The playmat of the gods – European YCS updates

YCS Brussels (August 31 – September 1)

very Battle Pack YCS gets an exclusive mat for every attendant. Sheffield had the Breaker mat and San Diego had the Dark magician of Chaos mat.

Last Tuesday, PJ Tierney (the artist formerly known as the Irish Duelist) updated his facebook page with the mat YCS Brussel attendees will get. And I have to admit, it’s a godlike mat (literally)!

Yugi would so want this!

Like it? Then come to Belgium on the weekend of August 31 and September 1st and attend YCS Brussels!

The location of the event has also been revealed. It’s Brussels Expo, on the Heysel.

Dunno where that is? The Heysel (or Heizel as we say it in Dutch) is outside of the tourist center, but it is known for the Atomium (the giant iron atom model), The King Baudouin Stadium (sport events and concerts), Océade (big water fun park with LOTS of water slides), Mini-Europe (miniature park) and the Kinepolis (movie theater) with IMAX screen. Konami honestly couldn't have picked a better place in Brussels.

YCS London (October 26 + 27)

During the European WCQ, Konami also gave us more info on YCS London. And it was kind of special as well.

YCS London will take place on the weekend of October 26 & 27. You might realize that the UK isn’t the sunniest place to visit in October (to say the least), but Konami made it again worthwhile, because…

YCS London will take place during the London MCM ComicCon. Not only that, but duelists that enter the YCS will also get to experience everything that the MCM ComicCon has to offer, as entry to the YCS guarantees free entry to all 3 days of the MCM ComicCon (which normally costs £29.50. btw).

Due to this co-op between MCM ComicCon and Konami, there will be more Yu-Gi-Oh! related “activities” than on a normal YCS. So keep your eyes open on the European YCS pages in the upcoming months.

The location of the ComicCon and thus also the YCS is the Excel Centre, outside of the tourist center.

MaJu V will be at these YCS’s

Unless heaven strikes me down (please don’t), I will attend both YCS’s.

YCS Brussels is kind of obvious (even though Lille was closer by than Brussels, I have to attend since I’m a Belgian) and I’m already preparing a trip to London in October (lol, last year Japan, this year London).

I’ll keep you informed about these two events (before, during and after).

Until next time, V out.

My own vision on the September F&L list (aka banlist speculation)

We’re nearing the end of July. With all WCQ tournaments worldwide over, I think it’s very clear what decks are dominant this format (Dragon Rulers and Prophecy, obviously).

Halfway August (somewhere around August 15) we’ll get to see the real list in the V-Jump magazine. In the meantime, this is my personal list of cards that need a hit.

The list (only the changes)

Newly Forbidden:

• Spellbook of Judgment (from unlimited): I think I made this clear a few months ago. This card is busted beyond repair and should never have been written this way. The only solution is to get rid of it. Chances is that Konami will only limit it (due to it being quite new and a money making card for them), but it will become forbidden eventually.
• Super Rejuvenation (from unlimited): The more you overextend, the more you can refill your hand. I never liked the card, because it promoted bad playing (overextending without thinking and profiting because of it). Dragon Deep Draw abused this card already, but Dragon Rulers now do as well. Since Konami will probably not touch the Dragon Rulers nor Dragosack, they're going to have to get rid of this one instead.

Newly limited:

• Atlantean Dragoons (from unlimited): I think this is an obvious pick to hit Mermail decks. It’s the Stratos for Sea Serpent decks, so it needs the similar treatment: Limited.
• Abyss-sphere (from unlimited): I know many people will not agree with me on this one, but hear me out. This card provides consistency, throwing Linde and/or any level 7 mermail, depending on what you wanted to achieve. If both Dragoons and this card are limited in use, nobody will have that much trouble again with Mermails.
• Gold Sarcophagus (from unlimited): This card was limited back when Necroface was around (aah, good ol’ Necroface). It slowly became unlimited again list after list (Necroface was limited, Pot of Duality was considered “faster”, etc). But since Dragon Rulers abuse the living sh!t out of this card even more than Necroface decks ever did, it’s time to reinstate its old status: Limited.
• Number 11: Big Eye (from unlimited): I know Dragosack is a more preferred hit, but the card is still quite new. So in terms of probability, Big Eye has a bigger chance to get hit than Dragosack. And if it gets hit, it will get hit hard, since multiple Big Eyes on the field in mirror matches is just ridiculous to watch.

