Lets Low Level!

Its been a while since I've posted a new deck concept...
新しいデッキをアップしてから久しぶりだね。。

Level 1 Monsters are vastly looked down on.
レベル１モンスターは大体見下されている

Yes, there are those cards like Disk Commander or Treeborn Frog or Level Stealer,
黄泉ガエルやレベルスティーラーやディスクガイの例外はもちろんあるけど

But what about the rest? Theyre almost nonexistant in the competetive scene.
他のカードは？存在しなくてもゲームは変わらない

Thus, I have built a deck to use level 1 monsters as a deck engine.
よって、レベル１モンスターを使用し、使いこなせるようなデッキを作ってみた

Today's key card is:
今日のキーカードは

Kinka-byo!
金華猫!


And...
そして！
Water Spirit?!
ウォーター・スピリット?!

Lets Low Level!
レッツ・ロー・レベル！

Monsters/モンスター/17
1 Sangan/クリッター
3 Kinka-Byo/金華猫
2 Water Spirit/ウォータースピリット
2 Copycat/ものまね幻想師
1 Grave Squirmer/グレイブ・スクワーマー
3 Battle Fader/バトルフェイダー
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness/冥府の使者ゴーズ
1 Cyber Dragon/サイバードラゴン
1 Treeborn Frog/黄泉ガエル
1 Mother Grizzly/マザーグリズリー
1 Mad Reloader/マッド・リローダー
1 Morphing Pot/メタモルポット

Spells/魔法/18
1 One for One/ワン・フォー・ワン
2 Dark Eruption/ダーク・バースト
3 Creature Swap/強制転移
2 Creature Seizure/鹵獲装置
2 Foolish Burial/おろかな埋葬
3 Symbols of Duty/戦線復活の代償
1 Brain Control/洗脳ーブレインコントロールー
1 Mind Control/精神操作
1 Scapegoat/スケープゴート
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐
1 Giant Trunade/ハリケーン

Traps/罠/5
3 Legacy of Yatagarasu/八汰烏の骸
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー
1 Torrential Tribute/激流葬

As you can see, this deck runs off of Kinka-Byo reviving monsters, and you utilizing those monsters to an ends.
見てのとおり、金華猫を使用して、レベル一モンスターを蘇生しながら、その蘇生したモンスターを使うデッキです

For example, you can revive a Mad Reloader or Grave Squirmer, and creature swap it off, then destroy it by battle to trigger their effect.
たとえば、マッド・リローダーやグレイブ・スクワーマーを蘇生し、強制転移で送り、戦闘破壊して、その効果を起動する

Copycat can also be revived by Kinka-Byo to destroy by battle any monster on the enemy field, by copying their attack and them slamming them together.
金華猫でものまね幻像師を蘇生した後、ものまねの効果で攻撃力をコピーした後、相討ち出両方を破壊できる

But where the real powerhouse lies is in Water Spirit.
しかし、真の力はウォータースピリットにある

By reviving Water Sprit, you can not only steal enemy monsters to syncro summon,
蘇生したら、モンスタ―を取ってシンクロへと繋げられる

But also you can use Symbols of Duty, giving you access to three copies of Monster Reborn!
その上、禁止カードである死者蘇生と同じである戦線復活の代償を三枚もコストなして使える！

Whats more, is that by running Normal monsters, you instantly have access to two more copies of Creature Swap.
しかも、通常モンスターである点を生かして鹵獲装置と名のつく強制転移も使える

Of course, if you use your Water Spirit that turn, you can swap off Kinka-Byo itself, only to have it run back to your hand the next turn to be used.
もちろん、チューナーを使ったら金華猫自体も送って、エンドフェイズで自分の手札に帰ってくることもある

But before that, be sure to draw 2 off of Legacy of Yatagarasu!
でも、それより先に、八汰烏の骸からツー・ドロー！！

Such to search out Water Spirit quickly, many of the cards, such as Mother Grizzly and One for One were used.
ワン・フォー・ワンやマザーグリズリーはウォータースピリットを一刻も早くサーチするためにある

Being a Spirit based deck, you usually have nothing to cover you on the enemy's turn.
もちろん、スピリットモンスターを基にしているデッキであるため、相手ターンでフィールドががら空き

Thats why you have Battle Fader and Scapegoat.
そのためにバトルフェイダートスケープゴートを入れている


Thats all for today
今日はここまで

Blogger Interviews: Day Final

Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, and Rabid Fans, and welcome to the final installation in our continuation of a series of interviews with bloggers around the world.

Since there are some people who want to know a bit about myself, Ive decided to undertake the interview myself.

Thus, today we will be interviewing Rauzes, from the Gaijin Duelist. You can find his blog right in front of your eyes.


Rauzes:
Hi!

Rauzes:
Yo.

Rauzes:
Can you give a brief introduction to yourself, including some Yugioh background, such as how long you've been playing?

Rauzes:
Sure.
I'm Rauzes, known on the Yugioh forums of Pojo(some subforums more than others) and Duelistgroundz, and own the popular Yugioh blog The Gaijin Duelist. I am currently 17.
I've been playing Yugioh for about two years now. I started shortly after Phantom Darkness was released in Japan, November 2007. The first deck I owned was the Curse of Darkness structure deck, starting me in the game with Crush Card Virus, Spirit Reaper, Dark Armed Dragons and Dark Creators.
Contrary to most people's beliefs, I do not watch and have not watched any of the Anime fully. I just know the few episodes I happened to watch on TV. I have read, however, the Yugioh R and Yugioh GX manga(Promo Cards)

Rauzes:
Cool.
Is this your first interview?

Rauzes:
Nope.
On the receiving end of Yugioh related interviews, this is my second. The first interview I was in was about the Organized play here in Japan, on JaeLove's blog.
On the interviewing side, however, this is my eighth.

Rauzes:
Okey.
What, in your opinion, makes a deck a tier one deck, as opposed to just another combo deck/theme deck out there.

Rauzes:
Well, In my opinion, the most deciding factor is Speed.
While Anti-meta decks try to slow down the game, bringing the opponent to a speed they can manage, most decks tend to try to get out their OTK/Lock/Win Condition as soon as possible.
GBs do both sides of this, which is why they were successful, back when Beastiari was at 3. Limiting Beastiari has hammered the decks speed, by forcing their Into-Gyza plays to be much more conservative.
Of course, there are those decks out there(SDRider), which have unmatched speed. The reason those decks are still not topping is that they dont have a win condition.

Rauzes:
How often do you play, in hours, per week?
Inclusive of the DS/PSP games.

Rauzes:
In actual cards, I play about 1.5 hours per weekday of the week, on average, meaning that some days I play 3 hours and others I dont play at all.
On weekends, most of the time I get to play around 8 hours per day, going only about once per week.
On DS/PSP games, I only test new ideas. However, I do use Duel Online(Browser based emulators), to test. Around 1 hour a day.

Rauzes:
I see.
For you, what inspires blog posts?

Rauzes:
When I started blogging, there were a few other blogs I read regularly. Of them, one blog would update daily, without fail(that being said most of the time the posts werent so good). When I started blogging I wanted to update as often, with as good a quality posts as my other influences.
And recently, Ive been able to somewhat uphold that ideal. For me, I try to update daily, so daily I spend around 15 minutes to an hour looking around the wiki or other places to find something interesting to blog.
Other influences are new deck concepts I've come up with. I try to post the deck post as soon as I've finished developing the concept to wholeness, and the decklist working.

