Massacre Conspiracy

Remember those days when you open with only Tefnuit/Eset with Nebthet and thought to yourself “Fuck My Life”. Well, many sought to reduce their chances of getting self-inflicted cancer in Hieratics by adding in Curse of Dragon into the equation. It worked for some people but the rest saw it as another form of cancer (playing two vanillas is bad enough seriously.) Probably the only reason I am excited with Shadow Specters is because they have a new Level 6 vanilla dragon Tuner in the set (yes, I am talking about Labradorite Dragon!) I have now found my solution to opening only with Eset/Tefnuit and Nebthet thanks to the existence of Labradorite Dragon and Celestial Dragon. 

                                              (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Labradorite_Dragon)

A quick analysis on this new vanilla, it is a Level 6 making it compatible with Hieratics for OTK combos and whatnot. Labradorite is also a DARK which is an added bonus if you are looking to run Chaos Monsters in the bunch. This card being a Tuner is the main point since it will be bringing more fun and love in Hieratics possibly spreading more joyous cancer to the community. In all honesty, this card would suck if it wasn’t for the availability of Celestial Dragon. It has zero attack points so you can't rely on Labradorite to perform  the usual 3-Cards-OTK combo (Atumus+M7) which Wattaildragon does and at the very least Emerald Dragon comes with 2400 ATK. A side note, I might even consider constructing a build with Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Twilight in it (3000 ATK free massacre.) I am definitely going to be experimenting with new cards from Shadow Specters (mainly Labradorite Dragon and Kiganjo) and maybe come up with a good enough build to run when September Format arrives. Hopefully the Dragon Rulers and Prophecy bullshit ends while the Green Day dude continues to sleep. Hieratics is hardly a reliable competitive deck anymore but who knows maybe they can make a comeback with creativity (Verz Ophion still needs to go to Hell though.)  So, I am off to once again mess around with my favourite deck. Thank you for dropping by!

Order And Disorder

                                (http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Number_74:_Master_of_Blades)

Let’s talk about Number 74: Master of Blades. The OCG version of this card will most probably be in Collector’s Pack: Zexal Version which is due to be release in August (plenty of mixed feelings going around for this card.) Let’s start off with a general analysis into the card’s stats. Number 74 is a Rank 7 generic Exceed boasting a 2700 ATK and 2300 DEF body (Dragon Rulers and Mermail love.) Being an EARTH makes this card compatible with Redox’s Special Summoning effect similar to Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack and Tempest’s relationship in Dragon Rulers. 2300 DEF makes it a reliable enough meat shield while 2700 ATK makes it a relevant beatstick which is bigger compared to Dracossack, Number 11: Big Eye, Tidal, and Tempest but smaller in comparison to Blaster, Crimson Blader, and Colossal Fighter. Not so important notice, 2700 ATK automatically includes this card into the OTK-relevant or stand alone category.

At first glance, Master of Blades is just another card with big stats. Going slightly deeper, being an Exceed Monster instead of a Synchro gives Dragon Rulers easier access to it compared to a similar card, Thought Ruler Archfiend (two daddy dragons and the job is done no Tuners involved.) So, what’s the point here? Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack is obviously a better card in general. What changes will Number 74: Master of Blades bring into the most dominant strategy in the Meta right now? Well, let’s just say this card revolutionizes much more than what meets the eye. In my opinion, Master was created to bring more creativity in terms of tactics especially in the mirror match. That’s where its value lies assuming Dragons don’t die off after September banned list. Again, how and why?

Forbidden Chalice, Enemy Controller, and Book of Moon are a few popular tech choices in Dragons to fend off opposing Dragons. When it comes to hate techs, Compulsory Evacuation Device comes into everyone’s mind instantly. Number 74: Master of Blades allows you to bypass all those threats unlike Dracossack giving it significant amount of credit. Also, with this new addition into the Extra Deck ranks, players can now go into Master instead of airplane during Main Phase 2 or whatnot to prevent Big Eye from wrecking your board during your opponent’s turn. Having said that, this card is vulnerable to effects that does not target (Dark Hole, Book of Eclipse, Spellbook of Fate, and Jowgen’s effect are some examples.) Before I forget, Konami forgot to include the “Once per turn” clause into this card. Now that’s just fucked!

