Yu-Gi-Oh! 09.11 Ban List Analysis

With the new Limited and Forbidden list finally confirmed for the Autumn-Winter season, it is finally time to start analysing the new format. What strategies have been damaged the most by the list, and could we see the revival of forgotten strategies as a result? And just how different will this format be to the last? Let’s find out!

The September Impact!

In forming an opinion on the new format, it is important to first take into account the “Power Card” availability that the list leaves us with. Power Cards can be anything from something widely considered a staple, to threats and solutions that were previously unavailable. So let us begin by taking a look at five of the most impacting factors leading into the new format.

1. The Perfect Storm

Once Heavy Storm found its way onto the Forbidden list, players across the globe were ecstatic. And I won’t lie, I was one of them! Players could finally play the controlling Traps and theme-empowering Field Spells they’d always wanted to, and surely the potential for crazy combinations and One Turn Kills were impossible! 

It turns out that a single back row sweeper is enough for combo players to work with, especially when that sweeper is Giant Trunade. The fact the format shifted towards the use of such controlling traps as Solemn Warning and Royal Oppression resulted in Giant Trunade being doubly advantageous. Should it resolve, the player can generally pull off any major play they need to with minimal fear, needing only to play carefully to avoid Effect Veiler when possible, and then follow up by resetting their defenses to force the opponent into having one real out. And that, of course, would be their own Giant Trunade...

With Giant Trunade leaving the format, Heavy Storm makes its triumphant return. As ever, the presence of Heavy Storm will result in far more calculated, careful use of the spell and trap zones, whilst bringing Stardust Dragon back to higher levels of play. Much hype has been given to the supposedly inevitable maindecking of Starlight Road thanks to the staple status of Dark Hole and Heavy Storm.The problem with this is Mystical Space Typhoon, and its long awaited (or feared?) return to 3 copies per deck. This change alone makes the playability of Starlight Road fall dramatically, but will yet again drive up the presence of Stardust Dragon. The return of Heavy Storm brings the game back to a state in which reckless and mindless play are punished severely, but only time will tell whether or not the unlimiting of Mystical Space Typhoon will prevent the formation of a skillful format.

2. A Legend Stands Alone

When Lightsworn and Blackwings tore apart their respective formats, Konami took every necessary step to eradicate the problem with the following Limited and Forbidden list, and often going too far just to ensure the problem is dealt with. The release of Storm of Ragnarok revived the Six Samurai theme with superior Legendary versions, whilst bringing the theme up to date by introducing a powerful Synchro “Boss Monster” to work with. 

Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En swiftly became a powerhouse in the format, and Konami’s precautionary response in March was to restrict Gateway of the Six. One format later, and the restriction has proven fairly meaningless to decks seeking to swarm and lock up the game as fast as possible. As a result, Konami made the decision to restrict both Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En and the theme-specific tutor Shien’s Smoke Signal. I believe that this decision was the best that Konami could possibly make, as for once they’re actually tackling the problem cards without butchering the theme entirely. 

3. Freedom from Oppression

Of all the Traps in recent years to produce one-sided games, Royal Oppression is the worst offender. Similar in many ways to the sheer power once displayed by Imperial Order, Royal Oppression was very rarely used in the manner originally intended. The design idea behind the card is clearly to impose a soft lock on special summons in order to control the pace of the game. The reality of the game, however, enables the player to run through their own explosive turn and only then follow up with Royal Oppression. In doing so, a player can utterly dominate the board unfairly in a game that is ever shifting towards utility through special summons, firstly with Synchro’s and today with Xyz. 

Many argue that the return of Heavy Storm and unlimiting of Mystical Space Typhoon would have been enough to counter the oppressive Trap card, but should we really have to answer such a card? It isn’t an engine, or a win condition to build a deck around. Royal Oppression had simply become an abusable game changer, and its move to the Forbidden list is long overdue.

