YuGiOh Sept 2012 Format Tier List

I know I previously suggested I was done posting for this year, but I had been working on this while I was sitting in class one day a few weeks ago, meant to post it up a long time ago but just now finally getting around to typing it up. I was inspired to do this because tier lists are fairly prominent/popular in fighting games, and I just thought it'd be fun to do one for Yugz. Ranks are based on the fighting game tiering system, ie not number-based. Doing something like a tier list, whether it be for fighting games or card games or whatever, is always open to much debate; after all a player that plays X character/deck will generally think their character/deck deserves a higher ranking than what it may be realistically. After all, ultimately a player's skill level, in combination with luck, will generally result in the winner of the match. For example a certain pilot may be able to outplay everyone with Gravekeeper, but does that mean it realistically is a better deck than Agent right now? I think not.

I tried to form this list based on tournament results (TCG and OCG) and my personal opinions. I also included a column for the likelihood that I think the deck overall will get hit on the banlist, in some way shape or form. Again this is based on tournament results, my opinions, and what I think Konami will do in regards to sales purposes. Decks within a particular grade are not ordered in any way in terms of tier. If a particular deck is not listed, it either means I'd rate it lower than a "C", or I just forgot about it. Only TCG-available decks are listed (I'd say Verz is an A or A+-rank deck though).

Happy Holidays, Small Update

So now that we have gone through another end of the world thing, I wonder when the next predicted date will be? lol. The more of these that I go through the more I start to think it'll never happen. I enjoy life but the world is wretched, it really does need the restart button pushed for it.

Anyway I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday, I'm currently working on a post called something like "The Ethics of Trading" and would like to talk about Verz/Evilswarm as I do think that deck will be sick after reading more in-depth as to what the cards do. Those will come most likely next year. In the mean time as some of the team has made it a point to go to YCS Miami and Austin, we will be amping up the playtesting. At this point I'm not sure if I'll continue to play Wind-Up, switch to Mermail, or consider Fire if I see it top more OCG events.

Looking Ahead to HA07

Nothing official has been announced as the second half of DT07 isn't even out yet for us, but I think it's a fairly safe assumption that we will continue to get OCG DT cards via Hidden Arsenal sets. I must say I'm looking very forward to this upcoming Hidden Arsenal and think it will impact the meta quite a bit. I think the last Hidden Arsenal that really had an impact on the game was HA04 which had Trishula in it. 5 and 6 had a few notable cards, but nothing too major in the grand scheme of things. I believe 7 could have as much impact as the very first HA set, if not more. I'll list what cards I'm looking forward to and I'm sure others as well (order is not indicative of anything, at least to me).

1. Tinplate Goldfish

Lv4/Water/Machine
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 monster from your hand.

The last time I played any sort of Gadget variant seriously was when I was down in Texas. I played the shit out of Machina Gadget but eventually moved on to better decks. For the past few days I've been testing out "Goldfish-Machina-Gadgets" using ideas from OCG builds I have seen, and I must say I really do enjoy playing the deck. Essentially this is Double Summon with a body that lets you go into almost any Rank 4. Not having to wait a turn to set up a Gigant play is pretty sick, and at the very least the 2000 DEF isn't bad at all.

2. Daigusto Emeral

Rank 4 (2 Lv4) /Wind/Rock
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to activate 1 of these effects.
● Target 3 monsters in your Graveyard; shuffle all targets into the Deck, then draw 1 card.
● Target 1 non-Effect Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target.

There's no denying that this guy has been anticipated for quite a while by at least those who knew of it's existence in the first place. This is a mini-Pot of Avarice and an enabler to many potential combos. I know there are a few FTK/OTK-ish strategies out there that use this guy as the key recycling component - oh boy lol.

3. Lavalval Chain

Rank 4 (2 Lv4)/Fire/Sea Serpent
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to activate 1 of these effects;
● Send 1 card from your Deck to the Graveyard.
● Choose 1 monster from your Deck and place it on top of your Deck.

A big part of me feels that if we had this card last format, Inzektors would've won a YCS. This card is basically a Foolish Burial with a body, and in Inzektors has the added application of stacking DAD on top of your deck. Or Dragonfly, or whatever you needed lol. Even outside of Inzektor, any deck being able to tutor a specific monster to the top of their deck has a lot of potential applications (Infernity Archfiend anyone?). Like Emeral, I think he falls into the same category of "degenerate combo enabler".

4. Molten Conduction Field

Send 2 "Laval" monsters from your Deck to the Graveyard.

I know Laval players have just been itching for this card to come out. This allows you to easily dump Lakeside Lady and Handmaiden and what ever else to set up your Rekindling plays. Whether Laval becomes a top tier deck in the TCG, it's hard to say. I don't think I've seen it top anything in OCG since last format. However, one must accept that another sacky deck can be added to our list of ones we already have. *Derp* Shooting Quasar for game? :/

5. Evilswarm Heliotrope

Dark/Rock/1950 Normal beater.

I know you may be thinking "OK, a 1950 beater, so what - Alexandrite Dragon and Gene-Warped Warwolf are bigger", but the Rank 4 Evilswarm XYZ's must also be considered when taking this card into consideration. After all, "Verz Laggia" was a thing in OCG last format. Of course it has the benefit of outright running over TKings.

6. Evilswarm Ouroboros

Rank 4 (3 Lv4)/Dark/Dragon
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; activate 1 of these effects. Each of these effects can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.
● Target 1 card your opponent controls; return it to the hand.
● Send 1 random card from your opponent's hand to the Graveyard.
● Banish 1 card in your opponent's Graveyard.

Trish is back, kinda. This guy is key in the Six Sam Hand loop (check Youtube) and who knows how else this could be abused.

7. Evilswarm Ophion

Rank 4 (2 Lv4 lswarm)/Dark/Dragon
Neither player can Special Summon Level 5 or higher monsters while this card has Xyz Material. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; add 1 "Infestation" Spell or Trap Card from your Deck to your hand.

This can potentially shut decks down but may not be as good as it could be in this heavy XYZ era of the game. However, not letting your opponent summon Hyperion, BLS, DAD, Megalo, relevant Synchros, etc, isn't too shabby.

8. Evilswarm Bahamut

Rank 4 (2 Lv4 lswarm)/Dark/Dragon
Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; discard 1 "lswarm" monster, and if you do, take control of that opponent's monster.

This is a true "Snatch Steal"-like monster, and unlike Tragoedia you don't have to match levels or anything like that. I guess it's pretty similar to Big Eye but you can bring it out via a single Rescue Rabbit play lol.

9. Evilswarm Thunderbird

Lv 4/Dark/Thunder
During either player's turn, when the effect of a Spell, Trap, or Effect Monster is activated (except during the Damage Step): You can banish this card you control. During the next Standby Phase, return this card that was banished by this effect to the field, and it gains 300 ATK. You can only use the effect of "Evilswarm Thunderbird" once per turn.

I remember seeing this card splashed into many OCG decks last format as a 3-of, and you can quickly see how annoying it can be with a beater that can keep on coming back, Standby after Standby. I'm not sure if there are any rulings out there that make this card suck now, as I don't recall seeing it in lists all that much right now. I guess Wind-Up and Water are just too good/played in OCG right now.

10. Constellar Ptolemys Messier 7

Rank 6 (2 Lv6)/Light/Machine
You can also Xyz Summon this card by using 1 face-up "Constellar" Xyz Monster you control as the Xyz Material, except "Constellar Ptolemys Messier 7". (Xyz Materials attached to that monster also become Xyz Materials of this card.) You cannot activate this card's effect the turn you Special Summon this card this way. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to target 1 monster on the field or in either player's Graveyard; return it to the hand.

Constellar is a decktype I remember playing against randomly on DN one time a while back. I'm still not sure on what all they "do", or hope to do. This guy specifically, most likely has application in something like Chaos Dragon in that they can actually go into Rank 6. If it survives a turn you can grab back a milled/destroyed BLS or bounce a problem monster or what have you.

