Hello again, everyone. Today, I’m not continuing one of my series (though I will still continue to revisit all of them), but rather writing a one-off article that I honestly believe needs to be written. As the name suggests, we’re going to be dissecting the game we all know and love, analyze just what is happening to the game, and why theoretical duelists are having a much harder time writing about the game than ever before. But before we go on, I’m going to be giving a small definition of two very real terms: the theoretical duelist, and the practical duelist.

The Theoretical Duelist is the duelist who has played a lot in the past, but who no longer plays a whole lot. He’s the duelist that everyone asks for deckbuilding advice, or asks for rulings (whether or not the theoretical duelist is a certified judge or not), or just likes being around because they know a lot about the game and have a lot to learn from them. Theoretical duelists like teaching the game to people; they like building decks and discussing them, and overall just enjoy discussing the game, but rarely can make it to tournaments or play a match. This is not to say they are necessarily bad at the game, but merely that they don’t have the time or the money to play the game successfully, and rather turn to writing about Yu-Gi-Oh! or talking about Yu-Gi-Oh! to continue their education and refine their talents,

The Practical Duelist is the one who goes to all the tournaments and has a ton of money to blow on the game. They have all the best cards in their deck, and they’re pretty darn good at what they do and how they play. They’re in the thick of it; they always play, they’re always thinking about the game, and more often than not, they consult great websites like pojo.com or metagame.com to enhance their dueling skills. But the practical duelist does not take the time to think about the game as a whole; they analyze the metagame, but rarely study how the metagame came to be or how they can go about changing the metagame, merely because they lack the knowledge of the history of the game to make an accurate prediction. This is not to say that they aren’t smart; rather, they’re good at what they do: playing the game, but the subtler points are somewhat beyond them.

All duelists fall into those two categories; those who play a lot can be classified as “practical duelists,” and those who write a lot (like myself) can be called “theoretical duelists.” Theoretical duelists can play the game, but they don’t put the time and devotion into it; this also goes the other way, with practical duelists being able to read the game, but not able to write about it.

Throughout the history of Yu-Gi-Oh!, it has always been like this, and it will most likely continue to be like this throughout the game’s lifespan. But recently, theoretical duelists (like myself) have been having a hard time coming up with things to talk about amidst this Dark Armed Dragon-riddled metagame we currently have. The game of Yu-Gi-Oh! thrives on diversity in the metagame; when the metagame stagnates, the game suffers. Theoretical duelists, too, thrive in a diverse metagame, because the ability to write about different decks, build different builds, and ultimately have a much more interesting discussion (which in turn leads to more interesting articles) about the game itself. But when the metagame devolves into what it is today – a one-deck-dominated metagame – then the theoretical side of the game slowly wilts away into oblivion. What many duelists fail to understand is that this is a healthy dichotomy in the game, and one that – frankly – needs to exist, for everyone’s sake. It’s a symbiotic relationship, because without one the other one will suffer, and we’ve begin to notice that now.

When one side dominates the relationship, the relationship – and the symbiosis – begins to wither and die, and we’re beginning to see it. The practical side of the relationship has a unique control over the game, and the theoretical side is having a difficult time finding a way to balance that control out. When one deck dominates, the theoretical duelist has a unique challenge before him: building a deck that can counter the dominant deck, and also a deck that can beat it consistently. In today’s metagame, Dark Armed Dragon builds have proven that they cannot be beaten, and theoretical duelists cannot possibly attempt to dethrone the wicked beast. But this is not for lack of trying; rather, many theoretical duelists have stayed up long hours, hammering out decks that they think can destroy the infamous DAD, but it is always for nothing. These decks cannot compete, and the metagame has become stagnate.

