Well- first off, let me say that I've been out of the article game for quite some time now. Law school apparently was more work than I had originally thought. But a friend of mine from OB asked that write again, so I am.

Anyway, the last article I wrote, back upon the release of the Japanese updated ban-list looked into some of the changes and what meta-effects they would have on the game. Largely, a lot of my and other's assumptions were correct; aggro is very prevalent, toolbox warriors are everywhere, and spirit reaper is near-staple.

Some of my more unique predictions, like the fact that Chaos would still be very heavily played, came to be as well. :gloats: A lot of people thought the decktype would die, and perhaps they are right, but so far, it's still hanging tough like certain new kids. Also, as I predicted with Nostradomous-like accuracy, Strike and Horus decks have come back into play.

But, as much as we guessed right on certain meta-effects, it seems, at least by looking at the ATL SJC, that we were off on certain things. Tomato control, while apparently popular at certain regional, was less than dominant. Zombies, for whatever crazy reason, were, according to DeathJester's article, no where to be seen. Royal Decree is not half the threat many believed it would be, and monarch or soul control made a reappearance, which perhaps ought to have been expected, but no one really picked up on it.

Well, just a few points about the meta:

1) We Learn Quickly:

I feel that these right and wrong predictions can be attributed largely to our own growth as duelists. For example, I think that the large reason that zombies saw little play was the fact that people expected them to see a ton of play, and therefore rebuilt their decks accordingly, filled with things like Rush Recklessly, Drilloid, and Mystic Swordsman lv2. Those monsters also serve other important functions, like removing set DD Assailant threats, but seem to initially have been decked in anticipation of crazy spirit reaper/zombie play.

Like the Japanese before us, we learned rather quickly that Royal Decree was nothing at all to worry about. Mained Decree's and Dust Tornado's have given way to trap based monster removal and protection, since the goat-less-topdeck forum seems to be the name of the game.

Control, tomato or otherwise, seems to be heavilly infused into this meta as well. Reaper's, Time Seals, Drop Off's, and Don's prey upon the Pot-less decks that everyone has to run. In order to counter these threats, people at ATL SJC ran cards that self-generated advantages- Mobius, GK Spy, Scapegoat, and the like. A few 241's every now and again help to alleviate the resource burden that constant 141's and reaper hits wreak on a player's hand.

In general, I think that all of us, as duelists, have quickly learned how to counter the obvious meta, and instead, have now found ourselves in a very confused metagame. The decks at SJC ATL were....confused to say the least. Chaos has trouble fitting into the classic aggro build, since acceptable light aggro monsters are few and far between, and nothing has yet established itself as dominant.


2) Chaos

Why did so many SJC decks try to go 'chaos'. Well, certain skeptics, who will remain nameless, would just attribute Chaos's prevalence at SJC to the fact that we are all like sheep, blindly trying to hold onto and follow what was successful in the past. If it wasn't clear by that last sentence, I think that those people are incredibly wrong. Incredibly.

People who find that Chaos Sorcerer is a vastly inferior monster are, to put it mildly, to 1337 for their own good. Special summonable monsters nearly define the meta now. Cyber Dragon, the most obvious culprit, generates immediate field advantage by the fact that you can summon the machine in conjunction with something else. This special summon is entirely free, which is what makes Cyber so deadly. Most special summons usually cost at least A single resource, monster reborn, premature burial, book of life, Hand, etc.

Likewise, Chaos Sorcerer is a free special summon. Technically you lose two graveyard resources. But generally speaking, those resources are dead to you anyway. So you lose two things you don't want to or can't use, and get something solid. Not only that, but he has 200 more atk than Cyber Dragon. Yes, Sorcerer appears to be inferior. :sarcasm:

Not only should his special summonability and high attack immediately warrant his play, but Sorcerer is also the BEST form of permanent removal we have access to right now. DD Assailant and DD Warrior Lady are both solid, but they are generally a 141 trade off, and are situational. Sorcerer is an immediate +1 advantage for the player who uses him correctly, and will likely generate greater advantage beyond that with a bit of protection. By only summoning Sorcerer when your opponent has a monster on the field (which make him even more akin to Cyber Dragon), with priority, your opponent will immediately lose his monster for the rest of the game, and you are +1 monster (assuming they didn't have Book of Moon or My Body as Shield set). You can then go and summon that DD Assailant in your hand and attack the open field.

So, in Chaos Sorcerer we have a special summonable, 2300 atk, source of immediate permanent and reusable removal. Yeh, that sounds like a crappy monster to try to work into a deck to me.

It's no surprise that people run him or want to run him. The only real difficult issue comes in building a deck that uses him adequately. Chaos, as versatile as it is, has always adapted itself to the meta. When it was zombie, people found a way to work BLS in. When it was goat control, people found lights and darks that worked within goat control, and played BLS. Why not do the same with Chaos Sorcerer? Well, as much as I will sing Sorcerer's praises, I won't pretend he's BLS. And, for CS to be most effective, you probably should run him in pairs.

As mentioned earlier, there are very few serviceable light aggro monsters. For Chaos to adapt to the aggro-based meta, you would like to find some decent lights to work in there. Blade Knight is okay, Reflect Bounder can provide interesting tech, Ninja Grandmaster Sauske is decent enough, and Freed the Brave Wanderer could be serviceable. But really, Cyber Dragon is about all there is. And, as a smart player, you want to avoid running too many tribs, since you can't set them first turn, and they can be just as bad a topdeck as they are great.

So what do you do?

Well, you can run a Chaos JaNk, which I feel is probably the best option for now. You mix in the control-esque Magician of Faith with a merchant here or there, run a Cyber Dragon or two...basically what the SJC winner ran.

You can run a more themed, streamlined Chaos, with Thunder Dragons. However, you set yourself up for very bad early game draws with too many non-summonable monsters.

There's the burn option, with Des Kola's, MoF's, WMC's, and Merchants.

You can run phoenix...but frankly, I don't like it. Apprentice Mage, the semi-backbone of Phoenix was weakened by MoF's restriction. BTH has become ever-more-prevalent with Mobius increasing in play. And, well, Phoenix just is another possible poor early game draw. (on a side note i feel Phoenix should be limited to 2 per deck).

Basically, you've got options. Sadly, I don’t have an answer right now, and I have thought and tested very heavily into this issue. As i mentioned, I think Chaos JaNk has proven the most successful, but I just get the feeling that something is missing. Hopefully, in time, either I or someone else discovers a better way to go at it. But for now, I suggest that you continue to expect to see Sorcerer's all throughout the meta.