In Yugioh, sometimes it is easy to get the impression that very powerful cards remove skill from the game.  Players often associate the good old days of the game to when cards were mostly one-for-one tradeoffs.  However, there’s a time and place for both “fast” and “slow” formats.  I’ve come to appreciate some of the modern legacy formats in addition to classic ones.

 

Formats with very powerful cards are not inherently degenerate, but in some cases, the poor application of very powerful cards has resulted in legitimate criticism in the past.

·         From a consumer perspective, needing buying a new $500 deck each format.

·         Strong floodgate cards which deny player interaction rather than encourage it.

·         Linear decks which mostly rely on summoning 1 powerhouse monster.

·         A few cards that are far more powerful than all of the other cards in the format.

·         Releasing a new tier 1 archetype in every set (which results in players being less able to fully explore any format in depth).

 

However, formats with many powerful cards can also be beneficial toward skillful play:

·         With ample searching and speed card, bad opening hands are much less likely.  Neither player can complain because both players are rich in resources.

·         One power play does not make or break the game because you need to execute several.

·         With numerous power plays possible within a single turn, players must exercise good judgement in choosing the most optimal play.

·         More potential for complex combos and card interactions.

·         Since plussing is more common, a player has more room to recover from a disadvantaged position in a game of converting draw power into field pressure than from a game of pure attrition.

·         The intricate dilemma of knowing that you could fully extend, but choosing not to because you don’t want to overcommit and have your opponent exploit that.

 

While certain archetypes were certainly gimmicky and low skill, the Extra Deck has been a boon for Yugioh.  Now, players are less confined by probability and given a bit more freedom to choose which cards they want to bring out.  The player can have a choice of possibly over a dozen cards to play rather than a binary choice (i.e. “summon or set”, “bluff or trap”, etc.)  Picking the right choice yields more reward and picking the wrong choice bears more of an opportunity cost.

 

Plant Synchro is an example of a format which I (wrongly) thought at the time to be degenerate just because it was overwhelming.  But it really did expand the game beyond the simplicity of summoning beaters and tributing floaters.