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From: Anteaus44@aol.com [mailto:Anteaus44@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 1:13 AM

Subject: The Evolution (and Devolution) of Yu-Gi-Oh!



Hey, all you Pojoers out there!



It's me again, the advocate for a Yu-Gi-Oh! revolution...you know, free information, the breaking down of team play, the advancement of not only competition but the exchange of information and duelist tactics and all that good stuff between competitors. Anyway, that's not what this is about.



No, this article is about something much more intriguing to me. It's about the evolution of the game and also its devolution. What I mean is this: At the beginning, it was beatdown. LOD=control. IOC=Chaos. CRV=Cyber Dragon. That's it. But the point is this: 42. Just kidding. No, the real point is that YU-Gi-Oh! has always found its "center deck," it's main theme, it's identity, I guess you could call it. See, right now, we're seeing such an advancement in tech and all that good stuff, but hey, what about ancient tech?



Let's take a look at "ancient tech." It started with Exodia, and spread, and spread, and pretty soon, after Yata-Garasu was a "tech" card (yeah, for like ten seconds), it became godly. And that's OK, that's what tech is designed to do, it's meant to do that. That's the evolution of tech. It starts off small and grows. That's how Tomato Control came around. It was huge in 2003--the winner of Worlds in 2003 ran Tomato Control...heh, all Top 8 decks ran it. And then it died. Chaos was too good. And then it came back. Now. But people aren't grasping the full concept of Tomato Control. Don Zaloog is going solo, I guess, because he's the only real Hand Control card in a Tomato Control deck. With Chaos virtually gone, what's wrong with Drop Off? In the era of Heavy Storm, 3x Typhoon, Breaker, and Harpies, it was 3x per deck. Now, in the era of Heavy Storm, 1x Typhoon, 2x Dust Tornado, and Breaker, plus the occasional Mobius, I see it as having a lot more potential. It's a Trap, but unfortunately not chainable. But that's OK, because Don Zaloog only has 1400 ATK. And that's OK, he's a staple in Tomato Control decks.



What about Magic Cylinder? Yeah, I know, it's virtually a 0-for-1 advantage loser, but since when did advantage really matter in the long run? Sure, it's great to have, it makes it a helluva lot easier to win, I give you that, but still, that's a possible 2400+ LP we're talking about your opponent losing. Plus, with 3x Drop Off, not to mention a couple of Sakuretsu Armors and a couple of Don Zaloogs, you have your advantage. 2-3 more cards in hand, more LP, and great field presence is nothing to scoff about. How about Vampire Lord? Monster Killers are all over the place: Smashing Ground, Exiled Force, Sakuretsu Armor. They're rampant, and V-Lord (or Phoenix, whichever you prefer) is great at countering that. Sure, he's only a 2000 ATK, but once your D.D.A. has taken care of those pesky Cyber Dragons, he's a shoe-in.



Deck thinning is the rage now: "thin your deck to get to your best cards." This is all fine and dandy, sure, but you know what: I prefer to have my good cards in my hand, rather than having to search for them. Plus, when all your cards can serve their purpose in any given situation, it's hard to choose between them when a V-Lord hits you.



My point is is that we're getting so caught up in the moment that we really forget about the cards that can do us a lot of good. Cyber Dragon is great, sure, but it's still vulnerable to a Magic Cylinder.



Send all thoughts you think of to anteaus44@aol.com.



Cheers,

Anteaus



P.S. Check out my other articles strewn across the CCG pages, they're great fun.