Newly Unlimited
Chaos Sorcerer
Demise, King of Armageddon
Snipe Hunter
Dewloren, Tiger Prince of the Ice Barrier
Gold Sarcophagus
Skill Drain
Ultimate Offering
There isn't much to talk about here. Konami took a look at what cards on the list lost a lot of power and made them unlimited. Some cards are still good, don't forget that. But in comparison to the strategies of top decks, you'll sometimes wonder if using 3 copies is even beneficial to you.
Chaos Sorcerer - Back when Chaos Sorcerer was set to 2 in September, the new rage of the format was Chaos. "I'll put 2 Thunderkings, 1 Gale, 1 Plague, and 2 Chaos Sorcerers in my deck and call it Chaos!" Well, people realized that you can't just splash Chaos Sorc in any deck and call it Chaos. In fact, these type of decks failed so miserably that almost no Chaos Sorcerer was found in the YCS dallas top 32. At 3, expect no different. Everyone will want to build Chaos, they will fail, and it will flop. Chaos isn't a bad deck, but people build it as if it is the old tier-0 deck, where you could easily put 3 darks and 3 lights in the grave and still have a full hand. There's lightsworn variants and Blackwing variants that use Sorc, but noone should really be using 3.
Demise, King of Armageddon - When I talked about the semi-limits in hindsight, I talked about Advanced Ritual Art. Everyone looks at Demise and says the same thing "Full field wipe? Ban it." Demise is hardly that simple. This is how you should properly describe Demise "Ritual? Okay...REQUIRES Eight stars?? Well, I'll ARA it..oh thats limited to 1 and I cant Prep for Demise and ARA? Well what's his effect? Full field wipe? Awesomerrr-wait, it costs 2000 life points? And he only has 2400 ATK? Yeeeaaahh, nevermind." Don't get me wrong, I love Demise. Remember Divine Armageddon? Deck was so full of options it was silly. But a third Demise won't make it that much better. So long as Advanced Ritual Art stays at 1, no ritual should be at 3.
Snipe Hunter - Only fiend decks run this card. It is not splashable, no matter who tells you it is. Dice rolls to destroy cards is cool, but discarding for a dice roll on a 1500 body is not cool.
Dewloren, Tiger Prince of the Ice Barrier - Dewloren was semi-limited because of a loophole you could perform with it. Symbols of Heritage is an equip card that lets you special summon a copy of a monster in your grave, as long as all 3 copies are in there. Dewloren can bounce cards back to your hand. So the idea was, if you could every get all 3 Dewlorens in the grave, and Heritage in your Hand, you will always be able to get it back. Is that gamebreaking? Well, a loophole technically is gamebreaking. Is it powerful? Hardly; maybe if more powerful continuous spells existed like Premature Burial. Is it banworthy? No.
Gold Sarcophagus - Everyone will tell you that Gold Sarc is too slow. "I get to search my deck for ANY card?? I get it in two turns!? WHAT!?" Noone will use all 3 copies in a deck...except me. Unicorn Synchro and Unistorm would love to have 3 Gold Sarcs in it. Desertapir, Avarice, Dark Hole, all searchable. And running 3 sarcs :: 2 Tapir will help me use Tapirs the way they were meant to be used. Hell hath no fury like Unicorn Synchro if Rescue Cat was ever brought back!
Skill Drain - No deck will use 3 except for Skill Drain decks. Skill drain decks are good, but plagued by the same thing that Koakis are, the fact that they have to Normal Summon to create presence. The top decks can easily outspeed Skill Drain with their Special Summons. So Skill Drain decks, although highly disruptive, don't win often enough to make Skill Drain limited. Perhaps with Forbidden Lance, that may change.
Ultimate Offering - Terrible card. Well, I shouldn't say the card is terrible, more the fact that it encourages bad playing. Marauding Captain used to be limited because, in the past, summoning multiple cards from your hand was very very powerful. However, in this day and age, in-hand resources are the name of the game and spending your whole hand on ANYTHING besides a guaranteed OTK is "scoop phase".
In the end, these newly unlimited cards don't change much. The bans and limits do for sure, the semi-limits have a minor impact on the game too.
In other news, Deck #54 is right around the corner! It is the top-deck king! The Combo Sensation! Fudo Yusei Turbo! (not to be confused with Pure Fudo Yusei or Synchron Madness). I can't get into full details about it. All that needs to be said is that I'm 2 maindeck and 4 extra deck cards away from finishing it. And testing has shown it to pull off ridiculous combos. And we aren't talking about summoning a 3100 Junk Warrior and losing it to bottomless. This is pure genius gameplay. Multiple Synchros, multiple card drawns, tokens everywhere. It is nothing short of Ace-in-the-hole Duel Monsters!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Good Games You Think Are Bad 2: Bayonetta
Well, I guess the topic should be Good Games *I* Thought Were Bad.
Bayonetta is one of those "Stylish Action" games. Like Devil May Cry you have menacing, sometimes huge(in size and quantity) enemies and strings of combos to kill them with for the purpose of obtaining the highest point ranking available. You get different guns you can use, and different weapons along the way. You can even pick up enemy weapons and use them on others. But one thing that Bayonetta does have going for it are enemies that want to kill you very, VERY badly.
On normal difficulty, the game starts off pretty easy. "Witch Time" is a special ability that Bayonetta receives upon pulling off well-timed dodges. This puts the game into slow motion for a limited time, depending on your combo string. The better you do, the easier it is to kill enemies. Of course, as the game goes on, enemies become more and more dangerous, and in greater numbers. So no only do you have the little underling angels shooting ranged attacks at you, you have giant Tiger things constantly rushing at you. Not only does each hit you take lower your score, but it also decreases your magic gauge, which helps you in quickly dispatching foes. This means that the game does have a bit of a learning curve and skill requirement, more than most of the last (gen) stylish action games on normal difficulty. It is a blast though. Playing well is rewarded by finishing levels lol and makes you feel like some sort of amazing player.
I have to admit though, there was a reason why I was so late to playing this game. Action games like Bayonetta are known for being over-the-top. Bayonetta is no different in the action sequences but it has a girl protagonist, meaning over-the-top sexual themes! OH NO!
But there is hope! Bayonetta is surprisingly not 100% slutty jokes and bikini outfits. Bayonetta herself actually has some girly, pretty moments. Double jumps sprout butterfly wings from her back, flowers spring from nowhere, her shadow even has butterfly wings. It really isn't until she has to talk to someone that her sexuality is made apparent(sounds like anyone you know?). Otherwise, if someone who hates ridiculous fan-service (i.e. Giant sword wielding school girls, gun-licking, 13 year-olds that look like they have hormone injections every weekend) asked me if Bayonetta was right for them, I would still say yes. As long as you like action games, I think that the "M-rated" content is pretty well balanced out. Probably not enough for kids, but are stripper poses really that much worse than teenagers shouting obscenities over Black Ops Deathmatches?
In the end, I'm probably the LAST person on the internet to try out Bayonetta. Better late than never as I always say. The game has just enough difficulty to keep it from being casual. Your friends may have it and play it, but ask them if they've beaten it. What difficulties have they finished the game on? Any trophies? You may be surprised by their answer!
Bayonetta is one of those "Stylish Action" games. Like Devil May Cry you have menacing, sometimes huge(in size and quantity) enemies and strings of combos to kill them with for the purpose of obtaining the highest point ranking available. You get different guns you can use, and different weapons along the way. You can even pick up enemy weapons and use them on others. But one thing that Bayonetta does have going for it are enemies that want to kill you very, VERY badly.
On normal difficulty, the game starts off pretty easy. "Witch Time" is a special ability that Bayonetta receives upon pulling off well-timed dodges. This puts the game into slow motion for a limited time, depending on your combo string. The better you do, the easier it is to kill enemies. Of course, as the game goes on, enemies become more and more dangerous, and in greater numbers. So no only do you have the little underling angels shooting ranged attacks at you, you have giant Tiger things constantly rushing at you. Not only does each hit you take lower your score, but it also decreases your magic gauge, which helps you in quickly dispatching foes. This means that the game does have a bit of a learning curve and skill requirement, more than most of the last (gen) stylish action games on normal difficulty. It is a blast though. Playing well is rewarded by finishing levels lol and makes you feel like some sort of amazing player.
I have to admit though, there was a reason why I was so late to playing this game. Action games like Bayonetta are known for being over-the-top. Bayonetta is no different in the action sequences but it has a girl protagonist, meaning over-the-top sexual themes! OH NO!
But there is hope! Bayonetta is surprisingly not 100% slutty jokes and bikini outfits. Bayonetta herself actually has some girly, pretty moments. Double jumps sprout butterfly wings from her back, flowers spring from nowhere, her shadow even has butterfly wings. It really isn't until she has to talk to someone that her sexuality is made apparent(sounds like anyone you know?). Otherwise, if someone who hates ridiculous fan-service (i.e. Giant sword wielding school girls, gun-licking, 13 year-olds that look like they have hormone injections every weekend) asked me if Bayonetta was right for them, I would still say yes. As long as you like action games, I think that the "M-rated" content is pretty well balanced out. Probably not enough for kids, but are stripper poses really that much worse than teenagers shouting obscenities over Black Ops Deathmatches?
In the end, I'm probably the LAST person on the internet to try out Bayonetta. Better late than never as I always say. The game has just enough difficulty to keep it from being casual. Your friends may have it and play it, but ask them if they've beaten it. What difficulties have they finished the game on? Any trophies? You may be surprised by their answer!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
March 1? Part 2
Semi-Limited
Card Trooper
Archlord Kristya
Spirit Reaper
Debris Dragon
Royal Tribute
Overload Fusion
Megamorph
Solemn Warning
Icarus Attack
That's a LOT of semi-limits. In Yugioh, most people say that a semi-limit isn't much different than a card being unlimited. What a lot of people forget is, 1 less copy of a card means that not only is it more difficult to draw into, but once your opponent uses 1 then there is only 1 left. If they use 2, then you'll never have to predict the card again. The next important part of semi-limits are for cards that were previously limited to 1 per deck. That means the card is still good, but it isn't doing anything to the format. Thus we can use another.