The common argument right now against this card is Crimson Blader. 2700 is big but as mentioned earlier there are even bigger aggressors. Now remember  Book of Moon and Chalice being popular tech cards right now in mirror matches? Crimson Blader will never cease from being a nightmare for Dragons and in common cases like that, Master of Blades works well with Forbidden Chalice and Book of Moon for combination douchebagery (I especially love how much synergy Blades have with these cards.) For example with Forbidden Chalice, common play would be you pumping Number 74 to 3000 ATK during Damage Step to run over Blader however by doing so you are leaving yourself vulnerable during Main Phase 2. An alternative trick can go like this, you choose to negate Chalice with Number 74’s effect and pop Crimson Blader breaking even (one-for-one) and survive further onslaught preventing your death. Now with Book of Moon, the obvious play would be minus one by changing Crimson Blader to Face-Down DEF position preventing it from killing Master of Blades and Blader’s effect to go off. OR you can target Number 74, negate BoM, and proceed to pop Crimson Blader through Master’s effect again going into a nice one-for-one. Those are some examples on how Number 74: Master of Blades can be useful in the mirror match. Listing down every usage and combination would be a pain but bottomline is Master of Blades adds in more value into already fearsome techs like the ones mentioned above. 

Master of Blades might not be as convincing as Dracossack when it stands alone but by combining it with other cards it is possible to pull off a variety of effective plays depending on the situation and your resources. This card also becomes another out to popular win-conditions like Colossal Deck Out and Armory Arm OTK when combined with cards like Forbidden Chalice and Book of Moon (or generally cards that targets a Face-Up monster.) Give your opponent cancer by requesting him or her to perform the Colossal Deck Out combo step by step, proceed to draw into more cards with Maxx “C”, when you had enough use Master’s effect to end your opponent’s misery. Sounds fun doesn’t it? That’s the case if you have both 74 and Dracossack on the field and your opponent attempts to screw with your airplane (you can still stop that combo if its only Master on the field and you have a card that targets.) I can understand if one would to question the effectiveness and consistency in establishing two-card combos. 

After writing all that, this card is indeed less useful in Prophecy match-ups. Spellbook of Fate does not target, Power+Starhall makes Kycoo a bitch, even Jowgen's destruction effect goes through Number 74. Not to mention how shitty it would be for this card to stare down Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Azure-Eyed Silver Dragon. The card still proves to be decent against lower tier strategies such as Fire Fist and Constellars. You can net plus ones if you pull out Master at the right time. Against Verz, I like the fact Master of Blades keeps Reptiless Vasuki at home and can potentially destroy Ophion and Imperial Iron Wall while being immune to Compulsory Evacuation Device assuming you get to summon it so it’s not all that bad. Overall, Number 74 looks to be a well-rounded custom card designed to counter Dragon Rulers. Some love for other decks that can utilize Rank 7 Exceeds. It changes a number of things believe it or not.  This card has “I am giving you a choice” written all over it and definitely isn’t something one can mindlessly play. Bring it out at the wrong time you’ll probably want to tear Master of Blades on the spot. At the very least, this shit ain’t stupid like Dracossack! That’s my take on Number 74. I hope you have enjoyed reading another wall of text. Thank you for dropping by!

Points Of Authority

As far as anyone is concern Dragon Rulers have been the talk of the year regardless of Prophecy or Evilswarm’s existence in the Meta. No other deck is as big of a priority as the legionnaire of draconian rulers. Whether or not Konami wishes to dethrone the strongest deck right now is about anybody’s guess and it remains a subjective matter to discuss. Malaysia World Championship Qualifiers 2013 ended right about a week ago and to everyone’s knowledge I ran Dragon Rulers because I had access to it not because I like that deck. The key aspect to decide the differences of your deck’s performance was originality. Prior to our WCQ, Singapore had their brutality contest and sure enough Dragon Rulers came out on top. The age of “exclusive knowledge” has long been a thing of the past due to the internet. Anyone with half a brain and a Facebook account easily have access to what the biggest game changing techs in trend are with that follows net-decking (may or may not be a good thing, you decide.) 

