The power of Master Duel

 Hello there. Its been a bit hasnt it?

As far as Yugioh goes, I still never play in paper anymore (I have a few decks collecting dust in my room somewhere). I have quit Duel Links, half because its a money pit with a constantly changing meta designed to make you spend money, and half because the definitive version (in my opinion) of Yugioh has released:

Master Duel!

In theory, Master Duel is everything i could ever want from a Yugioh game. A decent UI and a solo mode play around in, good matchmaking and a few fun modes to try out that rotate. 

It contains a great selection of cards which is also a huge plus. And it has a crafting system that is f2p friendly (and makes duel links look like a joke).

I've been playing Master Duel since release, and I'd be lying if I said it wasnt rough. Starting from not understanding link monsters and having no exposure to pretty much any yugioh card released in the last 7 years, the learning curve was almost a vertical wall. 

I lost. A lot. I misplayed. A lot. Like a huge amount of misplays. My knowledge from duel links afforded me almost no advantage in the era of modern Yugioh. Yet I stuck with the game, playing it on and off to the present day, and have assembled a stable of fun decks. 

Ive seen many metas come and go in Master Duel, some fun and some frustrating. And I'll be on this ride for the forseeable future. Now we come to the heart of why I felt the need to make this article. I think that this is the new best way to play Yugioh, and thats a good thing. Everyone can absorb Yugioh and learn at their own pace, as time allows. 

The financial commitment can be zero if you choose for it to be, the rewards from playing are generous and everything feeds into a sense of overall progression as you craft and pull staple cards that will be shared between all decks you make. You can play at your own pace, without the awkward need for interaction with Yugioh's sometimes shady community. Master Duel is finally a Yugioh sim that is good enough to support my intrest in the game without the feeling that Konami is just selling me one iteration of a game and another one will replace it next year.

This is THE definitive online Yugioh experience and I'm happy to see it. While the game follows closely in the footsteps of the TCG, its interesting to see where the paths diverge. The game has enough quirks and charm that I see myself playing it for years to come. Its finally good to have a nice outlet for my cumulative intrest in Yugioh. 

So I guess to make a long story short, I like Master Duel.

Yugioh is a thing that still exists

So hi. Since a few months after my last post till about a couple of months ago, I essentially full stop quit Yugioh. There were several reasons for this.

My locals shut down and the owner moved to another state and I had no desire to drive to another one farther away. Later on, the game moved in a direction I really did not like (ie: Link monsters). My friends (the rest of the members of the YCG podcast) moved on to other things as well. Rather than spend money to keep up with a game I had little interest in, I retired and relegated Yugioh to the occasional joke made among my friends about past times.

A few months ago my interest in Yugioh came off life support in the form of Duel Links. While its been out for a very long time, I decided to try it on a whim and was not completely disappointed. I played enough to make a few decks I like and now it serves the purpose of a side game as I keep my eye on Yugioh going into the new decade. Who knows what will be in store for the future...

Blog not being updated because...

...i'm really, REALLY lazy.

And whatever motivation i do have is sucked out with a straw by the YCGPodcast, which i participate in every week. Talking about everything im doing twice would be kind of tiring for my hamster attention span. Might try though, since i bothered to post this!

Ycgpodcast.com

is the source i speak of.

Poking my head out, Groundhog Day style.

So back after a few months of hiatus, lets look at all the stuff that has happened while this blog has slept:

- A few YCS have come and gone. Countless people have jumped or dismounted bandwagons based on what pro players happened to be running those days.

- The Tachyeon Galaxy is live, and people were feeling the pain of $8-10 dragon rulers. While at the sneak peek i thought their prices would drop when they officially came out but that was before I saw someone open a box and only get 1 ._.

- I have tried some new stuff, which I will talk about in a later post.

- A bunch of new cards and sets have been announced. For more information on that, listen to the news section of our podcasts at ycgpodcast.com. I dont want to be redundant and talk about past news, but ill say this now: Number Hunters was a awesome pack

- 2 New banlists has come and gone, with all the drama that entails. I personally think the 1st banlist was fine after playing in it, but it didnt take Konami very long to introduce broken stuff like Prophecy and Dragon Rulers into meta that is completely unaffected by it. The second banlist is bananas and I love it.

- For the last couple of months I distanced myself from Yugioh, but this new meta is drawing me back in.

More posts to come (I mean it this time D:)

Quick Regionals Report + Banlist Stuff and General Updates

QUICK-STYLE REGGIE REPORT

NAME: JUSTEN BELL

DATE: 2/2/2013

PLACE: SEATTLE REGIONALS

DECK USED: Spanish Wind-Ups

DECKLIST:

TOTAL: 41

MONSTERS: 18

3 Shark

3 Magician

3 Rabbit

3 Rat 

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Sangan

2 Tour Guide

2 Thunder King (TKRO)

SPELLS: 11

1 Dark Hole

1 Heavy Storm

1 Monster Reborn

1 Book of Moon

3 MST

3 Wind-Up Factory

1 Pot of Avarice

TRAPS: 12

2 Solemn Warning

1 Solemn Judgement

2 Fiendish Chain

2 Bottomless

2 Mirror Force

2 Torrential Tribute

1 Compulsory

EXTRA DECK: 15

1 Leviair

1 Maestroke

1 Zenmaity

1 Zenmaines

1 Zenmaioh

1 Giga-Brilliant

1 Flaccid Golem of Destruction

1 Shock Master

1 Temtempo

1 Adreus

1 Tiras

1 Abyss Dweller

1 Cowboy

1 Papilloperative

1 Black Corn

SIDE DECK: 15

2 Maxx C

3 D-Fissure

1 Dust Tornado

1 Shadow Imprisoning Mirror

2 Snowman Eater

1 Spirit Reaper

1 Compulsory

2 Lances

2 Soul Taker

MATCHUPS: 

Following will be just a short quip for each match since I didnt take notes. :[

Round 1: Wind Ups (Win)

I am not awake yet and make a bunch of misplays, and it comes down to game 3 where i just draw what I need.