4. Unique Individuals

A major sweep of six major card restrictions have been enforced with the new Limited and Forbidden list, and the majority of which were to keep the previous format’s top deck under control. The first of these restrictions brings the TCG in line with the OCG by limiting Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. Trishula has clearly had a powerful effect on the game since its printing, and has had long enough to be experimented with in multiples in the TCG.

The next pair of limitations were those of Lonefire Blossom and Debris Dragon. The plant engine has made its presence known for quite some time, and though the limitation of their tutor does hinder the engine, it certainly doesn’t kill it. With the arrival of Leviair the Sea Dragon, the plant engine gained another level of play in being able to retrieve whatever plant was removed in order to revive Spore. This gain is more than enough to make up for the minor decrease in opportunity of drawing into the powerful tutor. 

Debris Dragon has long abused the plant engine, and its limitation will be most strongly felt in the TCG. The OCG has frequently seen the combination of Junk Synchron and Doppel Warrior take precedence over Debris Dragon techniques, particularly with the release of Shooting Quasar Dragon and the removal of ignition priority. With the TCG behaving as quite a different beast to the OCG recently, it will be interesting to see whether or not Junk Synchron can make such an impact this season.

The next pair of limitations came as a result of Synchro spam abuse. Yes, everyone predicted the limitation of the draw engine that is T.G. Hyper Librarian, and Konami were wise enough to realise that the card severely needed restriction to make it a powerful card not to be wasted recklessly. For some strange reason though, the limitation of Formula Synchron came as a surprise to many, and I can’t quite understand how anyone who has played the card can possibly be surprised by this. If Hyper Librarian is the engine, then Formula Synchron is the enabler. Without multiple copies to work with, chaining Synchro summons into Shooting Quasar Dragon will require greater patience and skill.

But why do all these restrictions matter so much? Pot of Avarice has now regained its limited status, and in doing so has phenomenally raised the level of skill involved in playing such engines as the plant engine. This limitation will also have an effect on the reliability of such combo decks as Fabled, decreasing the ease of pulling back into the game when the combo fizzles. This again promotes skillful play, and increases the consequences for playing recklessly.

5. Don’t Shoot the Messenger!

When Gold Series 4 telegraphed the return of Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, forums erupted in rage. To many, the Envoys are symbolic in the need of the Limited and Forbidden list, with Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End hitting the first list before being swiftly followed by the Soldier. But with time the game has changed dramatically, and though the Dragon would still be very much overpowered, the Soldier is no longer the unstoppable titan that he once was. 

Though infinitely more splashable than similar cards such as Dark Armed Dragon and Judgment Dragon, the Envoy is now little more than another Boss Monster to work with. In the OCG the Envoy is weaker still due to the loss of ignition priority, which has resulted in an excess of hype surrounding the use of either Honest or Armory Arm to finish the opponent in an instant. Though clearly possible, potential One Turn Kills involving attacks involve such a risk that they can be deemed fair, particularly with Tragoedia now an ever-present fear in its semi-limited status.

With the Envoy in mind, it is worth taking a moment to respect Konami’s instinct in answering any potential madness before it can emerge by restricting Primal Seed. Though the card is far from insane on its own, in multiples it can produce an infinite loop. With a field containing the Envoy and a card with a Macro Cosmos effect, two copies of Primal Seed and an Ookazi can loop for infinite damage with ease. Though a seemingly unrealistic combo, the potential to make games dull and uninteresting was there and has been dealt with efficiently.

To the Future!

As the Limited and Forbidden list comes into force, I will start looking at a variety of decks that show potential as the new format develops, how the current top tier can potentially evolve to survive, as well as the projects that I intend to work on myself. 

MTG GB Nationals 2011

Here we are, finally on site at GB Nationals supporting our newly opened local store and venue, The Scythe and Teacup Gamer Cafe, and ready to fight for the title of National Champion... 

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Team Teacup?