Forbidden Chalice and Enemy Controller were of two big guns that would decide how much leverage you have in the mirror match (because that’s the most important match up if you ran Dragons.) Vanity’s Emptiness came in later in effect of the “full circle cycle.”  Cards like those aforementioned were factors that will eventually decide whether or not you fight an uphill battle or simply cruise through. The thing about relevant techs is even if you are fighting an uphill battle they alone allow you to take the hill given the right circumstance. Still, such reasons are why duelists would die to obtain even a tiny bit of insight. After all of that, proceed to add in hand traps into the equation and your cancerous cocktail called a deck is complete. When everyone practically knows what techs to play and look out for it usually sums up to skill level differences but unfortunately sometimes things end up being decided by who has superior luck during that particular round. 

I wasn’t planning to win WCQ (almost zero preparation done) but I wasn’t too keen on losing out to “celestial luck” at the same time. With plenty of information circling around geared with a pretty accurate level of understanding towards how Malaysian players generally are, I found a simple solution that would fit the bill in my case. The answer was an old classic named Divine Wrath. I’ll keep this simple for you it’s a Speed 3 Counter Trap that kills on-field monster effects, blocks off threats from the hand and Graveyard also count the banish zone in all for the price of one hand card which isn’t really costly when you dump daddy dragon (sounds familiar?) If you are thinking why Divine Wrath over Raigeki Break the answer is obvious, it’s a counter trap. While RB gives you that added value to pop spells and traps it is easier to deal with compared to Divine Wrath but DW has its perks.

In match-ups like Prophecy, Batel is a common occurrence. Divine Wrath deals with it and makes sure no Spellcasters are on the field resulting to cards like Masters and Fate to be dead for the time being. You can add in Cisty and Junon into the list as well as Wisdom being an eyesore when the wrath of God goes down. This card is even better against Verz. There are tons of psychological fuck-ups you can play like allowing your opponent to extend into Verz Ophion (Castor plays and whatnot) before unleashing divine punishment on it. Rescue Rabbit is lunch/dinner/supper while Verz Kerykeion is a 1-for-2 (Kerykeion’s cost and itself) assuming you ditch daddy dragon. Aside from all the Main Deck mumbo jumbo, you have their Extra Deck wrapped up in the process. The amount of creativity cancer you can share is plentiful. The problem with Divine Wrath here is generic, draw it too late it becomes utter crap. However, it is an exploding pack of nails when you can use it during early or mid game in these two match-ups. 

As mentioned earlier, if you are running Dragons the most important match-up to pay attention to is against Dragons (side enough hate and play smart decks like Prophecy and Verz eventually crumbles.) The main purpose of Divine Wrath is to inflict more damage in the mirror match compared to what is already considered as conventional methods can do. Aside from having the potential ability of negating pesky hand traps like Maxx “C” and Effect Veiler at a cost of one hand card Divine Wrath buys you control over rhythm and pace in the battle of resources. Having the power in controlling the amount of colours your opponent gets to use could easily turn the game around. If they have one colour, that’s self-explanatory. If they have two or more, you basically limit their actions by restricting manipulation over one element (it could save you depending on the situation.) Divine Wrath also allows you to restart your opponent’s board through over-extension. For example, granting access to cards like Mermail Abyssgaios or Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack and then breaking their setup or plays. Paying attention to Extra Deck resources is equally important to how many colours you have in your Graveyard. It can be situational and comes with a one turn drawback but the chances of Divine Wrath being useful are high enough due to the lack of back-row removals. If you are facing a Colossal Fighter Deck Out situation, feel free to fix your hand by drawing into more cards with Dirty “C” before closing the curtains on the infamous giant (I wouldn’t recommend drawing half of your deck though that’s asking to die to Card Destruction.) 

