YCS Brussels - Details & Off we go!

This weekend is YCS Brussels. This is the first Belgian YCS, the first BP2 YCS and the first of 3 European YCS's left this year.

One more time, all YCS Brussels Details

The event will be held at:

• Brussels Expo - Hall 10
• Place de Belgique 1
• 1020 Brussels,
• Belgium
• Event website: http://www.brusselsexpo.be
• All the info you need will be (should be hopefully) on THIS LINK
• From Saturday morning, coverage will be posted on the European event coverage page.

Pre-registration will start at Friday (between 16 and 21 o' clock). Otherwise it's Saturday between 8 and 10 in the morning. Pre-registring means you can sleep a little longer on Saturday and get a free token card.

About Battle Pack 2 Sealed Play

When you're seated for the first time, you will receive:

• 1 Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants Deckbox.
• 10 OPENED Battle Pack 2 packs (if I'm not mistaken with a card list of all cards that were in the packs).
• A sheet to fill in your deck list from all provided cards.
• The YCS Brussels event mat.

Take note that you will receive cards that have been pre-registered to prevent cheating (otherwise you could bring in your own bunch of broken BP2 cards).

You get 20 minutes to construct a deck of minimum 30 cards (of the 50).

Day 2 you'll receive a new deckbox (if you're qualified, obviously). Top-32 will get an extra mat (the first Giant Hand mats).

And me?

I'll be attending this time as well. (obviously, it's a YCS in my country). So I hope to see you as well!

Same message as last time.
If you spot me, don't be shy, come say hi!

Of birds and mines: A little bird from Number Hunters

When number hunters came out, the main attention went to Master of Blades, since it’s another Rank 7 xyz that could be splashed in Dragon Ruler decks. So it comes as no surprise that other good cards from the same set were neglected or simply ignored.

I plead guilty, because I did not know of this gem, until it was used against me.

Number 49: Fortune Tune

At the moment my opponent overlayed 2 Lv. 3 monsters, I expected to see a Wind-up Zenmaines. But instead a card appeared from Number Hunters named Fortune Tune. I was surprised to see it. I was even more surprised when I read the full effect:

I'm the bird of Paradise and I bring you... heaven!

“2 Level 3 monsters. During each of your Standby Phases: Gain 500 Life Points. This card cannot be targeted by card effects. If this face-up card would be destroyed, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: Target 2 Level 3 monsters in your Graveyard; shuffle them both into the Deck, and if you do, return this card from your Graveyard to the Extra Deck. You can only use this effect of "Number 49: Fortune Tune" once per turn.”

So basically:

• You can’t target it. So no fiendish chain, Breakthrough Skill or Veiler; not even Blackship of Corn or Book of Moon. Your opponent will have to waste a lot of resources to get rid of this card.
• You have the ability to gain life points (always a nice extra)
• You have the ability to recycle all XYZ materials (or 2 other Lv. 3 monsters) AND the XYZ monster (an effect that does NOT miss timing, btw).
• Oh, and I just checked: You can use it for Icarus attack AND still gain its recycle effect (LOL). That just makes it amazing in Winged Beast decks (like Blackwings, for example).

Lol, what? The low stats make it an easy target to beat, but after it’s done it goes back to the extra deck? I think Tour Guide just found itself a new pet bird.

Tour Guide >> an extra Tour Guide >> Fortune Tune. Tune = a wall + extra lifepoints + recycling 2 Tour Guides & Fortune Tune to use them again later. Profit much?

Fortune Tune Vs Wind-up Zenmaines

The question obviously remains; will you use Fortune Tune over Zenmaines? Zenmaines’ effect can be negated more easily and he can become a target of Blackship of Corn, while Bird cannot be a target of card effects. The only way to get around this card is using card effects that don’t target (Tiger King, Spellbook of Fate, or D.D. Warrior Lady or HTS Psyhemuth).

But on the other hand, Zenmaines has a higher defense to get over (900 defense isn't much) and has the ability to destroy cards. Heck, you can smash Zenmaines into an opponent’s monster to get rid of it during the end phase (Ophion, for example).

So in the end, both cards have advantages, while both cards act as walls. Bird is more resilient, allows you to live (a little) longer and recycle (more interesting in stun decks); Zenmaines is a higher wall and allows you to smash and destroy (more interesting in offensive/OTK decks).

Which card do you prefer? Or do you like to use both?

V out.

Analysis of the TCG F&L List September 2013

Now that my initial surprise of the list is over, it’s time to analyze each hit on this list:

Burner, Lightning, Reactan and Stream, the Baby Dragons forbidden

It was on the OCG list and it shouldn't come as a surprise to see it on the TCG list as well. The Dragon Rulers were supposed to boost each attribute of its respective element, but the baby’s made it possible to create a deck of the dragons itself. The baby’s created a problem deck, so getting rid of the babies solved the problem.

