T.G. Pojo Post

This is a post I made on pojo, it sums up a lot of my thoughts on the new T.G. deck in the TCG. Anyway, enjoy.

My

Late-to-the-Party T.G. Guy.dek

Monsters: 19
2x T.G. Cyber Magician
3x T.G. Striker
3x T.G. Rush Rhino
3x T.G. Warwolf
1x Spore
1x Glow Up Bulb
1x Dandylion
1x Sangan
2x Junk Synchron
2x Doppel Warrior

Traps: 9
1x TG1-EM1
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Call Of The Haunted
1x Solem Judgment
2x Bottomless Trap Hole (Solemn Warning)
1x Mirror Force
2x Seven Tools of the Bandit

Spells: 12
1x Foolish Burial
1x Giant Trunade
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Reinforcements of the Army
1x Monster Reborn
1x One for One
1x Dark Hole
1x Book of Moon
3x Pot of Avarice

Extra: 15
1x Scrap Dragon
1x Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barriar
1x Stardust Dragon
1x Ally of Justice Catastor
1x Formula Synchron
2x T.G. Wonder Magician
1x Brionac Dargon of the Ice Barriar
1x Magical Android
1x Thought Ruler Archfiend
1x Black Rose Dragon
1x Armory Arm
1x Recipro Dragonfly
1x T.G. Blade Blaster
1x T.G. Halberd Cannon

So yeah, did a lot of games today...mainly against a plant-synchro deck (But not specifically, most of my games were against that but I did play against some other things).

I wasn't running the third Avarice, Foolish Burial, and the Spore until after those games. After those, I realized how strong Avarice was in the deck, and all of the search effects are really really good. Avarice ended up being a card that I felt I could run three of with the only problem being if I opened with all 3. To explain how much I liked the search effects, there were games where I could just push with the small guys since they just replaced themselves. That effect also made combos really to set up and pretty strong openings and quick Avarice (although, nothing is as strong as a Shi En or Royal Tribute opening =//).

I decided on Foolish since there wasn't a consistant way of dumping Dandylion, and Glow-up Bulb. Previously I didnt want to find room for Lonefires, and since I put in Foolish Burial I figured I could add Spore over the Unknown Synchron I was using, since even though I liked the Unknown's SS effect, I felt like I was normal summoning it too often for it to not just be Spore, and since now there are plenty of ways of putting Lion to the GY I figured I could make better use of it.

Junk Synchron and Doppel Warrior are just amazing cards, and were really strong, just like this thread has been talking about, so I was impressed with those. I had two TG1-EM1 in the deck during these games. Although the card did work, it wasn't used enough to be consistant, I dropped it down to 1 because its such a blowout card.

For the extra deck, during those games I was running a Power Gladiator, which ended up being useless a lot of those times, so he got dumped for the Scrap Dragon, which would have helped me in a lot of games. I liked the Recipro Dragonfly combo, albeit it is probably the most situational part of the deck, it wasn't situational enough to where I was annoyed at it.

Halbred Cannon was just beastly when he came out, and would win games single-handedly. It is one of the things I may end up dropping, even though he will pubstomp the lower-tierd players at my local (although they're usually decent, they don't keep up with the format enough zz).

I play the deck pretty slow, only really exploading when I need to and try to make ample use of the search effects, I don't know how everyone else plays it though.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the first run through, Hyper Librarian adds a lot to the deck, I don't know if it's enough to compete with what will be in the format during that time, but I can see this deck going places.

The only games that went badly was when I opened 3 Warwolfs and no avarice for miles, back when I was running two.

Side-Decking Card Effects.

Original Premise

That’s the original article, now lets rehash this shit.

The original premise stays the same. You should always map out what your general plan is when side decking, that idea hasn’t changed. The part that I wanted to expand on with this update. Is the idea of what kinds of cards are good in terms of side-decking.

Basically, a lot of the time you’ll see cards in the side-deck that don’t do anything incredibly special, a card like this would something like D.D. Crow or Crevice. Cards that under normal circumstances you would not want to main. So what makes the cards good? If we cant base the cards use on the two general principles of the game being Utility or Card advantage, than what do we use?

The use, or how good a certain card is in the side-deck can be determined by a couple of principles replacing the basic principles of utility and card advantage.