I know there are even more cards that are at least somewhat relevant in this set, and that is saying a lot. When was the last time a Hidden Arsenal set had 10+ relevant cards in it? lol. Realistically I probably won't be getting a box of this, more like order 3x Goldfish, 2 or 3x Emeral, 2x Chain, and maybe a set of Thunderbird as singles and call it good. However I'd say buying a box of this sounds a lot more feasible than buying a box of HA2, 3, 5, or 6 when they were new.

The Player Format

By Zach Sharrai
Hello everyone, today I'll be giving my insight on the game state of the format, why certain decks work, why players are starting to play consistent, and why opening a "4 or 5" turn hand can win you the game.

To begin, this is realistically the first format where the skill of the player affects over 60-70% of who will win the game. This being said I will also state that there will always be sacky decks like burn or stall that lesser players will choose to get an easy win with. This of course takes 10-20% of the other percentage. Nowadays players are becoming a lot smarter with knowing how to get synergy with any deck, and with that I feel the last 10% is due to "bad hands".

My next point is the most important. The players. WE have seen many pros come and go but this is really a good time in yugioh where we actually have "pros". Not just kids with money who buy DAD decks and win at locals because no one else can afford it. WE have seen the same players top over the past year or so whom in my opinion have become the "celebrities" to the world of yugioh. Player like the great Billly Brake and Robert Boyaijin are consistent toppers along with Joe Giorlando and Simon He (not to mention the rise of the ARG empire). I see the struggles in the game because of the amount of skill it can take- just goes to shows how hard these guys work. End result: Studying, playtesting and mental toughness are 3 keys to success in this game.

On to my next point, I am starting to see that ANY deck can win, yes that means that Watts, GK, Sabers, ALL have ways that they can win. Hence why I believe this is a player format. Now do I think there is a best deck? No in my opinion there is not a Tier-0 deck nor do I think there will be for a while. With that being said I do feel that Merlanteans is the deck to play if you want the most success. Reason being is because the deck has everything it could possibly need regarding back row destruction, field presence, conservative or slow play and a little draw power. Due to the fact that this is a mostly monster deck makes it a lot easier to know how to play around indecent hands. Decks like Inzektors and Geargia can give you strange hands and confuse the player on how to approach the situation (I.E. decks with consistent hands win games). I am not disregarding Inzektors as I want to build them as well, I just feel that it was fantastic meta call (and the rise of Threatening Roar has begun).

Lastly, going back to the consistency matter of Yu-Gi-Oh! Decks that open hands like that win because they can predict turns into the future. Not saying Yu-Gi-Oh! players are psychic but we study decks enough to know what to expect most of the time. For example I am currently piloting Chaos Dragons. I open up with a Ryko, Trag, Lyla,Light Pulsar, P.O.A. and Veiler. I can set Ryko save my veiler have Lyla next turn etc. The reason this win games is because myself as a player was taught to try and foresee what a player will do and outplay him. This once again all falls back on the consistency of designing your deck to draw well enough hands to get that situation. Because it is then that you get to use skill over luck. And no offense but I'll take skill over luck any day...

My YCS Re-Cap

Better late than never, right? :)
I had wanted to do this a long time ago, but after YCS I was pretty much behind on all my homework and with the holiday coming up I really just didn't have any time.

I won't be going over all my matches or anything like that, I went 4-3 drop losing Round 1 to Geargia who had Armor+3 or 4 backrow opening plays, Round 6 to Heroes that sided into Wind-Ups; in Game 3 - totally blew me by surprise as I had anti-Hero stuff sided in, and he goes Rabbit+Factory, then proceeds to Magician-Shark me ftw. Then in Round 7 lost to Chain Burn, just don't have anything sided for that match-up besides a pair of Dust Tornadoes :/

All in all it was a fun event though, our hotel was sick and Danny met a lot of pros and got to chat it up with them. I met LFN, who's a very cool guy. Besides that, my binder went through Weight-Watchers (ie the vendors) and I got to sell a lot of stuff off. Even though I know basically everything is really under-cut, I didn't really care because a lot of that stuff was just stuff that sat in my binder for many many months.

I think the best thing that came out of this event for us was motivation to go to YCS' across the country. After thinking about it, it's entirely possible to do even in my situation so I'm fairly sure that once the stateside YCS' are announced for the coming year, we will be making plans to go to as many as we can.

YCS-Bound

The time has finally come, and tomorrow we will be traveling to the first YCS of the northwest. The last major we had was 4 years ago with SJC Seattle, and I'm guessing the next one we have will be another 4 years from now lol. I would love to be able to travel to participate in more events like these, unfortunately my situation doesn't allow me to, and the financial returns even if I performed very well, consecutively, doesn't warrant it in my opinion. This event will be so important for me because who knows where I will be 4 years from now or if the game will even still be around by then. Not only speaking on my performance, but being able to go in with my team and doing our best to tear it up; this will be a momentous event.

Good luck to all participating!

The Doldrums

Doldrums [dohl-druhmz]
noun
1. a state of inactivity or stagnation
2. a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits

So over the past few weeks it seems that there has been a big divide in the community - half seem to be taking a break or quitting for what ever reason, and the other are still going at it and enjoying the relatively balanced format. I find myself in both places; when it comes to blogging about Yugioh, I find it hard to talk about anything new or what's been going on in the meta, because it feels like not much has been going on. This almost seems contradictory since our newest set was just released. I've noticed this happen among fellow bloggers and various YouTubers. Perhaps Kris Perovic's article put things into perspective for people, with the self-understanding that things probably won't change on Konami's part. On the other side of things, as I prep for YCS Seattle, I am very motivated in tweaking my main, side, and extra to what I think is the best that I can, because I know there won't be a YCS in our area for the foreseeable future. I wish I could playtest more, but it's almost a daunting endeavor simply because you never know what you're gonna play against in such a large field with a brand new set just released. I could test for hours and hours against the popular decks, get my siding strategies down perfectly and whatnot, only to get blind sided by a "random" deck and then get sacked by a sacky deck, virtually eliminating me from the tourney. This factor became very apparent when Carl got 2nd at the Sneak Peek tourney with Six Sams. Not to take anything away from Carl, but when people think of "sacky" deck, the top 3 basically consist of Sam, Darkworld, and Lightsworn. It sucks to know that at any given time, regardless of skill level, you can get sacked. Such is Yugioh.

It just goes to show that regardless of the state of the game, it's impossible to please everyone. When they reprint something, some people will bitch and some people will praise. When something gets rarity-bumped, some people will bitch and some people (profiteers) will praise. I guess you just have to take the beast for what it is, and for God's sake (side rant) people need to open their eyes in regards to patterns. I still see people holding onto freshly pulled Sneak Peek cards because of hype or whatever, when it isn't doing them any good but they refuse to trade it to someone that's only missing that 1 card to finish their deck. The old "I'm not sure why this is good, but I'm going to hold onto it because everyone seems to want it" line. Go ahead and keep your card bro, cuz in a week or two it's value is gonna drop. Happens all the time. Remember Tour Bus? I offered $50 for one when it was new-ish, but they held onto it cuz it was "70 on eBay". What's it at now - 10 to 15? Looks like you plussed hard there. It's the same damn story for new stuff that comes out - if you're not gonna build the damn deck, learn to let it go for a fair value. And trust me, if all you got is that 1 card for the decktype, chances are you aren't actually gonna go all out and pick everything else up especially when it's rarity bumped to shit, just to build it, and still be shitty anyway. I love Sneak Peeks! lol.

Side rant aside, I believe this YCS will be a big factor, in one way or another, for a lot of people when it comes to sticking out the rest of the format or not.

Small Update + What's Been Up

As usual, I apologize for not being able to make blog posts. A lot has been going on in terms of my daily responsibilities and keeping up with YGO at the same time. It's kind of a Catch-22 because I don't like making little insignificant posts, but I haven't had the time to construct a long one so I just haven't posted, if that makes sense. I miss making daily posts like when I first started the blog, but it just seems like there's less to talk about these days. The talk of the online YGO community is Kris Perovic's "State of the Game" article. I'd like to make a post discussing that directly, and when I have the time I'll also be making a "Dear Konami"-esque e-mail to send to Konami, the movement which was started by Allen Pennington on DGz.

