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JAELOVE's Smooth Journey
Article 43: Failure on an Unprecedented Level
March 22, 2006

The new ban list is out. I have a report card submitted for it. But to begin, let’s start with Spirit Reaper. Yes, let’s start the article with two words. Spirit Reaper.

In the top eight decklists for Shonen Jump Orlando, how many Spirit Reapers were present? 20. 20 divided by eight is 2.5. That means half were maining two, and half were maining three. Many of these decks were Treeborn Frog based control decks, using Monarchs to push through advantage. Nevertheless, they main-decked three copies of Spirit Reaper. We’ll get back to this later.

Dark Hole, Time Seal, Last Turn, Exchange of the Spirit, and Cyber Jar were added to the ban list. All of them make perfect sense, including Time Seal. In fact, anyone who doesn’t understand the reasoning for Time Seal (the restriction of Mask of Darkness and Drop Off should provide a clue) needs to get a clue. Instead of blaming Konami for seemingly senseless restrictions (which obviously wouldn’t make sense to the American format), you should have some sense. It does a lot to undermine credibility for a good player if they can’t see the restriction of Mask, Drop Off, and the banning of Time Seal and not notice a pattern.

Moving on, Exchange of the Spirit, Cyber Jar, and Last Turn all help the one turn kill combo achieve maximum efficiency. Everyone who saw my vision of the ban list should not be questioning its reasoning any longer. If you can find the time to ban Last Turn and Exchange of the Spirit (how many copies of each were in the SJC Orlando top eight deck lists?), you can certainly ban Cyber Dragons and Spirit Reapers.

Perhaps I was not specific enough in my previous article. Perhaps we have to analyze the broken cards even more thoroughly to justify why they should be banned, and why Konami fails its fans with the restricted list.

Issue 1: The Spirit Reaper Problem

The card is undestroyable by battle. It follows a number of ruthless logical principles that make it a main-deck staple. The main one is this. You will only summon this card to get a discard. By virtue of its effect, it serves as an unassailable defensive wall until you can generate a +1 from it. Going by this logic, the card is a solid defense until the exact moment it is prudent to attack with it. Upon having a clear field to attack upon, it enters phase two.

Upon discarding a card from hand, Spirit Reaper is virtually indestructible without a loss of advantage. Here are the only cards that can actually destroy it without losing advantage. Chaos Sorcerer (situational), Dark Jeroid (garbage), Getsu Fuhma (vanilla 1700 otherwise). I’m sure I missed a few, but that’s not the point. The point is that Reaper, by definition of when it is used, is almost always a two for one.

In fact, this entire format is built around Spirit Reaper. Let’s take a look.

1. Dark Hole’s Banning can be Traced to Spirit Reaper.

JAELOVE can be trusted to come right out and say it. The good player will only get two for one’d by Dark Hole because of the imminent threat of Spirit Reaper. Only a remarkably stupid player would set more than one non-floating (i.e Sangan, Strike Ninja, Treeborn Frog) at a time without the threat of Spirit Reaper. Imagine you summon Cyber Dragon and attack the face-down Magical Merchant. He picks out a random spell card. Now we can break into two formats. Spirit Reaper enabled (this one and the April list), and Spirit Reaper disabled.

Exhibit A) Spirit Reaper enabled format

A Smashing Ground + Spirit Reaper will cause a loss of advantage with no ability for reprisal. In this case, you can either not set a monster, hope your defensive spell or trap holds, and try to weather the turn. If they summon Spirit Reaper, play Smashing Ground, and attack directly, you have just been 2 for 1ed.

However, the other play is to set the Dekoichi, Merchant, etc. Now if they do have the Dark Hole, they pick up two 2 for 1’s with Reaper and Dark Hole. Throw in the one for one (the s/t removal), and you have a 5 for 3. You basically lose.

Exhibit B) Spirit Reaper disabled format

Depending on their hand size and the first few turns, the correct play is to set a defensive spell or trap and pass (if you haven’t done so already). If your Cyber Dragon summon was the opening play, and each player has four or five unseen cards, you should not greedily and stupidly set the Dekoichi, Merchant, or such. There is no threat of hand disruption.

2. Heavy Storm’s Overpowering Presence can be Traced to Spirit Reaper

Exhibit A: Spirit Reaper enabled format

Your opponent opens with a set of each. You have a Mystic Tomato, a few spell or trap cards, a Magical Merchant, and a Chaos Sorcerer. The correct play here isn’t to attack the face-down monster. You lose a tempo, you’re staring down two monsters next turn, and you frankly have to set a monster. Why? Because of Spirit Reaper.