Rauzes:
Awesome.
Most other bloggers spend time developing new deck concepts and ideas. How much time do you spend developing new decks and deck concepts?

Rauzes:
Well, it definately depends. Sometimes, I can crank out around ten unique deck concepts with decklists that work in a week, while other times I dont bother with new cards for months.
Also, if I can find someone who is actually making the deck in real, the amount of testing and development definately sees an increase.
Before posting, however, I spend around half an hour developing the preliminary decklist, followed by around two hours of actual testing on the games and online. After hammering the decklist yet again after this, I post it to the blog and Pojo, and, if its sufficiently significant in my eyes, to DGz.
Only a few of my concepts I actually build in real.

Rauzes:
How many decks do you currently own, and what are they?

Rauzes:
To be honest, I've recently demolished quite a few decks of mine. The ones that a currently remaining are:
Junk and Debris (Lightsworn version), Skill Drain Zero, Guilty Monarchs, and a newly built Destiny Hero Turbo X The Shining deck.
I'm currently gathering cards to build another Junk and Debris variant, but havent made it yet.

Rauzes:
I see.
Were nearing the end of the interview soon.

Rauzes:
I know

Rauzes:
Anyhows, for you, what is the number one reason you still play Yugioh?

Rauzes:
To be honest, I've been considering quitting lately, but some of my fans reminded me that I maintain this blog, and that the ideas I post here are helping people and influencing builds across the world, so I guess you could say that this blog is the single number one reason I still play Yugioh.

Rauzes:
Awesome.
since you know that these interviews are a series, when do you want to be posted?

Rauzes:
Since Im doing this interview right now, after everyone elses is posted, I dont have much choice do I?

Rauzes:
True.
Final question: What is your all time favorite card of all time, and why?

Rauzes:
Archfiend of Gilfer. It was one of the first cards I put into my starting deck, and simply put, it opens far too many doors in a Dark based deck than other cards do for one slot.
And that I find that its the one card in my deck that others would shrug off but brought me to victory many times; that its a card that very few people have known the power of.

Rauzes:
Okey. That wraps it up for the interview.
Any closing comments?

Rauzes:
Well, first off thanks to everyone whoes reading this interview right now, and to all the other interviewees for taking part in the interview. It has really be quite interesting for people to take a look into other peoples backgrounds. Do follow other peoples blogs as well, they prove to be equally as interesting.

Rauzes:
Okey well thanks for the interview today.
Ladies and gentlemen, just remember, if you want to ask him anything, just call our operator, and he'll patch us through
Well, that wraps it up for our blogger interviews this week. I hope you have enjoyed them.
This is 77.7288, RAU.FM,
and until next time,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!

You say it too

Rauzes:
RIDING DUEL!! ACCELERATION!!!



Well, Thats it for our blogger interviews. I hope you have enjoyed them.
Tomorrow, we will return to our regularly scheduled program.

Blogger Interviews: Day 7

Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, and Rabid Fans, and welcome to our continuation of a series of interviews with bloggers around the world.

Today, we will be interviewing a rather new and uprising blogger, Gambitto, who compared to the other players, has been both blogging and dueling for far less time.

Gambitto owns the blog Duelism, which can be found at http://gambitto.blogspot.com/

Rauzes:
yo

Gambitto:
?
Rauzes:
okey lets try this again
Hi.

Gambitto:
Hi Rauzes

Rauzes:
Is this your first interview?

Gambitto:
Yes

Rauzes:
Can you give a brief introduction to yourself? Such as how long you've been playing the game, and any credentials

Gambitto:
I'm Gambitto, a Malaysian duelist. I started a bit more than half a year ago, in march.
I started playing in Japan, where I went to high school.
I qualified for Japanese Nationals this year, but couldn’t go.(To attend Japanese Nationals, you have to be a Japanese national.)
I currently own the Yugioh blog Duelism

Rauzes:
In your opinion, what makes a deck a tier one deck, instead of just another second rate deck with some comboes?

Gambitto:
GODLIKE boss monster, with EASY ACCESS.
Rauzes:
Elaborate.

Gambitto:
Well, for example, AKB could line up its boss monsterS in less than one turn, since their boss monsters were in the extra deck.
And currently, Lightsworn has crazy ways of drawing into Judgement Dragon or salvaging it from the graveyard.
Both boss monsters are devastating.

Rauzes:
Ok.
How often do you play? Inclusive of DS/PSP games?

Gambitto: When I was in Japan, around 1-2 hours a day, but on weekends around 8 hours, so 18 hours a week. I barely play PSP and DS

Rauzes:
mmk.
For you, what inspires blog posts?

Gambitto:
Now, in Malaysia, I play around 3-4 hours a week, on Saturdays.
As for blogging, I post whenever I have a Yugioh related thought.
All my vague thoughts about comboes or anything goes on my blog

Rauzes:
Okey.
Many bloggers like to show off their new ideas and concepts for decks.
Do you spend any time developing new deck ideas and concepts? If so, how long a week?

Gambitto:
Barely.
I just netdeck or get ideas off you people
and maybe just tech in things left and right

Rauzes:
How many decks do you have? And what are they? Of them, how many of them were built to fight in tournaments?

Gambitto:
I currently own two decks.
However, one of them uses an Adaptive Side Shift concept,
so it is more or less about four different deck types shifting between one another.
Its current state is Another Blade, a combination of Alius Beatdown and Air Blade
The other deck is Junk and Debris (Spacian)
I guess both of them are tournament worthy.
since I have a side for Junk and Debris and about two sides for Another Blade

Rauzes:
Okey.
What is the Number one reason you still play Yugioh?

Gambitto:
I started less than a year ago.
Its a fun game and Im not going to give it up after just a year

Rauzes:
Okey.
since you know that these interviews are a series, when do you want to be posted?

Gambitto:
I dunno? Tomorrow?

Rauzes:
Just to spite you I’m goanna post you last.

Gambitto:
Bitch.

Rauzes:
:P
Okey.
Final question.
What is your all time favorite card of all time, and why?

Gambitto:
E. Hero Voltic.
Because it has an awesome effect, and it looks awesome, controlling Lightning.

Rauzes:
Okey. That wraps it up for the interview.
Any closing comments?

Gambitto:
Well, thanks for the interview.
Come visit my blog!

Rauzes:
Okey well thanks for the interview today.
Ladies and gentlemen, just remember, if you want to ask him anything, just call our operator, and he'll patch us through
Tune in tomorrow to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until next time,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!

You say it too

Gambitto:
What the fuck?

Rauzes:
Oh yeah.
I want my zombie carriers back.

Blogger Interviews: Day 6

Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, and Rabid Fans, and welcome to our continuation of a series of interviews with bloggers around the world.

Today, we will be interviewing Bahamut84, former Singapore champion and world renown for his horrible luck, wholesome crossdressing, and his collection of Crush Card Viruses.

Together with his friend, DSummon, he maintains a very long running blog, Dueling Days, which you can find at http://duelingdays.blogspot.com/

Rauzes:
Yo

Bahamut84:
Hi

Rauzes:
Can you give a brief introduction to yourself, and some Yugioh history?