1. How good the card is in the meta (Card Advantage)?

Basically if the card is useless otherwise (Gottoms E-Call in a non X-saber deck) then what can it do in the current metagame? If your local tournament, for example, is all X-saber decks, then Gottoms E-call is probably worth that side-deck slot. Side decking is generally reserved for cards that can squash various match-ups but might become a dead draw anywhere else.

This is part of the reason you’ll see cards that have low Utility or low Advantage output, because they provide something more for against a match up. I’m not saying that cards never provide these two theories, but they both bring something different to the table.

How this theory replaces Card Advantage to me is that it is based off of power. How powerful a card is is usually based on how much Card Advantage a card can provide, the principle being different in this case. Instead of it just being how much raw Card Advantage a card can provide it changes Advantage into a different meaning, thus the idea of power remains, but what provides that power ends up being different.

[For example, D.D. Crow is usually a minus 1. But when played against the ride deck at the right time, the cards power drastically changes, potentially swinging the game, and providing more Card Advantage than what is specifically stated on the card. The basic idea of the cards power being rooted in Advantage remains, but how the card does it is different than the general idea of pluses and minuses]

2. How many match-ups can the card be used against (Utility)?

This is the other reason why cards see play in the side-deck. It’s actually a combination of this and the first reason. If the card in the metagame has multiple match ups that it’ll devastate in then you’ll probably want to invest the side-deck space into using the card.

A great example would be Effect Veiler. This is a card that utilizes both of these theories so well that it has made the move to the main deck. The card could literally used in every match-up and actually hurt a lot of different decks in the meta, to the point where it could shut down a decks game winning play.

How this differs from Utility? Well it actually doesn’t in a way. It’s more broader than the basic “how many times when I draw this card will I be able to use” base of Utility. What I’m saying is that you have to judge the utility of the card multiple times, rather than initially including it into your deck.

Now you have to think about, if the card is worth siding and how many match-ups can I use it in, and whether or not to side it in, and deciding if it will still be useful during that side decking process.

[For example, if you siding D.D. Crow for a match-up like X-sabers. You know when to use D.D. Crow and if you need to use it in your side deck. You decide that you will. Then mid-game against an X-saber deck, you realize that he is not running a standard build (standard enough to be good, but teched enough to stop popular side-deck choices) so you then have to decide whether or not D.D. Crow will be as useful in this specific match.]

Basically if that example was confusing, what I’m trying to say is that there are more points when side-decking a card that you have to know whether or not that card is useful, where as the general utility is decided during deckbuilding. Side-decking utility is decided during building the side-deck and mid match.

So with these two theories, we see that Advantage and Utility take on different forms in the side-deck. While not being completely different the ideas lend each other to different principles encompassing more than just Card Advantage and Utility originally due, since there are extra elements. Now lets take a look at what kind of cards there are when it comes to side-decking.

Originally I presented this idea and this graph…

Macro Effects (Multiple Match-ups)>Macro Effects (singular Match-ups) > Micro Effects (Multiple Match-ups)> Micro Effects (singular Match-ups)

The general theory is again the same as well as the chart, but I want to expand on it since I think the basic principle is more fluid than that. I’ll start with some definitions.

Micro Effects

Micro Effects are card effects that target one thing, and don’t have a huge effect on the board. Examples of Micro Effects would be things like D.D. Crow, and Effect Veiler. These cards only have one general target when it comes to effecting board presence. So they end up getting the label of being Micro, since they’re small target.

Lets move on to Macro Effects.

Macro Effects

These are essentially the opposite. These are cards that effect the overall board in much different ways than just generally one card. For example, these are cards like Dimensional Fissure, Deck Lockdown and Royal Oppression. They effect the whole board and kind of change the way your opponents play.

Now that the basic definitions are down. We look at the chart again. The number of Match-ups depends heavily on the meta, so like right now, D-Fissure would fall under Macro Effects (Singular Match-ups) because the card doesn’t effect much.

There is one thing that I got wrong on the chart that I’ve realized over time. That would be the order of things on there. Instead of how it is, it should be:

Macro Effects (Multiple Match-ups) > Micro Effects (Multiple Match-ups)  Macro Effects (Singular) > Micro Effects (singular Match-ups)

Basically, I’m shifting positions because from what I’ve seen is that Micro Effects that influence multiple match-ups are generally always better than Macro Effects using singular match-ups. All of the signs get changed since pretty much anything is possible.