Newly Semi-Limited:

• Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind (from limited): Blackwings didn't see more play after they gained another Kalut. So let’s give them a card that really matters, a real anti-meta card that can be used outside of the Birds deck.
• Deep-sea Diva (from unlimited): Konami must give their diva the Tour Guide treatment. I personally would prefer a limit, considering she now has way more targets than Tour Guide ever had. But a semi-limit is more realistic.
• Fire Formation – Tenki (from unlimited): If Konami does not want Fire Fist to rule solo in September, they need to give it a “little” hit. Everybody knows where it hurts: Tenki is the ROTA for Beast-Warriors.
• Evilswarm ophion (from unlimited): Unsure about the specific choice when hitting Evilswarm. They’re mostly an anti-meta deck, but Ophion is a troublesome card to get over (2550 is a high attack, its ability to search protection cards is also annoying).
• Mezuki (from Limited): A long-time request to return. Shadow specters will see the return of Zombie decks. Give the type the boost it needs and return Mezuki to 2!
• Spellbook of Secrets: If Spellbook of Judgment gets limited instead of forbidden, this will be the next thing to hit. What better way to hit a deck than its main search card. Best thing to say is that with the new list, all allowed playable cards of Judgment and this card together will be three (1 judg, 2 secrets or 2 judg, 1 secret).
• T.G. Striker (from limited): Never should've been limited! T.G. is an anti-meta archetype mostly and is hard to play with only 1 striker. We need 2 of them.
• The Transmigration Prophecy (from limited – experimental): I’m a fan of returning this card to 2 again. The “broken” plays you can do with it are limited (making Rescue Rabbit or Reborn Tengu live, wow), but the anti-meta potential of this card is high enough to have multiples of it (you could then actually use it against Prophecies or Dragon Rulers).

Newly unlimited:

• Archlord Kristya (from semi-limited): The original Semi-limit was a joke, since nobody used three copies of it (safe bad players). That this card is still on the list is an even bigger joke.
• Magican Stone Excavation (from semi-limited): Cost is too high. Nobody uses it at two, nobody will use it at three.
• Thunder King Rai-Oh (from semi-limited): You semi-limited it to promote your new archetypes. That time is up, so bring back Rai-oh.
• Tsukuyomi (from semi-limited): Continuing the trend. I don’t think having three Tsukuyomi’s is that bad.

Less likely hits

• Card Destruction: Saw some play in Dragon Rulers, but got in disuse quickly, because of the many mirror matches (horrible card in mirror matches). Many people would like to see this card become forbidden (also due to it being broken in Dark World decks). But I don’t really see it happening soon.
• Mecha Phantom Beast Dragosack: Konami’s still making money of LTGY, so I doubt they will pick off the money card from the set (although that sounds weird, considering I want judgment to become forbidden). So if it gets hit, it will only become semi-limited.
• Evilswarm Kerykeion: If Konami wants to end Evilswarm, they will hit Kerykeion. However, I doubt they’ll hit this card. It’s new in TCG and Evilswarm are mostly anti-meta, rather than meta.
• Gishki Aquamirror: The most troubling card in Gishki OTK cards. It’s not the ritual monsters, it’s that damn’ return clause on this ritual spell. Hit it and you can return all the limited ritual monsters. But it will probably take another Gishki OTK to make Konami see that…

What would the end result be?

Well obviously Prophecies are going to disappear from the tier 1 stage again. Dragon Rulers will have taken a hit, but won’t be gone (it will rely more on Sacred Sword in the future) and depending on how Smart Konami is, Mermails will disappear as well (seriously, I don’t want another format with the fishmen winning every event).