Spellbook of Judgment forbidden:

Glad that this was hit and not any other Prophecy/Spellbook card. THIS was the problem card, as stated months ago.

Card Destruction and Super Rejuvenation forbidden + Gold Sarcophagus Limited

The older support cards that were abused in Dragon Rulers are hit as well and hit hard. Card Destruction already deserved a place on the forbidden list for years, Super Rejuvenation promotes overextending and Gold Sarc… well… maybe we can now see the return of Necroface? (pretty please?)

Elemental HERO Stratos forbidden + E-Emergency Call, A HERO Lives and Destiny HERO Malicious unlimited

Most people complaining about this list are actually complaining about the fact that Stratos is gone and that HERO decks “just died”. But honestly, does the existence of 1 card really have to cause a limit on three other cards? NO! I’d rather see three E-Calls, 3 A HERO Lives and 3 Malicious than 1 Stratos. So to all you whiners: GET OVER IT!

Number 16: Shock Master forbidden

This card has become the face of “You-can’t-play-Yugioh” cards. It’s the source of many frustrations and it’s rightfully forbidden. It locked down opponents completely after they suffered a virus attack; it blocked an opponent completely if the solely relied on either monster effects or spell cards. It caused more frustration than any other card. Should it be limited instead of forbidden? Maybe, but I don’t think it’s bad that this card is gone completely.

Gateway of the Six forbidden

THANK YOU, Konami. Worst TCG Exclusive EVER made! Six Sams don’t need this card to win, but it makes them overpowered if they do draw it. It’s like Dark Worlds opening with Card Destruction; Chaos Dragons opening with Future Fusion, or Machine Decks opening with Limiter Removal (hint, Konami, hint).Those decks can win without the named cards, but as an opponent you don’t want to face these cards: because you’ll have an incredibly high chance of losing.

Ultimate Offering forbidden

Ever since XYZ came out, this card proved to be just broken in Gadget decks. Glad it’s gone, it didn't do any good.

Heavy Storm, Monster Reborn and Pot of Avarice

They’re game-changers and top decking these cards may give you the win, even if you don’t deserve it. Many people were asking for these cards to be gone, so let it be.

And Pot of Avarice has two replacements in Daigusto Emeral and Pot of Duplicity.

Solemn Judgment Forbidden; Bottomless Trap Hole, Compulsory Evacuation Device and Torrential Tribute Limited and Dimensional Prison Semi-Limited

This is a huge bite that Konami just took out of the staple Trap cards. Considering Heavy Storm is gone, I guess this is a justified cut-back of these traps. It’s already going to be a backrow-heavy format as it is, so limiting the traps isn't bad at all.

Atlantean Dragoons & Deep Sea Diva Limited

Thank god. The main search engines of the Mermail deck is cut. The Mermail players already confirmed weeks before this list came out that the deck is still playable and good with only 1 Diva and 1 Dragoons. And in return, Konami also limited the following cards.

Rescue Rabbit, Dimensional Fissure and Macro Cosmos limited

Yeah, Konami obviously hates Macro Rabbit. I personally didn't have any problem with it, but it was no surprise that the deck was everywhere in the past year. Ever since the tins of last year, Macro Rabbit was the cheapest (anti-)meta deck to build. Since the deck had a good match-up versus Mermails, it was just as popular in the March Format (until the Dragons attacked). So bye-bye Rabbit.

Indirectly, Evilswarm Decks are hit by this as well. I guess they won’t be using Rabbit and Heliotrope anymore. Enough other choices, though.

Soul Drain, Thunder King Rai-Oh, Eradicator Epidemic Virus and Royal Tribute limited.

Like Shock Master, these cards only classify as “You-can’t-play Yugioh” cards. No activating of card effects in the grave; no searching of cards; no use of spells or traps; or not having monsters at all. None of these cards are fair in multiples, so I don’t regret their limit.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Spirit limited and Fire Formation – Tenki Semi-Limited

Fire Fists required a hit, otherwise they would become the overpowering archetype this format. Tenki was an obvious choice. And while OCG hit Rooster, that card is kind of new in TCG, so our Konami hit Spirit instead. Guess we’ll only have the 4-axis then, huh?

Genex Ally Birdman, Evigishki Mind Augus, Dewloren Tiger King of the Ice Barrier and Constellar Ptoley M7 limited

These cards are classified as OTK/FTK enablers. That’s their only use when multiples are available.

I liked Birdman and M7 a lot, but it’s a justified hit to stop OTK decks. Still… Doesn’t Konami see that Aquamirror is the problem, not the Gishki's themselves? They now have 2 Ritual monsters of the same archetype limited!

Mezuki & Plaguespreader Zombie Semi-Limited

Zombies were dead, it’s true. This gives zombie-decks a boost. And it should come as no surprise that Konami wants to boost the popularity of Shadow Specters a little (the set isn't that great), so these two might help that.

