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From: bigballstheclown@bellsouth.net [mailto:bigballstheclown@bellsouth.net]

Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2005 7:09 AM

Subject: An article...

Jack: "DARN GOATS! I woulda won if it wasn't for those goats!"
TacoMaster: "Whatcha mean?"
Jack: "Well, he activated `em when I broke `em, so I attacked one each turn... I was afraid of his 2 S/Ts... And he built up his hand and killed me."
TacoMaster: "Well... Why'd you attack `em?"
Jack: "What?"

Goats, Goats, Goats! They're the little Beasts that everyone loves to run and in turn hates to run into. People have begun to run all sorts of things to deal with these little pests from tramplers such as Enraged Battle Ox to field clearers such as Asura Priest, which I've kept stored away in my side deck since the time before the Goat Control era. These little pieces of tech have been working very well for the players who choose to use them; however, there is an easier way to handle the increasingly annoying problem of the Scapegoats. Just leave them there.

Yes, I had always thought this to be a blatantly obvious move; your opponent has a Sangan in attack mode a facedown S/T. You draw, then use Mystical Space Typhoon on the S/T. They chain Scapegoat; you set a monster and end your turn. What's the point in attacking Scapegoats? Sure, they Meta one of them into Thousand-Eyes Restrict and suck up your facedown... Wow...
A monster with zero attack... Amazing. And with Book of Moon and Tsukuyomi, you can more or less ensure that, even if they get a face up monster from you, it won't keep those stats for long.

You honestly do not need to run special cards for Goats. I'm not saying that you should make a stab at "The Goat Lock" every single time your opponent activates Scapegoat or anything. I'm just saying that if you do not want to alter your deck with some cards that have one specific purpose, all you need to do is look at the situation. For instance, your opponent hit Pot and Graceful on his opening turn. You summon, Nobleman his Sangan and attack into Scapegoats. He/she has Sinister Serpent in their graveyard, and you have defensive cards to keep their single monster zone at bay. They've gained a hefty advantage in the early going, so leaving their field cluttered is probably the best way to go.

I'm also not saying that this technique is new... Or that no one does this. I'm just saying that I watch a lot of games, and I hear a lot of stories from talented players about how they Goat Locked just about everyone in the Tournament, or (very often) how people had the perfect opportunity to catch them with a Goat Lock, but they failed to capitalize. With hardly anyone running Enemy Controller anymore, Goat Locks have become that much more difficult to escape. I love when people Netdeck things with 3 Scapegoats, no Enemy Controller, and no Creature Swap (I do not like this card, but if I were going to run 3 Goats, I would run it). Whenever I play lately, I win 90% of my games by locking my opponent's field with their own Goats. Then, you simply wait for the right cards and end the game.

People like to say that the game's 100% luck, but if you think a little bit. You can often beat people with their own cards, and I know everyone gets a kick out of that. Sure, the plan isn't fool proof, and it is highly possible that they can just have the perfect cards to escape a lock, but more often than not, a Goat Lock wins you the game. Here are a few real life examples from Nationals:

In my fourth round (2-1), I'm playing against the standard Tsukuyomi Goat Control. I win game 1; he takes game 2. Game 3 rolls around... My hand's pretty awful. I set Bottomless Trap Hole and Spirit Reaper. My opponent Trinities me... He's pretty happy. I'm not too worried, just a bit ticked off. He discarded Torrential Tribute and Airknight Parshath with Graceful Charity. The guy summons Spirit Reaper, Noblemans my Reaper and attacks. He pulls the Magician of Faith from my hand, leaving me with only Mystical Space Typhoon. Now, I'm a tad worried. He sets a S/T and ends. I draw Kycoo. Mystical hits his facedown Scapegoat, and he chains with it. My eyes fly open, and I tell him straight out, "I just won."

Kycoo hits his Spirit Reaper, removing Airknight, and I end. He draws, plays Smashing Ground and hits me for 300. I draw... Summon Newdoria, hit Reaper. He goes, puts it in Defense mode and ends. In the next 6 draws, I grab Heavy Storm, Lightning Vortex, Premature Burial, and a Sangan that I set the turn before I killed him. That's game. He was quite depressed, and he couldn't understand how he lost with the Trinity in his opening turn.

Let's fastforward ahead to the last round of Swiss. Miguel Garcia vs. Matthew Zaabadick... The winner hits a 9-1 record and makes Top 8. It's 1-1. Game 3. Miguel brings out Breaker the Magical Warrior, staring down Zaadadick's face up Morphing Jar. Zaabadick activates the Scapegoats when they're broken... Miguel ends his turn. Having lost his Book of Moon and Enemy Controller earlier in the match, Zaabadick's facedown Torrential is useless, as Miguel refuses to summon, and Matt simply draws every turn until the game ends, missing out on Top 8 of Nationals because of his own Scapegoats.

There are hundreds of other examples, but you get the idea. Now, I'm not telling anyone that running Enraged Battle Ox or Asura Priest is a bad idea. I have no problem with either of these cards. I am just saying that you do not necessarily HAVE to run cards specifically to take down Scapegoats if you simply take a moment to consider other possibilities.
Consider the sort of deck they're playing... The cards they've expended. The possible monsters that they have left to occupy the only open monster slot.
And most importantly, do they have a pretty decent supply of cards when compared to your own? These factors will help you not only to decide whether or not to perform the awesome Goat Lock, but also how to go about playing the turns following the initial Lock.

Still, the descision is up to you. If you really want to bring those extra cards into your deck, by all means, do what you feel is right.
Just remember that even though you have those cards on the field... Doesn't mean you HAVE to kill the Goats. A lot of the time, it's just not worth it.
Good luck, have fun and remember... When you're driving/able to drive, USE YOUR TURN SIGNALS!