Episode 63 – Burn the Witch

GreenRanger and DeckTech are in the new meta of uncertainty and undefined decks. Implications of the new upcoming Duel Links life point changes are discussed. Other topics include the Tristan cards, esports, and general game changes. The mailbag is opened for the first time, and questions are answered.

Subscribe in a reader

The Duel Assessment Episode #63

May 26, 2018

1. Intro

– Intro/Outro Music: “Danger Storm” by Kevin Macleod, used under Creative Commons license—thanks, Kevin!

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html

– [0:00:55]: Our weeks in the Duel World:

DeckTech is still on vacation, so he hasn’t played a ton, but he’s up to Legend 1 on 35 PvP wins now, playing mostly Amazoness up. He knocked on the door of Legend 2, but was turned away by a weird Ninjas deck, because he didn’t know what all the cards did and misplayed. This week’s 3rd Rate Duelist, amiright? The competition seems mixed, as tends to be the case towards the end of the season, so he hasn’t given up KoG yet–he still wants to get there with Shark Boi and Lava Gurl this month if he finds the time.

GreenRanger lost his KoG promotion match, and as a result, is now in Legend 1. Spent the whole week playing with new Samurai decks, a 30-card Grass Is Greener version, and a regular 20-carder. Without extra copies of the Grandmaster however, both these decks aren’t all that good. He also ran into @Miltm25 yesterday on the ladder, while playing a BLS deck that masquerades as an Unga Bunga Zombie.

2. News

– [0:05:50]: This week in esports:

• DLM Meta Championship Series IX Announcement – Announced for June 2nd,1pm EST. DKayed is trying to up the standards of the MCS to address controversies and disputes. This updated format will be 140 players, 7 rounds of Swiss, where all x-2 players make the top cut. Still 1 deck, 5 cards in the side.

• DLM Weekly #21 – Tuesday, May 22nd.

• • 1st – Nix – Amazoness – A slightly different take on Amazoness, seeing the first use of an Amazoness Scouts. Chalice and Headlong are popular quick plays not traditionally seen either.
  • 2nd – NA- – Masked Heroes – The deck is in an odd spot in this new meta, but they seem fine. This 21-carder has a 1-of several quick plays, and relies on 2 Treacherous Trap Hole as removal.
  • t3rd – TristanP – Grass is Greener Spellbooks – Spellbooks with 2 The Tricky. Also only has 2 Blue Boys,which is either a budget thing or new deck development.
  • t3rd – Mistilteinn – Amazoness – The more traditional Amazoness list that just relies on using Onslaught to win. 2 Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr make it in the side deck.
• Duel Links Challenger Series #13 – Sunday, May 20th (Hosted by Nix and casted by Jayrabian)
  • 1st – ExiledWalrus – Grass is Greener Spellbooks – His version runs Monster Gate, which we have not seen much of since DKayed’s initial take on the archetype. The side deck curiously has a single REZD.
  • 2nd – JayDizzle – Grit Sylvans – 21 cards, same 16 monsters and 5 spells/traps commonly found in this deck.
  • t3rd – Kingsman – Amazoness – No Massivemorph or Lava Golem tricks here. Amazoness Fighter is starting to show up in some lists. Only 2 Amazoness Onslaught, just like DeckTech. Side deck Fragrance Storms are tech for Sylvans.
  • t3rd – FettyGuap – Grass is Greener Spellbooks – Fetty got 3rd/4th in last week’s Meta Weekly with DMoC Spellbooks, and here it is again.

– [0:16:05]: June 2018 Big Ranked Duels Update: In a somewhat quiet fashion, Konami announced that next month’s Ranked Duels (June 2018) will have  new rule of 5000 LP games. This is the first time such a rule change has come to Duel Links. They say it is for the new month, but don’t rule it out returning, or even staying permanent. Note that this doesn’t affect the WCS games or Duel Room Duels, which means tournaments will still run in the 4000 LP ruling. This may cause a widening chasm between what a good ladder vs tournament deck is. Other implications:

• OTK Meta – There haven’t been any nerfs lately, but this appears to be a general overall nerf to OTK decks that have been around. This likely opens the way for more control decks to exist in the meta, as every deck will seem like they have Grit activated. Meta decks that are susceptible to losing to OTKs, like Archfiends, Sylvans, and Amazoness get better. Even decks that have dropped out, like SSA, get helped by these changes. We haven’t seen big offenders for a little while, but all-out burn decks now have a much harder hill to climb as well.
• General LP Spenders – Moving from 4000 to 5000 LP is a bigger deal for cards that spend 2000 LP, as you can now fit 2 in. Some “meta” 2000 LP spenders include Mirror Wall, Ties of the Brethren, and Solemn Scolding. Cosmic Cyclone is probably the most common 1000 LP spender, and you can fit more in if you must. The Steelswarm archetype from the newest set hasn’t taken off yet, but perhaps they will perform a bit better with more life points to play with.
• Cyber Stein – Now any character running a LP Boost skill (probably everyone) can play Cyber Stein to cheat out a big fusion. This has big implications in the surprise deckbuilding factor.
• Card of the Soul – Gone are the days of vanilla Red-Eyes and Nephthys, as Card of the Soul will focus on monsters with 5000 points of stats.
• Aromages – These cards rely on having a life point lead. Running a LP Boost skill can help that. While this rule change does nothing really affecting this deck, having more LP to start means more LP to recover, and allow this deck to make a comeback when down.
• Psychics – These cards typically use life as a resource, so this could only be beneficial for them.

– [0:25:55]: Tristan Taylor: Monkey Business (Until May 30): To finally appease all the children (and adults) playing this game, Tristan is finally an opponent in Duel World. Because Serenity is likely never coming to the game, Tristan never pretends to actually be a real duelist.

How to farm Tristan:

• Ojamas: Tristan’s Unga Bunga tactics rely on having a full board with The A Forces and Battleguard synergy. Ojamas can clog the monster zones and prevent him from doing that. Tutor out Polymerization quickly and try to get an Ojama Knight out in defense. Fuse a second Knight or a King and stall till the end. Lay down Ojama Blues to draw faster. Play Ojama Country to boost the Ojamas and use the Vassal + Union Attack + Secret Pass package.

• Lab. Builder: Similarly, you can completely (as far as DeckTech can tell) stall out Tristan with a single Labyrinth Wall. He also (again, as far as we can tell) has no way to disrupt your backrow or attack, so just fill your deck with draw and your favorite finisher (DeckTech is using Sword and Shield, Vassal, and Union Attack) and you’re set for an easy farm. The only downside is that you have to use the Paradox Bros.

New farmable cards!

• Yu-Jo Friendship (UR) – A card known more for its in-Duel animation than effect, this card has no bearing for competitive play.

• Millennium Shield (SR) – Another Labyrinth Wall, which in Duel Links is only deployable with the Paradox Bros skill for farming. Maybe you can trot this out if you don’t have that skill, or for some sort of “all-walls” deck, but that seems bad.

• Berserk Gorilla (SR) – A card with a similar skill set as Dark Elf, but much easier to remove, given every deck has ECon.

• Battleguard Rage (SR) – Best card in Tristan’s stock? A faster equip spell with combat trick consideration, but it also tied to the survival of the monster. Bouncing destroyed monsters gets around some resurrection effects with Powerful Rebirth I guess, but seems more a downside.

• Super Robolady/Roboyarou (R) – You’re fusing for 1200 attack monsters here, which harkens to the first TCG Booster pack when we were in 7th grade. Roboyarou is slightly better against meta monsters, as he will always be a 2200 damage-wise.

• Voltic Kong (R) – Not too far from a 1800 beater. The Beast and Light tags don’t mix, outside of Ojamas. Maybe if you’re doing some Beast Rising for autoduels, and need a warm body.

– [0:37:50]: Beginning of the Week Pack – It happened again, but it’s still not memorable. At least GreenRanger got something he was missing.

3. The Duel School

– [0:39:15] The Duel Assessment Mailbag – We take some time to answer some questions submitted by our listeners and followers.

@DuelPuzzles

What is your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh card? Justify your answer

GR: I always liked the card Gravity Bind, but I realize that would be horrible if ever introduced to Duel Links. Necrovalley was always one of my favorites for having a revolutionary ability at the time. I also liked certain “target” mind game cards like Prohibition or Cloak and Dagger.

DT: Black Luster Soldier–Envoy of the Beginning. This was the card that the IRL deck that I spent all my money on was centered around, until that deck got gutted by bans/restrictions. The card had it all: a big body, a splashy effect, and a (slight) deckbuilding challenge; all things I loved. Plus, the deck won a lot at the time, so that was cool.

Is there anything you would like to be introduced to Duel Links to make the game more attractive?