T.G. Striker Semi-Limited & The Agent of Mystery Earth unlimited

FINALLY! T.G. Agents was never a popular deck in the TCG, so we found the initial limit on Earth and Striker way too harsh (it killed the T.G. engine). More than Earth, I’m more glad that Striker is back at 2 (which is the number that is generally used).

Tsukuyomi & Scapegoat unlimited

These cards are two reminders that Goat Control was once a feared deck. Tsukuyomi is only used once in certain decks (spelllcasters and control decks), and scapegoat… let’s just say that this choice is intriguing. I’m kind of looking forward what 12 annoying scapegoats can do… My guess: Plasma Control, Piper Control, etc.

Hieratic Seal of Convocation & Black Whirlwind unlimited

Two search cards for previously popular archetypes (mostly in the OCG). It’s interesting to see if they will be picked up massively again. I think Blackwings will become more interesting, with Fortune Tune and Transmodify now available for them.

Note: Transmodify has now leaped over all other cards and became the money card of JOTL. Guess the hype of Infernities, Agents and Wings made it a popular card all of a sudden.

Pot of Duality unlimited

Not that much of a fan of this choice, but probably due to the limit of Gold Sarc. Duality is what OCG players describe as a brain-drain card. It increases consistency of your deck without thinking too much about your deck choices. I found it to be perfect at 2, but I can’t blame people for using three copies of it either.

Afterword

So, that’s it. That’s my analysis. Unlike the OCG list, there aren't many choices that I dislike on this list. The OCG list is more like a typical lolkonami list, with bad cards like Trishula, Gorz or Chaos Sorcerer returning; while the TCG variant actually cares about the players (for once, at least).

I've heard many old players being very positive about this list and making them think to actually return to the game. So I have to say: this list is a good thing for the game in general. I hope that our Konami would keep it up this way, because I like it.

A somewhat pleased V out.

I wake up and see... what the hell is this banlist?

The moment OCG-Konami said they would update the Forbidden & Limited list every few months (after each new booster), I realized that TCG-Konami would publicize a different F&L list. But this? I did not expect it to be THIS different!

The Changes... in TCG

Newly Forbidden

• All baby Dragons (from unlimited)
• Spellbook of Judgment (from unlimited
• Card Destruction (from limited)
• Elemental HERO Stratos (from limited)
• Gateway of the six (from limited)
• Heavy Storm (from limited)
• Monster Reborn (from limited)
• Number 16: Shock Master (from unlimited)
• Pot of Avarice (from limited)
• Super Rejuvenation (from unlimited, became limited in OCG)
• Solemn Judgment (from limited)
• Ultimate Offering (from limited)

Newly Limited

• Genex Ally Birdman (from unlimited)
• Atlantean Dragoons (from unlimited)
• Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Spirit (from unlimited)
• Bottomless trap Hole
• Compulsory Evacuation Device (from unlimited)
• Constellar Ptolemy M7 (from unlimited)
• Deep Sea Diva (from unlimited)
• Dewloren, Tiger king of the Ice Barrier (from semi-limited)
• Dimensional Fissure (from unlimited)
• Eradicator Epidemic Virus (from unlimited)
• Evigishki Mind Augus (from unlimited)
• Gold Sarcophagus (from unlimited)
• Macro Cosmos (from unlimited)
• Rescue Rabbit (from semi-limited)
• Royal Tribute (from semi-limited)
• Soul Drain (from unlimited)
• Thunder King Rai-oh (from semi-limited)
• Torrential Tribute (from semi-limited)

Newly Semi-limited

• Fire Formation - Tenki (from unlimited)
• Dimensional Prison (from unlimited)
• Mezuki (from limited)
• Plaguespreader Zombie (from limited)
• T.G. Striker (from limited)

Newly Unlimited

• E-Emergency Call (from semi-limited)
• Pot of Duality (from semi-limited)
• Scapegoat (from limited)
• Tsukuyomi (from semi-limited)
• A HERO Lives (from semi-limited)
• Black Whirlwind (from limited, became semi-limited in OCG)
• Destiny HERO - Malicious (from semi-limited)
• Hieratic Seal of Convocation (from semi-limited)
• The Agent of Mystery - Earth (from semi-limited)

Did NOT change in TCG, compared to OCG

Please take note, the following changes in OCG are NOT being applied to TCG!

• Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier is STILL forbidden.
• Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Rooster is still unlimited (called it).
• Divine Wind of Mist Valley did not get hit (since we don't have Harpie Dancer, obviously).
• Number 11: Big Eye DID NOT GET HIT (wait, what?).
• Chaos Sorcerer is still Limited (awh, sad panda).
• Wind-up Magician and Shark did not switch places.
• Mermail Abyssteus and Abyss-Sphere did not get hit (Diva and Dragoons did).
• Gladiator Beast Bestiari did NOT return to 2.
• Neo-Spacian Grand Mole did NOT return to 2.
• Gorz did NOT return to 2.
• Advanced Ritual Art did NOT become unlimited.
• Reasoning did NOT become unlimited.
• Mirror Force did NOT become unlimited.

