The cookie cutter has revealed itself and as usual it is one ugly thing.

 

I've noticed that multiple writers have failed to address the ongoing issue concerning the NEW CC.  I have waited to hear others opinions but nothing is being said.  Thus today I will address the issue. 

 

Here are the 1st and 2nd place decks from the Seattle Shonen Jump
 

Kyle Lopez Monsters – 23 3 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch 3 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch 3 Cyber Dragon 2 Apprentice Magician 2 Old Vindictive Magician 2 Mystic Tomato 2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive 1 Sangan 1 Spirit Reaper 1 Magician of Faith 1 Night Assailant 1 Treeborn Frog 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior Spells – 9 2 Brain Control 1 Enemy Controller 1 Pot of Avarice 1 Heavy Storm 1 Mystical Space Typhoon 1 Graceful Charity 1 Nobleman of Crossout 1 Soul Exchange Traps – 8 3 Sakuretsu Armor 2 Bottomless Trap Hole 1 Mirror Force 1 Torrential Tribute 1 Ring of Destruction

Maurice Cariasco Monsters – 22 2 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch 1 Jinzo 3 Cyber Dragon 2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive 2 Mystic Tomato 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior 2 Exiled Force 1 Magician of Faith 1 Asura Priest 1 Cyber-Stein 1 Don Zaloog 1 D. D. Warrior Lady 1 D. D. Assailant 1 Treeborn Frog 1 Spirit Reaper 1 Sangan Spells – 13 1 Pot of Avarice 1 Mystical Space Typhoon 1 Creature Swap 1 Heavy Storm 1 Confiscation 1 Book of Moon 1 Premature Burial 1 Smashing Ground 1 Graceful Charity 1 Last Will 1 Nobleman of Crossout 2 Reinforcement of the Army Traps – 7 1 Mirror Force 1 Call of the Haunted 1 Torrential Tribute 1 Bottomless Trap Hole 1 Ring of Destruction 2 Sakuretsu Armor

Here are the top 2 decks from the Austin Shonen Jump

Tristian Patillo   Monsters — 22 3 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch 2 Cyber Dragon 1  D. D. Warrior Lady  1 Breaker the Magical Warrior 1 Spirit Reaper 1 Treeborn Frog 2 Exiled Force 2 Apprentice Magician 2 Old Vindictive Magician 1 Asura Priest 2 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive 1 Sangan 1 Night Assailant 2 Skelengel 1 Magician of Faith   Spells — 11 1 Nobleman of Crossout 1 Book of Moon 1 Scapegoat 1 Last Will 1 Graceful Charity 1 Premature Burial 1 Pot of Avarice 1 Heavy Storm 1 Smashing Ground 1 Creature Swap 1 Mystical Space Typhoon   Traps — 7 2 Sakuretsu Armor 1 Ring of Destruction 2 Bottomless Trap Hole 1 Torrential Tribute 1 Mirror Force

Ryan Spicer   Monsters — 23 3 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch 2 Old Vindictive Magician 2 Apprentice Magician 2 Mystic Tomato 1 Spirit Reaper 3 Zaborg the Thunder Monarch 1 Treeborn Frog 3 Cyber Dragon 1 Magician of Faith 1 Sangan 3 Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive 1 Breaker the Magical Warrior   Spells – 10 1 Heavy Storm 1 Graceful Charity 1 Scapegoat 1 Mystical Space Typhoon 1 Pot of Avarice 2 Brain Control 1 Soul Exchange 1 Nobleman of Crossout 1 Confiscation   Traps — 7 1 Mirror Force 1 Torrential Tribute 3 Sakuretsu Armor 1 Bottomless Trap Hole 1 Ring of Destruction

 

Are we noticing a theme?

 

The current format is being ruled by decks that in my educated opinion should not be winning Shonen Jumps.  I would like to congratulate Tristian Patillo and Maurice Cariasco for their variants.  At least theirs are stable, (minimal tributes with overwhelming support).  But the two guys who are running  3x Cyber Dragon 6x monarchs, this trend will only set the door open for horrible opening hands and ridiculously bad top decks.  But if everyone plays the same thing what else can be expected? 

