Still the one ...

How many times in the last two months have you said, “What can I take out of my deck so that I can put in an Imperial Iron Wall or Maxx C?” 

If you haven’t, you’re either playing dragons or losing. 

The simple fact is dragons have become more dominant over the past six weeks.  Though you probably don’t need a data to prove it, I can substantiate your intuition.  I looked at the top decks as listed on TCGPlayer starting in the first week of September. The results are as follows:

 

Or if you prefer, I can give you the data as a table

	9/4 to 9/6	9/19 to 9/25	10/9 to 10/3	10/16 to 10/18	10/20 to 10/25	10/28 to 11/1
E Dragons	37.0	41.3	60.9	60.4	45.0	59.4
Evilswarm	11.1	6.7	13.0	11.3	10.0	6.3
Spellbooks	14.8	17.3	4.3	1.9	5.0	6.3
Other	0.0	10.7	4.3	9.4	10.0	6.3
Mermails	14.8	5.3	0.0	3.8	0.0	6.3
Fire Fists	3.7	2.7	0.0	3.8	10.0	6.3
Geargia	3.7	1.3	8.7	1.9	5.0	0.0
Constellar	3.7	2.7	0.0	3.8	10.0	0.0
Anti-Meta	7.4	2.7	0.0	1.9	0.0	6.3
Infernities	0.0	1.3	4.3	1.9	5.0	0.0
Chain Bu/Bt	0.0	4.0	4.3	0.0	0.0	3.1
Black wing	3.7	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Here are my observations after spending some time reflecting on this list:

1.  Dragons are up while Spellbooks and Mermails are down.  If you take 10% from Spellbooks and Mermails at the beginning of the format and add them to the Dragons, you will get the numbers that we are seeing now.  In short, 20% of the top players abandoned their decks from the last format to play dragons.  
2. The meta is still pretty diverse.  Though the game is dominated by dragon love, there were 27 different archetypes among the top decks.  One could parse this list even more by separating "Blue Eyes Dragon" from "Dragunity Dragon" decks.  Plain vanilla, French vanilla ... its all vanilla. The point is that one needs to consider a large number of decks when preparing for a big tournament. 
3. Evilswarms and Fire Fists have remained reasonably stable.  I find the Evilswarm deck to be rather dull, but I can't deny its effectiveness against Dragons.  It's relatively inexpensive and not particularly hard to learn.  While some players have moved on to other decks, there are likely others who are picking it up just to stick it to dragons.  The Fire Fist story is a bit different.  This deck is a bit more challenging. I suspect its resiliency is the result of some refinement in play.  
4. There is always a group of us who simply refuse to pick up the top deck.  Maybe its pride, maybe its money ... regardless of the reason, some of us want to top using our ideas and our decks.  I understand that vibe ... heck, I'm part of that vibe.  Nevertheless, I do find it remarkable that all of this concentrated anti-dragon activity can't really unseat the champions. 

I suspect Shadow Specters will not change the distribution of these top decks.  Though I like Ghostricks and I'm glad Noble Knights are getting some attention, these archetypes cannot compete with E Dragons.  It is a little hard to believe that we can go through the introduction of two sets and not have a substantial change in the meta.  Such is the power of the dragons.  Of course, victory and fame are fleeting.  The conquerors will eventually be vanquished. If not by the new cards, then certainly by the F/L list.  Until then, enjoy those Iron Walls.

Happily Hoarding Harpies

You’ve probably always wondered about that strange neighbor who has more than 30 cats running around their home.  Wonder no more – thanks to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (vol V), your neighbor can now be diagnosed with “Hoarding Disorder”. 

What if the Harpies were suddenly bedeviled by this plague?  Would they collect cats, crafts, or kewpies?  No, they would hoard dragons.  One Pet Dragon is not enough.  There would be so many dragon droppings you couldn't walk three feet without stepping in it.  Not a pretty home ... or nest.  

