V does Yu-Gi-Oh: Cards to look forward to in Raging Tempest

It's been ages since I made one of these. So let's do this again!

Yesterday, it was the release of the February booster of Yu-Gi-Oh: Raging Tempest. Let's take a look into what's actually worth looking for!

Zoodiac: The cancer of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Yes. If you thought the ABC archetype was not strong enough, or if Frogzoics and Metalfoes have become too annoying for you, it's clearly time to introduce the cancer of Yu-Gi-Oh: Zoodiac's.

Zoodiac (or just plain Zodiac in the OCG) has been dominating the OCG for so long that local shops have been asking players to just STOP playing the archetype. There are even shops banning those decks from their tournaments due to regular players dropping in masses and lowered tournament turnouts. But if you look on the weekly tournament pages, the "ban' isn't really visible throughout the lists. I don't know if YGOrganization filters the tournament results, or if shops just kept it to a "threat" of banning.

Basically, from this booster's release it's going to be: Play Zoodiacs or GTFO (until some cards are put on a future F&L list)!

However, if you ARE looking to join the hype train, look for the following cards:

• Zoodiac Beast Whiptail (effect - Super Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Thoroughblade (effect - Ultra Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Ratpier (effect - Super Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Tigermortar (Xyz - Ultra Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Drident (Xyz - Secret Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Broadbull (Xyz - Secret Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Boarbow (Xyz - Rare)
• Zoodiac Barrage (Spell - Secret Rare)
• Zoodiac Combo (Trap - Common)

In terms of how much, let's put it like this. In a pure build, you require 3x all effect monsters, 2x all Xyz, 3x spell, 1x trap. If you start mixing with other archetypes (like the GreenGrass Build), you will require less of some cards, but it's better if you look up specific builds for your variant.

Sea Monster of Theseus: The LOL-Konami moment

In early January, Konami mentioned there would be a new TCG world premiere card monster whose effect could be filled by your own imagination. You instantly started to see people imagining all kinds of Overpowered BS onto this card.

But people familiar with Lolkonami were obviously more cautious. And with good reason. The "effect that could be filled up with imagination" ended up being true, since that monster (Sea Monster of Theseus) has NO effect (*slow clap* Well played, Konami, well played).

But is it useless? NOT AT ALL!

Sea Monster of Theseus is a Lv 5 Zombie Fusion Tuner that leaves much room for possibilities. It's an Instant Fusion Target (easy special summon), it's a Zombie (Mezuki Target, Book of Life target, etc), it's a Tuner (Many Synchro possibilities, including the more difficult to summon Zombie Synchro's), it has no effect (Daigusto Emeral revival); it has the Water attribute (Ice Barrier Synchro's) and it's Lv 5 (Level Eater target in Synchro Dark). So the "imagination" text was somewhat true. There are already OTK and Total Hand Destruction video's on how to abuse this card.

How viable these decks are is something we are going to see in the first big tournaments after this card's release. But let's just say that IF it's easy to achieve, there's a good chance that Instant Fusion might become limited.

Other cards to take note of:

	That Grass looks greener: If you deck is larger than your opponent's, you mill until you have the same amount of cards. This card immediately turns Pot of Desires into a more double-edged sword. If you use it, you turn your opponent's grass more "green". It also gives lots of power to Lightsworn-based decks... and especially cards like Fairy Tail - Snow.
	Foolish Burial Goods: Card Text: Send one spell / trap card from your deck to the grave (so Foolish Burial for backrow cards). I notice this card is seriously dropping in price and goes further on a negative trend, though that's only because of the Zoodiac hype. If I can give one piece of advice: PICK IT UP while it's cheap. This card text is good by default. And knowing Konami, sone future archetype will definitely abuse this card.
	Switcheroo: This card was hilarious in the Sneak Peek for those that got it. If you and your opponent have the same amount of monsters, switch control of ALL of them (effect does not target, obviously). Want a good way to stop your opponent's ongoing combo? Your opponent just summoned a boss monster to take your one monster out? This is a hilarious f**k you to all of that.
	Symphonic Warrior Guitaar and Miccs: If it wasn't for their awesome combo during the sneak peek, I probably would've glanced over these two pendulum monsters. Guitaar's pendulum effect is to ditch one card from your hand to special summon a Symphonic Warrior from your deck (obviously Miccs, but the other Symphonic Warriors are also possible). And when Miccs is summoned, you get a free normal summon. If you hadn't already used up your normal summon, you can now do that twice. And since Miccs is a Pendulum monster, he can allow this basically EVERY turn he's summoned. Oh, and Guitaar's monster effect allows to revive Miccs from the grave. These two are an engine on their own and noteworthy additions for any deck that focuses on effects that trigger on normal summons. Truly, a guitar and a mic is all you need to play music!
	Rocket Hand: A typical equip trap card that boosts your monster's attack when triggered. But you can also trigger its secondary effect at any time. You can send it from the field to the grave to destroy an opponent's monster. The downside is that the monster it was equipped now has 0 attack. Upside is that you can disrupt the opponent's combo plays.

Personal thoughts and afterword

Yes, I participated in the sneak peeks past weekend. And boy, it's been a long time since so many joined in a sneak peek tournament. The Zoodiac Hype is REAL. Personally, the sneaks were great for me. I got a playmat on Saturday, together with the one card I was really looking for (Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon). And on Sunday, I pulled both a GreenGrass and a Ratpier, which I was able to sell at Sneak prices (hey, I'm a casual. I'm not wasting money on the hype).

From now on, every tournament will have Zoodiac based decks until the next F&L list update. If you really want to qualify right now, Zoodiac is thé deck you must play. If you're a casual like me; better skip this set and wait until everyone has opened tons of boxes (and the other cards thus drop in price tremendously). Then you can pick up the single cards you want at dump prices.

And if you can't stand formats dominated by one archetype? You might want to skip out for the next few months. It's not going to be pretty. It's a sad truth, but this kind of format does happen once every while.

Heck, the reason why I'm putting more focus on writing anime reviews right now is due to this archetype dominating every headline in both OCG and now also TCG (and thus turning the game kind of stale). So after this post, I'm focusing back on anime.

Until next time, V out.