Testing for YCS Seattle/Tacoma is starting to go underway, since it seems unlikely that it will be a Sealed event. I've been testing Chaos Dragon as an alternative to Wind-Ups, but I'm still unsure on the matter. I seem to draw and mill so poorly sometimes that I couldn't imagine myself trying to get through 9+ rounds with the deck successfully, so I dunno yet. I seem to mill Reborn, Heavy, BLS, and cards like that like it was going out of style lol. With the rarity-bumps of Mermail (Abysslinde = rare -> ultra, Abyss-Sphere = common(!) -> ultra(!), Megalo-abyss and Moulin-rouge = super -> secret (most likely?)), it seems impossible/too costly to go that route.

I didn't do decklists for Providence because Youtube had that covered very well this time. You should be able to find most of the top 32 by some simple searching.

Oh, on the local scene - Gamer's Haven will be starting Advanced tourneys on Saturdays starting this Saturday, at 2:30 pm. Please check the designated "Spokane YGO Tourney Schedule" tab/link at the top of the page for more info.

Random - it annoys the hell out of me when people ask "when/where are the tourneys?" when people know I run this blog plus I've mentioned that I specifically make and maintain a weekly schedule. Reminds me of LFN's post where he talked about people asking him rulings on DN when it's so simple to just look them up themselves when resources are so easily at one's disposal.

Testing with Mermails

The past few weeks I've been trying to set myself up for the release of Abyss Rising by learning what the good Mermail and Atlantean cards do. I must admit that Dueling Days' post helped a lot! I've been picking up random stuff like Undines, and even a set of German Super Deep Sea Divas. I got to test with Vampire last night, with basically no idea what I was doing besides reading the aforementioned post. In just an hour I was doing some pretty sick things and had a pretty decent grasp of the deck. I can't wait to see what kind of Water exclusives we get for this archetype to be top tier (hopefully not broken, but top tier) and see what the TCG version of the deck may evolve into.

One thing that I'd like to note though, is that it didn't seem necessarily busted even though the deck does do pretty sick things. Getting a +2 off an Undine summon is pretty sweet. It sort of felt like Inzektors with more search capability, boss monsters, but fewer pops. Like I've mentioned before, decks nowadays need to do at least something busted to be competitive. You can see this with the decline of Heroes; they never really did anything busted even though it's still a good deck.

Testing with this deck is particularly important since ABYR will be legal for YCS Seattle. It makes it less than ideal when there's a product release and then a YCS like a week later. I would expect the field to largely be what it is currently, but it will be annoying having to play against new Prophecy and Madolche cards if you have no idea what they do. Not much you can do besides testing with the good ol' DN I suppose lol.

eBay Revisited

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote an article/post about eBay and its basic flaws. I considered this my first "substantial" post, in that I presented a fairly good analysis of the state of eBay, what was wrong with it, and things they could do to fix it. A year has passed, and although things have changed for the better, some things haven't changed at all or have gotten worse. I wanted to highlight some of these things in a follow-up article! I will talk about things in parallel with my old article, for a clear "then-and-now" approach to this.

Fees
My first major topic was fees; final value fees were roughly 9% back then, and according to the fees page now, they would be 11%, assuming YGO cards would not fall under the categories of electronics, clothing/shoes, or books/music/movies/games. So we have seen a slight increase, but luckily we have gotten something in return in the form of 50 free auction-style listings per month. This has personally helped me a lot since I don't have to pay insertion fees for those 50 items, and about 50-60 auctions per month is about how much I sell. Once you have exceeded the free 50, then you are forced to pay the standard insertion rates. Using a fixed-price listing is still expensive, so I just avoid that altogether. Unfortunately shipping prices have also increased with USPS, but I have found the beauty of using eBay's auto-generated shipping labels which saves quite a bit of money, and you also get to avoid having to stand in line at the post office! The post office I go to is almost always busy, and the workers there are incredibly slow. I always feel like a douchebag when I go in with a bag of packages to send out, place the packages on the side-table, and walk out. Everyone looks at me with that "why the f does that guy just get to drop off his stuff?" look lol. I wish I had been using the shipping label maker all this time - over the years I could've saved a lot of time and money!

In terms of PayPal fees, I actually didn't talk about that in my article from last year. Currently they are 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, on the assumption that you aren't receiving any kind of discount. So taking the previous percentage of eBay fees, and considering PayPal's fee, that's basically 14% in fees. You also have to factor in shipping for the raw materials (envelope, tape, etc) plus the actual cost. It adds up! That's why when I sell in person, I'm willing to sell at 85-87% of eBay prices. It's a deal for my buyer, and it saves me the time of packaging and listing the item, and the worry of hoping that the buyer doesn't decide to screw me over.

Delivery Confirmation/"I Didn't Get my Item" *wink wink*
In my previous article, I gave a few examples of how I was screwed over on eBay and the strategies that people use to "get something for nothing." All in all these strategies still exist and basically nothing has been done to mitigate them. Between 'Item Not Received' (INR) and 'Item Not as Described' (IND) cases, buyers are pretty much covered in regards to how they want to screw a seller over. If the seller doesn't send with Delivery Confirmation, file INR and boom, get your money back. If you simply don't want the item anymore (or because of reprint screw), file IND, claim it wasn't in mint condition as described in the auction (even if it was and still is when you return it), and boom, get your money back. You don't even need to pay return shipping since eBay will generate a pre-paid shipping label for you! Due to all of these shenanigans, I vowed to myself that I would no longer sell singles on eBay - not for me, not for my team, no one. I've broken this a couple of times (with a lot of apprehension), but for the most part I do not sell singles on there anymore. I've noticed there are far fewer sellers that offer international shipping now, which is a shame but buying internationally was almost a guarantee to get your money back because no one really wanted to use or charge for a Registered Mail equivalent. And on top of all this (holy cow there's more?), eBay has its "wonderful" return policy.

The Return Policy
Back in March eBay sent out a newsletter about their new return policy in which buyers have a 14-day time frame in which they can file an official returns claim and send the purchased item back to the seller for their money back. I wrote about it here. Sellers have the option of accepting returns or not, but this is moot because even if they don't "accept returns", by using IND as previously mentioned, if you want to return your item, you can and you will get your money back. All along I have said that budget should no longer be an issue, as long as you have the initial amount to cover the cost the card(s) in question. What I mean is, if you want to play Geargia with 3 Gigant X's at your next regional or YCS or whatever, there is nothing stopping you from buying the cards on eBay, then filing a return once the event is over to get your money back. I have yet to file a return or have one filed on me, but from what I have gathered the process seems rather simple. I have told people "don't let budget stop you from running what you want to run (at the YCS)". There is literally no point in hindering oneself in terms of card pool when virtually unlimited access is at one's disposal. I don't think anyone on the team besides me and Roy have a functional PayPal account for what ever reason, but that's why I'm here and the service I can gladly provide.

Star System
My biggest gripes about the star system was the inability to give fractions of stars and "buyer bias". If I wanted to give a seller a 4 because I considered them "above average", I could, but due to the high demands that eBay poses on seller performance, this would have been considered a "bad" rating for them. Fast forward to now, and all this is largely unchanged. eBay doesn't explicitly state a minimum rating, but looking at their performance standards page, it is easy enough to infer that you have very little room for error. I believe a 4.8 out of 5 is still considered the baseline minimum and you still have no ability to give fractions of stars. Luckily some of the "auto-5-star-rating" things I talked about last year have been implemented. I have noticed this when leaving feedback for other sellers - in some instances I can't enter anything for a particular rating and the seller will automatically get 5 stars for it. At the very least, it has become a little easier to maintain a good rating! There is still a valid amount of bias though - one buyer gave me neutral feedback on an item, because the item came 1 day after the shipping estimate date that eBay automatically generated based on the sale date. I thought that it was pretty ridiculous, but nothing I can do about that. The system in general has seen some improvements, but there is still more to be desired.

