See: Title.

(wheee sinus infection ftl)

Whelp, Konami has posted the newest banlist for Yu-Gi-Oh, effective September 1st, 2009. Even though nobody who watches me plays Yu-Gi-Oh, I figured I might as well update my journal with something a bit... less depressing.

Newest banlist is here: [link] And following are my thoughts on all of the new entries.

NEWLY FORBIDDEN CARDS:

Dark Strike Fighter: [link] - Broken as all hell. Can end a game on turn 3 with the right cards (see end of journal entry). Should never have gotten past the brainstorming stages and never been made. Glad this is banned.

Card of Safe Return: [link] - Pretty neutral on this. It hurts players who run Zombies (which is something I was planning to run) but I don't see it crippling them completely. It's very easy to special summon en-masse from the graveyard with Zombies (and the new X-Sabers too), so I can see why it was banned.

Crush Card Virus: [link] - Infamous among Yu-Gi-Oh fans. Used to be $3,000, then $200, now it'll plummet to $5. I think that it's way too powerful and can completely cripple an opponent beyond the point of recovery. However, banning it now was a dumb move on Konami's part, as it was just re-printed as a regular Rare like 5 days ago. But whatever, it needed to go.

Monster Reborn: [link] - Classic card, been around since the game first came out in North America. I consider it borderline broken, as it's extremely powerful and can turn games around, but doesn't do anything to actually cripple the opponent (unless you take a monster they planned on using). Overall, neutral on its banning, since I expected it.

NEWLY LIMITED CARDS:

Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind: [link] - Jesus Christ is this the most broken thing in the game or what. Tuners are used to bring out Synchro Monsters (which is what Dark Strike Fighter is), and since he's level 3, he can easily combine with any level 4 monster to bring him out. It's possible to play 3 of these in a single turn, he can be searched out right away with Black Whirlwind and playing pretty much ANY Blackwing monster, and it can run over nearly any monster in the game with its half-ATK effect. This thing needs to be at 1.

Mind Master: [link] - lolwhat I had never even heard of this card until the banlist was announced. I have no idea why the hell he was limited. I heard that he's used in some one-turn-kill (OTK) combo in Japan, but apparently it never sees play over here.

Rescue Cat: [link] - This adorable bastard broke the game for 3 months once X-Saber Airbellum came out in North America, and was running rampant in Japan for longer. An entire deck revolves around using Cold Wave (or Heavy Storm or Giant Trunade), Summoner Monk, Rescue Cat, X-Saber Airbellum, and Dark Strike Fighter to win the game in one turn for exactly 8000 LP. I will explain this combo at the end of the journal entry. Definitely deserves the limit.

Summoner Monk: [link] - Pretty much nailed for the Rescue Cat/Dark Strike Fighter combo. He's powerful enough on his own right to be limited.

Black Rose Dragon: [link] - I have no fucking clue why this was limited. I've heard that since Dark Strike Fighter is banned, then Black Rose Dragon will be the default "go-to" level 7 Synchro monster, and I guess Konami doesn't want players nuking the whole field multiple times in a game. At best, she could use a semi-limit, but I never would have guessed that she would be touched.

Demise, King of Armageddon: [link] - Apparently in the booster set called Stardust Overdrive (comes out in US in November, Japan has had it for about a month), there are more cards to support Ritual-type monsters. A few years ago, Demise was used a lot in a specific deck that could kill in one turn, due to his field-clearing ability. I guess Konami isn't taking any chances with Stardust Overdrive's new cards, so they're taking pre-emptive measures. Personally, I think it was totally unnecessary and they're just hacking the balls off of an already dead deck-type.

Cold Wave: [link] - A card I pulled from my very first booster pack ever that I mockingly laughed at, then a few years later said "This could have potential" to now where "Holy God this shit is mad broke yo." Cold Wave is used heavily in the Rescue Cat combo, where Spells and Traps are not necessary to win. The preventing one of setting new Spells and Traps for a full turn is pretty powerful, especially with today's really powerful monster effects. A well-timed Cold Wave is as destructive as Heavy Storm and can be a game winner. This card's limit is no surprise and I support it.

Mind Control: [link] - Another card that went from useless to mad-broke. You can use it to steal an opponent's monster (even facedown) for one turn, so players will use it to Synchro summon. Synchro summoning is not considered a tribute, which the card's text says you cannot do with the monster you take. So, it's a free Synchro material monster. Or, players will combo it with Cyber Valley to get two free cards from Cyber Valley's effect, while at the same time removing the target monster from the game. Useless a year or so ago, broken today. I saw this card's limit from a mile away.

One for One: [link] - Totally unnecessary limit here. It's used in X-Saber decks to quickly start a loop that will force the opponent to discard their entire hand, but the loop can be hard to pull off. I don't think a limit was necessary at this stage, but instead a semi-limit.

