Reasons to hate or love Cosmo Blazer

Let’s do a hits-and misses of Cosmo Blazer, like I did with the previous sets! But this time, the opposite way around, because there’s a lot of negativity surrounding the set.

Misses, or reasons to hate Cosmo Blazer

• The Sneak Peek promo sucks (again). The last three Sneaks gave us mediocre Noble Knights as promo. This time around, while the included Noble Knight (Medraut) is actually good, they gave us the sword (which is usually a common) as the promo and turned the Noble Knight into a friggin secret rare (oh, come on!).

"Promo? I'm too good to be a sneak peek promo!
Here, take Excalibur instead. Arthur won't miss it..."

• Zexal anime (still) produces worse cards than 5D’s. I could write a whole post about how the anime cards of Zexal are worse than 5D's, but I bet you know what I'm talking about. Generally, the archetypes of the heroes/villains pale when compared to those of the 5D's heroes/villains. We get either good support cards for bad archetypes and good monsters with no support cards. Or neither.
• Fire Fists lack chickens and wolves. The Fire Fist is the main archetype of this booster set. But whle the archetype is quite good, the few cards that make the archetype tier-material are not in this set (aka, the Chicken build). Problem for that is the last Jump promo Poll, which included good cards like Chicken, Wolfberk and others, ensured that the included cards are property of Shueisha/Jump and thus not Konami. So no inclusion in the booster.

"You chose Destiny Leo over me, so f**k you!"

• Prophecies are expensive: Compared to other "bling" decks, like Lightsworn, Prophecies have more Ultra's, secrets and supers on their FIRST print, turning it into the most expensive deck EVER! Seriously, have you ever seen an archetype of which 2 good spell cards and the boss monster are secret rare? Never before, I tell you!
• Phool and Rieper were wrongfully translated: Though this is a fan error, not a Konami error. Wikia, DN and YugiohPro took over the first translation of Shriek, though nobody (NOBODY!) realized they updated the text afterwards, when they got a decent scan. This error was only realized when Konami posted an English preview of the card on their blog. All of the hype turned into rage. But as I said: fan error, not Konami error.
• Mermails: Dunno to put this in the hate or love section. Safe the TCG world premiere card Abyssteus, the other Mermails are kind of "meh"(and that’s saying it in a positive way). If you’re a Mermail player, the only card you'll want is the Ultra Rare Abyssteus, not that secret rare knock-off of AbyssMegalo.

Hey, "I'm a secret too! People will be sooo happy to pull me,
like when they pulled Megalo, right? Right?"

• Expensive XYZ. Nearly every XYZ in this set is good, I admit that. Konami saw that as well, if you noticed the card rarity of the XYZ. I’m honestly surprised about the rare foil of Basilitrice, but less surprised of the Secret Diawolf and Ultra Chidori and Tiger King. Thus the obvious result is that the XYZ will cost a lot as single cards.
• Card Rarity in general: Good cards are foil, bad cards are common or rare. Combine that with a few horrible/mediocre secret rares and the general interest of buying a booster box is gone with the wind (unless you want to start a Fire Fist deck). This set makes it possible for you to pull 10 decent/good cards out of a booster box, while all the other cards are just bad or not your kind. If you don’t like Fire Fists or Hazy Flames, don’t even bother buying a box of this set, buy single cards only.
• Bonfire Colossus & Mystical Fairy Elfuria are two mediocre (read: bad) TCG World premiere cards. Biggest problem is that they’re frigging secret rare! Next to that, the other secrets may be decent or good, but not overpowered or splashable in every extra deck, making it very hard for you to pull a secret rare that you actually want!
• The OCG imports suck: Granted, Konami didn't have a great time filling the 09x card pool, due to that Jump Promo card poll. But that’s no excuse to have so much bad cards in here. Proof: Only two cards are Super rare, the rest is common or rare. That has NEVER happened before! NEVER! And you know what's the most frustrating card in there?
• Crimson Sunbird: Crimson f**king Sunbird… I had hoped they would slowly release the old fusions in Astral Packs or so, not in booster sets. Seriously, this card is useless! You can’t even summon it with Instant Fusion, only with Summoner of Illusions! Yes, it IS a FIRE attribute. But if that’s the only thing Konami needs to fill in the OCG promo cardpool, I’m seriously wondering what’s going to happen to Lord of the Tachyongalaxy ... (Skullbird is WIND, so is Mavelus…). Thank god they didn’t put Wings of Wicked Flame in here…

"I will be in EVERY pack you open, trololol!"