Non-Paying Winners
While I didn't talk about this last year, I have seen that this has become a growing problem over the past few months. For what ever reason, I had a period of time where only about 1 out of 4 people would actually pay for the item that they purchased. Usually it's people that recently joined eBay and/or have very low feedback scores that didn't pay. The punishment for this is basically non-existent; get a "strike" or whatever but as far as I know these have very little significance. Having people not pay for an item doesn't exactly cost me money, but it is annoying, takes time, and you don't get the "free 50 listing" aspect of it back- you use it, you've used it. Doesn't matter if they don't pay. This is why I've changed my auctions to require immediate payment when a user uses Buy-It-Now. I have far fewer issues with non-paying winners now. It sucks because I know some people may be interested in an item and they legitimately are waiting for funds to transfer so they miss out, but unfortunately that's what eBay has come to.

For the most part, eBay is still largely the same (at least in my view). Like I said last year, "it is a free-haven for rippers and buyers". This still holds, and may be even more problematic simply because of the return policy. Whenever there's an issue, in the large majority of cases, the buyer will always win. If you sell on eBay, protect yourself as much as possible but know that if the buyer wants to screw with you, they very easily can. In my opinion selling in person at a discounted rate will always be the best method of sale, followed by selling to sites like Troll and ARG.

Too Balanced?

Well it has been quite a while since my last post, but I hope people enjoyed being able to see typed-up decklists from the YCS. Not sure why Konami no longer posts them anymore, but as long as Youtube and forums exist, decklists will always be available (to a certain extent). With the school year starting up and my workload picking up in my graduate program, I have been quite busy. I can't even remember when my last serious playtesting session was - I have a pretty shitty schedule this quarter to be honest and can basically only play on the weekend. As for YCS Seattle, I am still waiting to see if it will be a regular Advanced tourney or not before I make reservations of any kind, because there is a rumor that it will be Sealed. I'm personally not going if it's just going to be a Sealed event. Which is kinda funny since I've traveled to Seattle to do a Sealed PTQ for Magic before, not sure why I have no motivation to do so for YGO lol.

One thing I have noticed in our parts is that a lot of people seem confused or "lost" in what deck they should be playing this format. It's almost like we miss having a deck that's above and beyond the rest, but when there is such a deck, everyone bitches about how broken it is. If I wasn't playing Wind-Up, I too could admit that I would have no freaking clue. At the moment there seems to be a lot of "good, but not the best." What I mean is virtually any deck could be constructed to be a "good" deck, but there is nothing that's "broken" like we had last format and formats prior. Even Wind-Ups, arguably "the best" deck at the moment, has its moments of inconsistencies and pure inability to really do anything. Sure Magician-Shark is pretty busted, but outside of that sometimes you just can't do anything in certain situations. How long can you bounce Rabbit in and out and keep taking damage? Can't sit on traps all game as well. Last weekend I was playing against a DW player, I was in fairly good control of the gamestate but had a very slow start in game 3, then he decides to flip his 3 set S/T's, all Reckless Greeds, and proceeds to go off and OTK me that turn. Realistically what could I have done outside of having something like Decree set? Can't do much when they just go "draw 6." Admittedly I should have had more in the side purely for the DW match-up. It has gotten popular enough and problematic enough to commit "silver bullets" in the side for that deck I believe.

We're only a month into the format, but personally it feels like it's been going on for longer than that. Lots of new product has come out or is coming out soon so people are excited about that, but what about the game itself? It's kind of an odd conundrum - back in the day, the Valley was "the" area for YGO. Valley Uncle's had huge turnouts, and now it's lucky to get 6 people. After Dragon's Lair, no one used to go to Northtown for tourneys, and now that's basically the only tourney in the area. The Valley area is pretty much dead for YGO tourneys, and on the opposite end of the coin Gamer's Haven had 100 people show up for the Magic Pre-Release. Crazy that it's hard enough to get just 1/10 of that attendance for Yugz. It's such a shame that downtown Uncle's is so limited in space - with max seating at 20 people, and books and games stacked so close by, it's hard enough just to move around there. If you're sitting toward the middle, you can basically forget about trying to get up to go to the bathroom. I'm not sure why people prefer going to a place like that which also has incredibly lousy prize support (because they overvalue their packs), compared to the spacious Gamer's Haven which gives 100% back via prize support (packs valued at $3). I've joked around that if I was single, I would just run locals from my house - I'm sure I can fit just as many people in my upstairs as downtown Uncle's does in their store, and could give a helluva lot better prize support. I have about the same amount of parking availability too! - ie jack shit.

Getting back to the format; I'm not sure if the Water structure alone will make Water-based decks a thing, but I do believe it will be problematic once the next set comes out. In my mind it will be a clash of Water vs Wind-Ups for the title of best deck. I don't know what all the cards do exactly, but with a structure coming out and a set that's virtually dedicated to the attribute, it'd be hard to believe that it won't be good. In my opinion Konami knows how to make things good (too good/broken), and thus have the ability to sell that product or basically force it on us. Each Structure that has come out lately (Machina, Agent, DW, Sam) has become a competitive deck at some point, so do people honestly think Water will somehow get passed by, especially with the "basically Water" set on top of it? We also have to take into account the new decktypes of REDU (mostly Madolche and Prophecy) which are said to be getting more support via the next set - will they receive enough support to become competitive or get out-shined by Water and what we have currently? We all know the one guy topped regionals with Madolche - if it's good enough to top now, what will it be like with even more support?

While I can't really help those in the situation of not knowing what to play, all I can say is if you're good at the game, then most likely it doesn't matter as long as you pick something that is considered a good deck. Hell if you're that good you can probably do well with a bad deck, but few people actually go out and are like "I want to play with a bad deck".

YCS Indianapolis 2012 Top 16 Decklists (So far)

Not gonna make too much comment on the results of this YCS; after reading the final outcome on DGz during the drive back from Seattle, it was a very "face-palm"-y car ride to say the least. I remember shaking my head several times thinking about what I can expect at subsequent locals.

Anyways, decklists. I decided I'd dip down to top 16 this time. More will be posted as found.

Status: 12/16

1st Place
Junior Dorcins (Six Sam)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPTmYyH8WPs

Monsters: 15
1 Grandmaster
3 Kizan
1 Enishi
1 Zanji
2 Kageki
1 Irou
3 Kagemusha
1 Elder
2 Maxx C

Spells: 13
1 Gateway
3 United
3 Asceticism
2 Smoke Signal
1 Rota
1 Heavy
1 Reborn
1 MST

Traps: 12
2 Warning
1 Judgment
2 Magatama
2 Compulse
2 Bottomless
2 DPrison
1 Double Edge Sword Technique

Extra:
1 Chimeratech
1 Shi En
1 Catastor
1 Beast
1 Barkion
1 Mist Wurm
1 Decisive Armor
1 Excalibur
1 Shadow of Six Samurai
1 Utopia
1 Blade Armor
1 Shock Master
1 Zenmaines
1 Temtempo
1 Adreus

Side:
3 Rivalry
3 Puppet Plant
2 DFissure
1 Kamon
2 Cydra
2 Shadow Mirror
1 MST
1 Veiler

------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Place
Kris Valters (Wind-Up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqPuY7fv6E

Monsters: 19
2 Tour Guide
1 Sangan
2 Snowman
3 Rabbit
3 Rat
3 Shark
3 Magician
2 TKing

Spells: 9
1 Avarice
1 Reborn
1 Hole
1 Heavy
2 MST
3 Factory

Traps: 13
2 Mirror Force
2 Compulse
2 DPrison
2 Warning
1 Judgment
2 Bottomless
2 Torrential

