State of the Metagame: Outlook of March - 2010

Its fitting that I start this blog with an outlook upon what can be, especially as a complete over-view of an upcomming format. Some themes will be hit in March via the ban-list. Generally speaking, Light Sworn have been bled dry, Zombies are far too explosive, and most other decks dont need to be hit here in the TCG. The OCG on the other hand has some cards hit whic we dont, like Brionac, so expect those changes. The OCG Meta is not that different now, in terms of some explosive deck. So, down to the meat and potatoes, what to expect from the Ban list?

Zombies

What can I see being hit? Either Mezuki or Plague. Odds are limiting Mezuki and Brionac will be enough, and the easiest way to cripple the deck. It will still work, but will struggle to OTK, and have the ability to like that of BW's. Plague on the other hand is splashed everywhere, is the key to the deck and its OTK explosion. But, its not broken. What worries me is how easily splashed it is. Any deck can run it, which is why I would believe Konami would be inclined to ban it. That would kill Zombies as far as I am concerned. They would not have access in theme to the synchro deck. I can understand this occuring, but dont see it occuring. More like Mezuki and some card like Burrial/Brionac being limited. Makes much more sense.

Light Sworn

Yeah, about the deck which can OTK with a single top-deck, has two main in-theme win conditions and is packed with monsters which gives the theme enough depth to counter nearly any obstacle with the likes of beaters, one for one's and Anti-Meta monsters. Did I mention how it wins with a single top-deck? And is a luck sack deck? And you cant play out of it, but rather you need sheer luck? All in all, this theme is bad for the game. It makes advanced play that for children. Its who can get out JD first. I have only seen a very select number of players use it in an advanced level. One is John Moore who has used the deck to beat Gadgets in resource wars when simplification occurs to drop JD. But that does nothing but prove how broken the deck/theme is. A deck built for advantage and simplification cant stop LS in the hands of a decent player.

What can get hit? JD or Charge. Not much else needs to be hit. With a lot of dead cards if draw, and inconsistant milling, without JD you lose one of two win conditions, and JD is the 'Broken' one. Charge gives you a +2 in terms of theme advantage. You get any card to answer an opponent's push and you mill which is a set up for your win condition. Thats broken and can easily be hit to balance the deck.

Twilight

LS have yet to win alone, but Twilight (French Twilight, or Teched LS if you will) has. Trag and a few dark monsters make the theme work. LS are inconsistant by nature, so splashing in another engine which can answer OTK's or more consistant decks push's is an issue. Due to this, I can easily see Trag being Semi-Limited. At two, you wont be able to top deck into it as often, and effectively limit the Twilight 'amazing' resource pool. I also think most players think Krista should/can be hit, but its not on the same level as my aforementioned cards.

GB's, Anti-Meta, BW's

First obvious lower tier deck to advance would be GB's. They are a solid deck still, and without any more support or help, the limiting of other top decks will give the deck room to top. It has AMAZING synergy, which is unlike any theme deck. They can be played out of interms of bad hands and have easy resource searching as well as solid mechanics. They are hard to play around in general. Expect big things out of them if Zombies and LS get hit at all.

As for Anti-Meta, they are getting Starlight Road, which stops any mass destruction card and gets you a free Stardust Dragon. In the OCG its a staple at two for most Anti-Meta decks. I think its over-hyped though. If LS and Zombies get hit like they should, we wont have nearly enough broken floaters around to max this at more than two. But, its still great and if LS and Zombies are hit they still will see play, so its a sure side-deck card. Infernities may alllow it to see play as they can one card OTK, but, it has consistency issues as well. For now, I just dont see it.

Now for BW's. Vayu is not good enough, and without an easier OTK option normal BW's cant cut it. I do see Black whirlwind being hit to balance it out due to BW's sheer advantage aspect. They can and do get mass advantage each and every turn, and destroys any deck slower than it, so with Zombies and LS being hit, BW do have room to fill the void much like GB's. I hope they get hit, but odds are slim to do that. Its a solid choice for the upcomming format.

Infernities, Gravekeeper's and Absolute Zero

Hype, Hype, Hype. Its all I need to say. GK's arnt good enough from face value, and because I dont have them in hand and will not until the sneak peak I will stick with my opinion that it is hype. Infernities on the other hand is both. Its hype, but it does have the ability to spam out level 6, 7, and 8 synchro's. Possibly a level 9 to replace Brionac if you catch my drift. Its inconsistant like LS though, so for now it will struggle against 'Pro' players at a large event, but like BW can sweep local and regional events IMO. If some broken hybrid comes out that abuses themes efficiently, like Twilight, it may be more than hype.

As for Ab-0, its a lot of hype. It does have greater deck depth and the ability to spam with Diva then reuse, which gives the deck great speed, and with the D-Hero engine not being hit in March being a sure thing, its shapping up to be a solid deck. But I consider it to be in the league of LaDD PC. Its great, requires a bit of skill and needs work for the monster line-up. Besides that, its still over-hyped. Zombies are much better now, and if only Brionac gets hit should be better. I have yet to see a great player run it, and am not egotistical to tape myself playing Yugioh and reviewing it later yet, so I dont know about its plays in that effect yet, so I am not stable on how it will do.

Other list changes.

I  could also see BTH, E - Tele, Solemn, and Cyber Dragon comming back up if the other top-decks get hit. It will allow for more simple aggression, new synchro options, other answers to pushing, and better ways to stop the meta. I cant see much else occuring. I can see about 5 banned cards comming back like Magician of Faith, Graceful Charity, and CCV. None are really broken now, and force players to play smarter or give generic support to the game. I know your complaining about CCV, but, with Infernities being so big, and the option of LS, Zombies and Ab-0 being alive still it could be a solid addition to each deck due to the reprint. CCV is the least likely, but it still has chances to come back.

Thats all for now. I may do another when we get an official list.