Merry Christmas

Wait, what?

Yeah, merry Christmas, everybody! And no better card to show this holiday celebration, than by the new card: Token Christmas.

Or, to say it in another way: the new Jump Festa Cards are out and for once, they do NOT suck. Each new card from the Jump festa has its use, even if it's just as a holiday card (lol).

Jump Festa

For those that do not know, Jump Festa is an annual party or exposition in Japan, all about anime and manga, sponsored by Shueisha, creators of the various Jump anthologies [/Shameless copy of Wikipedia].

And since Yu-Gi-Oh! is part of Shueisha, they always release two variants of card packs, with reprints and several new cards.

Why did you never hear of it until this point? Because most new cards in these packs are hardly worth playing. And when they get a print in the TCG, it's as a common in the 09x card pool, because the effects are not good enough.

What makes this year different? Well, all of the new cards are actually kinda good, or have a good use...

The new cards

Bright White Dragon Wyrbuster and Dark-Winged Dragon Collapserpent: You can call these two the younger versions of Lightpulsar Dragon and Darkflare Dragon, because they can only be special summoned by banishing either a LIGHT or DARK monster from your grave (sounds familiar) and they search each other when sent to the graveyard. Biggest use for them: Chaos Dragons!

Komodo Dragon: Also known as: "Thank god Future Fusion is Banned". When this card is sent to the grave, you can special summon a dragon from your hand (and it does NOT miss timing)! Dragon decks will rejoice with this card. Also, it's a Debris Dragon target!

Fishborg Archer: Broken as hell in water decks. Special summons itself from the grave by discarding a water monster (Atlantean Dragoons) when you control no monsters and it's friggin tuner, allowing for easy synchro-ing in water decks.

Fire God Vulcan: A Fire Beast-Warrior? Doesn't remind me of anything..... A level 6 that bounces cards back to the hand? Basically it's a watered-down version of Brionac in Fire form, but severely restricted.

Secret Sanctuary of the Spellcasters: Secret Village of the Spellcasters got its private sanctuary, because the two cards work so well together in locking down your opponent it's not even funny (for the opponent). After Secret Village locks down spells, this card locks down monster attacks AND effects. Combine that with Sorcerer of Dark Magic and your opponent can go straight to the scoop phase.

Fire Dance Longsword: A Fire Beast that works well together with the Fire King archetype and works well with Diawolf. Random destruction gives this card its power.

Nine-Snakes Peacock: A searcher for WIND attributes. This card works amazingly with Icarus Attack and Swallow's Nest, because it triggers when tributed and it DOES NOT miss timing.

Armor Kappa: If you want a replacement for Gachi Gachi Gantetsu, you can try this card instead. Same summoning conditions, can gain attack up to 2400 (unless Veilered) and can (during one battle phase) protect your monsters (all of them) from being destroyed and protects your lifepoints at the same cost (a discard cost).

Token Christmas: That's the intro card of this post. The card tributes 2 tokens (of the same level) to summon monsters from your grave of the same level. This card will work great in the new Phantom Beast Plane Archetype that will be in Lord of the Tachyongalaxy (more on that in a later post, somewhere in 2013).

Afterword

In short, these new cards are good and should not be looked over. I can't tell when they will be printed in the TCG (I expect from Lord of the Tachyongalaxy onward?), but I expect that all these cards (safe a few perhaps) will be played in their respective archetypes. So, if that happens, I think this Jump Festa will be a success.

Next time, I will post more about the fire archetypes, I will...

V out.

The Apocalypse is here... Analyzing the FIRE archetypes #1

In the first months of 2013, we’ll be flooded with a new structure deck with FIRE monsters and a booster set filled with FIRE monsters. A total of 3 new archetypes will spawn with those releases.

Upon request, I've analyzed the three archetypes and I’ll give you my results in the upcoming posts.

Analyzing the FIRE Archetypes #1: Splashable cards

No matter how good or bad an archetype is, almost each archetype has one or more cards that can be splashed into other decks. Hieratics have Tefnuit and Atum, Blackwings have Gale and Zephyros, Inzektors have Exa-Beetle, Madolche's have Magileine, etc…

So the question for today is: "What cards of the new archetypes can be splashed in other decks?"

