I would like to start off this article with something that I am sure everyone can see coming…. And that is a CONGRATULATIONS to your newest 2 time YCS Champion Billy Brake. I can’t think of anyone that is more qualified at the moment to win a YCS and its nice to see someone win that has put the time in. You deserved it buddy!
First let me say this will not be an article only about Dark World, because I am sure everyone has read enough of that. Now lets get on with the article! A question many people are probably asking after seeing the results from YCS Columbus Ohio is, “What happened to Dark World?” Never before have I seen so much hype for a deck like I saw for Dark World. Coming into Columbus, it was undoubtedly the most feared deck by many people. But why did it end up falling short? In my opinion, its own hype is what killed itself in the opening event. People were so afraid of the mirror match that many, including myself made sub-par decisions that ultimately made the deck far less consistent. Not only did that have a major impact on the deck, but people were extremely prepared for the deck because everyone was expecting it to be a very popular pick at the YCS in Ohio.
The night before the event while in the hotel with Billy Brake and Robert B.(not gonna attempt it), everyone was discussing what to side for Dark World and just how hard to side deck for it. Billy ended up siding a total of 13 cards that could be side decked in when playing in the Dark World matchup. Talk about an unhappy opponent when they sat down across the table from your newest 2-time YCS Champion.
What many people don’t know is that many Dark World players actually ended up losing on the bubble also. A simple roll of the dice could have easily put a few Dark Duelists into the top 32 at that event. Now something that should be learned from this event is that you cannot make your deck less consistent just in fear of something that could be completely non-existent. In this case I am talking about not using Dark World Dealings just to make your matchup against Dark World safer because Dark World Dealings is simply amazing in the Deck and very needed against every other deck. Before the event I figured I would play around 1-3 Dark World Decks throughout swiss. Now with this knowledge, if I had chosen to play Dark World, that means having Dark World Dealings in my deck would only hurt 1-3 FIRST games throughout the event, and possibly more based on the number of Dark Worlds that could have potentially made the Top Cut. I had actually played the first 6 rounds of the event and started with a 4-0 record and after losing twice back to back I ended up missing my next round and dropping from the event. But in the first 3 rounds I played against 2 Dark World decks. One with Dark World Dealings, and the other without. The one without them was a quick 2-0 victory for me, and the one with Dark World Dealings was a much harder game that dragged all the way down to Game 3. This isn’t a clear cut example that means absolutely a build with Dark World Dealing is better than one without, but in my opinion it bears some form of merit and it was definitely harder to beat the player running Dark World Dealings.
At an event in the future I definitely see Dark World making an impact, but with Plants so strongly on the scene, that day may be a little while away.
Next I would like to take a look at some trends I noticed in Ohio that is slowly changing the face of Yu-Gi-Oh! Firstly, who out there was not maindecking 3 copies of Maxx “C” in YCS Columbus? If you were running a Top Deck, it is likely that you were, and if you weren’t, you probably should have been. Every single one of my friends main decked the maximum allowed copies of Maxx “C”, and so did your YCS Ohio Champion and runner-up. This leads me to the point of how Yu-Gi-Oh! has slowly been transforming.
If you weren’t at the event in Columbus, you may be out of the loop until the decklists get posted, but let me fill you in right now. A popular deck choice in Ohio was a deck many people referred to as monster mash, which basically is a deck that consists of either entirely 40 monsters, or 30-something monsters and a few of the most powerful spells in the game including Monster Reborn, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, and Trap Dustshoot. Now this is a concept that has slowly been evolving, and one that has been becoming more and more popular. I think it makes sense due to the overwhelming powerful effects that have been released as of late. It is due to a power creep. You have cards like Master Hyperion, Dark Armed Dragon, Chaos Sorcerer, Archlord Kristya and many others, that can stand alone on their own, but when played one after another create a game state that is unwinnable because of how strong their compiled effects can be. This is a concept that Chris Bowling tapped into at YCS Toronto and also had success with after finishing 1st in Swiss at that event. Now that concept has been taken a step further by using cards that compliment that strategy in the form of Witch of the Black Rose, Gallis, and Birdman. By running Witch of the Black Rose in a deck that runs either 40 monsters, or close to it, you have a 1700 attack monster that can net you a free draw every single turn if not taken care of. Not only that, but when combined with Gallis, you get a free Black Rose Dragon that can burn your opponent for up to 2000 Lifepoints. (If you hit a Tragoedia with Gallis)
With the ability to run a draw engine in the form of Witch of the Black Rose, with a lineup that is complimented perfectly in the form of Agents(Master Hyperion), Chaos Sorcerer, and T.G. you get a deck that is extremely powerful and flexible because every card either self replaces, searches another card, or has a spot removal effect. These things combined create a deck that can consistently apply pressure and at the same time defend itself with monster cards such as Maxx “c”, Effect Veiler, Gorz, and Tragoedia.
It will be interesting to see where this deck leads in the future and how much of an impact decks that run a very high monster count will have. So after YCS Columbus, something that should be taken away is that figuring out if a fear is realistic or if that fear should be disregarded but not forgotten. For example, those players that played Dark World Dealings in the Main deck should have had a way to sidedeck those cards out for when the mirror match did happen. Another thing to take away from this event is the potential influence that monster mash decks will have on the game. It is a new era of Yu-Gi-Oh!, so you must be ready to adapt or be ready to get left in the dust!
Thanks for reading and be sure to leave comments below! See everyone in Kansas!
-Ryan Spicer
-youtube.com/blackluster777
Latest posts by Ryan Spicer (see all)
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