Dark Maltos

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Dark Maltos's Dueling Dome
Belonging (part 2)
May 10, 2006

The game had fallen into madness, and the duelists with it. All over the world players were in a rut and they didn’t even realise it. They were sinking deeper and deeper into the sinking sand that was the Regressive format and they hadn’t even noticed. Soon they would be completely over whelmed by it all and shrouded in the darkness preventing their escape, blinded from their own knowledge.

Soul control was a breath of fresh air into an otherwise decrepit dueling environment, offering great ingenuity and providing a deck that was undoubtedly unique, original and game breaking. It offered duelists the option to use ’Advantage’ discreetly and have fun with it. It turned the game of Yugioh on its head, and for a time , all was good. Many duelists were almost reborn into themselves again and started having fun with god forbid it, Soul Exchange.

The advent of Soul control bought the game some more time, turning over the Sand glass that count down to the game’s end just before the final grains of sand fell into oblivion. Duelists had found their calling again, and a place where they belonged. Unfortunately, this was to be short-lived.

The plague that was the CC quickly transformed this beautiful deck type until the last ounce of originality had been squelched out of it. Then with a set base to work upon, counter strategies were quickly formed and sided. Still , this deck type remains the most consistent and powerful deck types out there, and is widely used today. True genius never falters.

Over time, duelists were ‘treated’ to the release of a much sought after card - Cyber Dragon. As it stands, almost every deck packs in 1 at the very least, with two being the most common in Tier 1 decks. This was wrong. Cyber Dragon was a good card, but it was never intended that it should even be used by people , just released simply as a fan based card, or in a Cyber Dragon deck. Sadly, this was never to be, and Cyber Dragon founds its way into decks that it did not belong.

Cyber dragon quickly went from a humble fan card to the ‘most broken card ever !!!’ , often screamed by many - a player as their Kycoo was toppled and then they were hit with a Don Zaloog for the final insult. The problem was that Cyber Dragon was , accidentally or otherwise, pretty much the perfect monster, being quite easily special summoned, a powerful monster that didn’t require a tribute , and light, a favoured attribute. Cyber Dragon filled the void that the Envoy’s left in their wake months previously , and for some duelist it was about time.

The loss of Chaos had left some duelists shaken to say the least, and these ‘Envoy junkies’ had been getting a rough time from their piers since chaos’s banning had ripped a void in their dueling prowess. Seizing the Cyber dragons like it was nobody’s business and then worshipping them as though they were the new versions.

Technically, the Dragons weren’t anything dramatically over the top, not like both Envoys. At best Cyber Dragon was a 2100 attacker, and a special summon. Virtually effect less, certainly no active effect, and easily dealt with. (hence their triplicate allowance). Using them outside of the deck they were designed to be in could serve as a quick fix, but nothing long term like Soul Control did. Still, their release changed the game once more, and shifted the game between ban lists, generally a rare occurrence. Once more the duelists that refused to conform were all but wiped out, and the face of the CC was reshaped forever .

The shift in the game temp forced players to think on their feet , and as always not many were up to scratch. Some however, bounced back rather well.

Still with the concept of Advantage fresh in their minds, players turned to vegetation for assistance, in the form of the Mystic tomato build. This was an unstable deck type at first, but became popular after it was refined to near perfection. It offered a safety net against power cards like Cyber Dragon, and allowed for control cards like Spirit Reaper and Don to hit them where it hurts. Reminiscently of Soul Control, it took advantage of the powerful cards allowed in 3’s.

The final push that set the format into regression was the release of pot of avarice , a semi decent card that was more for the re u se of effect monsters than its drawing capabilities. Through its unique design, entire deck types became devoted to pulling of its Drawing advantage effect which was so much like that of Pot of Greed. Players began using draw power consistently , drawing for the sake of drawing into steam trains and camels until their hearts content. I never really liked mech pot turbo, it was a type I did not belong to, so cold and calculating, where’s the heart? This was the ultimate and final product of a blindly loyal advantage focused group of duelists in this format. Ultimately, the evidence of Yugioh’s decline. Not that the deck didn’t win, or was bad, it was just a deck filled with so many cards that were deemed so sub par previously making a ‘revolutionary’ impact on the game is a sure sign of regression, and regression is definitely what the deck embodied in my humble opinion.

With the change in the ban list being so minor, it wasn’t hard for players to adjust and evolve to fit the new regime , but ironically led to the extinction of many players who simply lost the will to continue on. They lost the fight to live.

The new environment was how the previous should have been, with cards like Mirror Force and Graceful Charity back was a vengeance , ready to rack up some victories. I for one felt as though this would give this game a kick in the right direction , since powerful cards were back, and now people might stop counting their cards, and start thinking again, but alas, it seems that that would be wishful thinking. Asides from a few grunts and moans, the game stayed the same virtually, with PACMAN and other such deck types simply designed to form an anagram to resemble some sought of well known character. Ugh…

Anyway, the game at the moment is at a standstill, neither regressing or progressing in the Dark Scale, and hopefully it will remain that way until something comes along to change it all round again (most likely Macrocosmos ) .

Remember, the sandglass is ticking away slowly, people need to find where they belong before it’s too late and they are consumed forever by the methods they are currently using which don’t suit them. They need to think before they can belong.

Well that’s it for me, potentially there’s a third part, but you’ll have to get back to me if you want me to proceed with that. As always, Toddyhole@aol.com, and have a good one guys.

Toddyhole@aol.com