The Great Librarian Conundrum

If you look at the internet forums for Yugioh and and my fellow blogger sites, you will see that a lot of people are talking about the same thing. As we approach August, our final days before the September banlist are numbered. You will see threads about what should be banned, what should be taken off the banned list, arguments on how Konami ignores TCG exclusives, links to Konami employees saying things AREN't Imbalanced, and then "TELEDAD TELEDAD TELEDAD TELEDAD." Luckily, I wasn't around when Tele-DAD was, so you won't hear me mentioning that same, tired comparison.

What I do want to talk about today is the very hot debate on Tech Genus Hyper Librarian.

How do we fix this?

Ban it.
A lot of people want Hyper Librarian outright banned. It has only been legal in the TCG for a couple of weeks, but it has been tearing up the East with Junk Doppel decks. Here in the West, we use Plants and Reborn Tengu(and Junk, Doppel, TGs, Diva, etc) to make our Hyper Librarian decks. So, as you see, Librarian is pretty popular. What is interesting is a card that is very similar to Hyper Librarian that our frien at YGO-Outstanding Innovations posted about. Hyper Librarian is a lot like the now banned Card of Safe Return. Actually, it is a CoSR with 2400 ATK that you can draw out of your extra deck. CoSR is banned because if you build a deck around a certain strategy, the reward for doing your strategy was imbalanced. Since CoSR rewards graveyard summoning, you can build whole decks based on Yusei cards, Plant Cards, or Zombies and draw 3+ cards in a turn. Librarian can do that too. Since a lot of the best tuners to make level 5 synchros can put ANOTHER tuner on the field, each Hyper Librarian in your synchro strategy will probably get you 1 additional card draw in the same turn it is summoned. Combine it with cards like Formula Synchron and you're suddenly drawing 3 cards from your deck for the cost of whatever you used for synchro summoning. Of course, like any other card, Librarian is vulnerable to spells and traps, so a well timed Giant Trunade or trap stun should enable your "broken" card. But wait, doesn't Giant Trunade followed by multiple synchro summons usually spell disaster for your opponent anyway? The extra draw do cement your win a lot more easily, but any deck that can synchro more than once in one turn could drop 4000+ damage on the opponent with the same backup as a hyper librarian. Perhaps it isn't the cards that clear the way for Librarian that are the problem, for all we know, the tuners and synchro material that are designed for multiple synchros per turn that could be the problem.

Limit it!
There are a LARGE variety of cards that are meant to annihilate the Synchro Strategy.
-Desynchro disassembles 1 target synchro monster. If it is controlled by the opponent, the synchro material doesn't come back to the field.
-Intercept Wave puts all face up synchro monsters in defense position and will return them to the extra deck at the end of the turn(doesn't negate their effect)
-Sound Proofed is a cold wave for synchro monsters. If you control no synchro monsters, then neither player can perform synchro summons until your next turn.
-Synchro Control can take control of an opponent's synchro monster for the cost of 1000 life points. And its Quickplay. They make Librarian, then proceed to make Formula. You take control of their Librarian and now you both draw 1 card!
-Tuner's Scheme does the same thing as Synchro Control, except in Continuous Trap format. Also, there is no cost aside from keeping Tuner's Scheme face-up.

Of course, if your opponent clears your backrow with 1 card(Trunade/Heavy Storm/Trap Stun/Full House) then you probably have no chance of stopping their victory push. In fact, the only cards that would probably save you in this situation would be Effect Veiler, D.D. Crow, Shiny Black "C", Maxx "C", or a similar card that could preemptively hit one of their key cards, Gorz, Battle Fader, Tragodeia, or hope you have a good monster on the field and they don't make Brionac, Stardust or Scrap Dragon. With 1 Hyper Librarian in their deck, they have 1 chance to do "Librarian Shenanigans" and that is it, until they draw Pot of Avarice. If you look at it this way, it isn't too far of a stretch to imagine Konami banning and limiting other cards while simply limiting T.G. Hyper Librarian. I mean come on, there are tons of cards out there that you can side against Synchro Decks if that 1 Hyper Librarian is really a problem. Don't forget that they have 14 other cards to choose from, it is a "Synchro Deck" after all.

