Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Quicksand Theory

Like quicksand, the meta is ever shifting...


The results from YCS Philly are in, and they are simultaneously surprising and unsurprising. On the one hand, the top 16 cut was made up mostly expected and established meta decks, Dino Rabbit and Chaos Dragons. But the surprising thing was the notable absence of one accredited tier 1 deck: Inzektors. No Inzektor deck made it into the top 16. Hieratics didnt manage to live up to the hype and HEROs also were MIA in the top 32. Wind-ups and Dark Worlds, while being on the decline in comparison to Dino Rabbit and Chaos Dragons, still managed to sneak into the top 16. So what does this mean for the meta going forward?

In theory, Inzektors should be one of the strongest decks in the format, especially now that they have even more support available (Ladybug). They also have neutral or favorable match-ups against almost every other relevant deck in the meta. But we all know that Yugioh theory doesnt always equal Yugioh fact. So why did Inzektors lay an egg at Philly, taking only a measly 4 spots out of the top 32 for such a allegedly dominant and powerful deck? Was it under representation, a lack of Inzektor usage? Its impossible to know at this point due to a lack of solid numbers, but if Inzektors fall out of favor  due for some unknown reason, it will certainly leave a power vacuum at the top, with only two tier 1 decks left to duke it out. It might weaken Dino-Rabbit, who have a very unfavorable matchup against Dragons, and push them out of tier 1 in the most extreme case.
Will a new deck rise to check the power of widespread Chaos Dragon usage? Or will Inzektors steamroll on, proving in time that this YCS was just a fluke, with OCG records and results to back up their claim to tier 1 status? One thing is certain, the Yugioh meta is like quicksand, and it only takes one shift to completely restructure the power base.


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Product Analysis: Galactic Overlord

Replacing YIP will be an analysis of every new Yugioh product that will come out in the future. The move towards generalization was a conscious one, as I feel its a better approach to give people my opinion and information and let them draw their own conclusions when it comes to investment and such. That doesn't mean I wont drop the occasional hint or two about potentially lucrative investment opportunities ;O.

So without futher ado...

Galactic Overlord:


What a... interesting pack this turned out to be. In the grand scheme of Yugioh products, its far from the worst (that title belongs to Cybernetic Revolution...*shudder*) but it really didnt knock my socks off with its awesomeness either (like ORCS, yeah!). And from reading around the sneak peak for it tended to have left a bad taste in many peoples mouths. But enough chitchat, here's the analysis:

The people to see:


Galactic Overlord introduces the Hieratic and Lightray archetype, as well as major support for Inzektors and Evols. The verdict still isn't in about how good TCG Hieratics will be, and Lightrays haven't made much of a splash in the OCG. The Inzektor and Evol support (and by support i mean Inzektor Ladybug and Evo-Diversity) is really good, but then again its common/rare, so you shouldn't really be hurting to get it. Overall I think this is so-so pack as far as archetype support goes.

The places to go:


Rarity-wise, I feel like the spread is subpar, almost as bad as Extreme Victory. There's tons of secrets and ultras that you don't want to pull, like Zekt Conversion (Ultra), Neo-Galaxy Eyes (Ultra), Xyz Unit (Ultra), Tardy Orc (Secret) and Lucky Stripe (Secret). I'm expecting this pack to turn out similarly to Extreme Victory, that is, a mediocre pack with a few good chase cards, like...

The things to do:


Cardcar D: The chase card of this pack, its currently sitting in the 100-120$ range. Whether its worth its high price point is a fact that will become apparent after the first few YCS where its legal.

Photon Strike Bounzer: A good card with a good effect, I just wish it wasn't secret. Its big in Hieratics and thats about it, so its price will rise and fall with them.

Night Beam: Amazing card, and its price isnt too high either for a ultra (~15$).

Overall...


This really isnt a pack you want to buy. Take the information I've provided and decide for yourself if its worth it, but in my opinion, unless you need multiple (10+) super/ultra/secret cards from the pack, your money would be better spent buying them as singles, as there isnt a whole lot of tradebait you could pull to leverage out a pack where you dont get what you want. Return of the Duelist is shaping up to be a pretty amazing pack, so look forward to that and avert your eyes from this lukewarm pack >_>.

Till next time!



Thursday, May 10, 2012

Extended break over, new articles on the way

After an almost 3 week break from Yugioh blogging (I guess to "reinvigorate" myself), I'm back! I haven't been taking a break from Yugioh card game itself however, and several new articles in the next few days will be detailing my thoughts and exploits while on blogging hiatus. Look forward to them!