More frequent update

Similar to the OCG, this F&L list will be updated more frequently. Though in our case, it will be once per four months, instead of three. I do like that change, since an average of 3 months is a little too fast for most people.

My opinion

I'm still not over my initial surprise yet. Seriously, this many changes compared to the OCG list! I'll try to convey my initial thought (deeper analysis will follow in the near future).

• Many old, broken cards got banned. Card Destruction, Gateway, Monster Reborn, Storm, Avarice, Stratos, Offering and Solemn Judgment. I'm especially pleased with Card Destruction and Gateway. Those two were just dead broken in opening hands anyway.
• "Sorry, but you can't play YGO"-cards got hit. Limits op CED, Raioh, D-Fissure, Macro Cosmos, Soul Drain, EEV, Bottomless trap Hole, D-Prison and Royal Tribute. And Shock Master is forbidden, which was the most annoying of these type of cards.
• OTK/FTK enablers got hit: Next to Birdman, we also saw the limit on Dewloren, M7 and Mind Augus. Their main purposes are OTK's and FTK's, so I'm not that salty about their limits.
• Archetypes got hit differently. Fire Fists got hit in Spirit, rather than Rooster (which is brand new). It makes the 3-axis dead, but the 4-axis might still live this way. Mermails got hit in Diva and Dragoons, rather than Steus and Sphere (though I'd rather see Sphere hit as well). And Dragon Rulers got hit even more harsh over here. Super Rejuvenation is forbidden and Gold Sarcophagus is limited (opposed to Limited and unlimited). In exchange Big Eye did NOT get hit (one of the few dislikes of this list).
• Trishula doesn't return, but zombies and T.G. Agents do. I like this, seriously. Striker never should've been limited, and T.G. Agents weren't played as much in TCG, compared to the OCG.
• D-HERO lives, E-HERO died (a little): Malicious and a Hero lives come back unlimited, but the problem card (Stratos) is forbidden instead.

What does this mean for the current meta?

• Dragon Rulers got hit even more in their consistency. But the pay-off (the XYZ) is still worth it.
• Prophecies are hit in their problem card, that's it. They go back from broken to "just a good deck". Also good for them, EEV is limited (lol, like that change).
• Mermails got hit in their consistency by hitting Diva and Dragoons. But it has also become harder to fight back, since Macro Cosmos, D-Fissure and Soul Drain became limited. They should've hit Sphere too.
• Gadgets got hit in their Ultimate Offering and their stun card (Shock Master).
• Evilswarm will be more prominent again, since they weren't hit.
• Fire Fists are hit, but not as hard. Will they make a rise with three Roosters?

Afterword

I'm calling it now. Pot of Duplicity will become Secret Rare. With pot of Avarice gone, this will become the replacement card.

Oh, and buy your D-Hero Malicious while they're available. I sense a D-HERO return.

It's a double feeling you have about this list, right?

That List IS real, oh dear...

Yes, I thought it was fake, but it ended up being the real deal. I already stated that I liked the list, safe a few choices.

The September 2013 Forbidden & Limited list

Newly Forbidden:

• Burner, Dragon Ruler of Sparks (from unlimited)
• Lightning, Dragon Ruler of Drafts (from unlimited)
• Reactan, Dragon Ruler of Pebbles (from unlimited)
• Stream, Dragon Ruler of Droplets (from unlimited)
• Spellbook of Judgment (from unlimited)

Newly limited:

• Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Rooster (from unlimited)
• Genex Ally Birdman (from unlimited)
• Mermail Abyssteus (from unlimited)
• Wind-Up Shark (from unlimited)
• Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (from forbidden)
• Number 11: Big Eye (from unlimited)
• Divine Wind of Mist Valley (from unlimited)
• Super Rejuvenation (from unlimited)
• Abyss-sphere (from unlimited)

Newly Semi-Limited:

• Chaos Sorcerer (from limited)
• Gladiator Beast Bestiari (from limited)
• Gorz the Emissary of Darkness (from limited)
• Neo-Spacian Grand Mole (from limited)
• Black Whirlwind (from limited)
• Fire Formation – Tenki (from unlimited)

Newly Unlimited:

• Tsukuyomi (from semi-limited)
• Wind-Up Magician (from limited)
• Advanced Ritual Art (from semi-limited)
• E – Emergency Call (from semi-limited)
• Pot of Duality (from semi-limited)
• Reasoning (from semi-limited)
• Scapegoat (from limited)
• Mirror Force (from semi-limited)

Some additions to the first list

There are apparently two additions to the first list that was leaked. The first is Chaos Sorcerer (back to 2) and the second is Tenki (which also got semi'd).

