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Hey, so this is going to be my first article for the pojo main page. I know I’ve usually done articles/rants in the forums but I want to extend them to be featured here as well.

So here it is. My take on the new bans.

First off I would like to reference two debate threads that I started on the forums:

http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=264523

http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=273342

both of those show a lot of the thought I’ve put into the entire topic of bans/restrictions, a lot of you have read them, and for those who haven’t, or those who need a reminder I recommend them as supplements to the following work……

As we all know by now Konami forced UDE to adopt the OCG bans, use whatever polite words that you want but the fact remains the same that Konami can get what they want at anytime because they can simply take away UDE’s right to produce the game. I would like to thank Kevin and his staff for asking, both before and afterwards, for our opinions on the banned list.

Well now here is mine. It sucks. For those who like short reviews there you go. For everyone else go grab a coffee this may take a while…..

As we know the OCG and TCG have different card pools and therefore archetypes. Looking at the last format we have these tier one decks:

OCG:

• Gadget
• Vlock
• Cy-Calibur
• MPT
• Yomi-Lion-Emperer

TCG

• MPT
• FFC
• Toolbox
• Soul Control
• Frog-Monarch (just developing)

Both of course were plagued by FTKs. And of the entire list that is the only part that I like. They finally killed off Mill, Last Turn, and Exchange, while hampering Cyber Stein. This was a needed and appropriate stance to curb the luck factor. The existence of these decks forced people to expend room in their side deck to counter them, if not they then relied on luck and the incompetence of the opponent running them to win. For example at the Canadian nationals Calvin took Ben Kai all the way to the top 8, most of us didn’t have the side board ready and since he is a skilled player he didn’t screw up. Similarly a Mill deck took 2^nd at Worlds.

Aside from that I find that the list did little to remedy the problems of the game. I go extremely in depth about them in those threads but I’ll give a summary to explain it in simple terms.

Overextention:

Extending to push for the win in a game is a part of YGO. It used to be a skilled move, recognizing what resources your opponent had used and figuring out if you could win on that turn. It was skilled and a viable part of the game. As the access to cards that could generate advantage dwindled the thought process became less but was still there. Then Cyber Dragon came and made it easy to extend whenever you want with little to no repercussions. That is bad. Cyber Dragon though is not the main fault. At the end of last April’s format you could use Cyber Dragon but thanks to the existence of multiple Scapegoats along with Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute, he was kept in check.

The format that followed left use with too many 1:1 trade offs to be able to protect ourselves from this threat. Mirror Force coming back is helpful but is not enough. The game is still full with far too many 1:1s. Which brings me to my next point….

The situation with generating card advantage:

Currently there are few ways to truly generate advantage. By this I mean cards that are at least a 1:1, and against a skilled player would be a 1:1, but can be used to punish mistakes by being used to generate advantage, whether that be a +1 or more.

I don’t feel that the game just needs a blatant amount of cards that can blow up everything, but the opposite is worse. Cyber Dragon’s ability to extend makes the normal 1:1s useless. Yes you can get past such an extension but it requires resources and extending yourself just to accomplish this. That isn’t right.

The game needs a balance, yes people will complain, but that will always happen. But by having a balance of these “skilled” advantage generating cards you make a game that isn’t based on luck (who gets the one or two cards first) but you get a game where the skilled players can benefit from playing better than a novice. And this will help teach the weaker players as they notice their errors.

I personally feel a spread like the following would be balanced:

Dark Hole

Heavy Storm

Mirror Force

Torrential Tribute

The list we were given is one off of this but that is key!!! MF and TT are both susceptible to s/t removal and are really based on what the opponent does. Dark Hole is something that can be used skilfully while not being something that the opponent can just bypass. It’s something healthy for the game like Heavy Storm.

Genocide bans:

Furthermore, these genocide bans have to stop. My ideal situational of a future meta where Konami has produced enough support for the various themed decks is addressed in full in those threads. I would like to address what needs to be done in the interm to fix the game.

Currently every list is used by Konami to kill off an entire archetype, and people have been behind this. Each time they thought that originality would arise, only recently have they started to understand that it can’t. Lower tier decks can still be played for fun, but they belong in a separate meta where they can compete with other decks.