And that’s about it. I know people will ask for a banning of broken cards like Monster Reborn, Card Destruction or BLS, but I don’t see this happen anytime soon. If it does happen, I won’t regret it; the three cards ARE broken and great top-decks (or great opening-hand cards in Card Destruction’s case).

That's it for now. "Enjoy" the last weeks of the format... And seriously, do NOT believe any list that appears before the week of August 15. It's ALL fake. Don't get tempted into buying Goyo Guardians (again) until there's an actual confirmation. Until that moment, V out.

Cards to look forward to in Shadow Specters

You know the drill. I've looked at all 80 OCG cards and picked out the cards that are interesting.

Effect monsters

• Chauchow-chan: A new hand trap and this time, it’s a beast (no, literally). When you attack (or if you’re attacked) and a NORMAL trap is activated, you can discard this card from the hand to negate the activation. So you can walk into mirror force or dimensional prison without worries! And this is an anime card? Groovy.
• Wyd the Unseen Druid: A summoner Monk target. When this card is sent from the field to the grave, you can set a continuous spell from your grave to your side of the field. Nobody uses continuous spells, you think? What about… Dimensional Fissure, The Fire Formation Spells, or Burden of the Mighty? And since this is a spellcaster, you can even re-use Spellbook Star Hall.
• Drewes, the unseen Druid: When normal summoned, you can special summon a Lv. 4 DARK monster with either 0 attack or defense from your grave (except itself). Best use now is in Zombie decks (Zombie Master, Skull Conductor), or Archfiends (Archfiend Knight, Mad Archfiend), due to its limited use. But depending on what Konami releases in the future, this card is one to keep an eye on.

• Pon-poko & Tantan the Raccoon Rascals: Both have similar effects. They can special summon a Lv. 2 Beast from your deck (face-up or face-down, depending on the card). And surprisingly, there are a lot of Beasts that are Lv. 2. Ryko is the most known one, but all Ojama’s are Lv. 2, Nimble Momonga is one, just like The Fabled Cerburrel. Heck, you can even troll opponents with Sea Koala this way. And with the number of decent Rank 2 monsters out there, these cards make way for interesting “rascal” (troll) decks, don’t you think?
• Pumprincess the Princess of Ghosts: An interesting card to use. When destroyed and sent to the grave, you can use it as a continuous spell, making all your opponent’s monster attack go down with 100 during EACH stand-by phase, forcing your opponent to waste materials on it. Think of it as an alternate form of Burden of the Mighty, that’s very easy to bring back (it’s a zombie, so yeah).

• Vampire Killer: A reverse Catastor! When this card attacks a DARK monster, it’s destroyed before damage calculation! I’ve been aching for a card like this, even if only to face DARK decks, like blackwings, inzektors, Dark World, Infernity, etc…
• Aratama: A Spirit searcher? Interesting. This is actually a card that Spirit decks need to make it playable. When (flip) summoned, add 1 Spirit monster from the deck to the hand (safe itself). Can’t get any better than that, I guess? :-P
• Knight Day Grepher: And next to Spirit Support, there’s gemini support too? Cool. This card recycles Supervise (or other equip spells), which is the engine spell of the deck.

XYZ monsters

• Number 46: Ethereal Dragon: A dragon designed for Blue-Eyes decks and Dragon Mirror Matches. If this is the only card you control, you can either special summon a dragon from your hand, steal an opponent’s dragon or render the effect of all dragons your opponent controls useless.
• Number 64: Sandayu, the Veteraccoon: Another interesting Rank 2 XYZ. This card is designed for the Raccoon Rascals and for rascal/troll decks in general (Ojama fans, eat your heart out). It cannot be destroyed while you control other beasts, and you can detach 1 to get a tokens (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). But unlike Dracosack, these tokens attack become that of the strongest monster on the field.
• Tree Spirit of the Meliaes: Reviewed this card a while ago. Best support Plant synchro decks and Gigaplant OTK decks could get. Requires 2 LV. 3 earth monsters and either dumps plants from the deck to the grave or revives them for another use.

