Everyone who plays this game hoped and prayed for some positive changes for this March 1st, but instead we were handed possibly one of the worst Forbidden/Limited list EVER.
Wind-ups were the deck to beat going into Atlanta, but somewhat under performed. This was because the other stupidly overpowered deck, Dino Rabbit, destroyed the Wind-up decks. Wind-ups do things no Yu-Gi-Oh deck should be able to do. With just two cards, they can discard your entire hand. But what makes it so unfair is that even if they DON'T discard your hand, they still have extremely solid plays and options, similar to those of Plant-Synchro. Dino Rabbit on the other hand in my opinion, is the more unfair deck. With no effort at all, you are staring own a Solemn Judgment on legs, numerous backrows, and a possible walking Divine Wrath next turn. Even when Maxx "C'ing a Rescue Rabbit and drawing 2 cards (basically playing Pot of Greed) you can have 7 cards and still not be able to deal with Laggia and things like Forbidden Lance and Solemn Warning. At least using a Maxx C or Veiler against Wind-up will stop them from comboing out on you.
The Forbidden/Limited list this time around didn't address ANY problems that Yu-Gi-Oh would be facing. Instead it completely neutered a deck that wasnt even going to be GOOD anymore. Plants were completely destroyed, and the funny thing is not ONE Plant-type Deck made it into the top 32 of Atlanta. This F/L list was 100% catered to the OCG. Now don't get me wrong, many of us cannot comprehend the inner workings at Konami, but something has to be done in order to make sure that the TCG and OCG are treated differently as we are NOT the same. Even Kevin Tewart himself has stated that "Our products are different because we don't behave like OCG players". Yes, our players and game are nothing like the OCG, and we need either an F/L list catered to us, or a single List that caters to ALL. This game has been going on for over a DECADE, you would think something would be done to help fix this game from its constant problems.
Moving on, I'll talk about the individual cards on the new F/L list, since this one is pretty short compared to normal
FORBIDDEN
Glow-up Bulb and Spore: Lonefire Blossom or Dandylion was a better choice. The only reason to touch these cards is to reinforce the use of Xyz monsters and turn away from Synchros.
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier: This was late. I suggested this card be Forbidden last list, but now it being Forbidden means nothing. With so many people maining multiple Veilers and Fiendish Chains, resolving a Trishula now is almost impossible.
Trap Dustshoot: The only good Forbidden card. Everyone knows the angry feeling of getting opening turn Dustshooted. Everyone is happy about this silly card being gone.
LIMITED
T.G. Striker: This card was only a "problem" in the OCG, as T.G. Agents was the most popular deck. It's a good Tuner with a very versatile effect, but I totally disagree with it being Limited to 1.
Agent of Mystery Earth: Again, Agents were only a problem in Japan, so this does nothing but make a bad deck worse around here. I think it would have been better to Semi-Limit Hyperion and possibly Earth as well.
SEMI LIMITED
Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner: Lightsworn use to be one of the most feared, and hated decks of all time. But as of right now, the decks are just so much faster and powerful, that putting Lumina to 2 doesn't do much. If you like playing your Lightsworn deck however, it does get a tiny boost.
Reborn Tengu: This was a card I agreed with. Limiting it to 2 stops overly powered plays. A 1700 Attack floater that replaces itself twice was just too good. Now Tengu is a much more balanced card.
Emergency Teleport: I've wanted this card back to two for awhile. Without Mind Master the Psychic OTK is dead, and this allows the Teleport Engine to be splashed into the current decks, allowing more options and Synchro plays that have recently fallen to the side.
Torrential Tribute: This is my favorite card going to 2. With the amount of overextending and mass amount of Special Summoning the game has turned to, its nice to be able to have 2 of a card that can keep the opponent at bay, or even second guessing going all out.
The rest of the cards on the Semi-Limited list really don't matter. It's basically just whatever, wit the exception of possibly Shiens Smoke Signal (but honestly I think Samurais are past their prime anyway).
UNLIMITED
Call of the Haunted: This was the only card unlimited, and rightfully so. Call of the Haunted really hasn't seen large amounts of play in awhile, so just putting to 3 is fine.
So that just about covers that... pretty underwhelming and disheartening. The top decks of the format will still be Wind-ups and Dino Rabbit. I honestly don't think any deck as of right now is worth running over those two, unless you're trying to come up with some sort of Anti-Meta strategy.
In my opinion, I think people should probably start main decking more copies of cards like Dimensional Prison, Spirit Reaper, and Smashing Ground, because without them the Rabbit match-up is just an uphill battle the entire time. During matches where those cards don't shine, that's where you would just use your Side Deck to its full potential when faced against Decks like Wind-ups, Inzektors, etc. 3 Maxx C is still staple as far as I'm concerned, as well as at least 2 Effect Veilers. Fiendish Chain should be run in 2's and 3's. Most decks will and should run most of these cards as they are good against many different decks.
As of right now, the most important YCS to date is only 28 days away. I don't expect it to be a very fun tournament, and I also expect to hear tons of "God I got sacked so hard!" "Guy looped me turn 1!" "I didnt draw Maxx C fuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" "Rabbit + 5 backrows FML!" plus many more.
Finally, I'd like to get some feedback from you guys. First of all what deck are YOU going to run in the new format? Second of all will you be attending the 100th YCS? Leave your answers, questions, and comments below!
Until next time readers, play hard or go home.
LMJeffJones
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