Hits, or reasons to love Cosmo blazer

Of course, let’s not be all negative, there are a few good things as well about this set!:

• All XYZ are good: No matter how high their rarity is, Nearly every XYZ in this set is good, or has its uses!
• Hazy Flames are dirt cheap: I know, they’re the most unstable archetype of the set, but you have to admit it. By the time the structure deck is out, you’ll be able to build a good Hazy beast deck that will cost you less than 30$. And most of that money will go into staple spells, traps and extra deck cards (hey, and even Bounzer got a reprint, so now it’s even cheaper!)
• The Fire Elemental Lord revives Ring of Destruction (sort of): though the card text was altered upon release, the fire lord is a (weakened) version of Ring of Destruction and might strike your fancy if you like burn decks. Combine that with the new trap Kickfire and you’ll be burning the night away
• Fire Formation Tenki: I mentioned it in my article about the fire archetypes, but Tenki is the most splashable Fire Fist card, as it searches ANY Beast-Warrior (the ROTA of Beast-Warriors) and boosts them with a permanent 100 attack. And it IS a common, so very easy to get (which is weird, but good).
• New Blackwings and Infernities: if you’re a Blackwing fanboy, rejoice. There are two Blackwing monsters in this set (from the 5D’s manga)! Though they’re not great, they will be good to complete your collection. And Infernities receive Archer, which also sucks.
• Noble knights are becoming a decent archetype. With their XYZ and new Noble Knight, the Noble Knights are finally becoming a decent archetype. Makes me curious about using them. I wonder, though, if this is the last of them?

"God dammit! WHO TOOK MY SWORD?!"

Thoughts in general

While in the OCG, this set held a lot of potential, but with the additions in TCG, it just feels like a disappointment. Fire Fist fans are disappointed (no Chicken or Wolfberk), Mermail fans are disappointed (they won’t buy a whole set for 1 card they actually want), Prophecy fans are disappointed (due to translation errors and Spellbook of the master being another friggin secret) and people that don’t play any of these archetypes just don’t give a crap about this set.

Honestly, I’m more looking forward to the Structure Deck, Zexal Tin and HA7 in the upcoming months than this booster. Let’s hope Lord of the Tachyongalaxy will be better.

Low expectations of March Banlist

In about a month from now, we’ll have seen a new Forbidden & Limited list in the V-Jump magazine. But unlike the previous end-of-the-format, nobody’s really looking forward to this one (visible by the obvious lower amount of banlist predictions).

The format has been very diverse, with a variety of decks winning YCS’s (a different one for each YCS). But if you can point to a few overpowering decks, the three big names are Rabbit-style decks (Verz/Dino), Wind-ups and Atlantean Mermails. So expect these decks to take some sort of hit.

There are other decks that "did well", both in OCG as TCG (like HERO beat, Chaos Dragons, Agents, Dark World, Fire Fists, Geargia's, Inzektors, Prophecies, etc...). But these are less likely to take a hit.

So, my prediction?

I’ve gone through the existing list, matched it with the current archetypes and this is my PERSONAL wish list for the upcoming forbidden and limited list.

Forbidden

• Monster Reborn: An overpowered card with enough alternatives.
• Card Destruction: Has always been a flawed card. Dark World just made it worse. Though, since Dark Worlds don't top that much, it's only a low-probability-hit.
• Sangan: Another one I’m pleading for. This card still sets way too many engines into work. Get rid of this rodent already.