Card Trooper - Card Trooper is a big example of this. At 1, the card was just used as an additional mill to the graveyard. If your opponent attacks it, it replaces itself. Splashable, but not very powerful. The problem with Card trooper was that when it was at 3, you could do machine duplication to get 2 more from your deck. Mill 9 and you now have 3 1900 attacks monsters that aren't destroyed at the end phase. Use Limiter Removal and you just won the duel. Still, tactics like that aren't too difficult to overcome, and with life points being thrown all over the place with Solemn Warning, that 400 atk is almost a liability.
Archlord Kristya - Amazing card in fairy decks. The problem is that noone runs 3, so why semi-limit it? You can't special summon multiple copies of the card either, as they stop that with their own effect. So....this is kind of a waste of a banlist spot to me. I know how well OCG fairies are doing, but they aren't running 3 Kristya.
Spirit Reaper - Reaper is a very good card. A lot of the top decks don't run Smashing Ground or Fissure, and a few of the top decks don't run targetting cards like Mind Control or the now limited Book of Moon. Reaper itself has the awesome effect of eating a card from your opponent's hand if it causes damage(with its 300 atk points.) Doesn't ruin the meta, we just can't have 3 because stalling games is no fun.
Debris Dragon - Another hit to Plant Synchro. Suprisinglyy, Black Rose Dragon is still unlimited, and plant users still get Pot of Avarice to put Debris back in the deck while keeping Dandylion in the grave. The semi-limit reduces probably the most powerful aspect of the plant synchro deck - its godly topdecks. Otherwise, decks like Yubel and XSabers were running 2 or less in the first place.
Royal Tribute - I have had the pleasure to have not faced this card in my dueling career. People say that gravekeepers are actually a bad deck, except with they get this card in the early game. Losing most of your hand before you even get a turn is pretty powerful, and not really fair. But I guess since gravekeepers themselves aren't a very strong deck, then Konami wants them to have SOMETHING.
Overload Fusion - This is another card I haven't had to face. Overload can only summon 2 sub-par monsters, Chimeratech Overdragon and Cyberdark Dragon. Both are susceptible to trap cards and monster effects. Gatling Dragon is "powerful" but summoning it means that your deck isn't very good. So sure, give the players an extra Overload Fusion, it won't do much for the deck.
Megamorph - A few people are afraid of this card. Megamorph can turn any 2500 attack monster into a 5000 attack monster, or turn a 3000 attack monster into a 1500! That sounds powerful, but the card's nature is what makes it not. There are plenty of cards that increase and decrease attack, so the defensive side of Megamorph is very bad considering it is an equip card. The card shines on the offense, and is used for one-hit kills. 6000 ATK Blue Eyes, 6000 ATK Gadjiljatron Dragon, those are very scary. But the decks that use those as OTKs aren't very consistent.
Solemn Warning - A lot of players were using just 2 copies of this card. Then YCS Dallas came around and people started using 3. The idea was to stop ANYTHING that looked like a combo. Sure you lose 2000 life points, but that is a small price to pay to keep your opponent from playing the game. Putting this at 2 makes it slightly more skillful. It is still pretty powerful though.
Icarus Attack - The 2nd hit to Blackwing users. I'm okay with hitting this, but Konami keeps neutering the deck because it is just that good. If this continues, there won't be a deck left to play. What is nice is that people who didn't have space for other BW support cards like Anti-Reverse or even the new Black Return. Two Icarus is 1 less card to fear in the Blackwing arsenal of tricks.
Card Trooper
Archlord Kristya
Spirit Reaper
Debris Dragon
Royal Tribute
Overload Fusion
Megamorph
Solemn Warning
Icarus Attack
That's a LOT of semi-limits. In Yugioh, most people say that a semi-limit isn't much different than a card being unlimited. What a lot of people forget is, 1 less copy of a card means that not only is it more difficult to draw into, but once your opponent uses 1 then there is only 1 left. If they use 2, then you'll never have to predict the card again. The next important part of semi-limits are for cards that were previously limited to 1 per deck. That means the card is still good, but it isn't doing anything to the format. Thus we can use another.
Card Trooper - Card Trooper is a big example of this. At 1, the card was just used as an additional mill to the graveyard. If your opponent attacks it, it replaces itself. Splashable, but not very powerful. The problem with Card trooper was that when it was at 3, you could do machine duplication to get 2 more from your deck. Mill 9 and you now have 3 1900 attacks monsters that aren't destroyed at the end phase. Use Limiter Removal and you just won the duel. Still, tactics like that aren't too difficult to overcome, and with life points being thrown all over the place with Solemn Warning, that 400 atk is almost a liability.
Archlord Kristya - Amazing card in fairy decks. The problem is that noone runs 3, so why semi-limit it? You can't special summon multiple copies of the card either, as they stop that with their own effect. So....this is kind of a waste of a banlist spot to me. I know how well OCG fairies are doing, but they aren't running 3 Kristya.
Spirit Reaper - Reaper is a very good card. A lot of the top decks don't run Smashing Ground or Fissure, and a few of the top decks don't run targetting cards like Mind Control or the now limited Book of Moon. Reaper itself has the awesome effect of eating a card from your opponent's hand if it causes damage(with its 300 atk points.) Doesn't ruin the meta, we just can't have 3 because stalling games is no fun.
Debris Dragon - Another hit to Plant Synchro. Suprisinglyy, Black Rose Dragon is still unlimited, and plant users still get Pot of Avarice to put Debris back in the deck while keeping Dandylion in the grave. The semi-limit reduces probably the most powerful aspect of the plant synchro deck - its godly topdecks. Otherwise, decks like Yubel and XSabers were running 2 or less in the first place.
Royal Tribute - I have had the pleasure to have not faced this card in my dueling career. People say that gravekeepers are actually a bad deck, except with they get this card in the early game. Losing most of your hand before you even get a turn is pretty powerful, and not really fair. But I guess since gravekeepers themselves aren't a very strong deck, then Konami wants them to have SOMETHING.
Overload Fusion - This is another card I haven't had to face. Overload can only summon 2 sub-par monsters, Chimeratech Overdragon and Cyberdark Dragon. Both are susceptible to trap cards and monster effects. Gatling Dragon is "powerful" but summoning it means that your deck isn't very good. So sure, give the players an extra Overload Fusion, it won't do much for the deck.
Megamorph - A few people are afraid of this card. Megamorph can turn any 2500 attack monster into a 5000 attack monster, or turn a 3000 attack monster into a 1500! That sounds powerful, but the card's nature is what makes it not. There are plenty of cards that increase and decrease attack, so the defensive side of Megamorph is very bad considering it is an equip card. The card shines on the offense, and is used for one-hit kills. 6000 ATK Blue Eyes, 6000 ATK Gadjiljatron Dragon, those are very scary. But the decks that use those as OTKs aren't very consistent.
Solemn Warning - A lot of players were using just 2 copies of this card. Then YCS Dallas came around and people started using 3. The idea was to stop ANYTHING that looked like a combo. Sure you lose 2000 life points, but that is a small price to pay to keep your opponent from playing the game. Putting this at 2 makes it slightly more skillful. It is still pretty powerful though.
Icarus Attack - The 2nd hit to Blackwing users. I'm okay with hitting this, but Konami keeps neutering the deck because it is just that good. If this continues, there won't be a deck left to play. What is nice is that people who didn't have space for other BW support cards like Anti-Reverse or even the new Black Return. Two Icarus is 1 less card to fear in the Blackwing arsenal of tricks.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
I hate Raven
MAG is still a pretty big part of my gaming time. I started out on SVER, then about 2 months ago I finally vetted over to Valor. I maxed out my character over there, which is reason to move to the third and final PMC for my trophy...Raven.
SVER is the largest PMC in MAG. It also has a large number of good players and huge clans that play together. So when you play with or against SVER, you are bound to have a MASS of dots on your screen, and some of them are probably good at the game!
Valor is the smallest PMC on MAG. I would say that, by ratio, Valor has an equal or MORE good players on it than SVER, simply because of the "diehard fans" who want to make Valor good. Unfortunately, numbers can outweigh how good you are, and this is Valor's problem.
Now Raven...Raven is the 2nd largest PMC. In my opinion it has the WORST players on it, and the ration of good players to bad ones is obscene. The appeal of Raven is that its the futuristic, leaders of the world. They do own more contracts than Valor but mostly because of their numbers. A platoon of idiots can still a quarter of a platoon of good players.
Where's my proof you ask? Well, I didn't take too many pictures, but there is a problem when a level 8 10 or 12 Player is getting 1st place MVP in modes like aquisition and domination. Especially during attacks, no low level player should ever consistently place in the MVP.
There is no excuse to this. For those who don't play MAG, there is a definite skill tree that turns your character from a sucky one to a good one. At level 8 you(I) have:
1) The most Basic guns. No extended clip, no sight, no foregrip for recoil, nothing but the basics.
2) A medical kit with 0 Range(meaning to heal or resuscitate, you have to be right next to a person), the slowest and weakest heal in the game, the slowest recast on resuscitate, and resuscitates don't revive people at maximum health.
3) The most basic armor that WILL slow you down. Also, you run slower than 80% of other characters AND you can not sprint very well.
4) 20 Less Hp than 90% of all other players.
All of this together means that, even with incredible skill, any character over level 30(max level is SEVENTY) should easily outperform you. This goes to show that Raven is terrible.
