Fortunately some of our locals have already switched to the new list a few weeks ago, even though that doesn't really matter anymore as of this post. I found it kinda funny when people were like "why is Sangan banned??" Um, cuz it only searches key monsters in a bunch of different decks? Even with T-King around, more often than not that critter was gonna get a search off in most cases. It's such an odd feeling being able to swing into a facedown and know that it's not gonna be Sangan! It's kinda nice to be honest.
While I was pretty disappointed by the initial reveal of the list, it was nothing unexpected. They have followed their general pattern of nerfing old decks and not touching new ones for the past several formats now. A lot of people wanted Dragoons to 1, but that would've been too big of a hit too soon in the existence of the Mermail deck. Speaking of Mermails, I gotta say I have enjoyed playing it a lot over the past week, but damn those side cards hurt, namely Soul Drain/D-Fiss/Macro. One thing I'm already tired of for this format is the rise of Six Sams at locals. While in most cases I feel that I can handle the average Sam player (since most aren't too good, at least around here) but there are still those instances that Gateway just outright wins the game for them. No matter how bad the player may be, if they have Gateway, a couple Sams, an Asceticism, they can simply derp a big field that'll OTK you next turn if you're not able to deal with it with the hand that you drew. It's retarded and I hate to imagine people sacking off with the miscellaneous combos that exist with the deck once HA07 comes out. Low probability or not, some players will definitely be getting it off more often than one normally would expect to. Leaving Gateway alone was a bad move in my opinion.
On the OCG side of things, it definitely looks like Spellbook has been making an impact, with Tachyon just being release over there like a week or two ago. I've been reading a lot on the forums that once May rolls around, the format will become "derped" and any slow-ish deck will just get out-paced by Spellbooks. I've seen the plus'ing that Judgment Day can do on it's own, and while mostly everyone dismisses the deck around my area, the rate of it topping in OCG is too high to simply ignore. There has usually always been a correlation of "what tops in OCG now will be what tops in TCG later". Of course exclusives play a pretty big role in that these days, but speaking in an "in general" case, I think this rule-of-thumb follows. I'm kinda confused on the whole "Dragunity topping" thing in OCG, but I guess we'll see how that whole thing pans out over the next few weeks.
As for my pet deck Wind-Ups, I went from "no hope" to "high hope" to "higher hope" then right back down to "no hope". I think it's something that I could still do well with at locals, but in terms of regionals and YCS, especially post-Tachyon, I just don't feel that relying on the grind game is the way to go. You have to figure, even with Mag-Shark derpiness last format, sometimes winning wasn't easy. Now that the derp has been taken out of Wind-Ups, for the most part, how could it consistently keep up with the decks that were already good but didn't get touched, and now have even more support? It just doesn't work. While I do still think that they are a good deck, it's not my nature to just settle for good. My main deck I always strive for it to be the best deck (with respect to my playstyle and preferences), and usually my second deck is within the top 4 decks of the meta. Below that, what's the point of having the deck built besides hoping to sell it?
Anyways, as with any crappy ban list, I try my best to make the most out of it and just adapt. At the moment I think any deck is beatable right now, just gotta hope you don't get sacked by Gateway/Card Destruction/etc. :)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tick Tock
Sold Wind-Ups, bought Mermail, don't like Mermail (for me, badhands.com), now what to do. This is what I've been dealing with the past few days with the assumption that it was time to move on from Wind-Ups. I've also gotten to play some Magic using Danny's cards, and I must say it's quite fun. Using a mid-range deck definitely fits my style and the one Danny has built up fits perfectly for me. I'm still waiting on the next Standard event to see what cards I should be getting before I invest money into the game; I'd like to see what decks are currently good with the new set legal.