Call of the Haunted: [link] - This card will replace Monster Reborn in many decks. Some argue that it is more broken than Monster Reborn and vise-versa, but both are great cards, worthy of a spot in any of my decks. The advantage over Monster Reborn is that it can be activated on an opponent's turn, letting you bring out a powerful monster from your Graveyard to jack up their strategy. However, it is vulnerable to Spell/Trap destruction cards, whereas Monster Reborn was not. Banning Monster Reborn and bringing this back was a good move. Had they left both banned, it would have been stupid on Konami's part (or even worse, leaving both banned and bringing back Premature Burial)

Solemn Judgment: [link] - Holy dear God, the most controversial card on this list. This card has been unlimited at 3 since its release in mid-2002, and to see it limited sent a shockwave through the Yu-Gi-Oh community. Once a "meh" card, it has recently become a near-staple in many decks, with its price being $30 for a single copy at one point (I payed a total of $60 to get all 3 of mine). The problem with this card is it is primarily used as an offensive card, despite what the text may suggest as a defensive card. Yes, it can be used to defend and it is great at that, but a lot of times it is used as a counter to the opponent's Solemn Judgment. If you're pushing for a victory and you have two (or even three) of these facedown, victory is likely assured as you will negate the opponent's attempts to stop you. Honestly I'm not sure what to think. I know I spent a fair chunk of change to get 3, but I'm not upset at that at all, since I totally did not see this coming. These next 6 months will be very interesting without 3 Solemn Judgments... (and one guy at my local tournament said he would quit if the then-rumored Solemn Judgment at 1 was true!)

NEWLY SEMI-LIMITED CARDS

Chaos Sorcerer: [link] - No real comment. It's a solid card, but not game-breaking. We'll see how this plays out.

Lonefire Blossom: [link] - Really neutral on this one. It seems unnecessary but I can kind of see why it would be semi-limited, as some players will send 3 Lonefires to the graveyard then bring out one mega-powerful Plant monster, which thins their deck out a lot. But I don't think a semi-limit was totally necessary.

Mezuki: [link] - An excellent card for Zombies. I'm glad they brought it back from Limited to Semi-Limited. I can see its abuse with Card of Safe Return, but that's being banned so it's moot. Great decision here.

Bottomless Trap Hole: [link] - Fucking stupid. This doesn't need to be at 2. Leave it at 3. It's not broken and it's good to slow down Synchro summoning.

NO LONGER RESTRICTED CARDS

Breaker the Magical Warrior: [link] - Whoa, didn't expect this dude to jump from 1 to 3 so suddenly. He's a good card and finds himself splashed into many decks, but I wonder how many people will run 3. He's good, but kinda slow. It'll be interesting.

D.D. Warrior Lady: [link] - See Breaker: Totally surprised at this sudden un-limit of her.

Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest: [link] - lol who cares about this dude, they errata'd his effect making him far less powerful than he used to be. No surprise that he's back at 3.

Raiza the Storm Monarch: [link] - Yessss I play Monarchs so putting him back at 3 is great for me. Overall, Monarchs are not the force they used to be a few years ago, so putting Raiza back at 3 is a good thing, as while it will help Monarchs, it won't push them over the edge to broken. Great move on Konami's part here.

Destiny Draw: [link] - Fantastic, an already hard to get card going from 2 to 3. Its price is going to skyrocket now. I think this card should have stayed at 2, because it works very well (almost too well) in the decks it is put in. Bad move on Konami's part in my opinion.

Fissure: [link] - When I first came back to Yu-Gi-Oh in March, I was shocked to see Fissure limited, and now I'm shocked again at its un-limit. In Yu-Gi-Oh, a huge part of advanced strategy is card advantage. Players don't want to use a ton of cards just to remove one or two of the opponent's. Fissure is a 1-for-1 card. You play Fissure (-1 to your overall card advantage) which kills 1 of your opponent's monsters (-1 to their card advantage). Cards like this are usually limited and I'm surprised to see it back at 3 so suddenly. Its sibling, Smashing Ground, remains at 1.

Overall, it's a good banlist that hit on a lot of the cards and combos I thought was essentially ruining the game, along with a few WTFs thrown in there as well. It will be very interesting to see how the game unfolds come September 1st.

Also, that combo I mentioned earlier in the journal, basically here is what you do:

Step 1: Get rid of the opponent's monsters somehow, or at least be able to.
Step 2: If start of your turn, play Cold Wave. If not, play Heavy Storm or Giant Trunade.
Step 3: Play Summoner Monk.
Step 4: Use Summoner Monk's effect to pull out a second Summoner Monk from your deck.
Step 5: Use second Summoner Monk's effect to pull out a Rescue Cat from your deck.
Step 6: Use Rescue Cat's effect to bring out two X-Saber Airbellums from your deck.
Step 7: Synchro Summon two Dark Strike Fighters(level 7 each) using Summoner Monk (level 4) and X-Saber Airbellum (level 3).
Step 8: Attack with both Dark Strike Fighters for 2600 damage each (5200 total).
Step 9: Use their effects to tribute themselves, dealing 1400 direct damage with each for game (8000 damage total including previous attacks).