Currently, I am level 45. I do want to Platinum this game, so there are a few things I have to do for trophies. Once you get 14000CP(money) you can by a sensory jammer, one of the most expensive items in the game. What that does is it masks you from enemy radar, great for getting the Combat Melee Ribbon. Basically, I have to kill 15 enemies in 1 match, and I have to do that with every weapon type in the game. So sensor jammer + knife for a whole match, light machine gun, sniper rifle, combat shotgun, side arm(pistol), and grenade. Then I have to snipe paratroopers for a while until I kill 100(and I am REALLY bad at sniping.)
I love MAG to death, but Raven is soooooooooo bad I can't stand it. I'm thinking about vetting back to valor in the end. Raven has one of the best Assault Rifles in the game(when used with the 4x scope), so that will be missed. Nothing else will lol.
SVER is the largest PMC in MAG. It also has a large number of good players and huge clans that play together. So when you play with or against SVER, you are bound to have a MASS of dots on your screen, and some of them are probably good at the game!
Valor is the smallest PMC on MAG. I would say that, by ratio, Valor has an equal or MORE good players on it than SVER, simply because of the "diehard fans" who want to make Valor good. Unfortunately, numbers can outweigh how good you are, and this is Valor's problem.
Now Raven...Raven is the 2nd largest PMC. In my opinion it has the WORST players on it, and the ration of good players to bad ones is obscene. The appeal of Raven is that its the futuristic, leaders of the world. They do own more contracts than Valor but mostly because of their numbers. A platoon of idiots can still a quarter of a platoon of good players.
Where's my proof you ask? Well, I didn't take too many pictures, but there is a problem when a level 8 10 or 12 Player is getting 1st place MVP in modes like aquisition and domination. Especially during attacks, no low level player should ever consistently place in the MVP.
There is no excuse to this. For those who don't play MAG, there is a definite skill tree that turns your character from a sucky one to a good one. At level 8 you(I) have:
1) The most Basic guns. No extended clip, no sight, no foregrip for recoil, nothing but the basics.
2) A medical kit with 0 Range(meaning to heal or resuscitate, you have to be right next to a person), the slowest and weakest heal in the game, the slowest recast on resuscitate, and resuscitates don't revive people at maximum health.
3) The most basic armor that WILL slow you down. Also, you run slower than 80% of other characters AND you can not sprint very well.
4) 20 Less Hp than 90% of all other players.
All of this together means that, even with incredible skill, any character over level 30(max level is SEVENTY) should easily outperform you. This goes to show that Raven is terrible.
Currently, I am level 45. I do want to Platinum this game, so there are a few things I have to do for trophies. Once you get 14000CP(money) you can by a sensory jammer, one of the most expensive items in the game. What that does is it masks you from enemy radar, great for getting the Combat Melee Ribbon. Basically, I have to kill 15 enemies in 1 match, and I have to do that with every weapon type in the game. So sensor jammer + knife for a whole match, light machine gun, sniper rifle, combat shotgun, side arm(pistol), and grenade. Then I have to snipe paratroopers for a while until I kill 100(and I am REALLY bad at sniping.)
I love MAG to death, but Raven is soooooooooo bad I can't stand it. I'm thinking about vetting back to valor in the end. Raven has one of the best Assault Rifles in the game(when used with the 4x scope), so that will be missed. Nothing else will lol.
March 1?
Every blog right now has a post about the new banlist coming up. Today, mine will be no different. From a quick look at the list, this is a format of "Play new cards!", hitting the most overused cards in the (O)card game and giving people the chance to try out something else.
Forbidden:
Goyo Guardian
Cold Wave
Mass Driver
Three new banned cards. I actually like the list, it will make the top tier decks a little more interesting.
Goyo - Best synchro in the game? Level 6 is ridiculously easy to make. 2800 attack laughs at 90% of all other synchro monsters. And it even has Change of Heart built into it via destroying cards. Banning it is a little extreme, but I think we can all agree that we're tired of Goyo being the go-to synchro if you have the option. A lot of people are saying that Brionac should have been banned instead, but let's think about that for a second....Brionac wins games. But winning the game isn't enough to ban a card, because Brionac itself isn't a win condition. Brionac is more closely comparable to Magic Cylinder. Cylinder can win games too, almost with less effort than Brionac. Also add in the fact that Brio has a cost and only has 2300 attack, making it a great card, but not a banworthy one.
Cold Wave - 99.9% of the blogs are saying that we all should have wanted this banned. Do I agree? Maybe. Destroying your opponents field without fear of repercussions AND locking them out of the game for an extra turn(barring monster effects) is insanely powerful. But only at that time is it powerful. Is that enough to make it banworthy? Probably lol.
Mass Driver - Bad card by itself. The only decks this card is used in are ones designed to OTK with said card. That alone makes it banworthy.
Hindsight - A lot of people wanted more cards banned though. Don't forget that Dark Hole and Monster Reborn were brought back in the last list. Does this mean that Konami thinks those cards are balanced? We all know that Monster Reborn can do amazing things, and win a duel out of the deepest pit of no-return. However, most of the time you turn a duel around isn't because you took THAT card that will win the game. It is usually because Monster reborn turned into fuel for you to pull off something great. So in fact, Monster Reborn could have been many many things, just the card you need to fill that gap in your hand/field. Dark Hole however is seemingly more and more balanced every day. Some people have stopped using cards like it and Torrential altogether, because the chances of you hitting something great is slim. Either your opponent has a Stardust on the field, Starlight Road set, MBAAS in hand, Sangan on the field, Dandylion on the field, or all the other cards that are just begging you to try to Dark Hole. In that sense, Dark Hole is almost not that overpowered anymore. What I really wanted to see banned though was Mind Master. Banning Mind Master would let emergency teleport come back, and stops the OCG Gusta infinite draw trick, using Mind Master as the fuel. Mind Master itself isn't a broken card, it is just poorly designed.
Limited:
Honest
Dandylion
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow
Book of Moon
Gateway of the Six
This is where things get sticky. Noone likes anything out of the limited list besides Gateway.
Honest - Ehhh. In the OCG, light beat and "Deep Draw Fairies" as i'll call it are doing fairly well. Not Six Sam well, but fairly well. Honest is good, and very hard to predict but that isn't what made it broken. In my opinion, Light Beat is what made Honest broken. Why? Because the deck stops you from playing that game. Summon a monster? BTH/Warning. Use a trap? Gemini Spark, destroy your monster. Attack my monster? D. Prison. Damage Step? Honest. That is not fun at all.
Dandylion - 2 is far too abuse-able. Essentially, Plant Synchro is only good because of Dandylion and Lonefire. The deck is "how can I abuse Dandylion and Debris as much as possible." What sucks is that 1 Dandylion is pretty much annihilated by your side deck. I wonder if Plant Synchro will be even half as good with only 1 Dandylion...(might have to use spirit reaper!)
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow - Ouch. I'm really hurting with BW players on this. Kalut is annoying, but Konami is really on the verge of neutering the entire deck if they keep up the limits. Oh well, they got a ton of new mosnters, surely one of them is decent.
Book of Moon - The rage on the internet about this is astronomical. According to the Yugioh Blog, 78.5% of the Duelists in Atlanta used at least 1 copy of Book of Moon in their Decks. In fact, nearly 50% of the field used a whopping 3 copies in their Decks – a huge increase from the 41.5% of Duelists who used 3 copies of Book of Moon in Philadelphia. In the Top 16, 15 Duelists ran an incredible total of 41 copies of Book of Moon, up from the 14 Duelists that ran 39 copies of Book of Moon in the Top 16 of YCS Philadelphia. If 78% of all decks run Book of Moon doesn't say "overused" to you, then I'm not sure what will. Book of Moon isn't necessarily a staple, it's just in everyone's deck<-?. Book of Moon is very often both the frontline and final defense against what your opponent can throw at you. Many consider Book as the ONLY counter to synchro summoning, and say synchro decks will run rampant with these gone. I highly doubt anyone will run 1 book when you can run 3 of something else, but who knows what will happen. (Salvo is back!)
Gateway of the Six - Few cards in the game are legitimately broken. Some cards are too splashable that they become broken, some cards are too powerful that they are broken, and some can do both! Gateway falls in the #2 slot. There are very few times that a Gateway in the hand is bad. A first turn gateway is one of the most powerful hands in the entire game(and that's just one card!). Cutting 2 of them doesn't even make the card any less good, it just slows it down. In fact, one can say that 1 Gateway is how Konami intended for the deck to be ran. Playing 2 gateway at the same time is what is REALLY broken. Playing 1 at a time is pretty balanced(powerful) gameplay.
Hindsight - I think that this format unfairly hit Blackwings and Plant synchro without hitting much else. Xsabers are still pretty powerful, all because of XX-saber Darksoul. Darksoul is a TCG exclusive card, so unless Konami pulls something interesting on March 1st, Darksoul will stay untouched until it releases in the OCG, and only if Sabers do well over there. Darksoul makes Sabers so good, the amount of searching it can do, coupled with being level 3 is crazy. I would love to see Darksoul Limited and Rescue Cat come back to 1.
Phew, 3 newly banned cards, 5 newly limited cards, and nothing unbanned. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the bajillion of new semi-limits and POSSIBLY the unlimited cards. I only have so much space after all.
Forbidden:
Goyo Guardian
Cold Wave
Mass Driver
Three new banned cards. I actually like the list, it will make the top tier decks a little more interesting.
Goyo - Best synchro in the game? Level 6 is ridiculously easy to make. 2800 attack laughs at 90% of all other synchro monsters. And it even has Change of Heart built into it via destroying cards. Banning it is a little extreme, but I think we can all agree that we're tired of Goyo being the go-to synchro if you have the option. A lot of people are saying that Brionac should have been banned instead, but let's think about that for a second....Brionac wins games. But winning the game isn't enough to ban a card, because Brionac itself isn't a win condition. Brionac is more closely comparable to Magic Cylinder. Cylinder can win games too, almost with less effort than Brionac. Also add in the fact that Brio has a cost and only has 2300 attack, making it a great card, but not a banworthy one.
