Yu-Gi-Oh 2011

I started this blog last year when I wanted to get back into the game. I re-started at the Shining Darkness pre-release and have been playing ever since. The Shining Darkness is a the last pack in 1 "season" of Yugioh 5d's, with Duelist Revolution being the start of the next season. Extreme Victory, of course, marks the end of this era and we are slowly coming into the Shonen Jump Yugioh season, and things are changing whether you are ready for it or not.

Before Generation Force and after Storm of Ragnarok, the TCG scene will go through a series of intense gameplay changes. Many of which have already happened.
1) We have the TCG exclusive monster Reborn Tengu. As I mentioned in the YCSPVD Part 3, Reborn Tengu has launched quite a number of decks into playability. Tengu Synchro decks being the top winner in the most recent National events around the world. It may not be getting every 1st place win, but Tengu-based synchro decks are definitely taking a chunk of the top 8-16.
2) A new fun and seemingly powerful deck has emerged in the form of Agent Fairies. It isn't winning as much as many more popular decks, but it is a bit more consistent(and probably more fun to play) than Dragunity. The addition of these cards add yet another deck that players have to prepare for in a tournament.

Reports from Nationals around the world have all kinds of decks in the top 4.
Scraps
Antimeta
Agents
Gravekeepers
Heroes
Gladiator Beasts

Gladiator Beasts are really good right now. Don't let anyone tell you any differently.

There are many great decks to play now for nationals, until the Shonen Jump season starts. Yugioh in 2011 is going to change even more with the advent of Hyper Librarian, Xyz monsters, and new support to be found in the Zexal booster packs.
1) T.G. Hyper Librarian is easy to summon and, if you plan it correctly, will net you at least 1 card draw. Whether it is from your next synchro, or the synchro your opponent makes in order to attack over it, Hyper Librarian "puts in work." In decks like Tengu Synchro, you can create multiple Librarians in 1 turn using things like Reborn Tengu, Zephyros, Glow-Up bulb, Spore, or even Junk Synchron and Tuningware! What Librarian will do to the meta is that it can propel a player a few turns ahead of your opponent. If Synchro Summons are based on accelerating your mind and soul into the future, Librarian is a great example of that. To an average player, card draws are just more cards you can spend over your opponent. If you think about it, each additional card you draw is not only thinning your deck, but putting you additional "turns" ahead in time, by allowing you to play cards you would have normally needed to wait to add to your hand.
2) Xyz monsters, according to Konami, are the 4th generation in monster evolution. From Fusions, to Contact Fusions, to Synchros, Xyz are the next step in turning field presence into pressure. In Six Samurai, you can use a dead Asceticism into a rank 4 Xyz monster like Steelswarm Roach. In Hero Beat, you can use the new Ghost Ship alongside your Cyber Dragons to make either Xys Keepers. They let you swing over Shi En or destroy a Thought Ruler Archfiend without wasting your Gemini Spark or Dimensional Prison. A lot of weaker archetypes actually have the ability to summon monsters from the deck with little to no effort. Even Amazoness monsters can take advantage of Xyz to create pressure on your opponent.
3) With the new support in Zexal packs, older themes are becoming more powerful than ever, and that is going to make Shonen Jump Yugioh a bit more difficult than Yugioh 5d's. Support for old decks and themes is always nice to see and I'm sure everyone can agree with me with that. New Masked HERO and Vision HERO cards are going to make Hero Beat even more powerful, almost scary-powerful. For those who don't know, Masked HERO Vapor is a 2400 ATK Fusion monster that can not be summoned except by Mask Change. Mask Change itself is what makes the card an issue for your opponent, as it summons Vapor by sending ANY Water HERO to the graveyard. What makes it even worse is that Mask Change is a quick-play magic card! This allows you to punish your opponent's Torrential Tribute, Smashing Ground, and basic attacks. Masked Change(if released in GENF) is probably one of the top cards of the set in terms of support for current decks. There are plenty of other cards such as Wonder Wand for Exemplar Spellcaster decks, Surfacing for fish/aqua/serpent, Flame Swirl for Lavals, or even Thunder Bottle in Watt Decks. Let's not forget all the World Premiere cards in GENF either.

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. You can banish 1 LIGHT monster from your Graveyard to Special Summon this card from your hand.

I think that 2011 will be a lot more interesting in terms of gameplay. You will still see a few of the typical decks and plays, but I can guarantee you that more and more cards will be playable this season than many of the other seasons. Everyone will have to learn how to adapt or get lost in Shonen Jump Yugioh.