Bahamut84:
My name is Michael, people know me commonly as Bahamut (or baha). I am the author of Dueling Days and my most recent achievement is representing Singapore last year. I've been playing for about 7+ years now.

Rauzes:
Any other topped tourneys? Big ones?

Bahamut84:
Hmm, I think I got 3rd for 2007

Rauzes:
Okey
What, in your opinion, makes a deck tier one and not just some other random scrubs deck?

Bahamut84:
Tier one decks should one that is able to perform moves that gives you massive advantage and doing it consistently.

Rauzes:
Ok.
How often do you play?
How many hours a week
And how many on video games
Ds/psp

Bahamut84:
I play about 2 or 3 days per week, where I play almost the whole day.
I rarely touch them now as playing with CPU is quite dumb, it can be a useful tool to test out if your deck engine works though.

Rauzes:
Ok
What inspires blog posts for you?

Bahamut84:
New cards are usually my main source of inspiration for a blog post. New potential cards will lead you to search for combos and I usually share them through a post.

Rauzes:
How many decks do you personally own?
And of them, how many are considered "high tier"?
What decks are they?

Bahamut84:
I own 2 main decks now
1) MGS (Fiend Deity Roars)
2) Undead Lightlords

Rauzes:
What’s the #1 reason you still play Yugioh?

Bahamut84:
It’s fun and addictive and you get to hang out with your friends.

Rauzes:
Ok
You know these interviews are a series right?
Which place do you want to be posted?

Bahamut84:
any place is fine lol

Rauzes:
Ok
Final question
What’s your favorite card of all time, and why

Bahamut84:
I used to like airman a lot but Brionac is now occupying the spot for favorite card of all time. Awesome effect awesome art, everything about it is awesome.

Rauzes:
Ok
That’s all
Any closing comments?

Bahamut84:
Pass

Rauzes:
Okey, well thanks for coming to the interview today.
Ladies and gentlemen, just remember, if you want to ask him anything, just call our operator
And he'll patch us through
Tune in tomorrow to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until next time,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!
You say it too

Bahamut84:
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!

Blogger Interview: Day 5

Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, and Rabid Fans, and welcome to our continuation of a series of interviews with bloggers around the world.

Today, we will be interviewing Neuxcharge, the well known duelist from Singapore, famous for his Youtube Channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/Neuxcharge

He also owns a blog he updates often, located at http://neuxcharge.blogspot.com/

Rauzes:
lets start.
Hi.

Neuxcharge :
ok
Rauzes:
thats a cold response.

Neuxcharge:
Hi

Rauzes:
lol
First off, can you introduce yourself?

Neuxcharge :
I am Neuxcharge:
and i do Videos
of Yugioh =D
And get hounded to do different decks X_x

Rauzes:
Also I think you should be aware that everything you say
Can and will be upped onto my blog
Is that ok?
t also can and might be edited to make you sound funny
Is that ok?

Neuxcharge : yea
its ok XD
Off course!
Err

Rauzes:
Any other credentials you care to state?
like any tourneys youve topped

Neuxcharge :
err
well i'm more of a Top 4-er than an actual Topper XD

Rauzes:
okey
for any asia tourney or nats?

Neuxcharge :
yea, those Creds do stink X_x
i didnt join the Asia Qualifier on 15 November this year
the recent one
im more of an insight filmer
to me winning doesnt really make Yugioh for me =D

Rauzes:
Okey.
Just curious, what, in your opinion, makes a deck a tier one deck.

Neuxcharge : Hmm
a deck that you grew alongside with
and a deck that your can believe in
cheesy stuff, i know

Rauzes: tier one boy, not "good".

Neuxcharge : hmmmmmm
Well
on a competitive scale
a Tier 1 deck to me is something that can be on 2 ends
Skill and Luck
For every format , it tends to shift
so this format
we can use Zombie Synchro as an example
but that decktype is different
its more Synergy
and that means that the scale im using is too small XD
Every deck has a form of Synergy
Rota,Cotlb, Gladial proving ground etc
all help the deck in a way
and a Tier 1 deck
tends to have powerful support for its engine or type
But since we are only talking about decks, to put it in the following mindsets
Mindset 1: More Gay or Broken = best
Mindest 2: More Gay or Broken = I must take this deck down ( Rarest mindset) Makes deck that tops constantly and gets placed on the map ( Even rarer.)
Mindset 3: Too Broken .......Must avoid this deck
2 and 3 are similar
hmmm
n the end , you could say that it boils down to Which deck can be "discovered" to be Tier 1
because in my honest opinion
the cooler Tier 1 decks
are the ones that people consider as Underdogs
But they adapt into something more
also, to discover Brokenness in a combo and eventually make a deck around it could make it Tier 1, but this kind of thing is very rare
Err
done lol

Rauzes:
ok lol.
next question
how often do you play Yugioh?
Also, how long do you play the video games

Neuxcharge :
i played nearly everyday during my holidays
I used to play the video Games like tag force 1,2 and 3 on my psp
until it got stolen X_x
But now i tend to moderate my playing time
due to school and stuff
but i do go to locals
to film

Rauzes:
how many hours you play actual cards then?

Neuxcharge :
actual cards with my friends usually takes alot of time
sometimes
he day just goes by without us knowing lol

Rauzes:
What inspires you to make blog posts?

Neuxcharge :
i felt that blog posts and videos can be 2 different mediums that can say the same thing at times
but blog posts can do what videos can't and vice versa
also
it helps to let my subscribers know what ive been up to if there is a lack of video updates XD
Hmm
next qns lol

Rauzes:
do you spend time developing new deck types or concepts
if so, how much time do you spend?

Neuxcharge:
well
i don't really make new deck types
but i do help others test out their ideas with their permission

Rauzes:
ok cool
how much do you play/test your new decks per week?
in hours

Neuxcharge:
at least 4 to 6 hours if i have a full day at locals
or i use a test deck and include side decking in the rounds

Rauzes:
how many decks do you currently own
and of them, how many are "for winning
or built to be for tournament winning use

Neuxcharge:
errr
this will be a very hard question
could i skip?
because the number of decks i have is preferred to be hidden XD

Rauzes:
o.O
that will be posted.

Neuxcharge:
ok

Rauzes:
what, in your opinion, is the #1 reason you still play yugioh

Neuxcharge:
because i like how the future of the game constantly shifts
new sets makes new decks
while the new cards inside
enable an older card to gain newfound usage
E.g. rescue Kitty
Also
because the game is seeing more players here =D

Rauzes:
okey
since this is a series of interviews
would you like to be published first or last?

Neuxcharge:
Hmm
last =D

Rauzes:
ok just to spite you ill publish you first
lol

Neuxcharge:
???
lol XD
i see

Rauzes:
okey
final question
favorite card of all time, and why

Neuxcharge:
Dark Magician of chaos
i always thought of him as the higher form of Dark Magician
and he was pretty cool in the previous formats were he was not banned =D

Rauzes:
Okey. Thats all
Any closing comments?

Neuxcharge:
Nope

Rauzes:
Okey
well thanks Neuxcharge for coming to the interview today
Ladies and Gentlemen, remember if you want to ask him anything
just call in, and our operator will patch you thought.
That concludes our interview for today
Tune in tommorow to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until then,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!
You say it too.

Neuxcharge:
RAIDINGU DUELU! ACCERAREISHON!!!

Blogger Interviews: Day 4

Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, and Rabid Fans, and welcome to our continuation of a series of interviews with bloggers around the world.

