Saturday, April 30, 2011

EXVC Sneak Preview Event

Found some time to report on today's festivities (insane trade-athon). Here's a few notable things from today:

Everyone was very excited about either the new Tech Genus cards or the Psychics.
Life Stream Dragon was only pulled once today.
Neos Knight appeared a lot, but only in ultimate form.

I had a chance to duel against the new Psychic deck, and it's pretty good. They can recycle like nobody's business and can make instant comebacks. However, if you know their weakness, taking them down is extremely easy.

I managed to get copies of Salvage Warrior and it's really amazing for Bushi-Destroyer. Abolutely loved that card.

Got most of the Meklord things, but thinking to mix them with Machina or Karakuri.

I'm really curious to see Tech Genus in action, I hope it turns out to be a good deck.

Overall, it was a pretty good set.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Naturia VS Infernity

After a small hiatus from filming, I'm bringing another featured match from this week's local tournament.



Sunday, April 17, 2011

Synchros VS Exceeds

Haven't written any articles in a long while, and taking advantage that I'm sick to sit down and finally write about something I have been analyzing for a while.

Exceeds, the brand new mechanic released for the YGO game has a lot of people talking, but Synchros had the same buzz when they were first heard of. However, which one has an edge over the other? Which seems to be the most useful mechanic? Which one has more overall utility? This and a few more questions to be answered in this following article. So let's see...where to start?

Overall Adaptability: Usability Factor

When synchros first came out, we were also introduced to tuners, those nice little monsters that helped us summon our big white-carded bosses into battle. Tuners needed to be used in order for synchros to be summoned, no exceptions. And while tuners could be used on their own, many of them quickly found synergy with their decks to make synchro summoning easy (Krebons for Tele-DAD, Blackwings, Arbellum for Rescue Cat, Infernities, Junk Synchron, Quickdraw for Frogs/Plants, Kegemusha for Samurai, Royal Swamp Eel/Fishborg for Fish OTK, among others). But not all decks could handle synchro summoning, as many tried to accommodate the right tuner to the deck, but it just didn't seem to fit.

That's where Exceeds come to play. By not needing any tuners, but instead 2 or more monsters of the same level, Exceed monsters can find home in more decks now. However, the fact that they have ranks, rather than levels can affect the playability of these if combined with synchros. Which brings me to the next point...

Size Factor: Big VS Small

As most synchros, they are known for their 2000+ attacks and incredible effects. So giving up 2 or more monsters for a big beater with a good effect seems like an excellent payoff, right? Right. However, I started noticing that exceed monsters are mostly all in the lower attack status. So far, Hope is the strongest one, coming off at 2500ATK. But where does that leave the others? Unlike synchros, exceeds play a bit more of a control route. Let's compare them both for a second...

On the synchro side we have a classic: Stardust Dragon, a monster that not only can support itself in battle, but also has a great effect that adds a control. But that's not it, they had their beaters like Goyo, Red Dragon, Red Nova, Colossal, Shooting Star, that while they still had some kind of control, they were normally epic monsters with incredible attack.

But on the exceed side we have No. 34 Electronic Computer-Beast Tera Byte: high defense but no attack whatsoever. Rank 3 that is summoned by 3 level 3 monsters. However, it's effect lets you take control of an opponent's level 4 or lower monster at the cost of an exceed material monster. While not offensive, it grants a higher degree of control, as the monster you take can be used for either a tribute, a synchro summon (if you are using tuners), or another exceed summon.

So synchros by far have a greater attack characteristic with a slight degree of control, while exceed monsters have a much higher degree of control in return for lower attack.

The Biggest Impact: Crushing the Competition

So far, synchros have had an incredible impact since day one, as it encouraged the use of smaller monsters. However, exceeds seem to be going down that route as well, with a slight difference that they can be used to a greater degree in control decks (Gadgets anyone?). Exceeds have just gotten out now, so only time will tell if they sink or swim. But for now, things are looking quite interesting for these new monsters. Will these guys have a bigger impact than synchros did, or will they have to do with runner-up status? Only time will tell.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Real Crusader


Warrior/4/Effect

When a Level 5 or higher monster is Special Summoned, you must Tribute this card. Destroy that monster.

Pretty interesting control card. While it would have been better if it negated, destroying a level 5 or higher special summoned monster is still no laughing matter. Gets rid of most synchros, Cyber Dragon, Machina Fortress, Master Hyperion, Gladiator Beast fusions (most notably Gyzrus), Dark Armed Dragon, and Judgment Dragon to name a few...

Es una carta de control bien interesante. Mientras seria mejor si negara, destruir monstruos de nivel 5 o mayor que son invocados de forma especial no es nada para reirse. Elimina a la mayoria de los synchros, Cyber Dragon, Machina Fortress, Master Hyperion, fusiones de Gladiator Beasts como Gyzarus, Dark Armed Dragon y Judgment Dragon para nombrar algunos...

Best part, being a warrior means it not only has more support, but it's easily searchable.

