YGO Locals Report - Rengoku no Akuma

This locals was a bit on the important side as now that I know I'll be heading to Regionals in a few weeks I need to settle on a deck to play and this was an opportunity to get some games in with at least one of them.  The deck choices I have are;
-Satellarknights
-Nekroz
-Ritual Beast
-Red-Eyes / Disaster Dragon (Project RED)
-Infernoid
-Igknight

So of these Nekroz are by far the strongest, however given my flat out abysmal performance with them at every tournament I've gone to I'm not confident I could play well let alone get a top especially with the Clown variant being a thing.  Satellarknights have been ruled out as I know that there will be a ton of Shaddoll variants running around and the addition of the Performages makes the matchup really, really difficult and there's no way I'd be able to compete in the format with Igknights when I don't even have the cards yet.  That pretty much leaves me with Infernoid, Ritual Beast and Dragons which I'm fine with as they are rogue decks that many people don't have proper experience playing and as such wouldn't know how to properly side on them.  Now Kozmos being a thing in the format does mean that Imperial Iron Wall will be seeing WAY more play which'll make Ritual Beasts and Infernoids much harder to play, though Infernoids can out Iron Wall with Dekatron/Reasoning/Monster Gate/CotL/Lyla but they lose to Counterattacking "C" which is something I'll have to look into dealing with.  I think Counterattacking "C" summon itself as a cost in response to Reasoning meaning I should be able to negate it with Forbidden Chalice and continue my way and hopefully slaughter the opponent as Infernoids have a promising Shaddoll and okayish Nekroz matchup which I like.  Not sure how I feel on Burning Abyss.

Lastly there's Dragons in either a pure Red-Eyes build or a Disaster variant called Project RED that I've been brainstorming with Richard Clarke and other "family" members on which both have their pros and cons;

+You get to summon big, dirty Dragons from hand/deck/graveyard so Shaddoll Fusion will not get maximum value.
+Black Flare and Flare Metal Dragon punish slower strategies with their burn effects.
+Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon is fucking Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
+Archfiend Black Skull Dragon is a beast vs Rogue decks
+Searchable recovery plays in the form of Red-Eyes Return and Spirit
+Disaster has access to Koa'ki Meiru Drago who prevents Trick Clown from summoning anything except Hat Tricker and stops all Kozmo special Summons.  This is in addition to slowing Tellars/BA down if they can't out it.
-You're very prone to bricking
-Qliphort
-Dragons currently have a hard time answering an established board of monsters bigger than REDMD
-Nekroz of Trishula
-Disaster variants are very slow given it's a deck from 2010 trying to play in 2015.  I'll give it props for hanging on much better than Blackwings and X-Sabers have.  Pure Red-Eyes has access to Cards of Red Stone, Allure and Seven Star Sword if need be.

So yeah I'll be giving both decks a try to see what I like more.  Currently leaning towards Infernoid because of how powerful Reasoning is and the options it has post siding (considering running Cyber Dragon Core + Cyber D to deal with Kozmos as most people will call Lv.1 vs this deck which lets Core summon Cyber Dragon...) and as such I played a modified version of the build that topped ARG with Dragged Downs and Mind Crushes.  The player mentioned he hated Torrential in his main and wanted to move Mistake over so I did that and the result was;

Round 1 - vs Masked Hero (2-1)

Game 1: I opened 3 Antra, Big Chicken and something else.  I died pretty quickly as he kept throwing Blade Armour Ninjas at me.

Game 2: He opens with Monk into Mist into Dark Law on my turn, but I opened with Harmadik so I out it, drop Dekatron and start pushing.  Eventually I summon Big Chicken to lock it up.

Game 3: I get a bad Reasoning, but I'm able to keep throwing monsters at him until he eventually dies.

Round 2 - vs Performage Shaddolls (2-0)

Game 1: I get off a disgusting Reasoning and kill him in 2 turns Damage Juggler be damned.

Game 2: Pretty sure I OTK him here.

Round 3 - vs Clown Blade (2-1)

Game 1 - I win the dieroll and make him go first and he makes a board that I had to slowly go through as I didn't see Reasoning/Gate.  Dekatron pulled me through though and I win.