Extra:
1 Chimeratech
1 Shock Master
1 Papilloperative
2 Zenmaines
1 Giga-Brilliant
1 Leviathan
1 Zenmaity
1 Leviair
1 Utopia
1 Adreus
1 Tiras
1 Zenmaister
1 Maestroke
1 Temtempo

Side:
2 Needle Ceiling
1 MST
2 Messenger
2 Soul taker
2 Cydra
2 Decree
2 DFissure
2 Nobleman of Crossout

------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Place
Robbie Kohl (Machina Gadget)
http://articles.alterealitygames.com/?p=15664

Monsters: 19
2 Red Gadget
2 Yellow Gadget
2 Green Gadget
2 Maxx C
3 Machina Gearframe
3 Machina Fortress
1 Machina Cannon
1 Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
2 Tragoedia
1 Grandsoil the Elemental Lord

Spells: 9
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Pot of Avarice
2 Pot of Duality

Traps: 13
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Compulsory Evacuation Device
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Fiendish Chain
1 Solemn Judgment
2 Solemn Warning
2 Torrential Tribute

Extra:
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 Evigishki Merrowgeist
1 Fairy King Alverdich
2 Gear Gigant X
1 Gem-Knight Pearl
2 Maestroke the Symphony Djinn
1 Number 11: Big Eye
1 Number 16: Shock Master
2 Number 39: Utopia
1 Number C39: Utopia Ray
1 Photon Papillopertive
1 Steelswarm Roach

Side:
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Kinetic Soldier
1 Snowman Eater
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Soul Taker
2 Gozen Match
2 Macro Cosmos
1 Mirror Force
1 Dust Tornado

------------------------------------------------------------
4th Place
Parker Roberson (Hieratic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5zf66OMcjc

Monsters: 26
3 Cardcar D
1 REDMD
3 Su
3 Tefnuit
3 Nebthet
3 Eset
1 Wattail
1 Luster Dragon
1 Gorz
2 Trago
3 Birdman
2 Maxx C

Spells: 13
2 Duality
2 Convocation
1 Heavy
1 Hole
1 Reborn
3 MST
3 Lance

Traps: 2
2 Compulse

Extra:
1 Zenmaioh
1 Adreus
1 Exa-Beetle
3 Atum
3 Gaia Dragon
2 Bounzer
1 Force Focus
1 Stardust
1 Scrap
1 Blood Mefist

Side:
1 Cydra
3 Gemini Imps
1 Maxx C
1 Nobleman of Crossout
3 Smashing Ground
2 Night Beam
1 Dust Tornado
3 Decree

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 8
Billy Brake (Inzektor)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkVJaOtEk0s

Monsters: 19
1 Hornet
1 Dragonfly
3 Centipede
1 Giga-Mantis
3 Ladybug
2 Veiler
2 Maxx C
2 Mystic Tomato
1 DAD
1 Sangan
2 Trooper

Spells: 13
2 Zektcalibur
3 MST
2 Duality
1 Reborn
1 Heavy
1 Book
1 Foolish
1 Hole
1 Lance

Traps: 8
2 Bottomless
3 Call
2 Warning
1 Judgment

Extra:
1 Gachi
2 Leviair
1 Leviathan
2 Zenmaines
1 Giga-Brilliant
1 Temtempo
1 Acid Golem
1 Utopia
1 Tiras
1 Crimson Shadow Ninja
1 Bounzer
1 Exa-Beetle
1 Gaia Dragon

Side:
1 Veiler
3 DFissure
2 Level Limit
3 Messenger of Peace
3 Gozen Match
2 Decree
1 Needle Ceiling

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 8
Steffon Bizzell (Chaos Dragon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJpuKlT-cCA

Monsters: 31
3 Lightpulsar
3 Darkflare
1 REDMD
1 DAD
1 Eclipse Wyvern
3 Ryko
3 Lyla
2 Trooper
1 BLS
1 Sorcerer
2 Guide
1 Night Assailant
1 Sangan
1 Gorz
2 Trago
2 Maxx C
2 Veiler
1 Dimensional Alchemist

Spells: 10
3 Recharge
2 MST
1 Hole
1 Reborn
1 Heavy
1 Allure
1 Charge

Traps: 0

Extra:
1 Leviair
1 Leviathan
1 Acid Golem
1 Temtempo
1 Zenmaines
1 Giga-Brilliant
1 Queen Dragon Djinn
1 Maetroke
1 Adreus
1 Zenmaioh
1 Bounzer
1 Exa-Beetle
1 Gaia Dragon
1 Black Rose
1 Scrap

Side:
3 Gemini Imps
1 Maxx C
2 TKing
1 MST
2 Prohibiton
2 Soul Taker
2 Compulse
2 Decree

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 8
Anthony Eckroth (Wind-Up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIrxtlSvitk

Monsters: 20
2 Maxx C
2 Tour Guide
3 Shark
3 Rat
3 Rabbit
3 Magician
1 Hunter
1 Sangan
1 TKing
1 Trago

Spells: 13
3 Factory
3 MST
1 My Body
1 Avarice
1 Hole
1 Book
1 Reborn
1 Heavy
1 Mind

Traps: 9
2 Torr
2 Bottomless
2 DPrison
2 Warning
1 Judgment

Extra:
1 Zenmaity
1 Zenmaines
1 Zenmaioh
1 Shock Master
1 Adreus
1 Giga-Brilliant
1 Papilloperative
1 Temtempo
1 Leviathan
1 Utopia
1 Maestroke
1 Tiras
1 Acid Golem
1 Leviair
1 Chimeratech

Side:
2 Cydra
1 Trago
1 Veiler
1 TKing
2 Snowman
2 DFissure
2 Messenger
2 Decree
2 Needle Ceiling

------------------------------------------------------------ 
Top 16
Chris Lofton (Bubble Beat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bga_3R4IQY

Monsters: 12
1 Stratos
3 Alius
2 Bubbleman
3 Thunder King
1 Honest
2 Maxx C

Spells: 16
3 Miracle Fusion
2 E Emergency Call
2 Gemini Spark
2 Duality
2 MST
1 Book
1 Reborn
1 Hole
1 Heavy
1 Super Poly

Traps: 13
2 Warning
2 Bottomless
3 DPrison
2 Compulse
1 Hero Blast
1 Starlight Road
1 Judgment
1 Torrential

Extra:
2 Shining
1 Gaia
1 Nova Master
1 Absolute Zero
1 Escuridao
1 Great Tornado
1 Chimeratech
1 Stardust
1 Excalibur
1 Blade Armor
1 Utopia
1 Papilloperative
1 Maestroke
1 Roach

Side:
2 Shadow Mirror
2 Skill Drain
2 Decree
2 Rivalry
2 Nobleman of Crossout
1 MST
1 System Down
2 Cydra
1 Snowman Eater

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 16
Joseph Presnell (Wind-Up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze1duomGTxs

Monsters: 19
3 Shark
3 Rabbit
3 Rat
3 Magician
2 Maxx C
1 Sangan
2 Guide
1 Snowman
1 TKing

Spells: 12
3 Factory
3 MST
1 Mind
1 Book
1 Avarice
1 Heavy
1 Hole
1 Reborn

Traps: 10
3 DPrison
2 Torrential
2 Bottomless
2 Warning
1 Judgment

Extra:
1 Tiras
1 Adreus
1 Zenmaioh
1 Papilloperative
1 Maestroke
1 Zenmaister
1 Shock Master
1 Giga Brilliant
1 Temtempo
1 Leviathan
1 Leviair
1 Acid Golem
2 Zenmaines
1 Zenmaity

Side:
1 Snowman
1 Hunter
1 Maxx C
2 System Down
2 DFissure
1 Soul Taker
3 Messenger of Peace
1 Dust Tornado
2 Decree
1 Compulse

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 16
Nathan Steadman (Machina Geargia)
http://duelistgroundz.com/index.php?showtopic=147022

Monsters: 21
2 Veiler
3 Geargiaccelerator
1 Geargiano Mk2
3 Geargiarmor
3 Geargiarsenal
2 Birdman
1 Machina Cannon
3 Machina Fortress
3 Machina Gearframe