Semi-Limit it!
This changes nothing. Most people would never run 3 copies of 1 Synchro monster except for Formula Synchron.

Ban all the OTHER overpowered cards!
We can't do this, but there are some choices you could make. In the above examples, things like the 1 Giant Trunade in the deck can win you the game, simply because of how defenseless your opponent will be. Trap Stun does the same, but at least it is vulnerable for a turn. Some Tengu Synchro users actually use 2-3 Pot of Duality in their deck, just to increase their chances of getting Giant Trunade and winning on the next turn. We have been without Heavy Storm for a long time and have seen the rise of backrow-heavy fields. Even with this, Tengu Plants are still topping most events, so that goes to show that, a lot of the time, those backrow cards aren't strong enough to stop that Synchro push. We also have Tuner monsters and non-tuner monsters that enable multiple synchros per turn. Things like Glow-Up Bulb, Spore, and Doppelwarrior are the fuel to the these decks, and getting them onto the field is easy. We have things like One for One, Lonefire Blossom and Reinforcements of the Army that can pluck those cards from the deck(and ultimately onto the field) for little to no cost at all! Even with the existence of Hyper Librarian, these are very consistent ways to drop Synchro Monsters out of your Extra Deck and onto your opponent's lifeless body.

Some people want to take it a step further if we keep Librarian in the game but remove field clearing effects like Trunade. The next step would be to return 1 or 2 Book of Moon to the player, the 2nd best anti-synchro card available. In my opinion, Book of Moon makes decks like Hero Beat and Xsabers a little too strong, as their main counter are better monsters. Book of Moon is the 1st line of defense against the synchro strategy, stopping your opponent in their tracks and wasting the resources dedicated to their set-up. If they get past Book of Moon, you can Solemn Warning their Synchro Monster. If they get past Solemn Warning, you have Bottomless Trap Hole. If they get past that, you have Gemini Spark or Dimensional Prison. Book of Moon is just annoying to have to deal with. It just isn't fun not being able to play a monster onto the field.

So what do I want to do about Hyper Librarian?
I would actually like to see Hyper Librarian limited to 1 and Giant Trunade banned. With Trunade banned, Mystical Space Typhoon can go up from 2 to 3. In my opinion, banning fun strategies isn't good for the game. Limiting them and removing the over-generalized cards that prevent your opponent from defending themselves is a better way to go. Either way, there is no way to really predict what Konami will do about it since the card has equal chances of being banned or limited.

Problem-Solving Card Text::Special Summons Edition

Kevin Tewart posted on today's Yugioh Strategy Site article some new Problem-Solving card text details for Generation Force. It is the 5th post but this one is the most entertaining of them all. It is all about Special Summons, those done by effects and inherently, which has not been dealt with in a very, very long time. In fact, when LON was first released and I played Necrofear Fiends, I was one of those un-informed players that tributed 2 monsters to Set his Necrofear in face-down defense position. Eventually, cards like Dark Necrofear received new text: "You can not Normal Summon or Set this card. This card can only be special summoned by..." The new text makes it bluntly obvious on when you can play a monster and how. Here is a copy-paste of it for your enjoyment!

Proving Internet Duels are usually bad

All of these duels are using the prototype version of "Better Storm," A competitive Nordic build. It is still going through a lot of testing and will hopefully find its way on the Deck Pages soon.

Duel 1:: Versus Malefic Skill Drain?
The Opponent goes first. He activates Fusion Gate. Removing a Cyber End Dragon from his Extra deck, he summons Malefic Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800). He sets 1 f/d card and ends his turn.

I start with Book of Moon, Monster Reborn, Super Nimble Mega Hamster, Ryko Lightsworn Hunter, Pot of Duality and draw into Trap Dustshoot. Activating Duality, I chose Gleipnir, the Fetters of Fenrir out of Tengu and Trunade. For some reason, the opponent uses Mystical Space Typhoon on my Duality(I may as well quit now) so we can already tell that this duel is going to be worthless for testing. I set my Dustshoot, Fetters and Book and pass.

