The Gaijin Duelist/ザ・外人・デュエリスト

2010-03-28T22:08:00.000+09:00

Kore de Turn End.

2010-01-07T17:56:00.001+09:00

Post #370 - This is goodbye.

Hello to all who care enough to read this.
My name is *Censored* , but most people online call me Rauzes or Rau. I am "Japanese" by passport, but as the blog titles suggests, my appearance is far from it.

Life always has its twists and turns, some you can see coming, and others completely unexpected.

Yes, it was very hard to see for the many people I met with recently, but the words to describe my recent life are "Raging Shitstorm."(I'd prefer to not share any details, thanks.)

Yes, this, like everything, will come to pass, like all things, but with things like this, with sacrifice.

Unfortunately, one of the things I must give up is this blog(We'll come back to the reasons later).

Thus, this will be the last blog entry, and the end of "The Gaijin Duelist".

Precisely one year ago(Even the time), I started this blog, with a blog entry titled Ore No Turn! DRAW!(Its my turn! DRAW!) , to mark off the start of something new, a new turn, and thus, this blog entry is titled appropriately, Kore de Turn End.(This is turn end.)

One year ago, what was going through my mind? What made me start a blog?(The never before heard story!)

To be honest, judging from my facebook entry at that time, it was probably "Man I dont wanna study for exams, its a pain."

But, it was also inspiration from others to spread my ideas and knowledge to an audience willing to listen.

I know a LOT of the new bloggers were inspired by myself(and PJ) to start Yugioh blogs themselves, but what about myself?

Who influenced Rauzes to start a Yugioh blog?

First, there were the other bloggers.

Before I started, I was already following PJ and Bahamut84(+DSummon) 's blogs, and I found it quite nice how they wrote what they wanted and how popular they became, just saying what they had to say, and I aspired to be as famous as them in the Yugioh world.

Its kinda weird how I've become almost as renown around the world as them, one year later.

To be honest, I didnt read anyone else's blogs.

Then there were the other players around the world.

When I started the blog, I had been playing Yugioh for approximately a year(well, and two weeks, since I TECHNICALLY started on Boxing Day 2007), and I was next to a nobody on the Pojo forums(and even more nameless on the Japanese sites).

Being fluent in Japanese and English allowed me to draw upon all sorts of sites for playing tips, comboes, and ideas, and being able to spread it.

Being more or less nameless, you can kinda know what kind of response I got from Pojo.

I was trying to tell people about Hopeless Dragon at the time, when I got the PM from someone who was willing to listen, DM.

While I dont really remember how I responded, I believe it was something along the lines of "How about I make a blog, and you read about it there?", to which the response was more or less "k."

Looking back, I dont think I ever made that Hopeless Dragon post...

Also, there was Firebot88. I knew him online from before I started Yugioh, and he was one of the reasons I started playing in general(Of course, getting a Structure deck for Christmas more or less forced me to play), and helped me transition into building more competitive decks.

But, before the blog, all my random ideas and comboes that I usually post here, I more or less poured onto him.

Yes, thats ALL the random comboes that go through my head, with cards nobody else has heard of, all onto ONE person, and demanding feedback.(Junk and Debris was one of them, but so was "Exodios + Wulf + Wicked Gods")

Then, slightly more than one year ago, he suggested making a blog, so more people could hear of these weird comboes. And so I did.

And yeah. I guess that kinda wraps it up for the people who influenced the starting of this blog.

I've had the opportunity to see other people rise to fame, during my time, one of them being a friendly guy and popular Yugituber, Neuxcharge.

Since starting, I've also become well known in Pojo, for many reasons.

I posted a lot of decks in Pojo OCG section, and offered quite a lot of fixes and such, leading me to become quite well known there, and I also was a part of the Frustrations thread for quite a while.

Which also lead to the success of the blog.

Another reason for my success was how I always shared an idea or two, and at times, full length articles and decklists(with playguide!) every day.(A very Japanese blogger thing to do, for some reason)

Unfortunately, another reason why I'm quitting blogging is how that this daily update has, at times, become more of a chore than a hobby, something I felt obliged to do rather than want to do.

This lead to me not really thinking of ideas for the blog as openly as I wanted to, at times, and limiting my scope.

This, and other random factors that dont come to mind and the big one thats on my mind right now are the reason I'm quitting blogging as Rauzes.

But you think I'll just end without posting up ONE LAST NEW DECK?

Of course not. Who do you think I am?

I've been bringing the Yugioh Community new and innovative ideas and decklists for a year, and the last day is no exception.

Today, I give the world the latest and most used of my decks, Skill Drain Zero.

While most people guard their main decklists with secrecy, since its the deck most important to them, its quite something to share your main deck.

Skill Drain Zero ~ Ver. PinaColada ~

Monsters/モンスター/17
3 Honest/オネスト
3 Elemental Hero Neos Alius/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　アナザー・ネオス
2 Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Boundary/氷結界の番人　ブリズド
2 Elemental Hero Ocean/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　オーシアン
1 Elemental Hero Captain Gold/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　キャップテン・ゴールド
1 Cyber Dragon/サイバー・ドラゴン
1 Elemental Hero Stratos/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　エアーマン
1 Treeborn Frog/黄泉ガエル
1 Skreech/スクリーチ
1 Dragon Ice/ドラゴン・アイス
1 Elemental Hero Prisma/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　プリズマー

Spells/魔法/17
3 Miracle Fusion/ミラクル・フューション
2 Gemini Spark/デュアル・スパーク
2 E - Emergency Call/Ｅーエマージェンシーコール
2 Gold Sarcophagus / 封印の黄金室
2 Prohibition/禁止令
1 Skyscraper / 摩天楼―スカイ・スクレイパー
1 Future Fusion / 未来融合―フューチャー・フュージョン
1 Mystical Space Typhoon / サイクロン
1 Heavy Storm / 大嵐
1 Paralell World Fusion/平行世界融合
1 Reinforcement of the Army/増援

Traps/罠/6
2 Hero Blast/ヒーロー・ブラスト
2 Skill Drain/スキル・ドレイン
1 Call of the Haunted/リビングデッドの呼び声
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー

Side/サイド/15
3 Deep Sea Diva/深海のディーヴァ
1 Sea Archer/シー・アーチャー
1 Elemental Hero Voltic/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　ボルテック
1 Parallel World Fusion/平行世界融合
1 Brain Control/洗脳ーブレインコントロール―
1 Prohibition/禁止令
1 Fissure/地割れ
1 Inter dimension Matter Transporter /亜空間物質転送装置
2 Bottomless Trap Hole /奈落の落とし穴
1 Skill Drain / スキル・ドレイン
2 Threatening Roar/威嚇する咆哮

Skill Drain Zero has been my main for quite a while, and probally will be in the future, being the deck I enjoy the most.

Well, what does the future hold?

Just because I quit blogging doesnt mean I'm quitting Yugioh, nor does it mean that other people are quitting blogging, either.

There are many Yugioh blogs out there.

Take a look at the sidebar. Most of those are Yugioh blogs, and all of them are worth reading.

Take some time, and hear what others have to say.

First off, some of those blogs should already be on your reading list.

PJ's blog should already be on your "Why am I not reading this yet" list.

Anyhows, there are many blogs out there, some new, others old, but all have something to say, and you ought to lend your ears to them.

The backlogs for this blog also have quite a lot of tips and comboes and information. If you have the time, go back and read some backlogs and entries that were posted before you started reading. There ARE 390 other blog posts, each with a lesson.

If you couldnt solve some of the duel puzzles, try them again. I always try to teach people new ways of using a card(or in some cases, MANY cards), so it would be nice to see people solve them for themselves.

All the decklists were constructed upon concepts. Some better than others, yes, but all of them workable if you update them to the new format. Maybe one of these will appeal to you, who knows?

So, take some time, and read some old entries. You might be suprised as to what you find. I know I am sometimes.

Also, just because I've quit blogging doesnt mean I'm going to stop building decks and discussing the game, just that I'm cutting back significantly and it wont be all here.

My MSN/EMail wont be dissapearing suddenly for quite a while, so you can contact me there(its in the sidebar. Scroll UP.

Ill still be on Pojo(mainly OCG deck discussion), and Duelist Groundz, as well as on Xenophase, so you can still see me around. Ill be posting my new decks mainly on Pojo, and be in-game in Xenophase.(Join us), so if you see me around say hi.

So, thanks for visiting the blog, and following it, and I hope you all learned a few lessons or built a few of these decks I posted.

Thanks for listening to the "random Yu-Gi-Oh thoughts and toughts of my daily life"

Thanks for being a follower of "The Gaijin Duelist".

Well, theres not much else to say.

This post is a WHOLE lot longer than the first post.

I dont know how much longer I'm going to be continuing playing Yugioh, nor posting on forums.

I dont know how many people will still remember who I am or about this blog in a few months.

And I dont know if I will ever get to meet any of you people in the future.

But what I do know is that I'll still be thinking of new ideas and concepts for as long as I play, and Ill be spreading these ideas to what ears hear them.

And who knows? Maybe one day I'll take up a new name and start blogging again...
It'll be quite interesting competing with my own legacy...

Until then, I guess I'll return to being "That Gaijin" at locals again.

Xenophase.net

2010-01-06T17:22:00.006+09:00

Hello everyone.

Today, I would like to introduce all of you to a gaming community online, Xenophase.

Xenophase is a rather lively community, where people from all sorts of backgrounds come together and discuss all sorts of topics, from society and politics to just good old gaming.

There are many people who join, in fact, just for the discussion, and as such, the discussions get interesting, and at times, intense.

Most importantly, Xenophase also hosts their own Rangarok Online server(meaning its free, unlike the official servers), another reason why several people join.

Being more than just a Ragnarok server, its a community, and a great way to meet new people and make new friends.

Of course, its hard to start a new game all alone right? Thats why I'm inviting all of you to join, so your not alone, and you can start with a few friends, and make new ones.

The server is incredibly newbie-friendly, so dont be afraid to ask for help.

You'll find everything you need at www.xenophase.net

I look forwards to meeting you in-game and on the forums!

Some notes:

Being a giant file, like all other Ragnarok Online installers, I reccomend a download manager like FlashGet(google it)

Registration needs confirmation from the GMs to finish, to prevent mass account making, etc etc. After confirming your email, it takes less than a day for the account to be activated.

Christmas Giveaway Results

2010-01-05T16:08:00.003+09:00

Yeah I was lazy to post these up the previous few days.

Before we go drawing, some stats!

Number of Applicants: 53!

Number of blatant multi applying attempts: 2(Different People Applying about 3 times each)

Number of People who cared enough to include a short message with their application: 31!

Because some people are so heartless and didnt get into the spirit of giving and include a nice message, should I roll the number that corresponds with their application on the first try, that roll will be ignored and I will roll again.

Yes this is done completely on whim but too bad.

So, lets roll!

The determination of the winner will be through Random.org, a random number generator.

And the winner is:

NUMBER THIRTEEN!!!

Corresponding application:

Nekuza

Congratulations on your winning of the deck. Use it wisely!

