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Weej's Different Perspective
Concepts to Duel by:
Smashing Book of Noblemans
Article #1 | 7/15/05

In these changing Advanced Format times, people are always looking for solid options for their decks. What works for one duelist, may not work too well for another – but the overall concept remains the same: the duelist needs a quick fix to compensate for the cycling of cards in each format.

While it’s pretty obvious that Konami cycles through cards rather than just ban them completely (Mirage, Confiscation, Forceful cycling out for Delinquent, Graceful, etc – with the notable exception of Raigeki, Harpie’s never coming off the list), it’s important to note the shift in the metagame. When the new list comes out, people will experiment with them for a week or two. After that, a new norm, a new standard, will be put forth. Duelists from all over had the opportunity to see this first hand at Metagame.com.

Without Confiscation and the Forceful Sentry to aid them, most experienced duelists started playing far more conservatively. There was no need to worry about having powerful cards taken out of your hand, because even with Delinquent Duo being played in full force, the player still has a chance to keep those cards since the 1^st discard is random. With this new conservative stance, decks began using two copies of Metamorphosis to sub in for the lack of Confiscation and Forceful Sentry. It’s a powerful strategy, and it’s been supplemented by the new Battle Position changes.

However, if Confiscation and the Forceful Sentry return, (Lord help us all) what will happen to all those Metamorphosis cards? People would still play them, but most would be tossed out once again in favor of the obviously more powerful Confiscation and Forceful Sentry. The point I am trying to make is that with each new Ban List that arrives, it’s important to flow with it quickly and effectively. You need to formulate strategies that will benefit you the most. Instead of letting someone else make a deck and use certain strategies and win with them, thus making thousands of people copy them, make your own strategies and win with them – you’ll be the trend setter. It’s a powerful feeling.

The dueling concept I’m going to talk with you all today is a rather basic, if not obvious, concept at that. Either way, this Ban List will be ending in a few months so I thought I’d go ahead and talk about it. The dueling concept is another trinity of cards, but this trinity is based more on Monster Removal. I call it the Smashing Book of Noblemans.

Smashing Ground
Normal Spell
Destroy one Monster on your opponent’s side of the field with the highest defense.

When Dark Hole was banned, duelists needed a powerful solution to compensate for the lack of this powerful mass removal card. In essence, Dark Hole was Raigeki. All you had to do was play it when you had no Monsters on your side of the field, and it instantly became a Raigeki! This concept can also apply to Heavy Storm, and vice-versa, but the important thing to note between the two is that you can actually chain to Heavy Storm, versus the field being whipped out with Dark Hole. Anyway, cards like Smashing Ground show duelists first hand just how amazing a set Invasion of Chaos was (and is). No other set had the amazing archetype boosting cards that IoC had, it’s a damn shame that it’s the very same set that staled the metagame. This card is a solid 1 for 1 trade, you play your Smashing, they lose their Monster unless they somehow protect it.

When it comes to Monster/Field ratios, little has changed. The average Monster still survives only one to two turns and then dies. People still play only one to two Monsters on the field at max, while those who overextend suffer the consequences dearly unless they get very lucky. Keeping this in mind, Smashing Ground is one of the best monster removal cards in this format alongside Nobleman of Crossout, and Smashing Ground is far superior to Lightning Vortex.

What? Superior to Lighting Vortex? Yes. When Lighting Vortex just came out, people put it down and talked about how bad it’s discard was, etc. There’s no denying that the discard is what makes this card hurt. But theirs also no denying that this card is amazingly powerful when executed properly.

You see, Smashing Ground and Lightning Vortex, while both Monster removal in a literal sense, fuction differently. Smashing Ground is good as a solid opening counter to your opponents Monster, allowing you to summon your own Monster and do some damage. Lightning Vortex, on the other hand, is more appropriate as a final strike card. If you destroy a field full of Sheep Token with Lighting Vortex, you essentially lost –2 card advantage for virtually nothing. However, if you attacked with your Monsters to win the game, the fact that you lost card advantage is irrelevant because the game is over. A balance must be made when using these two cards. While they are both good at destroying Monsters, their timing as to be used appropriately in order to get the most optimum use out of them. People mis-understand concepts such as these, and it’s really a shame.