Today, I will be interviewing LGQ, a Malaysian duelist who owns the frequently updated blog Its Time To Duel!/The Soul of a Duelist

You can find his blog at http://yugioh-duelist.blogspot.com/

Rauzes:
Hi.

LGQ:
hi?

Rauzes:
Can you introduce yourself?
and give some Yugioh Background?
Have you topped any large tournaments?
LGQ:
myself? chinese guy that goes to college and travels about 1 hour to school?
ygo background? started at 13, never stopped till now.
never really topped anything
the closest was 9th, a place from top 8

Rauzes:
How long have you been playing?

LGQ:
6~7 years
since powers of the guardians booster pack

Rauzes:
Cool.
What, in your opinion, makes a deck tier 1, as opposed to just another themed deck
LGQ:
powerful big ass boss monsters
with really good back ups
basically, I feel that the deck has to be one with the boss

Rauzes:
Okey, intersting perspective.
Is this the first interview youve had?

LGQ:
yup
i'm not the kind of guy that people have any interested in

Rauzes:
Ok.
How long a week do you usually play?
DS/PSP games included

LGQ:
once or twice, excluding testing by myself

Rauzes:
and how long each time?

LGQ:
a few hours i guess. depends on what time I go to my locals

Rauzes:
On average?

LGQ:
3 ish?

Rauzes:
3 hours a week?

LGQ:
something like that

Rauzes:
What inspires you to write blog posts?

LGQ:
the things that pop out in my head I guess
i guess u can say that I write for the fun of it

Rauzes:
Do you spend time developing new deck concepts?
If so, on average, how much time?

LGQ:
about an hour a day I guess, its mostly weekends now cause my grades are slipping
but i guess in the week ends it'll be about 2~3 hours
but I won't say developing concepts as I don't really have excess to a whole lot of cards

Rauzes:
How many decks do you own?
And What are they?

LGQ:
6
One of my top two are my BF oppression
but thats not my ace deck thou
my main is E HERO but I can only run them in locals
as most of the cards are promos

Rauzes:
what are your decks?

LGQ:
E HERO , oppresion BF, Gemini J&D, koaki meiru, fortune lady, deep sea diva syncro(in complete)

Rauzes:
Interesting.

What is your #1 reason to continue playing yuigoh?

LGQ:
cause its the thing thats in my head most of the time.

Rauzes:
LOL
cool.
Im sure
youve heard that these interviews are a series
is there any particular place you want to be posted?
first? last? second or second to last?

LGQ:
no...
i guess I like things somewhere in front

Rauzes:
Okey.
just to spite you, ill post you as one of the last
lol
jk.

LGQ:
Haha

Rauzes:
Final question
what is your favorite card, of all time?
and why.

LGQ:
miracle fusion
saved my ass loads of times

Rauzes:
Interesting
For most people its a monster

LGQ:
since I played E HERO(5 years ago I think), u don't believe how many times I topped deck it
I almost always top deck this card when I'm in a pinch(is it spelled this way)

Rauzes:
Okey. Thats all
Any closing comments?
Anything you want to say to your rabid fangirls?

LGQ:
err... I'm finally interviewed by someone?
i suck at making lines. so... I don't really know what to say. ha ha

Rauzes:
lol
Okey
well thanks LGQ for coming to the interview today
Ladies and Gentlemen, remember if you want to ask him anything
just call in, and our operator will patch you thought.
That concludes our interview for today
Tune in tommorow to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until then,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!
You say it too.

LGQ:
riding duel, acceleration...

Blogger Interviews: Day 3

Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the next of a series of interviews with some Yuigoh-bloggers around the world.

Today I will be interviewing PJ Tierny, the man we all know as "The Irish Duelist".

You can find his blog at http://theirishduelist.blogspot.com/ .

And now, on with the interview!

Rauzes:
Hi PJ

PJ:
Hey Rau.

Rauzes:
First off, is this your first interview?

PJ:
No, I've been interviewed before. After the 2008 European Championship I was interviewed by 'Czech Cloud' for his website: http://theirishduelist.blogspot.com/2008/09/european-championship-interview.html
I had done fairly well at the event and it was nice to see that get recognized.

Rauzes:
Can you give a brief introduction to yourself, and state some of your Yugioh background
and name a few events you’ve topped

PJ:
Sure. I'm 23, from Limerick in Ireland, and currently studying Sculpture & Combined Media at Limerick School of Art and Design. I started playing YGO casually when it first came over to Europe, but secondary school (Irish version of high school) got in the way. Once I went to LSAD though, I found a local comic shop called The Gathering, and started playing in locals.
My full history is quite long (it's on my blog at the very start), but of note I was ranked #1 in Ireland back when Upper Deck controlled the TCG, finished Top 16 at the UK/Ireland Pharaoh Tour Finals in Manchester, went undefeated Day 1 of Euros 2008, and have done very well on the local scene. I also write articles for Konami's new strategy site, which went online last night.

Rauzes:
Interesting
How much time do you spend playing?
Including the DS/PSP games, if you play those

PJ:
I spend a lot of time around YGO forums, but with college and everything I only get to play at weekends. My locals are every Saturday at The Gathering and I occasionally travel to Cork and Galway for locals if they're on. I don't have a DS/PSP, but I have played some of the World Championship games before.

Rauzes:
Most people find it hard to maintain good technique and playing if they don’t play often
yet you can keep up a high win rate
with little time playing. Cool.

Another thing that contributes to winning is of course, the deck.
What, in your opinion, makes a tier one deck a tier one deck, and not just a tier 2 deck which has its share of combos and synergy?

PJ:
A deck needs the right support; some draw power, a way to search its key cards easily, and that 'x factor' or big combo that can change the game at any time. Lightsworn is the best example of this as they have everything; speed, draw power, boss monsters, protection. Lightsworn is the finest example of how a Tier 1 archetype should be designed.

Rauzes:
Okey. Let’s move onto blogging then

PJ:
It started out as a project for LSAD, but I just feel that I have something to say, and people will usually take notice. Long before I started blogging people knew me online, and always seemed to like what I had to say. I remember Jae Kim saying that my Tournament Reports (which are usually very long and detailed) were the best he's ever seen and a fine example of good YGO writing. The blog has kind of changed somewhat in the past few months. it started out with me writing simple articles on cards and so-on, but that takes up a lot of time. It then moved on to just personal thoughts and so-on, but I felt that it was boring. Now, I just post stuff that I find interesting, or material that I know people want to read, like the recent interview I did with Vincent Ralambomiadana, the recent SJC Champion.

Rauzes:
Okey cool
so you could say that unlike other blogs, which write what they want to say, you write for what people want to hear

PJ:
I think that works better. You've seen from the average Twitter page the people post all sorts of crap like "I went to the shops today". Nobody wants to read that, you're just posting for the sake of it. Blogs are meant to be a form of media like newspapers etc., where people will take the time to read a good article. You can see that that's all I want to really do, since I don't have any Google Ads on my site, even though I could generate a bit of income from it. People like what I write, and the mat designs I post up, along with the things I find elsewhere and post up, so I'm gonna continue down that route.

Rauzes:
Okey.
A lot of bloggers tend to post their new ideas or concepts for decks
and tend to spend some time developing these new concepts
do you spend any time at all developing and discovering new concepts or decks?