Please send me an email confirming you reading this, and I will reply with some details you need to send me so I can send you the cards.

Thank you everyone else for participating! and Thanks for always reading this blog

Soft Cheating, and how to prevent it. Part 2.

2010-01-04T14:09:00.015+09:00

Duel!

Both players draw their 5 cards, and your opponent draws one to begin the game.

She summons Armageddon Knight, uses its effect to send Cross Porter to the graveyard, and uses the Porter's effect to search out Neo Spacian Black Panther, shuffles, and passes you the deck to cut.

You take a random half off the top and pass back the deck. She follows with Allure, feeding the panther to it.

Turn End. You draw.

After some rather amazing comboes, you manage to summon 1 Gigaplant, and drop a Copy plant to your graveyard. You revive gigaplant, activate supervis, Synchro into Powertool, and Priority is eaten by Supervis, which wants to revive your gigaplant.

Knowing your last card in your hand is United We Stand, its clear that if your powertool can call out a Mark of the Rose, you have game. (2300 Powertool + 1400 Armageddon Knight + 2400 Gigaplant + 2400 United We Stand Buff).

But theres a problem. Expecting the Dimensional Eatos matchup, as well as deckspace, you put two, so it wont be a 100% search.

So, taking the chance, you trigger powertool, choosing Double tool C&D, and two mark of the Rose. 2/3 Chance of OTK, 100% chance the opponent will be under pressure next turn, right?

You take the 3 cards out of your deck, and your opponent takes them and shuffles the three face down. She then hands you one card out of the stack, and puts the remaining two back in your deck.

Pretty standard procedure, right? Only she just passed you Double Tool C&D, and she knows it.

She then cuts your deck. The same way you did to her deck.

You just attack, without using your remaining hand cards, reducing her LP by 3300.

Then, she drops Gorz on your Powertool's direct attack. Your OTK wouldnt have worked anyhows.

Perfectly fine situation right? Completely due to bad luck.

Wrong.

You may not have noticed it, but your opponent has "soft cheated" you not once or twice, but THREE times in this short span, all three times using almost the same concept.

What concept?

The fact that super rare, Ultra rare, and Common cards all have different physical properties.

Foil cards are harder and tend to bend over time(not much or slowly depending on how much you take care of them). Without sleeves, they also slide more than commons.

Both these properties are used to "search packs", to find the foil cards in packs without the use of scaling.

What most people dont know is that these same properties can be used to search out foils and non foils within the deck and in the hand(or in the example, what is being chosen for Powertool).

Most of the time, foil cards are better than the non foil ones(Starlight Road sure beats Watapon, right?), but there are exceptions(DAD).

Additionally, if one has seen what hand cards you have(through either side shuffle cheating or Trap Dustshoot), one can pinpoint with a higher chance what card they want to destroy with removal cards or hand discard cards such as Spirit Reaper.

So, one time was when she gave you the double tool.

What about the other two?

Both times was when you cut the deck, and she cut yours.

When she cut yours, she used a lesser version of this trick to ensure the top card of your deck would be a common.

By feeling quickly what cards were foil, she could ensure, using the cut, the next few cards would not be foil.

The other time was your screwup, which let her top Gorz with allure.

When people search or burial something with cards like Foolish or Armageddon Knight, it is possible to quickly swap card positions while looking like reviewing what card to send.

Which is supposedly, in theory, useless, because of the cut and shuffle. Right?

Well, sorta.

As mentioned before, a good shufller can place one or a few cards where they want them to be with each shuffle, the hindu shuffle requiring the most practice and skill.

But thats before the cut, so most of the stacking goes out the window.

Unless you can predict the cut.

Statistics say that almost all cuts are made almost at the center of the deck, or at least more towards the center than to the ends.

By taking advantage of this, and putting Gorz near the middle, she can effectively have a high chance of you cutting along the middle, and thus letting her draw into it.(Not that Junk and debris NEEDS to draw anything in particular. Its just nice to hold Gorz.)

How do I prevent this?

Foil feeling with a few cards is hard to avoid. The only real way is to either have almost all cards foil, or to have an equal number. Having a low number only lets this feeling happen easier.

Also, if cards are available in different rarities, such as mark of rose, it might help to have one super rare and one common (DT).

For "Power cards" such as torrential and Mirror Force, it might be nice to use one as foil and the other common, since this lets you draw into these power cards even if you are being stacked.

Other options include taking ridiculously good care of your cards, which has zero practicality, since its easy to feel through the flattening of cards, or to use many layers of sleeves(I can personally feel through 5 layers of sleeves(on my Devilguy Beat deck, for example)), so you can see how easy this is to do.

As for the cut psychology abuse, its easy to simply cut a few off the top, or all but one card on the bottom, from time to time.

Thats all for today. Not much compared to yesterday but I also have less time to waste :p

"Soft Cheating", and preventing it. Part 1.

2010-01-03T16:41:00.001+09:00

Hello everyone.

Today, I bring to you a guide to "soft cheating", and more importantly, how to avoid it.

So, what IS soft cheating?

"Soft Cheating" isnt quite cheating, but it does give you a considerable advantage.

Things to keep in mind is that while soft cheating is not illegal, but instead taking advantage of the rules, it CANNOT be relied on 100% of the time, and there are ways to prevent all of them.

There are all sorts of ways you can use this to your advantage, and there are a consdierable number of ways you can do it

Indeed, there are many more ways to cheat that will not be reviewed, because they dont come to mind.

Lets get started shall we?

Soft Cheating can start even before the duel starts.

Yes, the dice roll. You CAN CHEAT DURING THE DICE ROLL.

First, the obvious: Let your opponnent roll first, then roll your own six sided die with 7 through 12.

Wait.

What? You can do that?

Yep. Read the rulebook.

"Six sided die" is specified. 1 through 6 is NOT.

Other ways you can use this to the advantage is with Snipe Hunter.

This, of course, will probally get you kicked out of the tournament, so lets try other ideas.

There is a technique to roll the die in a certain way, such that it has a set number of revolutiopns in a certain direction, and thus land on the number you want.

However, this does take practice with your size of die, and wont work when the opponent supplies the dice.

Also, the composition of the die will also make a difference. I wont go into the scientific study that proves this, but keep this in mind. Clear plastic die and resin die and wooden die all roll differently.

To solve this problem, have two different sized dies(you should keep a few anyhows. they work awesomely as tokens in need. Also Reasoning says hi.), each with different composition. Clear die have a statistically higher chance of rolling LESS ones(again, science), so use them if you have them,

There is yet another way to cheat during this point, "flicking".

Flicking is a technique where one draws up the die, and spins it horizontally, without giving it any spin vertically. What this results in is the die landing on the face which was face up when you flicked it, preferablly 4 or 5(as long as its higher).

Whats to be noted is that if the die has rounded edges, and smaller, the increasingly difficult it becomes to land it well.(This is why many people rolled off three to four times with me)

So: Bring small, rounded dice. Use them. World of Warcraft TCG dice are incredibly easy to "flick", so roll your own die if your opponent hands you one of these.

Also: Some playmats increase the bounce of the die, making it increasingly hard to "flick" the die.

Okey, so you rolled off, and either won or lost.

Next, both players reveal side count and extra count, then shuffle.

Keep in mind the number of side cards, and make sure it doesnt go into a box between games(well come back to this later).

During shuffling, there is some soft cheating yet again.

Did a card slip? YOU pick it up and hand it back to the opponent. Did you see what it is?

This way, it makes people thing you are just a nice guy(unless youre an ass in real life, in which you should NOT be doing this, since it draws suspicion), while letting you cheat.

To prevent this, dont let cards slip. If they do, dont let the opponent touch them.

It might not be much for some people, but catching one card gives you considerable information advantage, and thus, more or less EXACTLY whats in their deck and side deck.

Gemini Spark slipped? Its Dimension Eatos.

Any Lightsworn monster(sans Ryko)? its Lightsworn.

Darius slipped? Its GBs. Prepare to side in trap stuns.

You get where Im going. Most of the time, one card can give off a lot of information. But then again, this is hard to pull off at times, since cards like Mirror Force tell you NOTHING of the opponents deck.

Note that Trap Dustshoot gives you exactly the same advantage.

It is also due to this that it is important to know the general decklist of popular decks.

During the duel, this can be used to confirm what cards are in the opponents deck, even more information advantage.

How people shuffle is another way you can cheat, or stop them from doing so.

Despite popular beleif, shuffling is NOT a randomization of cards, like in games, but instead a systematic changing of order of cards.

Lets look at the three more popular and most used ways of shuffling: Hindu shuffle, Table shuffle, and Side shuffle.

Hindu shuffle is one of the more popular ways to shuffle, being the fastest and easiest.

The player takes a "random" number of cards in a clump from the middle of the deck, and places it on top of the deck, so the previous top becomes the middle, and the bottom remains the same.

This is done several times over and over, sometimes placing on the bottom, or taking the bottom, so the bottom becomes "randomized" as well.

Where is cheating in here: Note that individual cards are not moved around, but instead clumps of cards, in "groups". Thus, each card is not moved, but instead groups of cards. A skilled shuffler can shuffle so that he opens with a certain number of cards he wants. Thats why we cut.

Another thing to take note of is that Hindu shuffling allows for what I like to call "soft stacking".

Soft stacking is a technique originally in Magic the Gathering, such to ensure you dont open with no lands, or all lands.

What is done is the player, before the game starts, stacks his/her deck so there is an equal a distribution of card types(and in higher levels/more intense stacking, comboes and monster levels), throughout his or her deck, so that each hand will have a good number of monsters, traps, and spells.

During my Singapore trip I taught a few people how to do this.

Thus, when the deck is shuffled, there are some anomalies, but in the end, there will be an equal distribution of card types throughout the deck, regardless of how you hindu shuffled. However, which traps and which spells and which monster will be together cannot be determined.

Even after the cut, this will almost be 100% retained, such that it doesnt matter how they cut, you will still open with good distribution, and thus less horribad hands.

It takes a master to stack this way and still get exactly what you want.

Thus, this is considered the least "cheating" of the three shuffle types.

Then again, if you use this type of stacking, you should already know that is THE most unreliable stacking, more of a protective measure than getting what you want.

In table shuffling, there are literally countless way to stack, regardless of how the opponent cuts.

Because table shuffling is a series of systematic distribution of cards, even more than any other type of shuffling, it is what allows classic stacking, bringing exactly what you want, where you want it.

So, table shuffling is beyond "soft cheating", and possibly actual cheating. The way to try to prevent this is to cut when you can.

Side shuffling is when the player takes half of the deck, and puts the decks together sideways, such that the deck is shuffled in a similar way as bridging in normal poker.

Of course, it looks much cooler than that always.

But, if you really notice, the top card before the shuffle once becomes the second card, and the second from the top becomes the fourth, and so on.

A good mathematician or a good program can give you an order of the cards and the number of perfect side shuffles to give you the desired opening hands.

So, again, soft cheating is possible here as well.

It should be noted that side shuffling is much more used to cheat during the cut than during shuffling.

