27 September 2012

V opened... 2 x Legendary Collection 3

You're reading it right. I just opened 2 boxes of Legendary Collection 3. No video (hard to do when you're alone and you have no place to put the camera to film it).

So I hear you all saying: pics or it didn't happen... Sooooo... Here are pics:

A few words...

At a certain point, I did miss the camera filming this, because of the great pulls I got (for once) and the epic background music (Muse's the 2nd Law).

Book of Moon twice, Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential, Black Horn, Kycoo, Necrovalley, they just kept coming, pack after pack...

The only yank foil I got was Megasonic Eye. That's a good thing, considering the amount of Vanilla Foils in the set.

So, that's what I got. You can always let me know what you got.

Until next time, V out.

26 September 2012

The revelations so far of Legendary Collection

Some people in Europe got their hands on Legendary Collection 3 already. i'm going to get mine tomorrow (at least if the shopkeeper keeps his word :-P).

So far, the news I'm seeing from random pics & Pojo is mixed. Some cards+rarity are great, other cards give me a "WHY THE HELL" feeling. Let's give some examples:

  • Kycoo the Gost Destroyer is secret rare (yay)
  • Machina Soldier is secret rare (wut?)
  • BLS-EOTB has problem solving card text (yay) and is secret rare (yay?)
  • Commander Covington is Secret rare (seriously, what?)
  • Foil staple spells & traps, like Dark Hole, Card Destruction, Solemn Judgment, Mirror Force,...)
  • Random foil spell or trap (Exchange, Horn of Heaven, Swords of Concealing Light, Double Spell,...)
  • Breaker Ultra Rare (yay)
  • Vanilla Ultra Rares. I've heard people were looking forward to an Ultra Silver Fang & a reprint of the most expensive vanilla ever (Kanan the Swordsmistress), but the amount of Ultra vanilla's is way too high in my opinion.
  • Common and PSCT LV monsters, like Horus, Silent Magician and Armed Dragon (yay)
  • Common reprints of Dark Grepher, Solemn warning, Gold Sarcophagus, Soul Taker,...)
  • Reprints of cards nobody cares about and have nothing to do with the original series (seriously, Earth Chant? Goblin Fan? Stray lambs?)

All in all, I see very good things, mixed with several crap cards, like the previous Legendary Collection.

So, on the end of thursday (or friday morning, I dunno yet), I'll give you an update of what I got

Until then, V out.


"Hey! Now my text is easier to get!
Now if only this new card was easy to get..."

Edit: I made screenshots of what's been revealed so far. (screens are taken from the Yu-Gi-Oh memes page on facebook, I did not make the list).

24 September 2012

Them Locals Special Edition: Barbecue-tourney

Yesterday we had a special tournament at one of the places I attend. A Barbecue tournament. First we play, then we eat. Fun & Fun!

Round 1: Vs Kenneth (Gravekeepers):

  • Game 1: A little back-and forth game. Necrovalley + Solidarity make powerhouses of those spellcasters. But the game turns over when I bring Lightray Daedalus on the field and I go: “Hey, for the first time EVER I can actually use his effect!” He grabs the card, reads it and swears. He tries to come back, but it’s KO soon after.
  • Game 2: The game starts bad when he goes Necrovalley + Royal Tribute on me (my whole hand gone!). But he fails to draw ANY monster, so I get enough time to recuperate and come back. Not exactly the way I wanted to win, but yeah.
  • Result: OO

"Hey, that's a nice field spell you have there, buddy..."

Round 2: Vs Miguel (Six Samurai)

  • Game 1: So epic we’ll never talk about this game… EVER! <_< (I won one of the most awkward games I’ve played in months).
  • Game 2: I open bad, he opens with two SS United and is able to OTK me.
  • Game 3: Back-and forth game. After I get rid of his Shi En, he’s able to bring Driven Daredevil on the field (I thought he was going Black Rose, this was a surprise). After thinking for a while, I found a way to beat that bastard. I used my Maestroke’s last material to flip it down. Then I used my Forbidden Chalice on my maestroke to make his attack 100 higher than Daredevil’s defense, therefore bypassing his effect. He’s surprised and can’t come back.
  • Result: OXO

"I put that b!tch face-down!"

