The Metagame - Sept 2011 Part 3

This is the third part of a multiple-part discussion about the TCG side of Yu-Gi-Oh! Since the banlist peaked its...interesting looking head round the corner, many things have changed, more so than any other format this early on, at least from my personal experience. This time I want to cover a few topics in one post, as I don't really think I have as much to say on each. So without further ado...

Lightsworn! Some people love them, some people hate them. I personally dislike this deck a lot, but I will attempt to withhold personal bias for the sake of this posts integrity. The new banlist has definitely lent a helping hand to lightsworn in the form of a much less backrow heavy format in comparison to the past year, as well as the unlimiting of Judgment Dragon and the semi-limiting of Necro Gardna. This had a lot of duelists blindly running back to Lightsworn with the mindset that it would be the best deck to play. However, even with all these changes, I personally do not believe this. While the helpful factors are quite helpful, the major reason that Lightsworn saw a lot less play in the previous 2 formats is because of the damage that had already been dealt by previous banlists, namely the limiting Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner, Charge of the Light Brigade, Honest, and at the time, Necro Gardna. While Necro Gardna has been given a chance to reign at 2, the other 3 aforementioned cards still retain a limited status. This hinders Lightsworn decks a lot. Charge allowed them a tutor, as well as helping to set up all the other plays in the deck. Lumina was a strong choice of search for Charge, as well as facilitating most of the swarm and milling power of the Lightsworn deck. Honest was the icing on the cake, allowing the smaller monsters to live, while allowing strong pushes against strong looking fields. Because of the lack of these cards, I do not feel that Lightsworn can have as strong of a presence on the metagame, at least not in the current way that the deck is commonly built. That is not to say that the deck will not be seen or played. Many will stick by this deck, and will play this deck. The chances are if you are to enter a high level tournament that you will at some point take a loss to this deck, as it can open extremely well. Judgment Dragon still remains as one of the most powerful monsters in the game, and now has free reign with its unlimited status. This deck can also play Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning quite potently, as well as his weaker brother Chaos Sorcerer. In closing, this deck has a lot of tricks at its disposal, as long as it is able or allowed to set up correctly. The difficulty the deck will now have to do this though is what puts me off this deck a lot.

The second topic I want to discuss is the big swap: Giant Trunade being banned, and Heavy Storm being limited once more. This has probably been done to death, but here are my thoughts on the matter. I do not feel Heavy Storm should have ever been expelled from the game, and as a result 2 formats of imbalance passed, with backrow heavy decks beginning to reign supreme. Only with the creation of powerful cards such as T.G. Hyper Librarian and Reborn Tengu were decks finally able to gain enough power and advantage to switch this power shift. However, now Heavy Storm is back. But first, lets compare Giant Trunade with Heavy Storm. The former allows a temporary field clearance, with less ways of countering, however, if played correctly instantly pushed the game heavily in the Trunade-ing players favour, or simply ended the game in some cases. The latter delivers a more permanent clearance approach, however at the cost of carrying the word 'destroy', leaving it vulnerable to cards such as Starlight Road and Stardust Dragon. The permanance factor is a necessary one however in stopping backrow heavy decks from reigning, as they have done. Unfortunately, another change on the list appeared: the complete unlimitation of Mystical Space Typhoon. What this has done is scare a number of players into believing that backrow heavy decks are practically impossible to play. At first, I was one of these players, however, not so much anymore. If played correctly, a backrow heavy deck can still exist. Also multiple factors must also be taken into account. Since the number of quickplay spells and traps within the main deck has plummeted, many decks have decided to opt to play 1 or 2 Mystical Space Typhoon instead. However, that is not to say that there will not be people who do actually play a full playset. I do not think this has as big of an impact on the game as it could do, however, the psychological impact is quite high, and that could be the difference maker. Also, a players ability to hold onto an MST instead of wasting it will still be as invaluable as ever.

Despite everything I may believe, all the above topics will still have a large impact on the metagame, and all players should be aware of this. Hopefully this post helps you be ready for this in some way.