The other play is to set Tomato or Merchant. Pick Tomato. Why? Because of Spirit Reaper. But now if they have set a Dust or Mystical, and have any form of monster removal in hand, you will lose a card to Reaper and get 2 for 1’ed. They can RoTA for Mystic LV 2, DDWL, Exiled, etc, or play Crossout. You really can’t afford to get 2 for 1’ed (starting second), so you have to set two spell or traps. You’re not sure if it’s Heavy Storm.

Three things can happen. One, they flip their effect monster, sacrifice for Mobius, and destroy your board. Two, they flip Heavy Storm and destroy your board. Three, they flip for effect and sacrifice for Zaborg. You lose.

Exhibit B: Spirit Reaper disabled format

The correct play is to set Merchant and a spell or trap. Tomato will easily deal with the Swordsman 2 next turn, and all other cards are bearable. You don’t need to set two because Dust Tornado does not cripple your presence.

The correct play is to set a spell or trap, set Merchant, and end.

In the ordinary case, if you simply set Sakuretsu Armor and it gets Dusted at the end phase, you lose almost nothing without Reaper in the format.

3. Torrential Tribute’s Overpowering Presence can be Traced to Spirit Reaper

Exhibit A: Spirit Reaper enabled format

Your opponent sets one of each. You set one monster and two spell or traps and pass. Your opponent now sets a second spell or trap and passes. At this point, you are still only one Crossout/Mystic 2/Exiled away from a direct Reaper hit. You can either set a second monster (wise and preferable), or hope your board isn’t cleared. You set the second monster and pass.

Two things can happen. Your opponent flips Sangan, triggers Torrential Tribute, searches Spirit Reaper, you lose. Or, your opponent flips a flip effect, triggers Torrential Tribute, and you lose. In both cases you get 2 for 1’ed because you’re always one false move away from a direct Reaper Hit.

Exhibit B: Spirit Reaper disabled format

You would never need to set a second non-floater if Reaper wasn’t present in the metagame. You simply take the Crossout, take a 1500-2000 life point hit, and move on. Reaper causes overextensions.

4. In general, you can explain the metagame through Spirit Reaper.

The heavy use of face-down monsters is necessary because of the Smashing Ground + Spirit Reaper combo. Dekoichis, Merchants, Zaborgs, Exiled, DDWL, DD Assailant, and other such cards are used to provide a monster presence on the board while either simplifying the board or becoming immune to a 1 for 1 Smashing Ground. If you can flip a Dekoichi, it can’t be Smashed. It also becomes a floater to Dark Hole. This is all to block against Spirit Reaper.

Let’s look at all the substandard, garbage cards people are playing to try to ward off Reaper. Mystic Swordsman Lv 2 is garbage against everything but Reapers and floaters.

Twin Headed Behemoth is used, Exiled Force is used, Goldd and Silvva are used, all because of Spirit Reaper. People are desperate for answers against the most advantageous, versatile monster in the game.

Treeborn Frogs have undercut the absurd power of Cyber Dragon. But the Spirit Reaper threat still remains. Konami’s refusal to restrict it, even after seeing it wreak havoc at numerous Shonen Jumps (including my deck at Charlotte LAST format) is the most puzzling decision yet.

This brings us to the next issue.

Issue 2: The Hypocrisy of the Ban List

I have a lot of issues with the ban list. It is highly inconsistent. In short, I’m going to compare a few cases and you decide.

1. Pot of Greed is banned, Sinister Serpent is banned, Raigeki is banned, Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning is banned. All of their closest counterparts are restricted except Chaos Sorcerer.

This one makes absolutely no sense. All of these cards are simply less useful, more situational versions of the kill cards. However, Chaos Sorcerer was allowed to stay! I’m not even talking in advantage terms (a good player will almost always get a 2 for 1 from Chaos Sorcerer). In fact, the only cards that will take back advantage from Sorcerer are monarchs (good luck getting a tribute when it just removed your monster), other tributes, and Bazoo/Lily (highly unlikely).

Assess my argument based on the logic. Look at the other cards. Avarice, Frog, Vortex, Torrential, Premature/Call (versions of Reborn), all restricted. Why is Chaos Sorcerer not restricted?

2. Witch is on the ban list, Sangan is not.

The two will almost always search the same card. In the April format, things have changed slightly. However, the first searches will always be Tsukuyomi, Reaper, Treeborn Frog, D.D Warrior Lady, Magician of Faith, Night Assailant, or either Witch or Sangan.

You’d be VERY hard pressed to argue that Witch’s additional options (Breaker, Mobius, Zaborg, Thunder Dragon) significantly outweigh the searches provided by Sangan. In fact, in doing so you’re actually arguing for Sangan’s banning. My only goal here is for Konami to be consistent.

