Consistency: Why they're winning and you're not.

Hello Yugi fans. Today, in my spare time, i have decided that i should do an article on consistency, and why some cards in our metagame favour it and are ran because of it.

What is consistency exactly? Well, For something to be consistent, it needs to happen often and reliably. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, it is important to build your deck so that you have an "out" (a way to deal with anything your opponent throws at you) at any point in the game. this allows you to breakdown your opponents strategy and subject them to yours.

But if you play competitively (go to locals and attend regionals and other tournaments) or you want to, just remember one thing:

Most of the cards in the anime are inconsistent and should be kept in the anime at all times and not in your deck.

Now. How do you make your deck more consistent? Before even considoring that question, you need to know your win condition (what your deck needs to do to bring your opponent's life to 0). Then, you can build your deck to get to that condition Consistently.

Lets take an examples. Gravekeeper's used to be a control deck. they had a one-for-one removal with Gravekeeper's descendant and could shut down the graveyard with Necrovalley, which made cards like Monster reborn and XX-Saber Faultroll useless. But this deck was just not good enough. It was outcompeted by faster decks that could set up their win condition quicker. However, in Starstrike blast, Konami threw Gravekeeper's players a Consistency bone called Gravekeeper's Recruiter. It could search for almost any gravekeeper's monster when sent to the graveyard from the field. Players suddenly realised that you could search out Gravekeeper's commandant, which could search out Necrovalley. This in turn lets you run Royal tribute and deplete your opponents hand of monsters, while you can bring yours back with Gravekeeper's stele. So you see, with a little help from our friend Consistency, the deck now has a powerful Win condition which can be met quickly and often. This is why in YCS Atlanta in November, Gravekeeper's decks placed in the top 3 spots.

But in a more general sense, consistency can be aquired through certain cards. As long as you know your win condition, you can run 3 of any card that can help you get that condition.

Right now, i am running Scraps. Its a very fun deck, and it has a plethora of intricate combos and +1s at your disposal. The main win condition of this deck is to summon scrap dragon and blow your opponents cards away with its effect. While thats all well and good, Scrap dragon is a synchro monster and cannot go into your main deck. That means that i needed to build my 40 card deck that is dedicated to bringing out a scrap dragon as consistently and as often as possible. To do that, i have to run 3 Scrap beast and 3 scrap chimera as well as 3 Scrap goblin, so there is always a Scrap chimera to use. The only problem with the deck is that it relies on its normal summon often to get the ball rolling. All it takes is a Solemn warning on my Scrap Chimera to put me at a severe disadvantage. But i have cards like Scrapstorm (The Scrap's draw card) and Scrapyard to set up my win condition.

As for certain cards. The main cards that can help consistency are Draw cards. these serve little purpose in your deck but to make your hand more consistent. Allure of darkness lets you draw two and then remove a dark from your hand. At first glance, you may think that removing one of your precious monsters is a terrible idea, but your hand is stronger now and your deck has been thinned by two cards. and you can always remove a monster that does not quite fit the bill in the current gamestate. For example, lets say my opponent has a stardust dragon on the field. and in my hand, i have a smashing ground and a Blackwing - Bora the spear. I know that i cannot destroy stardust dragon with smashing ground because of its effect, and Bora does not have enough attack power to get over it. In my draw phase i draw Allure of darkness, i use its effect and draw two. Lets say i just drew Blackwing - sirocco the dawn and Blackwing - Kalut the moon shadow. If i remove Sirocco for Allures effect, i just turned that Allure of darkness into a monster that can help me get past that stardust. By using that draw card, you managed to get out of that situation and deal some damage, and your deck has been thinned.

But as far as draw cards go, the best one by far is Pot of Duality. I dont need to explain its effect, but it is by far the easiest way to increase consistency in your deck no matter what. Even though you lose special summoning for the turn, you have now got a much better hand next turn, which means that win condition your deck is aiming for is now so much closer.

I hope that this small article helped some people. Many people have been criticising that Pot of duality is too expensive. While that is true, the card turns inconsistent but powerful decks into Consistent ones.

I might do a few more card reviews soon when i get the time. Maybe when the next set comes out, because those Aesirs look awesome.

Storm of ragnarok: Special edition

Quick post. For anyone who didnt know before. The confirmed Special edition cards that come with the Storm of ragnarok special edition is

- Light and Darkness dragon
- Hand of six samurai

The reasons behind those choices are quite clear. Light and Darkness dragon was crying for another reprint since its being so widely played.

Hand of the six samurai has also been chosen, to tie in with the release of the new Legendary six samurai sub-archetype in this set. It was one of the two Six samurai cards that were difficult to get hold of. The other being Grandmaster.