Spells: 9
1 Hole
1 Heavy
1 Reborn
3 MST
1 Avarice
2 Duality

Traps: 10
2 Bottomless
1 Compulse
2 DPrison
1 Judgment
2 Warning
2 Torrential

Extra:
1 Chimeratech
1 Ancient Fairy
1 Black Rose
1 Burei
1 Scrap Archfiend
1 Scrap Dragon
2 Gear Gigant X
1 Leviair
1 Maestroke
1 Big Eye
1 Acid Golem
1 Utopia
1 Papilloperative
1 Zenmaines

Side:
2 Cydra
2 Gemini Imps
1 Kinetic
2 Maxx C
2 Soul Taker
2 Mirror Force
2 Decree
2 Shadow Mirror

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 16
David Miles Jr (Wind-Up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq-Fy8Y0puY

Monsters: 18
1 Sangan
2 Tour Guide
3 Magician
2 Maxx C
1 Snowman
3 Rat
3 Shark
3 Rabbit

Spells: 10
1 Reborn
1 Heavy
1 Hole
1 Avarice
1 Mind
2 Factory
3 MST

Traps: 13
2 Warning
1 Judgment
2 Torr
2 Compulse
2 Dprison
2 Bottomless
2 Trap Stun

Extra:
1 Temtempo
1 Leviair
1 Zenmaity
1 Giga-Brilliant
1 Shock Master
1 Adreus
1 Zenmaines
1 Acid Golem
1 Zenmaister
1 Leviathan
2 Papilloperative
1 Utopia
1 Maestroke
1 Tiras

Side:
2 Nobleman of Crossout
2 Soul Drain
2 DFissure
2 Level Limit
2 Soul Taker
1 Dust
1 Needle
2 Tking
1 Maxx C

------------------------------------------------------------
Top 16
Jeremy Gosnell (Chaos Dragon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_IxkIk7C7s

Monsters: 28
1 BLS
1 Sorcerer
1 DAD
3 Darkflare
3 Veiler
1 Gorz
1 GK Guard
3 GK Spy
3 Lightpulsar
3 Lyla
1 Night Assailant
1 REDMD
3 Ryko
1 Sangan
2 Tour Guide

Spells: 14
1 Allure
1 Charge
1 Hole
2 Gold Sarc
1 Heavy
1 Mind
1 Reborn
1 Avarice
2 Duality
3 Recharge

Traps: 0

Extra:
1 Adreus
1 Gaia Dragon
1 Exa-Beetle
1 Leviair
1 Maestroke
1 Shock Master
1 Leviathan
1 Acid Golem
1 Utopia
1 Papilloperative
1 Bounzer
1 Queen Dragon Djinn
1 Temtempo
1 Tiras
1 Zenmaines

Side:
2 Cydra
3 Gemini Imps
3 TKing
3 MST
3 Soul Taker
1 Chimeratech

Off to Regionals (Seattle edition)

Not quite yet (leaving tomorrow but I won't be posting again til Sunday at the earliest), but I've been busy packing and getting things together for my group and me. The past week or so has also been hectic, trying to get in as many tourneys I can just for more practice with my deck. There are a lot of minor nuances in the main that I'm still not quite sure what's technically the best to go with, but I just have to go with the mindset of trying to minimize drawing into dead cards/hands as often as possible. As for my side, I think all I can go with is trying to tailor to what the popular decks may be, although knowing how many of which deck I play is virtually impossible. For example last format I played quite a few Inzektor mirror matches at the regional, while my teammates played like none lol.

After the regional I get to sell off what ever expensive cards I have, because this reprint stuff is gettin pretty cray!

Good luck to all participating in YCS Indy! I'll probably post typed-up decklists again as I find them. Also if you're going to straight-up Youtube the decklists I type up, please give the blog a shoutout :) I know I'm just getting the lists from like Underworld or mkohl40, but I do physically type them out myself and I did give credit where credit is due. I just ask for the same consideration.

End of an Era; Start of Anew

No, this isn't a "I'm quitting YGO for Magic" post lol. On the contrary, I'm personally liking the format a lot - my only gripe is Gateway, and I can't talk about Wind-Ups because no one has "wind-up'd" me yet. I think the deck is just starting to get some recognition around here...yea, shows what our meta is like. Samurai makes up a reasonable chunk of our local meta, and like I've went on about before, any idiot can go Gateway derp-derp win. I find it intriguing that most of the Chaos Dragon players simply went to Samurai, from one sack deck to another.

What I'd like to talk about in this post is the death of competitive YGO for the Spokane area, and where we, both in terms of the team, and the area, go from here. The issue has been lingering I'd say ever since Link, Danny and I topped Seattle regionals a few months ago. We all knew the game was in an unhealthy state, people were getting Future Fusion'd and hand-looped left and right, every deck you made had to deal with the question "how would this do against Inzektors?" and "what can I do against Laggia + 3 backrow?" I didn't enjoy it, and after regionals, the game didn't seem to matter due to the unenjoyable-ness of the format and since the ban list was coming up anyway. I got more of a kick out of playing our fake-traditional format than anything else at the time, similar to how the rest of the YGO community seemed to be playing Goat Control. All of the rest of the team members didn't play as well, so this was the team's "downtime" and theoretically when people could come out of the woodwork to play in tournaments where we weren't around. I had told people that we were all taking a break but once the new format started up again we'd be back in full force. The Northtown tournaments seemed to be increasing in number week after week, hitting unprecedented levels (for our area), and I made it a mission that that tournament would be ours when we started up again.

When the new list came out, I was very excited and started researching what decks would be good. The transition was a little awkward where I went one direction and basically turned right around to start from the beginning, but the matches I played between the list-reveal to now have been mostly fun. Sure there are OTKs and some derpiness, but I've come to accept that that will always exist in this game.

Fast forward to last Sunday, which was supposed to be the box tournament at Gamer's Haven. I had been telling people that if people didn't show up by 12:30, I would go to Northtown (so I could at least play in a tourney) and furthermore be done with trying to coordinate box tourneys in general. In the back of my mind I knew that directly competing with Northtown's tourney wouldn't bode well, but I did not expect quite the sheer poor turnout that occurred. Basically it was just Danny and me, and people that we had agreed would be joining the team on this day anyway. The Yakima crew couldn't come for what ever reason, but a part of me was relieved because I wouldn't have wanted them to drive all this way for there to be like a 10-man tourney. None of the other team members came as well, between work and God knows what. So at this point, Danny announced that there would be no more box tourneys at the Haven, and we welcomed the new team members Junior, Schroeder, Roy, Vampire, and put Shiggs back on. We have always said, what's the point in having a team of players that never play; our presence had become minimal, motivation stagnant, and nothing was going on even in this brand new format. It was finally time to expand our horizons and take the team in a new direction to adapt to what our area had become.

On this day marked the end of competitive YGO for our area, in which the old mindset of "playing to be the best" was no longer. I posted this on the Facebook page for Gamer's Haven:

"This is the difference between the old generation and the new - back in the day if you wanted to get better, you had to grind it out for weeks/months to improve. Lord knows I've had my share of ass-whoopin's in this game. Rather than get frustrated and say "I can't win I'm just gonna quit", I put in more time and more effort to improving. I watched those that were better than me to see how they played or their plays in general. Nowadays people want things handed to them or just get the easy FuFu/Gateway/Card Destruction type of wins. Peoples' attitudes nowadays are "well there are too many good players at this tourney, let's go somewhere easier" instead of "hey there are a lot of good people here, maybe I can learn how to get better.""