As far as ban lists go, so far I'm most inclined to think that the one with Goyo is the most realistic. My prediction on Rabbit and Factory both going to 1 and them doing a menial hit to Water (Diva to 1) all fits. Warning to 1 is kind of annoying but it's been a 2-of staple in any backrow deck ever since it went to 2. Time to make way for alternate backrow cards I suppose. The rest I won't delve too much into as I don't want to give my full opinions on a list that is by no means confirmed. Once a list with legit scans are up you can bet I'll post on it :)
As far as ban lists go, so far I'm most inclined to think that the one with Goyo is the most realistic. My prediction on Rabbit and Factory both going to 1 and them doing a menial hit to Water (Diva to 1) all fits. Warning to 1 is kind of annoying but it's been a 2-of staple in any backrow deck ever since it went to 2. Time to make way for alternate backrow cards I suppose. The rest I won't delve too much into as I don't want to give my full opinions on a list that is by no means confirmed. Once a list with legit scans are up you can bet I'll post on it :)
Friday, January 25, 2013
Small Updates, Regs in a week!
I think "busy" would be an understatement when it came to describing how I've been the past 2 weeks. Between school, work, wife, and the booming business that has become me and Danny, I really haven't had time for much lately. I can't even remember the last time I seriously playtested to be honest lol. Which is kinda bad in a sense since we have Seattle regs next weekend, but realistically the format is still fairly the same from what I have gathered from readings. The interest for Magic has once again piqued, but deciding which deck I'd like to pick up is rather difficult, especially with the new set coming out this weekend. It's refreshing but kind of annoying how the game seems to dramatically change after a set release in Magic; hefty investments must be made after all to start, and it'd be such a waste if a deck became obsolete just like that.
In a matter of a week I went from being excited about the ban list, to not really caring. The marketing tool the ban list has become is so transparent that one can basically guesstimate what will happen. Of course they won't hit new shit (too badly), stuff that's still good but is a year+ old will get hit, tier 2-ish decks won't be affected much, and random stuff will come off/on the list. Anything that might be limited/semi-'d and may be relevant in helping new decktypes, may go from 1 to 2, or 2 to 3. Again to help sales of the new decks.
In a matter of a week I went from being excited about the ban list, to not really caring. The marketing tool the ban list has become is so transparent that one can basically guesstimate what will happen. Of course they won't hit new shit (too badly), stuff that's still good but is a year+ old will get hit, tier 2-ish decks won't be affected much, and random stuff will come off/on the list. Anything that might be limited/semi-'d and may be relevant in helping new decktypes, may go from 1 to 2, or 2 to 3. Again to help sales of the new decks.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Banlist; What should/needs to happen?
Even though we're just barely into the new year, I'm guessing in about 5 weeks we'll have leaks of the March ban list. Last year scans came out on my birthday, Feb 16, and they've been coming out around that time for the past few years now. As with every "leak season", I'm sure there'll be some fakes I fall for since it seems like people really invest time into Photoshop'ing good looking fakes. I can still remember the debacle that we had for our current list, with reputable guys like Cordero and CapitalG posting Youtube videos about the ones they'd find, only for them to end up being fake. I remember being very frustrated for like a week and a half straight lol.
So, what do I envision happening on the list?
First thing, the elephant in the room, Wind-Ups. Realistically what can they hit for Wind-Ups so that they are hurt but still remain competitive? Or, will they just not give a damn and try to nerf them outright? I feel that if the hits aren't too severe, they will still remain a viable deck. As a Wind-Up player of course I want it to stay a viable deck, but if it's no longer meant to be, I can very easily move on. Many thought Inzektors were dead in the water after the list was revealed, and I think I play against more Inzektors now than I did last format! Indeed, at the local scene, it feels like a re-hash of what we had last format; Dino Rabbit, Inzektors, Wind-Ups, Chaos Dragon, Samurai, etc. Many don't own Water due to Megalo's pricetag, even though it is falling from week to week. Madolche and Prophecy just didn't quite make it to "that" level, so those decks have gone by the wayside. I'm not sure what route they'll take in hitting Wind-Up, as there are many different ways to approach the beast, but I'll be optimistic (as possible) in trying to still make the deck work after March. But, if it's not meant to be (ie they use 2 hammers to hit the deck), it's not meant to be.