As a chaos fan, I like Chaos Sorcerer's return. It was unfair to be hit so hard (again). Two is the right number to play after all. Tenki on the other hand seems a bit harsh, considering Konami's also limiting Rooster. Fire Fists just died, man. Not to mention, the most expensive card from the most recent TCG booster set (which is out for like a week or two) is just hit. But yeah, Fire Fists were reigning in the OCG as much as Mermails were in the TCG, so it's honestly not that big of a surprise either.

The BIG change

As said before, Konami announced a few changes. The biggest change is that the banlist will be updated after each new OCG booster. (February-April-July-November) releases. This is Konami's answer to the frequent request of set rotations, I guess?

How will this influence the TCG? Well, if our Konami follows in a similar way (new list after each TCG booster), that means our lists will now be updated in January-May-August-November. If our Konami makes this change, it will cause for a separate banlist for OCG and TCG all together. This is something that many people have been asking as well, considering the two regions play in a different style, due to their own set of exclusives.

The other changes is that there will be set rules for Concept Duels (themed decks), duels with specific rules/banlist set by the cardshop, etc. Oh yeah, now the OCG will also have more World Championship qualifiers (there were less tournaments of this kind). These extra changes will probably not affect the TCG at all, so there's less reason to cover them in detail.

Afterword

Well, now we're going to wait until August 20, when TCG-Konami updates their list. Let's see if they're going to hit Rooster as well, or if they're going to wait until the first rotation banlist in November... Hmmm. An intrigued V out.

PS: On a side-note: You will be saying this a lot in the upcoming format.

My opinion on “That list”

Everybody has been gossiping about it. There’s “a good source” that “confirms” the September Forbidden and Limited list. You know what’s all on that list?

The rumored/unconfirmed list:

Edit: You know what? Scratch that. I'm not putting the "rumored" list in here; otherwise you might even believe it to be real.

Just check it at the source where I got it from: http://ygorganization.com/sept2013list/

My opinion

As you might've guessed from my intro, I’m very skeptical about this list (read as: I think it's bull). And until I see some evidence (you know, the Chaos Promo cards, the information on the upcoming OCG Duelist Packs that WILL be in this jump, etc… I will not believe a single card on any list.

But since this list keeps popping up (due to Trishula's supposed return), I thought I could give my opinion on this (you know, safe the fact that I think it's fake).

My opinion on this rumored, unconfirmed list: Safe a few weird choices, I like it.

• Dragon Rulers are hit by killing the bad cards of the deck (the babies, Super Rejuv & Big Eye)
• Prophecies are hit by taking away that one horribly written card (Judgment), without further crippling the deck.
• Fire Fists are (unexpectedly) hit by Rooster.
• Mermails are hit by Sphere & Abyssteus.
• The Harpie Dancer FTK is dealt with by limiting Birdman & Divine Wind (not that it was a popular FTK, but it existed).
• Wind-up Shark and Magician have switched places (debatable, but I think that can work).
• Heroes gain back their third E-Call (again, debatable).

But there are a few weird choices and few cards were not picked, so I have my doubts about the content:

• Atlantean Dragoons was NOT hit, nor Deep Sea Diva. Those two cards require a hit more than Abyssteus in my eyes.
• While Fire Bros Rooster is a good hit, it’s VERY weird that they chose that card that just came out in the TCG, rather than one of the Fire Formation cards.
• Trishula’s return is ridiculous. Infernities already gained power with lavalval Chain, Archfiend Heiress & Transmodify. Don’t make them OP by returning Trishula.
• Returning Black Whirlwind over Gale is a bad choice. Period.
• Three Scapegoat is just plain silly.
• Two Gorz is even more ridiculous.

It's the weird choices like Trishula, Gorz and Scapegoat that make me laugh at lists like this. Come on, who even believes this (safe Trish-fanboys obviously)? But the more important question here is: why is everybody believing it and why is everybody massively buying Trishula's?

Why ARE you trying to buy Trishula NOW?

A lot of you take it for granted that Trishula will return and bought Trish’ at ridiculous prices. For those wanting to make a serious profit out of this situation, it may be time to sell those trish’s, before the REAL list is revealed. (Yeah, remember Goyo Guardian? People rumored he would return last year. Guess what happened? HE DIDN’T!).

And for those of you who don’t have trishula and didn't buy it (or trade it) during the period it was forbidden: you are idiots. No, seriously. The only excuse of not having a Trishula in your possession is if either you recently (re)started in the game, or if you're having financial trouble. Anything else is no excuse!

Ever since Black Luster Soldier was un-banned, it should have been clear to you that you should always try to keep at least 1 of each forbidden card in your collection, just in case. I got my Trishula the moment nobody cared about it anymore, at a dump price (€8-10 or so in trade value). So did I with Glow-up Bulb. AND SO SHOULD YOU! If Trishula returns and NO reprint is announced, you bet your ass each card will cost around €50. That’s how it went with BLS. Two years ago I was laughing with my €5-BLS when everybody complained on how expensive BLS was upon its return.