 

I can not help but be amused that someone would walk into a 10 round or above tournament and expect to win running 6 tributes (I do not count Cyber Dragon).  I am even more amused to see them do great.  How is this plausible

 

Just on first glance any warrior toolbox variant would mow through these decks.  Mystic Swordsman Lv. 2 and exiled force shut down a majority of the field stabilizers.  Thus forcing the players to actually tribute something for their monarch.  To top it off the warrior builds have quick access to D.D. Warrior Lady (and D.D. Warrior for that matter) to rid the field of Treeborn Frog.

 

Some very interestingly teched decks have made top 8 and once again I commend those brave souls willing to try something new, but the evolving cc issue needs to be address.

 

Last night I play tested for some 7 hours using a variant of these "In-genus" decks utilizing 3x Cyber Dragon and 6x Monarchs.  "I believe I am qualified to play Yu-Gi-Oh thus I dare anyone to send me an email stating I am not as good as these players."  Nonetheless my opening hands would start out ok.  A trap, Dekoichi, etc.  But my opponent (who has been playing decks based off of the tech ideas we've discussed like King Tiger, Disciple of the Forbidden Spell, Strike Ninja, Goldd Wu Lord of Dark World, etc.) pretty much owned every single hand.  Hitting a goldd off of a Firestorm was not my downfall either.  The deck would draw into multiple tributes, becomes way to dependant upon treeborn frog, and failed to lock the duel once it established control.  Nothings more fun then hitting an opponent for 450 damage off of an Old Vindictive Magician because you have a hand full of Zaborgs and your opponent won't summon a monster.  Or the smart player who draws out Heavy Storm within the first 3 moves with scapegoat and 2 traps.  You may think that is a good trade but it totally shuts down the firestorm monarch.  For any player that has an in hand monarch will refuse to tribute summon if he does not provide a discard.

 

I'd also like to establish my views concerning Call of the Haunted and MST.  My top 8 Columbus deck was not running Call.  For the past few tournaments I've been involved in I've noticed the card to be non synergistic.  This format is about aggression in one way or another.  As such in hand cards need to generate advantage immediately.  This meaning that each top deck has to count.  Call of the Haunted provides the field with a monster (and as such allows us to do what we must) but in a losing situation having the ability to remove a threat (via sakuretsu armor) is more important.  

 

With the growing number of tributes Call interferes with the summoning requirements of Treebron Frog.  Thus totally removing the synergy Band aids generates.  Unless a player is using Jinzo I suspect call to totally drop out of play.  Since Jinzo simply negates (unlike the monarchs who do something) people will ask for instant results.  WE WANT RESULTS, WE NEED RESULTS, in a game that is developing more and more where every card counts negating just is not and will not be good enough.

 

MST is another card I feel making its way into the side deck.  Myself being a relatively aggro player run little to no s/t removal in my main deck.  Heavy Storm and Breaker are too good to pass up, but hitting a MST with a MST or a Goat sucks.  Unless we are playing against a stall/burn deck (which for me tends to be 1 out of every 20 or so games) it is the monsters that generate most of the advantage.  Monsters produce card exchanges and can continue to generate them if alive.  Monsters stabilize the field, the monarchs are monsters that pay upon summoning.  S/T are an important part of this game but playing against the majority is how we should approach game mechanics.  If I have a deck that will never lose to a burn deck but can't hold its own against a CC, what purpose does it serve if all I play against is the CC?  If we are playing a game where people need to generate tributes the fastest way to shut them down is to kill their tribute fodder off.  

