Of Toon Monsters and Originality

I'm what you might call an old timer. I've been around since the time of 
Magic Ruler, and in that time I've seen the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! evolve into 
something I'm not too proud of.


Beatsticks and Staples run rampant. All but a handful of cards from the 
booster series get ignored in the competative enviornment. The Duelists are 
becoming arseholes. But what does this have to do with my Tip? I'm here to 
give competative duelists a handy dandy tip...

Go against the flow.


Use Hurricane (Giant Trunade) instead of Harpie Feather Sweep (Harpy Feather 
Duster). The Duster will be banned in short order, anyways. Use Death 
Gremlin (Des Feral Imp) instead of Ressurect (Monster Reborn). But why, I 
here you cry. Simple: The opponent doesn't expect it.


The game of Yu-Gi-Oh! has become so narrow minded in terms of competative 
play that when somebody arrives with something new and unexpected, the 
typically advance to the semi-finals of tournaments, even win them outright, 
depending if they have the skill to do it.


Case in point - Toons. Nobody's played toons...ever. For typically good 
reasons. I'll even admit our Toon Compliment isn't great here. But seeing 
them in a Tournament? With a deck built around them? And ways to get Toon 
World off the field or protect it safely?


The Toon deck sweeped through the Tournament like the competition wasn't 
there. Kaiser Sea Horses brough out Blue Eyes Toons. Vengeful Bog Spirits 
delayed Monsters. Balloon Lizards stalled and vaporized life points. Toon 
Worlds refused to die and Life Points went up with the aid of the likes of 
Solemn Wishes (Yes, I said SOLEMN WISHES).


Why did this happen? Nobody saw it coming. Toons aren't even glanced at 
anymore. And this guy took the crappiest Toons in the whole game and went 
straight to the top like it was nothing. And no, it wasn't me.


The morale of the story and the meaning of this tip - Mixing things up makes 
heads explode. Competative Duelists know how to deal with the likes of a 
Magic Warrior Breaker, but when they're staring down the barrell of a Battle 
Footballer with Shield and Sword and Zero Gravity, they haven't got a clue.