Now lets look at a divided side deck. For some cards it may be difficult to decide how to divide them up.

Billy Brakes X-Saber Side Deck
Side Deck: 15
1 Cyber Dragon
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Maxx “C”
1 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo
1 D.D. Crow
2 Puppet Plant
2 Chain Disappearance
2 Gozen Match
1 Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror
1 Malevolent Catastrophe
1 Nobleman of Crossout
1 Closed Forest

I’m using this as an example because it has a lot of cards that we’ve seen sided this format. If we were to divide it up.

Macro Effects (Multiple Match-ups)
2 Chain Disappearance ( I’m teetering between it being a Micro and a Macro)
1 Malevolant Catastrophe
1 Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo

Micro Effects (Multiple Match-ups)
1 Cyber Dragon
1 Thunder King Rai-Oh
1 Maxx “C”
1 D.D. Crow
1 Nobleman of Crossout

Macro Effects (Singular Match-ups)
2 Gozen Match
1 Shadow Imprisoning Mirror
1 Closed Forest

Micro Effects (singular Match-ups)
2 Puppet Plant

What we end up with is a good balance. As we can see in the example, Micro Effects (Singular Match-ups) are extremely limited and need to have higher values in the two principles in order to get played. Puppet Plant is really powerful against Samurais so it ends up making the cut.

We see a lot of Micro Effects (with multiple match-ups) for a couple of reasons. For starters, Micro Effects have more cards out in general. There are a lot more Micro Effects than there are Macro Effects. That and good Macro Effects are hard to fine. It’s possible to have formats where a couple of decks just crumple to certain cards in the side, but generally, Macro Effects (Multiple Match-ups) are limited.

When building a side deck it is important to think about these principles and to kind of map it all out. Chances are that your side deck will get better. Also remember that although these principles generally occur, that they are extremely flexible and just because something fits the theory doesn’t mean it will follow it.

To close, I would like to discuss Effect Veiler, because that is one of those cards transcending the theory.

Basically, Effect Veiler dominates because it’s extremely powerful. It has uses against everything in general, which makes it so that it’s possibly something that you would want to main deck due to high utility. Add to that the fact that it can shut down OTK’s and you’ve got yourself a winner.

The card probably never belonged in the side-deck in the first place to be honest, once people realized how flexible the card is we saw that shift. It is a good example of a Micro Effect in the side-deck can transcend the basic chart and becoming better than some Macro Effects (with multiple match-ups).

Another card we’ve seen do this is Royal Oppression. This is probably an article idea for another day so I’m going to end it there.

Peace out.

You’re EXTREME! But not to the MAX.

Extreme Victory’s official release date is just around the corner. The set is good if you like the archetypes that it provides but you might be thinking about skipping out on if you’re not a fan. They’re a couple of cards that I think everyone should be looking for in the set though.

This is a list of what in my opinion, are cards most players should be looking at in this set outside of the archtypes (for example, people hyping the Psychic, T.G. stuff will already have a general idea of what’s good in the set that they’ll want, so I’ll skip over those).

So generic stuff.

Reborn Tengu
WIND/Beast-Warrior - Effect/4/1700/600
When this card is removed from the field, Special Summon 1 "Reborn Tengu" from your Deck.

Reborn Tengu is an amazing card, I don’t think there is any doubt. There are a lot of people that don’t think so, but the card is ridiculous to be honest. We’re seeing the return of the Peten type monster except that it no longer misses it’s timing and has a bigger body. So what decks? Fish OTK is one, Plant decks could splash a play set of this, Monarchs can use it as well.

The card is splashable and does amazing things, anywhere from big combo plays to being a self-replacing beater. It's a simple design but not one I have seen in a while, and I look foreword to seeing this card being played.

EXVC-EN001 Junk Servant
EARTH/Warrior - Effect/4/1500/1000
If you control a face-up "Junk" monster, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

This is another one of those possibly underrated cards out of the set. The basic idea is that Junk Synchron and this can make a 2 card Trishula. While other decks might be able to do Trishula better (like Fish for example) there’s no denying that if those decks get limited or restricted later we might see a rise in decks like Junk Doppel, and this kind of fits perfectly in them.