Cold Wave - 99.9% of the blogs are saying that we all should have wanted this banned. Do I agree? Maybe. Destroying your opponents field without fear of repercussions AND locking them out of the game for an extra turn(barring monster effects) is insanely powerful. But only at that time is it powerful. Is that enough to make it banworthy? Probably lol.
Mass Driver - Bad card by itself. The only decks this card is used in are ones designed to OTK with said card. That alone makes it banworthy.
Hindsight - A lot of people wanted more cards banned though. Don't forget that Dark Hole and Monster Reborn were brought back in the last list. Does this mean that Konami thinks those cards are balanced? We all know that Monster Reborn can do amazing things, and win a duel out of the deepest pit of no-return. However, most of the time you turn a duel around isn't because you took THAT card that will win the game. It is usually because Monster reborn turned into fuel for you to pull off something great. So in fact, Monster Reborn could have been many many things, just the card you need to fill that gap in your hand/field. Dark Hole however is seemingly more and more balanced every day. Some people have stopped using cards like it and Torrential altogether, because the chances of you hitting something great is slim. Either your opponent has a Stardust on the field, Starlight Road set, MBAAS in hand, Sangan on the field, Dandylion on the field, or all the other cards that are just begging you to try to Dark Hole. In that sense, Dark Hole is almost not that overpowered anymore. What I really wanted to see banned though was Mind Master. Banning Mind Master would let emergency teleport come back, and stops the OCG Gusta infinite draw trick, using Mind Master as the fuel. Mind Master itself isn't a broken card, it is just poorly designed.
Limited:
Honest
Dandylion
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow
Book of Moon
Gateway of the Six
This is where things get sticky. Noone likes anything out of the limited list besides Gateway.
Honest - Ehhh. In the OCG, light beat and "Deep Draw Fairies" as i'll call it are doing fairly well. Not Six Sam well, but fairly well. Honest is good, and very hard to predict but that isn't what made it broken. In my opinion, Light Beat is what made Honest broken. Why? Because the deck stops you from playing that game. Summon a monster? BTH/Warning. Use a trap? Gemini Spark, destroy your monster. Attack my monster? D. Prison. Damage Step? Honest. That is not fun at all.
Dandylion - 2 is far too abuse-able. Essentially, Plant Synchro is only good because of Dandylion and Lonefire. The deck is "how can I abuse Dandylion and Debris as much as possible." What sucks is that 1 Dandylion is pretty much annihilated by your side deck. I wonder if Plant Synchro will be even half as good with only 1 Dandylion...(might have to use spirit reaper!)
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow - Ouch. I'm really hurting with BW players on this. Kalut is annoying, but Konami is really on the verge of neutering the entire deck if they keep up the limits. Oh well, they got a ton of new mosnters, surely one of them is decent.
Book of Moon - The rage on the internet about this is astronomical. According to the Yugioh Blog, 78.5% of the Duelists in Atlanta used at least 1 copy of Book of Moon in their Decks. In fact, nearly 50% of the field used a whopping 3 copies in their Decks – a huge increase from the 41.5% of Duelists who used 3 copies of Book of Moon in Philadelphia. In the Top 16, 15 Duelists ran an incredible total of 41 copies of Book of Moon, up from the 14 Duelists that ran 39 copies of Book of Moon in the Top 16 of YCS Philadelphia. If 78% of all decks run Book of Moon doesn't say "overused" to you, then I'm not sure what will. Book of Moon isn't necessarily a staple, it's just in everyone's deck<-?. Book of Moon is very often both the frontline and final defense against what your opponent can throw at you. Many consider Book as the ONLY counter to synchro summoning, and say synchro decks will run rampant with these gone. I highly doubt anyone will run 1 book when you can run 3 of something else, but who knows what will happen. (Salvo is back!)
Gateway of the Six - Few cards in the game are legitimately broken. Some cards are too splashable that they become broken, some cards are too powerful that they are broken, and some can do both! Gateway falls in the #2 slot. There are very few times that a Gateway in the hand is bad. A first turn gateway is one of the most powerful hands in the entire game(and that's just one card!). Cutting 2 of them doesn't even make the card any less good, it just slows it down. In fact, one can say that 1 Gateway is how Konami intended for the deck to be ran. Playing 2 gateway at the same time is what is REALLY broken. Playing 1 at a time is pretty balanced(powerful) gameplay.
Hindsight - I think that this format unfairly hit Blackwings and Plant synchro without hitting much else. Xsabers are still pretty powerful, all because of XX-saber Darksoul. Darksoul is a TCG exclusive card, so unless Konami pulls something interesting on March 1st, Darksoul will stay untouched until it releases in the OCG, and only if Sabers do well over there. Darksoul makes Sabers so good, the amount of searching it can do, coupled with being level 3 is crazy. I would love to see Darksoul Limited and Rescue Cat come back to 1.
Phew, 3 newly banned cards, 5 newly limited cards, and nothing unbanned. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the bajillion of new semi-limits and POSSIBLY the unlimited cards. I only have so much space after all.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
UniSTOORRRMMM! Part 3
Video from Card Kingdom, courtesy of ckaid0021 on youtube. A lot of people making Nordic Beast decks go with this deck as their skeleton. Of course, with the TCG, there are some definite changes to be made to the deck, such as adding Vanadis and Solemn Warning. What is key to remember when you look at this deck is that there aren't very many good beast monsters in yugioh, and instead of using a higher monster count, this deck uses only 20 monsters. Also, the monster lineup sticks strictly to the nordic beast strategy. Your only other option besides goats and horses are Ryko, which some people feel is the best strategy. Since the other beast monsters are not good, this OCG deck only uses the goat and horse strategy. All the other cards, triple creature swap, triple forbidden lance, support only that. The TCG builds of this deck are pretty much the same, just adding in Vanadis, a Valkyrie or 2, and taking out some of the non-nordic beasts. Then they slim up on some of the triple magic cards to add in Solemn Warning, Torrential, and other traps that are very important to slowing the TCG down.
Is this better than my UniSTORM? Perhaps. I really don't like the idea of having no other monster effects you can use during the duel. But what else is there besides Lockey+Dog?
Scrap Beasts? That gives you another level 4 tuner to use with goat tokens. Scrap Chimera is an amazing card, but after that, none of the deck has synergy with those cards. Can't use Hamster with them, can't use creature swap if you plan to run that, and I'm sure you are limited in other ways.
Moja? Terrible card in a synchro deck. King of Beasts is made for Beast Beat decks, not synchro decks.
Egotistical Ape? Discard to special summon from the hand? It's just like a quickdraw! Unfortunately, there is a reason why noone is topping with quickdraw right now, and that is because Hand resources are toooo important right now. Combined with mine mole, Ape is awesome. But the extra -1 to the hand might be too painful.
Airbellum? Attacking that hand is awesome. You can even get it with megahamster, but why would you if you have Gnjostr? Whats the point of getting anything out of the deck with Hamster other than Gnjostr Grisnir or Ryko?
Aside from that, everyone and their mother wants to run Forbidden Lances in this deck. And in all honesty, its an amazing card. Doesn't save you from Solemn Warning, but it protects Tuner monsters from book of moon, and protects synchro monsters from bottomless. You can also drop your opponent's monsters by 800, but I feel like this is an overlooked aspect. It makes Lance better, to me, in decks that run level ~4 "beatsticks." Because you are losing an aspect of the card, you could have just ran trap stun instead(which doesn't stop Book). I like the card, and I do want to own 3. Will I run it though? Haven't decided.
Another cool card to think about is Nordic Relic Laevateinn. Laev, believe it or not, is not Nordic specific. You can use it when any card gets destroyed by battle. You destroy the card and no effect can be activated in response to it. That means Tytannial, Stardust, Shi En, Thought Ruler, and many other cards will all fall prey to this "1 for 1" card. Yes you did lose a monster by battle, but in the nordic beast deck, that really doesn't matter much. Either you gained tokens(and tokens can activate Laev!), you gained a tanngnjostr, destroyed a card, or got a got in your hand. Just the fact that it can hit So many things for almost free is really cool.
In unrelated news, a new banlist has emerged that is 99.9% likely to be the real thing. Unlike most banlists, it isn't a change for a "fun format" like I posted about last year. This time it is a change for a more balanced format.
Forbidden:
Goyo Guardian
Cold Wave
Mass Driver
Limited:
Honest
Dandylion
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow
Book of Moon
Gateway of the Six
Semi-Limited
Card Trooper
Archlord Kristya
Spirit Reaper
Debris Dragon
Royal Tribute
Overload Fusion
Megamorph
Solemn Warning
Icarus Attack
Unlimited:
Chaos Sorcerer
Demise, King of Armageddon
Snipe Hunter
Dewloren, Tiger Prince of the Ice Barrier
Gold Sarcophagus
Skill Drain
Ultimate Offering
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
UniSTOORRRMMM! Part 2
I did get to play UniSTORM at locals last night. I didn't plan to enter, but I did and ended up staying until 11pm... The deck worked as expected. I drew into most of what I wanted, but when its time for my opponent and I to start topdecking, this is when I run into problems. I ended the night 2-2, beating Herald and Glads, losing to Plant Synchro and Machina Gadgets(again).
Here is the decklist I was using:
As you can see, the deck has some nice cards. Opening hands are usually good, but as with any beast deck, there are a couple of dead draws. Like I said in the last post, a few of the numbers are 100% necessary, such as triple hamster, double/triple ryko. Tanngjostr has proven itself to be a FORMIDABLE force in this deck, and every time you drop it, your opponent instantly wants it gone. Thus, we run 3 copies of it in this deck. It is simply too good of a card not to. This means that Tanngrisnir has been knocked down to 2(After I just got my third!) and Guldfaxe is staying at 2 also. Desertapir stays as gold sarc is too useful in this format. The fact that I can search out Dark Hole/Monster reborn on turn 1, or use gold sarc as a monster reborn in the late game is actually GOOD beast support.