Well that went well. Despite making use of every possible opportunity to research the developing trends in Standard, I began my testing the week before Nationals with a very undecided mindset. With minimal time to test, I settled on UB Control, but the specifics of the deck were very uncertain. I felt relatively comfortable with a list very similar to that piloted by Ali Aintrazi to seize the title at US Nationals, but I was far from certain that I’d be able to compete with the deck in the traditionally aggressive UK metagame. 

As a member of our group was attempting to grind in, a clear read of the meta could be established at the LCQ, allowing an estimation to be made as to which decks would likely see most play in the main event itself. Combo in the form of Twin as well as Red Deck Wins were quite heavily represented, as is expected of an LCQ, but those types of decks always decrease in numbers in the main event itself. UB Control however appeared to be very popular, making it a strong bet for seeing heavy play the next day. At this point I made the choice to bite the bullet and adapt my deck to work as Tezzeret Control, utilizing Torpor Orb and the ability to push with animated artifacts to fight off the expected metagame. 

And so the morning of Nationals arrives, and I ready myself for the long day that awaits. The player meeting eventually starts, and my nerves are kicking in. As I started my first match, doubt began to creep in as I faced Valakut. Despite landing an early Torpor Orb, Primeval Titan swings through as I fail to find removal, and despair starts to take over. Game 2 lasted a bit longer, as I controlled the board and slowly pushed through with Inkmoth Nexus. He readies the kill whilst sitting on five poison counters. All I need to do is find a Tezzeret to win, yet I fail to see anything beyond a land. He continues to make a mistake in his turn, failing to pull off the kill, and yet again I see nothing but land off the top of the deck. The second round pairs me against Valakut yet again, and despite solid controlling starts I manage to hit mana floods, followed by Titans and Terastadon crashing through with ease. 

Disheartened, I sat down for round 3 hoping for one of the many, many control decks I could see around me during the previous rounds. Alas, I am paired against Splinter Twin, which proceeds to beat me violently whilst Torpor Orbs prove powerless without backing of any kind. And so, on a stellar record of 0-3, I decided to drop and claim my two free drafts to hopefully recoup some of my losses from the weekend. Despite rare drafting when able(a Chandra in each draft...), my solid draft decks resulted in losses nonetheless. During the second day I decided to try my hand at the Legacy GP with a strong Team America build, but even that resulted in failure as I lose to NO RUG and draw against Enchantress and Stifle-naught. 

And so Nationals has proven a success for me in nothing more than a disheartening experience. Though I understand that I sorely lacked the time necessary to gain the experience needed to succeed, I could never have predicted that the weekend would result in a total of zero match wins across three utterly different formats. 

But if I were ever to let such losses get to me, I wouldn’t be playing Magic today. I have had my moment of painful humility and am determined to prepare for the future. With Modern developing into a deep yet innovative format, I intend to slowly work on the format and develop my skills so that I can play a better game than ever before. The Spring PTQ season will undoubtedly be played through the Modern format, and I intend to succeed this time on skill rather than luck. In order to develop I cannot work alone, and thanks to our new local venue it is time to truly begin working as team to take on the competitive scene. But more on that will follow soon enough, and thanks for reading.

Project T - Stage 1

As Nationals approaches, I have decided to make an investigation into Standard in the hopes of finding a home for a power so gravely under-represented in the format. Project T is a quest to find a home for Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, arguably the most powerful Planeswalker in Standard following the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The cost of wielding such a power is the relatively narrow selection of cards that must be utilized effectively in order for Tezzeret to compare favourably to Jace. The cost for such power has put many players off even attempting to get the Agent to work, but a few inquiring minds have given us a glimpse at the raw power being ignored here.

In this post I intend to explore the three primary designs that have put Tezzeret to effective use in Standard since his printing in Mirrodin Besieged, as well as pondering means of evolving the concepts for the future. Does Tezzeret stand a chance of being a secret weapon at Nationals? Let us begin our investigation.