Limited:

• Wind-up Magician: Basically does the same as Inzektor Dragonfly, so it should get the same treatment. I’d rather see this card hit than Wind-up Factory, because with this card hit, the archetype can still be played; it’s just less overpowered (less spamming).
• Rescue Rabbit: I know Konami loves this card, because it promotes using vanilla’s, but it’s just… everywhere. I kinda love this card (outside of the Dino build), but it’s better for the game, if it’s brought to 1.
• Atlantean Dragoons: One of the main Search cards in Mermail style decks. But since there’s a low chance Konami will hit the Mermail archetype itself this format (they’re still making big bucks of it), this card has gotten a big target to get hit, especially since the introduction of Mermail Abyssteus in Abyss Rising. Though, if Konami does not hit this card, Mermails will become the most powerful deck in the TCG (not a good thing).
• The Agent of Mystery – Earth: Konami brought the wrong card back to 2, they should realized that. Bring this card back to 1, where it belongs.

Semi-Limited:

• Deep Sea Diva: This should get the Tour Guide treatment, permanently. It basically does the same, for Sea Serpents and with fewer restrictions (and since the structure deck, it has received even more (decent) possible targets than Tour Guide).
• T.G. Striker: This is the one that should come back to 2, not Earth. T.G. monsters are a nice engine that’s not overpowered (it’s mostly used in stun decks) and can be splashed in a lot of things. Though, bringing this card to 2 should only happen if Earth goes back to 1, otherwise this change is asking for problems.
• Mezuki: It’s only because of the manga series that Zombies get decent support. The last support Zombies got through the Manga (Endless Decay & Nr. 22: Franken) are way better than the rest (Chew-bone & Bacon Saver say enough). So, it’s needless to say that Zombie decks crave for a second Mezuki to become playable again (also a manga card, btw!).
• The Transmigration Prophecy: Experimenting time. Konami has been experimenting with long-time limited cards to become semi-limited. And if Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute can become semi-limited, why not this one?

Unlimited:

• Archlord Kristya: With The Earth at 1, Kristya can come back anytime, seriously. Nobody used the card three times (too much dead weight), so nobody will care if it’s either 3 or 2.
• Summoner Monk: Compare this card with other spam-cards we've seen in the past few years, like Inzektor Dragonfly or Wind-up Magician. You’ll wonder why this card is still semi-limited. At least I do.
• Magical Stone Excavation: It’s one of those cards that make you wonder: Why is this still on the list? I’m a Prophecy player and even I wouldn't use this card, even with the high amount of spells I use.
• Spore: Yeah, the return of spore made Plant Synchro broken, right? You can see it at the amount of tops[end sarcasm]. So, yeah. Let's seal the deal and return this card where it belongs, at 3!

Afterword

Generally, what I expect of the banlist is people dropping Dino Rabbits and Wind-ups and Konami using the march list to promote their current archetypes (Fire Fist & Mermails).

The reason why I don't expect a lot from this list, is that if a list like the previous mentioned one goes through, the next format will be as bad as last years with Inzektors & Dino Rabbit running all tournaments, but this time with Fire Fists, Mermails and Phantom Beast Planes.

But in the meantime, let's just hope I'm a little paranoid/negative and it all goes better than expected.

Until next time, V out.

Weeks of silence, and then: BAM! Massive updates!

Yu-Gi-Oh! product updates are weird. There's weeks where we get nothing or tiny bits of information and then, once in a few months, we get everything in the same week, both on OCG side and TCG side.

Since there have been so many updates in the past week, it's easy if some things might have slipped, so let me recapitulate it all for you

Cosmo Blazer Full set revealed (TCG)

First of news that came was obviously the full set content of Cosmo Blazer (TCG edition). obviously, since several European shops got their boxes on Tuesday to prepare for the sneak peek, some of them just couldn't wait and opened their stuff...

What was rumored came true: the OCG promo cards included in the set basically suck. Yeah, I only got 5/10 guesses right, but who would've guessed Cards like the Blackwings or Joan? Those cards have no bonds with this set or other upcoming releases and are so random.