Round 3: Vs Jeroen (Plant Synchro)

  • Game 1: He loops around with his synchro’s and everything I try is being blocked. At a certain point he shows he could easily go into Shooting Quasar Dragon. Am I glad that's still illegal over here. End result: I lose.
  • Game 2: I side in some stuff and he scratches in his head, because he doesn’t understand my deck or what it’s trying to do. This gives me some advantage in game 2 as I do know what his tries to do. But when both my Gearfrieds get milled (curses!), we go into time and I block access to my Gorz by having Gozen Match active, I ended up losing a game I should’ve won.
  • Result: XX

"Hey, nice party. Can I come over and play?"
"NO!"

Round 4: Vs Carl (Machina Geargia)

  • Game 1: Me never having faced Machina decks (I’m not counting DS games with bad AI) put me at a disadvantage, because I tried to counter with things that didn’t work as I thought they did (the Catastor Vs Gear Gigant+Gearframe ruling :-S). I end up losing.
  • Game 2: I’m able to do some shenanigans with Chimeratech, but when I revive my Cyber Dragon I realize I don’t have a second one (*facepalm*). That was a stupid mistake that cost me game 2 (though Carl says he could’ve countered my other strategy). I have to admit, Machina Geargia is a good deck.
  • Result: XX

"I ain't no Ancient Gear! I'm modern gear!"

End result: No top-4 cut-off and I end up 6th place or so. I can’t remember clearly (didn’t care anymore because of the two losses).

In between and after the duels we do some trades and we’re able to get cheap SE’s of Return of the Duelist (10€ instead of the usual 12,5€). I got 1 Librarian and 2 Acid Golems, together with the crappiest secret (why?), the one Spellbook I didn’t want (Hierophant) and a few good supers. Further trades and friends got me a few other cards I wanted, but getting that second High Priestess is going to be harder than I thought (since I’m not willing to pay a shitload of cash on a deck that’s not going to be a top deck anyway).

After that we got to eat barbecue. And even though the weather wasn’t that great (rain), the food and the atmosphere were great. It was a fun and great day after all.

Until next time, V out.

PS: Oh, yeah... Six Sam won YCS Indianapolis. Check the blogs of LFN for a report and the blog of Team overload for many of the decklists.

19 September 2012

Using Monster Reborn (and other revival cards)

After frequently running into people on DuelingNetwork who have issues with Monster Reborn (and other revival cards), I decided to write an article about the card.

About Monster Reborn

Most of you know how Monster Reborn works (I hope). You target 1 monster card in either player’s graveyard and (unless negated or countered) you can special summon the target (either in attack or defense).

But what several people have issues with, is what targets you can pick and what targets you cannot.

Legal targets

The following targets are perfectly legal:

  • Any normal monster (no matter what level).
  • Any effect monster without summoning conditions (no matter what level).
  • Any Lv. 5 or higher effect monster without summoning conditions.
  • Any effect monster with multiple summoning conditions. This includes normal or tribute summons (Cyber Dragon, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, Lightpulsar Dragon, etc…).
  • Any Synchro or XYZ monster that was summoned correctly & successfully.
  • And a few others, which I’ll describe in detail…

Other legal targets – Semi nomi monsters that were summoned correctly

Semi-nomi? That stands for “Special Summon only monsters”. Those monsters have the following effect:

  • Pre-problem solving card text: this card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned etc…
  • Post-problem solving card text: Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must first be Special Summoned etc...

The monsters that have either of these card lines can only be special summoned by the description showed in their text (like how you banish 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK attribute for Chaos Sorcerer) and do NOT have any restriction on further summons (they do NOT have “and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways”).

So, if the monster was summoned successfully and sent to the grave or banished area afterwards (yes, even when banished from the game), you can special summon that monster afterwards.

Which monsters fall under this category? Check the following list: List of special summon only monsters.

Note: Ritual monsters are the perfect example of semi-nomi monsters.