I want to make a build that is powerful, with many options available to it. The problem with beast decks is that the strategy is there, but unline some other decks aka Xsabers, each individual beast monsters is only so strong. So I think the key to making the deck good is the Monster lineup and the Trap lineup. It is important to remember that every beast monster has a pretty weak effect barring Hamster, Ryko, Airbellum, and now Tanngjostr.
Key Mouse - Key mouse is good and bad in the this deck. It can search out Tanngrisnir from the deck WHILE YOU SUMMON ONE FROM YOUR HAND, which is pretty cool. But at the same time, it only works when your opponent destroys it by battle. When I was running 2 of these, I get random selections of monsters in my hand. Running it at 3 means that the deck needs it..and I almost think it does. Key Mouse is mostly designed for use with Lock Cat, which is a pretty bad card on its own. Each lock cat needs 1 monster on the field to make anything worthwile, whereas you could just summon egotistical ape or airbellum. Lock cat allows you to sneak under bottomless though without spending too many in-hand resources. Going to run 2 to go with the 3 key mice. On the other side though, Kinka-byo works well with key mouse. So does Chain Dog! Of course, chain dog is also a terrible top deck, despite being very combo-centric. I used to run 2 of those, but I decided to knock it down to 1 and run 2 Kinka-byo to match the 3 key mice. Kinka-byo is also not a powerful card. In fact, without another monster on the field, kinka-byo is just a card draw(formula synchron)
As you can see, the deck skeleton has
12 Key Cards, 14 if you run double desertapir, 15 if you run triple ryko.
That leaves up to 10 spots for monsters. 5-10 if you plan to run Avarice.
With Key mouse in the deck, thats 3+2+2+1, EIGHT cards all together to make triple key mouse worthwhile. After that, there is really no room for any other tech monsters. In my deck, thats 2 airbellums.
Anyway, this post is going on for a while. I'm going to cut it here and come back tomorrow to talk about the Card Kingdom youtube build and other beast monsters taht could be used instead of Key mouse.
Here is the decklist I was using:
Monsters: 24 Ryko x3 Mega-Hamster x3 Tanngnjostr x3 Guldfaxe x2 Tanngrisnir x2 Key Mouse x2 Lock Cat x2 Chain Dog x2 Airbellum x2 Dark Desertapir x2 Gaint Rat x1 Spells: 10 Avarice x2 Gold Sarc x2 Creature Swap x1 Nobleman of Extermination x1 Cold Wave Dark Hole Reborn Mind Control Traps: 6 Bottomless x2 Gleipnir x1 Trap Stun x1 Mirror Force Torrential Tribute |
As you can see, the deck has some nice cards. Opening hands are usually good, but as with any beast deck, there are a couple of dead draws. Like I said in the last post, a few of the numbers are 100% necessary, such as triple hamster, double/triple ryko. Tanngjostr has proven itself to be a FORMIDABLE force in this deck, and every time you drop it, your opponent instantly wants it gone. Thus, we run 3 copies of it in this deck. It is simply too good of a card not to. This means that Tanngrisnir has been knocked down to 2(After I just got my third!) and Guldfaxe is staying at 2 also. Desertapir stays as gold sarc is too useful in this format. The fact that I can search out Dark Hole/Monster reborn on turn 1, or use gold sarc as a monster reborn in the late game is actually GOOD beast support.
I want to make a build that is powerful, with many options available to it. The problem with beast decks is that the strategy is there, but unline some other decks aka Xsabers, each individual beast monsters is only so strong. So I think the key to making the deck good is the Monster lineup and the Trap lineup. It is important to remember that every beast monster has a pretty weak effect barring Hamster, Ryko, Airbellum, and now Tanngjostr.
Key Mouse - Key mouse is good and bad in the this deck. It can search out Tanngrisnir from the deck WHILE YOU SUMMON ONE FROM YOUR HAND, which is pretty cool. But at the same time, it only works when your opponent destroys it by battle. When I was running 2 of these, I get random selections of monsters in my hand. Running it at 3 means that the deck needs it..and I almost think it does. Key Mouse is mostly designed for use with Lock Cat, which is a pretty bad card on its own. Each lock cat needs 1 monster on the field to make anything worthwile, whereas you could just summon egotistical ape or airbellum. Lock cat allows you to sneak under bottomless though without spending too many in-hand resources. Going to run 2 to go with the 3 key mice. On the other side though, Kinka-byo works well with key mouse. So does Chain Dog! Of course, chain dog is also a terrible top deck, despite being very combo-centric. I used to run 2 of those, but I decided to knock it down to 1 and run 2 Kinka-byo to match the 3 key mice. Kinka-byo is also not a powerful card. In fact, without another monster on the field, kinka-byo is just a card draw(formula synchron)
As you can see, the deck skeleton has
12 Key Cards, 14 if you run double desertapir, 15 if you run triple ryko.
That leaves up to 10 spots for monsters. 5-10 if you plan to run Avarice.
With Key mouse in the deck, thats 3+2+2+1, EIGHT cards all together to make triple key mouse worthwhile. After that, there is really no room for any other tech monsters. In my deck, thats 2 airbellums.
Anyway, this post is going on for a while. I'm going to cut it here and come back tomorrow to talk about the Card Kingdom youtube build and other beast monsters taht could be used instead of Key mouse.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Killzone 3 + Move = Tired arms
I had originally planned to have 2 games on display today, Killzone and the PSN title Stacking. Unfortunately, every time I went to upload Killzone to youtube, it would take hours for it to finish, which is pretty discouraging. I finally managed to finish the upload last night for Killzone, so that is what's on the blog today!
Killzone is one of those new shooters, hyped up for play with Playstation Move. So my initial plays were with the Move and Navigation Control. As a warning, I'm no expert at Killzone, and I'm also no expert at the Playstation Move. But with practice, it seems to work really really well. The video is my 3rd playthrough with the Move. The default settings, which you saw for me change in the first bit of the video are terribad, and should be changed immediately.
The Deadzone is how much freedom you have on your Controller before it moves the camera around. Some people like the controller to instantly move their screen along with it, some people prefer to have a "point and click" ability, similar to a mouse and keyboard. So my deadzone is set for the almost the entire range of vertical movement(it sucks to look up and have the camera spin on you!) and most of the horizontal range.
The next important change was obviously the pointer speed. For me, I wanted it as close to my hand's moving speed without throwing the cursor too easily. 50%~ is the way to go (unless you're one of those people ho can keep a super steady hand).
Lastly, the Aiming mode defaults on something called Lock Assist. Lock Assist is designed for more casual players, for the campaign. Whenever you press the zoom button on the Nav controller, you are instead automatically zoomed in on the enemy that you are looking at. If you aren't looking at anything, it won't zoom. Then, it gives you a convenient Window around the enemy that you try not to(if the game allows you) to move out of, and it gives you a new, slower moving targeting reticule, ideal for hitting the enemy consistently.
Of course, you can't get "good" playing like that, so I turned the Lock Assist Off, and made it the old-fashioned hold-to-zoom. I actually find the game much easier to play this way. Not only can you zoom on anytime, anywhere, but you can play a lot more aggressively if you zoom in on exactly what you want.
The game is a lot of fun though. I didn't play Killzone 1 at all and I played about 1 hour of Killzone 2 and never put it back in(game was pretty difficult to me). Killzone 3 is still fairly unforgiving, but with practice, you'll be mowing down Helghast in no time.
Killzone is one of those new shooters, hyped up for play with Playstation Move. So my initial plays were with the Move and Navigation Control. As a warning, I'm no expert at Killzone, and I'm also no expert at the Playstation Move. But with practice, it seems to work really really well. The video is my 3rd playthrough with the Move. The default settings, which you saw for me change in the first bit of the video are terribad, and should be changed immediately.
The Deadzone is how much freedom you have on your Controller before it moves the camera around. Some people like the controller to instantly move their screen along with it, some people prefer to have a "point and click" ability, similar to a mouse and keyboard. So my deadzone is set for the almost the entire range of vertical movement(it sucks to look up and have the camera spin on you!) and most of the horizontal range.
The next important change was obviously the pointer speed. For me, I wanted it as close to my hand's moving speed without throwing the cursor too easily. 50%~ is the way to go (unless you're one of those people ho can keep a super steady hand).
Lastly, the Aiming mode defaults on something called Lock Assist. Lock Assist is designed for more casual players, for the campaign. Whenever you press the zoom button on the Nav controller, you are instead automatically zoomed in on the enemy that you are looking at. If you aren't looking at anything, it won't zoom. Then, it gives you a convenient Window around the enemy that you try not to(if the game allows you) to move out of, and it gives you a new, slower moving targeting reticule, ideal for hitting the enemy consistently.
Of course, you can't get "good" playing like that, so I turned the Lock Assist Off, and made it the old-fashioned hold-to-zoom. I actually find the game much easier to play this way. Not only can you zoom on anytime, anywhere, but you can play a lot more aggressively if you zoom in on exactly what you want.
The game is a lot of fun though. I didn't play Killzone 1 at all and I played about 1 hour of Killzone 2 and never put it back in(game was pretty difficult to me). Killzone 3 is still fairly unforgiving, but with practice, you'll be mowing down Helghast in no time.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
UniSTOORRRMMM!
STOA(storm of awesome) has finally been released, and the not-so-unthinkable has happened. No thanks to me(I like to believe that) and Konami, everyone and their mother has decided that the pure Nordic Deck is no good, and that all of a sudden Hamster makes the beast engine soooooooo good.