//Design by Cyrus Bales
4	Darkslick Shores
4	Drowned Catacomb
4	Creeping Tar Pit
4	Inkmoth Nexus
6	Swamp
3	Island
2	Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
4	Phyrexian Crusader
4	Necropede
4	Plague Myr
4	Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2	Jace Beleren
4	Inquisition of Kozilek
1	Despise
3	Doom Blade
1	Brittle Effigy
3	Ratchet Bomb
3	Sword of Feast and Famine

 Display Deck Statistics

During the initial rise of Caw-Blade following Pro Tour Paris, an Infect deck cropped up providing an alternative set of creatures to wield the Sword of Feast and Famine. Phyrexian Crusader alone was reason enough to consider the deck, as it posed a significant threat to the popular Squadron Hawks and Lightning Bolts dominating the format.

With the ability to play an aggressive clock with a variety of efficient Infect creatures as well as Creeping Tar Pits and animated artifacts, the deck proved to be difficult to handle if unprepared, very much leading to the heavy presence of Inkmoth Nexus in modern day Caw-Blade lists. Inquisition of Kozilek and Planeswalkers allow the deck to keep up its momentum during the mid-game, or even take on the role of control. Though the loss of the Mind Sculptor was felt heavily, the deck continues to show power. I first heard of the infect strategy in a Regional report from the excellent UK player Cyrus Bales on Manaleak’s new article site, and I was so convinced by his report that I sleeved up the deck and ran it at my first qualifier of the season. Though I narrowly missed out on qualifying at the event, I knew that greater experience would have allowed me to push further.

Recently Cyrus Bales repeated his success with the deck (with obvious, minor updates) and yet again his report works well towards convincing me of its viability. Ratchet Bomb is an all-star right now, being capable of answering Splinter Twin, Tempered Steel and Caw-Blade with relative efficiency. Brittle Effigy left me quite unconvinced, and Despise feels like a meta choice at best. But the raw power of the skeleton is undeniable, and will be explored further in the near future.

//Based on design by Martin Juza
4	Darkslick Shores
4	Drowned Catacomb
4	Inkmoth Nexus
7	Swamp
5	Island
1	Blightsteel Colossus
1	Wurmcoil Engine
4	Kuldotha Forgemaster
3	Spellskite
4	Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4	Inquisition of Kozilek
1	Duress
4	Preordain
1	Mindslaver
4	Everflowing Chalice
3	Sphere of the Suns
3	Ratchet Bomb
3	Tumble Magnet

 Display Deck Statistics

At Pro Tour Paris, the Tezzeret deck that attracted the most attention wasn’t the most successful, but was undoubtedly the most intriguing. Martin Juza and his team developed a deck that could efficiently drop a Blightsteel Colossus onto the field to swing for the win on turn 5. Though this strategy had been attempted repeatedly with Shape Anew, to little success, Martin Juza took a very different approach in working the powerful artifact-hungry engine that is Kuldotha Forgemaster. Early disruption with Inquisition (a necessity in a format that became increasingly combo-friendly with the subsequent releases of New Phyrexia and M12) allowed for acceleration into either a turn 3 Planeswalker or turn 4 Forgemaster. The above list is an attempt at an updated list, but for Juza’s original check it out here as it is investigated thoroughly by Patrick Chapin.

Blightsteel Colossus remains an effective win condition in Standard. The loss of Jace works in its favour as it leaves control with very few effective answers, with Oblivion Ring being effective in the time it takes to load three counters on a Ratchet Bomb. Tempered Steel provides an undeniable threat, with Dispatch making short work or the relevant combo pieces and the speed of the deck being quite unlike anything seen at Pro Tour Paris. But is Tempered Steel truly the deck to beat? At present, it appears that Caw-Blade and Valakut will be the decks to beat at Nationals, and Forgemaster has always had an excellent game against the Molten Pinnacle.