The fact remains that each time a genocide ban takes place it kills off decks only for another CC to emerge. What needs to be done is creating a meta where several tier one decks exist. The dream of themed decks is just that, but for the game to survive a balanced meta with a variety of tier one decks needs to happen. The previous list, no matter how much I have hated these past 6 months, has done just that.

Konami needs to use the list to strike a balance between these decks. Previous CC decks should also be removed from their death and brought back to life in a controlled manor. For example the various goat control and metamorphosis decks deserve to live. IMO a meta that has a group of tier one decks would be awesome, here’s an example:

• MPT
• FFC
• Goat control
• Toolbox
• Yomi-Emperer
• Soul Control
• Metamorphosis

Creating a banned list that creates this environment is more than possible. Meanwhile the restriction list could be used to balance it out. One of the key tools that Konami hasn’t been using lately is the continuous update of the restriction list once something got out of control. That would be ideal, last April had this had been used to restrict Tsukuyomi and Magician of Faith you would have been left with a more balanced game. The genocide isn’t needed.

Another key aspect is that after 6 months various decks have grown, the genocide of the entire meta makes all that work worthless. If the bans are used instead to eliminate particular problem cards while leaving a deck type, then the game will continue with a balanced meta that can grow.

Non-competitive players:

Of all the arguments that I have heard for serious genocide bans this is the worst. Many people argue that kids will stop playing if the bans don’t reflect their desires, but it isn’t true. As long as they get to use their Blue-Eyes, Dark Magician, and E-Heros (shudders at typing that) they will be happy. Regardless of what the banned list is, they will STILL lose to good players. It is still possible for them to enjoy the game, and changing a list to kill good archetypes won’t help them. The majority of the time they just play with friends their age anyways to have fun.

The list needs to reflect the needs and desires of those who play this game not because of the TV show, but because they enjoy it. Liking the game for it being a game will last a lot longer than interest in the show. That will be the key for future profit for both Konami and UDE, not the kids, the big boys.

For a further example I run my local tournaments, and to keep both groups happy I run a competitive division and a non-competitive one where all the kids can have fun using their decks of cards that look cool. Both get to have fun and the kids are secluded from being completely owned by the older players. This also keeps the soccer moms happy, that way their kids are playing kids their age instead of the scare trouble making teenagers.

Finally I will be addressing specific changes to the list. As you can tell I personally find that the list does little to help the game. All we are left with is a meta similar to our current one. My ideas on how to change that are above

I. Forbidden Cards


 

Cyber Jar, Exchange of the Spirit, Last Turn – good, kill the OTKs….

Dark Hole: this was a bad idea, as I addressed earlier Dark Hole is a card that makes the game healthy, it is definitely something that should remain.

Time Seal: in the OCG this was part of the Victory Dragon lock. Now of course this doesn’t exist in the TCG, but even in the OCG all they needed to do was kill Victory Dragon. Without it the deck lacks a solid win condition, yes it is a lock but it is much harder to pull off than Yata-Garasu. Also without Victory Dragon the deck is easy to tech against and is no real threat. At the same time banning Time Seal takes away a viable tech card. This could be a standard 1:1, but it could be used to generate advantage (chain to MST, Dust) or it could be used to counter the power cards (Mobius, Breaker, Heavy). I used one copy for this reason and so did several other players. I had been thinking of it but Matt Peddle convinced me of it. It is a good card that can be used skilfully to counter other players. Banning it eliminates the possibility of that happening.


