DJ CDisk Blog.... Breaking down the Meta

[DJ Cdisk]

Thanks to everyone who commented on my very first yugioh blog/article, I really enjoyed everyone’s feedback and hope you guys like what I continue to bring to the Yugioh Community. As we flourish in number let us always remember our past, It may have seemed that I was giving Konami a lot of praise while giving Upper Deck the negative, but without Upper Deck’s well ran organized play and the hundreds of volunteers/workers for Upper Deck, Yugioh wouldn’t be where its at now (probably just another game on the wayside of games). So thank you Upper Deck for that.

As months will go by you will probably see me less at regular Tourneys and hobby leagues mainly due to my future plans in getting married in July 2010. So to continue to help out I will try to keep up with the game as best as I can and giving my best analysis of the game. I know I may not be the best player around, but I can give many new players out there a better insight on the game we love to play. So from time to time I will give new deck ideas for people to try out, “tech” updates, and I will even try to do Player Profiles on Great players here in Hawaii. Metagame.com was such a big channel to improve your game; many will say metagame.com was only for people who “net-deck” which is true, but it also showed analysis of top players and tons of coverage (play-by-play) of the big events. I will try to give a “taste” of what that was to new players. I will try to write a blog every few weeks or so depending how busy I am. Please continue to Comment good/bad because it will help me improve my future writings as well as add some flavor and a different POV. Anyway, onto my topic for today

As our first Konami Regionals have come and passed, the “meta” has defiantly shifted from the last format where Tele-DaD roamed undaunted to other builds. With 96 players wielding so many different decks, what is the best deck to play? I will go through the top 2 decks (Tier 1) and then the 2 decks that are on the rise. These decks will continue to dominate til the next format (which by the way is only 2 months away!!!).

So the number 1 deck in this format is………………………………….Blackwings!
Now I’m not just saying this just cause it won at Regionals, or because 22 players played it then, here is why; it runs 3 Gales and 3 Black Whirlwinds! “Gale the Whirlwind” is probably the best card in the format right now. This little card can take out so many decks by itself, it can kill decks like GBs and Zombies with ease (“I summon Shura/Bora, Special Gale, Use Gales effect to cut Laquari/Gyzarus/Heraklinos by half and attack….gg people”). Against other decks, Blackwings are simply too fast for it. Their ability to swarm the field is mainly due to “Black Whirlwind”, the best support card for a sub-type ever made. The ability to search for a Blackwing is alone a powerful effect, but since it's a continuous spell, your opponent either has to get rid of it, thus losing a card; or let it stay on the field and watch you gain +1 or more card advantage with it. It’s a lose-lose situation for your opponent. With even more new cards coming out with Ancient Prophecy (i.e. Vayu, the Big Flag), Blackwings will be on top for a while.

Right next to Blackwings we have Twilight as like a 1B if Blackwings is 1A. Twilight is interesting because it’s like the two best deck choices from the last format (Tele-DaD & Lightsworn) fused together (Fusion-Hi!!) to try and beat the top dog in this format (Blackwings). Just like Blackwings, Twilight has 2 cards that make the deck so good… “Judgment Dragon”, and “Dark Armed Dragon”. These 2 cards took big hits from the last format by reducing their limits to 2 and 1 per deck respectively, but their powers caused that to happen. Both have huge attacks and field clearing abilities which can change a game so quickly if unprepared. What makes this my deck of choice (special thanks to all that help me finish it), is that it has so many outs if you’re playing from behind, from Celestia, Chaos Sorcerer, and Phantom of Chaos, you can never count a Twilight player down til they’re at 0 life points. They're always a top deck away from swinging momentum or even winning the game.

Regionals also did bring a few new decks to the forefront, Rock Stun and Syncro-Cat

Rock Stun is this formats “Little City”. “Koa’ki Meiru Guardian” from Raging Battle is a beast with his ability to negate a effect monsters effect and destroy it, along with a 1900 attack, it's so hard to get around this card. And speaking of Beasts, “Beast King Barbaros” is huge at 3000 attack and can be easily summoned to the field. Rock Stun is a pretty tough deck to beat using cards like Royal Oppression, Fossil Dyna and Skill Drain to negate Blackwings and Twilight, and should be here to contend with the best.

Lastly, another deck on the rise is Syncro-Cat. A very controlled based deck using the abilities of “Summoner Monk” and “Rescue Cat” to get Syncro Monsters like “Arcanite Magician” and Black Rose Dragon to clear the field. “X-Saber Airbellum” is what makes the deck tick not only because he’s the Tuner that does all the Syncro Summoning, but in his ability to hit your opponents hand if your opponents not prepared for is key. A loss of 1 or 2 key cards in your opponents hand can break the game wide open for you and you can just smack him with Gravekeeper Spies for game.

These 4 decks should continue to rule the tops of many Tourneys from now til September. I don’t see any other deck coming from left field and start winning in last 2 months of this format, so expect to see these decks at every Tournament you attend.

My Next Blog will either be a new deck idea or a player profile; I just gotta find someone to interview (LMK if you're interested). If not I have an awesome Deck Variant that should raise eyebrows if and when I play it. I might even do a Tech Update from a few interesting cards that I saw being used at Regionals. It’s all up in the air. Let me know what you guys want me to write next.

Til then keep playing, trading, and most importantly have fun out there!

Nick a.k.a DJ CDisk

[chad]

well u have to take into consideration that honest can beat out kalut 99% of the time if your opponent attacks, and even if you attack, you are not guaranteed that kalut will beat out honest, and noting that you never kalut wen attacking a lumina. tactical advantage still goes to honest.

