I must admit, I had my doubts.

 

If you remember, I posted an article a few years ago talking about the takeover of the North American market by Konami, ousting Upper Deck Entertainment in the process. I posted this article as a follow-up, roughly seven months later, talking about how Konami did a rather superb job of keeping the competitive aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh going strong. The banlist at the time showed me that Konami was willing to shake the game up a bit and do a lot of different things to make the game grow, both casually and competitively. Reprints were becoming the rage, making hard-to-get and expensive cards much more accessible (and destroying the value of trade binders across the country in the process, but I digress), which allowed more people to get into the game.

 

It lowered the cost of the game, thus bringing more people into the game.

 

Upper Deck, it seemed, was somewhat reluctant to do things of that nature. I don't know why and I can't really speculate as to their reasoning for keeping the game as expensive as it was, but the result was the same nonetheless: the game was incredibly expensive, requiring a lot of money and time to invest in the game with little to no true payoff (this still holds true, to an extent; I am a major proponent of cash prizes at major tournaments. However, the fact that Konami has made the game more accessible to people than Upper Deck shows their willingness to change the face of the game), but Konami worked to change that. And I must commend them for that; I did not think that Konami would do a whole lot with the North American scene, and I'm glad I was wrong.

 

You see, not only did Konami make the game more accessible to players who did not have a lot of time or money to spend on the game, but it also pushed a lot of cards into the North American scene that many duelists had never had access to; we, as duelists, had so many more options in terms of deckbuilding and strategy than ever before. This would result in the emergence of many new and different decks that could compete at a competitive level. Not just decks, but the way in which the game was played had changed as a result of Konami's tinkering with the North American market, and I must admit that this is an incredibly good thing.

 

I have always been a major proponent of a cycle that has many different competitive decks. My favorite cycle I have ever had the pleasure to play in was the WTF?! Format – the decks that were played were so competitive, but at the same time so varied, that virtually anyone could come up with a strategy that could prove worthy and win with it.

 

In a sense, we have entered into a new WTF format, only it's not just a format; it's the entire game. The number of new cards and the reprint of a lot of more expensive cards – thus making them less expensive (and easier to get) – help to not only get new people into the game but also help older players utilize new strategies and find new ways to win. This keeps the game competitive, in my opinion, because your deck has to be able to handle a variety of different threats. It shows the skill of deck-builders and reduces the power of net-decking because new strategies and tech cards have to continually be introduced. Not only that, but because of the versatility of a lot of new cards, players who are coming back into the game have a much easier time getting back into the competitive scene. Especially of said players have a lack of disposable income.

 

I am one of those players.

 

As one of those players, I say bravo to Konami. They have made the game fun again.

 

With all that said, I'd like to delve into my new Blackwing build that I've been working on. Remember, when I post decks and the like I build with what I have. I am not a player who can effectively build a deck online and play on YVD against other people to see if it works; I need to be able to actually see the strategies that I'm thinking of. Therefore, I work with what I have. I do not have access to cards such as Pot of Duality, so please bear that in mind. I do not have money to blow on singles, so I cannot always go and buy the cards I need. I need to get creative.

 

So with that said, I am not one of those article writers who will continually show off the best new decks and the most common competitive strategies; I need to think outside the box and work with what I have, and what I present is what I believe to be a competitive deck. I run these decks at locals, and those that I do well with I tend to post. So please bear that in mind as well.

 

With that said, I'd like to reveal my version of the common Blackwing deck. Because of my lack of certain cards, I've had to build what I believe is the best version that I can come up with – it actually did pretty well at a couple local tournaments over the past few weeks. Anyway, without further ado, here's my so-called Budget Blackwing:

 

Monsters (20):

 

3x Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame

3x Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow

3x Blackwing – Bora the Spear

2x Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn

1x Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr

1x Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North

1x Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind

1x Dark Armed Dragon

1x Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

1x Sangan

1x Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

2x Krebons

 

Spells (12):

 

3x Enemy Controller

2x Mystical Space Typhoon

1x Emergency Teleport

2x Smashing Ground

1x Black Whirlwind

1x Allure of Darkness

1x Monster Reborn

1x Dark Hole

 

Traps (8):

 

3x Icarus Attack

2x Bottomless Trap Hole

1x Call of the Haunted

1x Torrential Tribute

1x Mirror Force

 

The first thing I'm sure you noticed is the inclusion of the single Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North. The reason why I only have one in the deck is because I only own one. Therefore, I had to make due with something else that could do something relatively similar – therefore I opted for the Krebons/Emergency Teleport combo, which can Special Summon a Krebons from my deck and allow me to Synchro Summon. This deck is Synchro-heavy, there's no denying that; with 2x Krebons, and a single copy each of Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr, Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North and Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, I have five different Tuner Monsters in the deck. The deck requires getting major Synchro Monsters onto the field, as they're the major attackers.

 

But aside from that, the deck has a lot of things that round it out. Dark Armed Dragon is an obvious inclusion, but Gorz the Emissary of Darkness has seen much less play recently and I can't figure out why. He's a major hitter, can bring out a Token that can bounce with the Monster you took damage from, and can generate a major momentum shift in a single play. It's simply an added bonus that he can fuel Dark Armed Dragon.

 

For the Spell Cards, I've always found Enemy Controller and Smashing Ground to be incredible cards. Even though there was a time when Smashing Ground was limited, it's versatility has been kind of thrown aside. There are duelists that still run it, but a lot of competitive players (especially at the YCS level) have moved on to different cards. Despite this, I still feel that Smashing Ground and, by extension, Enemy Controller, are incredible cards to run in this type of deck. Those are the only real cards that need explanation. I exclude cards such as Pot of Duality and Cards for Black Feathers because I can't seem to find them anywhere, so again, I have to work around it.

 

As for the traps, it's fairly straightforward; the lack of Royal Oppression is notable, but I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions as to the reasons for its exclusion. Bottomless Trap Hole is included because it runs along the same lines as Smashing Ground, forcing a one-for-one and generating situational advantage.

 

This deck can be improved. I know that, I accept that, but this is the reason why I spoke about Konami earlier in the article and what they've done with the game. Because of the way the game has changed, and because of the way Konami has gone about increasing the card pool in the North American market, I can build a deck that can be competitive without certain cards. I have other options that are just as viable as the major ones, not just in terms of the deck I build, but the cards I use to build the deck.

 

With that said, I leave it up to you to take what you will from the deck. I've presented it, and with the deck being a relatively older deck, I don't feel I have to explain the overall strategy behind the deck. I have chosen to talk about the differences between the deck and others and the reasons as to why the deck is build differently, and I hope that I have given you all something to think about.

 

As always, you can e-mail me at anteaus44@hotmail.com.

 

Thanks,

Anteaus