As we have shown, all three shuffling ways have techniques to stack what they want where they want, to an extent.

However, the game gives us a cut, such to prevent this.

After every time you shuffle(after doing things such as mystic tomato or foolish burial included), the opponent is entitled to cut your deck.

Note that the tournament rulebook does not say "shuffle", but "cut". If they start hindu shuffling or side shuffling, it is possible they can cheat.

The "only" legal cut there is is to take a stack off the top, and place it to the side, and the remaining cards to be placed on top. Once or twice is the most commonly accepted. Once with three stacks is also accepted.

While most people dont really bitch if the opponent shuffles, cheaters do use this to their advantage.

If you side shuffle, it is easy to catch a few, if not all, of the opponents cards, while appearing as just side shuffling(this is done by shuffling at an angle).

When hindu shuffling, the information advantage is attained by looking at the card right above the stack you took out, before it falls onto the bottom stack, and the bottom card of the stack you pulled, before you put it on top.

So?

Information advantage is one of THE most powerful advantages you can have. By knowing what comboes a card can pull off, and other cards with synergy that are included, ones deck composition can be determined by almost three cards.

This is knowing Murmillo can destroy only face up monsters, that Judgment Dragoon pays 1000LP and not 2000LP, but also that most Lightsworn decks have a certain composition, and run three honest.

Also, your "hidden tech".

If the opponent sees your deck before the game, your hidden tech isnt hidden anymore, almost destroying its purpose and the element of surprise.

Also important with side shuffling the opponents deck is that you can effectively see what the opponent will draw into, and what their hand is, without the use of Trap Dustshoot.

So? Always only take a single deck cut, and dont even pick up your opponents deck.

If your opponent starts side shuffling, tell them that your sleeves are a bit damaged and youd like them intact for the rest of the tournament.

If they start hindu shuffling, finish your cut and roll a few dice, roll your eyes, drum your fingers and make them feel uncomforatable. Tell them the tournament rules(only cut), then bulldozer over them during the game.

All of this is possible cheating, even before the duel begins!

All possible, but also all preventable.

Join us again tomorrow as we review cheating and soft cheating, and ways to prevent such things from happening.

Spawn Aligator

2010-01-01T23:51:00.000+09:00

Spawn Alligator + Viper Reborn

Fun times.

Clarification

2010-01-01T09:48:00.000+09:00

Silk and Milk refers to ALL MONSTERS

Brown Silk and Chocolate Milk refers to ALL DARK ALL MONSTERS

Difference.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:00:00.002+09:00

What it says on the title.

And if you are reading this, you shouldnt be.

Why are you reading Yugioh Blogs on New Years day?

Poseidon Ookabuto

2009-12-31T09:44:00.000+09:00

Mist Body + Sacrifice Lotus + Poseidon Ookabuto = OTK

Respect Duel: Practical Applications

2009-12-30T09:16:00.008+09:00

Someone in the anime had some weird philosophy about "Respect Duel" or something.

Most people would watch, think "awesome cards", and sweep this bit into the "random crap spouted by the anime" category.

I'm here to tell you today about the practical applications.

Since its near to the new years, it would make a great resolution, right next to the "laugh at people who shelled out 20-30 USD for a starlight road because of its reprint" resolution.

So, what IS respect duel?

Most of the time, it isnt applicable because the good bulk of people who play the game have a heart and are considerate(until it comes to trading)

Respect duel is exactly what its titled, respecting the opponent and always seeing the opponent as equal footing as you.

So what?

Does that change what cards I draw?

Does that change the fact that Mirror Force will still ravage his field?

No, but I'll tell you what it DOES change: How you think.

It does change what kind of decisions you make.

Emotions get in the way of all sorts of decisions, and Yugioh is not exempt.

For example: Everyone hates to be on the receiving end of Neo Spacian Grand Mole. Thus, most players will overextend JUST to get rid of it(which makes sense, until you run up against Junk and Debris which doesnt care what happens to mole(or for that matter, any other monster))

By respecting and seeing the opponent as of equal or higher than you(not referring to skill level, just respect), you can eliminate many of these misplays or "bad decisions" made almost entirely on

How this works is because you are looking down upon the opponent, you dont think they can pull of a certain combo or trick, meaning you dont set things or play around it, even if you could.

Conversely, if you do look up to your opponent, you realize what tricks are valid plays, and you ready yourself for them.

Yes, some decks get affected by this more, but its mainly due to the amount of decisions that need to be made(GBs)

Despite many players to conciously try to mimic this, it is near impossible to consciously quantify the thought processes that go though your head as you feel a certain emotion

Of course, there's the obvious: If your an ass, nobody wants to play with you, and thus you dont learn.

And of course, the feeling of winning. Shooting a dragon out of the sky with a slingshot is MUCH more fulfilling than killing an ant with a hammer right?

The same goes for Yugioh. If you look down upon your opponent, you also shut out the fun of winning. Veiwing the opponent as of equal or higher respect simply gives you a better feeling of playing and winning.

Moral of the story: The second you look down upon your opponent, you more or less have lost.

Long story short:

Respect Duel doesnt change the fact you drew mirror force, nor the fact that mirror force will rip apart the enemy's field. What it DOES change is the fact that you set it.

Junk Blader

2009-12-29T13:01:00.000+09:00

Has anyone else noticed you can trigger its effect as many times as you want in one turn?

Yes. It CAN go up to 7400 ATK.

Devil Guy Beat.

2009-12-28T21:40:00.001+09:00

Devil Guy beat works so well.

The only problem is necro Gardnas are slow.

DNA Surgery

2009-12-28T13:31:00.002+09:00

Open DNA Surgery!

Declare Psychic!

Tribute 3!

Summon RA!

Pay thirty thousand life!

But instead put one counter on Brain Exploitation Lab!

30000ATK RA!

Also

Summon RA! Pay 7900 Life! Equip Unstable Evolution! 10300 ATK Ra!

Latest Craze: Full Monster

2009-12-27T11:56:00.027+09:00

There are many decks around the world that use little backrow, with almost no cards set during the game.

But what about absolutely none?

What about ZERO Spells and ZERO Traps?

Yes, I am talking about All Monster decks.

Commonly known as "Silk and Milk", the deck capitalizes on the fact that most decks pack counters and destruction for your traps and spells.

While it might not seem so good on paper, it effectively locks other cards, such as Gorz and Treeborn Frog, indirectly.

Recently, all monster decks have become a ridiculous craze in Japan.

Of these decks, some variants have become much more successful. Namely, the all dark build, known as Chocolate Milk and Brown Silk, or similar wording.

So, what monsters should we put?

There are 40 card slots, all of which will be used by monsters.

Even so, some cards are much more oriented than others for this decktype.

The most important condition is self special summoning.

Since you are only runing monsters, it is important that the one normal summon be not the only summon you have.

Cards that special summon themselves include Gorz and Tragoedia, as well as Battle Fader, all of which come from your hand on the opponents turn, but also monsters such as Dragon Ice and Phantom Dragon.

Other examples are cards that are special summonable based on the opponents field, such as Cyber Dragon and Alector, and the Fiend Gigacyber.

Not to be ignored are monsters such as Chaos Sorcerer and Dark Simorgh, powerful monster which special summon themselves.

Monsters also in this category are monsters such as Slipheed and Inferno, which are summoned by removing your owwn monsters in your graveyard. Gigantes especially gives you the much needed backrow removal.

The Dark Counterpart monsters are also good examples of cards to be used, but not all of them.

While The Dark Creator and Dark Nephtys, as well as Dark Grepher are great examples of good cards to use.

However, Dark Armed Dragon and Rainbow Dark Dragon are not. Whilst Dark Armed Dragon might be a good choice on paper, the deck lacks good maintenance of the dark monsters in the graveyard, and as such, the difficulty of getting Dark Armed Dragon while your graveyard has exactly three dark monsters is heightened.

Also, since you have many hand cards, it is not uncommon to use cards that allow you to discard cards from your hand.

Since this deck also runs many cards that trigger in the graveyard, it is possible to run many cards like this.

Examples include Snipe Staker, The Tricky for destruction and Special Summoning, but also revival such as Lightsworn Summoner Lumina and Zombie Master, or salvage through Herald of the Creator.

Other cards that might be used less often(but more in the DARK version), would be Dark Crusader.

Magoushin Beast Cerebral and Ganesha must also be considered, as they allow you to supplant the advantage "lost" through discarding.

Discard isnt limited to monsters that have to be on the field. By using cards such as D.D. Crow and the Heralds of Light, you can play some disruption on the opponents turn.

Destruction of opponents cards come from all manner of sources.

Magoushin Beast Cathy comes to mind when destruction is needed, but other choices such as Lightsworn Puppy Ryko or Lightsworn Sorceress Lyla can be used.

Destruction must come from all manner of sources. Thus, cards such as Grave Squirmer and Gigantes, which trigger when your monster is destroyed by battle can be used.

Mobius the Frost Monarch, as well as other monarchs can be used as well.

Other cards that capitalize off of all monsters such as Dimensional Alchemist and Black Rose Witch should also be considered.

The latter of which allows you to draw 1 per summon.

Another important thing to consider are where cards trigger.

If cards are triggered away from the field, they give you significant advantage without eating your summons.

Examples include Necro Gardna, Vayu, D-Hero Dasher and Treeborn frog or Plaguespreader Zombie, which work in the graveyard(or need to be there to work)

Other choices include Kalut and Honest, which are triggered in their hand.

Lesser choices include Level Stealers, or Cross Porters.

Cards that allow not only swarming and special summoning but give even more advantage are by far, the most used choices.

Black Feather Dragon, The Dark Creator, and Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon are the top three examples, but there are many more.

Need I point out that many Blackwings tend to also fufill many of the above criteria?

Many all DARK all monster decks run many blackwings, because of how well they work together, and the sheer amount of synergy with themselves and other monsters, with no other spells or traps to help.

Also usable are Jinzo and Jinzo Returner, due to its synergy with aforementioned Grepher, in the full dark variant. Negating more traps only helps the deck.

Of all the full single type all monster decks, DARK is by far, the best, due to how it capitalizes off the graveyard.

There are, however, many cards to NOT choose.

Vice Dragon. While being special summonable by itself, is in fact, a bad card choice, due ot its lack of ATK points.

In all monster decks, it is important to be able to destroy monsters by battle, somehting low ATK doesnt allow.

Anti-Meta Cards, such as Banisher of the Light, or Kycoo, shouldnt have space wasted on them, since they lack the backing of the backrow that comes well in Anti-Meta.

Raiou is a choice that may be chosen, due to its high ATK points, and it functioning as a beatstick, something very imporant for the deck.

Gadgets.

Just dont. 1400 or less ATK, regardless of what advantage it gives you, doesnt help.

That more or less concludes the guide for building an all monster deck.

I look forward to seeing some All monster decks being posted all around the internet.

The DARK variant and Simorgh based ones are good.

Interesting...

2009-12-27T00:57:00.002+09:00

Junk and Debris Dark(World)

Junk and Debris Water/Ice(Zero)

Junk and Debris Fire(BURN)

Junk and Debris Wind(/Dark but meh).

