Chasing the Dream

How much fun can you have for $250?

• General admission to Disney World, 3 hamburgers, and a Goofy hat
• Dinner for you and your chums from locals at the Golden Corral
• Sbyke P-20 Scooter Skateboard Bike Hybrid
• The Best of Spiderman autographed by Stan Lee

OR

• A complete playset of Artifacts cards

Konami seems to have returned to their policy of driving up demand for their product by limiting the release of certain cards. The promised revolution that was heralded by The Dragons of Legend has been quickly quelled by Primal Origins.  Say what you want about Soul Charge, at least we all had access to it! The same does not seem to apply to the present booster pack.  

Despite the Anjelly’s propensity to induce poverty and diabetes, there are no real “chase” cards in Primal Origins.   Instead we have a collection of very good archetypal cards that need to be acquired in groups to be useful.  Konami has replaced “chase cards” with “chase sets”.  This quality makes purchase decisions difficult.  Most archetypes only spend a few months at the top to the Yugioh charts. After their moment of glory is done, the Forbidden & Limited list trims them down and dumps them into the tier-two bin.  Your one-of, pricey card is not nearly as vulnerable to obsolescence as an entire archetype.  

Chase cards, on the other hand, are valued because they are flexible and generic.  They are tech cards that can be slotted into a variety of decks. As a result, players are more willing to invest larger sums of money.  Consider my most expensive single card purchase to date.  I bought a Draccosack for $65 and subsequently have detached materials, summoned tokens, and popped cards about 40 times. In other words, I have paid $1.63 for each pop.  While this might seem exorbitant to some, I remain confident that this card’s work is not done.  I’m not sure if the same applies to a playset of Artifact Ignitions with the shadow of the Shadoll’s looming in the background.

Chase cards eventually make their way into the hands of the general public through reprints.  Many of us are willing to pass on the latest duel-crushing secret rare knowing that reprints are inevitable.  How long do you need to wait?  The table below lists some of the most popular chase cards of the past seven years.  On average, this wait was about 1.3 years. The reprint engine doesn't apply to chase sets.  I can't imagine the Artifacts will be repackaged as a tin 14 months from now. Unlike chase cards, it's now or never.    

At this point, I am not particularly bullish on the pack. Though the Artifact engine can be combined with a number of archetypes, I can’t really bring myself to shell out the money needed for the set.  Chronomaly Artifacts took the OCG by storm, but that deck has been eclipsed by several others.  Instead, I’ll be saving my money for the next chase set coming this summer …

… or maybe I’ll pick up an Exciton Knight instead.

Can Monarch's Be Successful?

Caius, the Shadow Monarch, is one of the most aesthetically pleasing monsters in the game.  The black and purple color scheme, his iridescent globe, and formidable armor all buttress his allure of darkness.  Unfortunately, like Hanzo, he’s a good card in a rather mediocre lot.  

The Problems

The main flaw in the Monarch strategy is their summoning mechanic.  Tribute summoning is equivalent to a – 1 special summon.  When compared to  XYZ and synchro summoning, the Monarch effects are pretty weak.  To make matters worse, the other forms of summons usually come with pluses.  Consider Geargiarmor --> Accelerator (+1) --> Gear Gigant (0) --> Ancient Gear Box (+1) --> Arsenal (+2).   Caius is a + 0 at best.

Monarchs also fall victim to clumpy hands.  The graph below gives the chances of opening with at least three or four tribute summon monsters.   Most monarch players run about eight such monsters giving them an 8.2% chance of opening with at least three of them.  Not only are these cards dead, they are robbing the doolist of drawing something better.  You could run fewer level six monsters, but then there is a greater than 23.6% of not drawing any of them.  Pot of Duality helps if you don’t mind using a card that says, “My deck needs a crutch.”

The Fixes

Intrepid Monarch players have attempted to overcome these deficits.  Here is my take on those fixes.