Yes, Yes and No. Only Lighray Sorcerer cannot be revived after a correct summon.

Illegal targets 1 – Cannot be special summoned (by other ways)

So which targets can you NOT pick? Well, most of the times, it’s said in the card text.

Does your card have one of the following lines?

  • Cannot be special summoned.
  • Cannot be special summoned from the grave.
  • Must be special summoned by X and cannot be special summoned by other ways (a.k.a. nomi monsters).
  • Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways (like most HERO fusion monsters).

Then you CANNOT target it for monster Reborn. Easy, no?


No, no and no. Sucks to be you guys. None of you can be revived.

Illegal targets 2 – God says NO!

Did your opponent use Solemn Warning, Solemn Judgment or another card effect that negates your special summon? Then you cannot revive the following targets:

  • Cards from the extra deck (fusions, xyz, synchro’s)
  • Semi-nomi monsters (see Other legal targets)
  • Cards mentioned in “Illegal targets 1”

Illegal targets 3 - (Specific) cards that were sent to the grave

Monsters can be sent/discarded to the graveyard from either the deck, hand or even from the extra deck (Gale Dogra, Dragunity Knight Trident,…).

The monsters described in "Illegal Targets 2" cannot be revived if they were sent/discarded to the graveyard.


"I just sent your Zenmaity to the grave.
U mad bro?"

Illegal targets 4 – Monsters summoned in the wrong way

You think you can't summon monsters in a wrong way? In some cases, you actually can.

There are certain cards out there that allow you to summon a monster from the extra deck without meeting the right requirements (a fusion summon, xyz summon or synchro summon).

However, since you did not meet the right requirements, you cannot target them for Monster Reborn (or other revival cards).

These cards effects are the following:

  • Starlight Road (Stardust Dragon)
  • Shooting Quasar Dragon (Shooting Star Dragon)
  • Miracle Contact (only applies on Elemental HERO Neos Knight)
  • Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor (Blackwing synchro’s)
  • Psychic Feel Zone (psychic synchro’s)
  • Bahamut Shark (Rank 3 or lower water attribute XYZ)
  • The Hex-Sealed Fusions (Earth/Dark/Light Fusions)
  • Synchro Change
  • Summoner of Illusions
  • Super Roboyarou / Super Robolady (their effect to summon the other one)
  • Metamorphosis (Traditional only)
  • Cyber-Stein (Traditional only)
  • Magical Scientist (Traditional only)
  • Temple of the Kings (Traditional only)

Note: Keep an eye on the monsters summoned through these card effects, because it’s easy to forget how they were summoned when they’re sent to the grave.


New & upcoming XYZ! Beware his effect!

Legal or illegal targets?: Fusion monsters

Fusion monsters have been around since the beginning and have appeared in many forms.

Depending on what fusion monster you get on the field (successfully), you might or might not be able to bring it back to life afterwards:

Fusion typeYes/NoWhy (not)?
Oldschool FusionsYESIf the summon condition just reads: Monster A + Monster B, then there’s no reason why you could not bring it back. Even if the card says that a fusion summon can only be done with the mentioned Fusion Material Monsters, that doesn’t stop a revival afterwards.
Fusions with the line “This monster can only be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon” (with no further conditions)YES!This is pre-problem solving card text and will be corrected in a reprint as “Must first be Fusion summoned”. The new text is already visible on the Gem-Knight Fusions.
Fusion monsters with the line “cannot be Special Summoned by other waysNO!The text says so itself. The HERO fusions fall under this category.
Neos TAG fusionsYES!The ONLY exception on the Elemental HERO’s are the Neos “Tag” fusions, whose fusion materials are returned to the deck instead of the graveyard. They do not have the restriction the “normal” E-Hero Fusions have.
Gladiator Beast Tag FusionsYES!Same reason as with the Neos Tag fusions.
Armityle the Chaos PhantomYES!After being correctly summoned, he’s free to bring back anytime.
Chimeratech Fortress DragonYES!Though he’s going to be useless, since his effect only works when fusion summoned.
The VWXYZ fusionsYES!All VWXYZ monster are free to return, except XYZ Dragon Cannon. The last one has the specific line "This card cannot be special summoned from the graveyard".
Incorrect fusion summonsNO!See “Illegal targets 4” for explanation.