[chad]

but if we look at it this way, BW and LS/twilight arnt that different as terms of power and either once can beat the other. but it all depends on draw and how things play out. example is during regionals i played a twilight and i beat it, then i played LS later on and i lost. the win and loss where due to a good/bad hand for me and opponent and how things played out(milling, searches). i figure that BW doesnt stand a very good chance against LS straight up, but against twilight, because of the added dark in the equation, allows for a slightly better chance to beat it, but again its all on draw and how things playout and if/any misplays.
(the twilight i beat at regionals was albert-if that helps put into perspective on validity of beating twilight with BW)

[chad]

for threatenings, yes they stop the attack that turn, but it really doesnt help if you dont get anything the folllowing turn. you want cards that can help you beat the opponent, not stall out with top decks of threatenings. if JD is on the field/in opponent hand, he could just blow the field that way he doesnt mill more than 4 cards per turn as he waits for the next turn to kill you(assuming he has enough LP to blow the field multiple times). but again, its how your draw is and how events turn out. the best thing to do is to actually playtest someone (suggest joining oovoo) with your twilight vs. a BW deck or a syncro cat, and see how that plays. playtesting is the #1 way to see if any theories are in fact correct. in your case-BW being top compared to LS and twilight.

[DJ Cdisk]

hmm.... Good points maybe my next blog should be Twilight vs Lightsworn as both are different decks.

Since you beat a twilight deck with blackwings... That's 1 point for me and my theory right? :)

[chad]

haha, it is a +1 to your theory, but after that i lost to LS and all the FYT and hobby leagues ive lost to twilight. the +1 doesnt mean that BW is better than LS/twilight. as i said, it all comes down to your first draw and how things play out. i was +1 wen i beat albert then i went even 0 wen i lost to LS later that day. the only twilight/LS ive ever beat was albert. so, if you want you could playtest me on oovoo or something and see if your theory holds up.

[chad]

i still believe that BW falls compared to LS/twilight but thats my opinion, but im sure manny other have the same view.

[DJ Cdisk]

Well beating albert, I should get like 10 points then LOL BTW what is oovoo? I don't have a web cam arrrg!

[chad]

LOL, i guess since its pretty hard to beat albert. oovoo is a webcam thing. like skype. its a pretty good way to duel wen u are at home in need to play test a deck and such.

[Derek]

This is awesome Nick. I only have a few things to add in. There is no doubt in my mind that the two top decks in the current meta are either BW or LS/Twilight. I believe that Synchro-Cats is a great deck, but it falls short of being at the top. Sure getting 2x DSF is awesome but in reality how many Synchro-Cat players have 2x DSF? Plus if they arent getting the 2nd DSF they're usually getting an Arcanite Magician. Sure it clears the field but it usually attacks for no more than 1400. After the DSF comes in for a swing you take 2600. So what? 2600 + 1400 from both monsters is only 4000. Now he's faced w/the decision of whether he wants to pop the DSF and the Arcanite or keep them both on the field. Thats where I think the deck falls short. The fact that it doesnt have the power to fully OTK/FTK when it has the opportunity to. Leaving a BW/LS/Twilight user another turn is 1 more opportunity for them to rip a bomb or the missing card for their OTK/FTK. By getting out 2x 7 star synchros also destroys their hand. They go from 6 to at least 2 in 1 turn (cold wave, summoner, spell for summoner, spell for second summoner). I think hand advantage is pretty important in all card games.

From my experience my hardest matchup is obviously BW (I play Twilight for those of you who dont know). When I have a terrible hand the chances of me getting OTK'd/FTK'd are pretty high (even with good hands and bad mills). In almost all of the Win-A-Box, FYT, and HL that I've played a BW and lost, I lost by OTK/FTK. I think that Shura + Black Whirlwind is almost always game. Shura comes in fetching him either a Gale, Kalut or Bora. He specials his remaining BW from his hand (assuming he has at least 1). Next he runs into my Lumina that previously milled terrible cards. I lose 800 LP and he fetches a 2nd Gale from his deck using Shura's ability. Next I take at least 2 more free hits (could be more if he had more BW in his hand) and then I get hit with DSF for game. I think that BW's main source of OTK'ing/FTK'ing comes from the fact that they can easily get DSF out (or even 2). That combination of fetching BW + synchroing for DSF for direct LP damage (with the fact that they swarm excellently) is the success of BW (IMO).

As for the Threatening Roar statement I think that that card should be played in almost every deck or at least sided. I mean really at best you stop an OTK/FTK if the opponent thinks that that card you set is a bluff (I have no clue why they would do that in case it was Torrential or Mirror Force). Plus for me it allows me (a Twilight player) an extra turn for mills and the opportunity to set me up for my OTK/FTK. It also wastes their MST, Heavy Storm, Cold Wave, Lyla, Breaker etc. Plus Threatening Roar is also good against LS/Twilight. 1 more turn of extra milling could be the difference between them milling (if they are ignorant of the fact that you could've set a threatening and are trying for the OTK) for deckout and you losing. Deck out isnt a bad strategy against LS. Thats just me though.

LMK what you guys think. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my opinions and ideas.

[chad]

nice derek, but maybe you getting OTK'd/FTK'd while running twilight is you fault. u cant control the cards you get but its up to u to shuffle(power shuffle) to where you can get those hands that can beat down the opponent. its true tha twilight is a hard deck to run technically, cuz of the 2 elements. but for twilight, LS is its major component. using the DAD is just a trump/bonus card. IMO ive seen matt and albert pull out wins easily against BW. even other twilight/ls players too. so it could just be you.(no offense)