.

For both me AND for other people.

Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness

Caius the Shadow Monarch's effect allows it to remove a monster on the field from play, while possessing a 2400 Atk body.

If Caius should remove a DARK monster, 1000 extra points of damage is dealt.

3400 Lifepoints is a lot, and can usually be enough to take a game away from someone.

Even with Gorz in-hand, you if don't have enough Lifepoints to survive, then what's the point?

Seems people have been forgetting Gorz's second effect...

When you take damage from a card your opponent controls while you control no cards, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Then activate the appropriate effect, based on the type of damage:

Effect Damage: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the damage you took.

People will usually attempt to summon Caius unopposed by backrow.

So...lesson learned here.

Use Gorz's second effect to save your face before it gets smashed!

Snyffus

So..I heard that it's pretty sick now.

It was ruled that Snyffus's effect CAN activate in the damage step.

Yeaa...time to make Plant Cat one more time for this new meta.

We'll see just how impressive Snyffus and Spore can be in TheftCat.

Star Strike Blast

New cards from Star Strike Blast has finally been revealed!

The new cards that Yusei used in the anime, such as Lead Butterfly and Mirror Ladybug are just some of the cards that are going to be placed in the set. Hopefully, it doesn't get completely nerfed.

But knowing Konami and Yusei...yeaaaa

As well, there seems to be new Scrap cards! Looks like the deck is getting the support it needs, and will be seeing more help coming from future packs as well.

And Scarlet Nova Dragon seems to be in this set as well...how interesting...

Looking forward to knowing its effect!

Sunday Locals Report

So I know it's Monday, but I had no time to blog about this last night, so here's my report on my Sunday Locals Tournament!

YAAAY!!! After so long! =P

Today, there wasn't as many people as there usually is, so we played 4 rounds, cutting a a Top 8, with the Top 5 getting packs.

I was running good old Synchro Cat.


Round 1: OXO vs. Infernities

Game 1: I win because the person I was playing against was rather new to Infernities, and so I had a big advantage, already knowing how to play against it.

Game 2: This time, he gets the Infernity combo going, but was only was to bring out a bunch of Level 5 and 6 Synchros due to a lack of Necromancer. Still, he had enough momentum that I wasn't able to come back.

Game 3: My side works out really well this time, as a key Crevice into the D.D. cuts off his combos.

Glad I survived Infernities, I looked forward to the rest of my games.


Round 2: OXO vs. Koa'ki Meiru

Game 1: I reduced his resources with a combination play between Rescue Cat and Heavy Storm, and he couldn't make a comeback.

Game 2: He opens Urknight and Iron Core, and he win. Simple. Urknight makes the deck. Duh.

Game 3: Refer to the first Game of this match. Except I used Summoner Monk instead.


Round 3: OXO vs. Blackwings

Game 1: Strong Cat plays from my deck, followed by no Icarus Attack on his part means that my advantage is too much for him to overcome.

Game 2: Now this was something memorable. He goes first, and opens with Shura, Bora, and Bora. I go, and summon Sirroco, pump my monster, and attack his Shura with my 7200 Atk monster. Still, I had no defensive cards, and I lost as a result of Blizzards synchroing Goyo, etc.

Game 3: I didn't managed to draw my side decked cards, but I manage to play out of his deck again, just like Game 1.


Round 4: XOX vs. Machina Gadgets

Well, this was a match against my brother. And I kinda spazzed at him because of a few moves throughout the duel. So the information presented here may not be entirely accurate.

Game 1: He uses Starlight Road. What more can I say.

Game 2: Here's where the spazzing comes in. A lot of BS goes through here now, but in the end, I win.

Game 3: I lose. I really don't remember how, but it was a war of attrition. Me drawing no Pot of Avarice means that I lost it. =\


Top 8: XOO vs. Counter Fairies

Game 1: He negates my Thought Ruler gaining LP effect with Divine Wrath, and then he brings out Vandalgyon and Archlord Kristya. I tried to Bottomless Trap Hole Kristya, but he negates it with Dark Bribe.

Can't do much against those two cards. =\

Game 2: Legendary Jujitsu Master and Rescue Cat in my opening hand as well as Dust Tornado wins it for me this time around.

Game 3: I managed to pull off the win with Caius and Royal Oppression backing my plays.


Top 4: OO vs. Lightsworn Monarchs(?)

Game 1: I get my plays through, and I didn't really get to see any Monarchs through the duel.

Game 2: He gets his Treeborn Frog into the grave, but then I D.D. Crow it away to prevent problems. He couldn't keep a monster on the field, so I get through this matchup.


Top 2: OXO vs. Infernities

Game 1: He couldn't get off an Infernity Inferno / Dark Grepher play, and was just top decking spells and traps all day long. Not having a lot of Infernity monsters in his graveyard did not help either.

Game 2: He gets off his combo while I didn't have D.D. Crow. =\ I tried to Bottomless Trap Hole an Infernity Archfiend he brought back, but then he flips Imperial Iron Wall. Yea...

Game 3: My D.D. Crow and Crevice into the D.D. goes off without a hitch, and I win the tournament with Synchro Cat!

~~~

I get four packs from the store as my prizes (3 Hidden Arsenal, 1 Raging Battle), but I didn't manage to pull anything good at all.

Still, I did win with Synchro Cat, even though I was totally not expecting to do as well as I did today.

It was a lot of playtesting today, but at least I know Synchro Cat does alright this format.

Also, I was playtesting a Quickdraw deck, and it really is too slow now.

Playing against this format's X-Sabers was just terrible.

Bad results from the game, but eh. What can you do?

More than likely, I'll be setting aside that deck until it gets a revamp from Junk Destroyer and other cards.

With Synchro Cat, I'll be looking to innovate a new way to play it (hopefully).

~~~

That's all for today's post. It's been quite a while since I've blogged so much.

And I must say, I rather enjoy this.

YCS VA Top 32

And I just found out the Top 32 decks of YCS Virginia.

Here's the list.

7 X-Sabers
7 Infernities
5 Gladiator Beasts
3 Quickdraw Dandywarrior
2 Cat Synchro
2 Gadgets
1 Blackwing
1 Frog Monarch
1 Frog Quickdraw
1 Herald of Perfection
1 Lightsworn Monarch
1 Royal Magical Explosion

Hmm...

From the looks of things, my predictions were definetely off from what I expected.

The reads on both Infernities and X-Ssbers were definetely correct, both taking 21.875% of the Top 32 decks.

Therefore, 40% of the playing field of Virginia was made up of what most people expected to top: X-Sabers and Infernities.

I did not expect Gladiator Beasts to do so well, representing 15.625% of the Top 32 decks, a very good showing.

Gladiator Beasts, from the looks of things, are still a very reliable deck as the format progresses, but we will see how things change as Infernities and X-Sabers continue to grow throughout the format.

Synchro Cat, Quickdraw, and Gadget decks did relatively well, with each deck having 2 / 3 representatives making it to the Top 32. However, the livelihood of these decks remain to be seen at the next YCS.

While Gadgets did win the whole YCS in the end, I still feel that Infernities and X-Sabers are the more dominant decktype.

Blackwings' weak showing at this YCS, only having one representative in the top 32 was a rather shocking surprise, seeing as how the OCG's metagame has more success with Blackwings in this current format.

Perhaps the TCG-boosted X-Sabers may have had a bad effect on the performance of Blackwing decks. This will need to be analyzed more in depth.

To the other decks, I applaud the deckbuilder for making it to the Top 32.

This has been my analysis of the Top 32 decks of YCS Virginia.

~~~

On another note, expect a locals update tomorrow. No time today to update on that. It's getting late.

=\