Final notes

A: I tried to be as complete as possible. If I missed anything (or interpreted something wrong), please let me know and I’ll correct it.

B: Black Luster Soldier – EOTB may get a reprint in Legendary collection 3 with the problem solving card text (god, let’s hope so). Let’s hope the issues on reviving him are buried with that reprint.

C: This text is written from the point of view of Monster Reborn. This also applies to other revival cards, whether or not they can be used in advanced format (Call of the Haunted, Premature Burial,…).

Forgive me for the long post, but I wanted a complete guide, so a long explanation is the automatic result of this. I hope it helps you out.

Until next time, V out.

17 September 2012

Deck tests September format #2 - Tele-Ninja

This is one of the promised deck concepts. I've been testing a lot, including with ninja's (because I'm a ninja-fan).

Backstory

The main problem with ninja's is that they're not really competitive, so finding a good build that doesn't backfire every few duels has been hard.

  • I tried running pure ninja's, but the amount of Transformation & Super-Transformation targets has the tendency to give you a dead hand more often than you like.
  • I tried combining it with Hieratics, but for some reason, I just didn't like the result (it's like doing Hieratic-Hanzo the wrong way, it just doesn't feel right).
  • And then I thought, why not psychics?

And so came the following deck, which can be named Tele-ninja, but let's just call it "Ninjitsu art of Teleportation", just to stay in the ninja-style.

Here's a little decklist:

Explaining the deck

  • Hanzo & Golden ninja are the most known ninja's. Next to them, Earth Armor Ninja is a Cyber Dragon for ninja's & Silver Ninja allows for mass special summoning. White & Blue Dragon ninja are Super Transformation targets, just like White Night Dragon.
  • Sazank is one of the secret gems in the deck. He's one of the 3 Karakuri monsters that is also a ninja (together with Kuick & Nanashik), but he's the only useful one in this deck. Sending monsters to the grave bypasses the effect of cards like Zenmaines or Maestroke.
  • Outside of the (obvious) Super Transformation, the other ninjitsu art I'm using is Duplication. This TCG exclusive (yes, it is) is an easy way to search for more ninja's and even allows for special setting cards.
  • Magic Planter: The downside on most continuous traps in this deck is that they remain on the field, unless removed by force. Rather than Ninjitsu art of Alchemy (which is limited to Ninjitsu art cards), Magic Planter cleans up any used C-traps and allows me to draw more.
  • The Psychic Engine in this deck consists of 3 E-Teleports, 2 Psychic Commanders, 1 Krebons , 1 Psychic Witch & 1 Overdrive Teleporter.

The extra deck is kind of experimental and goes along with the test results right now (read: it will change). Though I can say, cards like Blade Armor Ninja, Maestroke, Excalibur, Leviair and Leviathan will remain. Don't mind the side-deck, as it's been acting as the garbage pile for tested cards.

The overall varied test results gave me the conclusion that this deck is good, but won't be top-tier, unless more ninja support comes out or unless someone gets an amazing idea for this deck. For example, I need to play Blue Dragon Ninja, because he's a Super Transformation target, but honestly, a better effect could've worked :-/.

More test results will follow in the upcoming weeks. Next up will be (let's think)... Chaos.

Until next time, V out.

13 September 2012

Quick Update - Promo Cards November tins announced

Woke up this morning, with these updates on the Konami Products page:

If that ain't a good way to start a day, I don't know it :-P

12 September 2012

YCS Sheffield - Good players win and all people have fun

Yeah, YCS Guatemala has been thé event of the past week-end, as YCS Sheffield has gone a little under the radar.

Not hard that it has been forgotten about, considering it was a Battle Pack main event.