PJ:
I don't really have the time these days to do so, so I usually keep my ear to the ground and see what's doing well at events and such. Luckily I've made enough money from trades etc. to build whatever type of deck I want so I have a wide range of options available. However, if there's a big event on the horizon I'll find a deck I like and stick to it for a month or two. I did that with GB for Nats this year and finished 11th, and with LS ever since July. When I'm 'done' with a deck/variant I'll usually write about it, like I did with the LS deck a few weeks ago.

Rauzes:
Oh so you’ve "moved on" from LS?

PJ:
I love playing LS, and it's always there for me if I don't feel safe enough with any other deck. In the past month I've run Dragons, BW and tried out a few other ideas since playing LS for 4 months straight gets boring.

Rauzes:
Playing a single deck gets really boring.
Most other players have around three to four decks, whilst others have upwards ten or so
How many intact decks do you have right now?

PJ:
Outside of moving Synchros and staples like Mirror Force around, I've got 2 decks that I can consider 'complete' right now; Blackwings and Lightsworn. I haven't run BW since RGBT came out in the TCG, so I'm quite rusty with it and trying to make the most use of those Vayus.

Rauzes:
Okey. I guess that kinda answered the next question too, how many decks you own that are "just for fun"

PJ:
My Dragon deck was a fun deck to play with. I got a lot of help from Rich Clarke, who runs nothing but Dragons and has done well with them in big events in the US.

Rauzes:
Just curious, in your opinion, what is the number one reason you still play Yugioh?

PJ:
I'm hooked, simple as. It's a fun game, you get to meet a lot of cool people, and if you know what you're doing it's a hobby you can make some money from.
The only reason I stopped playing the first time was because I didn't know that tournaments existed in Ireland and everybody nearby had stopped too.

Rauzes:
As you know, this interview is part of a series of interviews
is there any particular place you want to be posted in?

PJ:
Like an order? It doesn't really matter to me so long as it's 'out there'. I'll be posting it on my blog anyways, and most likely on Pojo too. DGZ has an interviews section if you want to post it there.

Rauzes:
Final question: What is your favorite card of all time, and why?

PJ:
Brain Control: it wins games!
(props to Stephen Lynam, for the phrase)

Rauzes:
Okey. That’s it for the interview
any closing comments?

PJ:
Everything has been pretty much said already, but if anybody's interested in more, head on over to my blog at http://theirishduelist.blgospot.com You'll also find me modding the Pojo.biz and UkayPro.co.uk forums. Till then, goodbye.

Rauzes:
Okey, well thanks for coming to the interview today.

PJ:
Cheers, any time.

Rauzes:
Ladies and gentlemen, just remember, if you want to ask him anything, just call our operator, and he'll patch us through
Tune in tomorrow to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until next time,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!
You say it too.
XD

PJ:
RIDING DUEL.......... ACCELERATION!

Blogger Interviews: Day 2

Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the next of a series of interviews with some Yuigoh-bloggers around the world.

Today I will be interviewing Lam, the Malaysian blogger who maintains his Yugioh blog here

Rauzes:
Okey. Interview starts now
Hi
Lam:
hey
Rauzes:
Can you introduce a bit about yourself, and give some background on your Yugioh history?
Lam:
I am 18, Started Yugioh About approximately 6-7 years ago. First deck I bought was the English edition Kaiba Deck
Rauzes:
Any credentials you wanna state?
Any big tournaments topped?
Lam:
No big tournament won actually, Highest I went was 16 with a RDD buster deck
Rauzes:
Is this your first interview?
Lam:
I think it’s a yes
Rauzes:
Next question: What, in your opinion, makes a tier 1 deck a tier 1 deck, as opposed to just another deck out there?
Lam:
Hmm, to make a tier 1 deck, all you needed is to focus on one of your fav theme or cards and mod it till the max. I believe Light Lords became that good is because of peoples time and effort to perfect it too
Rauzes:
Interesting perspective
How often do you play?
Lam:
If you Include PSP I think almost every day. Light If I have a month Holiday I might go to the card shop every week. But lately less due to ending of the semesters, there is lots of assignment coming up. Therefore I did not visit the card shop for about 3 months now. But I do play at least one time a week with my cousin.
Rauzes:
How many hours a week, on average?
Lam:
Yugioh on PSP I think 5-7 hours a week maybe?
Actual dueling is like 3-4 hours a week
Rauzes:
Tops about 12 hours a week on the game.
I know people who sometimes go 12 hours at ONCE on the game.
What inspires your blog posts?
Lam:
Inspire...hmm there is lots of things that inspire me on my post. Starbucks and New card series and driving maybe are usually the main factors that inspire me. Bloggers also inspire me on my post too. Among all of them, one of them is the interviewer himself Rauzes, Neux(charge) inspire me quite a lot too.... basically those who I follow or Link usually are the bloggers that are inspiring me on the blog post
Rauzes:
Hmm. Okey.
I see from your blog that you create new decks every so often
How long a week do you spend developing new decks/new deck concepts?
Lam:
Fridays and Saturday night only
and usually its midnights
Rauzes:
Okey, so not much.
How many decks do you own, and how many of those decks are "high tier/built to win"
built to win would be LS, GB, BW, etc. those high tier stuff
Lam:
High tier? Seldom... I don’t even know if My anti meta is considered as Anti meta or not... and I seldom collect cards light GB, BW , LS or etc. I am more to decks like MGS, Six Samurai, Dragunity or etc
Rauzes:
And so how many decks do you currently own?
Lam:
5
Rauzes:
Which are?
Lam:
Currently Ojama/ Six Samurai / Anti Meta / Archfiends + Earthbound God / Blue eyes
Rauzes:
Interesting lineup.
What is YOUR number one reason to keep playing Yugioh?
Lam:
Love the fun and social time hanging out with Yugioh players, and this game gave you the opportunity to think a lot...
Rauzes:
Ok. Cool.
Just curious, since you’ve heard the rumors that these interviews are a series
When do you want to have your interview published?
First? Last? Or Second or In between?
Oh
And "I don’t care" is not an accepted answer
Lam:
In the between then
Rauzes:
Final question
What is your favorite card of all time, and why?
Lam:
All time which since game started?
Hmm
Dark Necrofear
Rauzes:
And why?
Lam:
Because it’s like one of the craziest card back then and its freaks kid out,
And is Usable in many fiend decks
Rauzes:
Well, I guess that wraps it up.
Any closing comments?
Lam:
Hmm not actually comment... But just a simple opinion
As always
Winning is not everything, the most important is the process of having fun
Rauzes:
Indeed.
Well, thank you for your time Mr. Lam
Lam:
Np same to you
Rauzes:
Tune in tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until then, RIDING DUEL, ACCELERATION!
You say it too.
Lam:
It too.

Blogger Interviews: Day 1

Hello everybody and welcome to the first of a series of interviews with some Yuigoh-bloggers around the world.


Today, I will be interviewing Colin, the man behind the blog, Duel Society.

The URL Link to his blog is http://duelsociety.blogspot.com/


Rauzes:
Just tell me when you want to interview.

Colin:
Ok ready

Rauzes:
Okey
Hi Colin

Colin:
Hi Rauzes
=)

Rauzes:
Is this your first interview?

Colin:
Yeap

Rauzes:
Also I think you should be aware that everything you say
Can and will be upped onto my blog
Is that ok?