The opponent draws a card and I use Dustshoot during his standby phase. Dustshoot reveals Meteor of Destruction(really?), Magical Mallet, another Malefic Cyber End and Fusilier the Dual Mode Beast. I send Fusilier back into his deck. In his main phase he uses Meteor that deals 1000 damage to my LP. He then uses Magical Mallet to shuffle in his 1 M. Cyber End and draw into a 1-card hand. Next he attacks my set Ryko with M. Cyber End. I flip Fetters to search out Tanngjostr of the Nordic Beasts. The attack goes through and Ryko is flipped. It destroys Fusion gate, milling a Reborn Tengu, Pot of Avarice, and a Mega Hamster. M. Cyber End is destroyed by its own effect. Then Ryko is destroyed and sent to the grave, in which I can special summon Gnjostr from my hand. The opponent ends his turn with no field and 1 card in his hand.

7000::8000

I draw into Mind Control. Switching Gnjostr to attack mode activates the effect and searches out my level 4 tuner Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts. After that I can use Monster Reborn to summon the Tengu from my graveyard. 4+4 = Colossal Fighter(in case he can drop another Cyber End on his turn) and Tengu replaces itself with another copy. I then attack with all 3 monsters and end my turn.

The opponent draws into his 2nd card. He sets it and ends the turn. During his end phase I use book of moon on my own Gnjostr.

On my turn I draw Giant Trunade(game over). I activate it, returning his 1 card. I can then flip Gnjostr and synchro for 8 again, but the opponent forfeits the duel.

Duel 2: Versus...Monarchs?
I go first with an awesome hand of Tengu, Horn of the Phantom Beast, Gnjostr, Solemn Warning, Duality, and Mirror Force. First thing I do is Duality for Mystical Space Typhoon, shuffling in a Fetters and Sangan. I normal summon Reborn Tengu, then set everything but the Tanngjostr.

The opponent draws a card and sets 1 Monster and 1 spell/trap. During the endphase I Space Typhoon it, his own Space Typhoon.

I draw into Giant Trunade. without playing a card I attack with Reborn Tengu, revealing a...Marshmallon? Marshmallon deals 1000 damage to me. I set my Gnjostr and end the turn.

7000:8000

He draws a card, Even though I have 3 set cards, he tributes Marshmallon for Mobius, the Frost Monarch. I promptly Solemn Warning that. He sets 1 spell/trap and ends his turn.

5000:8000

I draw Fetters. The first card to play is Trunade, getting rid of whatever that f/d could have been. Then I flip Gnjostr to summon Guldfaxe. Guldfaxe and Tengu cluster together into a Stardust Dragon, and summons my next Tengu from my deck. I attack with all 3 monsters to deal 5000 damage. I set my final card, Fetters and end my turn.

5000::3000

The opponent summons D.D. Warrior Lady! Monster Reborn my Guldfaxe, oh no! D.D. Lady and Guldfaxe make a Thoughtruler Archfiend. The opponent attacks my Stardust with Thoughtruler and eats Mirror Force. Good Game.

Duel 3: Versus True Six Samurai
I lose the dice roll and the opponent goes first in classic Six Samurai Style.
1) Shien's Smoke Signal for Mizuho.
2) Activate Shien's Dojo. Activate Six Samurai United.
3) Normal Summon Mizuho. Special Summon Kizan.
4) Activate United, Draw 2 cards.
5) Special Summon Grand Master. Special Summon Kizan.
6) Send Dojo to the grave and special summon Kagemusha.
7) Mizuho and Kagemusha are sent to the grave for a Shi En.
8) Reinforcements of the Army to search out Kizan.
9) Special Summon Kizan.
10) Turn ends with 3 Kizan, 1 Grandmaster, 1 Shi En, 2 cards in hand and no spells or traps.

My opening hand is 2 Fetters, a Ryko, Guldfaxe and Bottomless trap hole. I then Draw another Guldfaxe on my turn, but that's okay. Guldfaxe special summons itself to the field. Then I normal Summno Ryko. 4+2 = Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. I use Brionac's effect to send Shi En back to the extra deck, discarding a Fetters. Then Brionac can attack over Grandmaster. I set my bottomless and Fetters and end my turn with just a Guldfaxe in hand.