Round 2: Prophecy (Win)

Thunder King is such a bitch for this deck to deal with. That and Shock Lock. 

Round 3: Wind Ups (Win)

He gets a game loss for miswriting his decklist. Shame, cause this duel was epic. He almost came back after my strong start, but I seal the deal due to him misplaying. He forgot to use Breakthrough Skill during his turn to nullify Zenmaines effect so he could attack over it for game.

Round 4: Heros (Win)

We take turns smacking the taste out of each others mouths. I win game 3 by grinding him down to nothing, then exploding with Magician + Shark + Pot of Avarice, and locking him down in time.

Round 5: Macro Rabbit (Lose)

I draw bad in the beginning and get discouraged, and lose game 1 to my own misplays. Game 2 I control him with backrow. Game 3 he has Rabbit + Tour Guide and I have a monster hand.

Round 6: Pure Dragons (Win)

I faced this guy in YCS Seattle. Hes running pure Dragon Syncro-crontrol with cards like Delta Fly and Koaki-Meiru Drago as well as REDMD, Wyvern and crew. Very close duels, but I barely edge him out in time due to a last minute push.

Round 7: Agents (Win)

Game 1 he draws god awful. Game 2 I wasnt really being serious cause we were joking around during our duel and make a misplay by forgetting a factory search that costs me the game. In Game 3 I buckle down on him and give him a slow rolled Shock Lock.

Round 8: Agents (Lose)

Also faced this guy in YCS Seattle. He played circles around me, he knew his deck inside and out, and he made no mistakes. Game 2 I draw 3 copies of D-Fissure (The only cards I sided in), which killed any momentum I had. 

Round 9: Mermail (Lose)

Mermails for last round again. I lose game 1. Game 2 I draw 3 D-Fissures AGAIN (After I pile shuffled too!). He drew bad as well though so I didnt drop a game because of it. 

We grind it out and it comes down to game 3. I have the upper hand, but he says if he rips Avarice he will be destined to win. He rips Avarice. He wins =/. I just run out of steam before he does and it enters time so I know theres no comeback possible.

FINAL STANDING: 6-3 (37th Place) 

Invite is given to top 48, so I get one! Yaaaay!

I liked: 

Fiendish Chain (Was amazing against the mirror match)

Mirror Force (Was never a liability and it surprised a lot of people)

My decision to not maindeck Maxx C or Veiler (Bah humbug)

I didnt like:

Maxx "C" (Was barely useful all day)

My lack of Utopia and Leviathan Dragon (It hurt not having those, and I felt it all day)

Flaccid Golem (Card almost lost me 2 duels ~_~)

END REGIONAL REPORT

BANLIST STUFF!

For a good summary of my (and my crew/friends) thoughts on the banlist, listen to this! YCGPodcast <3!

My current decks:

Wind-Ups

Prophecy (Turbo edition)

Plants

Plants isnt really fleshed out, but I really like where my Prophecy deck is going. Its finally starting to flow well, and although I can still feel the sting of not having traps (I tested a trap using version before, to mixed results), I feel that the deck can finally bring High Priestess to bear and make up for its lack of defense with overwhelming offense. 

Deck runs 3 Upstart, 3 Wonder Wand, and 3 Reckless Greed for maximum DRAW POWAR! Draws into High Priestess very easily, and usually has the means to summon it. That doesnt mean Im going to be content with this version however. I will be testing more techs and builds all the way up to the release of Lord of the Tacheyon Galaxy and Divine Judgment to find the perfect build ;]

Till next time!

(PS: I will add a decklist for Prophecy if anyone wants it~)

Thoughts about my Wind-Up Deck + My new pet projects.

Wind Ups:

Overall my impressions from YCS Seattle/Tacoma was the deck was pretty solid, only thing that was wierd about it was that I never drew Tragoedia or Spirit Reaper. I would probably side 3 Soul Drains as well and cut the Macro. I feel the deck is at the most solid it will ever be, hence why ive temporarily shelved it in favor of my new projects:

- Prophecy

- Air Neos OTK

- Rabbit X-Sabers (Idea hijacked by my friend)

With prophecy taking up most of my playtesting and deck building time. Ive almost settled on a final build. Controversial card choices include 2 Wonder Wand, 2 Star Hall, no Temperance of Prophecy, and 3 Madolche Magileine (thanks to Bahamut84 for that idea). My deck is alot like his deck would probably be if it were in the TCG, and its running as smooth as butter (most of the time). More info at a later date

My YCS SeaTac Decklist: Passive-Aggressive Wind-Ups

Quick decklist before I go to bed, thoughts about in a later post

Monsters: 20

3 Wind-Up Shark
3 Wind-Up Rat
3 Wind-Up Rabbit
3 Wind-Up Magician
2 Maxx "C
2 Tragoedia
2 Tour Guide From The Underworld
1 Sangan
1 Spirit Reaper

Spells: 9

3 Wind-Up Factory
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
1 Pot of Avarice
2 MST

Traps: 11

2 D-Prison
1 Trap Stun
1 Compulsory
2 Torrential Tribute
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn J

Extra:

Standard Stuff + Cowboy and Abyss Dweller (No Tiras)

Side:

2 Macro
1 Soul Drain
1 MST
2 TKRO
2 Cyber Dragon
1 Chimeratech
2 Soul Take
2 Fiendish Chain
1 Trap Stun
1 Compulsory