Colin:
Yes no problem

Rauzes:
It also can and might be edited to make you sound funny
Is that ok?

Colin:
Sure no problem

Rauzes:
Okey.
First off, can you introduce yourself? Some of your Yugioh background, where you come from, and about your blog?

Colin:
My name is Colin, age 20 this year, from Singapore.
I started playing Yugioh in the year 2004.
I was actually first introduced by a good friend of mine into playing the game on the game boy. After playing the game on the game boy for about 3 months, I got hooked onto the game and wanted to try the real thing. so yeap, I saved up money to buy the first deck I had, yugi structure deck 2.
So then I played till at around 2005
I became Singapore’s top 8 players at one of the Asia championship Singapore qualifiers when chaos soldier was still ruling around. Then in 2007, after seeing dueling days being set up, I felt inspired, with my best friend Kenneth, into making the blog, duel society.
Duel society is a blog where we will share our ideas and reviews about cards
Strategies and more

Rauzes:
Ok cool
Any other credentials you wanna state?
Any other big tourneys you’ve topped?

Colin:
Topped no but in the year 2008, I was top 8 again, in the Asia championships Singapore qualifiers.
Yeap that all for now

Rauzes:
Ok
How often do you play Yugioh, DS and PSP games included?

Colin:
For these days
I play Yugioh once a week at the card shop in khatib
Previously, I played Yugioh everyday
If including psp/ds I would be playing every day even now

Rauzes:
How many hours per week on actual card? And for game?

Colin:
On actual card would be 8 hours
On game would be around 15 hours

Rauzes:
So about 2 hours a day? On game?

Colin:
Around there

Rauzes:
Wow.
For you, what inspires your blog posts?

Colin:
The cards that I see that are very interesting, or random ideas given by players when I play with them

Rauzes:
Okey. I think the same goes for a lot of bloggers
Do you spend time developing new decks or new deck ideas?
If so, how much time?

Colin:
Yes, usually around 3 - 4 hours or more
Depends if I have some real life activities going on or not

Rauzes:
3-4 hours a week?

Colin:
If a week
Around 5 -6 hours
But have been quite busy these days

Rauzes:
Hmm. ok
You don’t usually post your new deck ideas on your blog, why?

Colin:
I do
If u read previous posts of previous years there are quite a few decks
However before I post a new deck idea I tend to want to Photoshop a banner just for it first
=)

Rauzes:
I’m sure there are decks
You play just for fun
And others you build to have a high win rate.
Right?

Colin:
Yes
That right

Rauzes:
What is the ratio of the two deck types, approximately, that you own?

Colin:
2: 2

Rauzes:
Which decks do you currently own?

Colin:
gladial beast, lightlord, wrath of neos, junkyard assault

Rauzes:
So
Which one of those is your "main"?
The one you use and like the most?

Colin:
Wrath of neos
I’m an E-HERO fan

Rauzes:
Cool. Me to.
Okey. Final questions
What’s the #1 reason you keep playing Yugioh?

Colin:
Hmmm
To face stronger opponents every major tournament

Rauzes:
Wow.
And your favorite card of all time?
One card only.
And reason why.

Colin:
Ah...
That’s hard
E-HERO Prisma
Reason? It’s a very versatile card
Plus it’s light

Rauzes:
That’s all?
Not "it’s sparkly" or "it has high atk"?

Colin:
Nope
I look for effects over attack
Ok
The art is really cool too btw
=)

Rauzes:
Okey
That’s all for this interview
Any closing comments?

Colin: alright
This is a fun interview Rauzes and
I really hope the ygo community in Singapore can continue to improve
For the major tournaments

Rauzes:
Okey. Thanks for your time Colin

Colin: np
Thank you

Rauzes:
Okey, well thanks for coming to the interview today.
Ladies and gentlemen, just remember, if you want to ask him anything, just call our operator and he'll patch us through
Tune in tommorow to 77.7288FM for an interview with another blogger.
Until next time,
RIDING DUEL! ACCELERATION!

Into the Minds of Bloggers

This upcoming week, I will be interviewing some Yuigoh Bloggers.
今週、遊戯王のブログを持っている人々にインタビューをします

These interviews will be posted throughout the week, one interview each day.
このインタビューは一日に一つ公開します

Look forwards to them!
お楽しみに

Trishula

Is the name of Shiva's Spear(Hindu myths)
トリシューラというのはヒンドュー教の神であるシヴァの槍のことである

Just random trivia yes, but if you notice, all Ice Boundary Dragons are named after legendary polearms.
単なる豆知識だけど、ほかの氷結界の龍たちも伝説の槍から名前を借りている

But then, why are the Dragunity dragons named after polearms also?
だったら、なんでドラグニティーの龍たちは普通の槍から名前を借りているの？

Are the Dragunity monsters are lesser "copies" of the Ice Boundary Dragons?
ひょっとして、ドラグニティーの龍たちは氷結界の龍のコピー？

Macro Cosmos VS Dimensional Fissure, Revisited

Both do almost the same job, keeping monsters out of the graveyard, but each has its problems and weaknesses.

Heres another look comparing the two.
マクロと裂け目の比べ

Macro Cosmos/マクロコズモス

Can remove from play Spirit Burner
スピリット・バーナーを除外できる

Can be free-chained.
チェーンできる

Can remove from play GB Chariot
剣闘獣の戦車を除外できる


Dimensional Fissure/次元の裂け目

Can be activated on the first turn you draw it
引いたターン使える

Wont be negated by Trap Stun
トラップスタンで無効されない

Cannot be negated by Oppression
弾圧で無効されない

Dark Valkyria Beat Playtesting

As you all remember, a while back I posted Dark Valkyria Beat, a Dark Valkyria based beatdown/destruction deck.

Quite a few players have picked this decktype up, and Ive managed to contact one player who picked up the deck and is currently running with it.

Here are his fixes he made to the deck, with reasoning.

FitzC. (on Pojo)

-3 shrink
-1 escape from the dark dimension
-1 Victom counter
-1 Sangan
I'll start with cards that I took out. The shrinks where very benefical at the beginning but a couple of test plays vs. Lightlords,blackwings, adn gladiator beast, I began to notice a pattern when they had card of multiply destruction I had a Valkyria and a set shrink which didnt do me any good so took them out. The same goes for the victom counters they helped stop solar recharges but Valkyria's Defense was to low to matter, so I took one out since it is still neccesary for the deck. As for the Escape two was just dead draw unless I went out of my way to remove it. Sangan Just so slow for my taste.

+1 Crimson Demon Fighter
+2 Krebons
+1 E-tele
+1 Future Fusion
+1 Choas Sorcserer
Now for those I added. Crimson Fighter- After a little bit a realized that two birthrights and a blaze wing butterfly werent enough special summon power, So I did wat any player does when there st***** for an Idea, I went to yugioh.wikia.com there I saw this card which at first i thought was a great solution but the special cost was a bit tough(a bought a day later I realized that i could just tribute summon him FitzC. Fail) and so he's in. Next is yet another tribute monster Caius He's in her because no with out shrink I was at a loss for monster desruction other valky so I decided since he can get rid of either back row or monsters. Now for the krebons and E-tele Just need more ways to get the powerful snychros there are ( got a couple after my Birthday) and krebons and E-tele where a favorite of mine plus he works with caius and crimson fighter. Chaos Sorc and Future Fusion These two are together beacuse they combo, plus F-Fusion always me to get Superalloy Raptinus and set my graveyard for both birthright plays and crimson fighter plays.