The opponent forfeits.




Not all duels are great ones.

The Side Deck

In the last thread, I mentioned a few interesting points that Jason Greber-meyer brought up on TCG-Player.com. The side deck is nothing new to YGO, but it is one of the most important pieces of the game. It can fulfill many different roles:
1) To punish your opponent for using certain cards in their deck.
2) To remove barriers your opponent places that make it difficult for you to play.
3) To psych out your opponent, such as by siding out key strategies and incorporating new ones.
4) To outspeed your opponent.

Most player's side decks are the same on the local level. Or perhaps it may be better to say that a majority of players who don't put as much thought into their side deck, use similar cards. If they aren't playing Tengu Plants, you would probably see:
2 D.D. Crow
2 Chain Dissappearance
1-2 Gozen Match
2 Thunder King
1-2 Puppet Plant
2 Kinetic Soldier
2 Cyber Dragon
Chimeratech
If you ARE using Tengu Plants or a similar low trap count deck, you may see something like this:
2 D. D. Crow
2 Malevolent Catastrophe
2 Thunder King
2-3 Cyber Dragon
Chimeratech
2 Puppet Plant
1-2 Nobleman of Crossout
1-2 Smashing Ground

That is a pretty generic side that can hit a number of problem cards in the game. For Yugioh in 2011, the strength of this side is questionable, as there are more decks out there than ever. There's Light and Shadow Imprisoning Mirrors, Maxx "C", Rivalry of the Warlords if your deck can use it, Level Limit Area B, Dust Tornado, Trap Dustshoot, and many many more to choose from. There's no way you can fit all of it it, right? Well, I think it is important to take a GOOD look at your side deck, especially the cards that you run multiple copies of, and decide if you really need 2 of those in the deck. Just like Jason's topic, let's take D.D. Crow for example. Drawing 1 in your opening hand is awesome against Tengu Plant. It can hit Dandylion, Glow-Up Bulb, Spore, or whatever else. Now, most people run 2 in their side deck to increase the chance of getting the 1 in your first hand. As awesome as that is, what is the reward for drawing into both D.D. Crow? Sure it can deny a Pot of Avarice or a Spore after you hit Dandy and Glow up, but now, D.D. Crow has turned itself into a one for one, or possibly even a minus one, just so that you could use it twice. Don't forget that using a spore that was milled to the graveyard doesn't really cost the opponent much, but rather stuns their play for the cost of 1 card out of your hand. If you have been holding that 1st(or 2nd) Crow for a few turns, then it was technically dead in your hand. Most players wait for the right opportunity to shut down a play with Crow that could have been something else in the long run. Let's take a look at a few choices for that SECOND D.D. Crow:
1) Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer - Tengu Plants don't use many monsters over 1700 ATK. Kycoo is at 1800, so it is already a beater that they have to synchro to get over it. If your opponent has milled even 1 monster to the grave, then Kycoo has fulfilled its role of the 2nd D.D. Crow. Even removing something like Tengu or Lonefire blossom from the graveyard means that they're in-hand Debris or Avarice could be dead. While on the field, Kycoo also prevents the activation of Spore, giving it a 2nd stun if you summon it at the right time. The key here is to not summon Kycoo to swing over a ryko. If Kycoo was a D.D. crow in your hand, you wouldn't use its effect unless you knew it was going to work. Finally, in a topdecking situation, Kycoo could be a better draw than a Crow. Topdecking D.D. Crow while your opponent is in the same situation relies on your opponent to draw a card to make your Crow break even. If it was a Kycoo, you could have simply removed 2 key cards now and hopefully deny your opponent use of their graveyard-based effect.
2) Maxx "C" - Seen in tons of side decks in the World Championship Qualifier in Europe, Maxx "C" is another great option for that 2nd Crow's spot. Whenever you play Maxx "C", it will replace itself with a new card, causing it to break even. After that, it gives your opponent 2 choices, to either let you draw into more cards(i.e. Dark Hole, Monster Reborn, Solemn Warning, or D.D. Crow #1) or stop their turn now and take the hit. Maxx "C" can also work against decks that you usually wouldn't side a D.D. Crow into such as against Venus in Agents. I believe the key to using Maxx "C" in a deck is dependent on the number of good draws you have in your deck versus the number of bad ones. For example, if you're playing Hero Beat, most draws can be turned into something - a Spark, a Miracle Fushion, etc. In X-Sabers or Nordics, where you have a few dead traps, you may have to side out some of those dead draws to make Maxx "C" more efficient.