Divine Wrath gets you out of tricky situations and allows you to dictate the flow considering the resources you have and the amount of plays you can go into. The possibility of Wrath being dead is quite low when put into consideration but that’s assuming your opponent doesn’t open the nuts and try to YOLO you whenever he or she gets the chance while you hold nothing. It serves as a big enough surprise slapped to the face and can easily be switched between games paying attention on who goes first. In terms of tech flexibility, the card has its merits. Whether you are facing Colossal-Deck-Out, Armory Arm OTK, or Jewel Flare Vanity Lock, Divine Wrath COULD save your ass. Talking about rewarding the right calls and making the right moves, Divine Wrath is all about that (how reliable it is depends on the player’s style.) Knowing how to manipulate it brings you closer to understanding which tactics to choose between depending on the amount of plays you can make or should make (defensive or offensive measure.) It is a simple card abiding to one simple iron rule, timing (the simplest things can create the biggest problems.) That’s the end of another wall of text. Thank you for reading and I hope this has been an informative read. Again, thank you!

Calming The Flames Within, 2

Whaddup readers? I hope you guys are doing well. I assume by the title you know what this post is about. Yes, WCQ 2013 ended just a day ago and a big congratulation to Zack Teoh for his win. To Zack, if you are reading this, you deserve the win and I know you are one of the most hardworking player to strive for glory and victory. Again, you deserve the win and I wish you luck in Las Vegas. I pray you do well and take the trophy home. Good luck! Now back to my part of the story. Before going any further, let me confess this, I had no expectations going into MAS WCQ 2013. I had little to no time at all for play-testing expect during those random Seed Qualifiers I scrubbed. A week before I contemplated whether or not I should even join because of zero effort invested into my form. So, to those who thing this is a rant post, you are wrong. LOL!

When I heard plenty of big names from Singapore were going to come down and compete, I made up my mind. I decided to join the championships just to get a chance to play against Singaporean duelists who are better than me. Call it suicidal if you want but that is how I learn and improve best. I couldn’t let this chance slip away. So, yeah, I borrowed half of the deck I played and went into the tournament. Pre-tournament, being a smartass I decided to go ahead and celebrate with a few close friends. We jammed from 7.00pm till 12.00am (all the fuckin’ head-banging and shredding) going Metalcore all the way. After that, we all decided to head down to a friend’s newly opened bar and drank from 1.30am till 5.00am. Man that was the stupidest way to prepare yourself for a major tourney. I kid you not it was dumb but it was fun at the same time (if you want to win a tournament and have spent months preparing for it don’t do shit like that.) So, I finally got home around 6am and all I did was watch mirror match videos in Youtube while constructing my deck.  I reached the tournament venue just around 9.30am.

DAY 1

FORMAT: 7 Rounds of Swiss cut to Top 32 qualifiers for Day 2

DECK USED: Dragon Rulers

It was initially supposed to be Single Elimination but was instead changed to Swiss on the day itself. Before participating I expected to scrub in round 2 or 3 since I never have the luck to play early Single Eliminations. But with no expectations I headed into every game playing as calm as I can and put everything onto the board so I wouldn’t regret anything.

ROUND 1 (Mermails)

I think I played Mango (I am not sure.) But the dude I was playing against was one of the members of Asia Plus 2012’s finalist. So, yeah, a good player right from the start. That’s what I wanted.

GAME 1: I chained Maxx C to his Abyssteus and he ended his turn after that. When it came to my turn I special summoned Tempest via Lightning ditching Redox (I had only two colours: Lightning, Redox, Reactan), I took some time to consider the best play to make sure I don’t die and decided to make an early Crimson Blader to lock him off Megalo, Tidal, Gaios plays. He cleared my Blader through Sphere into Linde then Spike ditching Infantry. I draw into another Lightning (life sucks but its cool). I made Dracossack spawn two kid planes, set a card, and ended. He did the mumbo jumbo with Spike and Gunde plays at his turn and tried to go for the kill with Megalo equipped with that 800 ATK booster and sacked something for Megalo’s effect but Megalo died to my Divine Wrath. Next turn, I drew into Blaster and it was GG.