Junk and Debris Light(sworn)

And now,

Junk and Debris Earth

Summon Machiner Peacekeeper and let it search out Megaheavy Weapon. Everything else is self explanitory.

Might I also point out that equipping union monsters to Catastor is awesome?

Deck Concepts: Draw Go Monarchs

2009-12-25T15:43:00.002+09:00

I've stumbled upon a rather intersting deck concept recently, involving the utility of some commonly used card to a different level.

Instead of playing on your own turn, it tries to play on the enemies turn.

Whilst decks such as this have been around in the form of Counter decks, this deck doesnt strive to counter much,

By running Gorz, 3 Tragoedia, 3 Battle Fader, and 3 Bloody Teared Ogre, you can easily special summon some monsters on the enemy turn.

Then, with the utility of several traps such as Ultimate Offering, summon your Monarchs on their turn, during their battle phase.

Thus, you effectivly play not on your own turn, but instead pull off your comboes on the opponents turn instead.

Infernisworn/インフェルニロード

2009-12-24T08:47:00.002+09:00

Because its almost Christmas!

Infernisworn/インフェルニロード

Monsters/モンスター/21
1 Lightsworn Monk, Ehren/ライトロード・モンク　エイリン
2 Lightsworn Sorceress Lyla/ライトロード・マジシャン　ライラ
2 Lightsworn Summoner, Lumina/ライトロード・サモナー　ルミナス
2 Necro Gardna/ネクロ・ガードナー
1 Dark Armed Dragon/ダーク・アームド・ドラゴン
1 Snipe Hunter/スナイプストーカー
3 Infernity Mirage/インフェルニティ・ミラージュ
3 Infernity Beetle/インフェルニティ・ビートル
3 Infernity Necromancer/インフェルニティ・ネクロマンサー
3 Infernity Archfiend/インフェルニティ・デーモン

Spells/魔法/17
2 Pot of Avarice/貪欲な壺
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐
3 Charge of the Light Brigade/光の援軍
2 Allure of Darkness/闇の誘惑
1 One for One/ワン・フォー・ワン
1 Lightning Vortex/ライトニング・ボルテックス
1 Giant Trunade/ハリケーン
1 Scapegoat/スケープ・ゴート
1 Mystical Space Typhoon/サイクロン
3 Infernity Gun/インフェルニティガン
1 Solar Recharge/ソーラー・エクスチェンジ

Traps/罠/4
2 Bottomless Trap Hole/奈落の落とし穴
2 Raigeki Break/サンダー・ブレイク

Tommorow, expect a long post, a Make it yourself guide on the latest hit decktype from Tokyo: Black Silk and Chocolate Milk!

Cards to Hold Together

2009-12-23T15:05:00.003+09:00

Some cards work well on their own, but work especially well with certain others.

For example: Cyber Dragon and Caius the Shadow Monarch.

People have a tendancy to hold both of these cards in their hand together, instead of playing them separately.

Which isnt so bad an idea, since Cyber Dragon wont be fielded if you do have something on your field, and Caius simply adds to that contingency plan.

What about other examples?

Giant Trunade, the Dark Creator, and Dark Armed Dragon come to mind.

So does Battle Fader and Raiza.

Holding some cards in your hand as a contingency plan isnt such a bad idea.

Any other examples people care to share? Comboes that can be held entirely in your hand and serve as a possible backup plan.

Trending Upwards:

2009-12-22T19:55:00.002+09:00

Trending Upwards in the coming months:

Dark Salvo

Fiend Diety Roar Beast Cathy

Alien Anmonite

For the same deck?

Yes.

Did I mention Buster Mode? To a much lesser extent due to its reprint.

Oh the Irony

2009-12-21T06:31:00.001+09:00

Oh the Irony.

The reason Paralell World Fusion is going to be expensive is NOT because of Fusion based decks, but SYNCHRO based decks.

Amazing.

Now Konami had better NOT release a "Hero + Dark" Fusion

For those who dont get it:

Activate Paralell World Fusion. Return to the deck D-Hero Malicious and Deep Sea Diiva. Salvage and return Fenrir and another Deep Sea Diiva. That, or be holding Miracle Fusion.

See it yet?

No?

Tragoedia, Gorz, and Battle Fader

2009-12-20T13:32:00.003+09:00

Everyone hates having their OTK swing being interrupted by these guys.

Thats why we have Holy Light

Whats this?

It works with One for One? AND Black Feather Dragon?

Neato.

Not to mention its totally in the holiday season.

It should be wearing a santa hat.

For that matter, so should you.

Black Feather Dragon

2009-12-19T18:36:00.002+09:00

Black Feather Dragon
Level 7/Dragon/Earth.
2700/1800

Wait.

What?

Lock VS Stall: How TO play Countdown

2009-12-18T17:46:00.002+09:00

Lock Cards are everywhere.

Level B Limit, Gravity Bind, and Messenger of Peace. If the enemy doesnt Main Lylas, then theyll be stuck forever, letting you win with Countdown eaily.

But what if they do run some removal?

The problem with utility of Lock cards that prevent attacking by staying around is the fact that they have to be around to work.

In a removal-rampant format that we have nowadays, that just isnt possible.

But what about Stall?

For Countdown, It would be much more effective to not run any lock at all, or very few lock, but instead run a LOT of Stall.

For example, running 35 Stall cards, 3 Countdown and 2 Gold Sarcophagus might not look so nice on paper, but in practice, its totally different.

Since every turn, you are ideally drawing into a card that prevents the opponent from dealing battle damage, thus giving you another turn to draw one more, it essentially gives you near infinite turns.

Since stall cards tend to be one time use, and effectively end the turn(Waboku, Threat Roar, Zero Gardna, Battle Fader, etc), you survive to the next turn, every turn.

Whilst with Lock, you survive to the next turn, given the lock card still is around, leaving the switching of turns up to your opponent, not to you, as with Stall.

The advantage Lock has over Stall is that it doesnt consume as many cards. One card usually stalls for about 3-4 turns, in a regular game, depending on the opponent, which sure beats three or four cards that Stall requires to do the same.

Hence why it is the way of game slowing chosen by Burn decks.

What most countdown decks dont consider is how easily these lock cards are broken through, as well as how many monsters can just slip under them.

Whilst theyre not much of a problem most of the time, sometimes, a onslaught of 1200 ATK monsters DOES hurt, especially after you have no other stall because of the deckspace taken by the Lock type cards, and you have played Countdown.

Conclusion:

Countdown should focus much more on Stall type cards, cards that are one shot turn enders(almost), instead of Lock cards, which work for longer, but are more vulnerable.

Limited VS Semi Limited

2009-12-17T16:19:00.002+09:00

As we all know, one of the main reasons several cards get limited or banned is either to curb or completely stomp out an endless loop or instant-win combo.

You know, like Twin Headed behemoth(Old ruling), Transmigration Prophecy(This actually merits near Semi Limited. Its amazing), or Night Asailant.

The other reason is obvious: Being absolutely broken, or almost absolutely broken, or absolutely broken in 3s but not in 1s.(Usually landing them in Semi Limit Land)(Examples include Malicious, and Dewloren)

Yet, in the past, cards such as Breaker, Nobleman of Crossout, and Malicious have danced between Limit/Ban or Limit/Semi Limit

Why is this so?

As for the environment/meta decks of the time, Malicous can be justified, but what about Nobleman of Crossout?

The more variable Sheild Crush nobody ever cared about is still the equal 1 for 1 trade, with the face up monster being valid targets(Dark Creator)

Is it just one of those cards nobody runs in 1s, but people do run in 2s?

What is the big difference between what determines Limited and Semi Limited Cards?

Another good comparison to be used could be DAD VS JD.

Just a reminder, but the christmas giveaway is still open to those who have yet to apply!

Paralell World Fusion

2009-12-16T17:14:00.001+09:00

Wow.

I see Stardust Dragon.

Do you?

On another note, will this card be the bane of Dimensional Eatos, or something to benefit it even more?

Lets wait and find out.

Price VS Practicality: Some decks just arent worth it.

2009-12-15T17:01:00.002+09:00

I saw a decklist today for some guy.

Burial Sin Macro Synchro. (Yeah, I was >.> also.)

3X Burial From a Different Dimension
3X Return from a Dark Dimension
2X Allure of Darkness
3X Sin Red Eyes Black Dragon

Its great you want to play around with new concepts and all, but decks like this shouldnt have money wasted on it.

On a side note, Ragnarok is fun.

Mirror Match Choices: Dimension Eatos

2009-12-14T17:51:00.004+09:00

In the mirror, it is often hard to side into cards efficient against the enemy without being destroyed yourself.

Today, I will be introducing a side deck choice to use against Dimension Eatos, but particularily effective in the mirror.

Is that?

Yes. Its THAT card that we all thought "Oh wow what crap, a -3 At least waiting to happen", then threw away or hid somewhere in the bottom of our common boxes.

Dimensional Eatos keeps Big monsters backed with Skill Drain and Macro(/Fissure in some builds) to play an anti-meta style beatdown.

But by looking at their monster lineup, it becomes clear that

This guy clearly is usable.

But what about advantage?

Lets see:

-1 Super Polymerization
-1 Cost
+2 Fusion Materials ( Alius + Stratos, Crusader, etc)
+1 The Shining on your field

Ending with a +1 In the end.

But wait! They have Gemini Spark to turn the tables against you and change your +1 into a -3!

Not to mention Oppression, just waiting to negate it, and cant be touched because of their Oh-So-Troublesome Starlight Road!

Nothing can be chained in response to the activation of Super Polymerization. Super Polymerization has a rule effect that states so, the first of its kind(Obelisk Says 'Sup)

Whilst simply getting rid of some of their weaker monsters for some advantage might seem so-so, you are forgetting about Gemini Spark.

Dimension Eatos players tend to play their Gemini's quite leniently, since they are backed by Gemini Spark for sacrifice escape.

Meaning if you hit an Alius + Crusader of Endymion, you are possibly forcing two more of their cards into worthlessness temporarily, maybe forever, since they usually only run 5 Gemini's total, and zero recursion for them.

The big beater that is The Shining may be taken down easily, but at least it gives you enough swing in momentum to hopefully give you time to set up your opponent for doom.

What really makes this a good card in the mirror is being able to use your own monsters, possibly for game.

Lets not forget that its a Quick Play.

Thats all for today.

Miracle Fusion VS Dark Calling

2009-12-13T20:19:00.001+09:00

Lets see:

Uses E-Hero as fusion materials for the most part

Summons Hero Monsters

Both are Graveyard fusions, so neither have an advantage gaining edge

So, which is better?

Game Enders: Caius the Shadow Monarch

2009-12-12T19:35:00.004+09:00

Hello everyone.

Today, I will be discussing some things about Caius the Shadow Monarch, and what allows it to be a game ender, but also whats keeping it from doing so.

First off, Stats.

Like all other monarchs, Caius is level 6, has 2400 attack, and 1000 Defence.

What sets it apart is its Type and Attribute.