The idea here is to decide if siding in 2 copies of the same card, just to get one sooner, is better than having a side deck of MULTIPLE cards. That way you don't have to side in 1 strategy(that your opponent may predict), you could be siding in multiple. I believe that the only time that 2 or even 3 cards are justified for a side deck is when the cards are instantly playable. A great example is Gozen match and Rivalry of the Warlords against(almost any) decks that are hurt by it(Plants and Frogs with Gozen, Scraps with Rivalry). In many situations, you can flip Rivalry or Gozen on the first turn after it is set and instantly stun your opponent. If you drew into your second one, then it isn't TOO bad as destroying your first will be a priority for your opponent. Cyber Dragon does this too for many decks, as it is rarely a dead draw if you happen to get it. Bumping that 2nd copy up to 3 is necessary for some. The reasoning is either A) If I draw any of these, I will instantly win the game, or B) My matchup against Deck XX is so bad, that I need 3 copies of this card so I can compete. It is hard to say whether or not those are sound arguments to make, especially with how many decks one may have to face with only 15 cards to switch out.
Michel Grüner - Tengu Plants
1 Dust Tornado
1 Thunder King Raoih
1 D.D. Crow
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Puppet Plant
1 Kinetic Soldier
2 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
1 Dimensional Prison
1 Ally of Justice Core Destroyer
1 Chimeratech Fortress Dagon
1 Debunk
1 Black Horn of Heaven

Sami Sekkoum - Gravekeepers
2 Thunder King Rai-Oh
2 Cyber Dragon
2 Kinetic Soldier
2 Gozen Match
2 Caius the Shadow Monarch
1 Deck Devastation Virus
1 Rivalry of Warlords
2 Mystical Space Typhoon

Liu Hoi Ki “海狗” - Darkworld (OCG)
Side: 15
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
2 Cyber Dragon
3 Puppet Plant
1 Kinetic Soldier
2 Chain Disappearance
3 Skill Drain
2 D.D. Crow
William Sy - Six Samurai
1 Greenkappa
2 Puppet Plant
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Dark Hole
2 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
1 Musakani Magatama
2 Dust Tornado
2 Dimensional Prison
2 Rivalry of Warlords

Jose Carlos Ubilla Grijalva - Machina Gadgets
2 D.D Crow
2 Effect Veiler
1 Malefic Cyber End Dragon
3 Gozen Match
2 Kinetic Soldier
2 Light-Imprisoning Mirror
2 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror

I suggest all of my readers to take a good long look at your side deck and the number of copies of each card. Ask yourself, which cards give you an advantage over your opponent? What are you lacking in your main deck that has to be sided in for certain matches? If you think you don't have room to side certain cards in, try to find the most redundant cards in your deck after you decide on what cards simply don't work against your opponent. Running Six Sams and getting nailed by Anti-Meta Skill Drain? Consider dropping a smoke signal for something more important. If all else fails, you could always run a 41 or 42 card deck, with those spots dedicated to your side. A random seven tools, smashing ground, or even Dark Bribe as your 41st card can be easily taken out without removing key components from your deck.

LoL get's me giggling

I haven't played PC games on my computer in a long time. I believe the last one I played was Nexon's Vindictus. While that is a fun game, we farmed the same missions over and over again and that grew stale pretty fast. I didn't think I would get into any other PC game until TERA is released for North America, but I think I have found one!

The initial install.

Friend of the blog Kavy T. and Johanny S. have gotten me into League of Legends, an online game from Riot. If any of you have played the Warcraft 3 mod "DotA"(Defenders of the Ancients? I don't remember what it stands for.) then you would know how LoL works. In League of Legends(LoL), you have 2 opposing teams of champions, each one controlled by a different player. They have 1 camp on the map for each team, in the bottom left and top right of the map. Along the 3 roads to the camp are turrets that must be destroyed in order to advance. To help you along, minions(known as creeps in DotA), are spawned periodically and automatically advance towards the enemy base, fighting whatever is along their path. The objective is to destroy the enemy's base before they destroy your own.