So let's make a deck! The Dragon Hoarding Harpy deck might look like this: 

 

Core Deck	25		Dragon Side	15		Harpy Side	15
H Channeler	3		Blaster	3		Harpie Dancer	2
Harpie Lady	3		Tempest	2		Mist Valley Falcon	2
Queen	2		Redox	3		MV Soldier	1
Pet Dragon	2		Maxx C	3
Delta Flyer	1					Harpie Hunting	1
Dark Spear	1		Sacred Sword	3		Egotist	1
Corsesca	1		Return	1		Divine Wind	2
ScareCrow	3					Swallow's Nest	1
						Terraforming	1
Six Sense	1
Hysteric Sign	3					Hysteric Party	2
Harpie Hunting	1					Trap Stun	2
PWWB	2
COTH	2
Dragon Deck			Harpy Deck
	41			41
Harpie Channeler	3		Harpie Channeler	3
Harpie Lady	3		Harpie Lady	3
Harpie Queen	2		Harpie Queen	2
Pet Dragon	2		Pet Dragon	2
Delta Flyer	1		Delta Flyer	1
Dark Spear	1		Dark Spear	1
Corsesca	1		Corsesca	1
Swift ScareCrow	3		Swift ScareCrow	3
Tempest	3		Tempest	1
Blaster	3		Harpie Dancer	2
Redox	3		Mist Valley Falcon	2
Maxx C	3		MV Soldier	1
Hysteric Sign	3		Hysteric Sign	3
Harpie Hunting	1		Harpie Hunting	2
Sacred Sword	3		Egotist	1
			Divine Wind	2
			Swallow's Nest	1
			Terraforming	1
PWWB	2		PWWB	2
COTH	2		COTH	2
Sixth Sense	1		Sixth Sense	1
Return	1		Hysteric Party	2
			Trap Stun	2

First things first – The idea of using a 12 card dragon engine is not mine.  All the credit for that idea goes to ssjason.  The only credit I can get is taking this mutant miscreation into the last regional of the format.  We who are about to die salute you. 

I will avoid the flurry of comments by making a few pertinent observations:

1. Why mix the two types?  Transitional siding is usually not a good idea.  It takes away a lot of flexibility.  Besides, you opponent can usually tell something is up when he sees you grab your 15 card side deck.  The first advantage is that a deck like this really throws people off.  It’s Harpies … it’s dragons?  The generation of the WTF moment is worth a misplay or two.  The second reason is that players will side in dead cards.  Go ahead – get those Iron Walls and Electric Viruses out.
2. Why Redox and not Tidal?  The dragon side of the deck has to win against dragons.  That’s no small order.  However, I am stacking the odds a bit by including 3 Swift Scarecrow and 3 Maxx “C”.  Scarecrow is also a good choice because you may notice that there are not a lot of defensive traps in this deck.  So far, my track record against dragon decks is not so good. 
3. Do you need Dracossack to play this deck? Sorry Virginia, but you will have to shell out the 60 to 70 dollars to get that card.  This deck needs a first turn play and Master of Blades is not a good choice.
4. What about effect negation?  Sure … bring that up.  I’m sure there is a Watt Lock with my name on it.  Nevertheless, Harpies ability to wipe out the backrow will come in handy. 
5. Does the deck produce dead hands?  Hmmm … like 2 Sacred Swords and no dragons? Or how ‘bout a Corsesca, Delta Flyer, and 2 Pet Dragons?  Play out of that one Mai while you are staring at a couple of Graphas.  Nevertheless, I have put in 13 targets for Blaster, 18 targets for Redox, and 21 targets for Tempest. At some point, the plays have to come.
6. What about the Extra Deck? The extra deck is a standard mix of level 8 synchros and rank 4 and 7 XYZ.  The only additional monster is StarEater because he’s big, he can be made with Delta Flyer, and he’s big. 

I’m still not sure about this deck.  I’ll give it a few more real life plays before making my final decision.  After all, the Bubble Boy wants his invite!

Terraforming the Harpies: Too Much of a Good Thing

Can you play too many searchers in a Yugioh deck?  Intuition would say probably not.  However, it’s not always a good idea to trust intuition.  

This question came up in the Pojo forum on Harpies.  In brief, Harpie players were arguing if it was better to play two copies each of Divine Wind of the Mist Valley, Terraforming, and Harpie’s Hunting Ground or some other ratio.  Initially, I opted for two Terraforming since deck thinning is always a good idea. Right?  Not quite.  As it turns out, playing two Terraforming increases the risk of a dead draw.  Here’s why –

Drawing the cards in sequence creates one permutation of these six cards.  For example: 

There are 6! or 720 of these permutations.  Most of these permutations are fine unless they end with Terraforming.  Drawing that card with no targets gives you a wasted draw.  Here are examples of two such permutations: 

Since you can get to these permutations by rearranging the remaining five cards in any order, there are a total of 5! or 120 such permutations.  However, the following permutation also gives you a dead card since the first Terraforming will select the last Hunting Ground: 

Rearranging the remaining four fields spells in any order produces 4! or 24 permutations that have Terraformings at space four and five. 