Like all Monarchs, Caius has been one of the defining factors of the "Monarch Line", 2400 Attack, something that most deckbuilders take into account almost subconsciously when selecting cards. 3 Swings will give you nearly game, and its definitely bigger than most single card monsters can handle by themselves.

The 1000 DEF means that Monarchs are weak to Ojama Country, Level Limit B, and other forms of shifting monsters to DEF. Well, your forgetting that Monarchs tend to get rid of these really well.

Being Dark means that unlike other monsters of its caliber, Caius can be fed to Dark Armed Dragon and other similar monsters, as well as being able to pull upon Allure of Darkness. Meaning that Caius, unlike other monsters, is suprisingly available to many decks.

Fiend: More of the Above. Means Feind Decks can run this too! Wow!

Now, onto the effect.

Monarch Effect: Remove from Play one card on the field. Deal 1000 Damage to the opponent of the removed from play monster was DARK.

So, what makes THIS monster a Game Ender?

A game ender does one or more of the following, often some better than the others:

Paves a way for a massive swing
Puts some huge damage on the field
Ensures the enemy has no way of fighting back
Secures your special victory(very rare)
Gives you great presence on the field.

Like I stated before, most "Game Ender" class monsters tend not to care about their own future.

Whilst compared to other possible Game Enders, Caius tends to not do the things very well, but he does it very well for his relatively low cost.

While removing cards on the field that stand in your way and fight for the enemy, he deals a potential direct 3400 Total Damage, all by almost himself, leaving a 2400 Beater on the field.

With the utility of one card alone, you put a 3400 Damage wedge in the opponent's life. In many situations, this 3400 Damage is enough to end the game, or effectively end the game.

Caius's effect isnt only for getting direct attack, though.

Caius can end games effectively by breaking the combo before it finishes, with his ability to target any card on the field, with few cards capable of stopping him.

While RFP is a place where you can still pull upon for resources, it is significantly less beneficial than being in the graveyard most of the time.

The last part of the effect, the 1000 Burn, is really something that sticks out, compared to other cards.

Most 1000 Burn cards are looked down upon, but this 1000 burn coming as a bonus is really something to be reckoned with.

While 1/8 of one's life isnt usually something people care about, towards the end of the game, 1000 Damage is something that will eat out more than half of your life.

What is the real thing that makes this the game ender is the ability to use this to your advantage, in main phase 2.

If the opponent is below 1000 Life, simply pulling this out and targeting itself is one way to rip out 1000 damage.

Whilst most people never consider it, Caius can be seen as a 1000 Burn card.

I hear the phrase "Wow I never saw Caius as a 1000 Burn Card Before" too often

It is important to always open your eyes to various ways to play different cards.

So why isnt it used more often?

The thing with very splash able cards is that they are also the type of cards to be cut first for space.

Look at Swords of Revealing Light, or maybe Giant Trunade. Both are considered highly splashable cards, yet, when building decks, to cut down on size, it is not uncommon to cut these.

Caius falls into a similar spot.

Whilst drawing Caius as a topdeck to end the game is not unheard of, Topping a Monarch type monster is next to horrible, in most people's opinions.

Teching one or two into an already DARK based deck would be great, but most either already use three, or cant find the space to do so.

There are people who pack one into every deck they can, just for the potential.

But then again, Caius at that stage simply boils down to a personal choice.

So?

The thing thats keeping this from being a more widely used card?(Not that it isnt already. Sales show that the Monarch structure deck is one of the most sold.)

The fact that 2400-3400 Damage simply isnt enough in all points in the game.

While 3400 is painful in late game, in early game, it can be shaken off.

And when you tend to get your 1000 Burn + Direct Swing is usually in the early game.

Thats all for today.

Updates

2009-12-11T15:30:00.001+09:00

I realized an error with my last post.
The Dark Creator is a SEMI nomi.

Yes, that means its BETTER.

Another update:

The Deck I will be giving away is Guilty Beat - NEMESIS mix-

I didnt put it in the last post. My bad.

Game Enders: The Dark Creator

2009-12-10T16:54:00.003+09:00

Hello everyone.

Today, I will be discussing some things about The Dark Creator, and what allows it to be a game ender, but also whats keeping it from doing so.

This will be one of a few articles on "Game Enders" that arent used quite as often as the obvious ones (DAD, DSF, JD, Gyzarus, etc)

Lets take a good look at its stats before anything.

While 2300 ATK isnt something thats going to make a big impact, it DOES hurt when it comes in the form of direct damage.

His 3000 DEF is a stat to behold. Whilst most monsters dont usually care about their defense in the "Game Ender" class, since theyre usually supposed to do exactly what they say, end game; The Dark Creator benefits from having something to keep him around for a couple turns, should the swing for game get ugly.

8 Stars and DARK. Trade In, Allure, Grepher Food, Armageddon knight dump target, we all know the drill.
Use Allure to Draw, Grepher to load up graveyard, Drop Creator, Go Crazy.
Might I also note that many more game enders tend to be Dark and of High level?

Thunder:
Any support for this bit you EVER going to use?
No.

Its effect:

Remove from play 1 Dark Monster to special summon 1 Dark monster from your graveyard.

Once a turn.

Summoning:
Nomi. Meaning Only from Hand.
Have 5 or more dark monsters in your graveyard, and a field empty of monsters.

Note that in its summoning condition, it doesnt note that the enemy has to have Anything at all.

And we all know what that means ;)

So, what makes THIS monster a Game Ender?

A game ender does one or more of the following, often some better than the others:

Paves a way for a massive swing
Puts some huge damage on the field
Ensures the enemy has no way of fighting back
Secures your special victory(very rare)
Gives you great presence on the field.

Like I stated before, most "Game Ender" class monsters tend not to care about their own future.

What makes The Dark Creator a great Game Ender is his ability to Single Handedly spring HUGE damage as well as Great Presence out of nowhere.

Its effect is complementary to its Special Summoning Requirements, that it not only requires you to have space to summon something from thin air, but it also requires you to have something(preferably of equal status or Boss monster status) to summon.

Assuming you summon something of around 2500-3000 ATK from your graveyard, That puts, with one card from your hand and no other effort, upwards 5000 Direct damage in the form of two big beaters.

5000 Damage is huge. 5000 Damage is a problem. And most of all, 5000 Damage is game if they have used solemn.

This is before even taking into account the summoned monster's effect.
By reviving monsters such as Darklord Zerato, you can use his effect to wipe out the enemy field, and try to go for game.

What really makes The Dark Creator a high class Game Ender is that each individual Dark Creator play doesnt hold much value for yourself.

In a deck that runs Dark Creator as support for the theme, enough cards are devoted to salvage and draw that losing one The Dark Creator simply means you have to draw into one or salvage it.
But In that deck, it has to be noted that there are many MANY more boss monsters and game enders. Losing one means you just gotta use a different one. Assuming they got rid of all the momentum you gained last turn.

In a Dark Creator centric deck, not only do you run three, but you run enough recursion for the big guy that your aim is to drop them so often, the enemy cant keep up with the constant hammering of 2000+ Attack monsters.

Long story short, The Dark Creator bears such a low value for yourself most of the time that it is not uncommon for people to summon it, line up some firepower, hammer the enemy, and not care if it dies.
Your dropping some big firepower to let the enemy waste some cards on, while paving the way for better cards to come. Why not?

From Game Ender to Game Over:

The main problem with a Black Rose Dragon followed by The Dark Creator summoning something is Gorz.

Gorz, Tragoedia, and now Battle Fader and Bloody Eyed Ogre all have the ability to mess up your big swings. Heck, some decks use ALL of them.

So, how do you get game?

The answer lies with the monster you choose to summon.

Whilst the obvious choice would be something to stop special summoning like Vanity Fiend, those kind of monsters tend to not have quite enough firepower to give game.

However, there are ways to get there.

If we summon something like Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon or Fallen Angel Superbia, it allows you to line up even more firepower.

Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon summoning Core Chimail Drago or Superbia into Christia will both prevent the messy Gorz/Tragoedia/Battle Fader plays, while providing enough damage for game.

Especially in the latter, where even if your play got messed up somehow, and your field wiped the next, you simply need to get back your Dark Creator to re-do it all over again.

Thats all for today.

Coming soon: Boss Monsters VS Game Enders: Whats the Difference?

Getting in the Spirit: Christmas Giveaway

2009-12-08T16:36:00.002+09:00

Hello all.

I apologize for lack of any updates on monday and tuesday. Life was a shitstorm as always.

Anyhows, I will be conducting a giveaway for this december!

This time, there will be only one prize(due to some problems last few giveaway times)

This is how the giveaway will work:

1: Anyone interested in receiving or participating in the giveaway will Email me, asking to join.

2: After a set date, a lucky draw will be held, and the winner announced on this blog, as well as have an E-mail sent to them.

3: The winner will send me their address and any other details, and I will send the prizes.

4: There is no step 4.

How to Apply:
申し込み方：

- Email me the request at: "bakfun@hotmail.com". Make sure that you didnt copy the quotation marks.

- The words: Christmas Giveaway, or words to that effect must be included in the SUBJECT.

- With your request, include your INTERNET NAME

- This offer is FREE OF CHARGE.

- The closing day for this offer is December 25th Japan time. The drawing will happen on whatever day I feel like it.

- Although I have no control over this, please, NO DOUBLE applying. IE: Using more than 1 email address to apply more than once.

Thats all for today

Guilty Beat - NEMESIS mix-

2009-12-07T19:57:00.001+09:00

Guilty Beat -NEMESIS mix-

Monsters/モンスター/27
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness/冥府の使者ゴーズ
1 Dark Armed Dragon/ダーク・アームド・ドラゴン
3 Gaius the Shadow Monarch/邪帝ガイウス
3 Archfiend of Gilfer/暗黒魔族ギルファーデーモン
3 Raiza the Storm Monarch/風帝ライザー
1 Cyber Dragon/サイバー・ドラゴン

2 Armageddon Knight/週末の騎士
2 Mystic Tomato/キラートマト
1 Spirit Reaper/魂を削る死霊
1 Sangan/クリッター
3 Necro Gardna/ネクロ・ガードナー
3 Battle Fader/バトル・フェイダー
1 Morphing Pot/メタモルポット
1 Mashmallon/マッシュマロン
1 Plaguespreader Zombie/ゾンビ・キャリア

Spells/魔法/8
3 Falling Down/堕落
2 Foolish Burial/おろかな埋葬
1 Pot of Avarice/貪欲な壺
1 Brain Control/洗脳ーブレインコントロールー
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐

Traps/罠/5
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー
2 Malevolent Catastrophe/邪神の大災害
2 Bottomless Trap Hole/奈良くな落とし穴

Unexpected solutions to the puzzle

2009-12-06T22:38:00.002+09:00

Because you guys really know how to win, but dont know how to think outside the box, which is good, I guess.

Update!