Killing bots is nothing to be proud of.

So LoL is a pvp based game. There are a few maps to choose from, and the objective is the same on every map. The minions and turrets don't really change either. The only real thing that changes in the game is the part that makes it fun in the first place, the champion roster. As I am typing this, I believe the roster is up to 79 playable champions. Each one has their own set of abilities. It can be generalized however as your tank, burst mage, melee DPS, ranged DPS, stealth assassin and support with lots of little variants of each one. There are also tons of items to buy for your character, as you gain gold throughout a fight. Each game you play has you to start from scratch, so you build your character the way you want it each time you play the game. Because of this, many of the characters have different builds you can play them with. Tied to your main account is a "Summoner Level" and IP which is game currency. You can use that IP to buy things like new champions(you don't have access to all the champs at the start of the game), skins for your champions, and best of all runes for your champions. Runes are "account buffs" that give you additional stats to any character you choose, like HP+1%, Armor Piercing +2%, and other neat things. Adding to that is the Summoner Level again, which gives you 1 Mastery point per level. Those points go into even MORE account buffs, making your character's build more and more customizable. Think about it, instead of having a high Attack Speed character that is focused on damage, you can buff his natural HP with your account buffs, increase his natural Armor and Magic Resistance, then toss Life Stealing items on him so that he attacks at a fast rate and steals a large chunk of his already big HP pool with every hit. Or if you like one of his skills, but it is designed to not be spammed with a long recast and high mana cost, you can buff that too to make an "AP"(Ability Power) version of the character.

Perhaps the most fun, tied into how many characters there are, is the amount of skill required to be successful. I started the game with Vayne and Cassiopiea. Vayne is your typical crossbow DPS champ and Cass is a poisoning harasser. Cass is a tough character for me because I couldn't burst down opponents very easily(which Cass can do if you build her correctly). Vayne was awesome though. She gains bonus damage on every 3rd hit, and she can tumble around to close the gap on enemies or run away. Toss on ASPD gear and you have a character that can whittle away life pretty quickly. Once I got enough IP I bought Leblanc. Leblanc is a "Burst caster"(meaning that she does skills in succession to kill her enemies) with a high skill curve. Her abilities are simple - single shot high damage bolt, Teleport to hit enemies then teleport back to your original position, chain enemies which slows them and ultimately roots them to the ground for a couple of seconds, and Mimic your last spell with bonus damage. The part that makes her difficult is figuring out which skill to use most efficiently. If you Teleport to an enemy and Bolt->Mimic, you may not kill them. Worse yet is that now your Teleport is on recast and so is Bolt and Mimic. You could Chain first, then bolt, then mimic instead. If they don't die, You stomp on them with Teleport. If they STILL aren't dead, Bolt should be ready to cast again. If they don't die from that, well, you may not have wanted to initiate fights with super high HP characters.

I have more kills than anyone on either team and 0 deaths. We still lost this match.

My current record for the game is 10 wins and 15 losses. That sucks but the worse part is that it is almost never my fault. The most recent game I played gave me a 9::0 kill::death ratio. That is 9 kills without even anyone stopping me. When I get to that point, Leblanc can kill just about anyone with all the equipment I bought with the bonus gold from mowing down other players. However, when the rest of your team has 1 kill and 5+ deaths each, they will surrender and you lose the game. "Farming" is when a character dies repeatedly to another and "feeds" them gold and experience. Really, any champ that was fed will be a force to reckon with, so playing with bad players can end in disaster. Luckily, Kavy and Johanny aren't bad at the game. In fact, they are too good; walking away with over 15 kills per match shows skill. They even play with multiple champs, whereas I have my two(for now).

There are many champs to choose from, and that makes the game a lot of fun. My next champ will probably be Sona or Orianna. If you like pvp games and the kind of strategy that revolves around knowing all character's strengths and weaknesses, then give League of Legends a try. It's free anyway, so why not?