Remember Unistorm? I've been talking about that for a long time now. Tonight, we'll cover this deck and why it is so good (why I feel like people are copying me! Of course I invented the cards)
So what is UniSTORM exactly? As I said back in NOVEMBER, it is a beast deck with the new nordic beasts splashed in. Let's remember that there aren't that many good beast monsters in the game. Tanngjostr and Guldfaxe alone change this fact, by making something to strive for in the deck. Tanngrisnir, as I'm coming to find out, supports the idea behind this, and allows the star player Super Nimble Mega Hamster to have a humongous toolbox to choose from. But the key to remember is that UniSTORM is not a 100% nordic deck. It is a deck that has a lot of synergy with the nordic monsters splashed in. So let's talk about the basic skeleton.
3 Super Nimbles
2-3 Ryko
2-3 Tanngnostr
2 Guldfaxe
1-2 Tanngrisnir
1-2 Vanadis
1-2 Gleipnir
As of A WEEK AGO(my feelings about this) there are tons of decks on US YGO forums that use this basic skeleton, and most of them run 3 of everything. Of course, 3 Mega Hamsters is a must, as it is one of the most powerful 1st turn sets in the game. The rest of the monster count is where things get a little wonky.
-Most people run 3 ryko, which is an awesome card, especially when you run Avarice. But, when you run Avarice, you can also put Ryko back in the deck. Drawing a ryko in your hand is nice, but it is essential to draw into Super Nimbles.
-A lot of people are also running 3 Tanngostr, which is again an amazing card. But why run 3? If you draw into it, you can drop it with it's trigger effect. If you don't draw it, you have both Hamster and Gleipnir to rip it out of your deck. After that, you don't need a third. As powerful as it is, three copies is excessive to me. -Guldfaxe is yet another card people are running at three. Why? I don't know. Not every deck runs 2 bottomless, and if you get your Guldfaxe bottomlessed, then so be it. You should be able to normal summon now and synchro anyway. Do we want to draw into Guldfaxe? Not really. It isn't dead in the hand, but it works better when it stays in the deck. So I have been running 2.
-Only ONE person at the sneak peak pulled a Tanngrisnir, and I quickly snatched it up in exchange for a tin Shooting Star Dragon. I wanted 3, but now, I am not so sure. Each set in Unistorm is very important, and Tanngrisnir has an effect from setting it. It must be destroyed by battle, and when that happens, you get 2 level 3 tokens. That is powerful, but slow. But the biggest issue I have is, we don't always want to set Tanngri. I almost feel that running 2 Giant Rats are more important than running 3 Tanngrisnir. Rat and Hamster gives you the ability to put 2 level 3 tokens on the field when you have a tuner in your hand. If you drew into a Tanngrisnir and decided you must set it, then that means you didn't set a Hamster or Ryko that turn. I'm so undecided on how powerful a set Tanngrisnir is. This requires much more testing, but for now I am running 2.
-Now this is the kicker. Everyone and their mother is running 3 Vanadis. I too want to own 3 Vanadis, but I will not play 3 in a nordic Beast deck. If you run 3 Tanngrisnir, maybe. If you run Garm, maybe. Vanadis can not be synchro'd with non-nordic monsters, and in a deck like Unistorm, that gives us only 6 cards to tune it with. So to me, that means I run 1. And I only summon that 1 Vanadis when I know it will give me results(aka behind a cold wave or trunade.) If ONLY it could synchro with anything, then I would gladly run 3. It is important to note that many of the nordic decks are running Forbidden Lance and Trap stun alongside Cold Wave and Trunade. Each Lance you have is 1 Vanadis that should go off unhindered. However, each Vanadis you run is 1 less non-nordic card you get to run.
Of course, as all Unicorn decks go, we need the Unicorn engine. This is another divergence you will find in these Nordic Beast decks. A lot of them are held back by a common problem beast decks have - Explosive plays. Don't get me wrong, Tanngjostr is really explosive when you drop it, but that is only 6-9 cards out of the entire deck.
Chain Keycat - Lock Cat, Key Mouse and Chain dog attempt to added to the decks general synergy. Key Mouse can search out either goat if you draw it turn 1. Lock Cat gets Key Mouse out of the grave, and Chain dog can summon itself after EITHER Cats or Gnjostr's effect. Chain dog can then be tuned into a Naturia Beast with Key Mouse, or Lightning Tricorn (2800 attacker) with Guldfaxe.
Dark Desertapir - As usual, Dark Desertapir is a key component of unicorn synchro. It allows for explosive plays by monster reborning level 4 or lower beasts from the graveyard, leading to 1 card synchros. Desertapir in the main deck allows us to main 2 more cards, Gold Sarc, which digs out powerhouse cards like Dark Hole and Avarice, and it allows us to main-deck Crevice Into The Different Dimension, which hurts many decks such as Plants, Scraps, Monarchs and even other nordic decks.
All in all, I feel that the deck has a lot of potential, and my build, will be worked and worked and worked until I make a final deck, wish you will find in the to pages.
Remember Unistorm? I've been talking about that for a long time now. Tonight, we'll cover this deck and why it is so good (why I feel like people are copying me! Of course I invented the cards)
So what is UniSTORM exactly? As I said back in NOVEMBER, it is a beast deck with the new nordic beasts splashed in. Let's remember that there aren't that many good beast monsters in the game. Tanngjostr and Guldfaxe alone change this fact, by making something to strive for in the deck. Tanngrisnir, as I'm coming to find out, supports the idea behind this, and allows the star player Super Nimble Mega Hamster to have a humongous toolbox to choose from. But the key to remember is that UniSTORM is not a 100% nordic deck. It is a deck that has a lot of synergy with the nordic monsters splashed in. So let's talk about the basic skeleton.
3 Super Nimbles
2-3 Ryko
2-3 Tanngnostr
2 Guldfaxe
1-2 Tanngrisnir
1-2 Vanadis
1-2 Gleipnir
As of A WEEK AGO(my feelings about this) there are tons of decks on US YGO forums that use this basic skeleton, and most of them run 3 of everything. Of course, 3 Mega Hamsters is a must, as it is one of the most powerful 1st turn sets in the game. The rest of the monster count is where things get a little wonky.
-Most people run 3 ryko, which is an awesome card, especially when you run Avarice. But, when you run Avarice, you can also put Ryko back in the deck. Drawing a ryko in your hand is nice, but it is essential to draw into Super Nimbles.
-A lot of people are also running 3 Tanngostr, which is again an amazing card. But why run 3? If you draw into it, you can drop it with it's trigger effect. If you don't draw it, you have both Hamster and Gleipnir to rip it out of your deck. After that, you don't need a third. As powerful as it is, three copies is excessive to me. -Guldfaxe is yet another card people are running at three. Why? I don't know. Not every deck runs 2 bottomless, and if you get your Guldfaxe bottomlessed, then so be it. You should be able to normal summon now and synchro anyway. Do we want to draw into Guldfaxe? Not really. It isn't dead in the hand, but it works better when it stays in the deck. So I have been running 2.
-Only ONE person at the sneak peak pulled a Tanngrisnir, and I quickly snatched it up in exchange for a tin Shooting Star Dragon. I wanted 3, but now, I am not so sure. Each set in Unistorm is very important, and Tanngrisnir has an effect from setting it. It must be destroyed by battle, and when that happens, you get 2 level 3 tokens. That is powerful, but slow. But the biggest issue I have is, we don't always want to set Tanngri. I almost feel that running 2 Giant Rats are more important than running 3 Tanngrisnir. Rat and Hamster gives you the ability to put 2 level 3 tokens on the field when you have a tuner in your hand. If you drew into a Tanngrisnir and decided you must set it, then that means you didn't set a Hamster or Ryko that turn. I'm so undecided on how powerful a set Tanngrisnir is. This requires much more testing, but for now I am running 2.
-Now this is the kicker. Everyone and their mother is running 3 Vanadis. I too want to own 3 Vanadis, but I will not play 3 in a nordic Beast deck. If you run 3 Tanngrisnir, maybe. If you run Garm, maybe. Vanadis can not be synchro'd with non-nordic monsters, and in a deck like Unistorm, that gives us only 6 cards to tune it with. So to me, that means I run 1. And I only summon that 1 Vanadis when I know it will give me results(aka behind a cold wave or trunade.) If ONLY it could synchro with anything, then I would gladly run 3. It is important to note that many of the nordic decks are running Forbidden Lance and Trap stun alongside Cold Wave and Trunade. Each Lance you have is 1 Vanadis that should go off unhindered. However, each Vanadis you run is 1 less non-nordic card you get to run.
Of course, as all Unicorn decks go, we need the Unicorn engine. This is another divergence you will find in these Nordic Beast decks. A lot of them are held back by a common problem beast decks have - Explosive plays. Don't get me wrong, Tanngjostr is really explosive when you drop it, but that is only 6-9 cards out of the entire deck.
Chain Keycat - Lock Cat, Key Mouse and Chain dog attempt to added to the decks general synergy. Key Mouse can search out either goat if you draw it turn 1. Lock Cat gets Key Mouse out of the grave, and Chain dog can summon itself after EITHER Cats or Gnjostr's effect. Chain dog can then be tuned into a Naturia Beast with Key Mouse, or Lightning Tricorn (2800 attacker) with Guldfaxe.
Dark Desertapir - As usual, Dark Desertapir is a key component of unicorn synchro. It allows for explosive plays by monster reborning level 4 or lower beasts from the graveyard, leading to 1 card synchros. Desertapir in the main deck allows us to main 2 more cards, Gold Sarc, which digs out powerhouse cards like Dark Hole and Avarice, and it allows us to main-deck Crevice Into The Different Dimension, which hurts many decks such as Plants, Scraps, Monarchs and even other nordic decks.