Game 2 - He makes me go first and I opt to make a Felgrand thinking if I negate his Normal Summon play I'd live.  Nope he had Book of Moon + 5 Monsters he could summon at once and he makes Feral Imps, Rhapsody and Trapeze Magician and OTKs the fuck out of me.

Game 3 - I pay him back with Reasoning Gate.

Top 4 - vs Kozmo (2-0)

Game 1: I open with Dragged Down and spot Honest (of course), Ring of Destruction and the 2800 spaceship which I get rid of and make it a point to put Devyaty in play.  He rings it but I bring it back and when he tries to Honest me I negate it and win.

Game 2: I open pretty weakly as I end up using up most of my cards to field a couple of monsters and clear his board so I can play the damage game as Infernoids need to do as he drops Farmgirl then Jurageido and has it pump her up to beat over my Patrulea.  Upon him trying to use Farmgirl however I flip Chivalry and he ragequits.

Finals - vs Performage Dolls (2-1)

Game 1: He opens sub par which can happen with that deck while I get off a decent enough mill to win.

Game 2: By his own admission after the match he opened with another bricky hand but literally went Mathmatician -> Squamata -> Dragon -> Draw Fusion spell and proceeds to OTK me.

Game 3: I get revenge by summoning Primais and spinning away one of his two sets which turned out to be Emptiness and resolve Monster Gate and 2 Reasonings and win after a pair of pushes.

So yeah I won locals for the first time since...Satellarknights had JUST come out?  Yeah it's been over a year since I actually got first place.  Whoohoo.

Now that said there were things about the deck that left me less than impressed and it was definitely Dragged Down and Mind Crush.  Sided them out all the time as while I did win 2 games with the intel Dragged Down got me, I feel like I could just run Chicken Game in its place to actually draw combo pieces or my win buttons.  I also really don't like how the deck will die if it runs out of steam against anything that can drag out the game. That part is something I'll have to accept as I do like the idea of a deck that can throw monsters into backrow until the opponent dies.

Props
-Picking up Ignkights
-Got Hoopa EX
-Topped
-Won Locals for the first time in a year.

Slops
-Every time I played Reasoning and only milled 2 monsters
-Playing Monster Gate on Raiden and the next card in deck was RAIDEN.

Decks that I don't miss - YGO Edition

Often times people will say "man I miss Tele-DAD, Plants and Dragon Rulers" and then discussions of beloved decks will ensure.  Well today I'm going to next level everyone by listing many decks that I've come to despise.  Let's do this!

-Infernity
-Dark World
-Inzektors
-Six Samurai
-Bujin
-Qliphort
-Chain Burn
-Exodia
-Final Countdown
-Inferno Tempest
-Magical Explosion
-Empty Jar
-Spellbook
-Yosenju
-Stall (Gravity Bind/Messinger of Peace/Marshmallon.dek)
-Nurse/Simochi
-Gravekeeper
-Evilswarm
-Wind-Up
-60.Card Scrublord
-Ice Barrier
-Jaden Elemental Heroes
-ZW Utopia

Off the top of my head.  Some of these have been powercrept out of the game, others have been killed by banlists.  The thing they all have in common though is that these decks can go fuck themselves.

Peace.

Chronodragon Nextage - Didn't see THIS coming...

At long last the cover card of Vanguard G's 4th Booster set has been spoiled after a fair bit of speculation especially after Ahsha's evolution was revealed a few days prior.  Many people were expecting Nextage to be a mesh of Chronojet Dragon's GB2 and Heart Skill for a Persona Flip and no other cost without the need for a Chronojet Heart.

We were all wrong.  Very, very wrong.

Chronodragon Nextage

[Stride] (Released when both players' vanguards are grade 3 or greater!)-Stride Step-[Choose one or more cards with the sum of their grades being 3 or greater from your hand, and discard them] Stride this card on your (VC) from face down.

[AUTO](VC) Generation Break 2 (This ability is active if you have two or more face up G units in total on your (VC) or G zone):[Counter Blast (1) & Choose a face down card named "Chronodragon Nextage" from your G zone, turn it face up, choose three cards from your hand, and discard them] At the end of the battle that this unit attacked a vanguard, if you have a heart card with "Chronojet Dragon" in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, put this unit into your G zone face up, choose one of your vanguards, and [Stand] it.