Haze Beasts

Haze Beasts are the secondary FIRE archetype from Cosmo Blazer. And though the support for the theme is not that great compared to the other new archetypes, they do have one of the most remarkable xyz cards attached to their name: Haze Beast Basilicock

Basilicock is a Rank 6 XYZ that requires FIRE monsters, but is the first one that can use 2-5 monsters. Its effect gets stronger, the more XYZ materials you put underneath it.

Not mentioning the boosted powers (which are harder to achieve), the basic effect is already amazing. "Once per turn: you can detach 1 XYZ material to target 1 of your opponent’s monsters (either his field or in his grave). Banish it."

No further restrictions; no limits; it can even attack afterwards or before! It’s like Black Luster Soldier being reborn into a flaming bird. If the summoning conditions of this card weren't so limited, this card would be dead broken and banned asap.

Can you splash it in other decks than Haze Beasts? Yes, you can. Volcanics can use Volcanic Queen, Jurracs can use Jurrac Herra, Hieratics can use Tyhone #2 (or DNA transplant), Monarchs can use Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (or DNA transplant), Lavals can use Laval Lancelord, etc.

So, by tweaking your deck a little, you might find a spot for Basilicock.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist

Fire Formation – Tenki: Even if you don’t like the Fire Fist archetype, you DO want this card.

What it does? Simple. Upon activation, it searches a level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior (ANY Beast-Warrior).

Next to that, after the search, it remains on the field, boosting all your Beast-Warriors with 100 attack, which can make a difference if there’s a 1900-beatstick slugfest on the field.

Notable cards to search are: Gladiator Beast Laquari or Darius (not Andal, but he should remain in the deck for Rescue Rabbit), T.G. Warwolf, (X)X-Saber Boggart Knight or Ragirura, Wind-up Hunter or Rabbit, Koa’Ki Meiru Urnight or Crusader, or Fire King Beast Yaksha or Barong.

The other spell and trap cards are less splashable, since they’re the most effective in pure Beast-Warrior decks and how many pure Beast-Warrior archetypes are there nowadays? Two, to be exactly. Fire Fists and Phantom Beasts.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist- Tiger King: If you are going to splash Tenki in your deck, you might want to consider this XYZ as well. Tiger King requires 2 Lv. 4 Beast-Warriors, searches out a Fire Formation card (Tenki) and sets it on the field. And next to that, it’s also able to negate all other monster effects on the field.

Next to the Fire Fist decks, this XYZ can prove its use in Phantom Beasts, Gladiator Beast, Fire King and even Koa’Ki Meiru decks.

Fire Kings

The third archetype in this series of articles is Fire Kings. These cards are not part of Cosmo Blazer (unless Konami puts Yaksha in the set or makes a TCG world premiere card). But we’ll have them when the structure deck “Onslaught of the Fire Kings” reaches our shores in February.

And, even if these new monsters don’t strike your fancy, you should not neglect the included spell cards.

Assault of the Fire Kings: When you don’t control a monster, you can special summon a FIRE Beast, Winged Beast or Beast-Warrior from your deck, but it’s destroyed at the end phase and its effect is negated.

This fits in each of the new FIRE archetypes introduced, since they’re either Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast. But it also supports Flamvells (Poun, Firedog) or even Gladiator Beasts (Laquari) or Ninja's (Red Dragon Ninja).

Fire King Fire Cycle: Even more splashable than the previous card is the quick-play card Fire King Fire Cycle. It destroys one fire monster you control to special summon another fire monster from your grave.

This is a great card to chain if your monster is being targeted for a card effect or if you want to exchange a low-attack monster for a boss monster.

And if you ask in which decks you can use this, you're being silly...

In ANY FIRE deck, duh.

Afterword

There’s no use talking about the Enthusiastic archetype, since there’s only a slim chance we’ll see them in this set (see previous post) and there’s only 3 of them (2 monsters, 1 XYZ).

Next post will go more in-depth with the archetypes itself.

Until then, V out.