And I believe thats it for my changes If necssary I'll Pm you My current record. From 1 Duelist 2 another FitzC. Out



With all decks here, they merely illustrate concepts to happen, and have been initally balanced to fit testing, but if you want to take the decktype and run with it, it is important to make changes to fit to your meta and your own playstyle.

Micromanagement VS Macromanagement

In Yugioh, Micromanagement cards are easily targeted, most of the time free-chainable, and most importantly only handle one card.
another big difference is that micromanagement cards can most of the time be ignored by the opponent, because its a minor setback only, but also because they tend to come off as not worth countering.

Macromanagement, on the other hand, tend to be much larger scale, affecting many monsters or cards at once.

Whilst for macromanagement, examples include Mirror Force, Heavy Storm, and to a lesser extent Torrential Tribute(damages you too), they also include cards such as Threatening Roar and Waboku, since they do handle a big problem blindly.
Less played examples are cards like Swords of Revealing Light.

Examples of Micromanagement are cards like MST, Enemy Controller, Raigeki Break, Book of Moon, etc. A bit less into this category are smashing and fissure. whilst theyre easy to use and handle only one problem, whilst being "not very valuable" in terms of single card play, allowing for most, if not all, to go through.

Most decks tend to run the easy to think of Macromanagement cards, because theyre a: easy to play, and b: they swing the momentum of the game in your favor.
Most are known as "staples."

Right? You dont see too many decks that dont run Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute, and Heavy Storm if they can afford it.

Keep in mind that all sorts of advantage have micro AND macromanagement cards to deal with them.
EG: Graveyard Advantage.
Micro: Soul Release, Transmigration Prophecy
Macro: Macro Cosmos(no pun), Big Burn.

Another Example: Hand Advantage
Micro: Mind Crush, Spirit Reaper
Macro: Card Destruction, Morphing Pot

Yet more examples: Unseen Card Advantage
Micro: Nobleman of Crossout
Macro: Chaos Pot.

Life Advantage:
Micro: Sparks
Macro: Reversal Quiz

Tempo Advantage:
Micro: Demon Chain, Scrap Iron Scarecrow, Kick Back
Macro: Swords of Revealing Light, Guardian Sphinx.

Conclusion:
When building your deck, be sure to include at least some micromanagement cards, since the chance of them being countered is low, and their individual play value(just how important the play is to YOU) is low.

Whilst the inclusion of these might not mean much to you when building, they really pay out in practice, allowing you to stay in the fight more often.

Ritual Grepher

With the advent of the two new Ritual Fiends, especially the one that negates Synchro monsters have suddenly become stronger.

Plus the fact that they tend to drop Chaos Sorc often really helps.

Shining Spark

In the days of old, using Pheonix Blade, DDR, and Voltic to re-use Stratos more and more to gain near infinite advantage was an idea greatly used.

The latest trick that Elemental Hero decks have gotten their hands on is E.Hero The Shining.

Now, with the utility of endless Advantage gaining cards, such as Pheonix Blade, Stratos, and Voltic, in conjunction with the Shining, this deck can run a very good advantage based game.

In fact, if you look at The Shining, its almost a +1 beatstick if you play it from Miracle Fusion.

Another powerful advantage gaining card, Hero Blast, is also included to provide control, as well as some recursion.

The monsters to use Hero Blast are primarily Neos Alius, and to a much lesser extent Sparkman.

Neos Alius is not only a monster that can be used as both fusion materials, but can also pull upon Gemini Spark, a powerful control and free-chain trick.

Shining Spark
シャイニング SPARK

Monsters/モンスター/14枚
1 Elemental Hero Stratos/E・HERO　エアーマン
3 Elemental Hero Neos Alius/E・HERO　アナザー・ネオス
3 Elemental Hero Captain Gold/E・HERO　キャップテン・ゴールド
2 Elemental Hero Voltic/E・HERO　ボルテック
2 Elemental Hero Sparkman/E・HERO スパークマン
3 Honest/オネスト

Spells/魔法/18枚
3 E - Emergency Call/E-エマージェンシーコール
3 Gemini Spark/デュアル・スパーク
2 Skyscraper/摩天楼ースカイスクレイパー
3 Different Dimension Revival/Ｄ・Ｄ・Ｒ
3 Miracle Fusion/ミラクル・フューション
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐
1 Mystical Space Typhoon/サイクロン
2 Divine Sword - Pheonix Blade/聖剣ーフェニックス・ブレイドー

Traps/罠/8枚
3 Hero Blast/ヒーロー・ブラスト
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー
1 Torrential Tribute/激流葬
1 Call of the Haunted/リビングデッドの呼び声
2 Karma Cut/因果切断

As you can see, cards such as D.D.R and Karma Cut can be freely used, because of the sheer advantage gaining game you are running.

One of the card choices that was hardest to make was the two Sparkman. Having two more Light Level 4 Heroes was essential for the opening turns, as well as Stratos to gain advantage throughout the game, but the only other valid options were Sparkman and Prisma.

Sparkman, while standing 100 points weaker, was picked mainly because of price, but also because it would allow for alternate targets for Hero Blast, something Prisma could not do.

Also, it was chosen because with Super Polymerization, something you may want to tech in, suddenly has many more options than Gaia and Absolute Zero.

The Simple Side: Asia Tournament Special Edition

Okey fine I wanted to make this post earlier in the week but MEH.

One of the things that I used to post about back when this blog was young was countering the meta, and building your side and packing fun tech.


Not everyone knows how to build their side.

Since were talking about Asia Tournament here, first we have to go over the "Big" decks.

1. Lightsworn.
2. Graveyard BF
3. Gladiator Beast
4. Metabeat
5. Other Synchro spam based decks(Junk and Debris, Stardust Buster, Powertool Plant, etc)

Lets assume everything else wont be causing so much problems for you, or if they are, also taken care of with.

The trick to siding also lies with each individual card being able to take on not just one but rather two or more decks.

Then, the other thing we need to take into account is to HOW it helps you win.

First, THREE MALEVOLENT CATASTROPHE.

I have no idea why on earth you people don't pack Malevolent Catastrophe in your side in twos or threes. The only reason I don't for ONE of my decks is because I MAIN two.

Malevolent Catastrophe wrecks. It ravages. Its three more heavy storms and you and your opponents both know that.

Gladiator beasts and some other beatdown form decks might run Trap stun, which makes it a one for one trade.

It singlehandedly takes on Graveyard BF(Oppression), Metabeat, Gladial Beasts, and many other backrow based decks.

That is assuming the lightsworn you come up against dont pack Oppression themselves, and the other synchro spam based decks dont have a need for extra control(Junk and Debris)

Another card you should be looking at is Soul Release.

Yes, this card is more or less solely for lightsworn, but it can also be applied to Graveyard BF for additional stalling.

Okey, Kycoo is also a good choice. It stops Necro Gardna too. Also, unlike Soul Release, it has recursion.

BUT

Kycoo stalls.

Soul Release wins.(It stalls much better too.)

One card that Lightsworn run lately to assure their "oh whoops deck out" never happens again is Spirit Burner, a card with the additional fun of helping out Ehren.