All in all, I feel that the deck has a lot of potential, and my build, will be worked and worked and worked until I make a final deck, wish you will find in the to pages.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Amaryllis Tourney Report
Amaryllis got a shiny new build that you guys can see on the Page Menu. The deck was running very well and I'm really proud at the hands it was giving me. Some of the rounds did have some amazing topdecks - specifically having Trade-in and topdecking Tytannial or Amaryllis, leading into game-changing hands. This is but a mere sample of what the deck was doing last night:
Match 1 Amaryllis vs Classic Monarchs 2-0
I was actually surprised to see Classic Monarchs in this day and age. By classic, I mean that the focus on the deck is dropping tribute monsters every turn, rather than the new formula monarchs, which synchros every turn and draws new cards because of it. What is so great about this matchup is that A) I don't have to worry about an opposing backrow against Monarchs, and B) Tytannial murders Monarchs with her effect. Match 1 I gladly brought out the effect damage with Amaryllis, but in round 2, I realized who powerful it was to keep Tytannial(s) on the field with tokens to tribute.
Match 2 Amaryllis vs Xsabers 0-2
Xsabers don't usually give me that much trouble, but last night I did poorly. The thing about sabers is that their spell and trap lineup are half as much monster answers(Book of Moon) than backrow answers(trap stun). So both rounds(that did have some bad hands) you would see me dumping dandylion with foolish, summoning Tytannial as fast as I can, and trying to beat Xsabers to death, which is definitely not the way to win. Because Xsabers are both a high aggro and sub-par controlling deck, trying to "out-swing" them isn't very easy to do. One of the rounds I did manage to get the duelist on the ropes, as he defended with Pashuul for 2 turns. But in that time, I should have already had Amaryllis ready in the graveyard.
Match 3 Amaryllis vs Karakuri 2-1
Karakuri themselves are pretty annoying. They synchro pretty easily, they have some decent spell and trap support, and worst of all, they are Machines. Now, I didn't get Limiter Removal'd in either match, but just the fact that my open can "Synchro Summon for game" is pretty ridiculous and Limiter needs to be banned. As far as the match itself, Amaryllis was quick work on my opponent in game one. He was a little confused on the rulings of some of his cards. Karakuri Showdown Castle is a lot like Geartown, when it is destroyed, you have the option to summon a monster. A lot of people believe that, with Ancient Fairy Dragon, you can destroy these field cards, gain 1000 lifepoints, search out a new field card, then summon a monster. This is not true however as the field card will miss its timing if you use the rest of AFD's effect. After the first round defeat, he sided in what he said was 12 cards, and holy crap did it turn things around. D.Fissure, Necrovalley, and Gravekeepers, enough for any plant deck to get spun around. And indeed I did in that round. After that, I sided in the extra MST and Malevolent Catastrophe in the side deck. I only got to use MST to get over Dfissure, enough to win round 3. Luckily, my deck isn't completely dead when Dimensional Fissure hits the field. It's just a lot harder to play it when it does lol.
Round 4 Amaryllis vs Machina Gadgets 2-1
I played this the way I should have played against Xsabers. Burn now, not later. Invest in the field only when effect damage isn't an option. The difference between Xsabers and Machina gadgets is that 99% of their s/t lineup is monster hate. Dimensional Prison, Bottomless, TRAP HOLE(sided in), Smashing ground, THREE Solemn Warnings. With all the above cards, what is the point of trying to play like a plant synchro deck? Every game I played involved heavy use of Volcanic Counter and Amaryllis. I did manage to drop a Tytannial or 2 to end the game, but what really kills this and other duelists is that Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgement. Those cards actually help me win by making their maximum lifepoints a smaller number. As long as I don't commit to field presence I can commit to forcing Solemns while I have Magic Cylinder set, or Volcanic Counter in the graveyard.
In the end, it was a very good night. It goes to show that Amaryllis is probably one of my top decks in the many many decks I have. If I had to rank them, I think it would be something like this:
1)Koakis
2)Amaryllis
3)UniSTORM
4)Relinquished
5)Unicorn MKII (Scrap Beasts)
6)Divine Armageddon
7)Yubel
8)Into to Chaos
I am building Yusei Turbo/Synchron Madness. I'm actually a big fan of the deck, and a little unsure as to why people don't run it. Some say the deck has too many bad hands(with so many tuner monsters, its easy to draw 100% tuners.), while others say that the deck has no room for tech. It is pretty much 95% yusei cards and 5% staples, which turns a lot of people off. I also have a fiend deck made, which isn't doing too well. I'm not really sure why that is, as Caius, Faders, Dimensional Alch, and Gorz are all fantastic cards. For whatever reason, when I add in 2 Necrofear and 3 Stygian Securities, the deck falls dramatically in playability. Oh well, we'll figure something out.
Match 1 Amaryllis vs Classic Monarchs 2-0
I was actually surprised to see Classic Monarchs in this day and age. By classic, I mean that the focus on the deck is dropping tribute monsters every turn, rather than the new formula monarchs, which synchros every turn and draws new cards because of it. What is so great about this matchup is that A) I don't have to worry about an opposing backrow against Monarchs, and B) Tytannial murders Monarchs with her effect. Match 1 I gladly brought out the effect damage with Amaryllis, but in round 2, I realized who powerful it was to keep Tytannial(s) on the field with tokens to tribute.
Match 2 Amaryllis vs Xsabers 0-2
Xsabers don't usually give me that much trouble, but last night I did poorly. The thing about sabers is that their spell and trap lineup are half as much monster answers(Book of Moon) than backrow answers(trap stun). So both rounds(that did have some bad hands) you would see me dumping dandylion with foolish, summoning Tytannial as fast as I can, and trying to beat Xsabers to death, which is definitely not the way to win. Because Xsabers are both a high aggro and sub-par controlling deck, trying to "out-swing" them isn't very easy to do. One of the rounds I did manage to get the duelist on the ropes, as he defended with Pashuul for 2 turns. But in that time, I should have already had Amaryllis ready in the graveyard.
Match 3 Amaryllis vs Karakuri 2-1
Karakuri themselves are pretty annoying. They synchro pretty easily, they have some decent spell and trap support, and worst of all, they are Machines. Now, I didn't get Limiter Removal'd in either match, but just the fact that my open can "Synchro Summon for game" is pretty ridiculous and Limiter needs to be banned. As far as the match itself, Amaryllis was quick work on my opponent in game one. He was a little confused on the rulings of some of his cards. Karakuri Showdown Castle is a lot like Geartown, when it is destroyed, you have the option to summon a monster. A lot of people believe that, with Ancient Fairy Dragon, you can destroy these field cards, gain 1000 lifepoints, search out a new field card, then summon a monster. This is not true however as the field card will miss its timing if you use the rest of AFD's effect. After the first round defeat, he sided in what he said was 12 cards, and holy crap did it turn things around. D.Fissure, Necrovalley, and Gravekeepers, enough for any plant deck to get spun around. And indeed I did in that round. After that, I sided in the extra MST and Malevolent Catastrophe in the side deck. I only got to use MST to get over Dfissure, enough to win round 3. Luckily, my deck isn't completely dead when Dimensional Fissure hits the field. It's just a lot harder to play it when it does lol.
Round 4 Amaryllis vs Machina Gadgets 2-1
I played this the way I should have played against Xsabers. Burn now, not later. Invest in the field only when effect damage isn't an option. The difference between Xsabers and Machina gadgets is that 99% of their s/t lineup is monster hate. Dimensional Prison, Bottomless, TRAP HOLE(sided in), Smashing ground, THREE Solemn Warnings. With all the above cards, what is the point of trying to play like a plant synchro deck? Every game I played involved heavy use of Volcanic Counter and Amaryllis. I did manage to drop a Tytannial or 2 to end the game, but what really kills this and other duelists is that Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgement. Those cards actually help me win by making their maximum lifepoints a smaller number. As long as I don't commit to field presence I can commit to forcing Solemns while I have Magic Cylinder set, or Volcanic Counter in the graveyard.
In the end, it was a very good night. It goes to show that Amaryllis is probably one of my top decks in the many many decks I have. If I had to rank them, I think it would be something like this:
1)Koakis
2)Amaryllis
3)UniSTORM
4)Relinquished
5)Unicorn MKII (Scrap Beasts)
6)Divine Armageddon
7)Yubel
8)Into to Chaos
I am building Yusei Turbo/Synchron Madness. I'm actually a big fan of the deck, and a little unsure as to why people don't run it. Some say the deck has too many bad hands(with so many tuner monsters, its easy to draw 100% tuners.), while others say that the deck has no room for tech. It is pretty much 95% yusei cards and 5% staples, which turns a lot of people off. I also have a fiend deck made, which isn't doing too well. I'm not really sure why that is, as Caius, Faders, Dimensional Alch, and Gorz are all fantastic cards. For whatever reason, when I add in 2 Necrofear and 3 Stygian Securities, the deck falls dramatically in playability. Oh well, we'll figure something out.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Dark Souls could possibly be one of the best games ever
Demon's Souls was a PS3 game that came out a couple of years ago. For those who don't know about the game, it is an action-rpg/dungeon crawler game. In Demon's Souls, you basically have a character whose stats you can customize to your liking. You unlock and find spells and there iss a few weapons and weapon types to choose from. Once your character is made, you go through 1 of 5 dungeons, each with its own unique environments and monsters to match. Then each(4/5 being rather long) dungeons have bosses and mini-bosses lain throughout it. They are all very well made and killing them is very satisfying. On that note, Demon's Souls was a fantastic game because of the control and fighting system. The only thing you can compare it to is those old school action adventure games like N64 Zelda or Megaman Legends, where you dodge with a button, slash with a button, and cast with a button. There is no stopping during a fight in Demon's Souls, and if you do, you're dead. In fact, you die so much in Demon's Souls, dying is part of the game! Demon's Souls was so good, there is no game out right now that plays like it. You only have the extremes of either side: Stylish Action games like Bayonetta, down to point and click games like Dragon Age: Origins(a game i returned in order to get the superior Demon's Souls.)
