ay, June 22, 2003 3:58 PM To: Bill Subject: Things Concerning Yu-Gi-Oh!-TheProphet Hello, and welcome to "Things Concerning Yu-Gi-Oh!", a random ramble by yours truly. That's right, no matter how many times you send me hate mail, I, like Sinister Serpent, just keep coming back. First and foremost, I welcome your hatemail, as it will just be deleted anyway. Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to talk about this tips page. As Ben Affleck in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" so eloquently put it, "The Internet has given everyone...a voice, and apparently they're using that voice to bitch about movies." In this case, they're actually using it to bitch about Upper Deck/Konami. Well, some of them are. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for bashing them. But only Konami. After all, Upper Deck just prints the cards and gives the press releases. Konami is the brains, Upper Deck is the eye candy. And have you noticed how often they screw up with translations and rulings? I don't think this is all merely coincidence. Maybe it's one of those government conspiracies to make people like me paranoid of government conspiracies. Or maybe... Jeez, I could sit here all day thinking of reasons for this other than the pretty obvious fact that they're just being morons. Whatever. Next, fusions and rituals. What is the deal with them? Let's face it, there are NO good fusions (I don't care what you say, TLWFAP is only good if you build your whole deck around him, and even then, he requires way too many cards to set up a nice lock that can be done more easily and efficently with Yata-Garasu. Furthermore, TLWFAP gives your opponent board control, which is a no-no.) As for rituals, the only one EVER released in Japan or the U.S. that deserves ANY recognition is Relinquished, and even that only goes really well in a control deck, or possibly in a deck built around it. I don't know about you, but I think fusions and rituals are totally worthless and they will stay that way. Why? Simple: BECAUSE YOU GIVE UP CARD ADVANTAGE TO SUMMON THEM. I will explain: if you play a ritual, you need the ritual magic card, the ritual monster (both in your hand) along with the correct number of monsters to sacrifice. With Relinquished, it's only one sacrifice (no matter what), but that's still 3 cards in hand just to get one on the field. As for fusions, you need Fusion Gate/Poly, the 2 fusion materials, and the fusion itself. You sacrifice the fusion materials from your field/hand AND Poly (if you are using that) from your hand to get the fusion. That's a 3-for-1 trade with Poly, and I guess with Gate, too, because you have to play it from your hand first. And there you have it. To play a fusion/ritual, you must sacrifice precious board control and/or card advantage. And for what? A monster that's vulnerable to the same monster removal as every other monster. I don't know about you, but I'm staying away. Far away. Card advantage. I've heard it, in Pokeyman and YGO!. I'm sure you've heard it too. If you may remember, it was really easy to get card advantage in Pokeyman because of better card drawers (like Professor Oak) and the fact that there were no restrictions on anything (except in special high-level tourneys) doesn't help. As for YGO!, we have Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Card Destruction, Upstart Goblin, Jar of Greed, Airknight Parshath, Masked Sorcerer, Painful Choice (kind of), and Appropriate. Three of these cards (Upstart Goblin, Painful Choice, Pot of Greed, Card Destruction) are limited. Another one (Graceful Charity) is semi-limited. The others (Airknight Parshath, Masked Sorcerer, Jar of Greed, Appropriate) are not limited at all, and only one of them is even remotely worth playing (Airknight Parshath). Basically, card advantage is much more precious in YGO!, especially because of the 3-card limit (If you may remember, Pokeyman's max was 4 of any one card except energy cards.) and the five-card starting hand, as opposed to the seven cards in Pokeyman. Basically, you need to make sure you have options in your hand. If you have no Pot of Greed, don't try to get Upstart Goblin or Card Destruction as a replacement, as their sets are now out of print. Just get 2 Pegasus decks for 2 Graceful Charity and you're in business. Also, Pot of Greed has been reprinted in TP3, so it's pretty esy to get now. If you run Exodia, try to get every card drawer in the game. Of course, if you run Exodia, you need a new deck strategy (waits for hatemail). I mean, come on. There are just too many ways to stop Exodia. These include Delinquent Duo, Confiscation, The Forceful Sentry, and Card Destruction. But I digress; all of those cards are limited. Of course, so is Exodia. If you really want to stop Exodia, use Respect Play or Eye of Truth (so you can see if he has pieces) and Card Destruction when he draws the head and/or when he has 3-4 pieces. And don't give me that "Oh, I'll just Backup Soldier them back to my hand" crap. Backup Soldier can only be used if there are 5 or more monsters in the user's graveyard. And there you have it, Exodia isn't all that great (waits for more hatemail). And it doesn't help that Sangan was made limited, which was for a good reason. First, there are now many good monsters with 1500 or less ATK, such as the new secret rares Yata and Lily. There is also X-Force, Marauding Captain, and Two-Headed Behemoth (which actually isn't that good). Second, I guess UD/K just wanted to make Exodia suck more, or follow the Japanese restrictions, or whatever. Who knows? I believe i mentioned this before, but what is it with the God cards being banned? After all, Obelisk has definite stats. But I guess UD/K has spoken. Besides, the God cards suck anyway. Anyone who uses them is dumber than someone who uses Gate Guardian seriously. Why? Because even Gate Guardian is easier to summon than the Gods. And why is that? Because Upper Deck said that the Gods have no way to be summoned to the field at all. And there you have it, the Gods should never have been made. What is it with bashing other people's tips on the tips page? It's called "CCG Combos, Tips, and Strategies." Bashing other people's tips does not fit in with that. Rants don't either, but at least rants can be fun to read sometimes. It's quite obvious that those who bash are just doing so for lack of anything intelligent to say. Above all else, the goal of Yu-Gi-Oh! is to have fun. Whether it's with a Fire Princess deck, a Warrior deck, or a standard beatdown, they all have different strategies, different strengths and weaknesses, different ways of winning. And every card has a special power all its own. Even Skull Servant will be somewhat playable once Multiply comes out (play Multiply, equip United to Skull Servant). Until then, you'll have to use it with Scapegoat instead. How's my driving? e-mail me at kungfuaxedemon1000@yahoo.com P.S. A higher power than the mighty Czar Cannon Soldier and the KGB (Kycoo, Gemini, and Bazoo) has emerged. That power is: The Amazing Yata-Garasu, Overlord of Everything! Tremble before the crow!