Our next card is Book of Moon.

Book of Moon

Quick-Play Spell
Send one Monster on the field into facedown defense position.

Very few cards in the game have the amazing versatility that Book of Moon has. While most Quick-Play cards in general are highly versatile, especially the ubiquitous Scapegoat, Book of Moon is one that has only recently been getting the attention it badly deserved. The card isn’t even that broken it itself, and allows for some awesome combos. The card can serve in either offensive or defensive situations, but tends to be more geared on Defense. It can help you reuse Flip Effect Monsters to get more out of your cards, while it can also save you from Ring of Destruction, Smashing Ground, Mirror Force, etc. It’s a solid card that in my opinion is far superior to it’s overrated rival, Enemy Controller. Enemy Controller is useful, but if we had Shrink in the TCG, it’s use would drop considerably. Why send the Monster into Defense Position when you can kill it outright and gain from that destruction, with something like Don Zaloog? Enemy Controller’s secondary effect isn’t that necessary now, as most people want to morph Sheep Token into Thousand-Eyes Restrict anyway. Coupled with the fact that Book of Moon can chain to the secondary effect of Enemy Controller and shut it out right, and you see that we have a winner. It’s use has only been strengthened with the use of Tsukuyomi, the moon-diving Book-in-a-Monster wonder. It even combos extremely well the next card on our list.

Nobleman of Crossout
Normal Spell

Destroy 1 facedown Monster and remove it from play. If the destroyed Monster was a Flip-Effect Monster, both players remove all copies of the card from their decks. The deck is then shuffled.

When the extremely powerful Change of Heart was finally banned, Magician of Faith came back in full force. With it, Nobleman of Crossout, which was almost useless in the previous format, has become a two card staple in this one. While it’s a horrible top deck, any card that can’t serve you best in the situation your in can also be considered a horrible top deck, so don’t hold that against it. It is a powerful form of Monster removal that is played even more than Smashing Ground and Lighting Vortex.

Honestly, the card itself is pretty straightforward. You play it, remove any Flip Effect copies from play, and tell the opponent where the other copy is if the opponent runs more than one. Too many duelists have been using Nobleman of Crossout and shortchanging themselves. There is a ruling that allows you to search your opponents deck after they have removed the cards from their deck. It is allowed because it is a way to verify and confirm that the opponent is being truthful when it comes to removing cards from their deck. Think about it: if your opponent searches his deck through Sangan’s effect and then says that he or she doesn’t have a Monster that they can search for, how would YOU, the opposing player, honestly know that? The ruling on these search-based cards (Sangan, Crossout, Emissary of the Afterline) is that you can search their deck to confirm that what they claim is true. This is an awesome ruling that can give you a huge advantage. You can search their deck and confirm that they did what they were supposed to do, but while your going through there, you can instantly tell what your opponent has waiting for you in their hand! If you did this in the second and third duels, you also have a unique opportunity to learn what the opponent has mained against you from the Side Deck! If you do this in the beginning of the duel, the element of surprise from the deck has left the building, and, you guessed it, you now have a serious leg up on your opponent if they run some kind of strange themed deck. Keep in mind that your opponent gets to do the same thing to you if you played something like Nobleman of Crossout or Emissary of the Afterlife and both players had to remove copies, but still, it’s a small price to pay for getting to learn about your opponent from their DECK, not their FIELD.

That’s it for this week’s Dueling Concepts. Each week, you’ll see Bill release articles from me. It’ll vary between different types of articles that I have planned to send to him, but feel free to send any comments or discussion to mrweej@gmail.com. Until next time!