OCG side, it seems that Verz is quite the popular deck. Since Dino Rabbit is quite popular on our side, one hit that touches both decks is obviously Rescue Rabbit. As a deck that had its day as both an expensive deck and a budget deck, it feels that it's about "that time" the deck would be rotated out by the banlist. However I don't see them outright banning Rabbit, and simply putting it to 1 still allows both Verz and Dino Rabbit to be viable. So, this will be quite interesting to see how they approach the decks. Perhaps Rabbit and Laggia to 1? Of course, Rescue Cat is banned, so will its furry cousin see the same fate? Time will tell.
Newer decks like Water and Geargia, I don't imagine seeing any sort of hit. For water, the only real candidates are Undine, Salvage, and Diva. Undine seems like the most problematic card of the bunch since it nets so much advantage so easily, so perhaps it could be put to 1 or 2. At 2, the deck would still be really sick and I'd imagine it as the best deck of the early format especially if Wind-Up and Dinos get the hammer; not specifically Dinos, but what they represent, being a deck that is completely unhindered by the use of maindeck Macro Cosmos (Verz as well).
Inzektors present a very awkward scenario. They already "got nerfed", but clearly roaches can survive a nuclear bomb. What can they actually hit beyond this point? All I can see is Hornet to 0, but I don't see that happening at all. Centipede to 1 or 2, or Dragonfly to 0, just feels really excessive and I don't imagine them doing that either. Perhaps putting Call back to 1 is the needed fix? I don't know. If none of those happen, will Inzektors continue to present an underlying threat to the meta though if appropriate sidedeck considerations aren't made? Most likely so.
It's funny how just 1 additional Earth took Agents from seeing no play to topping YCS' (notably Simon He and Alistar Albans). A part of me feels that this deck gets kept in check simply with Evilswarm/Verz Ophion being a card though, which is probably why I haven't seen Agents top much in OCG decklists. They will probably leave Agents alone as well as Chaos Dragon, so a sigh of relief for you guys is fine, but do realize that Ophion hinders the whole concept of 'big boss monsters' all on his own.
Beyond that, we still have the BS cards that seem to dodge the bullet, list after list. Cards such as Reborn, Card Destruction, Gateway, Avarice, Rekindling, BLS, you know, those cards your opponent topdecks and you're just like "wow did you really just draw that?" At this point, I can't really hold my breath in seeing any of those cards hit/banned. Some people may be like "what's wrong with Rekindling? Lavals don't top. Neither do Sams so leave Gateway alone", but this is just such a poor way of looking at the game as a whole. Rekindling is basically a Return from the DD in spell form, with no LP cost! That is not OK to have 3 of those in a deck, especially when their graveyard-dump will be even quicker here pretty soon with HA07 (why is this not out yet?? -_-). I've seen Gateway completely change the tide of a duel, games that the Sam player had no business winning prior to simply drawing into Gateway.
Hopefully, just hopefully, Konami will "get it right" and we can finally see less sackiness in the game. I think they don't have a problem with "sacky" though, because that can simply be promoted as "heart of the cards" bs. "Anyone with the heart of the cards can win!" kinda stuff :/ I don't think there's anything else in this world that has this amount of bs associated with it, but is something that I still love.
So, what do I envision happening on the list?
