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]

good blog.
one element is that whirlwind can be stopped without it being removed from the field; bottomless, book of moon, icarus attack. if the monster being summoned is destroyed on the chain of summon/black whirlwind, that player loses the search because whirlwind requires a target attack to search from.

also for the syncro cat, u got it all down, but the main purpose is to OTK/FTK with it; cold wave, summoner monk-discard search for another monk, discard search for rescue cat, tribute, search for x2 aribellums syncro for x2 dark strike fighters and attack for 5200 then tribute for 2800 resulting in the OTK/FTK. also syncro cat is not really a deck, its an engine only because you are searching 90% of the time. and 10% draw power.

for twilight, its capabilities are endless as it is least hurt by the ban list. twilight/Light sworn are both i would say #1 compared to blackwing. the reason being is because of the draw power that twilight/light sworn possess, plus the special summon ability of lumina. then with necro guardna in the grave, thats -1 attack you take from the opponent, stalling your time so that you can mill and get out judgement dragon and dark armed dragon out. lightsworn/twilight have a much greater swarm capacity than blackwing which make it a stronger force to reckon with.

as per the ban list in sept, i can see everything BUT lightsworn and twilight getting hit that will affect its playability and speed. only because OUR ban list follows the OCG(japans) banlist and their metas. since japan currently does not have "charge of the light brigade" they see that lightsworn/twilight is not much of a threat compared to blackwings and syncro cat, which both decks are easily made and dont cost much aside form the syncros.

[Kurosori A. (Brandon Kinard)]

Hey Nick, can I be interviewed. I'm a interesting player (I think), you know me, and I'm good at tournaments too!!! LMK alright.

[Arnold "RC-1 Judge" Yago]

Excellent analysis, Nick. =)

[Asar]

@ Nick: Blackwings are a solid deck but I don't think they're at the top. They just got a lot of overhype. I feel that Judgment Dragon is more likely to be considered the best card in the format as opposed to Gale. Gale is a powerful card, but not quite as game-changing.
I also think you can't compare Twilight to Tele-Dad elements because twilight is not necessarily running the max of allures, d-draw, teleport, malicious, etc. Twilight prefers Necro, PoC, maybe 1 allure, etc. I'm just sayin.
As far as Rock Stun, it's definitely solid but I wouldn't say it's a top deck this format. No offense to Stun players, but you should know Anti-Meta draws are tough compared to charge/charge/charge/recharge/recharge/recharge/derpderp. I would say Rock Stun is Rock Stun, and Little City is Little City. Don't forget that ANY deck running oppressions/skill drains/etc is tough to run around.
And Cat is just ridiculous. Imo, I see the top decks as:
1. Cat
2. LS
3. Everybody else :)
But anyways sorry for eating up your blog space haha I should just write my own.

@ Chad: wtf are you talking about? Rescue Cat is an Engine but Synchro Cat is definitely a deck. I mean wtf else would it be.

[DJ Cdisk]

Hey chad thanks for the comments. Here is my response to your comments

1. True you don't have to get rid of black whirlwind for its effect to activate (I.e. Book, Bottomless, cold wave etc.) but then next turn it's still there for them to use. You lose a card and he may lose his monster from you attacking next turn (1 for 1), but next turn if he summons another blackwing nexturn like sirocco/bora he gets the +1. What also happens in most cases if he goes first and summons 1-3 whirlwinds opening turn. :) blackwing madness

2. I know syncro cat is an engine, but the name is just a name for it. I remember people saying I'm running tele-dad but wasn't running teleports! Wouldn't it just be DAD? Funny

3. The main problem with twilight I've noticed since I started playing is that opening hands play key in how you start, which leads to a few inconsistant plays as to blackwings. Once I had 2 honests, Necro Gardna, 2 solar recharges then I draw Judgment Dragon! Arrrg!!!! Then you also come to problems when all your outs were sent to the yard so soon without any chance to send him back ("ok I mill 6 cards, 2 judgments, 2 reincantaion, celestia, and beckoning light") Arrrg!!!!

Thanks for reading :)
Dj cdisk

[DJ Cdisk]

Hey asar thanks for the comments. Here are my response

Judgment vs gale- I do believe Judgment has the best effect in the format the ability to blow up the field is huge but he has restictions (4 LS in grave & life points to spare) whereas gale can be summoned anytime and can caus his own blow up effect via a 4star monster , gale and blackrose. Also having judgment in the grave is a dead card cause you can't reborn him back (only reincarnate) wheras gale can be.

As for Rock stun being last formats little city in that it was the alternitive to the top decks that ruled in the last format. True it can't draw better but it's still a cause of concern and you need side cards to help you win.

As for blackwing overhype. Look what is winning in OCG side, mainly blackwings now. Just something to consider

Thanks again asar
Dj cdisk

[DJ Cdisk]

FYI if/when I do respond to your comments it's just to create a debate on the matter. It by no means is to put down your comments or to make your comments inferior to mine, I just like a good ol debate and will have my own POV like I said before. I will always make my responses in a respective manner and will never bash anyone for their own POV, that's not cool people,

[Asar]

hmm yeah you're right as far as gale, i see now that he can at least (normally) never be a dead draw.

And while BW may have won a few recent store tournaments, take a look at Japan's nationals. Skill Drain Plants took 1st with Cat taking 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

[chad]

@nick:
well in the case of this meta, once a BW is bottomless/booked/etc, it usually means that they lose because the meta decks now are usually, OTK decks with the exception on LS/twilight which needs the right cards to OTK perfectly. with syncro cat and BW the possibility to OTK is much higher. wen i play at planet/on oovoo, i found out that once i get cold waved/bottomlessed/book, i usually get OTK or get deal such heavy dmg and get swarmed to the point where i dont any options but to end turn and lose the game.

i see your point with the name of syncro cat just being a name, but @joel, yes its a 40 card deck, but most of the deck is based on engines. hence an engine.

for twilight, it usually is based on the luck of the draw, having 2 elements in the deck. yes it gets frustrating that u get that really bad hand where u cant do anything but set a necro guardna. thats where technique of shuffling comes into play. just gotta shuffle well(power shuffle). i found that power shuffling tends to help stray away from those uber bad hands.

@everyone, that first response i wrote was @3:15 this morning, so u can figure out why it doesnt make sense in some places.

[DJ Cdisk]

Well that's what threatenings are for ;)

That is why I think blackwings are over (by a tad) LS/twilight, both can swarm for the OTK, but blackwings play in hand as oppose to LS does with the grave.