Guessing the OCG promo inclusions – Cosmo Blazer edition

Originally, I intended to post this before the product page of Cosmo Blazer came up, but then I got sick last week and Konami was faster than I thought... but enough excuses.

It’s December. In a month, Cosmo Blazer will get its sneak peek in TCG land and since last week, the product page is up. So, it’s time to do some random guesses as what the OCG promo cards (cards 90-99) could be that are integrated in the set (lol).

The product page revealed 3 cards already, of the Fire Fist archetype (I thought they had a high probability of being in the set anyway), so there are 7 cards left.

Since Konami has a tendency to release some random cards in that card pool, guessing only gives me a 60-70% accuracy. But still, it’s fun guessing.

High probability of being in Cosmo Blazer:

• Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Horse Prince, Spirit and Lion Emperor: I originally put them on the “high probability list” and Konami placed them immediately on the product page, confirming my guess. My original reasoning: These three cards are part of the Fire Fist Archetype (these three started it). So there would be no reason for Konami NOT to put them in the set
• Ignition Beast Volcanon: I notice this card is on the Wiki page of Cosmo Blazer, but I can’t spot it on the product page. Anyways, it’s FIRE attribute, so it has a decent chance of being in this set. And it fits Konami’s description of a card of the era before XYZ summoning.
• Number 69: Heraldry deity, Coat of Arms: Key monster of the Heraldic Beast Archetype. Since the last Heraldic Beasts are in this set, it would make sense if this card is in the set (presumably as secret rare).
• Constellar Omega: Somewhere in February or March Hidden Arsenal 7 will be released (at least I hope so). As with previous Hidden Arsenals, there will be a card in the booster set before its release, linked to the archetypes in that Hidden Arsenal. Constellar Omega fits that bill 100%.

Medium probability of being in Cosmo Blazer:

• Constellar Sombres & Evilswarm Cercyon: Like Constellar Omega, these two are also linked with the archetypes of Hidden Arsenal 7, so it has a good chance of being part of Cosmo Blazer. But they’re the a few of the latest promo cards in OCG, so I wouldn't be surprised if they’re in the following set (Lord of the Tachyongalaxy) instead. But still, it’s possible.
• Crimson Blader: Oh, I would so LOVE it if this card would be in this set (I like it). It’s a FIRE attribute, so it goes along with Cosmo Blazer. It also fits the description of cards from the previous era on the product page of Cosmo Blazer. Cross your fingers that this card will be in there.
• Mono Synchron & Steam Synchron: Advanced Dark & Neo Space were part of the Duelist Edition reprint sets in the OCG and were secret rares in Return of the Duelist. Mono Synchron & Steam Synchron are also part of the Duelist Edition reprint set, so I kind of expect these two cards to get a TCG print soon somewhere. Konami might hold these cards until Legendary Collection 4, but who knows?

Low probability of being in Cosmo Blazer:

• All cards of the last V-Jump pack: I’m talking about Fire Fist – Chicken, Fire King Beast Yaksha and the three Enthousiastic monsters. All of them are FIRE, all of them are linked to the fire archetypes that will appear… but all of them appeared on the last Jump Alpha poll to decide the next Jump Promo Card. In other words, Konami does NOT have the rights to publish them yet. So, there’s a big chance these cards will not appear in the set, sadly enough
• Haze Beast Hippogriffo: At first, I thought this card would be a sure hit in this set, but the revelation that this card is going to be in the upcoming OCG structure deck changed my mind. There’s a near 100% chance this will be in the TCG version of the structure deck and thus not in Cosmo Blazer.
• Alpaca, the Holy Beast of the Forest: Together with Hippogriffo the last cards from the Jump Festa 2012 card packs to be released in TCG, so it has a (low) chance of being in this set. I kind of expected this card in Return of the Duelist, together with the other “Beast of the Forest” cards. But yeah, Konami likes to be unpredictable, huh.
• Power Tool Mecha Dragon & Ancient Fairy Dragon (manga): Two new cards of the latest Premium Pack in Japan. They’re the manga interpretations of Power Tool Dragon & Ancient Fairy Dragon. These two cards will not be printed in the Zexal Tin in March, so they’ll have another release, somewhere else. Cosmo Blazer may be a little too soon, though. They’ll probably appear in Lord of the Tachyongalaxy instead.

