Narutia Bambooshoot

In a format with so many backrows, I have yet to see anyone (besides my best friend) completely decimate decks thanks to Bambooshoot.

Sure, it has many threats such as negation, but that's what a Naturia Control deck is capable of handling. A well timed Bambooshoot accompanied by Royal Oppression or other control cards such as Warning can be very deadly.

I'm hoping to see this card get more play once HA04 arrives to complete Naturias once and for all.

Gravekeeper Deck

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, been really busy with college lately (production assignments, scripts to write, tests to take). But I finally do have my deck for this format, at least for the moment...

Monsters:

Spy x3
Recruiterx3
Descendant x3
Commandant x3
Assailant x2

Spells:

Necrovalley x3
Royal Tribute x2
Stele x2
Heat Wave (works really well to set up Spy/Recruiter plays)
Mystical x2
Upstart Goblin x3
Book of Moon
Dark Hole

Traps:

Bottomless x2
Dimensional Prison x2
Compulsory x2
7-Tools x2
Mirror Force
Torrential Tribute
Royal Oppression

Side deck seems pretty odd, but it's really effective...here it is:

Cyber Dragon x2 (with Chimeratech in extra deck already)
Rai-Oh x2
Fossil Dyna x2
Giant Trunade
The Selection x2 (excellent side card)
Sirocco (still plenty of BW players around)
Gozen Match x2
Starlight Road
Malefic Stardust
Power Filter

Thoughts on YCS Charlotte

Samurai won again...now then, on to business.

Fish OTK made it to the finals and gained 2 spots in the Top 8. Now, after playing this deck for 2 years I'm having a lot of mixed feelings regarding this achievement. First off, I'm happy to see Fish get the recognition they long-deserved, but it's also frustrating because I fear I may lose my recognition as "The Fish Guy" and get lost amongst all the bandwagon players.

I will continue working on Fish, just on new forms of playing the deck.

Also, Gravekeepers made also quite the presence in the Top 16. Really happy to see them become a great force amongst the meta.

Empty Jar in the Top 8 was a pleasant surprise. I didn't know what the deck was capable of until I lost to it a few weeks ago at a tourney. It still has some issues to work on, but it can be a deadly deck if you aren't careful enough.

Let's see...what else?

Sad to see Blackwings decline in use, but I guess that's part of the format changes.

And last, but not least, Dragunity. This deck is here to stay! Surely it's an instant contender in the meta as it made a strong impact.

This meta is shaping to be an interesting one.

Wonder Wand

A few cards from Generation Force have already been revealed, and one of them quickly caught my attention...Wonder Wand

Spell Equip
Equip only to a Spellcaster-Type monster. It gains 500 ATK. In addition, you can send the equipped monster that you control and this card to the Graveyard to draw 2 cards.

I find this card to be most useful in Gravekeeper decks. However, a quick Mystical can eliminate that draw power...but hey, they wasted a resource. Quite the interesting card indeed. Already seeing a few potential combos with Spy/Recruiter for some really good advantage. Draw 2 and search for a monster? Yes, please!

Tournament Report: Wizard Locals 3/12

Another week, another local. Today's deck was Blackwings, as I was testing them out for the new format.

Round 1: vs Empty Jar FTK

It was over so fast, I was quite shocked to find myself so defenseless against it. None of my counters worked, but oh well...that's the magic of Empty Jar.

0-1

Round 2: vs Lightsworn

Duel 1 was lost quickly to double Judgment Dragon, but duel 2 was quickly over thanks to Light Imprisoning Mirror. Duel 3 was pretty much back and forth, but a well timed LIM and Icarus Attack won me this round.

1-1

Round 3: vs Infernity

If there was any time to love main-decking Delta Crow, it was today's match. In both duels, Delta Crow was the key card to victory, especially in duel 2 when I eliminated his entire backrow during the end phase in which he set it. A mixture of Rai-Oh, Kycoo, Delta Crow, and Crevice won this match.

2-1

Round 4: vs Dragunity

This is a match I have long waited for. Aklys was a real thorn on my side during the entire match, always finding ways to destroy everything in my field little by little. In the end, I managed to turn that around with DAD in both games. However, the match ended in style...I had DAD and Armor Master, with 1 set card while he had an empty field. He topdecked a Dux, which he planned to use to combine with Phalanx to make Brionac and clear field. The problem was, he didn't count on my set card being The Selection. Surprise side-decking won me the match on this one.

3-1

Overall, it was a pretty good tourney. Ended up placing 3rd, along with showing everyone that Blackwings are still alive and kicking.

Junk Gardna

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been having a real busy week.

Anyways, Junk Gardna.

I just realized it's effect is multi-trigger, so the priority rule won't affect it. Pretty cool card to test out in Bushi-Destroyer builds, even if it's just 1 copy.

Save your monsters from Mirror Force, stop an incoming attack, destroy something when declaring an attack (gotta check on that one 100% just to be safe), or just mess around with battle positions even if it's about to get destroyed (because then you get to do it twice).

Fun card, try it out.

Vayu Turbo vs Standard Blackwing

In this new format, Blackwings have wondered what their new purpose will be now that Kalut is limited and Goyo is gone. Most have wondered about switching over to Vayu-Tubo, the one BW variant that went basically unaffected by the list.

En este formato, los Blackwing han tratado de buscar un nuevo proposito ya que Kalut ha sido limitado y Goyo ha sido eliminado. Muchos han pensado en cambiar hacia Vayu-Turbo, el variante de BW que menos ha sido afectado por la lista.

But the standard build is far from being counted out. Even though Kalut is at 1, we now have space to run cards like Thunder King Rai-Oh in our decks, adding a bit more control to the deck.

Pero la forma standard tampoco ha sido eliminada. Y aunque nos bajaron a Kalut a 1, tenemos ahora mas espacio para usar cartas como Rai-Oh en los decks, cuales añaden mas control al deck.

And even though Vayu-Turbo is a great deck, it still falls greatly to Macro and Gravekeepers (a deck also not affected as much by the list). Standard BW doesn't fall too behind either, since it's enemies are also quite commonly known. But either way, Vayu-Turbo seems a bit more vulnerable than Standard BW.

Y aunque Vayu-Turbo sea un buen deck, todavia cae ante decks Macro y Gravekeepers (quienes no se vieron tan afectados por la lista tampoco). El deck standard de BW tambien sigue vulnerable, ya que sus debilidades son conocimiento general a este punto. Pero de ambas formas, Vayu-Turbo se ve mas vulnerable que la forma standard de Blackwing.

So what will happen this format? I expect Vayu-Turbo to take a rise in usage, but also keeping as much participation as Standard BW decks. Only time will tell if Vayu-Turbo rises to the occasion in this format, or if it once again fades into obscurity.

Asi que pasara este formato? Vamos a ver Vayu-Turbo tener mas uso entre jugadores, pero manetniendo igual participacion con el deck standard de BW. Solo el tiempo dira si Vayu-Turbo sube a reclamar su espacio como campeon, o si nuevamente se desaparece lentamente al olvido.

End of the Format Duel: Karakuri vs Blackwing

It's been a while since I posted a video here. So since it's already the start of the format, I would like to post the last video recorded from the previous format. Karakuri (underdog of this new format) taking on Blackwings (top contender in previous format). The old meets the new in this round 3 tie-breaker.