Konami should have either banned both, or restricted both. Be consistent.

3. D.D Warrior Lady is restricted, D.D Assailant should not be.

Again, this is a failure. D.D Assailant is one of the most overrated cards in the history of the game. It can be exploited quite easily, as the format has shown. Simply set a bunch of monsters, amass resources in hand, and then wipe the field clear of them. Let’s take a look at a number of examples.

D.D Assailant attacks on a clear field. 1700 damage. Big whoop, any monster can do this. Kycoo, Reaper, Don Zaloog, and other such monsters do far more harmful things than simple damage.

D.D Assailant attacks Spy, Sand Moth. Take 300 damage.

D.D Assailant attacks Sangan, Tomato, Dekoichi, Magical Merchant, D.D Warrior Lady etc. In these cases, you actually lose something. Your goal should always be to commit as few resources to the board as possible while conserving hand size and maintaining defense.

Simple example: Your opponent has five set monsters. You have two monsters on board and three cards in hand. Who’s in a better position? You are.

More complicated example: You hold Dark Hole. Your opponent summons Cyber Dragon, then summons D.D Assailant. DDA hits your Treeborn Frog. Cyber Dragon attacks for 2100. You activate Dark Hole. Who is winning? You are.

In fact, imagine if a D.D Assailant attacks three Mystic Tomatos in a row. Who is winning? Obviously it’s the player that had his Tomatos attacked. In fact, imagine if you were guaranteed to play a deck maining three D.D Assailants. Your Tomatos would be godsends. Players who rely on D.D Assailant lose to metagame counters.

This card should have never been restricted. 20 Reapers were main-decked at Orlando. How many DDA’s? 3. That’s right, three. And two were mained by the winner (who was an unknown novice) and one was mained by Emon in a deck using two RoTA. So let’s see here, let’s restrict the three of and leave the twenty five of alone. Good job.

This makes me want to prove why D.D Warrior Lady should not be restricted either, outside of the fact that Return would be too powerful with it at three.

D.D Warrior Lady cannot destroy a monster for a +1 without removing itself. Thus, it’s almost always a 1 for 1. It was splashed because Chaos required light monsters, not because it’s a “godly” card. Stop overrating it. Please.

And the final issue is a mish-mash hodge-podge of compelling insight.

Issue 3: Mish-mash Hodge-Podge of Compelling Insight

Konami gets a few points for restricting Avarice, Treeborn, and bringing back Graceful Charity. It fails miserably, however, once again with the semi-limited list.

Smart players will find the way to maximize Charity’s use. The fact it’s now the most powerful card in the game, by virtue, narrows the field of competitive decks to those that pack synergy with Graceful Charity. This is a very short list, and I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot (unlike the rest of the Pojo/Metagame staffs, I actually play at most SJCs) by listing every single one. However, this also makes Magician of Faith times two required in every deck.

How foolish. Why semi-limit Magician of Faith? Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, Graceful Charity? It will obviously be run in two’s. Then, why bring back Nobleman of Crossout? Did they really think that would counterbalance the Magician? No. In fact, Crossout is probably the best card in the game when going second. That’s like semi-limiting Confiscation (best card when going first)!

This list fails. You’ll see more lucksacking through Reaper+Mst/My Body+Crossout.

And the semi-limiting of Deck Devastation Virus is INEXPLICABLE. The card can generate +3, +4, +5, you name it. I’ve had people like Wilson Luc, Hugo Adame using it because it’s just a broken card. It deserves restriction, and only an idiot would put it on the semi-restricted list.

Let’s take a look at a deck in this new format.

Monster staples: 19-20

Breaker the Magical Warrior

2 Magician of Faith

1 Sangan

1 D.D Warrior Lady

1 Treeborn Frog

1 Tsukuyomi

3 Spirit Reaper/Tomato

1 Night Assailant

3 Thunder Dragon/DW monsters

DMOC

2 Chaos Sorcerer

2-3 Light monsters (if no T Drag).

Spell staples: 14

Graceful Charity

Heavy Storm

Confiscation

Scapegoat

Metamorphosis

Book of Moon

2 Nobleman of Crossout

Pot of Avarice

Mystical Space Typhoon

Snatch Steal

Swords of Revealing Light

Lightning Vortex

Premature Burial

Trap staples: 3

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Call of the Haunted

Congratulations, you have about 37 “staples” in any given deck.

Good job forbidden list designers. You fail.

Final Grade for Last Semester: C+

Final Grade for this coming Semester: D-