Whoo boy.  Where do I even begin on this one.  Bushiroad has once again pulled the "if the clan isn't topping, give it a Restander" trick that they've done with Genesis (Minerva) and more recently Murakumo (Homura Raider) with Nextage here and at first glance this guy is really, really good.  Is he the best restander in the game?  No I think that one is a toss up between DOTX and Minerva but this guy is definitely no Homura Raider and he will see play.  But to what extent?  Let's find out.

Nextage's cost is almost identical to Dragonic Descendant/Minerva as a CB1/Discard 3 except as a G-Unit you're getting 3 cards to pitch and GB2 is much easier to turn on than Limit Break 4.  Furthermore Gear Chronicle have a very solid lineup of G-Units to go into prior to this guy (namely Fate Rider Dragon, Lost Age Dragon, Upheaval Pegasus) so it's not like they won't be able to use this guy.

Now let's look into how this guy functions.  After you battle with this guy you CB1, Discard 3, Persona Flip, bounce Nextage back to the Extra Deck, take your Chronojet Dragon and stand it back up for another attack.  Come to think of it doesn't Chronojet have a GB2 skill of its own?

[AUTO](VC) Generation Break 2 (This ability is active if you have two or more face up G units in total on your (VC) or G zone):When this unit attacks a vanguard, until end of that battle, this unit gets [Power]+5000, and your opponent cannot call grade 1 or greater units from hand to (GC).

Oh.  Right.  He gets +5000 and Glory Malestrom's skill.  That's actually kind of good.  With your standard 5k Booster he hits 21k requiring a minimum 20k guard to two pass, throw a Gear Wolf behind him that's likely at 10k and you're now swinging for 26k which is the same as an unboosted Nextage.  Nextage can very well stack triggers on the booster to make it harder to guard your attack and at the worst you're still getting 2 more checks for triggers to put on your side columns.

So basically your opponent is going to have to deal with a 26000+ Triple Drive and a 16000+ Twin Drive without the use of PGs.  Nextage will likely draw those PGs out which is fine as Gear Chronicle has access to the still powerful Ragnaclock Dragon, though how many of him the deck will run is up in the air.  Ragnaclock has been the finisher for Gears for a very long time but with Nextage being a thing I think his role is going to be reduced.  Don't get me wrong his skill is very good as I believe that Guard Cancelling is one of the most powerful abilities in the game.  However the one skill that has always been better than it and has been what rules Vanguard is Restanding and Nextage gives Gear Chronicle access to this incredibly powerful skill while making the second attack one with Guard Cancelling.  On the other hand turning off Perfect Guards is only truely powerful in the later stages of the game whereas turning off guarding with 0s while also getting a crit is dangerous at any facet of the game.

In any case Nextage is a very good card and it definitely helps Gear Chronicle move in the right direction.  Will they become tier 1 just because of him?  It's quite possible though I remain skeptical due to the deck's weakness against rush decks (looking at you Sanc Guard) but hey if Murakumo can top events off the back of Homura Raider, then Gears definitely have a chance with this guy.

Locals Report - RNG Jesus Hates me

No point in talking about the Vanguard portion as I had one of those days where more things went badly than good (notable examples being a game where all 5 of my damage were non Jewel Knights and in two matches where I don't check a single trigger via damage or twin/triple drive for five turns) and I've subsequently given Thing Saver the boot with Sanctuary Guard being next.

Now what about the Yu-Gi-Oh! part?  Eh I decided to switch to Ritual Beasts because I again wanted to try something different.  And it went like...

Round 1 - vs Shaddolls (1-2)

Game 1 I win despite being hit by several sack cards, Game 2 I lost because he blew me out with Exciton Knight and Game 3 started in time and he said he was going first but changed his mind at the very end when I had sided appropriately.  Incidentally I realized I had kept Upstarts in not realizing we had gone into time and wouldn't you know I open with 2 of them and well, trying to out LP dolls in time is pretty much impossible.