Well. Does this warrant buying some special editions? Well, each one of these promos dont need to played in more than 2 copies, so you might want to buy a few.

Storm of Ragnarok: Cards to look out for

Yes, i know. the release date for the next set is still a month away. but like starstrike blast, it has a plethora of interesting core cards that i would like to discuss. Storm of ragnarok (STOR) introduces new archetypes and support cards which are brand new and some which debuted in the anime.

• The Aesirs: These 3 gods have come straight from nordic mythology and STOR gives each different Aesir a bunch of monsters to synchro into it. Thor has the nordic beasts, Loki has the nordic alfar and Odin has the nordic ascendants. As well as that, there are many support cards that have devastating effects while you control any Aesir. But one of the best parts about the aesirs is that when they are destroyed, by removing the appropriate tuner (remove the one you used to synchro it), it special summons itself at the end phase and something happens. Thor lets you deal 800 damage, Loki lets you get a trap card back to your hand from the graveyard and Odin lets you draw a card. But thats not all. Each aesir has their own effects that can shut down your opponent.
• The Legendary Six Samurai: STOR introduces the Legendary Six Samurai sub-type. It is a bunch of new monsters and support cards which in the OCG, have pushed Six samurai to tier 1 (alongside blackwings and a couple of other decks). They get a new swarming monster alongside Grandmaster of the six samurai called Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan. As well as other cards, combined with the original six samurai cards (especially Gateway of the six which can create disgusting loops), this is the deck to look out for next format.
• More Karakuri support: Since Karakuri debuted in the newest set, Starstrike blast, Karakuri have consistent OTK abilities and an overpowered Synchro monster which you can bring 3 out very easily. But with the new support in STOR, they have just got better. STOR introduces new monsters and more support. A notable support card is Borrowed Karakuri house, which lets you add a karakuri from your deck to your hand, at the cost of switching the battle position of one of your karakuri monsters.

As well as that, there are interesting cards in particular i would look out for:

• Apple of Frigg, a normal trap card: When you take Battle Damage while you control no monsters, you can activate this card. Gain Life Points equal to the Battle Damage you took. Then, Special Summon 1 "Wicked Spirit Token" (Fiend-Type/DARK/Level 1/ATK ?/DEF ?). Its ATK and DEF are equal to the Life Points you gained from this card's effect.
• Tyrant's insults, a normal trap card: Tribute 2 face-up monsters you control. Neither player can activate the effects of Effect Monsters that activate on the field or in the hand.
• Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant, a confirmed exclusive for the TCG: You can substitute this card for any 1 "Nordic" Tuner Monster for a Synchro Summon. If this card is used as a Synchro Material Monster, all other Synchro Material Monsters must be "Nordic" monsters. Once per turn, you can send 1 "Nordic" monster from your Deck to the Graveyard to change this card's Level to the Level of the monster you sent to the Graveyard, until the End Phase.

So there you have it. The three cards listed above is only the tip of the iceberg as far as hidden gems are concerned. If you want to see the set list, click here.

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Blackback

Hey. For today, instead of giving mad props to some random card, im going to be an ***hole and ***** about a bad card instead. And my victim for today is Blackback.

Now, this card was one of the worst wastes of a super rare that ive seen in a long time. The other Super rare traps "D2 shield" and "Tyrant's Temper" has actual uses.

It was better in the anime.

Its effect: "Activate only during your turn. Select and special summon 1 Blackwing monster with 2000 attack or less from your graveyard. You cannot normal summon or set this turn."

I really dont see why they had to place those restrictions on it. Only during your turn? What use is that to anyone? I can understand special summoning a Blackwing - Sirocco the dawn (the highest attack monster you can fetch with this card) then special summoning a Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind and synchro summoning a level 8. But it begs the question:

Why not just run Call of the haunted instead?

Call of the haunted does everything blackback can do, but so much more. You can use it on your opponent's turn, you can fetch nearly ANY monster you wish (except Nomis) and you dont have to give up your normal summon.

But the reason why im making this tiny review is because Konami decided it would be a good idea to make this card a Super rare. It was a TERRIBLE idea. You should see the look on people's faces when they fan through the 9 cards of a booster pack and see this.

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Wattdragonfly

Greetings Yu-Gi-Oh peoples!

I probably wont do another review until after christmas, so i want to wish you all a merry christmas. I hope you get whatever yu-gi-oh related presents you wanted.

I dreamt that santa gave me a playset of Pot of Duality. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, up for review today is Wattdragonfly. Watts have been getting some pretty bad support, and only a few ever make it into the deck. If you look at Wattgiraffe, Wattcube and Wattwoodpecker, you can see that they have some potential to be explosive when they have the right cards.

Wattdragonfly says "Merry Christmas!"

This card gives the deck some consistency and should be played. when destroyed (by either battle or card effect), you can special summon one watt monster from your deck.