And this is the combo that broke Yu-Gi-Oh for 3 months in North America and about 6-8 months in Japan. Nothing sucks more than losing in one turn with a combo like that, and it's really not too difficult to pull off unless your opening hand and subsequent draws are all garbage.

(long and pointless journal was long and pointless)

20 years old, very eh birthday. Lots of little crap added up to be a very annoying day that left me nauseous after dinner. By the way Cris, I got your messages with the picture you drew for me (I almost missed it because one of my idiot IRL friends thought it'd be awesome to spam my offline messages with stupid shit that I don't care about), and I really really loved it and appreciate you drawing it for me. It really helped cheer me up. *hugs tight* Hope to see you on tomorrow.

Regionals are over and I am home. It was a hell of a lot of fun to go there! 78 people entered into the tournament and the competition was fierce, but everyone seemed pretty relaxed and and the overall atmosphere was not stressing in the least. It was a bit nerve-wracking around some of the judges though, as they can be incredibly strict, even handing out game losses for rules infractions. But I didn't violate any rules so go me.

When me and Avery showed up, we had to fill out a piece of paper listing the contents of our deck and other general registration information. The judges checked each deck list to make sure it was legal and not using cards that are forbidden in tournaments, or cards restricted to 1 or 2 copies (normally you can use 3 copies of the same card). Those with erroneous deck lists were issued a game loss on one of their best-2-of-3 games.

My record was 3 wins and 4 losses, and Avery's was 5 wins and 2 losses.

First match: Me VS Monarch deck. Result: Loss
I couldn't get any momentum going. My opening hands were pretty bad and I didn't have enough to stop his initial pushes against my life points. It went by pretty quick but I still tried to hang on with what I had.

Second match: Me VS Different Dimension deck. Result: Win
I could tell this kid was pretty new to the game, so it was an easy win. I managed to beat him pretty quickly. His deck looked like it was mostly a retail structure deck with some extra cards thrown in. He seemed pretty upset about losing twice in a row, but that's just the way things go unfortunately.

Third match: Me VS Gladiator Beast deck. Result: Win
This match was interesting because the kid I was facing was issued a game loss due to having an error in his deck list. As a result, I was counted as having won the first duel, so he would have had to beat me twice in a row while I only had to win once. However, I could tell that his opening hand was terrible and I was able to lock him down very quickly with my Monarchs and push for a fast victory. Gladiator Beasts work best when copies of them are in the deck, such as Bestiari. I was afraid that after he attacked me with one of his monster, he would bring out Bestiari from the deck and destroy my facedown Solemn Judgment. He didn't, which surprised me. I later found out he had Bestiari in his hand. That saved me and let me finish him quickly.

Fourth match: Me VS Counter Fairy deck. Result: Win
Avery fought this player earlier and beat him, but I was a bit nervous going up against a Counter Fairy deck. These decks rely on Counter trap cards which are very hard to stop and rely on negating cards that the opponent plays. He had Divine Wrath to negate my monster effects, Dark Bribe to negate my Spells and Traps, Solemn Judgment to negate my anything, and a lot more I didn't get to see. The first duel was pretty close and there was no clearcut winner for most of it but I managed to pull ahead. In the second duel, I stuck in Nobleman of Extermination from my side deck to my main deck. It destroys a face down Spell/Trap card and if it is a Trap Card, both players remove any additional copies from their deck for the duel. I drew Nobleman early on in the second duel and hit his facedown Divine Wrath, which would have crippled my Monarchs. He didn't draw many of his Counter Trap cards during the game so I pulled on for a victory.

Fifth match: Me VS Twilight deck. Result: Loss
No, not the horrible vampire tween-pop book series. A combination of Lightsworn and Dark-based monsters like Phantom of Chaos and Dark Armed Dragon, these decks can be very powerful when played correctly. This one was pretty close and both of us held on for quite some time, but he turned it around at the very last minute just when I thought I had him, and he pushed for a massive rush which destroyed me in the third game of the match. This one was a lot of fun.