So, playing one Terraforming and five field spells generates 120 dead cards in 720 permutations or 16.7%.  Playing two Terraforming and four field spells produces 144 dead cards or 20.0%.  Therefore, playing one Terraforming will likely yield better results. 

There are valid reasons for wanting to play two of each card.  Drawing through all six cards may seem unlikely.  Having the flexibility to grab either Divine Wind or Harpie’s Hunting Ground is a plus.  However, Harpie players should remember their Queen

She can reduce the number of Terraforming targets so that you are almost guaranteed to have a dead draw. 

Mist Valley Harpies

Here’s my list for “Mist Valley Harpies”, which are not be confused with “Divine Wind Harpies”.  Just as one would not want to confuse a Chateau Climens with a Chateau Coutet, so one should not confuse the subtle varieties of Yugioh decks.  DWH plays Divine Wind of the Mist Valley as a means of getting out more Harpies.  MVH uses Divine Wind to make its Mist Valley plays.  Most of these plays revolve around Mist Valley Falcon’s need to return a card to the hand before she* can make an attack.  The classic is to equip Big Bang Shot to your opponent’s monster. When the card is returned, the monster is removed.  Wash, rinse, and repeat.  

The problem with the Mist Valley monsters is that their support is terrible.  Mist Valley Shaman, Baby Roc, and Windmaster are little more than pack fillers.  And why does Executor say “Return face-up spell a trap cards”?  Would it have killed Konami to have written “Return all spell and trap cards”?  As a result, Mist Valley monsters have been forced to play with Blackwings, Ninjas, or other unholy dark monsters.

Enough ranting… here’s the deck I played with this weekend: 

 A couple of notes on choices:

• Two MV Soldiers: I started playing with just one.  The card is something of a dead draw.  However, I wanted this deck to make more level 8 synchro monsters and two Call of the Haunted’s were not enough.  The card does combine with Safe Zone to form a pseudo-Grand Mole.
• No Pet Dragons: I wanted a deck that focuses on plus one plays and avoided dead hands.  The Channeler into Pet Dragon into Dracossack is a great play.  If I had a Dracossack, I’d probably work in Pet Dragon because this deck needs a good turn one play.  On several first turns I found myself saying, “Great, I can XYZ summon into … uh …” 
• One Summoner Monk: I’ll be honest – Summoner Monk is not one of my favorite cards.  A Neg 1 summons is a good way to lose the game.  However, this deck needs some means of getting rid of Hysteric Sign.  Monk serves that purpose.
• Two Magic Planters: It’s a good time to plant some magic!  The only card that really stops this card is Macro Cosmos and that card is not seeing a lot of play.  This card was rarely dead because I play eight targets. 
• Summon Limit instead of Vanities’ Emptiness:  MV Harpies have the chance to great real havoc, but they can be inconsistent.  Summon Limit is much more stable and usually slows down most decks.  When it’s time for the whirlwind of feathered chaos, the card can be ditched with Magic Planter or destroyed by Hunting Ground.  I should point out that Hysteric Party is a single summon. 
• Two Swallow’s Nest:  This card doesn’t see much use but it works really well with this deck.  Swallow’s Nest lets you get to Falcon and Soldier quickly while putting a Harpie in the graveyard for the upcoming party. 

The Verdict

I think this build is comparable to most Harpie decks.  The deck has good match-ups against nearly all decks with the exception of the Dragon Rulers <*sigh*>.  One should probably consider adding Trap Stun to avoid getting burned by chainable traps.  Trap Stun and Hunting Ground really gives you tremendous advantage against anyone running more than a handful of traps.  

The future of the deck going into next format depends a great deal on what happens to Divine Wind.  Limiting that card would pretty much put an end to this deck.  Pure Harpies, on the other hand, may do quite well.  Builds featuring Triple Magical Hats are quite solid.  In fact, if you shackle the dragons and release the Noble Knights, you could see a Harpie deck top a YCS. 

Hey, Artorigus! Why don’t you give King Phineus a call and find out what he thinks of the Harpies. 

* Yes – I said she ... ok, she's a little cut but haven't you seen a buff woman before?