 

Sense I am obsessed with the warrior concept right now (why should I not be?  Reinforcements allows me to LOOK THROUGH MY DECK for an answer to almost any situation.) I can see Strike Ninja rise up in popularity.  My last regional showed me that.  When 248 people are playing in a tourney and the top 2 are running an identical card, odds are that card is good.  (Hence the logic behind the CC:P)  This format makes Mystic Tomato into a dangerous tool.  Apprentice Magician is another such tool.  Most of our staple monsters are Dark.  Thus why will a tech Ninja not work?  I figure people will get smart and eventually choose 3 choice monarchs.  So with all of this in mind I present to you my prophesy of the future CC.   

 

Monsters (22)
1x D.D. Assailant
1x D.D. Warrior Lady
2x Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive
2x Mystic Tomato
1x Spirit Reaper
1x Newdoria
1x Treeborn Frog
1x Magician of Faith
1x Twin-Headed Behemoth
2x Cyber Dragon
2x Zaborg
1x Firestorm Monarch

1x Sangan
1x Exiled Force
1x Mystic Swordsman LV. 2
1x Breaker the Magical Warrior
1x Strike Ninja
1x Cyber Stein

Spells (13)
2x Smashing Ground
2x Creature Swap
1x Scapegoat
1x Premature Burial
1x Nobleman of Crossout
1x Graceful Charity
1x Reinforcements of the Army
1x Heavy Storm
1x Book of Moon
1x Last Will
1x Confiscation

Traps (7)
2x Bottomless Trap Hole
2x Sakuretsu Armor
1x Ring of Destruction
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Mirror Force  

    

Give or take we may see both the apprentice, tomato, and warrior concept combined as one.  People may stop liking Random Cyber Stein (thus Last Will will potentially be in danger).  If warrior toolbox erupts we can almost guarantee that SANDMOTH will make a comeback.  Then we will see a drop in Mystic Swordsman LV. 2 and Exiled Force. Depending on how aggressive the format becomes (people choose to improve upon the Hydrogeddon tech) we may see the monarch count drop to 2 and the trap count increase to 8-9.  I personally believe Royal Decree will remain in the side-deck as a result of Monster FEAR.  People choose to run cards that help generate advantage.  If a player flips over a Decree (even if they shut down a Mirror Force) nothing is stopping me from swarming the field with Cyber Dragon and a Monarch.  If we see an increase in Royal Decree play Rush Recklessly (how annoying you are:P) will increase in play.  The only issue with this scenario is that Rush can only generate advantage/monster exchange when you have a monster on the field.  Sakuretsu Armor does not have this hindrance.  

 

Yu-Gi-Oh is a game that mirrors the mechanics of Biology.  There is a theory surrounding Evolution known as the Red Queen Theory.  This theory basically states that Herbivores will continually evolve to outwit predators.  As such, predators continue to evolve in order to catch and devour prey.  Yet despite this both organisms will always follow through with their intended biological niche.  The predator will always be the predator and the Prey will always be the prey.  Simply because both organisms are approaching this race in a way that allows them to fulfill this destined outcome.  Throughout this entire game of chase both organism will evolve at a similar pace (a bear will not change its dietary habits unless its environment forces it to eat something different).  The organismal hierarchy will never be challenged.

 

This is Yu-Gi-Oh, the game will always be about finding a new way to generate advantage.  When someone discovers a way to generate advantage someone is going to find a way to shut that down.  For example, if Strike Ninja becomes a mainstream deck type Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and/or Banisher of the Radiance will be main deck options again.  We no longer see Kycoo anymore do we?  That is because Chaos is gone, thus he is not worth the deck space. 

 

If you take nothing else from this article understand that this format is still open, new deck types will be discovered, and to ignore other viable options will make you subject to this race.

 

As stated the predator will always remain the predator and the prey the prey, but if for some reason the predator is totally wiped out (via Virus, Spinach, etc.) nothing is chasing the Herbivore.

 

Do not fear the Cookie Cutter, learn from it, calculate it, control it.  For the best way to win a race is to be one step ahead of the losers.

 

If anyone needs help, wants to talk, or has a crazy deck idea I can be contacted at...

 

 

Tebezu@gmail.com 

From Wikipedia

"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."

"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"