My 10 card picks

The previous mentioned cards are the ones that have a chance of being in Cosmo Blazer. If there are any other cards in the set not mentioned in this list, then those are a pure random Konami decision (like how Magician’s ape and Electromagnetic Bagworm were totally random in Abyss Rising).

If I would have to pick 10 cards, I’d pick:

1. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Lion Emperor (already confirmed)
2. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Spirit (already confirmed)
3. Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Horse Prince (already confirmed)
4. Number 69: God Medallion, Coat of Arms
5. Constellar Omega
6. Constellar Sombres
7. Evilswarm Cercyon
8. Crimson Blader
9. Explosive Beast Volcannon
10. Alpaca, Holy Beast of the Forest

TCG Exclusives?

Harder than guessing the OCG promo’s would be the TCG world premiere cards. Safe for the Sneak peek card, nobody has ever heard or seen those cards (except Konami employees and the card artists). Guessing would be silly, so just wait and see.

When the set comes out, we’ll see how right (or wrong) I am.

From tomorrow, the armageddon starts (lol), so expect lots of fire...

Until then, V out.

Card Rulings: Thunder King Rai-Oh!

Been a while, hasn't it? Well, I have been sick and I've been preparing a series of posts about the upcoming fire archetypes (a request). Those aren't finished yet, but another request came for a card that has been nicknamed “probably the best card in the game” in several formats. The card I'm talking about is the following:

Thunder King Rai-Oh is one of the best cards the GX manga gave us and has been a staple in many decks ever since (safe the March ’12 format, but let’s forget about that horrible period).

But the card text has caused much confusion and judge interventions in both real-life tournaments and DuelingNetwork. So here’s a post to clarify a few things about the thunder king.

Latest card text:

When understanding a card, it’s obviously you look at the LATEST card text.

"Neither player can add cards from their Deck to their hand except by drawing them. During either player's turn, when your opponent would Special Summon a monster: You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard; negate the Special Summon, and if you do, destroy it."

Adding cards to your hand

“Neither player can add cards to their hand, except by drawing them.”

As long as Rai-Oh is face-up on the field, all card effects that state “add x from the deck to your hand” are negated. So, cards like Sangan, Reinforcement of the Army and even Pot of Duality are stopped by Rai-Oh. Also, card effects like those of Atlantean Dragoons, Mermail Abysspike, Geargiarmor, Spellbook of Secrets, Madolche Magileine and Fire Formation Tenki are completely stopped.

As you might have noticed from the card names, the most recent archetypes are all about searching the deck, ensuring Rai-Oh to get a second life after he got in disuse previous format.

One thing that players tend to forget is that this effect applies to BOTH players.

Negating special summons

"During either player's turn, when your opponent would Special Summon a monster: You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard; negate the Special Summon, and if you do, destroy it."

Negating special summons? Nice, isn't it? That’s like a walking Solemn Warning!

One of the most common mistakes made with Rai-Oh is that people think it works like Solemn Warning. But it does NOT work that way. If you want to compare it to a trap, Black Horn of Heaven is the closest thing, really.

You’ll understand it better if I give a few examples:

Rai-Oh can negate the following:

• Special summons, because the field/grave/hand is as required on the card text. I’m talking about cards like Cyber Dragon, Photon Thrasher, Dark Armed Dragon, Grandsoil, Moulinglacia, Geargiaccellerator, Judgment Dragon, E-HERO Bubbleman and Lightray Gearfried.
• Built-in special summons, even if they have a cost. Cards like Machina Fortress, Lava Golem, The Tricky, or Grapha Dragon lord of Dark World (you still pay that cost!).
• Synchro Summons
• Xyz summons
• “TAG” Fusion summons (Neos fusions, VXYZ fusions, Armityle the Chaos Phantom & Gladiator Beast fusions)

Rai-Oh can NOT negate the following:

• Monsters special summoned by spell or trap cards (Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, etc.)
• Fusion Summons (Polymerization, Miracle Fusion, etc.). It cannot even stop fusions resulting from Fusion Gate
• Special summons that happen during the damage step (Gorz & Tragoedia, Searchers like Giant Rat, Mystic Tomato, Pyramid Turtle, etc.).
• Special summons caused by monster effects (Rescue Rabbit, Gravekeeper's Spy, Inzektor Dragonfly, Deep Sea Diva, Tour Guide, Goblindbergh, etc.)
• Ignition effect summons, like: Mermail Abyssmegalo, High Priestess of Prophecy, Destiny HERO – Malicious, etc.