But I have to admit, it has been quite successful (for a European YCS). This is the event in a few short bullets:

  • Players: 573 (nice number for a European YCS)
  • Winner: Peter Gross (the winner of YCS Toulouse)
  • Runner-up: Rodrigo Togores (European champ of 2010, Winner YCS Orlando Winner & other tops worldwide)
  • Coverage day one: Click this link!
  • Coverage day two: Click this link!
  • Finals: Click THIS link!
  • Decklists: Who the hell cares, it's sealed Battle Pack!

Bottom line of the main event is as covered by Peter Gross: "Good players are successful, and all people have fun".

The European Coverage was great, as always (honestly, the US coverage team could learn a few things from these guys)

Other fun fact: One of the Giant cards that could be won, was Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon. So you could pick one up sooner than the upcoming structure deck in October (lol, if you don't mind over-sized cards).

Next European YCS is in December, in Barcelona... it's a normal one, don't worry.

10 September 2012

The Seal of Orichalcos - The Full effect

If you're following the Konamy Strategy blog, you might have picked up a few lines of the effect of the Seal of Orichalcos. for those that didn't, check this blog out.

Thanks to a few people online (both on TCGPlayer & Pojo), the effect has been fully 'revealed'.


Now there IS an effect!

The effect

The effect goes as follows:

  • All monsters you control gain 500 ATK.
  • Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects.
  • While you control 2 or more face-up attack position monsters, your opponent cannot target your monster(s) with the lowest ATK for an attack.
  • When this card is activated: destroy all Special Summoned monsters you control.
  • You cannot Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck.
  • You can only activate "The Seal of Orichalcos" once per duel.

Good or bad?

Well, Konami made sure this card wouldn't make all other field spells useless and wouldn't be abused as hell. But in return, this card has become useless in most decks that are used nowadays. Destroying special summoned monsters? Not being able to summon from the extra deck? Those are huge draw-backs for most decks nowadays.

But there are a few decks that might profit from this card.

  • Frog Monarchs: What's more dangerous than 2400 attack monarchs? 2900 attack monarchs! Monarchs's only special summon treeborn Frog. And even if the frog is blocked by this spell, the fact that your opponent cannot attack monsters with lower attack is a good blocker and helps build up your defenses/tributes.
  • Malefic Style decks. Malefics remove cards from the extra deck, but don't special summon them. And they require a field spell to stay alive. Having a field spell that cannot be destroyed (once per turn) is a powerful asset. Having lower attack monsters that cannot attack, yet cannot be attacked are great assets as well.
  • Eartbound Immortals: You remember those big level 10 monsters from the 5D's era? Powerful cards, but with a big drawback as they required two tributes and needed a field spell to stay alive. With this card, they might make a come-back (though they might require a little more than just this card).

I'm sure more original decks will pop up in the future that might find a use for this card, but for now that's all I could think of.

Well, I'll try to post up some more test results near the end of the week. Until then, V out.

9 September 2012

Them Locals #3

Yesterday, I went to one of the locals I attend from time to time in Ghent. Second time I brought my Photon Lightray deck along to a local tourney, but I noticed this time around there was some decent competition (yes).

I was a little late and the judge tells me that (since I got a little late on the sneak too here) this is the last time he would let it slip through his fingers (sure, k, no problem.).

Round 1: Vs Ruben (Wind-up)

  • Game 1: I open broken and clear both his backrow (storm) and send his monster back to the deck (ehren). Turn 4, the game is already over and I didn't even get to see one of his monsters.
  • Game 2: I suddenly notice what he's playing... wind-ups. Without siding decently and no Veiler in my hand, I quickly lose to his magician combo's.
  • Game 3: I didn't draw a single good card from my side and draw my gearfried waaay to early to actually be useful. He solemns my only way of countering and I quickly lose (ratz).
  • Result: OXX

Round 2: Vs Kai (random deck): newbies? I always face them for some reason...

