While this article will mostly be about building a Goat
Format gauntlet, the advice here really can apply to any era
of Yu-Gi-Oh!, be it modern, an alternate format like Newgioh,
or a vintage format like Goats. If you’ve played the game
for any length of time, you may already know what a gauntlet
is. But we’ll explain it for those of you who don’t. A
gauntlet is simply a collection of decks that you should
expect to play at a given event. You can build a gauntlet
for locals, regionals, or a YCS, though naturally in Goat
Format it’ll mostly be for local play.
A gauntlet isn’t just for testing, though. Building a
gauntlet gives you a unique understanding of how the decks
you may face function, how they work, what their win
conditions are, their strengths and their weaknesses. With
the loss of Dueling Network, building and testing against a
gauntlet has just gotten a lot more difficult, but don’t
despair! This series is going to cover some of the common
decks you’ll come across, what to look out for, and how to
counter them.
But before we actually get into the nitty gritty of each
specific deck, let’s talk a bit about how to actually go
about building a gauntlet. Aside from simply buying six or
eight copies of every single deck you need, proxies are
usually the way to go. Most Goat Format decks can be built
for pennies on the dollar, sure, but there are going to be
high profile cards such as Delinquent Duo, Dimension Fusion,
and Thousand-Eyes Restrict that just aren’t going to be easy
to get unless you’re willing to shell out cash. So don’t be
afraid of using proxies if you need to.
Make sure your gauntlet decks are well-rounded. The key is
to test against what you expect to see; this requires
knowing a bit about how the deck functions, what its
advantages and disadvantages are, and thinking about ways to
counteract that. It’s best to start with Format Library’s
list of different Goat Format decks, and use those as a
baseline. Different people will be using different tech
cards, and if you’re preparing for a tournament it’s a good
idea to think about who is going to be there and their
playstyles.
Once you get your gauntlet decks built, make sure to have a
good playtesting group. Three people can do it, but it’s
better to have four to six different people willing to
gauntlet. Set aside some time during your playtesting
sessions to actively gauntlet. Each person should play each
deck at least once, but variance - especially if you’re
preparing for a tabletop tournament - is going to play a
factor in your gauntlet sessions. This is why it’s important
to start early and play often. The more games each deck
plays, the better the information you get from your testing
sessions.
While you are actually running your deck through the
gauntlet, make sure to take notes on what cards you had a
hard time dealing with, what was easy, what was necessary to
win and what was extraneous. Notes always help, as do
discussions afterwards. Remember, it’s not about winning or
losing when you’re running a gauntlet; it’s about finding
out how to counter all those specific decks you may come up
against.
If you feel like it, you can customize your gauntlet decks
as well. Goat Format allows us to do that, being an eternal
format. It’s much easier nowadays to tailor your deck to
your local metagame, especially if your LGS hosts regular
tournaments (which they should, but that’s for another
article). Keep an eye on online forums too, especially
Pojo’s and DGZ’s official Goat Format threads. Those have
keen insight into the format, and make sure to check out
Format Library as well.
That about wraps it up. I’ll do my best to get started with
individual articles regarding gauntlet decks, what to watch
for, how to combat them, how to play them and how to side
against them. Not every article will pertain to your local
meta - different players like different things, and some
places have lots of burn but almost no Beastdown, while
others see nothing but Standard Goat Control.
Thanks for reading. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to
email me at
anteausonyugioh@gmail.com.