You could even combo off with Junk Synchron, bring back a level 2, special summon Junk Servant, make Librarian, revive Bulb, etc. The card has some neat combos. I’ll admit though, this card might end up being boarderline shoebox, with a couple of people trying it out at the beginning.

Unknown Synchron
DARK/Machine - Tuner/1/0/0
If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. Each player can only use the effect of "Unknown Synchron" once per Duel.

Unknown Synchron is probably one of my more favorite cards out of the set. Basically it is a cyber Glow-Up Bulb. The thing is that it combos well with a lot of things, my example is in a deck that uses this, Bulb and Tengu.

Special summon this, normal Tengu, synchro for Librarian, special summon Tengu, bring back Bulb, make another Librarian. I can just see the combos. Even without Librarian (since they aren’t legal for a month) you can still make some spammable level 5 synchros or even level 6. The card is decent, but I can see it being niche and more of a tech choice.

I’ll admit though that the picture is too damn cute.

Mystic Piper
LIGHT/Spellcaster - Effect/1/0/0
You can Tribute this card to draw and reveal 1 card. If that card is a Level 1 Monster Card, draw 1 more card. The effect of "Mystic Piper" can only be activated once per turn.

This is once of my choices that barely makes the cut. I just cant of anywhere where this card is a stunning card to use, but I also feel like it may end up seeing play somewhere. Where that is I have no idea.

I guess it could see uses in decks that have a ton of level 1s (themed Meklords maybe) but for now its something that will not be too expensive, so I can see it gaining some use.

Blackwing - Kogarashi the Wanderer
DARK/Winged-Beast - Tuner/6/2300/1600
When a face-up "Blackwing" monster you control is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. When you Synchro Summon using this card as a Synchro Material Monster, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects.

This is a Blackwing card that I sort of like. I don’t know if it makes the cut, since I haven’t played Blackwings in a while, but it does seem to be above what we have been seeing in terms of support.

I guess it might just end up being shoeboxed.

Meklord Army of Granel
EARTH/Machine - Effect/4/1600/1200
This card gains 100 ATK for each face-up "Meklord" monster on the field, except this card. When this card is Normal Summoned, you can select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls, and halve its ATK until the End Phase.

This is another card that I actually like. It’s not gale, but there are comparisons between the two. I don’t think this card is that bad to be honest. It is actually pretty solid.

One of my friends plays a deck in locals that he likes called Don no Gale. Basically it’s a control deck that relied on Gale among other things to,; well control everything. The depressing part about this card is that it doesn’t get under Messanger of Peace but it could still see play in variants like that.

This card is also good in the Meklord archtype (which is a lacking archtype) but that isn’t too playable. Basically, I think this is underrated, it’s no Gale, but it has it’s place and might see play somewhere in the future, it’s by no means a bad card in my opinion.

T.G. Halberd Cannon
EARTH/Machine - Synchro - Effect/12/4000/4000
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 2 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters
This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Synchro Summon. Once per turn, while this card is face-up on the field, you can negate the Summon of a monster and destroy it. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, you can select 1 "T.G." monster in your Graveyard, and Special Summon it.

Okay, so I lied a little bit when I send I wouldn’t go over the cards already known in this set to people that are looking for the advertised set archetypes, but Blade Blaster has it’s uses in other decks.

Basically this card is the replacement for Shooting Quasar Dragon, until that comes out this card will be used in a deck somewhere. Basically it’s a powerful effect on a stick that when the stick dies it will probably bring back a Librarian, which is pretty nifty.

So yeah, it’s part of the T.G. archetype, but fits in a lot of other places.

Debunk
Counter Trap Card
Negate the activation of an Effect Monster's effect that activates in the hand or in the Graveyard, and remove it from play.

Strong possible side-deck choice. Basically, the card is sort of anti-Tengu anti-Effect Veiler. Since Tengu might actually bust the format wide open, this card might be seeing more play, the price of this card will also probably reflect that. Not much more to say about it, since it is pretty straight foreword.

W Nebula Meteorite
Normal Trap Card
Change all face-down monsters on the field to face-up Defense Position. During the End Phase this turn, change all face-up LIGHT Reptile-Type monsters you control to face-down Defense Position, then draw 1 card for each. After that, you can Special Summon 1 Level 7 or higher LIGHT Reptile-Type monster from your Deck.

