This is my first article back after the 2013 WCQ, and first off I'd like to say congrats to our 6 person team, and a special congrats to ARG's own Patrick Hoban on winning the entire thing. I'd also like to give a special shoutout to 2 of my closest and best friends Robert Boyajian and Steve Silverman who will also be attending the World Championship. This is the best team we have sent to Worlds in a long time, and I feel like this is the time where we will have our FIRST World Champion from the United States. Good luck to all of you, and let your duels be ever in your favor.
Now than, this article will be touching on a few things regarding the Forbidden/Limited list (which will debut in Japans V-Jump exactly one month from now) and what we can expect in the future.
First of all, without a doubt we all know the 2 most powerful decks are Dragon Rulers and Prophecy. Logically speaking, these 2 decks were not overly powerful prior to certain cards being released. And now it seems like the mighty Mermails and ferocious Fire Fist have been seemingly forgotten, and that hardly seems fair.
Spellbook were always an "okay" deck prior to Judgment. It got a few tops here or there, but even with all of its searching power it still wasnt enough to combat Mermails and Fire Fist, however with the release of Judgment the tides turned and it was nearly impossible for any deck to battle against Prophecy. Except one.
Dragon Rulers is considered slightly better then that of Prophecy, as after Side Decking the deck gains a hefty advantage. This deck in Japan was pretty under powered prior to the Baby Dragons being released. It was good, but not great. Mostly, the Dragons worked best in decks of that specific attribute IE Tidal in Mermails.
Now than, since we all probably agree Judgment is the real problem logically speaking the card has to go. I mean, really, by limiting this card you also have to go and limit a whole bunch of other Spellbooks, like Secrets, Fate, etc, and that's just annoying. Not to mention [ccProd]Spellbook of Judgment[/ccProd] is one of the BEST cards ever created. Yes, you heard me right. So forbidding Judgment would be best.
As for Dragons, there are many options. We could limit all of either Big or Small Dragons, or a combination of both. However, I believe hurting the Big Dragons isn't as fair. I view the big Dragons like [ccProd]Pot of Duality[/ccProd]; they make other decks better. And that's healthy for the game. So I'd prefer not to touch the Big Dragons. The Baby Dragons however are not needed for this game. It would be better if those were just Forbidden as well. The likeliness of this happening though is very lower, this is just what I would prefer to happen. Like I said earlier, in Japan prior to the Baby Dragons being released, Dragon Rulers was not a problem.
Now than, if we go ahead and take away power from the most powerful decks, that means the decks that were most powerful before will probably jump up. So this means we should probably balance Mermails and Fire Fist a bit.
Since Mermails can use Tidal very well, they are easily more powerful than Fire Fist. [ccProd]Atlantean Dragoons[/ccProd] is an extremely powerful card, being an 1800 attack body and its effect to search for any Sea Serpent... it's very unbalanced, so I decree this card go to 1. As for Fire Fist, we all know that Spell card Tutors can never end well, and Fire Formation Tenki is no different. In the next set, premiering in 2 weeks, Fire Fist finally get Rooster (Aka Chicken).
Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Rooster
Fire/3/Beast Warrior/1500/100
When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Fire Fist" monster: You can add 1 "Fire Fist" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Brotherhood of the Fire Fist - Rooster" once per turn. Once per turn: You can send 1 face-up "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card you control to the Graveyard; Set 1 "Fire Formation" Spell/Trap Card directly from your Deck.
This EXTREMELY boost Fire Fist ability to search cards and do tons of other shenanigans with Fire Fist Spirit, as well as [ccProd]Rekindling[/ccProd]. So, I would also like to see Fire Formation Tenki go to 1.
Other than that there are obvious cards which continue to be problems like [ccProd]Monster Reborn[/ccProd], which shouldn't exist any longer as well as [ccProd]Card Destruction[/ccProd] and probably [ccProd]Pot of Avarice[/ccProd] . All of these cards can be very ignorant cards and contribute nothing good to the game.
With just a few changes, next format could be very, very interesting and straight up awesome. Memails, Fire Fist, Spellbooks (with some more support from Judgment of Light), and even new versions of Dragon Rulers would all be up for contention for some of the best decks in the format. Not to mention the possibility of things like Fire Kings now the Fire King Avatar Yaksha was announced as an OCG import for JOTL.
Fire King Avatar Yaksa
Fire/4/Beast Warrior/1800/200
If a face-up "Fire King" monster you control is destroyed by a card effect (except during the Damage Step): You can Special Summon this card from your hand. If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can destroy 1 card in your hand or that you control. You can only use this effect of "Fire King Avatar Yaksha" once per turn.
Of course, as we all know, what we all would like to happen usually doesn't. But as long as Prophecy and Dragons are taken down, I feel like next format could be great for innovators like myself, but of course we will have to wait and see. For all we know Dragons could just lose Big Eye and Prophecy get a Limited Judgment and Secrets (which really wouldn't solve anything but, hey stuff like that has happened before).
Anyways, next time I'll be back with some more updates on JOTL so make sure to stay tuned for that.
Until next time duelist, play hard or go home.
LMJeffJones
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