Konami already stated once that they will always try to see if certain cards can go away from the forbidden status, so it’s always possible. Don’t let yourself get suckered into buying expensive cards when you have the opportunity to buy them when nobody cares about them!

Again, don’t let yourself get fooled before the REAL list is confirmed (even if it somehow would end up being this one)!

A somewhat frustrated V out.

The World Championship 2013 - Dragon Rulers win

Las Vegas, the place for gamblers in this world. And if you gambled right, then you would have bet that Dragon Rulers would win this year's World Championship... in Vegas.

As long predicted, the world representatives either used Prophecies or Dragon Rulers.

From all world's representatives, only 8 were selected to enter the top-8. There were 6 Dragon Ruler players and 2 Prophecy players (surprisingly).

The last rounds

The final rounds were the most exciting ones. David Keener (US - Prophecy) Vs Shin En Huang (Taiwan - Dragon Rulers) played the finals and before them was the battle for the third place between Weerapun Suebyoubol (Thailand - Dragon Rulers) Vs Hiromi Kudou (Japan - Dragon Rulers).

Some video's for the last duels:

• Semi-final between Kudou & Huang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxcYtP30tMo
• Dragon Duel final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cg4QZCfj_s
• Battle for third place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JTz_Zoit8k
• Final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZpcmfBnf_M

Also: Pay attention to DSummon (Duelingdays blogger) being the interpretor for Shin En Huang.

And the winner is...

Shin En Huang, from Taiwan won the World Championship with Dragon Rulers! A well-deserved congratulations to you!

Also, a big round of applause for David Keener for being the only duelist that brought Prophecies to the second place in the world! Wow, first a second place in the North American nationals and now the second place in Worlds; good job, man!

Edit: DSummon posted up the decklist of the champion in the facebook group Yugioh Edtion Singapore (YES). So so this is it!

And to the complainers: Yes, Huang lucksacked with Card Destruction, but who cares? Having luck is a part of the game, right? So let the guy go. He didn't cheat (unlike some previous winners).

And while we're talking about luck, it took guts for the guys that summoned Number 7: Lucky Stripe AND roll a 7 with two dice! If you do roll it, you end up with the awesome Graceful Charity effect, but otherwise that's a risky move. Probably the Vegas-atmosphere that caused people to gamble like that, right? :-P

Europeans in the World Championship?

We can be quick about them. Only 1 (Soldan - Italy) lost in the top-8. Both the Greek (Bountaloudis) and German (Gruner) just missed top-8. That's it.

Now on to something more fun...

Voice actor duels remain hilarious

The voice actors of Yugi (Dan Green) and Mai (Erica Schroeder) were hosting the entire World Championship (which was cool) and finished it off with a duel of their own.

I watched it over the live stream, but for those unable to attend, Vexacus uploaded the duel to youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rLCzGx_cKU.

Funniest moment was definitely when Yugi activated Multiply.

Doodelalalaaa

Afterword

That's it for now. I'm now going to watch the finals in detail (was during the night for me, so I couldn't watch).

This week or the next, the new F&L list should come out (first leeks should be the end of this week), so keep your eyes open on the changes!

And at the end of this world, it's YCS Brussels! So that's a lot to look forward to!

Until next time, V out.

The World Championship, new European YCS (Turin) and a change in dueling?

World Championship this weekend

This weekend is the World Championship of Yu-Gi-Oh! in Las Vegas. If you're not up for a gamble, you can always play cards, huh?

If you want to know who ALL the representatives are, check out the Road of the King blog. He listed all the reps per country they came from.

If you want more information on the event itself, go read this FAQ page.

Also, this week the World Champion trophy cards have been revealed. Just look at them.

Unique as always, but still illegal to play.

On event coverage, Konami will (probaly) post it on the following page: http://www.konami.com/yugioh/blog/?cat=221.

DSummon (the famous Singapore blogger) will be present (as an interpreter for the Asian reps) and update the following facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/620530274646211/

New European YCS - YCS Turin

While the Americans are complaining about slow communication about their YCS's, the European communication is going at an all-time high. Konami just revealed there will be another European YCS this year (that's the fifth this year, a new record!). The location will be Turin, Italy. The date will be the weekend of November 30 & December 1. More details will follow soon. Source: http://www.yugioh-card.com/uk/news/news_ycs_turin.html.

Next to that, the new YCS winner card is revealed (the empire of Digvorzhak is over), together with the new YCS mat. The card/mat is Nr. 106: Giant Hand. The card is decent, the mat looks amazing. I guess YCS Brussels/Toronto will be the first YCS's to have these cards/mats.

What grabs ya? This hand will...

Change in the way we play?

And last but not least in this news week is a small article published in this week's Jump (I think it was Jump, please correct me if I'm wrong).