GAME 2: He went first and tried to start off strong with Abyssteus again but I had Maxx to save my ass. I drew into REDMD through Maxx bro. Instead of stopping he went ahead this time into Bahamut Shark which I Veilered. When it came to my turn I had four colours so you know the drill. He should have stopped when I threw Dirty “C” but maybe he was worried. That risk alone told me he had nothing to fend off my plays. Or maybe he was nervous who knows.

OO

(1-0)

ROUND 2 (Dragon Rulers)

This guy was funny. He gave quite a number of in-between-comments like “smart kid”, “good play”, and whatnot. I am not sure if he was sincerely complimenting me or being sarcastic. LOL!  Either way, my mind was too focused (or too high) and all I knew was look at the board fuck the rest. There were a few instance where I spoke Japanese in this match. Just to mind fuck him.

GAME 1: I held my ground long enough crawling through his constant Maxx C and Veilers but eventually two colours wasn’t enough to go against Super Reju and four colours. 

GAME 2: I opened with Veiler, Super Reju, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, Monster Reborn, drew into Reactan and thought to myself I was gonna scrub this round so hard. BUT he did no samba instead summoning an Eclipse Wyvern and attacking for 1600 during his turn! I drew into another Veiler I almost died of heart attack. I was expecting a LaDD play next turn and true enough he went into LaDD but misplayed when he tribute Wyvern for LaDD and I netted a free negation. It was my move again and this time God bless Malaysia I drew a fucking Redox! I was never that happy for only having one colour! So, I went Reactan ditch Redox=NEGATE into Dark Hole=NEGATE into Heavy Storm=NEGATE and fucking went into Crimson Blader because that was my only offensive move. He had no Veiler, forgot to SS Wyvern back when LaDD died, i Reju into Burner and REDMD during my End Phase. He ended his turn and I ended the Game. I somehow managed to crawl back into the match.

GAME 3: I got Dirty C and he played too conservatively. We played a grinding game and few turns later I Dark Hole his field and “Bladed” his Dracossack. He topped nothing but put on a bad poker face. I killed him the next turn.

XOO

(2-0)

ROUND 3 (Dragon Rulers)

I played Alex Yeo this round and was fucking happy about it. He had more credentials than me, played longer than me, and was definitely better than me. So, yeah, win or lose I gain something out of it.

GAME 1: Usual slow grind game when opponent Dirty C you. He eventually got the upper hand and killed me with Dracossack+Burei+Gaia Dragoon. If I remember correctly but I was sure he gave me cancer this game.

GAME 2: I open subpar but had one Maxx C and Scarecrow to survive two turns. Slow grind again until he made Dracossack, tribute his tokens for Blaster, E.Virus my Blaster, and tried to go for game. I ALMOST FORGOT TO DROP SCARECROW! FUCK ME WHAT WAS I HIGH ON!? But he was kind enough to let me replay. Not sure if he knew he was a better player but I took the opportunity he gave and never looked back. During my turn I again made Big Eye and Crimson Blader (forgot how). He Veilered my Crimson Blader and proceed to Big Eye my shits the next turn. It didn’t kill me but left me paralyzed (I think a part of me dropped inside.) I was holding Reactan, Book of Moon and I topped a HOLY MOTHER OF GOD ECON! Summon Reactan take Blader through ECON whacked his Big Eye and ended. I had ample amount of Life Points left to survive and three colours in my Graveyard. He thought for a bit and conceded. Not sure what happened there.

GAME 3: Let’s just say I open the dirtiest hand I ever had in my career of Yugioh and gave him cancer. I know I luck-sacked hard this match.

XOO

(3-0)

ROUND 4 (Prophecy)

GAME 1: Batel attempted to conjure some demonic magical shit but Zeus was on my side. Divine Wrath sent him flying crispy. I just needed to push as much as I can to win and I did so. 