First thing, the elephant in the room, Wind-Ups. Realistically what can they hit for Wind-Ups so that they are hurt but still remain competitive? Or, will they just not give a damn and try to nerf them outright? I feel that if the hits aren't too severe, they will still remain a viable deck. As a Wind-Up player of course I want it to stay a viable deck, but if it's no longer meant to be, I can very easily move on. Many thought Inzektors were dead in the water after the list was revealed, and I think I play against more Inzektors now than I did last format! Indeed, at the local scene, it feels like a re-hash of what we had last format; Dino Rabbit, Inzektors, Wind-Ups, Chaos Dragon, Samurai, etc. Many don't own Water due to Megalo's pricetag, even though it is falling from week to week. Madolche and Prophecy just didn't quite make it to "that" level, so those decks have gone by the wayside. I'm not sure what route they'll take in hitting Wind-Up, as there are many different ways to approach the beast, but I'll be optimistic (as possible) in trying to still make the deck work after March. But, if it's not meant to be (ie they use 2 hammers to hit the deck), it's not meant to be.
OCG side, it seems that Verz is quite the popular deck. Since Dino Rabbit is quite popular on our side, one hit that touches both decks is obviously Rescue Rabbit. As a deck that had its day as both an expensive deck and a budget deck, it feels that it's about "that time" the deck would be rotated out by the banlist. However I don't see them outright banning Rabbit, and simply putting it to 1 still allows both Verz and Dino Rabbit to be viable. So, this will be quite interesting to see how they approach the decks. Perhaps Rabbit and Laggia to 1? Of course, Rescue Cat is banned, so will its furry cousin see the same fate? Time will tell.
Newer decks like Water and Geargia, I don't imagine seeing any sort of hit. For water, the only real candidates are Undine, Salvage, and Diva. Undine seems like the most problematic card of the bunch since it nets so much advantage so easily, so perhaps it could be put to 1 or 2. At 2, the deck would still be really sick and I'd imagine it as the best deck of the early format especially if Wind-Up and Dinos get the hammer; not specifically Dinos, but what they represent, being a deck that is completely unhindered by the use of maindeck Macro Cosmos (Verz as well).
Inzektors present a very awkward scenario. They already "got nerfed", but clearly roaches can survive a nuclear bomb. What can they actually hit beyond this point? All I can see is Hornet to 0, but I don't see that happening at all. Centipede to 1 or 2, or Dragonfly to 0, just feels really excessive and I don't imagine them doing that either. Perhaps putting Call back to 1 is the needed fix? I don't know. If none of those happen, will Inzektors continue to present an underlying threat to the meta though if appropriate sidedeck considerations aren't made? Most likely so.
It's funny how just 1 additional Earth took Agents from seeing no play to topping YCS' (notably Simon He and Alistar Albans). A part of me feels that this deck gets kept in check simply with Evilswarm/Verz Ophion being a card though, which is probably why I haven't seen Agents top much in OCG decklists. They will probably leave Agents alone as well as Chaos Dragon, so a sigh of relief for you guys is fine, but do realize that Ophion hinders the whole concept of 'big boss monsters' all on his own.
Beyond that, we still have the BS cards that seem to dodge the bullet, list after list. Cards such as Reborn, Card Destruction, Gateway, Avarice, Rekindling, BLS, you know, those cards your opponent topdecks and you're just like "wow did you really just draw that?" At this point, I can't really hold my breath in seeing any of those cards hit/banned. Some people may be like "what's wrong with Rekindling? Lavals don't top. Neither do Sams so leave Gateway alone", but this is just such a poor way of looking at the game as a whole. Rekindling is basically a Return from the DD in spell form, with no LP cost! That is not OK to have 3 of those in a deck, especially when their graveyard-dump will be even quicker here pretty soon with HA07 (why is this not out yet?? -_-). I've seen Gateway completely change the tide of a duel, games that the Sam player had no business winning prior to simply drawing into Gateway.
Hopefully, just hopefully, Konami will "get it right" and we can finally see less sackiness in the game. I think they don't have a problem with "sacky" though, because that can simply be promoted as "heart of the cards" bs. "Anyone with the heart of the cards can win!" kinda stuff :/ I don't think there's anything else in this world that has this amount of bs associated with it, but is something that I still love.
Monday, December 24, 2012
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).
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).
Saturday, December 22, 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
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.
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.
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