Pook's Place

The Year in Review: 2004
By Pook

            Well, well, well, another year has come and gone, and now it is time to look back and reflect on what has happened over the past 12 months, before we can look ahead.  This was the biggest year yet for Yu-Gi-Oh!, and I have little doubt in my mind that 2005 is going to be even bigger.  But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s look back at the year that was 2004. 

Best Year For…

            Warriors.  There was no short supply in how many support cards warrior decks gained this year.  Two letters for you – D.D.  These little prefix became the new standard for warrior decks, so much so that the popular deck of choice currently revolves completely around them.  Last year, the warrior to get was Don Zaloog.  This year, old Donny-boy gained quite a bit of company.  Warriors are now more dangerous than ever before, and believe me, that’s saying a lot. 

Deck type that finally became playable…

            Fire/Burn!  Now, I’d like to think that I am partially responsible for the rise in these types of decks, but who am I kidding, I’m just a lowly columnist.  The people who made these decks great are Upper Deck.  Invasion of Chaos gave us Blazing Inpachi, Molten Zombie, Inferno, and The Thing in the Crater, then Ancient Sanctuary brought Solar Flare Dragon.  After that, more and more playable Fire monsters hit our shores.  These decks are getting some serious playtime in tournaments, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get even stronger in 2005.  The runner up for this category is Water, mostly thanks to the big monsters of IoC.  Levia Dragon owns you. 

Most Disappointing Set…

            Ancient Sanctuary.  Yes, I know, Mazera and Solar Flare Dragon were born from this set, but this set was supposed to lead the Light/Fairy deck revolution.  This series came and went quicker than any other that I can recall.  It’s really a disappointment, too, because Fairy monsters finally got some of the support that they needed, yet no one seemed to take advantage of it.  Oh well. 

Best Move By Upper Deck…

            Advanced format!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Long live the ban list.  Tournament play has gotten better, stronger, and more strategy-oriented now that most of the heavy hitters are banned.  This goes hand-in-hand with the comeback of Fire and Water decks, as well as many other previously-unplayable decks.  I recently disbanded my ban-card-deck, and I know many other duelists have done the same.  This is the next level of dueling, and it arrived just in the nick of time, too. 

Worst Move by Upper Deck…

            Hobby league.  Until the league started, most people were like “What?!” when they heard about it.  “What do you mean you can’t use your own deck?!”  Hobby league was an ok theory, but not as smooth execution.  I mean, should you really penalize people for not showing up every week?  Sometimes, things come up, I shouldn’t lose ranking points because I had to go visit my grandmother! 

Lease Valuable Rares…

            The Exclusive packs.  Seriously, how “exclusive” is it when everyone has all of the cards?  Sure, if you were lucky enough to get the packs at the World Tournament, you had a good 2 week window to impress other people who didn’t attend, but then once the packs hit the stores, the value totally decreased, and by a lot.  On top of it, I don’t know anyone who plays a Sphinx deck.  Again, a good idea that didn’t play out nearly as well as it could have. 

2 out of 3 ain’t bad, usually…

            Ok, collectors, are you happy?  You got two of the God cards this year – The Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon.  What?  You aren’t?  Me either.  WHERE IS OBELISK?  Obelisk the Tormentor is the best named monster in the history of monsters, and yet, we don’t have him.  Ok, I know that you can’t play any of the God cards, but if it is a set of three, why not release all three in the same year, especially when the one you left out is the biggest fan favorite?  At least the good news is that we will be getting him eventually.  Just when is still the question that has yet to be answered. 

Biggest Tease…

            Cyber-stein and Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, but no Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.  This year, we got two cards that have had quite a lot of hype around each of them.  This is another case of two out of three ain’t bad, but this is one that was sure to upset more people.  Where is Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.  I mean, come on!  Why release Blue Eyes Shining Dragon if you can’t even use it unless you have an Ultimate Dragon?  And for now, the only card worth using Cyber-stein with (that is, if you can dish out $22,000 for it) is Master of Oz.  I’m sorry, but we’ve been toyed around with for quite a while now.  It’s time we see that three-headed dragon, and soon. 

Best move for the anime…

            Uncut season one DVDs.  I’ve been an anime fan for about 9 years now, and I’ve had to endure some serious edits (Dragon Ball Z fans know what I’m talking about).  Praises to 4Kids for this risky move.  Now, you just need to give us Season Zero and we’re all good. 

Worst move for the anime…

            The movie.  I didn’t even see it.  Die-hard fans of the show didn’t go see it.  Those who did see it, wished they hadn’t.  Can’t win them all, I guess. 

Pook’s Picks of 2004:

Favorite Set – Invasion of Chaos.  Sure, I hate Chaos Emperor Dragon, but this set really was amazing.  With all of the support for Fire and Water types, this set really broke down some boundaries. 

Favorite Card (rare) – the Horus set (Lv. 4, 6, and 8).  These dragons are beautiful and deadly.  A dangerous combination.  I just wish that Lv. 8 wasn’t so hard to come by, otherwise I’d have a Horus deck. 

Favorite Card (common) – Solar Flare Dragon.  Do I even need to explain why?

Favorite Promo – Slate Warrior.  This thing used to be banned in Japan, and was my favorite card in the video games.  Just a nice card to play.  If you can flip it, it’s a great suicide monster against Jinzo.  If it gets killed, it subtracts 500 from the monster’s attack.  I like it. 

Things to Look Forward to in 2005:

Flaming Eternity, Dark Revelations, the two new Structure Decks, more Shonen Jump Tournaments, World Championships 2005, and some big new surprises at Pook’s Place…

            So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, 2004.  What a crazy year it has been, but now we have given it a proper send-off.  As for me, I’ll be on vacation for the next two weeks.  And don’t forget, the deadline for the Pook’s Place Art Contest is Tuesday, December 21^st, so hurry up and enter!  The winner will be announced during the week of January 3^rd, 2005, when Pook’s Place returns in 2005!  Happy dueling, holidays, and new year, everyone!