Macro Monarchs: I mention this deck for nostalgic reasons. For those that weren’t around, this deck used Scout Plane as tribute fodder.  It’s essentially dead, but can you imagine where the Monarchs would be if there were three Macro Cosmos and three Dimensional Fissures?  If Konami wanted to support the archetype they could give us a Macro Cosmos like card that forbid you from summoning from the extra deck. 

Frognarchs: This deck avoids the - 1 summon by counting on Treeborn Frog to hop out of the graveyard during your standby phase.  You can play it with a whole pond full of frogs (e.g. Swap, Ronintoadin, Dupe, etc) or with just Treeborn and Mathematician. While arguably the best Monarch deck today, it has some significant drawbacks.  First, drawing into Treeborn is pretty dead unless you have the rest of the frogs.  Second, graveyard-hate is on the rise.  Debunk, Soul Drain, and DD Crow are all poison darts.  Still, it’s a lot of fun and the cards are pretty cheap. 

Tricknarchs: This is the Ghostrick variant that happily seems to forget that card advantage is a valued in Yugioh.  Like the frog variants, one can play with only Jackfrost or with a house full of ghosts and demons.  While the deck bleeds cards, Jack’s effect is pretty nimble because it doesn’t target.  However, the Ghostricks lose out to Debunk and Nobleman of Crossout.  The deck can be redeemed, a bit, by playing Allure of Darkness and Card Car.  Like the frogs, the tricks are generally cheap and fun to play. 

Anti-Meta Monarchs:  This deck is less about the means of summoning and more about the summoned.  I suspect the renewed interest in Monarchs has little to do with the new “Monarch” cards and more to do with Majesty’s Fiend.  This card, along with Vanity’s Fiend and Jinzo, gains advantage by creating dead hands for the opponent.  Congratulations – now both doolists can experience the frustration of having dead hands.

Garbagenarchs: This is my moniker for the Monarch deck with a little bit of everything.  Fire and Ice Hands offer a Tengu-like presence that can be used for tribute fodder.  The problem is that you have taken a very good card and made it weaker by negating its effect.  Soul Exchange stops your battle phase and most of the newer Monarch cards won’t let you play Treeborn.  March of the Monarchs is only useful in Anti-Meta Monarchs.  Return let’s you search but you need to tribute summon twice to gain any advantage.   Storm Forth is clearly the best and it should take the place of everyone’s Soul Exchange.  The only new card that intrigues me is Escalation of the Monarchs.  It does little for card advantage but it does get around cards like Nobleman of Crossout. 

The Answer

If I were a Konami King for a day, I would have them introduce Monarch’s Squire, a level one effect monster.  This card lets you tribute summon from the hand in addition to its Treeborn Frog-like graveyard resurrection.  It does not create Geargia-like advantage but it also lets you use the other Monarch cards. 

EFFECT: This card is not affected by other Fiend monsters. You can send this card from your hand to the graveyard  as 1 of the tributes for a Tribute Summon.  During your Standby Phase, if this card is in your Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card. Activate this card only if you have no cards in your Extra Deck

 Ah well … one can dream.

One for the good guys ...

Successful people are often the targets of petty rumor and slander, particularly by those who aspire to be successful.  Yugioh is no different.  Thus, many players at the top of the game are treated with some suspicion.   It’s a card game and people have been cheating at cards since the invention of the printing press.  Accusing a winner of cheating takes them down a notch and brings them back into the realms of the wannabes.  
 

If anything, the sophistication and subtlety of our game facilitates such accusations.  In addition to the universal cons (e.g. marking cards), we have the “soft cheat” where advantage is gained by ignoring or reinterpreting certain card rules.  Attacking after Soul Charge, special summoning after Pot of Duality, or playing a once per turn card twice are all examples of soft cheating. Proving that such actions were taken deliberately is a question of intent and intent is impossible to prove.  Where there is no proof, there is speculation.  Speculation plus jealousy plus the internet leads to a proliferation of defamatory statements about any number of players.

But this is not one of those posts …

This post is a tribute to a player from our locals who not only won the Roanoke Regional, but did it with class and integrity.  