Next to that, while we all expected bad TCG World Premiere cards (Bonfire Colossus gave us a sneak peek of how bad it could be), it's way better than expected. Noble Knight Medraut (funny how they use the Celtic name of Mordred) is good, Spell wall is good, Kickfire is really good and Abyssteus is Broken (seriously, dump a water monster (Dragoons) to special summon this card and search a Mermail? That's dead broken!)

"You play mermails? Take me! Take me!"

Cosmo Blazer - Card rarities (TCG)

Next to the unknown cardpool (081-099) being revealed, we also saw the card rarities being divided. And that's less good.

Basically, the Hazy Flames (notice the name change from Haze Beasts) are cheap dirt (woohoo! Rare Basilicock!), The Fire Fist fans won't have to offer up an arm and a leg to get their playsets of every good card (Tenki Rare is cool! Tiger King deserves to be UR). The players craving for other cards are screwed, though...

The Spellbooks have struck the record of becoming the most expensive deck ever (2 new supers and a secret rare! For real?) and they're not done getting support (even more secret rares in the next set?). And the good new Mermails are all foil as well. I don't think I even have to mention the rarity bump of Lightning Chidori (Lightning Plover) and Diamond Dire wolf (Dire Wolf Diawolf) to Ultra and Secret Rare (eek).

"I'm a Diamond Wolf and I deserve
a diamond-like foil! Awoooooo!"

More content revealed for Lord of the Tachyongalaxy (OCG)

While the set isn't due until next month, more content has been revealed.

Still no news on the WIND Elemental lord, but this set will also have an elemental Dragon of each attribute. The effects aren't quite clear apparently, because they tend to vary depending on the source I read it from. And while one source gives it a good effect, the Wikia source gives it a mediocre one. What to make of this...?

Also interesting is Sacred sword of the Seven, which appears to be Trade-in for Lv 7 monsters (but banishing instead of sending it to the grave).

Next to that, most anime cards that will get a real card are known, including a decent Gogogo monster (I'm really going to make that Go-Zombie deck now)

And finally: Prophecies, Mermails and Fire Fists get more support (yeey). But Madolches gain support as well, which surprised me, because of their absence in Abyss Rising. And it's good support.

"Hoot! Have some cake and listen to the story
about how people wanted more Madolche cards..."

First cards of the OCG starter deck 2012 revealed

While I expected Gauntlet Warrior to be in the Starter deck, it's in the Tachyongalaxy instead. What did the starter deck get instead? Utopia, lord of reprints! And a new upgrade for Utopia, upgradable with a Barian Force card (Seriously? I thought Barian was the enemy of Yuma?)

"For those that didn't get a chance to pick me up in any of the last 7 prints,
here's another reprint!"

Hidden Arsenal 7 (TCG) gets an official date

TCG players are so looking forward to it. This set is getting even more hype than the infamous Hidden Arsenal 4 (which means one thing, pre-order this before it's sold out). The date? Don't forget it! April 19th! And yes, the set will contain all 70 cards!

"In just a few months, I will be EVERYWHERE!"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal manga Volume 4 comes out in February (in OCG)

While Volume 3 (with Nr. 22 Franken) is coming in the US in June, February will see the release of Volume 4 in Japan. The promo will be Nr. 47 Nightmare Shark (the numbers card Shark has in the manga). And trust me, if you play water decks, you might want to check out its effect...

"Want do attack directly?
If you're a water monster, I'll allow it!"

New Jump promo's

The New Jump Alpha promo was (finally) announced last week (Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo, in case you didn't catch that news).

In OCG-land, there's also a new Jump promo... and it's a Harpie monster (cheer, you fanboys, cheer!). The name is Harpie Dancer and it gives a nice sync between Mist Valley monsters (bounce effects) and Harpies. Hmmm, interesting...

"Hey boys, check out my dance moves."

Afterwords

Wow, man... That was a lot of news in just a few days.

Next week, after the sneak peeks, I'll give you my thoughts about the full Cosmo Blazer set. In the meantime, If you want to know what cards to look forward to, check my first post about Cosmo Blazer and my post about splashable FIRE cards.

And in a few weeks, when Tachyongalaxy is out, I'll give you the cards to look forward to.

Until next time, V out.

