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Mike "Dawn Yoshi" Roseberg

...You’re Kidding, Right?
An article of frustration, determination, and some E-Hero jokes
By Mike “Dawn Yoshi” Rosenberg
June 28, 2006

Hello Pojo-goers. I normally don’t find the time to write many articles for this site in between writing for Metagame.com, play-testing four different games (Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic the Gathering, Vs System, and Inuyasha), AND playing World of Warcraft, but sometimes I’ll get a little spark of inspiration that allows my fingers to glide across my keyboard like an Olympic ice-skater across a rink of perfectly smoothed out ice.

One thread in the forums in particular sparked my interest (and frustrations). The thread was in the YGO TCG Gossip section and was entitled “EOJ Best set since IOC?”

I was not ready for what I was about to read.
 

Within that thread as a ton of hatred on the Enemy of Justice booster set. While I found the set to be far from optimal, it was by no means bad. Worse yet, people were saying Cybernetic Revolution, of all sets, was comparable to Invasion of Chaos. HA! Sorry, but the only thing I recall being seriously powerful from that set were cards with “Cyber” and “Dragon” in their names, although the spiritual art techniques are worth noting.

I probably would not be reacting to that thread if it weren’t filled by classic and completely horrible arguments. Instead of just ranting about each complaint in one big paragraph, it’s best that I address each major issue individually.

EOJ was good because E-Heros are good?

As a note, I believe that the Elemental Heroes are unplayable trash. If there was ever a nut low in this game, then Elemental Heroes rank on the level of being as playable as an Ansatsu deck (feel free to look that card up. It was in the Yugi starter deck). That may be pushing it a little bit, but the E-Heroes are by no means good. They are a sub-theme that is based entirely on the flawed concept of fusion summoning. Unfortunately, fusion summons for sub-optimal monsters does not justify the tremendous resource investment you are going to make for each fusion monster.

“But there are cards like Miracle Fusion!” I can hear a few of the E-Hero supporters saying. Well, those don’t justify the theme as good either. While Miracle Fusion is actually a decent card, it is based too much on a conditional set-up that you can get those monsters into the graveyard in a timely manner, and that the monster you “fusion summon” will do some good on the field. Unfortunately, most of the E-Hero monsters that make up the fusion monsters are crap outside of Elemental Hero Wildman (who is average at best). This means that Miracle Fusion automatically requires you to run some awful cards, bringing it down a mark in playability. The other fact that it’s a conditional spell card brings it down further.

“But what about stuff like Wroughtweiler!?” I think I may have heard. Sorry, but those cards suffer the exact same problem as Miracle Fusion. They’re highly conditional cards (Wroughtweiler is especially conditional as it requires two targets), and like Miracle Fusion, require you to run awful cards such as Polymerization. The saddest part about the Elemental Heroes is that they got the best tutor to ever be released (E – Emergency Call). If only a good sub-theme such as fiends could get something like that.

CRV was the next best set after Invasion of Chaos?

This comment in particular amused me. How could a set that only has three good cards (The Cyber Dragons) and four relatively decent cards (the spiritual arts) actually be considered good? Drilloid is pretty much trash since it can’t do what Mystic Swordsman LV2 can: attack against decks where the face-down monsters are particularly threatening (burn decks and lockdown decks). Oh, and it doesn’t help that Drilloid is completely unsearchable, even by the banned Witch of the Black Forest!

I’d go farther than that, but frankly, that was it. The rest of the set? Laughable. Maybe I can count Dark Catapulter, Goblin Elite Attack Force, and B.E.S. Crystal Core as playable. Maybe. But it’s pretty hard to find good cards in a set that contains Pot of Generosity.

The saddest part, however, is that this set is being deemed better than Enemy of Justice…

…you’re kidding, right?

EOJ sucks? What world are you from?!

Every time I read this comment, I cannot help but wonder if these people have ever tested the counter-fairy theme. Seriously. Go build a deck that plays “draw go” and negates your opponent’s biggest threats. Cards like that are ridiculous when the monsters you use them with provide you with stupid-good benefits. In testing, I’ve been able to Solemn Judgment an opponent’s Chaos Sorcerer, and then follow that up through drawing a card with Bountiful Artemis, returning two light monsters back from my removed from play pile with Leyard the Liberator, and then sacrifice those two fairies to summon Voltanis the Adjudicator, which wiped away the last of my opponent’s spells and traps.

Before you say that is an unrealistic scenario, consider the fact that this deck plays for its win condition of Voltanis the Adjudicator. Also pay heed that the effect of Voltanis doesn’t target, meaning your opponent can chain useless cards only to have you blow up those unrevealed threats (or just blow up cards around the Bottomless Trap Hole they just activated). Also, if you expect any of these win conditions to hit the field early in a duel, then you misunderstand the purpose of the deck. On that note, if you expect these cards to be useful early in a duel and you brag about how you’re good at this game, then you are just plain crazy. For those of you, however, who are familiar with Blue/White Control in Magic: The Gathering, I am sure you can come to appreciate (and be annoyed at) the thought of a late-game based counter-happy control deck.

Counter-fairies aside, I’m amazed people say EOJ sucks when it houses one of the most powerful decks to be released in this game: Macro Cosmos. I’ve seen some of the deck-lists based around this trap card, and it helps me understand why some people don’t think the deck is that good. Please remember that the reason Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissure is busted is because it not only neuters a lot of a normal deck’s cards (Chaos Sorcerer, Premature Burial, etc), but it also activates the absurd interactions monsters like D. D. Survivor and D. D. Scout Plane have with your nerf-cards in your own deck. Play a Macro Cosmos deck based on three copies of each of those D. D. monsters and the Monarchs, and then come back to me and tell me that the deck doesn’t have power. While the deck has its consistency issues, it’s not like Return-Chaos doesn’t either. If I’m going to run a power-deck with issues on consistency, I’d rather choose the more powerful deck. Macro Cosmos please!

Well, that was another fun little rant.

If you would like to comment on this article, feel free to post about it in the YGO TCG Gossip forums. I’ll have a thread posted in that forum, so be sure to check it out. I’ll visit the thread regularly and respond to any questions or concerns, as well as disagreements. Of course, if you are going to be an ass about your response and you don’t actually support your argument, don’t expect me to be very friendly back to you. This is your only warning if you intend to do that.

Until next time, I’ll see most of you around in the forums!

-Mike “Dawn Yoshi” Rosenberg