GAME 2: He misplayed badly by flipping Mental Drain before calling John to join the party and apparently topped another John during his next turn. My hand was slow and he eventually got THE PROPHECY CANNOT BE DENIED COMBO but by that time I had Dark Hole, Book of Moon, and Last Day of Witch. Whole match was basically about Reactan and Stream beats before going into Direwolf to pop his Mental Drain. After all that, it was Dragon-Sex. I gave my opponent cancer.

OO

(4-0)

ROUND 5 (Verz)

SHERWYN!!!

GAME 1: I misplayed bad for not sending divine thunder onto his lowly Rabbit. A couple of turns later he gave me cancer with Ophion and Imperial Iron Wall’s help. I think Verz hate me because I sold them off. LOL!

GAME 2: I gave him cancer with IMBA hand.

GAME 3: Game went back and forth to a point where I could have won if I made Gaia Dragoon instead of Dracossack. I was betting on the fact that he didn’t have Reptiless Vasuki in hand but he did so my airplane crashed due to system failure. I was holding Electric Virus (he would have to make Ouroboros to clear my field and survive next turn.) Alternative to that would be summoning all the monsters he had, clear my tokens, and Wolf my plane. I contemplated slightly but indeed Gaia Dragoon was the best play to make at that moment but I failed to realize that instead opt to go conventional. Sherwyn gave me cancer again. He showed me Vasuki, Kagetokage, Castor, and another Verz. GG…Read wrongly FML.

XOX

(4-1)

ROUND 6 (Mermails)

GAME 1: I drew subpar but double Divine Wrath kept me alive long enough.

GAME 2: My opponent went first and tried to go YOLO with Teus but I had Dirty C to stop him. He left Abyssteus in attack position. I made Crimson Blader and won from there. I think he was pretty nervous.

OO

(5-1)

ROUND 7 (Dragon Rulers)

I played against Jeff Soh this round. We were both sure to qualify for Day 2 so whoever won or lost it doesn’t really matter. But I was pretty sure I would lose this match. He has better skills and knowledge about the mirror compared to me plus he is a legend. Anyway, it was an interesting and educational match for me. We basically played the whole Dragon Rulers mirror match. We went from Crimson Blader phase to Colossal Fighter phase switching to Dracossack and Big Eye phase and finally to Armory Arm phase. What did I learn? The list goes a long way but some highlights that are important would be conserving your Graveyard and Extra Deck resources, PLAY THE THIRD BIG EYE, learn how to play grind games, and use your brain. I lost but no doubt I gained so much more from this one match. To Jeff, if you are reading this, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

(5-2)

I finished 10^th after the Swiss rounds.

DAY 2

FORMAT: Single Elimination

DECK USED: Dragon Rulers

I was disappointed as soon as I heard that. As mentioned earlier, I don’t do well in tournaments where its Single Elimination right off the bat. I kept the same mindset but it was harder to focus this time. I guess all the partying before Day 1 kicked in. Anyways, it didn’t bother me. I went in expecting to have fun and nothing else mattered.

ROUND 1 (BEWD Prophecy)

I got my wish again to play against big names. This time I was up against Clarence Foo. 

GAME 1: He gave me cancer.

GAME 2: I somehow managed to give him cancer.

GAME 3: Big misplay on my part. It came to a point where I cleared his first Soul Drain previously and I had a tribute Blaster on my field. I forgot about the “tribute” part and allowed his Jowgen’s effect to go through. After that, Soul Drain number two said hello. I drew no outs and offered him a handshake.

XOX

That’s the end of my run. I had plenty of fun and will probably continue competing with that sort of mindset (relax and all in not party like hell before tourney.) I don’t see the point of taking things seriously anymore especially with all the politics going on here and there. Just not worth the time and competitive play shouldn’t fall to such an extent. The next time I join another major event it will be the same “game-by-game” and “no fucks given” mindset. But, of course, I’ll still practice to improve my skills. LOL! And here comes the end of this post. Thank you for reading!