II. Limited Cards

Morphing Jar : first off the fact that they left this card is disturbing. It’s only real use is to get lucky, bad players use it to lucksack good players. If they want to eliminate luck they need to eliminate this Jar. Don’t use the Dark World excuse, they will never be tier one as they are far too unstable and are horrible topdecks. At most they get in a surprise game one, but people counter them in the next games

D. D. Assailant: DDAs popularity had greatly curbed, the main decks being used at the end of the format didn’t run him, and all this does is hinder toolbox. Taking away 1/3 of their offensive power is wrong. It should be a viable deck and there are more than enough ways to counter DDA, DD Survivor saw a lot of play to tech against this threat. Of Cyber Dragon, Spirit Reaper and DDA, they restricted the least powerful of the three

Drop Off: With Victory Dragon gone, Mask and Tsuky at  one no one would run the lock. Time Seal was the main choice anyways. The most that they should have done was restrict Time Seal. Aside from the lock that they broke this card sees little play. The restriction is an empty gesture that doesn’t address the problems I mentioned previously

Graceful Charity: OMGWTFBBQ!?!?!?!11!!one!!shift+one Dark World will be Tier One. YEAH RIGHT (*sigh) yes Dark World gets a boost, but so do all of the Tier One decks. Dark World is still too unstable. But it is nice to have a balanced Drawing card back

Last Will: Meh, it helps to counter FTKs so I’m okay with this

Level Limit - Area B: Stall and burn aren’t tier one. As I’ve said Victory Dragon the center of the deck is gone, why punish his support? All this does is hinder decks that weren’t even that high of a level of deck. Isn’t that the opposite of what they want to do?

Mask of Darkness: Do I need to stress how bad that combo is without Victory Dragon again? There was no need for this

Mirror Force: This has been greatly missed, a great counter to RftDD and Cyber Dragon extension, but to get it back at the cost of Dark Hole isn’t worth it IMO.

Pot of Avarice: outside of MPT this card was rarely seen in multiples. MPT was good, but could be countered and had instability issues. Why kill it off? It was a viable tier one deck that provided a variety in what you got to see. This just helps to eliminate the variety in the game.

Treeborn Frog: This wasn’t needed, decks that ran multiple frogs could be dealt with anyways. If they had out two then it was an overkill, all the extra did was let them stand a better chance against counters like Kycoo. The main purpose of several was to have better odds at getting the center of the deck out. Once again trying to hinder a deck instead of creating a balance between the tier one decks.


III. Semi-Limited Cards

 

Apprentice Magician: okay…. Running more than two was always dumb outside of MPT anyways…. I really don’t get this, this serves no purpose whatsoever? Why waste our time adjusting insignificant cards?

Deck Devastation Virus: lol, gives Dark World more power. This isn’t that big of a threat, all it does is gives decks that run it even more inconsistency issues for CC decks to pick on.

Magician of Faith: Idiots. That really is all I should have to say but let me add this: 2xMof + Tsuky + Charity + Sorcerer……………… MoF should stay at one…… Idiots…..

Nobleman of Crossout: It curbs flip abuse. It curbs flip abuse my @$$ (self censored) Until this format everyone has had access to two anyways, and flips have always been good. The main threat to FFC was always a very aggressive toolbox deck that could spam Rota -> MS2. MS2 could be on the field and kill multiples while being searchable. NoC is not searchable and a one use only card. It has never really curbed flip abuse so I’m not worried. Good players will play around it, meanwhile it can  be used to counter immediate advantage for your opponent at the loss of potential future advantage for you. It belongs at two, this is good. Just don’t underestimate flips.

Reflect Bounder: and I should care why???

Abyss Soldier: see above

Book of Taiyou: GOOD, I originally said that they should leave this alone and kill Cyber Jar

Essentially all this list does is once again try to genocide the tier one decks. Certain notorious decks will be praised as the new tier ones (Dark World, Zombie, Phoenix) but they wont’.

In the end this list did little to address the main concerns of the game, and it leaves us with a meta very similar to the last one, but with very little diversity at the start. Had the changes to the restrictions been minor then it most likely would have balanced the tier one decks out, instead this hinders and kills a few, while not addressing the blantant Cyber Dragon - > Reaper drop. This doesn’t need to be fixed my restrictions, but by adjusting what cards we have access to, to counter it. Once again it eliminates 6 months of a growing game. The only things that really needed to be done were:

Elimination of FTKs

Graceful and Mirror Force back

Ban Victory Dragon only.

Address the restriction of goats, morph, BoM, and TER. With BLS gone, mof and tsuky at 1 goat control wouldn’t be ridiculous anymore.

For further reading on the specific changes I would make check out the second link I gave.

That’s all I have to say for now.