It's as simple as that. It searches, it keeps monsters on the field, and its reliable. If your opponent does not want you to search, they have to rely on cards that bypass its requirements like dimensional prison or compulsory evacuation device.

Its a really good topdeck to push for damage late game. Since you can special summon any watt monster, you can ram this into a monster with higher attack (since this card has only 900 attack, that shouldn't be a problem) and get a wattgiraffe or wattpheasant. Then attack for at least 1k.

Simply put, if you play watts, or thinking of playing watts. Definately play this in 3s.

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Karakuri Shogun MDL 00 "Burei"

With Starstrike blast comes a new archtype called the Karakuri. They are a bunch of interesting japanese-themed machine types which in the most part have the same clause at the start of the effect:

"This card must attack if possible. When this card is attacked, switch it into defence mode"

Also, i have to note that the transition from the OCG to the TCG has caused their names to become excessively long and difficult to remember. If you happen to want to make a Karakuri deck, you might have to refer to them as "the one that special summons stuff" or "the one that sends stuff to the graveyard" instead of their names.

Now, Karakuris also have their first synchro monster too. Which is what todays review is about: Karakuri Shogun MDL 00 "Burei"! (which i will just call Burei from now on).

The Karakuri General.

Burei has 2600 attack points and 1900 defence points. 2600 is a respectable attack for a level 7, which can get over stardust dragon and other used synchro monsters.

Burei has a cool effect. When this card is Synchro summoned, you can special summon a Karakuri from your deck. Also, once per turn, you can select a monster on the field and change its battle position.

These effects are amazing for Karakuris, and yet, its completely balanced for a archetype synchro monster. Special summoning a Karakuri from your deck is a gorgeous +1 for you, and you are most likely to get Muzichiha for an extra 1800 beatstick and a potential 4400 direct damage. Its second effect can be used offensively and defensively. Combined with the spell card karakuri anatomy, you can easily accumulate the 2 counters needed to literally pot of greed!

Fortunately, if you dont play Karakuris and you happen to pull this card, there's no need to despair. To synchro summon it, you only need a machine type tuner while the non tuners can be anything. This means that morphtronics and other machine type archetypes can synchro into this with ease. Also, with the release of Formula Synchron, you can synchro into Burei on your Opponents turn! How cool is that?

If this card doesn't warrant playing Karakuris, i dont know what will (Until the next synchro comes out in Storm of Ragnarok!)

Yu-Gi-Oh Card Review: Scrap Mind Reader

One of the more expensive cards to come out in Starstrike Blast is an exclusive for the recent scrap archetype. It has been said by some to be junk (no pun intended) while some have given it praise and therefore, has got itself a $50 pricetag.

The card i'm reviewing today is Scrap Mind Reader.

Scraps look like machines, yet this is the only one.

Now this card has a pretty good effect. Scraps were never known to have an agressive approach so its effect fits well.

Once per turn, while this card is in your graveyard during your main phase 2, you can select 1 face-up scrap monster you control, except a scrap mind reader. Destroy that monster and special summon this card from the graveyard. If you do, remove this card from play when its removed from the field. Also, if this card is used for a syncho summon, all other monsters used for the synchro summon must be scraps too.

Wow. What a mouthful. Now let me break each part down and explain its uses/limitations for you.

Now, you can destroy a scrap and summon it. Your targets to destroy here are going to be Scrap beast, scrap goblin and scrap soldier since when they are destroyed by the effect of a scrap monster, you can return a scrap from your graveyard to your hand. That means no loss of advantage for you. Next, when this card is removed from the field, remove it from play. That stops it being abused of course, so thats fine. And lastly, you need to use scraps to synchro with it, which is also ok since a good scrap deck will have at least 12 scrap monsters.

So, what else can you do with this? Well firstly, you can synchro this and Scrap Searcher and make a Formula Synchron. You can also synchro this with a Scrap chimera and a Scrap hunter for a Scrap dragon. OR you can swap the Scrap Hunter for a 2nd Chimera and go into a Twin Dragon instead!

this card opens up alot of synchro monsters that weren't previously avaliable for scraps.

But this card has been rediculed and critisized, and with good reason:

- Counting the compulsory 3 Scrap beasts, 3 Scrap Goblins and perhaps the Scrap soldier there too. There is enough tuners in the deck already. Mind reader seems a little redundant to me.
- You can only activate it in main phase 2. Thats not good if you prefer a more agressive approach or prefer to make your plays before you attack.
- Drawing this card is TERRIBLE. This card warrants playing a Foolish burial just to get this card in the graveyard.

But its not all bad, it can still save you at times.

And there you go. Its up to you if you want to pay 50 dollars for one, but i personally wouldnt.