  • Game 1 & Game 2: With random monsters and spells you can't achieve a lot, honestly. I tried to hold back, but he quickly lost both games. I tell him he needs to reduce his deck to as close as 40 as possible (he has near 60 cards in there) and give him a few other hints.
  • Result: OO

Round 3: Vs Michaël (HERO deck)

  • Game 1: I open teh nutz again and he has to look as I take the game in a few turns.
  • Game 2: I open badly this time around. But I'm able to hold my defenses for a while (thank you Lighray Madoor). But when he uses Miracle Fusion to get Great Tornade to blow my Madoor away and the next turn parallel world fusion, I have to give in.
  • Game 3: For a while I fear I might lose again, but I draw into Spirit of Purity and Light, get enough monsters banished for Lightray Madoor and then use them to get Photon Strike Bounzer on the field. I finish with Summoning Lighray Gearfried, causing a deadlock. A close game, but I win.
  • Result: OXO

Round 4: Vs Jolly (Zombies)

Another first-timer, but this one's better.

  • Game 1: Again, I try to hold back. But my deck answers me with power cards. I win.
  • Game 2: She gets stallers on the field (Spirit Reaper, Lady in Wight) and suddenly appears with Patrician of Darkness. I underetimate this old-school card and get suckered into defeat. Curses
  • Game 3: She tries to stall again, but I get better answers in my hand this time around.
  • Result: OXO

End result: 3 wins gives me the 4th place. 3 boosters of ROTD & the latest Turbo Pack as price. Though the only noteworthy card is... Rebound (why do I only draw crap from this set?).

The winner, Carl, gets 10 boosters and pulls 4 ultra/ulti cards (Puddingcess, Spellbook Magician, Spellbook of Secrets & SuperRoboGalaxyCrap). Why is he the only one that gets good stuff? :-(

On the other hand, the same day was able to get 10 ORCS boosters off a very cheap price (something close to 0). THose packs got me better results (Invoker, Super Transformation, Evolzar Solda, Dark Mist and a bunch of rares.

So, all in all a good day of testing. Now I at least have a few ideas to fill my side-deck with.

Until next time, V out.

6 September 2012

Extra Pack 2012 - A recap of the TCG exclusives

For the fifth year in a row, the OCG will get a (Extra) booster pack, filled with all 42 TCG World premiere cards (you know, the TCG exclusives) we got in the past year. This Extra pack spreads from Extreme Victory to Order of Chaos (and a few extra's).

I guess it’s time to look back at what specific World premiere cards we had in the past year. I’m not going to cover all 42 cards, but I’ll take a selection of what I think made (or should’ve made) an impact on the game, in order of release.

Extreme Victory

Reborn Tengu

The second TCG world premiere card that has been semi-limited months before it even hit Japanese shelves (just like Allure of Darkness in May 2008). We have to admit it, this card yells bad card design and was one of the reasons Pot of Avarice became limited in usage. Because, what’s worse than three Tengu’s? Six Tengu’s!

And with the weird (temporary) TCG rule that XYZ materials were considered leaving the field, this card's effect suddenly went apenuts!

Dodger Dragon

A lot of TCG world premiere cards have a thing in common… them being overhyped. This is the first one of those. This card allowed disaster dragons to “dodge” counter traps for one turn and it made a significant impact on the game (NOT, lol). The September ’11 Forbidden & limited list made sure this card became utterly unused, because Heavy Storm returned and MST became unlimited! As people switched over from counter traps to “trigger” traps, Dodger Dragon couldn’t dodge anymore.

Tour Guide from the Underworld

aka little girl, tour guide of the broken, too good from the underworld, Tour Slut,… no need to explain this card, as it’s been the most hyped TCG WP-card from the past year. Oh yeah… and it’s FROM the underworld, not OF the underworld. Please get it right for once. She’s so good she’s the third TCG world premiere card (after Tengu) to get some sort of limit.

But seriously... have you noticed the OCG name they're giving her?: "Death Guide Departing the Underworld Bound for the Living World". Jeezes, what a mouthful...

Gladiator Beast Essedarii

This was a welcomed card in Gladiator Beast Decks, though the only fault (according to the players) is the ability to tag out after a battle. GB-players use this card a lot and I’ve seen people use Rescue Rabbit to get 2 Anduril to tag into Essedarii.