We have seen this before. Before the banlist was created, Yata-Garasu dominated, but this was a unique situation and as such we’ll explore that a little bit later in the article. Afterwards, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning was the dominant card, and it stayed that way for several cycles (each six-month period of the banlist is referred to as a “cycle”); after that, Monarchs ruled supreme, and then Diamond Dude Turbo. Theoretical duelists have noted this, but there is always one major difference in all of these: each cycle had a dominant deck, sure, but there were other, equally-challenging decks, that also made the cut, and were viable. In fact, none of the top decks in previous cycles were too dominant, and this was when the theoretical duelist thrived most (not counting the period before the banlist), because they had many avenues in which to write, discuss, and think about Yu-Gi-Oh! Now, however, that has changed, much for the worse, because there is no other deck that can beat DAD.

Think back, to five or so years ago – back before Chaos reined supreme, back when Yata-Garasu was just released. Do you remember how many decks there were? Do you remember how many decks utilized Yata-Garasu? If anyone from that period can remember, do you know what you were running at the time? Everything was different before the banlist, because the card pool was nigh infinite. You had every card in the game at your disposal, and while some duelists will argue that the cycle was drained dry by Yata-Garasu, most theoretical duelists will counter with the fact that there were a million decks out that were each as dominant as the Yata builds of the day. Yata Control was good, but like any cyclic deck, it wasn’t meant to be, and was easily taken down by another deck, which in turn was easily taken down by other decks.

What I’m trying to explain is that in each cycle, there’s a dominant deck, and then there’s a deck that can beat that dominant deck. The cycles are cyclic, if you’ll excuse the expression, because each cycle has several decks that see their fifteen minutes, then disappear as the next cycle is introduced.

There are several factors that are contributing to the demise of Yu-Gi-Oh! as we know it. The first, and most major, is the banlist. The banlist was initially created to bring balance to the metagame and to shake up some of the best decks out there to give more inexperienced duelists (or more casual, I should say) a chance to thrive in the tournament scene. It was a good idea, but frankly it has become somewhat of an outlet to pacify the less experienced duelists and give them a chance. But here’s the thing with that: while I agree that some cards should be banned, others need to come off entirely, and some cards even need to leave the restricted list.

The banlist is too confining to creative, practical duelists, because it limits what they can and cannot build by creating an environment that allows just one deck to reign supreme. This may seem a little contradictory to my previous statements in this article, but just because there have been top decks that have been dethroned, doesn’t mean that the metagame was all stable all the time, and that there was continually a new showing of decks at every major tournament every single time. That’s just not true, and you can look at my “Looking at the Past” series to see what I mean. There’s only one cycle where the banlist was perfect in every way, shape and form: the March 2007 – September 2007 cycle. There was a new deck at every tournament, and few decks (if any) could claim the top spot of being the best decks on the planet. Another cycle that was similar, but different, was the April 2005 – October 2005 cycle, aptly titled the “Trinity Cycle,” for its vastly changing amount of play styles and decks that arose during this time.

These two cycles had one thing in common: a very unrestrictive banlist. These lists had the most severely broken cards taken out of the game, but for the most part left the duelist in complete creative control, allowing them to build decks that suited their play style and gave duelists many more options for countering the major decks of the cycle. During the Trinity Cycle, there were a number of decks that saw a lot of play at the regional and SJC level, but many have been forgotten because they were never as explosive as the Trinity builds that incorporated Black Luster Soldier in the build.

Typically, a great cycle consists of an unrestrictive banlist, and a duelist base that is ready to pounce on the new decks and find even newer builds that will stomp the old builds out of existence. It’s a constantly changing, constantly revolving cycle that has everyone participating: whether it’s building decks, writing articles or discussing new tech cards, loose and unrestrictive banlists offer new and exciting ways for duelists to interact and get better at the game. Restrictive lists, however, only serve to stagnate and stifle the metagame, making only one deck reign supreme due to the fact that we have a limited card pool at our disposal and cannot easily build decks to counter the metagame.