Your Full extra deck: 15 cards
3 Stardust Dragon
2 Majestic Star Dragon
2 Road Warrior
2 Drill Warrior
2 Junk Warrior
2 Nitro Warrior
2 Turbo Warrior

Yes, the deck that was being used when I saw how to pull off that insane combo which I'm trying to show you via a puzzle was a Yusei Fandeck(honestly couldnt bother typing it up last time)

Just so you know, the reason I publish puzzles is so people open their eyes to different ways to use cards.

Countering Junk Blade decks/対ジャンク・ブレイド系ワンキル

2009-12-06T19:14:00.002+09:00

Lately Junk Blade decks have seen an increase in play/finally being recognized as a cancer to the game.
最近、ジャンクブレイドワンキルは流行している

So, Im sure your all wondering how to beat it.
だから、使いやすい対策を言おう

1: Main Board Prohibition.
禁止令。メインに三済み

Of course, the only person out there who bothers to do most of the time is me, but calling Magical Explosion means a dead deck.
マジエクを宣言したら相手のデッキは止まってしまうからサイドから入れておこう。

Obviously, you cant play it on turn 1, so...
だけど、最初のターンには使えないので

2: Herald of Orange Light
朱光の宣告者

Negating Junk Collector's effect (assuming just one or two will cut it), might save you.
ジャンク・コレックターを一つ無効にすれば助かれる可能性が高い

Which means that against FTK decks, gives you game.
ワンキル系に対して生き残る事が勝利と同じ

Of course, the only reasonable way to run both cards in the same deck, and still have a win condition which compliments these cards would have to be a backrow heavy deck with some Fairies to mess around with in the first place, and already pack some nice meta cards to this FTK.
もちろん、両方を使えるデッキは少ない。この二枚を使うにはもうすでにほかのメタを入れてある、罠が多い、天使族が入っているすでに強いデッキだけ

Hmm. I wonder where I could find something like that.
さあ、どんなデッキには入れるかしら

Duel Puzzle Update.

2009-12-06T01:22:00.001+09:00

Since you all arent seeing what I made the puzzle for people to see, I've changed it so you have to deal PRECISELY 5600 Damage.

Just to clarify, you CANNOT depend on ANY chance for your solution.

Other than Starlight Road, all other cards related to the solution are available in the TCG.

Duel Puzzle Hint!

2009-12-05T13:10:00.003+09:00

Since nobody seems to be getting what I'm trying to show you people with this puzzle
見せたいコンボをまったく見ていないからあげる

The hint is:
ヒントは

"Impossible! Synchro Summon!?"
「まさか！シンクロ召喚だと！？」

Duel Puzzle #11!

2009-12-04T01:56:00.005+09:00

You:
Life: 2000
Deck: 28
Hand: Heavy Storm, Phantom of Chaos, Foolish Burial, Level Stealer.
Field: Face Down Starlight Road, Faceup Treeborn Frog
Graveyard: Foolish Burial, Level Stealer, Reinforcement of the Army, Allure of Darkness
Removed from Play: Plaguespreader Zombie

自分：
ライフ：２０００
デッキ：２８（自由）
手札：大嵐、ファントム・オブ・カオス、おろかな埋葬、レベルスティーラー
フィールド：裏側　スターライト・ロード、表側　黄泉ガエル
墓地：おろかな埋葬、レベルスティーラー、増援、闇の誘惑
除外：ゾンビ・キャリア

Opponent:
Life: 5600
Deck: 26
Hand: Anti-Crow, Delta Reverse, Blackwing - Sirroco the Dawn, Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North, Blackwing - Vayu the Great Banner, Hanewata
Field: Facedown Blackwing - Vayu of the Great Banner, Dark Armed Dragon, Face down Icarus Attack, Face up Black Whirlwind, Face Down Treacherous Trap Hole
Graveyard: Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame. Mystical Space Typhoon, Allure of Darkness
Removed from Play: Blackwing - Gale the Hurricane, Blackwing - Armor Master, Blackwing - Blizzard of the Far North

相手：
ライフ：５６００
手札：デルタクロー　アンチリバース、ＢＦー暁のシッロコ、ＢＦー北極のブリザード、ＢＦ－大はたのヴァ―ユ、ハネワタ
フィールド：裏側　ＢＦ－大はたのヴァーユ、ダーク・アームド・ドラゴン、裏側　ゴッド・バード・アタック、表側　黒の旋風、裏側　狡猾な落とし穴
墓地：ＢＦ－倉炎のシュラ、サイクロン、闇の誘惑
除外：ＢＦ－疾風のゲイル、ＢＦ－アーマード・ウイング、ＢＦ－北極のブリザード

It is currently the draw phase of your turn.
現在自分のターンのドローフェイズです

You have just topdecked:
そして、逆転のドロー！

One for One!
ワン・フォー・ワン！

Even though you just yelled "HEART OF THE CARDS! ANSWER ME!!!", your deck gave you this crap.
「デスティニードロー！！！！」と叫んでも結局引くのはこれかよ！

Reduce your opponent to precisely 0LP this turn. Standard Duel Puzzle conditions apply(All cards, unless stated, can be anything you want, as long as they are within rules, your win doesnt depend on the opponent's misplay, etc), unless otherwise stated.
このターンで相手のライフをちょうど０にしてください
勝利方法は相手のミスによる物ではない

The opponent is NOT dumb enough to blindly open Icarus Attack to try to blow up your cards without a good reason to do so.
Keep in mind that with Icarus in the graveyard, you cannot activate Trecherous Trap Hole, so he will probally try to activate Treacherous first.
相手はスタンバイフェイズで黄泉ガエルと伏せをゴッド・バードでぶっ飛ばすほど馬鹿ではない

Core Blast

2009-12-03T16:29:00.004+09:00

In case you havent realized, it doesnt destroy only monsters.
まだ気が掴んでいない方々に言っておくけど、破壊するのはモンスターだけではない

Yes, that means you can absolutely ravage the enemy back row every turn
毎ターン相手の魔法罠全部ぶっとばせるてこと

Because with Core Chimail, you arent going to be feilding any more than one monster at a time.
コアキメイルを使うとき、普段モンスター一体しか場に出さない主義なんだから...

Absolute Power Force indeed.
確かにアブソリュート・パワー・フォースですね、これは

And if we chain something to get rid of that one Core Chimail on your field to this guys effect...
さらに、この効果にチェーンして自分フィールドのコアキメイルをリリースすれば。。。

Whats more is that Starlight Road Rulings dont let it activate in response.
後、スターライト・ロードで無効されないという最強さ

United We Stand

2009-12-02T18:36:00.002+09:00

I think Whirlwind BF decks ought to run United We Stand
旋風ＢＦには団結の力が最適だと思うけど

Doesnt it work right into the strategy, combat advantage and swarming?
フィールドに暴走召還してからの戦闘アドバンテージにぴったりではないか

Dimensional Eatos Tech...

2009-12-01T18:40:00.002+09:00

I just faced off a Dimensional Eatos deck today.

Good?

Not really.

Was Starlight Road a problem?

Only barely in Game 1

Was Treacherous Trap Hole completely unexpected and decisive?

Yes.

Also, I suggest packing 1X Treacherous Trap Hole in decks which dont use any other trap cards. Its a card people tend to overlook, but can be decisive and unexpected.

Lets Low Level!

2009-11-30T22:20:00.005+09:00

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

2009-11-29T19:20:00.004+09:00

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

2009-11-28T22:42:00.004+09:00

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

2009-11-27T14:16:00.005+09:00

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

2009-11-26T19:19:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-25T20:37:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-24T14:57:00.004+09:00

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

2009-11-23T18:18:00.002+09:00

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

2009-11-22T15:13:00.005+09:00

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

2009-11-21T23:12:00.004+09:00

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

2009-11-20T17:31:00.001+09:00

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

2009-11-19T21:06:00.002+09:00

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

2009-11-18T07:59:00.000+09:00

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

2009-11-17T15:45:00.002+09:00

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

2009-11-16T17:30:00.001+09:00

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

2009-11-15T12:04:00.004+09:00

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

2009-11-13T17:42:00.002+09:00

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..

2009-11-12T15:21:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-11T20:08:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-10T15:21:00.001+09:00

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

2009-11-09T23:40:00.002+09:00

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

2009-11-08T19:22:00.003+09:00

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.

2009-11-07T18:29:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-06T19:34:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-04T17:29:00.003+09:00

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

2009-11-03T20:41:00.000+09:00

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

2009-11-02T22:01:00.002+09:00

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

2009-11-01T14:49:00.002+09:00

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.

Shiba Warrior Taro

2009-10-31T18:02:00.001+09:00

Could be used quite well in counter fairies, because it doesnt bounce itself when you counter spells or traps.

End Phase

2009-10-30T17:43:00.002+09:00

We all know the end phase and the stuff that happens in it, but here are some little things people miss out on that you might be able to bend to your advantage.

Each Individual card activated during the end phase creates their own chain. No chaining unless they were activated at the same time.

You can choose what order the things happen in the end phase.

"For this turn" is different. These effects last until the begining of the next turn.

"Until the end of the turn" occurs passively(no chain block made, for the most part), after your end phase, and before their draw phase.

Priority CAN be bypassed if the enemy has cards whom activate during YOUR end phase. However, you can also choose the timing of these cards.(EG: If you and your opponent have flipped summoned a worm Lynx each, you can choose to draw before your opponent, or your opponent before you.

After everything, you undergo hand limit check, meaning you discard until you have 6 cards in your hand. This happens after every compulsary effect that needs to happen has occured.

However, you should keep in mind that this doesnt occur ONLY ONCE, and after it is done, you can still activate optional effects(eg: Genex Neutron), but this also puts you through the hand limit check again.

Meaning that you can go through the hand limit check as many times as you have to in one turn so you end with 6 cards in your hand.(End phase drop cross porter search glow moss drop dandylion, etc.)

Rescue Cat VS Other One Card Synchros: Why Cat got Limited

2009-10-29T18:32:00.002+09:00

Many people compare Rescue Cat to Junk Synchron, Deep Sea Diva, Debris Dragon, Alien Anmonite, and Dark Salvo.

Yet, the only one that got even considered by the banlist is Rescue Cat.

Lets compare Junk Synchron and Alien Anmonite. Both are similar enough right? Summon, Revive, Synchro for level 5.
Junk synchron gives access to Junk Warrior(not always used), while Alien Anmonite gives access to Golgar(which is always used.). Each card has access to their own special synchro monster, with its own effect to be abused in one way or another.

Deep Sea Diva gives access to level 5s, but also Gishilnodon.

Debris Dragon is a whole step above, but its restricted by two clauses: It cant make a level 8 by itself, and it can only summon a dragon synchro.

Rescue cat bears the edge over these cards because of the variety of level combination that can be made with itself, and even more now with the new Fiend Diety Roar Beasts. Also, the synchro monsters summoned have no restrictions, like debris dragon.

Also, the fact that rescue cat is the only one that can be tutored as easily through summoner monk and still get its effect off really helps too.

Looking into the past of Rescue cat, it was used one time to primarity summon Level 6s, then the next format to summon level 7s. Now, its still used to summon level 9s and 5s.

Yet, all of the other one card synchros are restricted by themselves to one level range.