"My guided tours brings all the boys to the yard..."

Generation Force

Sea Lancer

This card actually revived the frog style decks and renamed it “Frog Lancer”. Sea Lancer equips itself with as many banished monsters (frogs) as possible and prevents its destruction by detaching 1 of those equipped monsters (re-activating their effects). Preferred targets are Poison Draw Frog (draw 1 card) and Dupe Frog (search 1 frog). During Irish Nationals, one guy introduced this deck in the world and hogged all the attention (by getting into top-8).

Pain Painter

This is the card that failed to revive the Zombies, even though it was a nice try. This is a tuner that allows for easy synchro summoning of hard to achieve Zombie synchro monsters. This was something zombies needed ever since Plaguespreader Zombie got hit by the F&L list in March 2009.

Orient Dragon

This card is a good anti-synchro card. It would be a nice level 6 synchro that replaces Iron Chain Dragon. But it came out a little too late to make an actual impact on the game. Though if people were to switch over to synchro’s again in the new format, this might be a good replacement for Brionac.

Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon

This is one of the better rank 5 XYZ out there, without being broken. This has been a nice addition to the extra deck for a while now.


Probably the coolest card from the set.

Photon Shockwave

Photon Sabre Tiger

2000 attack for a lv. 3 monster, but under such restrictions that it’s not broken. Can be searched through SNM Hamster, is handy with skill drain, can search another Sabre Tiger, but is not always going to save your day if you topdeck it. This is what I call, a good, balanced card.

Wind-up Rabbit & Wind-up Shark

These are the two TCG world premiere Wind-up effect monsters. Shark can be special summoned and changes its own level; rabbit can basically hop over everything thrown at him. These two cards are great additions to every Wind-up Deck out there.

Evolzar Dolkka

This is Herald of Orange Light in XYZ form. It negates monster effects and destroys them. This card is the reason why Dino Rabbit is more popular over here than in OCG and it is one of the reasons why Dino Rabbit is the top deck of this format in TCG.

Wind-up Zenmaines

This card achieved a change in OCG-Konami’s point of view on TCG world premiere cards. Before Zenmaines every TCG world premiere card was collected and released once per year in an Extra Pack. But Zenmaines got released ahead of that time, in the OCG Gold Series of begin 2012. It’s not weird, as it is a very powerful card and it made the gold series sell really well in OCG.


"They renamed me Naval Mine.
Three guesses as to why?"

Order of Chaos

Inzektor Hopper

Inzektor players love this card. It triggers the effect of Centipede and Dragonfly. And unlike Ladybug, this is not a bad top deck, as its attack is 1700 (probably the only lv. 4 or lower beat stick the inzektors have). There is that tiny bit of the text that allows another Inzektor to attack directly, even if it’s the first turn. But I guess we’ll see the revised card text in the Extra Pack, huh (just like they revised the text on Darksoul).

White Dragon Ninja

Ninja support is cool. This backrow protector is a nice addition to ninja decks. The fact that she’s a dragon instead of a warrior, allows her to be special summoned by Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation. But ninja’s need a little more support to be competitive.

Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon

This is a personal favorite and that’s not because of its ridiculous name (twist your tong, say its name 5 times out loud and fast). I like him because of the fact that he can be summoned when a monster you control is destroyed. This allows for field presence and is handy in control decks. This card was somewhat ignored in the Inzektor-heavy format, but is a card to think about in the September 2012 format.

Tour Bus from the Underworld

Overhyped TCG cards? This card definitely takes the cake. When announced, people thought that it could combo really well with Tour guide (it does) and its effect would be even more broken than Tour Guide (nope), which put its pre-order price at somewhere between 60 & 70$ (sucks to be you if you bought it at this price). Tour Bus is a card whose effect allows for graveyard control (either your own or your opponents). Price dropped fast, because this card is a bad top deck and not everybody likes graveyard control. Originally, it dropped to about 10$, but I notice the price has been going up again ever since the semi-limit of Tour Guide.


Come on! Say it with me!
Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon!
Interplanetarypurpledonkey dragon!
Interplanetthingy purple donkey!
...