Some new Card Rulings

Before reading the rest of this post, read this blog post: http://duelistcodex.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/rules-bulletin-4th-january-2013/

What you need to remember from these updated/new rulings is the following:

• The effect of Light and Darkness Dragon that negates a monster effect resolves at the same time as the attack/defense decrease.
• A banished monster that was special summoned is still treated as special summoned after it returns to the field, even if the return itself is NOT a special summon. (card effect like Interdimensional Matter Transporter & Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon).
• You can apply the effect of multiple Flashing Carat Dragon, Stardust at the same time, but at that point the destruction negation is only applied once. Better is to use the effect one destruction at a time. Each Carat Stardust can only negate one destruction of one monster, whether it's by battle or card effect. Also, the effect only applies while the target is face-up. you can still use Book of Moon to negate Carat's negation (lol).

I'll protect you... and ONLY you... and only if you remain face-up.

That's it for now. Doesn't always have to be a 3-page post, eh.

V out.

Analyzing the Fire Archetypes #2

Happy new year, best of wishes, happy dueling, etc.

Now that this is out of the way, let's return to business. I still have to post the second part of my FIRE archetype analysis up, so here it (finally) is.

This month, we’ll be struck with several new FIRE archetypes in Cosmo Blazer, so it’s time to wonder: what can you do with them? Can you mix them all together, like you could mix the Mermails with the Atlanteans?

The answer to that question is: No, not really. There are a few cards in each archetype that can be splashed in other decks (see previous analysis post), but other than that, they all do different things:

• Haze Beasts focus on spamming Lv 6 monsters on the field, trying to bring out Rank 6 XYZ (including Basilicock, Exa-Beetle, Constellar Ptolemys M7 and Photon Strike Bounzer).
• Fire Kings focus on field destruction, constantly respawning Garunix (and optionally Nephthys) and destroying the opponent’s field.
• Fire Fists focus on spawning monsters backed with massive back-row (hiding their spells and traps among other cards).

The new FIRE archetypes – Haze Beasts

My personal favorite of the new Archetype is (or better, WAS) Haze Beasts. The sole reason for that is their awesome XYZ: Basilicock.

A Haze Beast Deck needs to rely on other monsters like Goka, the Pyre of Malice (card is awesome in this deck) and Laval Lancelord (an easy to summon Lv. 6 monster). Other than that, the cards you put in are quite free to choose:

• You can try building pure Haze Beasts, like Lithium 2300 did.
• You can try mixing them with Jurracs (Herra is Lv. 6), also allowing you access to Laggia and Dolkka (making the deck less of a one-trick pony).
• You can try mixing them with Flamvells (Cerberus has 200 defense, making it an awesome Rekindling target).
• You can try mixing them with Hieratics, using Tyhone #2 as Vanilla monster.
• Other (less good) choices could be Lavals (Lavals work better solo, though) or Evol’s (only 2 Lv. 6 monsters there and they’re not that great).

Personal opinion: This archetype feels too much like a one-trick pony. If your opponent puts a Prohibition on your Basilicock, and you can’t get rid of it, you’re screwed. Also, the high amount of Lv. 6 monsters makes your hand dead too often (making you rely on top decking). I've played Hieratics and they’re more stable in play style.

The New FIRE archetypes: Fire Kings

The boss monster for the upcoming Structure deck “Onslaught of the Fire Kings” (Fire King High Avatar Garunix) is an improved version of Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys. When destroyed, you special summon it during the next stand-by phase (also during your opponent’s stand-by phase!) and it then destroys all other monsters. BOOM! Stardust Dragon fans are really going to hate this card.

Not to mention, with the two included spell cards (see first of these posts), it’s actually quite easy to summon it and bring it back anytime you want. The other Fire King monsters make it easy to search/destroy Garunix, therefore triggering its effect.