GR: This is a somewhat common request on Reddit, but skins/outfits for the characters. In Yu-Gi-Oh specifically, the characters wore different outfits during certain arcs, so it would be nice to see that. Plus, there is a big market for skins, as seen in other popular games.

DT: I have two main requests that I’ve been harping on for a while now–a crafting system and a tournament mode. The crafting system seems more like a modification of the current system than an addition to the game, so we’ll call that nonresponsive and say the tournament mode is my ask. People are doing great work with the current system, but it really is terrible. I would love to see it be much easier for luddites like myself to jump into organized, structured tournament play.

@YuGiOhDeckTalk

What are your thoughts on the pacing of PvP duels compared to how the game was a year ago?

GR: Looking back at Episode 10 (1 year ago), some popular decks mentioned include Relinquished, BEWD, Venus/Atmosphere, Tea Burn, Harpies, Clown Control, Desert Twister, Victory Viper. Switcheroo just got nerfed. It’s not hard to see that the meta was a lot slower back then, given we are still in the OTK meta now. But this was also the era before REZD and Cyber Angels, the most defining decks in the second half of 2017. Also, this was before we had defining backrow cards in Super Rush Headlong and Wall of Disruption. So yes, things were lot slower, and backrow wasn’t really defined at that point.

DT: He’s done the research, and it all checks out, so just to add my thoughts on it: things felt a little better to me back then. This OTK meta that we’ve been in for the past couple months makes for a lot of games feeling inconsequential, because it comes down so much to peoples’ starting hands. Games should take a few more turns, so that you can feel like you actually did something, even if the ultimate result is the same. Hopefully, the 5000 life points change will do that.

@UrthShattrHS

Are there any ways you can bluff your opponent? If so, what tips do you guys have?

GR: The main bluffs in Duel Links revolve around the backrow. The set cards you put down go center, right, left, in that order. I usually like putting in the most disposable set first, something that can be spent when targeted, like ECon, which can be used on an enemy monster if normal summoned. Definitely Toggle On/Off to bluff your opponent. Wall of D, for example, is a card that only activates during the opponent battle phase. If I am going to take a direct hit, and waiting to draw a monster, I will turn Toggle Off, so there is no delay at all to give away Wall of D. Bluffing attacks helps pick up enemy backrow, so even if you aren’t going to attack, enter the battle phase, and try to look for pauses. Finally, you can bluff your useless spells. A Grass is Greener deck that has 2nd or 3rd copies can just be set as a decoy.

DT: Those are all great tips, so just to add a few: you should always have an extra deck of 3-5 cards, so your opponent never knows for sure if they are just random cards or something you will use. This becomes less valuable with established lists, but even then it might have some value on their first turn before they see what you’re playing. It costs you nothing, so you might as well.  I’ve also found that if you see a person is on a ranked floor, or losing streak, or just doesn’t have a lot of PvP wins in prior seasons, you can sometimes “bluff” the nuts by just playing out your whole hand as though you have easy 1- or 2-turn lethal and you can sometimes get misplays or even concessions out of their frustrated/demoralized/inexperienced response to such a power play.

4. Upcoming News:

-[1:04:55] Bonus Duelists, End of Boosted Duel Orbs (June 26, 2018): As reported earlier in the leak with “Vagrants,” there will be a new item called “Bonus Duelist,” who serves as 30 charges of a standard duelist. These duelists will not disappear over time, and will have a number countdown, depending on how many duels you’ve used up. This was all precipitated by Boosted Duel Orbs counting time during maintenance periods.

-[1:06:05] Official News

• [Late May] – The Duel Links World Championship Begins
• [Early June] – Regular Duel-a-thon
• [Early June] – Roaming Zane
• [Early June] – Tag Duel Tournament GX
• [Mid June] – D.D. Tower Dark Dimension + Duel Yubel
• [Late June] – Jesse Anderson to the Gate
• [Late June] – New Team Event + Obtain Espa Roba
• [Early July] – Syrus Duel-a-thon

Wrap-Up

Listen and subscribe on: iTunes | Stitcher | Google Play Music | Overcast | YouTube

Check out the podcast and more at the website: TheDuelAssessment.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDuelAssessment/

Patreon: www.patreon.com/Duel_Assessment

Email us: TheDuelAssessment@gmail.com

Tweet us: @Duel_Assessment, @GreenRangerHS, and @HSDeckTech