La mejor parte, ser un guerrero no solo le da mas ayuda, sino que se puede buscar facilmente.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Gold Series 4

So the first gold rares have been revealed. This is shaping up to be a pretty good set already!

Gold Rares so far:
-Doomcaliber Knight
-Obelisk the Tormenter (great for Europe)
-Gravekeeper's Spy
-Royal Oppression
-Tytannial
-Five Headed Dragon

I'm just wondering what the commons are going to be as well, considering that they always give support to a few archetypes in their lot of commons.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Turbo Pack 5

This would normally be the space where the weekly tournament report is done, but after weeks of being inactive, I sucked at today's tourney. Looks like my anti-meta gadgets just weren't doing it today...not at my A-Game. But enough about that, on to the important stuff...

Turbo Pack 5

Ultimate Rare:
Colossal Fighter

Ultra Rare:
Dark Hole

Super Rare:
Gladiator Beast Laquari
Snowman Eater
Six Samurai United
Spell-Shattering Arrow

Rare:
Puppet Plant
Wulf, Lightsworn Beast
Cyber Eltanin
Torrential Tribute
Escape from the Dark Dimension
Zoma the Spirit

Common:
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
Abyssal Kingshark
Spirit of the Six Samurai
Black Salvo
Darkness Neosphere
Miracle Fusion
Shield Crush
Seven Tools of the Bandit
Royal Command

After seeing this list, I can definitely say I'm looking forward to tourneys now. The commons and rares have really good cards mixed between them, as well as some really good reprints. 7-Tools, Miracle Fusion, Black Salvo, Wulf, Abyssal Kingshark, Six Samurai United, Dark Hole, Puppet Plant, Torrential Tribute, and Colossal Fighter are all cards people will keep an eye out for. However, it's hard to pick a favorite here, since this pack feels like a breath of fresh air when compared to TU04.

Good card selection, good reprints, good balance. Excellent pack.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Reborn Tengu

One of the newest cards from Extreme Victory, Reborn Tengu has already shown us that it can be a big time player in both synchro and exceed decks alike.

Una de las nuevas cartas de Extreme Victory, Reborn Tengu ya ha enseñado que puede ser una gran carta de impacto para los decks synchro y exceed.

4 stars/Wind/Beast-Warrior

When this card is removed from the field, Special Summon 1 "Reborn Tengu" from your Deck.



Remove for anything (tribute summon, synchro, tribute as cost for an effect, ram into monster of equal attack, remove from play) and get another one from the deck at no extra cost? Yes please!

Remueve para tributo, synchro, tributo como costo, batallarlo contra otro de mismo ataque o removerlos de juego. Y todo esto para sacar a otro directamente del deck? Si

Use it with Deep-Sea Diva or Pleaguespreader for a double 6 synchro summon. Tribute it for a monarch and get another Tengu as well. Also, Tengu can now help boost Rank 4 exceed summons just by it's effect alone, since it replaces itself with another copy.

Usalo con Deepsea-Diva o Pleaguespreader para sacar un doble synchro nivel 6. Usalo para tributo para monarca y saca otro Tengu. Tambien, Tengu ayuda ahora los exceeds rango 4 por su efecto solamente.

I already can't wait for this card to come out, since I'm sure it's going to be a very good card someday. I'm just glad it's the Sneak Preview promo card...

Ya estoy ansioso para que salga esta carta, ya que se que va a ser una gran carta en el futuro.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Selection

One of the most awesome cards I have played in my side-deck in quite a while.


Pay 1000 Life Points. Negate the Summon of a monster that has the same Type as a monster on the field, and destroy it.

Essentially, it's a budget-friendly option to those who are looking to add a little more control to their side. Most decks in our meta today focus all on a single type: Gravekeepers (Spellcasters), Samurai (Warriors), Karakuri (Machine), Blackwings for Japan (Winged-Beast), Agents for Japan (Fairy), Dragunity (Dragon/Winged-Beast), Fish, X-Sabers (Beast-Warrior/Beast), and Frogs.

Due to the huge amount of single-typed monsters these decks play, this card can be essential to stop an opponents play on either of these 2 scenarios:

1- Your opponent already has a monster of Y-Type on the field and summons another one of said type, NEGATE!

2- Your opponent summons a monster of the same type as you have, NEGATE!

This is why this card is so good in mirror matches. Even if their field is empty, you can negate simply by having a similar type on your field.

Essential cards that The Selection can negate in mirror matches:

1- Shi En
2- Blizzard (Instant-Synchro)
3- Dragunity Dux (Same as BW)
4- Coelacanth (Watch out for those Oyster Tokens)
5- Gravekeeper's Spy/Descendant/Recruiter
6- Faultroll
7- Karakuri/Gadgets
8- Swap Frog
9- Infernity Archfiend/Necromancer (Yea, they still get played...so I put them)

There's quite a ton of possibilities with this card in a well placed side-deck. Try it out and see how unexpected it can be. Your opponent will never see it coming. Plus, it's 1000 less than Warning...and budget friendly!

visitor #'s