People not showing up for the box tourney to instead go to the "little kid" local only cemented my thought process for me. I don't blame people for wanting to get that easier prize support, hell we all do, but what kind of satisfaction comes from that. Where does improvement occur, and how do you grow as a player? Those are the things that come to my mind, but perhaps it's true that this generation no longer cares about that kind of stuff. I know there are others that share my thinking and all, but that is my "in general" observation. Some people think "well I know I have no shot so what's the point of spending my $10", which blows my mind. So if people go to a YCS where Alistar, Billy, Jeff, Dale, Lazaro, and Frazier are all at, they should just be like "pfffft what the fuck's the point all these guys are here" ? No, I don't believe in that. That attitude does not get you anywhere, in several different aspects. I would love to get my ass kicked by Jeff Jones or any of those guys, because I know there are things I would learn about what I'm lacking and what they have. If I beat them, well hey I get bragging rights right? :) All kidding aside, that is how true improvement occurs: play against people better than you, take a piece of humble pie, and eat it. Don't just eat it, understand what you're eating and why. It doesn't happen by playing against little kid/random Timmy Johnson and stomping his ass week after week. This is my ideology, the old way of thinking. The competitive way of thinking. For our area, the death of competitive thinking. 

So what happens now, for the "old dog" in the "new playground". How does the new "pack" function and what does the new playground bring about? For this old dog, it means integration but keeping my way of thinking. I view every game as a final match and I know I have what it takes to beat you. If it's not my day and you win, well hey I guess it just wasn't my day. If my side was crap, I'll fix it. Like I've told people, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Have no issues takin' their prize support." I guess my worst habit is splitting for first more often than I should. I always have. As a married man on a leash, sometimes I really do just need to gtfo. While I am competitive, I am economical and logical moreso. I understand the sackiness of this game in which any random can get the literal nuts and win out, and some people construe that how they want, as fear or what have you. I don't fear anyone in this game and at this point I don't feel I have to prove anything. I just want my cut because economically I can do more by ensuring I get my share, rather than gambling it and losing out because my opponent opened Gateway/FuFu/insert other sack card here. 

As for the pack, the team; it is the time for change, acceptance, and adaptability. Having the 1992 Olympic Dream Team for a roster doesn't mean shit if no one on it plays. I can accept that Alan will still probably only get to get his "once a month" in and that's about it. I feel your pain lol. I can accept that people have girlfriends, jobs, and life stuff to deal with in general and sometimes YuGiOh just isn't a priority anymore. People move on to bigger and better things. I can also accept that we all don't need to be at the level of "the best" - the genuine passion and motivation to become better, and helping those around you is what should be admired. With the right state of mind, getting better is easy. I've witnessed it, and coached people to go from local random to regional topper. Those that are hungry, will eat. The hard part is finding those people with that state of mind. The team will always be composed of only those people - those with the right attitude, the drive to always become better, and play to the best of their ability. We are the hungry- those with the insatiable appetite to become better than we were the day before.

Post-Toronto Market Watch

Well it has been a crazy past few days on the card value front with the past YCS- I made my eBay purchasing decisions on Saturday after reading Konami's coverage and of course DGz's Toronto thread. Some of the notable price hikes include:

1. Grandsoil
At first I was skeptical about picking up copies of this after reading Jeff Jones was 6-2 with the deck. I remember him doing about the same at a previous YCS with Nordics, and although I was going to go ham on buying up Nordic stuff, I just decided to (thankfully) pass, for what ever reason. Since he didn't end up topping, Nordic prices didn't really go anywhere. I was hoping this wouldn't be a repeat performance but I took the gamble anyway. This time around, getting 2nd place with the deck is basically just as good as when he famously won with Quickdraw back in the day. Over night, Drill Warrior's price went from like $5 to $30+. I purchased two Grandsoil @ basically $13 (hopefully the sellers actually send them lol) and currently the cheapest Buy-It-Now's are $45. Completed's have show their range from like $37-45.
Future outlook: Well chances are that we don't have to worry about a reprint any time soon, however I'm not sure if he'll keep the high value he currently has since he's rather specific in decks he can be ran in. My recommendation would be to sell while he's so high. He's good but no Tour Guide in terms of splashability.

2. Shock Master
Personally I was valuing mine at around $25 for quite a while, and my copies basically sat in my binder ever since I got them. I traded one, sold one, and purchased one for like $15. With current Wind-Ups being able to make this guy with ease (and OTK to boot), he also has seen quite the boost in value. Cheapest Buy-It-Now is hovering around $70 and Completed's range from $43 to 93 lol.
Now I hate to sound preachy and don't want to seem like I'm talking down to people, but basically since the introduction of Shonen Jump promo cards (both magazine and subscription), it has always been worth it to subscribe. In the printed days, most of the times the magazine promos you got throughout the year paid for the subscription, and when you take into consideration the subscription-only promo, it's just plusses. REDMD and Hyper Librarian saw some really high values. Ever since Shonen Jump moved to digital, it was obvious that the days where you could just walk in to your grocery store and nab up the latest promo were long gone. This should've been a huge flag for people- track record has shown that subscription promos have always paid for themselves. Would it be completely unrealistic of Konami to release a tourney-worthy promo in a digital-only magazine? Absolutely not. If you are someone that seeks to make profit off this game, subscribing to SJ for $26 a year is one of the easiest things you can do. For that price you could've had 2 Shock Masters (this may have been a slip-up on their part though, or perhaps an intentional one), rather than trying to pick them up for what they are now. I personally pay for 2 subscriptions, myself and for my sister, but realistically I should sign up for more.
The thing about Shock Master, is if you had asked anyone 3 months ago if they thought he'd see much play in anything outside of Offering Gadgets, they probably would've said no, as I would've as well. Vampire used to like going into him so much last format with Wind-Ups and I thought he was crazy for doing so - guess he stumbled onto something before the vast majority!
Future outlook: Wind-Ups aren't going anywhere unless it gets hated out on to an extreme (I'm talking beyond Maxx C and Veiler). There are some murmurings that Shonen Alpha promos may be reprinted at a faster rate than what old Shonen promos were, but nothing has been confirmed to verify that yet. Due to the nature of the source, the amount of copies of this guy are very limited and will undoubtedly stay in high-demand. Again, it may be wise to sell while it's high though due to the phenomenon known as reprints. Wave 2.5 tin perhaps?

3. Gear Gigant X
This guy was touted as the "money card" of Return of the Duelist and guess what, it is. Right after the sneak copies were dipping down to around the $45 mark, but due to the overall successful debut of Geargia, cheapest Buy-It-Now is $75. Completed's range from $55-90.
Future outlook: I am fairly confident that Machines will continue to be popular in the early part of the format. The thing about Machines though is it is easy to hate out against them in the form of Cydra+Chimera, and System Down. However Gigant X helps the various Machine variants with card advantage so much that it's basically an archetype staple and anyone running Machines will want this guy. I expect him to relatively maintain its value until a reprint. I've picked up two copies for my teammates, it is probably too late for me to hop on this moneytrain.

4. Geargiarmor
Card advantage is an understatement when it comes to Geargiarmor. Being a Super rare, he can be seen as the "Hornet" of Geargia since I believe he's also the heart of the Geargia lineup. I purchased two sets at about $7.50 per copy, and now Completeds show them at anywhere between $10 and 15. Hoping they hit that Hornet peak range of $25-30 :)
Future outlook: Anyone with an intent of running a Geargia variant will need a full playset. Usually cards that fall into this category keep a good value, especially when it belongs to a competitive archetype. I'd personally be happy to sell them at $20 a copy if it's fortunate enough that they go up that high.

Those are the cards that I've either personally picked up or seen dramatically rise in value. Pick 'em up if you can!

YCS Toronto 2012 Top 8 Decklists (So far)

First and foremost, congrats to Josh Graham for taking the first YCS of the format and cementing Wind-Up's status as still a tier 1 deck. This post will be dedicated to having typed-out decklists of the top 8 (I ain't gonna sit here and type out all 32 lol). All credit goes to Underworld6667's Youtube, which I got the decklists from. Sorry for the shorthand on some of the cards- just don't feel like typing out the full names and you should be able to infer what I'm talking about lol.

