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Article 16: Part Two of A (Post-Ban) BAD System.

11.02.04  He's baaaaaaaaaack. Sorry for the long delay, but I am ready to serve loyal Pojo readers once again with a scad of scintillating (I hope) articles.

This next one continues the promised lineage of articles dealing with the post-ban Championship format. The first article (published ages ago) dealt with the actual ban list itself; this second installment of a three part series hopes to explain what the ban/restricted list has done in changing the current metagame.

I would like to introduce 5 facets of change.

1. Mass Field Removal has Disappeared:

A Result Of: Raigeki, Dark Hole, and Mirror Force have all been banned. In addition, Torrential Tribute has been reduced to one, meaning that there is currently only one form of mass, uncosted removal in the game (Torrential Tribute).

The Metagame Reacts: I predict a rise of pure beatdown decks, already pointed to by the rise of the Warrior deck as a popular fan favorite.

What this means for A BAD System:

Advantage F/H: will now weigh more heavily the attack advantage of the monster. A powerhouse such as Berserk Gorilla can be safely assumed to last far longer on the field than before, meaning that such beatdown-related cards will provide far more of an advantage than before.

Best Draw for the Situation: works in conjunction with the dependability of the card assigned. Because flip effects will be harder to prevent, game-breaking flip effect monsters will receive higher best draw scores than before. In addition, monsters that provide lasting advantage will also receive higher scores for this component.

Attributes/Effect: will weigh more heavily both the effect of the monster and its stats. A monster with high stats will receive more weight now that mass field removal is gone; great effects will remain great effects.

Dependability: Flip effect monsters that could previously have been lost to Raigeki's and Dark Hole's will be further examined. In addition, almost every monster will be assumed to last longer on the field, but sub-par attack/defense monsters will have their scores lowered heavily (because they'll be assumed to die).

Overall: The loss of mass field removal will make for slower paced duels with a gradual accumulation of forces. I predict the rise of beatdown once again, and A BAD System will unfortunately have to incorporate the changes to this game truthfully and accurately.

2. Spell/Trap Removal has been Limited:

A Result of: Mystical Space Typhoon's restriction and Harpie's Feather Duster's banning have limited three of the best options in the spell/trap removal's arsenal, leaving only Breaker the Magical Warrior, Heavy Storm, and one Mystical Space Typhoon behind.

The replacements, such as Dust Tornado, are not activated instantly, meaning that almost every trap has a far greater likelihood of survival.

The Metagame Reacts: Everyone has already predicted the dominance of the burner; It's not too hard to imagine this happening.

What this means for A BAD System:

Advantage F/H: will provide heavy bias towards cards that can destroy/negate spell/traps, such as Breaker the Magical Warrior, Jinzo, and Royal Decree. Since most cards do not have such effects, this category will be rather unaffected.

Best Draw for the Situation: is, once again, tied to dependability. Almost every trap will have its score upped in this section, because trap effects will be more usable in a greater variety of situations.

Attributes/Effect: Because spell/trap removal leads to advantage, cards that deal with the spell/trap zone such as Mobius will receive far higher scores than previously given.

The chainability of a trap, as well, will no longer influence its score.

Dependability: The baseline score for an unchainable trap will move up from 5.0 to a solid 7.5, then factors will be weighed upon in determining its final score.

Overall: Traps will have their scores increased greatly.

3. The Primary Disruptors are Gone:

A Result of: Yata-Garasu and Delinquent Duo's bans means that the individual net advantage of a card will be re-examined and less emphasized. Cards such as Raigeki Break and Enemy Controller will be scored more favorably, despite their loss of concrete "advantage."

The Metagame Reacts: Hand control, while severely depleted of its two killer resources, can still thrive by utilizing Trap Dustshoot, Mind Crush, D.D Designator, and the two pre-negators.

What this means for A BAD System:

Advantage F/H: will weigh more heavily the field control aspects of the game. It should not continually stress the concrete numerical advantage of a card, but rather the power of the effect it possesses.

Best Draw for the Situation: Hand size should be greater but also done away with more frequently, so cards that depend on others such as tribute monsters and cost-effect devices will receive higher scores.

Attributes/Effect: The power of the attributes and/or effects will be analyzed without such a heavy weight placed upon hand management, although it will still be stressed.

Dependability: Once again, cards that depend on others to work properly won't be docked as heavily under the revised system.

4. Reliable searchability is Gone:

A Result of: the bans of Sangan and Witch of the Black Forest have forced decks to tie together themes more efficiently to replace the searches.

The Metagame Reacts: People will vainly try to replace Sangan and Wotbf with elemental searchers such as Dragons, Tomatos, and Angels, but soon we'll realize that total searchability is gone. The new wave of successful deck types will feature other forms of reliable searchability (Warriors have Reinforcement of the Army, Zombies have Pyramid Turtle, and so on.)

What this means for A BAD System:

Advantage F/H: Once again, higher stats will be stressed more under the new system, because searchability is no longer an issue.

Best Draw for the Situation: will also be influenced. Cards that were previously more searchable, such as Vampire Lord, Jinzo, and D.D Warrior Lady, will now ignore the Sangan/Witch influence, and be rated on their merits based on other searchers (Pyramid Turtle, Reinforcement of the Army), and "cold" draws.

Attributes/Effect: There is no bonus associated with "Witchable" or "Sanganable" stats.

Dependability: The cards will now be rated solely on their dependability in the hand at the current time. The lack of searchability means cards involving intricate combos will be docked more severely as well.

5.  Mass draw engines and hand replenishment are limited severely

A Result of: Morphing Jar's restriction, Graceful Charity's ban, and Mirage of Nightmare's restricted playability as a result of MST's restriction.

The Metagame Reacts: People will clamor for draw engines, but slowly the jars will re-emerge and Morphing Jar and Cyber Jar should see quite a bit of play.

What this means for A BAD System:

Advantage F/H: has become more secure. It has become much harder to find a magic hand replenisher full of options intended to remove field control. This will consolidate a card's powers even further, shifting the balance more towards field control rather than hand control again.

Best Draw for the Situation: will lower the scores of cards that require intricate combos facilitated by mass draw engines.

Attributes/Effect: will remain largely unchanged.

Dependability: will also lower the score of a card that requires draw power to successfully activate its effect.

This article aims to show the changing nature of the game through the lens of A BAD System. There are numerous changes to the game that don't affect the system at all, but should be duly noted.

Minor Changes to the Environment (Continued):

6. The removal of Imperial Order signals the end of overpowered spell negation.

Result--- The rise of Magic Drain and (perhaps) Solemn Judgment.

7. The removal of Monster Reborn signals the end of uncosted revival.

Result--- The rise of Premature Burial and Call of the Haunted.

8. The removal of Mirror Force signals the end of incredible psychological warfare (you don't have to fear losing all your monsters any more.)

Result--- More reckless, bold attacks.

9. The removal of Chaos Emperor Dragon allows numerous deck-types to breath easy.

Result--- The re-emergence of Exodia, Burner, A Legendary Ocean, and the Warrior Black Luster Soldier deck.

10. The ban list will bring back creativity in deck-building.

Result--- A glorious time to be a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh.

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