Legendary Collection 3

The Seal of Orichalcos

Next to the 10 TCG world premiere cards per booster set, this time we got 2 extra WP-cards, Shadow of the Six Samurai – Shien (from the Six Sam Structure Deck) and this one. That’s the first time this happened ever.

About the seal: A few weeks after we get the infamous seal of Orichalcos, the OCG gets it as well. Nothing much to say about this card, as the (probably nerfed) effect is still unknown.


Reading its effect? The joke's on you...

So, that’s my review of Extra pack 5. The cards not mentioned are just average (not bad, yet not great either), or simply not worth mentioning.

Until next time, V out.

4 September 2012

Deck Tests September format #1: Photon Lightray

For the past few weeks, I've been testing a lot (like I said two weeks ago). Since my agenda's pretty full, that means an average of 2-3 matches per day, so it takes a little longer than originally intended.

From this week onward, I'll give you the test results and deck lists. First up is one of my favorites: Photon Lightray.

Backstory

After the release of the Photon Trio (Lizard/Thrasher/Crusher) in ORCS and the introduction of the Lightrays in GAOV, I noticed that both archetypes mixed very well together. I found out I was not the only one with that idea, as shortly afterwards, OCG legend Rauzes came up with a build (His decklist can be found on Dueling Legacy), which gave me a few ideas as well (like using Guardian of Order).

Since first tests went bad while facing Inzektors, this deck was put on hold. But with Inzektors getting banhammered, I picked it up again, re-molded it and gave it this result.

Explaining the deck

  • The Photon Trio: Thrasher is a well-known card, since it's splashable in many decks. Crusher is his 2000-attack buddy and Lizard is the Photon Searcher. Twin Photon Lizard (in the extra deck) is summoned by Dragon's Mirror and is rank 6 material.
  • Lightsworn Engine: No need to explain, I guess? Filling the graveyard is essential in this deck.
  • Lightray round-up: Gearfried and Daedalus can be special summoned with ease, Sorcerer and Madoor take joy in the fact that people use Bottomless trap holes more and more and Lightgay Grepher does the same job Bondage Grepher did (preparing the grave/banished area to summon the boss monsters).
  • Soul of Purity and Light: A handy old card which is easy Rank 6 material and helps summoning cards like Lightray Sorcerer and Madoor.
  • Extra deck: Filled with Rank 4 and rank 6 monsters, together with a few synchro's I can summon via Veiler.
  • Side-deck: I haven't decided on the side-deck yet. Either I put the necessary cards in there to transform it into a chaos deck, or I just prepare for bad match-ups or my own weaknesses (like facing Light-Imprisoning mirror).
  • Downside: There's only one downside to this deck, and it's the same downside my old Chaos Dragons deck had. With all the boss monsters in the deck, you have a chance of opening really bad. That's one of the reasons I put Gorz and Veilers in there.

The deck tested really well on DN and the few tests I did in real life were good (though only locals with not that great competition). I'm testing this deck further.

Next time, more test results - the ninja deck.

Until then, V out.

2 September 2012

YCS Toronto: Jeff Jones' Earth Psychics & Wind-ups

Short update. I've been following the news flashes of YCS Toronto. Normally I ignore them and read all posts the day afterwards. But there was one deck that caught my eye and kept me following all the updates.

The deck that caught my eye is Psychic Grandsoil (Psoil in Short) and the Deck Creator is Jeff Jones. The decklist can be found over here.

Yeah, he posted it himself. No need to wait a week for Konami to get a decklist up.

Jeff made top 32, top 16 and made it all the way up into the finals. That fact alone got me excited. Psychics topping? WOW!

Sadly enough he lost to Wind-ups in an (apparantly) exciting finale versus Joshua Graham.

We knew that Wind-ups would take the crown, as everybody has been talking about possible Wind-up OTK's, but the psoil deck is a dark horse for the next YCS's. And let's just say... I'm a fan of it already.

Until next time, V out.

Edit: Team Overload posted the decklists of all top 4 on their blog. Check it over here.