Status: 5/8 decklists

1st Place
Josh Graham (Wind-Ups)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TGNt9ckEA

Monsters: 20
3 Shark
3 Rat
2 Magician
3 Rabbit
2 Maxx C
2 TKing
2 Snowman
2 Tour Guide
1 Sangan

Spells: 11
1 Reborn
1 Heavy
1 Dark Hole
1 Avarice
2 MST
2 Duality
3 Factory

Traps: 11
2 Mirror Force
2 Torrential
2 Bottomless
2 DPrison
2 Warning
1 Solemn

Side:
1 Snowman
1 Hunter
1 Maxx C
1 MST
2 DFissure
2 Soul Taker
3 Messenger of Peace
2 Fiendish Chain
2 Dust Tornado

Extra:
1 Zenmaity
1 Shockmaster
1 Tiras
1 Giga-Brilliant
2 Zenmaines
1 Zenmaister
1 Adreus
1 Leviair
1 Acid Golem
1 Temtempo
1 Leviathan
1 Papilloperative
1 Zenmaioh
1 Maestroke
------------------------------------------------------
2nd Place
Jeff Jones (Psychics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_MAQHyJq5g

Monsters: 25
3 Grandsoil
3 Serene Psychic Witch
2 Tragoedia
2 Silent Psychic Wizard
2 Giant Rat
2 Psychic Commander
2 Card Trooper
2 Psychic Jumper
2 Maxx C
2 Veiler
1 Gorz
1 Esper Girl
1 Grand Mole

Spells: 15
3 E-Tele
2 MST
2 Duality
2 Miracle Synchro Fusion
1 Avarice
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Mind Control
1 Creature Swap
1 Reborn

Traps: 1
Psychic Overload

Side:
1 Maxx C
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Chimeratech
1 MST
3 Royal Decree
2 Gozen Match
2 Crevice from DD
2 Needle Ceiling
1 Kinetic Soldier

Extra:
1 Naturia Beast
1 Naturia Barkion
1 Magical Android
1 Psychic Lifetrancer
1 Psychic Nightmare
1 Catastor
1 Black Rose
1 Scrap
1 Thought Ruler
1 Gaia Knight
1 Leviathan
1 Soul of Silver Mountain
1 Zenmaines
2 Ultimate Axon Kicker
------------------------------------------------------
3rd Place
Jordan Kornntoff (Geargia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_mJ8pzrQzQ

Monsters: 15
3 Geargiarmor
3 Geargiaccelerator
3 Machina Gearframe
2 Machina Fortress
2 Geargiarsenal
1 Machina Cannon
1 Machina Peacekeeper

Spells: 10
2 Duality
1 Book
1 Lance
1 Avarice
1 Heavy
1 Dark Hole
1 Soul Taker
1 MST
1 Reborn

Traps: 15
2 Warning
2 Torrential
2 Bottomless
2 Mirror Force
2 Starlight
1 Solemn
1 Fiendish Chain
1 DPrison
2 Compulsory

Side:
1 Chalice
1 Lance
1 Smashing Ground
2 DFissure
2 MST
2 Fossil Dyna
1 Light Imprisoning
2 Shadow Imprisoning
2 Rivalry of Warlord
1 Maxx C

Extra:
2 Gear Gigant X
1 Vylon Disigma
1 Papilloperative
2 Utopia
1 Utopia Ray
1 Maestroke
1 Pearl
2 Stardust
1 Big Eye
1 Roach
1 Shock Master
1 Merrowgeist
------------------------------------------------------
4th Place
Peter Tran (Wind-Ups)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJVpdpEN2s

Monsters: 19
1 Veiler
2 Maxx C
1 Sangan
1 Gorz
2 Tour Guide
3 Rabbit
3 Rat
3 Magician
3 Shark

Spells: 12
1 Dark Hole
1 Reborn
1 Heavy
1 Mind
1 Book
1 Avarice
3 Factory
3 MST

Traps: 9
2 Bottomless
2 DPrison
2 Torrential
1 Solemn
2 Warning

Side:
3 Snowman
1 Kycoo
2 Crow
3 Dust Tornado
2 Trap Stun
2 Threatening Roar
2 Mirror Force

Extra:
1 Leviathan
1 Temtempo
1 Tiras
1 Acid Golem
1 Papilloperative
1 Giga-Brilliant
1 Zenmaioh
2 Zenmaines
2 Utopia
1 Zenmaity
2 Leviair
1 Adreus

------------------------------------------------------
Top 8
Joseph Truong (Dark World)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xby_DPXexa0

Monsters: 14
3 Grapha
3 Snoww
3 Broww
1 Beigge
2 Tour Guide
2 Trance Archfiend

Spells: 18
3 Gates
3 Upstart
3 Dragged Down
2 Dealings
1 Hole
1 Heavy
1 Foolish
1 Book
1 Allure
1 Reborn
1 Card Destruction

Traps: 8
3 Reckless
2 Torr
1 Starlight
1 Dark Smog
1 Solemn

Side:
3 MST
2 Twister
2 Decree
2 Skill Drain
1 EEV
1 Light Imprisoning
1 Dark Smog
1 Dealings
1 Fabled Raven
1 DDV

Extra:
1 Stardust
1 Ancient Fairy
1 Heliopolis
1 Utopia Ray
1 Utopia
1 Maestroke
1 Papilloperative
1 Pearl
1 Zenmaines
1 Leviair
1 Leviathan
1 Acid Golem
1 Temtempo
1 Muzurhythm
1 E-Hero Shining

Upcoming Box Tourney, Toronto Day 1

First I'd like to officially announce the box tournament for next week at Gamer's Haven. I even made a flier for this one :) Hope to see people there!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So much to my surprise, Wind-Ups ended up being a more popular deck choice at Toronto than I had initially thought. I've been checking DGz's Toronto thread on and off for most of the day, and it seems that Wind-Ups, Geargia/Karakuri, and Hero are making the biggest impact. Obviously we know there's a Chain Burn at the top as well, by the feature match. Jeff Jones apparently went 6-2 with a Psychic deck running 3 Grandsoil, and his article for his deck can be found at ARG. Machines are undoubtedly the breakout deck from this tourney, as it wasn't really talked about among the community, at least compared with the other decks. This kind of surprises me because Geargia didn't do a whole lot in the OCG last format, compared to even Heroes. I'm eagerly waiting to see what ends up topping and winning tomorrow, and of course decklists.

What will win? Will it be

 

Or something else?

New Format, Toronto, More Testing

Well we can officially say 'good bye' to the format that we've been playing in for the past 6 months, and furthermore have a YCS on the very first day to see what ends up being good at least for the early part of this format. Undoubtedly people all around the country have put many hours into testing, theorizing, and preparing for this event. We all know what decks will be popular going into this event, and I'm not going to try and predict what will win; realistically it's a crap-shoot like it always is. All I can say is that if there's someone that is very comfortable with all the new Wind-Up combos and some that haven't even really been publicized, and just good with the deck overall, I think they would have a great chance of going far. I think the top 32 will be pretty diverse since the format is relatively undefined. I would expect to see Hero, Dino Rabbit, and Wind-Ups to take quite a few spots of top 32.

As for myself, I think it was on Sunday that I tested with Alan on DN for a few hours, and I finally decided to give up Agents once again. I think in every game we played I opened at least 1 Ball, and my win-loss ratio wasn't great against his Karakuri variants, so again I said "enough is enough" with the deck. Regardless of the variant, the Ball is just too problematic. I for one am excited that the locals in our area will be running the new format (better late than never I guess) and you know, everyone that's been playing under it all along, or at least been researching the trends, will be that much farther ahead than those that have relentlessly held onto the old one and solely been focusing on it (yea, I don't get it either). With regionals coming up in just 3 weeks, I have a lot of locals to go to for the much-needed practice.

We have the box tourney and maybe the team duel which should be happening on the 9th as well, so it's officially crunch time! Good luck to all at Toronto, and since I highly doubt that Konami is going to be releasing decklists, I will do my best to post them as I find them for your easy viewing. I have not been doing it for the past YCS's just because it was toward the end of the format and didn't feel like it mattered all that much anymore.