Round 2 - vs Masked Heroes (2-0)

He opens with Monk into Shadow Mist and immediately drops Darklaw on my Standby Phase...to which I'm TOTALLY FINE WITH as I had Gold Sarc, Wen and a card a Ritual Beast Card in hand, so I banished then summoned Pettlephin and bounced the Darklaw, proceeded to combo and win the game.  Game 2 he drops another Darklaw T1 but I out it with Dark Hole while opening Elder + Cannahawk so I win the game decisively.

Round 3 - vs Iron Chains (2-0)

This deck once topped here.  And then Ryan and I actually participated in Locals and it never topped again.  Also I didn't let him play Yu-Gi-Oh! which is how you're supposed to play Yu-Gi-Oh!

After that my tournament was over.  My deck functioned well but there were some issues (weakness to BRD/Exciton) that need to be addressed and Construct can go screw itself.  Now that one of the two resident helmet players has moved I don't need to side as much for Tellarknights as I used to (tho Qliphort is still a thing sadly) and can instead dedicate more space to beating Shaddolls as it makes up 50% of the meta here.

Following this we went to BK where we met a guy from Quebec who had just moved here and was looking to get back into Yu-Gi-Oh! while making it clear that he's primarily a competitive person and promptly pissed off Derrick because of him saying "fuck poor people" which is rude, but given that Quebec has a much more competitive environment I'm not surprised.  It's just what he grew up in.  My only concern is how badly he's going to influence Nord.  Nice guy however.

Then we shot a video and I had games of Gear Chronicle vs Woodhouse's newly accquired Blue Flames from Damon that Derrick also got butt rustled over though I don't understand why as Woodhouse probably overpaid for the deck and Derrick can get the thing from him for less than he would have had to pay Damon?  By the sounds of it a deal was lined up, but Damon changed his mind and traded the deck to Woodhouse instead.  Perfectly fine, if you get one offer but then get another one that's even better then you take the better one especially when Woodhouse is involved as he's notorious for overpaying with cash whereas Derrick has to rely on overtrading with cards...except he gives away everything so he has nothing to offer when something else comes up and gets upset because he can't build what he wants because nobody will give him the cards he needs...because he has little to nothing that people want.  It's not a matter of nobody wants to trade, it's just they basically can't because they can't find things they want and not everyone is willing to just give money cards away for free.  As dickish and mean as this sounds I'm not Jordan or Chingo.  I don't do pity trades (at least not anymore after the fiasco I had with the Aqua Force core I wanted to sell off and ultimately got a much worse deal for it than I wanted).  I'm not going to just give something away all of the time.  Especially if it's only going to enable the self destructive habit of continuously overtrading/paying just because you REALLY want something nownownow.  Seriously this cycle needs to stop as I don't see it ending in any way but badly.

That being said here's what it comes down to; a trade/sell is not final until the actual exchange happens or a handshake agreement is made.  Until then ALL BETS ARE OFF.

Incidentally there was a much bigger fit thrown earlier in the day too as Ryan freaked out because he couldn't finish his deck for the tournament as he...wasn't willing to take out all the pieces from his multiple decks/binders and expected everyone else to pull out cards from their stuff out of the blue to help him.  That's how it looked to me and the subsequent freak out was comparable to my little scene in March and as such I told him to knock it off to which I got a scoffed at with basically, "yeah so you're one to talk so shut up."

Yeah this is a case of the teapot may be calling the kettle black, but the kettle is still fucking black here.  He subsequently got over it and admitted he was in the wrong as the day went on but god damn, this community has become really whiny, bitchy and the attitudes with some people have become noticeable.  Be it an ego from hanging around people, lording a shiny card you have over everyone, complaining about not being able to get a deck despite having the best deck in the format, becoming super cocky because you topped a regional with a helmet deck through dumb luck, complaining about the degeneracy of the game but playing a degenerate FTK deck and defending it, constantly bitching about anything that's not MtG and lording it as the superior game when I could care less, constantly telling everyone their problems don't fucking matter because a day in your life is a million times harder or getting super salty over losses everyone's gotten really bad.

Damn, I think I just took a shot at everyone in Regina, myself included.