Ignition effect summons Versus Built-in summons

The problem most players have with Rai-Oh’s negation is that they can’t differentiate between summons that use chain links and summons that do NOT use chain links (or Ignition effect summons vs built-in summons).

Konami has made it easier to differentiate between with the Problem-Solving Card Text (PSCT). I’ll give you the examples of Grapha (built-in summon) and Abyssmegalo (Ignition effect summon).

Notice the difference in the text? There’s a semicolon (a ;) in Megalo's special summon card text, while there is no such thing in Grapha's card text. Because of this, Rai-Oh can negate the summoning of Grapha, but cannot negate the summoning of Megalo. It’s actually that easy to spot!

It's harder to spot the difference on older cards, so I strongly advice using cards with PSCT, if possible

Afterword

If you run into ruling issues in real life, or on DuelingNetwork, feel free to link to this page.

Always ready to help out with ruling issues.

V out.

TCG-Konami & Duelist Packs

You might have noticed it's been a while since the TCG got their last Duelist pack. The last one that was released over here was Duelist pack: Crow and was quite a success, due to easy-to-get Blackwing monsters & Zephyros the Elite being one of the most splashable Blackwings ever.

But Kevin Tewart (the most known honcho of Konami) never made a secret of it that TCG-Konami does not like Duelist packs. The appearance of the Duelist pack Yuma last year made his point completely.

This 30-card set was something that the TCG didn't want. Out of the 30-card set, Volcasaurus was the only new decent card. Any Marketing student (with a specialization in card games) could see that this Duelist Pack would remain in store shelves for years to come.

So, until further notice, Konami will never again release a Duelist Pack.

"Come on, you do WANT one of my "amazing" cards
to make a Yuma deck, don't you?
Trust me, it's competitive!"

What about the new cards?

But stopping the line of Duelist Packs brought a new problem along with it. In each Duelist pack, there are a few new cards. Duelist Pack Yuma had 5 new cards. This year's Duelist Pack Kite/Kaito had an incredible amount of 12 new cards (lol, as if OCG-Konami was laughing in the face of its TCG-counterpart). But those cards need to get a TCG print sometime.

Kevin Tewart once said on Pojo that they were brainstorming a lot about a decent way to release this.

And then finally last week, after a long period of silence, the 808blog posted an announcement that 2013 would see the release of a new Premium Tin (the Zexal Collection Tin), which includes these cards.

The Zexal Collection Tin

In short, each tin will have 3 fixed Ulimate Rares (reprints), 4 random new Ultra Rare cards and 7 random new Super Rare cards. That's a total of 14 cards in each tin.

Also, the random cards will come from a card pool of 21 (new) cards, including the cards from the Duelist Packs.

So WHAT is in it?

The reprints? There's a great chance that these will be reprints of Jump cards (so non-US players can play them), like 7-Swords Warrior, Barbaroid, E-Hero Escuridao, Catapult Warrior or Shooting Quasar Dragon. Though I wonder which ones they'll pick, since all of the cards I just mentioned are NOT Zexal-related (lol).

And the new cards? Well, the tin art revealed cards like Volcasaurus and Photoknight Paladios, so I bet your ass most of the new cards from the previous mentioned Duelist Packs will be in here.

I so feel like a TV-shop salesman right now... <_<

But if you can count and you read all of the previous sections, you'll notice that the numbers don't match. 5 new cards from the Yuma Duelist Pack, 12 new cards from the Kite Duelist pack... that doesn't match the 21 new cards in total!