Yeah, I didn't understand it either, like you (probably). But the people of the Yu-Gi-Oh Edition Singapore were so kind to translate it for us.

In short, there will be changes in how we play the game (no card rule changes, but gameplay changes). And due to those changes, the September F&L list (the banlist) will be influenced as well. The changes will be published in the October issue of V-Jump (usually in stores around the third full weekend of September (20-21st).

What the change is going to be? Nobody knows for certain, but people are guessing (read: wishing) it will be about the 15-card limit of the extra deck. But honestly, who knows for sure with Lolkonami? Also, we don't know if this change will be OCG-only (like fore example, OCG YCS's?), or if the TCG will follow these new rules in the upcoming year.

More details will definitely follow.

Until next time, V out.

Shit is going down - #OCCUPYYGO, ARG ditches Konami and horrible communication towards YCS Toronto

I expected a slow Yugioh news week; but wow: what the hell did I wake up into?

Konami (finally) announces YCS Toronto

As many players speculated, there is an American YCS at the same time of YCS Brussels (take note that the last named has been announced for a few months now). The next North-American YCS takes place in Toronto. YCS Toronto takes place at August 31 and September 1... in Canada obviously. But seriously, is Toronto the only place Konami knows of in Canada? Isn't this the fourth year in a row that the Canadian YCS takes place in Toronto? I'm sure Montréal or Vancouver would love one as well :-P.

All jokes aside, there's a lot of commotion going on. The speculation was going on for a while now, since the venue place has listed the YCS for a few months now on its site, while Konami only confirmed this news on its site... last weekend. And only the date and venue location. No further details are posted, safe a "come back soon for more info" message.

New all-time low level of communication from Konami

Many players are frustrated with this horribly low level of communication and honestly, I can well understand them.

For people not checking the websites of venue place, this is a horribly late announcement to make any kind of travel arrangement. If you know this info months in advance, you can go on the lookout for the cheaper hotels and try not to pay too much for plane tickets and so forth. When everything has to be arranged in less than a month, you're going to be paying a lot more. This situation is turning off a lot of people who intended to go there (especially those tight on budget). Not to mention, for the working people, not everyone is going to get a few days off that easily to go to the event.

Another frustration is how Konami is going to handle this event. August 31 is "old format", while September 1 is "New format". Is it going to be the last YCS of the old format, or the first YCS in the new format? They don't even know if it's a battle pack YCS (like Brussels) or an advanced tournament YCS (the usual ones).

Note: For what that last part is worth, Julia Hedberg (the Judge head mistress of America) unofficially said (on the judge facebook page) that it's an advanced tournament. Again, unofficial and via a source which only a limited few people have access to.

Boycot of YCS Toronto - #OccupyYGO

One of those horribly frustrated people (no disrespect) is Joe Giorlando (an ARG writer). He blew back wind into #OccupyYGO (originally a parody of the occupy movement). He's disgusted by the way Konami treats everyone in regards to this long-planned event. He requests that we all stand up as a community and say "NO" to this treatment. He requests that we all stay away from YCS Toronto, ensuring the attendance of this event drops below 100 people. That is the only signal Konami will understand.

And I personally agree with that point of view. Each time player bases are annoyed by the way Konami treats their customers (secret rare prices, quick reprints, low tournament prices, etc), the product sales and YCS attendances reaches new high records. Konami sees the attendance and sees no reason why they should change their policies. It's like for every player that drops the game out of disgust, two new players pick up the game. And while I am happy that more people play the game, it's sad to see this many good players leave this way as well.

The things that the OccupyYGO movement wants (as copied from their website):

• Better coverage for events (European coverage is already amazing, but I agree the US variant just can't compare).
• Real rankings that reward good players (or the seeding system the OCG uses).
• Cash prices (okay, I don't agree with this one personally, but I do agree the rewards should be better than a mat, a few sleeves and a handful of packs).
• Better feature matches (not just the coverage, but also the people playing it. Nobody likes a feature match of two nobodies that make constant misplays. I notice there's a slight improvement on this one, but I guess the main frustration remains).
• New tournaments (and preferably some decent rules for Tag dueling, like the OCG has).
• New styles of championships, similar to MTG-tournaments (A world cup, a players championship, etc)
• etc.

Edit September 4: All info on #occupyYGO has been removed. The site of Joe has been taken down, similar to his video and the facebook group. I removed all references and the image used, because they were dead ends.

ARG breaks up with Konami

For those that don't know ARG, Alter Reality Games (ARG) is a company that sells cards (packs/single cards/etc), is the main vendor of US-events of Yu-Gi-Oh and hosts many articles from top players on their site (some who are obviously better players than writers, but hey).

No matter how many times bloggers and youtubers have dissed ARG and their (often) poorly written articles, this time they took one for the team.