Now, if you can hit Spirit Burner with Soul Release, suddenly one of the problems that they think they solved in the deckbuilding stage is suddenly a very, VERY real problem.

Since it also stalls quite well(staving off their OTKs), it simply puts them closer to their decking out problem.

Which brings me to our next point, stalling even more.

Threatening Roar does the double job of staving off an OTK(Graveyard BF, Lightsworn), and holding Gladial Beasts at bay.

Being free chain, it also can, if played well, lead right into the aforementioned Malevolent Catastrophe.

Some say it only gives you ONLY one turn, but I say you should change your thinking.

It gives time. Time + Cards = Solution.

Most of the time in the form of Black Rose Dragon.

For Gladial Beasts, a strong choice against and for is Scrap Iron Scarecrow, BUT it doesnt work quite as well as you might want(Gyzarus, also LS have Lyla and Celestia and JD)

What I havent really assesed as of now much is the Graveyard BF problem.

While Soul release, Threatening Roar, and to an extent Malevolent Catastrophe DO deal with that problem, your going to have to have much much more to follow up, or micro manage REALLY well in early game.

Assuming your deck permits, the only reasonable choice would be Kycoos.

Lightning Vortex, to follow up on their hopeful OTK is also needed.

Thus, THE simple side - Asia Tournament edition, would be
3 Malevolent Catastrophes
3 Soul Release
3 Threatening Roar
2 Kycoo, the Ghost Destroyer
2 Lightning Vortex
2 Empty Slots

These two empty slots should be cards easy to use, whilst serving a purpose. Examples of these would be GB Hunter, Divine Wrath, Karma Cut, etc.

That concludes THE simple side - asia tournament special edition.

Too many decks..

Some people have many decks.

While no so common in TCG areas, this does occur quite often, and very often, in OCG dominant areas, due to the cheaper cards(most of the time)

Whilst for many, the spread of cards across these several decks is not a problem, since most will give priority for any cards they need for their main deck to be in their main.

HOWEVER

What people do not realize is that they are spreading their focus and development of their playing over several decktypes, meaning the time developing your playstyle for each deck is significantly reduced.

Most good players tend to have very few decks. One or two not so often, but three or four actually quite often.

Therefore, instead of creating many decks(especially decks with themes in common, that draw from similar support cards), if you want to become better and win more often, focus on one or two decks only. Having another deck or two just for fun might not be a bad idea, but try not to deviate from your main deck too often, and have your fun decks bearing similar concepts/themes.

For example, since my main deck is Absolute Zero, my fun deck could reasonably be a Shining based deck, so thus by playing either one, I can develop my playing for a similar deck, and confront certain situations given a similar pool of cards more often.


Asking some of the best players out there, they probally only have around three-four decks, as compared to the upwards fourty most normal players usually have.

To Storm or Not to Storm

The opponent goes first. He sets five cards backrow, then passes.

You topdeck into storm.

Do you activate?

Not Giant Turnade, but Heavy Storm.

An obvious Starlight Road? Or are they playing heavy backrow and trying to spend up your storm early?

Quickdraw Synchron Monarchs

Needs to see much more play.

Too many OTKs coming out of nowhere.

30000 damage from 3 cards, all of which are unlimited? Yes please.

Junk Box

Theres something about this card thats strange...

It screams potential,

It just adds to the amount of graveyard advantage deformer decks use.

Yet, nobody seems to be taking advantage of this advantage.

Cards to Look out for

Cards to look out for in the coming months:

NECROVALLEY
Pheonix Blade
Emergency Call
Rite of Spirit
Dark Grepher

Read your F'ing Rulebook Day.

Hello all.

Recently, it appears that far too many "expereinced" or "vet" players are screwing up the most basic of rules.

So, I ask everyone reading this to, today, take some time out and read up your rulebook again.

Refresh yourself with the basic rules.

No, MST'ing a spell does NOT counter it.
Etc.

No, I dont care how many regional/national/world tournaments you have gone to/won. Does change the fact that you dont know basic rules.

So, regardless of how good you think/know you are, take some time out, and refresh yourself with the most basic of rules.

Nobody cares that you know how shrink works inside and out. If you dont know that an equip spell targets, READ THE RULES.

Strategy and Counters

The more integral a deck's strategy is, the more counters it will have.

Conversely, the more random and luck based a deck is, the less it will.

"The only strategy with no counter is no strategy at all".


Thats great. So, Highlander, one of the only decks with no strategy at all, should be running over everything right?

Wrong.

Having nothing to be countered is one thing, but that also means you have nothing WORTH countering.

Combo decks/FTK decks are the converse of this. They run off getting off one FTK to win.

The only reason they win is the opponent not having any counters to mess them up OR not being ABLE to do so, thanks to turn 1.

One divine wrath, the loop is broken. One raigeki break, its game. One MST and there goes your match.


Probally the only deck that is undisputed tier 1 is Lightsworn.

What allows Lightsworn to dominate everything, even before Charge of the Light Brigade(see: OCG before October), is the ability to shift its balance between Strategy and Randomness.

While being highly luck based(Milling), it also has strong strategy, allowing you access both good strong strategy and erratic playing.


However, what this "drunken brawler" concept CAN be applied to better is playstyle.

Playing very sacky and very luck based, and very random, not thinking things through a lot can lead to less than desirable outcomes, but also will lead to each individual card being countered meaning less, because it wont have much impact to your plan.

Being able to shift to this for a few games once in a while can be effective in throwing your opponent off.

Go out on a limb once in a while, make some stupid yet spectacular plays, dont think so much, and it will come back to you in a good way.

Everybody remembers that spectacular move that ended in an OTK. Nobody remembers that spectacular move that didnt.

Absolute Zero X Shining Deck Variants

Long story short, most of these dont work.

Usually, you would think they should fit perfectly, since you can constantly abuse them with Shining.

Balancing Waters and Lights is no problem at all(See: Rauzes.dek)

But what is problematic is summoning both of them.

The deck has a maximum of three Miracle Fusions, the only card that lets you run without losing game turning amounts of advantage.

Yet, as the options increase, so does the importance of single miracle fusion plays.

So just having a Shining in Absolute Zero or Zero in a Shining deck is ok

but when you start trying to put both together, it wont work anymore.

Phanchaos Norelas teching Future Fusion

To achieve advantage post-norelas with Red Eyes Darkness Metal dragon.

Looks good on paper, but in practice fails a bit too often.

Supervis Supervise Superbis

I just realized that the fanlation name for Supervise was totally wrong.

スペルヴィス is directly translated to Supervis, but if you say it out loud, it sounds like Superbis, similar to Superbia.

Think about it, and it makes sense, as Superbis comes from Superb, or something of a higher level, Gemini's dual summoned.

However, the english name completely throws this off.

Seriously, Supervise?

Makes no sense.
How would supervising something make it better?

I still think Konami needs better translators.

Lightning Warrior

I'm seeing a bit too many builds based on this guy, saying its the new DSF, making OTKs left and right.

Its not.

Its too small by itself to cause much damage, and too dependant on conditions of the field.

On top of that its nowhere near as worth it to bring out compared to the other level 7s we still have(Arcanite, Armor Master, BRD, etc).

To make it work, your going to have to buff it with Equip spells.

At least that gives you utility of Powertool Dragon, another level 7.

But doesnt solve the problem of summoning both.