So, I guess there's still some speculation on what OTHER cards will be in here? Will there be cards from the upcoming OCG-premium pack (which includes Zubaba General)? Or will it be random OCG promo cards (like Number 56: Goldrat)?

Anyway, I'm looking froward to this release, since my main deck right now is a Photon deck and cards like Volcasaurus & Paladios are good XYZ monsters in general.

That's it for now.

Until next time, V out.

How to beat #2: Facing Macro Rabbit

Macro Rabbits have won YCS Barcelona, probably picking up a hype around the world. Facing a good deck backed with macro Cosmos can be a pain, but there are a few tricks to counter them.

Royal Decree, Trap Stun & 7 Tools of the Bandit

What's the most annoying thing about Rabbit decks? The defensive style of playing (boss monsters that negate, macro cosmos & enormous back row). But you can get a Rabbit player on his nerves with a mere face-up Royal Decree. If they're out of luck (and don't have materials left on Laggia or a set Solemn Judgment), they have to wait until they draw a MST or Heavy Storm to counter you. With a trap-heavy deck like Macro Rabbit, that can cause a game loss...

But if you don't want to make your own traps useless, a well-timed Trap Stun or Seven Tools of the Bandit can do the work just as well. Just make sure you don't use your Trap Stun on the activation of Macro Cosmos, because it remains on the field, even if it IS stunned for a turn.

Say, That's a nice Macro Cosmos you have there. What does it do?...
Nothing, that's right.

Forbidden Chalice

Forget Effect Veiler or Maxx "C" when facing a Macro Rabbit deck. Most of the times Macro Cosmos is going to be active when the opponent summons the bunny, effectively putting a stop to your hand traps. What card can save you at that point? Forbidden Chalice is the only thing, really. Neither Skill Drain or Fiendish Chain can stop Rescue Rabbit, but Forbidden Chalice can.

Also, since Chalice works both turns (unlike Veiler), a well-timed Chalice can negate the effects of Laggia and / or Dolkka, allowing you to active your spell/trap or monster effect.

This card may be the holy grail you're looking for...

Solemn Warning

This sounds weird, right? Why would I promote Solemn Warning during an age where everyone shifts to Bottomless Trap Hole?

Actually, it's pretty simple. Solemn Warning can counter both Starlight Road AND Macro Cosmos!

Starlight Road allows you to summon Stardust Dragon, while Macro Cosmos allows you to summon Helios - The primordial Sun. While Stardust Dragon is somewhat used nowadays, nobody uses Helios. Therefore, that secondary effect kind of gets forgotten. But if a trap or spell has an optional special summon effect, Solemn Warning can negate it, even if you don't use the monster mentioned on the card.

You use my trap, but not me? That's not fair!

Again, no deck is unbeatable. You just have to find the right tricks to face it.

Until next time, V out.

Macro Rabbits win YCS Barcelona

YCS Barcelona Was another successful European YCS with 820 attendees. All Saturday there were 7 rounds of Swiss, with the last 3 rounds being held today, on Sunday.

This was the first REAL European YCS the new format, so I was kind of curious how people all over Europe adapted with the new format. Will Dino Rabbit still be the most popular deck? Will people jump on the Inzektor-bandwagon of YCS Seattle? Will Mermails win? All questions that will be answered in this weekend.

Deck diversity was enoumous, spouting decks like Agents, Inzektors, Wind-ups, Chaos Dragons, Mermails, Rabbit decks (both classic & macro), Chain Burn, Geargia variants, Prophecy, Flamvell, Dragunity, etc.

At the start of day 2, 159 duelists kept on going for that top 32 spot. PJ Tierney analyzed what the top players played and concluded that it was very diverse.

Wind-ups were clearly the most popular deck of the day, as near 50% of all duelists left on Sunday played the deck.

After 10 rounds of harsh fighting came the list with the final standings. For your eyes too, this list can be found The following page.

Out of these duelists, there came the following top-32 cutoff.

Top-32

Decklists aren't out yet, but at least we know who played what on This page

In short:

13 tops of the 32 spots? That's near half of all the top spots! I know they were heavily represented, but this still is a LOT! They're certainly a force to be reckoned with.

