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with Coin Flip

This is important. All players of any level should read this. Not necessarily because it's a good article, but because it will tell you something they need to know about a change in gameplay mechanics.

I'm going to be rather erratic today. I'm going to talk first about my experience with TCGs, and then about what you actually need to know about Battle Position. I mean NEED to know. If you want to skip the boring stuff, skip the next paragraph.

I've been playing the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG since the week it came out. I've dabbled in other TCGs before… Players who actually play me know I use AWOL as a removed-from-play zone indicator, and for a short time, I used a Swamp as my graveyard indicator. I have Spell Counter (the card) as my Spell Counter. I got into the Megaman TCG at Otaku's recommendation, and even tried Pokemon. But for the most part I've just stuck with YGO!, though I keep myself familiar as I can with Magic and with VS System.

Yu-Gi-Oh! has proven itself quite unique in Battle Positions. They form a surprisingly large part of our game. People paying 30 dollars for Enemy Controller should know why they are paying that much for it. Right now, we have an inclination to use stuff like Enemy Controller and Book of Moon because they stop stuff. Want to stop an onslaught of attacks? Use Enemy Controller to take control of one monster (the strongest) on your opponent's field, and then you are safe for the turn. Use Enemy Controller or Book of Moon to switch an opponent's monster to its more vulnerable position, or just stop an attack. Let's say they've had a Breaker out for one turn. It still has the Spell Counter on it. You set an Enemy Controller, and, say, a Call of the Haunted (planning to chain onto Nephthys, Sangan, Jinzo or whatever in your Graveyard). If your opponent uses Breaker's effect on Enemy Controller, you can chain it and switch Breaker to DEF position... And it will STAY in DEF position. It cannot change its mode because gameplay mechanics prevent it from doing so, since its mode has already been changed. This is important. This gives these cards chainability value.

Here is where it gets important. The rule about Battle Position has changed. This will mean an influx of one monster and a downflux of two spells. Effective TODAY, and confirmed by Kevin Tewart on our forums and on the official judge list, you may change the mode of a monster manually provided that:

1: The monster has not been summoned that turn.

2: The monster has not attacked that turn.

3: The monster has not changed its battle position <b>MANUALLY</b> that turn already.

The <b>MANUALLY</b> is the most important part by far. The gameplay mechanics rulings for switch monster positions used to allow the above situation with Breaker to work. Now you can simply switch Breaker back to attack position, provided it hasn't already changed its mode that turn. This changes a hell of a lot around.

Cards like Earthquake and Tsukuyomi aren't really played much anymore. The reason for this is that they are activated on your turn. Prior to this ruling, your monsters would be stuck in Defense Position the full turn. Now you can just switch them back to whatever mode you wanted them in and take advantage of the low ATK/DEF of your opponent's monsters.

And here, once again, is where it gets important… Tsukuyomi is going to become the most ridiculous combo card in the game. When I made my first review of it in the CotD contest that made me a reviewer, I believe I called it the most combo-crazy card in the game (in one of my drafts, anyway). That is so very, very accurate. Tsukuyomi wasn't as combo-oriented before due to the fact that you couldn't change the monster's battle position that turn. Well, now you can.

Some of you might be wondering why this is so damn huge. Let me tell you.

Many Japanese decks play Goat Control. Sources say 95%, but that is from a player. I can guarantee you that it is exaggerated by 10% or so. But they don't play Enemy Controller. They don't even touch it. They think it sucks. Hell, they're playing Shrink (a quick-play Spell card that halves the ATK of any one monster on the field), which comes from the Kaiba Structure Deck v2, and Enemy Controller is a common in that. It's been reprinted twice or so over there, and it's untouched because they have always had the same battle position rulings we call new. That makes stuff like Sakuretsu Armor and Bottomless Trap Hole much more popular in decks, since they offer permanent solutions. So basically, Controller < Shrink. This is obvious – people were playing Mirror Wall to try and get Don's effect off, or Airknight Parshath's effect off. Now it can hit any card on the field and it's a quickplay spell. However, a lot of Japanese decks (once again, using a Japanese player and Japanese tournament decklists as sources) use Tsukuyomi and Metamorphosis. Let me elaborate on what the secret combo here is.

Have a monster on the field which can only use an effect once per turn (have it be a powerful, free effect like Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning's remove a monster from play ability) or that gets an effect when flipped.

Flip it, or use the effect. I use this often with Magician of Faith, and it works horribly well. So you've removed an opponent's monster from play, or you've gotten back Pot of Greed. Now, if you had, say, BLS out and used his effect…

Summon Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi flips BLS face down. Flip BLS. His effect has reset, and now you can either attack with him or remove another monster from play. If you had a Magician, here's where you flip the Magician face-down to be reused next turn.

Okay, you might be saying, but that's two cards. What can it do overall?

Well, Scapegoat sees a lot of play, doesn't it? Use Metamorphosis. Get out Thousand-Eyes Restrict. This is the combo that so many people wanted to see happen in the US that a lot of Pojo forum regs thought couldn't work because of the way the rules were.

Then, suddenly, the rules reverse. Now the combo exists. It goes like this. Summon Thousand-Eyes Restrict in some way. Once he is summoned, suck up an opponent's monster. Your opponent takes his turn, and unless he kills TER in some way, shape, or form, he loses advantage. He cannot attack and cannot change the mode of his monsters. On your first turn after TER is summoned, summon Tsukuyomi. Flip Thousand-Eyes Restrict face-down. He loses his equip. Flip him face-up. Suck up another monster. Your opponent cannot attack or change the mode of his monsters and he's losing a monster a turn.

Okay, you might say… But that's only Metamorphosis, and you'd have to play a lot of Scapegoats to ensure the combo. Not really. Sangan out a Sinister Serpent, tribute an unused Magician of Faith… Thousand-Eyes Restrict by itself is powerful. You won't lose much advantage if you tribute a level 1 monster. Most of them give you advantage back. Magician of Faith can be used to retrieve the very Metamorphosis she is tributed for. Sinister Serpent comes back to your hand. Scapegoat… Well…

Okay, you might say… But what can Tsukuyomi do outside of BLS, TER, and MoF? Well, I know I had fun decking an Exodia deck out with Morphing Jar and Tsukuyomi. And it sure is fun playing 2 Creature Swap with Tsukuyomi (and Goats, and Serpent, and used Magicians of Faith, or swapping my Breaker w/o token for a Breaker with token…). I let my opponent get out Horus LV8 with Cylinders and Ring set (yes, I get strange opening hands) for a quick 6000 burn if I got in a bad position… And I didn't. I topdecked Creature Swap with Tsukuyomi in hand. Played Tsukuyomi, flipped LV8 face-down, and then played Creature Swap. I lost a card and we both had a monster. Except I had his LV8 face-down. I ended my turn and Tsukuyomi came on back to me. I was down one card and up one Horus LV8, and he was short a 3000/1800. Tsukuyomi stops Jinzo, opponent's TER, sets up for Nobleman of Crossout, reuses your flips, and can take out a lot of popular monsters just by shifting them to DEF position. Or it can assist in taking out a popular monster. Tsukuyomi is combo-crazy, and it just got broken thanks to the new rulings. I expect it to replace a LOT of Enemy Controllers and Book of Moons. If you want to keep the cash you invested in Controllers, sell now.

Yeah, that's about it. This was really only meant to be an announcement about the new rulings, but it turned into a Tsukuyomi review. Erratic.

--- Coin Flip