Subject: Ramblings, Musings, and Predictions--The Mighty Mollusk And The Mighty Mollusk returns once again. Creator of stupid-yet-workable decks (see my Lifeburn Deck tournament report from March) and controversial custom rules (see my last article on Multiplayer and Tag Team games), now I'm just ranting. This'll probably get a little long (due to my inability to remember when to shut up), so get a drink and get comfortable (and by the way, I'm very fond of parentheses). First, I'll start with the negative bits, just to get them out of the way. And the first and foremost is attitude. Now, I've never had the opportunity to attend an official tournament, but I've met and played many people who have, including several who've won tourneys. While they're good duelists, they're also annoyingly arrogant. They enter the card shop, claiming that they can beat anyone present. Then they get mad when they lose, often making accusations of cheating when they and everyone watching knew it was perfectly legal. My question: Why? Everyone has to lose sometime, whether because of bad draws, a poor choice at a critical moment in the duel, carelessness, or because the opponent is simply better. The point is, there is no unbeatable duelist. Those who go in thinking that they'll always win make foolish mistakes that a skilled opponent can capitalize on; I've won many duels because of such things. To put it simply, as stated in an old proverb: "Do not think that you have to win; instead, think that you do not have to lose." And above all, keep a level head, flaring tempers don't help anyone. Next, the concept of deck staples. I know what you're thinking: Raigeki, Pot of Greed, Monster Reborn, et al. In fact, a few friends of mine have come up with the YuGiOh Power Nine (based on the idea of the infamous Power Nine of Magic: The Gathering, meaning the nine most powerful cards in the game). Their list is Raigeki, Pot of Greed, Monster Reborn, Change of Heart, Mirror Force, Imperial Order, Dark Hole, Harpie's Feather Duster, and Swords of Revealing Light, if I'm remembering correctly. Others may have different versions. Well, here's the thing. Staples depend on what kind of deck you're building. If you're building Exodia, then the staples are the five Exodia peices, Painful Choice, Backup Soldier, et cetera. But if you're building, say, a burner, you'll want stuff like Princess of Tsurugi and Cannon Soldier. Beatdown wants high-powered attackers like Gemini Elf and Goblin Attack Force. I could continue with staples of deck types all night, but instead I'll just get to the point; there are no staples. Build with your favorite cards, not what other people tell you to. My favorite card remains Barrel Dragon, and despite many people telling me to, I will NEVER remove him from my deck. Now on to something I find particularly annoying; the staleness of the game. I see a lot of the same decks over and over and over again. Beatdown, Clown Control, Weenie Attack, they're everywhere. It's always the same. And frankly, I get sick of it. Maybe I'm alone here, but I enjoy seeing something new every once in a while. For that sole reason I've begun rebuilding my Shield and Sword deck (may use it in a tournament in two weeks if it's ready in time). No, it's not a great deck, but it's fun. And that's the whole point of the game: fun. Now, I'm not trying to say that you should all take your decks apart and start from scratch, but consider this; what's the point in playing if you always know what your opponent's going to do? One final complaint for this rant, and for once it's not about players. This one is leveled directly at Konami; the commercialism of the game. I'm not complaining about how the new starter decks are loaded with rares, because if one really looks through the Yugi and Kaiba starts, they were, too. They just didn't have as many popular rares. I do have a moderate complaint about the "Deluxe Edition" starter sets, in that they should've been released at the same time as the regular starters. And maybe that there should be more to them than a starter, two packs, deck protectors, and a styrofoam block of doom. So what is the complaint about, if not about the starter sets? This is the complaint. New sets are coming out TOO FAST. Labyrinth of Nightmare was barely out when we started getting info on Legacy of Darkness, and with LoD still a way's off, we already have info on the next set, Pharoanic Guardian. I think Konami needs to slow down before they wear the game (and my wallet) out. Look at other popular things that flooded the market; they never last long. (Note that I refuse to discuss the toys and other merchandise based on YuGiOh, as that's more based on the show than the card game). Ok, I think I've been negative enough for one article. Now for the promised predictions. And for my first prediction: The return of