PJ Tierney gave us a quick analysis of the topped decks and compared them to YCS Seattle. Check it out on: This page

Known people that topped were Simon Hé, Stephan Sluis, Peter Gross, Jack Bruun, Paul Clarke and several others.

These brave 32 duelists fought and only 16 remained. The Feature match was Simon Hé (Agents) Vs Frederico Zoppini (Mermail). A match that Frederico won btw.

The Top-16

16 people lose, including 2 agent decks, the sole Chain Burn, 3 Rabbits, 2 Inzektos, 5/6 mermails and 3 wind-ups, resulting in the following lineup:

• 2 Agents
• 2 Rabbit Variants
• 1 Inzektor
• 1 Mermail
• 10 Wind-up decks

With their continuous loop power, Wind-ups conquered the Mermails, leaving a sole survivor.

The top 16 had the following feature match: Peter Gross (Inzektors) Vs Jack Bruun (Dino Rabbit)

Only 8 survivors could continue into...

The Top-8

This time, the Wind-ups took a serious hit, being cut down from 10 to 4. Also, the last Bug was squashed (Peter Gross) and only 1 Agent was left alive.

So that resulted in the following Top 8:

• 4x Wind-ups
• 2 Dino Rabbit variants
• Mermails
• Agents

The profiles of the top 8 duelists can be found: On this page

The feature match in the top 8 was: Ali Fawaz (agents) Vs Luca Chetoni (Wind-up)

Final rounds

After being cut down to 4, all variation is still left. 4 completely different decks survive:

• Agents (Ali Fawaz)
• Mermails (Frederico Zopponi)
• Macro Rabbit (Jack Bruun)
• Wind-up (Stephan Sluis)

In the semi-finals, Jack Bruun had to face two-time YCS winner Stephan Sluis, while Ali Fawaz had to face off against Frederice Zopponi. How the second match went, I have no ide (but Frederico won). The match between Sluis & Bruun however, was Covered on this page.

In the finals, Jack Bruun (Macro Rabbit) faced off against Frederico Zopponi (Mermails) in an exciting finale. The match was covered here.

And the winner is

Congratulations to Jack Bruun! After a weekend, you rose above 819 other duelists and took this championship title with Macro Rabbit!

During this weekend, the next European YCS has been announced. It will be in Bochum (Germany) on February 23+24. Note the date, boys!

The Full Top-32 is:

• Winner: Jack Bruun - Macro Rabbit
• Runner-up: Frederico Zoppini - Mermail
• 3rd Place: Stephan Sluis - Wind-Up
• 4th Place:Ali Fawaz - Agent
• Top-8: Luca Chetoni - Wind-Up
• Top-8: Alpay Engin - Wind-Up
• Top-8: Rocco Tamburlini - Wind-Up
• Top-8: Robin Wetzel - Dino Rabbit
• Top-16: Paul Clarke - Wind-Up
• Top-16: Tolga Erkoc - Agent
• Top-16: Peter Groß - Inzektor
• Top-16: Nikos Hadjiioannou - Wind-Up
• Top-16: Sean McCabe - Wind-Up
• Top-16: Kristoffer Nielsen - Wind-Up
• Top-16: Alexis Payet - Wind-Up
• Top-16: Tony Vetuli - Wind-Up
• Top-32: Denis Bequiri - Inzektor
• Top-32: Leeroy Bitbol - Mermail
• Top-32: Thierry Cyganek - Wind-Up
• Top-32: Noel Garde - Mermail
• Top-32: Soner Güngör - Mermail
• Top-32: Simon He - Agent
• Top-32: Andrea Ippolito - Wind-up
• Top-32: Urh Kovacic - Agent
• Top-32: Sebastien Ma - Mermail
• Top-32: Felix Oberst - Dino Rabbit
• Top-32: Samuel Oliva - Dino Rabbit
• Top-32: Leonardo Pavone - Wind-Up
• Top-32: Piyal Peiris - Dino Rabbit
• Top-32: Sarimento Rafaelo - Inzektor
• Top-32: Joahua Schmidt - Mermail
• Top-32: Marcus Schultze - Chain Burn

So, that is all for now. Until next time, V out.