It can be argued that the success of Forgemaster strategies on Standard now heavily depends on the popularity of Dismember, but let’s not forget an equally influential artifact that saw print in that very same set! Spellskite shows huge potential in this strategy, just as it does in Splinter Twin, and can even be put to solid late-game use thanks to Tezzeret, be it for burn or beats. Do Solemn Simulacrum and Ponder have a home in this deck? M12 continued to work in Forgemaster’s favour, but such a complex weapon demands a lot of attention to find success in a format dominated by efficient engines.

//Design by Shouta Yasooka
4	Darkslick Shores
4	Drowned Catacomb
4	Creeping Tar Pit
4	Tectonic Edge
1	Inkmoth Nexus
4	Island
3	Swamp
1	Consecrated Sphinx
1	Wurmcoil Engine
4	Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2	Jace Beleren
1	Batterskull
1	Black Sun's Zenith
1	Consume the Meek
2	Dismember
2	Doom Blade
4	Everflowing Chalice
3	Inquisition of Kozilek
2	Mana Leak
1	Stoic Rebuttal
3	Preordain
1	Sorin's Vengeance
2	Torpor Orb
2	Tumble Magnet
3	Ratchet Bomb

 Display Deck Statistics

Japan had the honour of introducing the new M12-legal Standard format with its own National Championship in the middle of July, and the famous control player Shouta Yasooka brought Tezzeret right back into the spotlight. During the unfortunately short lifetime of the Scars of Mirrodin Block constructed format at Pro Tour Nagoya, Tezzeret based UB Control decks were powerful and common. In that format they utilised an effective card advantage engine abusing Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring, with cards like Tezzeret and Phyrexia’s Core draining extra advantage as the game runs long.

Though this engine is yet to see success in the undeniably faster and more demanding Standard format, the standard skeleton existed and simply required powerful artifice to attack the metagame with. Enter Torpor Orb! The card proved a great success for Shouta Yasooka at Grand Prix Singapore, and sticking to his guns allowed him to break into the top 8 at Japan Nationals with a list that certainly stands out against the more conventional UB control decks. A mixed package of controlling cards supplemented by a Planeswalker became a standard with Shards of Alara, but the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor resulted in little more than an automatic shift to lower numbers of Jace Beleren to replace him. The introduction of new, and overall underwhelming, Planeswalkers in M12 had left Tezzeret long forgotten.

Thankfully, Magic is no longer a game dependent entirely on large events such as Nationals to provide new metagame reads and exposure of effective technology. Starcitygames Open events provide an influx of new decks with relative frequency, but it is Magic Online that proves to be the breeding ground for new decks with potential. Over the past couple of weeks Tezzeret control lists similar to the design championed by Yasooka have been finding relative success during Daily events, seizing an increasing number of 3-1 and 4-0 slots. The deck shows great promise, but also great potential to evolve. Numbers and technology are crucial for a control deck to succeed in any environment, and the ability to dig for the appropriate tools with Tezzeret allows for great creativity at a far lower risk. I expect Tezzeret control to claim further top 8 slots by the end of the season.

Agents are Coming...

Three lists, three potentials, and three very different directions. Tezzeret is a weapon of proven success, but minimal dedication. Which direction is likely to yield the best results? Can Blight-Blade compete with the efficiency and playtesting manpower behind Caw-Blade? Does Forgemaster combo warrant a revival in a wider, combo-oriented format? These questions remain, but I am without doubt that Tezzeret control has great potential to break the format right now, but it is far from clear whether the deck can be refined to surgically dismantle the dominant strategies whilst remaining stable and consistent enough to tackle rogue strategies without falling apart.

With just under two weeks remaining before Nationals, I hope beyond all hope that an efficient Tezzeret deck can be found in Standard in order to tackle Nationals without encountering mirror matches every other round! Please vote for the deck you believe carries the most potential, and I will make that deck the focal point of my initial testing, and expect it to be the focus of my next article. In Stage 2, I will be working through variations of the chosen deck, discussing strategy and testing results. Should that stage be successful, Stage 3 will be live experience of using the deck in a competitive environment. Stay tuned!