The problem with Demon's Souls was that once you get used to the combat, it becomes a dungeon crawler, with little to no story. Which isn't to say that makes it a bad game, oddly enough it still leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. But in the end, the content is very small, and you are expected to play through "New Game plus" multiple times. But now we have details on the new Dark Souls!!
Dark Souls is not a sequel to Demon's Souls(DeS), though they are both made by From Software. It builds on the best parts of DeS's system to create a grander, fuller experience. You still customize a character with their looks and their stats. But then, instead of being in a "hub" where you use portals for each dungeon, we have a full open world. The developers say that:
All fields are seamless, so whatever you can see, you can reach and explore. If you see a fortress or castle walls in the distance, you can eventually get there.
This is good news. An open world usually needs content to back it up, and that is really the only thing that DeS ever needed, more content. What you do in the world still seems to be relatively the same(until more of the story is revealed). I will assume that the game is still, in essence, a dungeon crawler. The developers claim that :
There will be more complex level designs in the game using more vertical design in areas and such.
So imagine instead of walking around and finding mobs that you need to kill (which there no doubt will be), you will find large castles, deep caves, or gated areas, and inside of those will be all the awesome fighting you'll expect in the game.
Besides monsters though, a big part of DeS was the multiplayer. Demon's Souls was actually a single player game, but you get to interact with other players throughout your campaign. You can view messages left by other players and view the deaths of other players by pressing X over their bloodstain. The most interactive part of the multiplayer was Co-op and pvp! The cooperative mode was done by summoning another player's "blue phantom" into your world, and they can do pretty much whatever they want afterward. Black Phantoms though were players that would actually INVADE your world to seek and destroy you! Imagine running up a castle tower, heading toward the boss of that area, and the next thing you see is "xXSSJSephirothXx has invaded your world!" As bad as that sounds, it is actually a lot of fun. It adds surprise and a bit of chaos to the game.
Here's a copypasta of a lot of the new info. A lot of wich you can find on Playstation Blog
-The main concept has not changed: You try something, die, learn from your mistakes, and eventually overcome those mistakes. In Dark Souls, we’ve added the ability to players to choose their recovery point — essentially respawn points. If you die, you won’t be taken back to the beginning of the level. And as you explore the world, you can carve out your own territory and retry quests you failed. That’s a big difference. It’s an aspect that we want players to use to strategize their approach to the game.
-Dual wielding is an option, but it’s a very difficult choice for novice players. The default fighting style is holding a shield in one hand, a weapon in the other. And the shield adds a lot of protection, it’s quite effective. If you see another player dual wielding, we want you to think, “Oh my god, this guy is special!” Dual wielding is a way to challenge yourself, but it has a lot of downsides and makes the game much harder. When you’re in trouble, you’ll want to return to your shield and sword.
-Throughout the game, there will be both cooperative and competitive play with other players. Each user will enjoy a unique single-player game; at times, they will cross paths with one another. Depending on the situation, the time, and the players’ goals, those players may cooperate or compete against each other. The multiplayer system we’re creating will envelop the single-player mode. Multiplayer will enhance single-player, make it more unique, compared to other games that emphasize traditional multiplayer co-op or competitive play.
The problem with Demon's Souls was that once you get used to the combat, it becomes a dungeon crawler, with little to no story. Which isn't to say that makes it a bad game, oddly enough it still leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. But in the end, the content is very small, and you are expected to play through "New Game plus" multiple times. But now we have details on the new Dark Souls!!
Dark Souls is not a sequel to Demon's Souls(DeS), though they are both made by From Software. It builds on the best parts of DeS's system to create a grander, fuller experience. You still customize a character with their looks and their stats. But then, instead of being in a "hub" where you use portals for each dungeon, we have a full open world. The developers say that:
All fields are seamless, so whatever you can see, you can reach and explore. If you see a fortress or castle walls in the distance, you can eventually get there.
This is good news. An open world usually needs content to back it up, and that is really the only thing that DeS ever needed, more content. What you do in the world still seems to be relatively the same(until more of the story is revealed). I will assume that the game is still, in essence, a dungeon crawler. The developers claim that :
There will be more complex level designs in the game using more vertical design in areas and such.
So imagine instead of walking around and finding mobs that you need to kill (which there no doubt will be), you will find large castles, deep caves, or gated areas, and inside of those will be all the awesome fighting you'll expect in the game.
Besides monsters though, a big part of DeS was the multiplayer. Demon's Souls was actually a single player game, but you get to interact with other players throughout your campaign. You can view messages left by other players and view the deaths of other players by pressing X over their bloodstain. The most interactive part of the multiplayer was Co-op and pvp! The cooperative mode was done by summoning another player's "blue phantom" into your world, and they can do pretty much whatever they want afterward. Black Phantoms though were players that would actually INVADE your world to seek and destroy you! Imagine running up a castle tower, heading toward the boss of that area, and the next thing you see is "xXSSJSephirothXx has invaded your world!" As bad as that sounds, it is actually a lot of fun. It adds surprise and a bit of chaos to the game.
Here's a copypasta of a lot of the new info. A lot of wich you can find on Playstation Blog
-The main concept has not changed: You try something, die, learn from your mistakes, and eventually overcome those mistakes. In Dark Souls, we’ve added the ability to players to choose their recovery point — essentially respawn points. If you die, you won’t be taken back to the beginning of the level. And as you explore the world, you can carve out your own territory and retry quests you failed. That’s a big difference. It’s an aspect that we want players to use to strategize their approach to the game.
-Dual wielding is an option, but it’s a very difficult choice for novice players. The default fighting style is holding a shield in one hand, a weapon in the other. And the shield adds a lot of protection, it’s quite effective. If you see another player dual wielding, we want you to think, “Oh my god, this guy is special!” Dual wielding is a way to challenge yourself, but it has a lot of downsides and makes the game much harder. When you’re in trouble, you’ll want to return to your shield and sword.
-Throughout the game, there will be both cooperative and competitive play with other players. Each user will enjoy a unique single-player game; at times, they will cross paths with one another. Depending on the situation, the time, and the players’ goals, those players may cooperate or compete against each other. The multiplayer system we’re creating will envelop the single-player mode. Multiplayer will enhance single-player, make it more unique, compared to other games that emphasize traditional multiplayer co-op or competitive play.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
STOR Rulings are fun!
I don't really have too much time to post today. So I decided that, while i read through Konami's TCG rulings for STOA(Storm of Awesome), I will make a list of the exceptionally cool rulings.
Dopplewarrior - You can Special Summon Doppelwarrior from your hand when your opponent Special Summons a monster from your Graveyard to their side of the field with Monster Reborn.
Stardust Phantom - The targeted monster does not need to have at least 800 ATK or DEF to be protected by battle. The effect still applies even if the monster has 0 ATK or DEF. In this case, the monster will lose as much ATK and DEF as it can.
D.D. Spirit - If D. D. Sprite is not face-up on the field during the next Standby Phase, the effect to return the removed monster does not activate. If you remove from play an opponent’s monster that you control with Mind Control, it is returned to your field during the next Standby Phase and then control of it immediately shifts back to your opponent.
Blackwing – Brisote the Tailwind - You can only Special Summon this card with its effect during your Main Phases.
Special Summoning this card with its effect does not start a Chain. (AKA it is NOT a trigger effect. It has a summoning condition that is to be met)
Dverg of the Nordic Alfar - If this card is attacked while face-down and destroyed, you cannot add a “Nordic Relic” to your hand.
Scrap Shark - If you activate Creature Swap, Scrap Shark is destroyed after Creature Swap resolves.
Karakuri Cash Cache - (And, in extension, all Karakuri cards with similar effects) If the “Karakuri” monster is flipped face-down by Book of Moon before this card resolves, you still resolve the effect normally. The “Karakuri” monster will be changed to face-up Attack Position.
Resonator Engine - If only 1 of the target monsters is in your Graveyard when this card resolves, you still return the remaining one to
your Deck and add a monster to your hand.
Zero Force - You cannot activate this card if a face-up monster is removed from play as a cost.
Cyber Shield - Even though there are 3 Harpie Lady Sisters, Harpie Lady Sisters is 1 monster and gains only 500 ATK from Cyber Shield.
Dopplewarrior - You can Special Summon Doppelwarrior from your hand when your opponent Special Summons a monster from your Graveyard to their side of the field with Monster Reborn.
Stardust Phantom - The targeted monster does not need to have at least 800 ATK or DEF to be protected by battle. The effect still applies even if the monster has 0 ATK or DEF. In this case, the monster will lose as much ATK and DEF as it can.
D.D. Spirit - If D. D. Sprite is not face-up on the field during the next Standby Phase, the effect to return the removed monster does not activate. If you remove from play an opponent’s monster that you control with Mind Control, it is returned to your field during the next Standby Phase and then control of it immediately shifts back to your opponent.
Blackwing – Brisote the Tailwind - You can only Special Summon this card with its effect during your Main Phases.
Special Summoning this card with its effect does not start a Chain. (AKA it is NOT a trigger effect. It has a summoning condition that is to be met)
Dverg of the Nordic Alfar - If this card is attacked while face-down and destroyed, you cannot add a “Nordic Relic” to your hand.
Scrap Shark - If you activate Creature Swap, Scrap Shark is destroyed after Creature Swap resolves.
Karakuri Cash Cache - (And, in extension, all Karakuri cards with similar effects) If the “Karakuri” monster is flipped face-down by Book of Moon before this card resolves, you still resolve the effect normally. The “Karakuri” monster will be changed to face-up Attack Position.
Resonator Engine - If only 1 of the target monsters is in your Graveyard when this card resolves, you still return the remaining one to
your Deck and add a monster to your hand.
Zero Force - You cannot activate this card if a face-up monster is removed from play as a cost.
Cyber Shield - Even though there are 3 Harpie Lady Sisters, Harpie Lady Sisters is 1 monster and gains only 500 ATK from Cyber Shield.
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