Konami and Upper Deck, however, take no heed of these trends. If they see a problem in the metagame, they fix it, but without first seeing the consequences that incur when they do so. When they “fixed” the Trinity cycle, they instead banned great cards and left a gaping hole in many player’s decks that proved too impossible to fix for many. Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning was a good card, but his effect was not broken by any means, and most duelists (whether theoretical or practical) will agree that he was a cornerstone of the Trinity cycle and that he did not deserved to be banned.

Other problems with the banlist include the lack of proper destruction cards. Destruction cards, like Mystical Space Typhoon or Smashing Ground, offer players a unique opportunity to disrupt their opponent and change the course of the game, and are crucial in todays metagame. However, both of these cards are currently sitting on top of the restricted list because they were deemed “too powerful” in the hands of good duelists, and thus were limited to one-per-deck after different banlists. But in today’s game, we need those destruction cards; in a metagame packed with Dark Armed Dragon, it’s near-impossible to win without some kind of support, but Konami and Upper Deck just don’t see it.

Another thing that is crippling the game as we know it is the lack of proper deck support – or, rather, the expense thereof. Dark Armed Dragon decks can cost hundreds of dollars in cash or trade (sometimes more), and to go to a tournament requires so much more time, money and energy that many people besides the pros can afford to go. Local regionals are one thing, but to travel across the country just to compete in a game that has no cash prizes for the top-8 is crippling for a player with a limited cash flow.

There are several solutions for this: one, they can begin to offer sizeable cash prizes at each of their tournaments for the top-8 duelists (or top-16, if they want) that would cover travel expenses; or, they can convert all tournaments on the circuit now to online tournaments, where you play with a virtual deck and all that jazz. The problem with the latter, however, is the fact that judges cannot verify what is in each deck, and that can present a problem. Also, there would be no way to detect cheating, so there you have it. The only sensible solution to the tournament scene is to offer cash prizes in exchange for placing in the top-8; otherwise, you just scare poorer kids and the rich ones get the glory.

For many kids, the wonder and splendor of the game is fading fast. Theoretical duelists are having a harder time talking about the game, and practical duelists are having a harder time playing the game. Poor players don’t have the resources to beat the top decks, and the banlist is to the point where the only top deck is a deck that is too expensive for many people to play, let alone build a deck to beat. In essence, things need to change. There needs to be a revamped banlist that brings back many of the cards that are currently on the forbidden/restricted list, and there needs to be cash prizes at Shonen Jumps.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Feel free to e-mail me your thoughts about the matter, and I would love it if some other featured writers would jump into the discussion about my proposal to overhaul the banlist and bring back some cards (three MST’s in a deck? That’s not so ridiculous, is it?) that are desperately needed and really aren’t that broken. In a diverse metagame, creativity thrives, and the creativity of theoretical duelists (as well as practical duelists) will keep the game fresh with new top decks that are constantly revolving through the cycle. Also, a six-month rotation of banlists isn’t enough; we need banlists to come when they’re needed, instead of having to wait until next March or September to see some more creativity in the game. Or, on the other hand, if a cycle is great, and we don’t need a banlist, then leave it well enough alone and let the game flourish.

Research and Development at Upper Deck and Konami really need to take the time and see what duelists want to play as opposed to what they think we want to play. Surveys about what we, the players, would like to see in cards would be amazing, and maybe taking the time to read some Create-A-Card contests that various theoretical duelists have hosted would honestly propel the game beyond the mire that it is in right now.

These are simple solutions, ones that we would follow well and really pay attention to, because I’ve heard the cries of anguished duelists as they fall to a $2 million Dark Armed Dragon Synchro deck while playing their $50 deck full of reprints and commons. At least reprint enough cards so the masses can afford to play them too; when you keep the best cards as the most expensive, only the rich people can afford to play. And that isn’t good business strategy.

Again, thanks for reading. This time I’m really done talking about what needs to be fixed. Like I said before, feel free to e-mail me your thoughts, concerns and opinions about this, and any featured writers on Pojo.com or Metagame.com, feel free to respond to this any way you’d like. We need more discussion in this game; is that so much to ask for?

Thanks,

Anteaus

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