Sixth match: Me VS Lightsworn deck. Result: Loss
Oh boy, Lightsworn. Some rather "eh" opening hands and a lot of special summoning on his part managed to push him into victory. But I had Royal Oppression for a lot of the game to stop a lot of his special summoning, but he still managed to destroy it later on. He commented how he didn't like my deck's annoyance and how it kept pressuring him during the duel, hehe. Of course he wasn't being mean about it, I could tell by his voice. XD

Seventh match: Me VS Rescue Cat deck. Result: Loss
By this time, the results of the first 6 matches were posted, listing me at 37th and Avery at 8th with his 5-1 streak.
Rescue Cat, one of the most broken decks in the metagame right now. The first duel was pretty slow and I stopped one of his Rescue Cats early on, but he managed to use his other cards to whittle me down slowly, then summon a Dark Strike Fighter to finish me. The second duel neither of us made any ground or footing, but he managed to pull off the double Dark Strike Fighter-One-Turn-Kill combo on me and push.

After this, the final results were posted, Avery in 13th, me at 43rd. Roughly 15 people in the top 32 already had national invites, so I got one! I get to go to the national tournament this July!

*thuds to go to sleep*

(DA really needs to get rid of the "Mood" icons)

On June 27th is the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game regional tournament in Memphis, TN. Since I've recently gotten back into this crazy horrible card game I've decided to enter the tournament and put my skills to the test. This will be my first regional tournament so I'm both nervous and excited. The Chicago tournament had about 200 players and the Nashville tournament had about 90 players, so I'm estimating between 80-120 players for the Memphis tournament. Things will be seriousbusiness down there unfortunately, since the rules are strict and there's plenty of dishonest players out there who will try and cheat their way to the top. Obviously, I don't plan on doing this.

My biggest obstacles will be the top decks that dominate the metagame and include:

Lightsworn: Angels, gods, and their servants that focus on milling (sending cards from the deck to the graveyard) their own player's deck. Lots of Lightsworn cards activate once they hit the graveyard or rely on having Lightsworns in the graveyard, such as the all-powerful Judgment Dragon. These decks are fast and incredibly brutal. Once they get going it can be hard to stop.

Gladiator Beast: Powerful beast monsters that thrive in gladiator-style combat and feel most at home in the Roman Colosseum. Once they attack, they can tag out and go back into the deck and bring out another Gladiator Beast from the deck, which then activates their various effects. Very fast, flexible, and hard to predict.

Blackwing: A new decktype that debuted in February, these winged-beasts thrive on swarming the opponent with speed and getting multiple monsters out on the field in a single turn. With stronger Blackwings that rely on special summoning and weaker Blackwings that rely on boosting the stronger ones or crippling the opponent, they can easily overwhelm an unprepared opponent.

Rescue Cat Synchro: A decktype that's been storming Japan since last year has finally made its way here. The deck focuses on a rather unimpressive monster that can completely break and destroy the metagame with today's cards. Rescue Cat lets the player bring out level 3 or lower Beast monsters from the deck. Combined with the new "Tuner" and "Synchro" monsters, it's possible to bring out monsters that can end the game in a single turn. Rescue Cat, X-Saber Airbellum, Summoner Monk, and Dark Strike Fighter make up the core strike force of this deck.

All four of the top deck types are fast and brutal. Whichever one is "the best" is a matter of opinion and individual play-style, but all of them are not to be taken likely. My deck revolves around Monarchs: Monarchs are powerful 5-6 star monsters that require a monster already on the field in order to tribute summon them. Once they hit the field, they have powerful effects that go off and try to clear the opponent's field or hand of cards and lock them down. I try to use cards that steal the opponent's monster or monsters with high defense and other effects so I can bring a Monarch out as soon as possible and get things controlled quickly. I also use cards that try and stop special summoning, which all of the top decks rely on.

For the curious, this is my deck:

18 Monsters
x3 Caius the Shadow Monarch
x2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
x2 Raiza the Storm Monarch
x1 Cyber Dragon
x2 Gravekeeper's Spy
x1 Gravekeeper's Guard
x1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
x1 Spirit Reaper
x1 Sangan
x2 Krebons
x2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive

Synchro Monsters
x2 Stardust Dragon
x1 Red Dragon Archfiend
x1 Gaia Knight Force of the Earth
x1 Collosal Fighter
x1 Magical Android
x1 Goyo Guardian
x1 Thought Ruler Archfiend

10 Spells
x2 Allure of Darkness
x2 Soul Exchange
x1 Heavy Storm
x1 Mystical Space Typhoon
x1 Giant Trunade
x1 Brain Control
x1 Monster Reborn
x1 Emergency Teleport

12 Traps
x3 Solemn Judgment
x1 Mirror Force
x1 Torrential Tribute
x3 Bottomless Trap Hole
x2 Royal Oppression
x2 Threatening Roar

Side deck (15 cards):
x1 Mobius the Frost Monarch
x1 Trap Eater
x1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
x1 DD Crow
x1 Twister
x1 Prohibition
x1 Nobleman of Extermination
x3 Mirror of Oaths
x3 Light Imprisoning Mirror
x1 Royal Oppression
x1 Threatening Roar