One of the reasons Junk and Debris works better than most of the other one card synchro combination is that they have access to a wide range of Synchro monsters, through the use of two different one card synchros.

Rex Godwin's cards

2009-10-28T17:12:00.002+09:00

We all know ABPF will bring with it Godwin's cards he used to line up the Sun dragon and Moon dragon in one turn.

Undoubtedly, this will lead to many people hyping these, and saying how they allow for synchro summon much easier.

But, if you put thought to it, they arent so good.

You use two cards to synchro summon a synchro monster, great.

All of the combo parts find each other. Great

The tuners can be used for every synchro monster. Great.

But what you dont see is that you are going to be eating up 3-4 cards a turn to summon these monsters, and ultimately they wont be on the field for long, especially in this format.

Yes, the sun and moon fetch each other. But one BTH and your whole game is gone.

Looking at the top tier decks recently, none of these are synchro based any longer.

Even if these cards give you easy access to synchro summons of a wide variety, ultimately the deck as a whole will not even make tier 2.

Topping Tournaments: The Unconsidered Secret

2009-10-27T15:56:00.002+09:00

Everyone loves topping tournaments.

Yes, its not everything in the game, but saying its not something everyone enjoys is wrong.

So you pick up your Lightsworn/Anti-Meta/Blackwings/Zombie/Gladial Beast deck, and head to your local friendly tournament store, and play, play, and play.

But you lose.

Why?

You have perfect build, tested over and over, with super high chance of OTKs and next to no chance of dead draws.

Your team has crunched numbers and figured out every single percentage of drawing comboes and other cards.

On top of that, you didnt misplay a single time. You are considered by many to be one of the best players out there in terms of plays and thinking, and deck building.

But you still lost.

Why?

The answer is luck.

In deck building and playtesting, what you analyze is probability, and how to maximize it, furnishing your deck to have the highest probability of drawing card X or combo Y.

But when it comes down to the tournament, and your games that matter, high probability and good decks really help, but the reason people win or lose is ultimately luck.

Theoretically, you could calculate the probability of you winning with the entire decklist of your deck and the endless comboes and the decklist of the opponent,

but that is just theory. Even if you have a 99.9% of winning, luck can still take over and give the opponent that 0.1%.

That being said it wont happen very often and probally not in tournaments due to other factors(Misplays).

Thus, when building decks, be sure to think of the probability, but do not forget that when it comes time to shine, everything is the luck of the draw and the roll of the dice.

I summon Honest in attack position.

2009-10-26T21:37:00.002+09:00

Clearly either the enemy has an honest in their hand, or two, or is trying to bluff his or her way out of a few turns.

OR

They have Broken Blocker set.

Beckoning Light...

2009-10-25T19:11:00.000+09:00

Utilizing Beckoning Light in a Fiend Diety Roar X Dark World deck is suprisingly devastating.

Unfortunately, lately, because of the amount of FDR monsters out there, mixing both decks is becoming harder and harder.

100000 Hits!

2009-10-24T12:55:00.002+09:00

Hello Everyone.

Today, this blog celebrates its 100000th hit.

It has taken a total of 54 days to gain 50000 hits, since the last hitcount post.

Today is this blog's 270th day in existance.

Thank you everyone for your continued support.

Continuing the trend, sunday continues to be the day where my blog gets the most hits.

Earthbounds

2009-10-23T18:32:00.000+09:00

Konami is sneaking all this support in every set to support these guys,

but they arent covering their weakness, the field spells.

If you want to play Earthbounds competetively, you need better field spells.

Duel Puzzle #10!!

2009-10-23T05:26:00.000+09:00

Wow. Its been 10 Duel Puzzles already!

You:
Life: 1500
Deck: 35(Topdeck is Dark Armed Dragon. When you shuffle your deck, this will change.)
Hand: Armageddon Knight, Blackwing - Gale the Hurricane, Giant Trunade, Dual Summon.
Field: Facedown Des Koala, Face Up DEF Summoner Monk.
Graveyard: Rose, the Warrior of Revenge
Extra: 15.

Enemy:
Life: 5400
Deck: 34
Field: Face up DEF Gellenduo, set Bottomless Trap Hole, Bottomless Trap Hole, Solemn Judgment, Dark Bribe, Mirror Force.
Hand: None
Graveyard: Banisher of the Light
RFP: None

It is currently the standby phase of your turn. Defeat your opponent this turn. Standard Duel Puzzle conditions apply, unless otherwise stated.

Stall Based Decks: Konami's recent suggestion?

2009-10-22T17:02:00.003+09:00

Recently, we've gotten Zero Gardna, and the upcoming Battle Fader.

Most people dont really think much about it, as cards like this dont usually make a splash unless theyre released all/lots at once(see: Lightsworn)

Is Konami slowly supporting stall decks?

Will these cards make final countdown a valid strategy in your opinion?

Dark Valkyria Beat playtesting

2009-10-22T11:48:00.000+09:00

If you equip Dark Valkyria with Supervis, destroy something, then play storm, you CAN re-summon Dark Valkyria to destroy yet another monster, in addition to your special summon from the graveyard thanks to Supervis.

Supervis + Gemini Spark + Dark Valkyria + Chaining to removal = Insane advantage!

Starlight Road's name

2009-10-21T23:43:00.001+09:00

Konami might have trouble making a good english name for this card.

Can anyone see why?

スターライトロード

The Tyrant NEPTUNE

2009-10-21T20:53:00.001+09:00

The best deck to fit this would probably be Fortune Ladies, of all things

Duel Puzzle: Commonly accepted guidelines

2009-10-20T18:45:00.001+09:00

Heres the OCG Wiki on making your own Duel Puzzles.

Blogger Challenge: Convincing Arguments

2009-10-20T15:16:00.002+09:00

Everyone has friends who are going to quit the game.

My challenge to fellow bloggers today is to write a good post on why you shouldn't simply quit the game suddenly, and instead do ____________(This is up to you).

Make it convincing, and make it good.

Dragunity Knight Trident

2009-10-19T11:52:00.001+09:00

It would be good if it were only level 6...

As of now, you are losing too much advantage summoning and triggering its effect to save you in the long run.

What a shame.

It has such kickass art.

Vanity Control, the deck that wrecks everything, or not?

2009-10-18T22:28:00.002+09:00

We all know Vanity Control, but we also all know that next to nobody plays it.

Yet, every time people see it being played, it wrecks almost everything.

So, I ask you, WHY?

It stops LS in its tracks by countering and booking everything that happens.

It stops BF by locking down both Black Whirlwind and crazy Swarming,

It stops J&D by just existing.

It stops GBs by just lurking in DEF position.

Zombies dont stand a chance.

So what's its big flaw? Why isnt it winning every tournament?

The answer is simple:

Too dependent on both rows.

Most decks are either Frontrow dependent or Backrow dependent, with a few other decks being Graveyard dependant(Zombies, Vaayu, and J&D), and others Hand dependent, such as BF. Backrow dependant decks include Anti-Meta

the biggest flaw with many deck ideas is that you rely too much on both rows.

For example, Vanity Control.

You rely on your front row for your large beaters with game slowing abilities, such as Raiou and the titular Vanity Fiend, but also on your backrow to do almost all your work for you in the form of Divine Wrath and Compulsary Evacuation Device.

This allows too many cards to open your weaknesses. One MST or storm, OR one Fissure or Lightning Vortex is enough to put a large gap in your and their momentum, unlike decks light Lightsworn, who tend to not give a damn about their own backrow.

Card Choices

2009-10-17T21:39:00.000+09:00

I see something that could revolutionize a now dead deck. Do you?

Junk Archer

2009-10-17T14:33:00.000+09:00

Is suprisingly easy to bring out in Synchron Monarch

Collosal Fighter Assault Mode

2009-10-16T21:42:00.002+09:00

In case you havent realized, if you bottomless trap hole him, you CANNOT revive Collosal Fighter.

Talk about useless.

Cheating: Acknowledged by Konami?

2009-10-16T02:18:00.002+09:00

Everyone knows that cheating happens, and knows how it goes punished.

But how about Konami?

It seems that they are aware of how rampant cheating in the game is.

In fact, to a point where they even have the protagonists of the show cheating, on air.

Examples off the top of my head/the only ones I know of are Yusei changing his set cards around during his duel against the Prison Warden, and Jyuudai activating a trap the turn it was set in the manga, but there is a page out there which lists all the instances of the protagonists, as well as antagonists, cheating.

You will be suprised as to how much the people in the show cheat, if you really pay attention.

Any other examples you readers know of?

Why I havent been posting for a few days is something people who give a damn can ask me about. I wont bother you here.

Dark Valkyria Beat

2009-10-13T22:07:00.005+09:00

Most people already know of Bahamut84's Another Neos Beat.

But I ask you, Why limit yourself to only abusing Gemini Spark with Another Neos?

I present to you the next step in Gemini Beatdown, Dark Valkyria Beat.

Yes, it is a step towards the DARK side, but DARK ARMED DRAGON IS FUN.

I present to you, Dark Valkyria Beatdown.

Dark Valkyria Beat/ダーク・ヴァルキリー・ビート

Monsters/モンスター/17
3 Dark Valkyria/ダーク・ヴァルキュリア
2 Phoedlyser/フェデライザー
2 Crusader of Endymion/クルセーダー・オブ・エンディミオン
3 Breaker the Magical Warrior/魔道戦士ブレイカー
1 Dark Armed Dragon/ダーク・アームド・ドラゴン
1 Summon Priest/召還層サモンプリースト
1 Blazewing Butterfly/炎妖蝶ウイルプス
1 Blackwing Gale the Hurricane/ＢＦ－疾風のゲイル
1 Plaguespreader Zombie/ゾンビ・キャリア
1 Sangan/クリッター
1 The Dark Creator/ダーク・クリエィター

Spells/魔法/13
3 Supervis/スペルヴィス
3 Gemini Spark/デュアル・スパーク
3 Shrink/収縮
2 Allure of Darkness/闇の誘惑
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐
1 Mystical Space Typhoon/サイクロン

Traps/罠/10
1 Solemn Judgement/紙の宣告
2 Victims Counter/ヴィクティムズ・カウンター
2 Escape from the Dark Dimension/闇次元からの解放
1 Call of the Haunted/リビングデッドの呼び声
1 Torrential Tribute/激流葬
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー
2 Birthright/正統なる血統

As you can already see, the whole point of this deck is tho absolutely abuse Dark Valkyria.

Why is Summon Priest in? For Dark Valkyria.

Why is Gemini Spark in? For Dark Valkyria.

Why is Crusader of Endymion in? For Dark Valkyria.

Victim's counter? For Dark Valkyria.

All the deck is to support abusing Valkyria's effect, so various ways can be used to take advantage of this.

Some hidden comboes:

Summon Limiter + Supervis. Summon Limiter does NOT count your re-summoning of the Gemini as one of the two summons. The special summon, obviously yes.

Dark Valkyria's effect allows it to put ONE counter on itself ONCE. It does NOT happen necessarily at Summoning. Allowing you to MST that GB's War Chariot, if they try to open that on you.