ARG tried to introduce new types of tournaments (similar to MTG tournaments) into Yu-Gi-Oh, even providing their support to make this possible. For reference, MTG has the best support in terms of tournaments, price support and coverage worldwide. If ARG could make this happen (even if only for the US), this would be an immense improvement for the players.

But frustratingly, Konami is a company whose main seat rests in japan. Japanese management, work ethics and points of view (company / investment wise) are 100% different when compared to those of American. And the US division is only a branch, which MUST listen to the main seat in Japan (when compared to Wizards of the Coast, whose top management is American). Even if the most known Konami honcho's are Tewart and Hedberg, a recent interview at San-Diego Comic-Con revealed that the top managers of the US branch are Japanese.

My point? While ARG might have been able to convince the US department of Konami of their good intentions, they clashed with the main seat in Japan. Due to their ongoing differences (probably not their first clash), ARG resigned its vendor partnership with Konami.

What may have happened...

Consequences of this break-up

What is this going to mean for ARG's support of Yu-Gi-Oh? I honestly have no idea, but probably nothing good. Worst case is that the ARG writers have to resign from their writing "job" and that ARG will be forced to stop selling Yu-Gi-Oh cards/boosters. They will no longer be the main seller at events and god knows who they're going to be replaced with.

Just to give you an idea of the consequences: I don't think we're going to see another scene where in ARG's Billy Brake gives his deck to Pegasus for dueling, like what happened at this year's US nationals.

For Joe himself, this also means nothing good. As a paid freelance writer for ARG, this now seems as a vengeance action; even if his intentions are genuine (call this a case of bad timing). He truly expresses that his actions are his alone and have nothing to do with ARG as a company. And for what it's worth: I believe him.

I support Joe and hope his actions will mean something. Sometimes one person can make a big difference.

To give a comparison, in Europe, event coverage has been amazing for the past few years (thanks to PJ Tierney) and general Yu-Gi-Oh related communications in Europe has improved a lot ever since Konami hired PJ as an official Konami employee instead of just a freelance writer (seriously, PJ rocks!). I think many Europeans can agree that this has been the best move Konami made in the past year.

For the rest, I'll keep following this situation and I will report on what will happen.

V out.

Note: Credits goes to those who deserve it. The occupyYGO logo comes from its facebook group; credits for the meme go to Amanda LaPalme.

Yu-Gi-Oh, the animal farm

Another slow news week. Not that much stuff happens during the summer. It's that slow, we're actually waiting for each TCG World Premiere card of Judgment of the Light to reveal itself and for people opening packs too soon to see what rarity each card has. And somehow, this set is turning into a toddler's animal sound book.

Learning animal sounds with Yu-Gi-Oh!

On the left we have a little chick. Little chicks go Cheep cheep cheep.

On the right we have a rooster. Roosters go Cockadoodledoo.

And to make it even more silly, those are exactly the names of these cards. The only thing missing is a Lv. 9 Winged Beast synchro named Cluckcluck.

No wait, for real?

The two cards actually work well together (who would've guessed?). As noticed in my "cards to look forward to" post of Judgment of the Light, I did pick out Piyokoko (or Cheepcheepcheep as it is now named in TCG) as an interesting card. Hatching this chick from its egg, er I mean flip summoning this card, allows you to special summon a Lv. 5 or higher tuner monster from your deck. And guess what? The rooster Cockadoodledoo is a Lv. 5 tuner.

And it works the opposite way around, since you can special summon the rooster if you don't control monster. If neither player has a monster, it becomes a LV. 3 tuner; if your opponent has one or more monsters it becomes lv. 4.

So together, these two cards allow for synchro-ing monsters between lv. 7 and Lv. 9 (well, if there actually was a Lv. 9 synchro that only required 1 non-tuner that's wind in the tcg...).

And other than this little animal farm?

Well, today all rarities of all cards have been confirmed. World of Prophecy is a secret (somewhat expected); so is Rooster, Angel of Zera, Star Eater (horrible name), Armades, Wolfbark, Transmodify and Drystan (basically all the good cards). I'm glad they didn't touch Trick Archfiend (or Archfiend Heiress as they call her now).

The ten OCG promo's have been confirmed and are quite random. I didn't make my prediction list, because there were just too many possibilities this time... and more than half of mine were totally off. No synchro's? No Chronomaly or Gimmick Puppet support? No Light monsters? Not even Vivit Knight? Even the random commons seem off (I would've expected Phantom Lord Hide Ride and Junk Collector).

The ten TCG World Premiere cards are now also confirmed. There are a few interesting cards in here (like the previous mentioned rooster, Tour Bus to forbidden Realms or Confronting the "C"), but the most interesting card is definitely Angel of Zera. This new re-imagining of Archlord Zerato is a perfect fit for Macro decks and can be incredibly hard to get rid of permanently.

"Wait, I'm allowed to be named Angel? Cool!"

Well, that's it for now. This weekend is sneak-peeking time. Let's see if we get lucky, or if we go home with an animal farm. V out.