Synchro monsters.

Only 2 synchro’s, but neither are really interesting.

Spells

• Pot of Duplicity: Copy-paste from my previous post: "After the watered-down version of Pot of Greed (Pot of Duality), we now get a Watered-down version of Pot of Avarice in the form of this card. This card forces you to skip the battle phase and only works by sending 3 monsters of different types from your grave to the deck (still a plus-1). So obviously it cannot be used in many decks. But in the decks where this card DOES work, it will work even better than Pot of Avarice ever would (Evilswarm decks, Chaos decks, Norleras decks, Mystic Piper decks, etc). A word of advice: don’t underestimate this card; because having consistency and control is more powerful than having a battle phase."

Traps

• Grisaile Gaol: (copy-paste from previous post) You can see this card will pop up In Monarch and HERO decks as a side-deck card. When this card is active and you control a fusion/tributed/ritual monster, neither player can synchro or xyz summon and the effects of face-up xyz/synchro’s is negated.
• Mistake: (copy-paste from previous post) Neither player can add cards to their hands, except by drawing them. At this point in the meta, it’s the most anti-meta card there is. Every meta archetype searches cards. This card is an ideal “f**k-you” to your opponent, if you’re done searching and want to prevent your opponent from searching cards. Beware that if your deck focuses on searching that this card can easily backfire.
• Survival of the Fittest: A weird addition, but this card supports Dino decks. It boosts a dino with 1000 attack and lets them attack another monster again. Use this on Jurrac Guaiba to get two more from the deck.

Afterword and a few other news updates

A few specific nice cards, but nothing seems over-the-top good. Bujins get good support, vampires are revived (lol), but other than that, nothing much will change with the release of this booster.

In the meantime, it's also revealed that Fire King Avatar Yaksha will be in Judgment of the Light (next to Chicken/Rooster)), implying that Wolfberk might be in there as well. This makes this set somewhat more interesting.

Also, due to comic-con, people spied and noticed what the content will be of the Blue-Eyes Structure Deck. As expected, we will not see Maxx "C" (called it), nor genesis dragon, hardened armed dragon, Level Eater or Symbols of Duty. Instead we will get Luster Dragon (they really should rename the card now), hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit, Dragonic Tactics and Compulsory Evacuation Device.

Back from the sickbed - Update week - Patrick Hoban wins North American WCQ with Dragon Rulers

As stated in my last post, I'm still recovering from my fall which bruised my wrist and created a burst in my elbow.

Since I have control over my hand and arm again, I'll be posting a bit more frequent again.

And while the last few weeks were kind of slow on news (only the WCQ news was out), we now actually have product updates as well.

• Number Hunters (and Battle Pack 2) are out in TCG (including some weird choices for a (re)print).
• The full set of Shadow Specters (OCG) is revealed.
• Several promo cards of manga and Promo books are revealed.
• Kachi Kochi Dragon is now legal in Europe as well (due to the French print with the French Manga).
• Fire Fist Chicken (or from now on: Rooster) will be in Judgment of the Light (many Fire Fist fans will be happy about this).
• Today there was the announcement that a NEW Yu-Gi-Oh! game will be released on the 3DS (after a few years of absence). I was personally extremely pleased with this (this is how I got into the Yugioh card game, btw). OCG release will be Winter 2013. Rest of the world will probably follow in february-March of 2014, I guess.
• And last but not least, the North American World Championship Qualifier (the continentals) are over!

Patrick Hoban wins 2013 Yu-Gi-Oh! North American WCQ

Since it's been a few days already, I'll keep it short. Patrick Hoban won with Dragon Rulers. Second place went to Prophecies.

As Michael Bonacini (Death Aspect Blog) noted, (at least) 3 of the 6 representatives are Duelistground members and America has thus a team they have a good feeling about.

For Hogan's deck, check Vexacus' Deck profile. You can check it OVER HERE.

Next up, I'll be giving some more info on the released packs/cards and the World Championship Representatives!

Stay Tuned, V out.