Again, another card that has been hyped a lot. Worm decks have been seeing rises in play (just like cockroaches), and this card is a dramatic helping hand for the deck. Getting to use all of your flip effects, drawing a card for each, and a special summon is really strong, and I think this card is the most amount of powerful effects we’ve seen a card in this game for a while.

Not only is this card good, but I think it is an excellent example of strong theme support that isn’t too overpowered. It’s not specific to the theme either, since any deck using light reptiles (aliens maybe?) could use this. We know where it’s supposed to work (worms) but it can work in a lot of other places.

Personally I’m a fan of this card just because it’s good game design (unlike Shi En).

Dodger Dragon
WIND/Dragon - Effect/4/1900/1200
The Normal Summon of this card cannot be negated. Your opponent cannot activate Counter Trap Cards the turn this card is Normal Summoned.

The deception with this card is that it seems really generic when it’s not. It’s a Trap Stun on a body that gets around counter-traps. I like to call this thing, the anti-anti-meta, since it seems like it goes best against decks that might specifically struggle against anti-meta (decks using big bodies and strong spell and traps to counter current strategies).

I don’t think it wrecks but it’s certainly nice. It also combos nicely with Koa’ki Meiru Drago, when you think about it.

Tour Guide From the Underworld
DARK/Fiend - Effect/3/1000/600
When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 3 Fiend-Type monster from your hand or Deck. Its effects are negated, and it cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster.

This is a card that’s getting a lot of futurefuture hype, what I mean is that it’s getting a lot of “it has the potential to be good.” Right now, I’m not seeing it, and it might drop down to shoebox secret price ($5-$10) but if the hype stays, then expect this card to be worth something for a long while (doubtful though).

Gladiator Beast Essedarii
EARTH/Beast - Fusion - Effect/5/2500/1400
2 "Gladiator Beast" monsters
This card can only be Special Summoned from your Extra Deck by returning the above cards you control to the Deck. (You do not use "Polymerization".)

Last review, or second to last. Anyway, I’m just going to say that this card will see play in the Gladiator Beast deck. Even if it’s one copy you will see it, because it’s an extra option. Does this mean you’ll see it in game a lot? No you probably wont. But it’s still a card.

Honorable mentions (or stuff that people already know about that I didn’t want to go over):

The Psychic archetype
The T.G. Archetype
Karakuri stuff
Scrap Orthros
Aurora Paragon

Well that’s basically my song and dance. Is this set the best set? No, but I don’t think it’s worth the worst set award it has been getting from some of the players. We’re seeing a lot of strong things in the set, and although it might not drastically shift the game, or make players really rich, it’s by no means a bad set. I think a lot of people can get by on this set by just buying a play set of Tengus and some of the other small things I’ve mentioned.

Anyway, it’s been real. I’ve been thinking of rehashing another old article from the old blog, since it has to do with side decking, and there are a lot of side-deck cards that I think are underrated, probably write a follow-up piece.

Blogpost Enemy #1

Exams are officially over, which means good things, and also means that I am actually going to be able to write some more. Lucky world. My laptop has died which also makes it difficult for me to be able to do all of this.

Basically some interesting things have happened. For starters, Nunu in League of Legends got an awesome new skin. I think it looks really cool but there have been a lot of complaints about the skins legendary status (which basically means it is worth $20).

It has a voice over and a couple of particle changes, which are comparable to Gentleman Cho, but people are still hating on the skin for some odd reason. Maybe it’s the concept of it? I don’t really know. I thought the skin was good but to each their own I guess.

Extreme Victory has come out in the yu-gi-oh tcg. Which basically means I’ve bought a lot of it since it’s a set that has a ton of things for archetypes I really like. The set overall is not as impressive as the previous few sets, but it is winding things down for the next set (GENF) which is probably one of the least impressive sets (barring the Exceeds) that we’ve had in a while. For now, I’m loaded it all into EXCV.

Which leads me to the next thing I don’t have money for. Which is New Phyrexia. This set has a lot of my favorite things in it as well, but I won’t have money for it for about a month, which is a sad day. I’ll give more updates when I actually experience it, I’ll probably be playing drafts most often, I don’t like staying in standard unless I can borrow decks.

Last but not least: I still haven’t played Portal 2 or have gotten around to playing Starcraft 2. Need to do both, wanted to get my new laptop first.