Dark Valkyria is one of the cards that does NOT have a limit on the number of Spell Counters it may have. Most of the time it will be one. Crusader of Endymion gives it more.

Dark Valkyria does NOT have a "Only once per turn" clause on the destruction effect. Meaning if you have many spell counters, you can go crazy and wipe the enemy field clean.

Any questions can be asked in the comments section.

Yes, this is legal for you Asia Tournament people who are absolutely desperate to use Gemini Spark.

@Bahamut 84:
Yo Baha84, Im real happy for your Another Neos Beat and Imma let you finish, but my Dark Valkyria Beat is the best Gemini Spark based deck of all time! OF! ALL! TIME!

Yes, I just used up my once only valid obligatory Kanye West Meme. You will no longer see any more of them.

Infinity Dark

2009-10-12T21:14:00.003+09:00

Yes, it has a cool name, but it's art looks familiar...

No?

Hmm..

He looks...

Heroic...

Doesn't change the fact that he's more or less useless.

Coming soon:

Dark Valkyria Beatdown

Norelas Concept...

2009-10-12T13:00:00.000+09:00

Summon Stardust, activate some of your own destruction, negate it with Dust, Summon Norelas, Trigger effect, nuke field and enemy hand, as well as your own, draw something irrelevant, then at the end phase revive stardust for some beating next turn

Filler Cards

2009-10-10T23:44:00.001+09:00

When you have a few empty slots in the deck, what do you include?

Were talking things of about the same tier as randomly splashing:

Transmigration Prophecy
Swords of Revealing Light
Fissure/Smashing
BF-Gale

Gozen Match + Rivalry of the Warlords

2009-10-09T23:50:00.002+09:00

These two make such a powerful lock, but are hard to draw into and play while using...

But there are a few decktypes that can use it well, because all are the same Attribute and Type.

I believe that this combo should see much more play.

Monarch Decks: Not winning as much, why?

2009-10-08T19:15:00.002+09:00

We all know Monarch decks work.

Every turn, they generate (hopefully) a 2400 attack beater with their effect already haven gone off, removing at least one card from the field.

Functioning very basically, they use very minimal cards every turn.

They can draw upon many forms of cards for speed, as shown in the past.

Then why aren't they winning?

There are two big problems with Monarch decks.

The first one is the lack of speed. While they can draw upon several cards for speed, Monarch decks require setup, so to speak. Something needs to be fed to a monarch to summon it, and unfortunately, its not easy to get this out THEN summon a monarch right from turn 1, something needs to be on the field or graveyard in some cases to work well.

The two big "Setup" cards are, as you know, Treeborn Frog and Dandylion, but those need to be in the graveyard to activate. The next two are Spirit Reaper and Mashmallon, due to their Indestructible by battle effect. Those need to be on the field to let you turtle a bit first too.
Also in this class are Gravekeeper's Spies. Again, they are flip effects, and thus are not able to be sprung from the hand.

The exceptions of Monarch fodder to work are cards such as Jester Confit, The Tricky, and Flute of Summoning Kuriboh. Big problem with them is that they are only one time use, unlike Treeborn Frog and other cards. Thus, in the long run, you will be running a loss in advantage, which will catch up to you fast.

How decks that use this win is by pushing very hard, very fast. Summoning an additional Monarch from nowhere gives you the ability to rush your opponent, as nobody devotes too many cards to the field on turn 1. Decks like these TEND to win more often within 5 turns, and less in the longer run.

The second problem with Monarch Deck's is their predictability.

Monarch decks tend to lack many hidden tricks, with their agenda most of the time being just "summon monarch whack for 2400, spam removal". Thus, players, once they know the enemy is running a monarch deck, and has a treeborn frog in the graveyard(as an example), they can expect monarchs flying at them next turn, and thus play and set/hold cards as appropriate.

This is the part where the Kuriboh Jester and Tricky Monarchs tend to fail, despite their edge over the other variants in the first aspect.

The one decktype that succeeds here is the Quick Synchron Monarch deck, but that REALLY fails at the first part, running a very bad mid and end game, as you can use upwards four to five cards, at low two to three cards a turn.

Deckfix: Blood Monarch

2009-10-07T17:31:00.002+09:00

I recently received a deckfix request for a rather interesting deck, and I wanted to share it with you.

The original deck can be found on Gambit's blog, Duelism.

It appears as follows:

Blood Monarch/Bloodarch (Gambit Style)

2 Destiny Hero Plasma/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　Ｂｌｏｏ－Ｄ
1 Destiny Hero Dogma/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　ドグマガイ
2 Destiny Hero Diamond Dude/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　ダイアモンド・ガイ
2 Caius the Shadow Monarch/邪帝ガイウス
2 Raiza the Storm Monarch/風帝ライザー
1 Kuraz the Light Monarch/光帝クライス
3 Tongue Twister/タン・ツイスター
1 Cyber Dragon/サーバー・ドラゴン
1 Elemental Hero Stratos/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　エアーマン
1 Blackwing - Gale the Hurricane/ＢＦ－疾風のゲイル
1 Treeborn Frog/黄泉ガエル
1 Dandylion/ダンディライオン
1 Mashmallon/マッシュマロン
1 Shiba Warrior Taro/柴戦士タロ
1 Spirit Reaper/魂を削る死霊
1 Sangan/クリッター
2 Krebons/クレボンス

3 Destiny Draw/デスティニードロー
1 Emergency Teleport/緊急テレポート
1 Trade In/トレード・イン
1 Pot of Avarice/貪欲な壺
1 Brain Control/洗脳ーブレインコントロールー
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐
1 Mystical Space Typhoon/サイクロン

3 Reckless Greed/無用な欲ぼり
2 Ultimate Offering/血の代償
1 Torrential Tribute/激流葬
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー

The premise of this deck is the ridiculous number of draw 2 cards.

For starters, Destiny draw and reckless greed together with a Trade in for good effect has proven in the past to work quite well.

Gambit has taken the extra step and packed Tounge Twisters along with Ultimate offering, a powerful draw engine available to almost uniquely to Ultimate Offering Monarch decks.

Another interesting tech is the single Kuraz, allowing you to get even more draws off of cards such as Reckless Greed.
Additionally, the Ultimate Offering allows for you to retrieve the one drawback of Kuraz, that it eats your normal summon.

Now, for deckfixes.

First off, I have no idea why you didnt add Allure of Darkness, considering how many DARKs you are running, so +2 Allure off the bat.

Trade in is a powerful card, yes, but in ones, even with 3 targets, it is a bit weak and hard to use. I would suggest adding one more Trade In.
+1 Trade In

To balance this out, one more level 8 must be added, so another Plasma is added, for good effect.
On top of this, it contributes to the deck's namesake, Blood Monarch.
+1 Destiny Hero Plasma

With your increased draw power, digging into that Ultimate Offering is easier. This allows for more monsters to be fielded and used, so why not add another Pot of Avarice? It also helps for your Destiny Draw + Trade In super draws.
+1 Pot of Avarice

Now, another integral part of using Destiny Draw with Monarchs is the Stratos into Malicious, then D-Draw'ing off the Malicious, for free monarch fodder later in the game.
+2 D-Hero Malicious.

Totaling
+2 Destiny Hero Malicious, +1 Pot of Avarice, +1 Destiny Hero Plasma, +1 Trade In, and +2 Allure of Darkness.

Undoubtedly, this gives you much more draw power. Your deck now is packing SIXTEEN draw 2 Cards, more than most people have in ALL their decks combined.

Unfortunately, these increased aspects of the deck calls for cards to be cut.

With the increased number of D-Heroes for Destiny Draw, losing one Diamond dude is now a viable move.

MST is cut because this deck allows access to almost all your cards all the time, so simple stalling or removal can be in the form of Brionac and Stardust Dragon easier.

Along with the increased draw power, you have easier access to Ultimate Offering, the powerhouse card of this deck. However, this also means you lose the ability to use Treeborn Frog quite as often. Thus, Treeborn Frog will be cut.

Gale, while a powerful card, is great for killing monsters, but is only valid once. The drawback of Gale in the new deck is that you pull out strong moves in momentum in one turn alone, perhaps your opponents turn, so the one time valid mini tide turner that is Gale is not quite as good.
A hard cut, yes, but necessary.

Shiba Warrior Taro, a third onwards indestructible by battle monster after Mashmallon and Spirit Reaper, will be cut because you dont have to stall quite as much anymore.

The last two cuts are extremely difficult.
Cyber Dragon, because you can lay down monsters every turn, meaning you dont usually have nothing on the field, and Torrential Tribute, because of your massive moves, and the fact that IMO, Mirror Force is slightly better.

It will end up something like this:

Bloodarch (Rauzes Fix)

3 Destiny Hero Plasma/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　Ｂｌｏｏ－Ｄ
1 Destiny Hero Dogma/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　ドグマガイ
2 Destiny Hero Malicious/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　ディアボリック・ガイ
1 Destiny Hero Diamond Dude/Ｄ・ＨＥＲＯ　ダイアモンド・ガイ
2 Caius the Shadow Monarch/邪帝ガイウス
2 Raiza the Storm Monarch/風帝ライザー
1 Kuraz the Light Monarch/光帝クライス
3 Tongue Twister/タン・ツイスター
1 Elemental Hero Stratos/Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ　エアーマン
1 Dandylion/ダンディライオン
1 Mashmallon/マッシュマロン
1 Spirit Reaper/魂を削る死霊
1 Sangan/クリッター
2 Krebons/クレボンス

3 Destiny Draw/デスティニードロー
2 Allure of Darkness/闇の誘惑
1 Emergency Teleport/緊急テレポート
2 Trade In/トレード・イン
2 Pot of Avarice/貪欲な壺
1 Brain Control/洗脳ーブレインコントロールー
1 Heavy Storm/大嵐

3 Reckless Greed/無用な欲ぼり
2 Ultimate Offering/血の代償
1 Mirror Force/聖なるバリアーミラーフォースー

This concludes today's deckfix writeup. Enjoy your new deck, Gambit. Super Draw LiDa on steroids, only without the LiDa part.

Feel free to netdeck or copy the concept!

Halloween Tournament, make your locals one!

2009-10-06T17:34:00.004+09:00

Well, since Halloween is coming up this month...

You might say its a little early to say so, but I feel that enough time should be given to let people prepare/tell their friends.

The thing is, since Halloween is on Saturday this year, and locals are usually on Saturday, why not lump both together for some extra fun?

Heres the concept:

On halloweeen day, a tournament will be held(on any scale is fine. Just do it.), where all/most contestants must be in costume.

I'm goanna leave "costume" undefined, so you can be cos playing as Yuusei, saying RAWR I AM DRACULA, or pretending to be Bahamut84, for all I care.

Even if not everyone agrees, the point is to have fun and enjoy playing on Halloween Day.

And someone must be nice and supply Candy for consolation prizes!

Of course, regular prize Gold Series Box/3X SOVR box/whatever you guys use as prizes is normal.

So what do you think?
WTF Fail? OMG MUST DO? Sure why not? I suggest these intelligent changes to make it a better experience overall?