Building a good deck with Fire Kings is (at this point) more limited than building a deck with Haze Beasts, but you can do some fun things with it:

• Mix them with Flamvells: Safe Garunix, all Fire King monsters have 200-defense, making them great Rekindling targets. Each Fire King deck therefore should have Rekindlings and Flamvell Firedogs, no matter what the rest of the deck looks like.
• Mix them with the Enthusiastic monsters. They’re Beast-Warriors, they’re fire. They work together (as long as you forget about that XYZ). But let’s not mention them again, since they’re probably not going to be released soon… (sad, but true).
• Mix them with Ninja's: Red Dragon Ninja (from Abyss Rising) kind of gave it away. Ninja's mix well with the Fire Kings. Ninjitsu Art of Transformation (NOT super transformation) brings forth a Winged Beast, Beast or Insect that’s maximum 3 levels higher than the tributed monster. Hanzo can be turned into Nephthys, Red Dragon Ninja, Flamvell Firedog or Fire King Yaksha; Red Dragon Ninja can be turned into Garunix. And destroying Transformation, destroys the summoned monster, triggering the effects of the Fire Kings.

Personal opinion: Just like Haze Beasts, Fire Kings are kind of a one-trick pony, focusing on Garunix way too much; though the effect has way more power than Basilicock and it’s one of the few cards in Yu-Gi-Oh that actually enjoys being hit by Solemn Judgment/Warning (yes, that DOES trigger the effect).

Because of the reliance on Garunix, it’s easy to break the deck (Prohibition on Garunix, or banish the bastard) and Macro Cosmos or Necrovalley simply rape the deck. Garunix, as a Lv. 8 monster (annoying level for this kind of monster), can also be dead in the hand way too often. (you can bypass this with Trade-in, but I’d rather keep this card in the deck than in my hand or grave).

The other downside is that both Fire King Beast Yaksha and Enthusiastic Beast Wolfberk are possibly not going to be released (due to them being possible jump promo’s), but these two are great cards for a Fire King deck.

The new FIRE Archetypes: Fire Fists

The Fire Fists are the main archetype of Cosmo Blazer, much like Mermails were the main archetype of Abyss Rising. They’re all Beast-Warriors that rely on continuous spells/traps to get their effects to work, but they also easily search those cards.

Mixing Fire Fists with other archetype cards would be quite silly, as the Fire Fist is the most stable new archetype of the three and mixing it with other archetypes would only decrease its effectiveness. Supporting the archetype with back-row is a smarter move.

For example:

• Not mentioning the classic traps (Torrential Tribute, the Solemn Brigade, etc.), spells and traps cards that support Beast-Warriors are amazing in this deck (Horn of the Phantom Beast), since all the "brothers" are Beast-Warriors.
• Spiritual Fire Art – Kurenai can be quite a surprise in a Fire Fist deck. If you’re attacking, but can’t take 8000 life points away from your opponent, you can tribute your Fire Fist and burn for game instead.
• You also might consider back-row protection. Starlight Road and The Huge Revolution is Over are great assets, as your opponent will try to get rid of your back-row. Also, a card like Fake Trap can be really hilarious to mix in the back.
• But if you end up with too many continuous traps on your field (those cards have a tendency to remain on the field, even if you don’t have a use for them), you can consider Magic Planter. Planter gets rid of a used continuous trap and gives you two draws.

Personal opinion: Unlike the previous two archetypes, this deck is no one-trick pony. Tiger King may be thé boss monster, but you can easily neglect him and go for other great rank 4 XYZ if the situation calls for it.

Its presence in OCG tournaments ensures us that if you want a competitive (new) fire deck, this archetype is the one you should go for.

The feared/hated Jump Promo poll

In case you missed it, During October-November, Jump Alpha held another poll to decide its next promo card. The poll is closed and they've yet to announce a winner. But a LOT of the cards were OCG promo cards that are supporting these archetypes.

The obvious result of this poll, neglecting the resulting promo card, is that the cards that were in the poll will most probably NOT be in Cosmo Blazer or in the upcoming structure deck.

That’s a real pity, because good cards like Fire Fist – Chicken and Flame King Yaksha were in it, together with the Enthousiastic monsters. And all of those are good cards that make the new FIRE archetypes better.

So, these were my thoughts on the FIRE archetypes. Hope it wasn't a tl;dr moment.

Until next time, V out.