Dragon decks. One of the first power decks of LoB, Lord of D decks have dropped off the radar since the advent of Magic Jammer and speedier beatdown cards like Goblin Attack Force and Gemini Elf. With new powerful dragons like Tyrant Dragon and Spear Dragon coming soon, and hopefully Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (despite many people asking, I refuse to trade my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, just in anticipation of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon) not too far off, plus powerful support cards like Dragon Rage and Stomping Crash, I predict Dragons becoming powerful once again. Perhaps not in tournament play with Imperial Order and such, but definately a fun casual deck, and one I'll be rebuilding and taking to local tourneys. If nothing else, they'll make fine additions to my growing collection of rare dragons. Prediction Number Two: Fiends. The other main deck of LoB, perhaps moreso than Dragons (which I blame on Dragon Capture Jar), Fiends get many powerful new additions as well. There's of course the infamous Hades, God of Hell (Dark Ruler Ha-Des, I believe), but also less-known cards like Lesser Demon, which will probably earn a sidedeck spot even in non-Fiend decks for its ability (remove any monster it destroys from the game). With other good fiends like La Jinn, Giant Germ, Sangan, Masked Hellraiser, and of course Dark Necrofear and Summoned Skull, Fiends may even be tournament-worthy. A random prediction on a single card; Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (which I usually still call Magnet Valkyrion just because it's easier to say). Everyone loves this card right now. I don't see why. Yes, it has high attack; yes, it can take out a Black Skull Dragon with one attack without equips. It also requires four cards to summon it. And all four of those cards are video game promos (Valkyrion with Worldwide Edition, the three Magna Warriors with Duelist of the Roses), so they're not exactly easy to get. In fact, I've only seen one person with the entire set, and he's never managed to pull it off without cheating. But the requirement of specific cards reminds me all too much of another hugh jass monster of yesterday: Gate Guardian. Now, before you flame me saying "D00D GAET GARDIAN SUX00RZZ MANGA VALKIRON R TEH L33T!!!1111", think about it. It's a big monster with very specific tribute requirements. Ok, the Valkyrion is a lot easier to get into play, since the peices can be tributed from your hand or field. You can do the same with rituals, and aside from the occassional Relinquished, how often do you actually see people playing ritual monsters? And yes, there's tricks you can do with Valkyrion, but most require multiples. See the above complaint about availability. In short: enjoy Magnet Valkyrions fifteen minutes of fame now, because it won't last forever. And as a random note, why are Valkyrion and his three peices Rock-type? I would think Machine would make more sense. Same with Cyber Jar, for that matter. A few more random predictions before I call it a day. This article is already so long that even I don't want to read it all again, and if you've gotten to this point, you have a far greater attention span than I. Not looking forward to the proofreading process. Bear with me, it's almost over. Anyway. The Metagame: Will always be dominated by Beatdown in its various incarnations, whether due to Speed, Weenie, or Theme. Clown Control will remain popular for a while and slowly fade as more deck types surface, but will remain playable for a long time coming. And Exodia will never go away, no matter how much you may want it to. The Life of the Game: Depends entirely on how Konami and Upper Deck plan out future releases. I still say they should spread them out a bit more to avoid oversaturating the market. The Heart of the Cards: Is still beating. Hey, that's what hearts do. My Attention Span: Has expired. Time to wrap this up. Questions, Comments, Suggestions, and Souls can be sent to themightymollusk@yahoo.com. No flames, I delete them immediately. Be sure to include something related to YuGiOh in the title of the e-mail, or I might delete it as junk mail. And while I'm willing to answer any questions you may have, keep in mind that I am NOT a deck mechanic and will not fix your deck for you. I will give my oppinions on various deck types if asked, but will not give deck lists or fixes. So please, don't send me any more decks (or worse, ask me to fix a deck and forget to write the deck itself, that's happened at least three times). And as always, Good Luck, Happy Dueling, and May the Heart of the Cards Be With You. Long Live Barrel Dragon. The Mighty Mollusk themightymollusk@yahoo.com "I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it."--Voltaire __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com