Alvaro began playing Yugioh a few years ago.  For about the first six weeks, he was an easy win and a good tournament draw.  After that, play was interesting.  In about four to six months, it was challenging.  I don’t think I’ve beaten him in 2014.  Fortunately, I am not the only player to experience his improvement. I’ve witnessed him go from regional washouts, to invites, to tops, and now to wins.  He is poised for a breakthrough in a YCS event.  I predict that he will, which will boost the prophetic powers of this blog.  

His success is not accidental.  Losses don’t bring harangues about card draws or luck sacking.  Instead, he carefully thinks about where his deck broke down and ways that it could be improved.  He also benefits from a distinct lack of sentimentality about cards and archetypes.  Dreaming about being the first Crystal Beast player to win a YCS is a great way to become another Crystal Beast player to never win a YCS.  Sell my Geargias?!?  Are you kidding?  Alvaro is free from such mawkishness.  This willingness to change decks has also given him a thorough understanding of the current meta.  There are few substitutes for playing a deck in real life.  Alvaro has made and benefitted from that commitment. 

While noteworthy, these are not the characteristics that have impressed me.  I know many really good players, but I know few who play absolutely above reproach. I have never seen an incident of sharking, self-serving rule interpretation, or questionable play.  He treats his opponents with respect, which makes even losing to him enjoyable.  

I’m not sure what life skills one can gain from being successful at Yugioh.  I suspect pulling out a “Nationals” mat will not impress many employers.  Still, you have to think there are places in this world that want young men with ethical strength. It’s unfortunate that most of the adult world won’t know how impressive his accomplishments are.

Yugioh Tech Choices

Ahhh … the ever changing Yugioh landscape 

Just when you thought you had it down, it shifts, morphs, and renders obsolete handfuls of your hard earned cards.  Yesterday’s brokenness gives way to today’s brokenness and we are left with little more than shards of our former greed. 

Still, we play on. The season is not quite over and there are a few of us who are still looking for this year’s regional top.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at changes in the Yugioh Tech World.

Forbidden Lance is up and Mystical Space Typhoon is down: Lance and MST seem to be on opposite sides of the same seesaw.  In the fall, MST remained on the bench while Lance saw play.  During the winter, the trend reversed.  Now it’s spring and the young maiden with the illicit weapon is ready to play again.  

Seriously, the decks from YCS Philly were fairly trap-heavy.  The addition of traptrix monsters will make these cards seem ubiquitous.  If one adds the prospects of blowing up an Artifact, the allure of MST seems a bit darker.  I would put MST back in the side deck. 

Breakthrough Skill is up and Fiendish Chain is down:  The Yugioh world remains one that is richly dependent on effect monsters.  Fiendish Chain had the additional benefit of stopping beefy beaters.  As the DRoolers retreat, this distinction is less useful. On the other hand, stopping monsters that activate in the graveyard is a big plus in the Hands era. I should point out that BTS is a hand stop only when it is activated from the field; it doesn’t do so from the grave.  This is because the text for the first effect says “monster” while the text for the second effect says “target”. 

Target 1 face-up Effect Monster your opponent controls; negate the effects of that opponent's face-up monster, until the end of this turn. During your turn, except the turn this card was sent to the Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 face-up Effect Monster your opponent controls; negate that target's effects until the end of this turn.

Blackship and D Prison are back: I’ve always been a fan of these cards.  Removing without destroying is a neat way around a lot of problem monsters.  Now, BoC is ready to take any face-up hand and provide a little burn.  The burn damage is not trivial in the era of charged souls.  I should point out that Soul Charge was not played in many of the Handifacts.  

A special card for that special deck:  One of the advantages of playing Gears is the easy access to machines of any type.  Alley of Justice Cycle Reader is a card that I toyed with when Agents were popular.  However, it was not nearly as devastating as it is against Artifacts. … and it’s a tuner!  So with that in mind, I’m off to regionals with my Geargikuris.