In West Philadelphia...

Overall, I did not really know what to expect from YCS Philly this past weekend.  With the release of Primal Origins only a day prior, I knew that there would be a number of different decks bolstered with the new cards that the latest set had provided.  After the testing I had done for the event, I felt that the best three decks were Geargia, Artifact Hands, and Madolches.  I really liked the idea of the Artifact Hand deck and just how fun it ultimately was to play, so I decided to play a teched version of that.  The build certainly could have been better, in different ways, or just built a bit differently, but overall I was still satisfied with what I decided to ultimately play.  Despite all the great cards released in the latest set, the way Geargia played was pretty similar to how it played back in Vegas, but it obviously still has an incredible number of plays.  Artifact Hands struck me as a great deck because it seemed like something many people would not know how to play against and that you could easily take advantage of player’s inexperience with it.  Then came Madolches.  Madolches were sort of a special animal that I never believed would become an actual deck.  To me, Anjelly has put Madolches above the threshold of being a good deck.  Obviously, when they draw bad, they draw really poorly as their cards are not exactly all optimal all by themselves, but that is something Anjelly is really good at, besides making Hootcake instantly live. 

I was actually a little surprised that Geargia defined the metagame as much as they did in this event.  Geargia placed 10 pure Gear decks in top 32 and 1 Geargia/Karakuri deck as well.  Generally in “new formats”, which this YCS in my opinion qualifies as one as we essentially have two new sets that have caused extreme warps on the metagame, you do not normally see such a high percentage of the top cut of all of 1-2 decks.  In this case we see, 10-11 Gears and 9 Artifact Hand decks.  This means that 20/32 decks were taken by these two archetypes.  While we will never know what deck would have truly “won” the event, thanks to Konami’s Top 16 Battle Pack draft format, I would have loved to see the results from the event had that not been the case. 

The deck that has the blood in my veins pumping is HAT.dek (Traptrix, Artifact, Hands).  While the deck is not without warts, the idea of combining the three powerful engines together to create a gauntlet of powerful monster effects and traps for the opponent to battle their way through.  There have been a few different builds thrown around since Philadelphia and even during YCS Philly.  While many of us are aware of Dalton Bousman’s build that played a full playset of Upstart Goblin, Pot of Duality, and Cardcar D, in addition to only a pair of Moralltach and a playset of Sanctum; other builds have surfaced trying out different card choices such as Majesty’s Fiend, Soul Charge, and Fiendish Chain.  While it seems as though “the best build” has eluded players thus far, however, I believe it is only a matter of time before it is unveiled.  The deck is not without fault though, with players finding creative ways around the Hands and it can certainly have trouble with large immovable walls, most notable of which is Geargiarmor.  Geargiarmor has his birthday every time he plays this deck since he gets to call all his friends over from out of the deck.  It is without doubt in my opinion that pure Geargia is one of the toughest matchups for this deck.  The other card that can absolutely single-handedly mess up HAT.dek is Stardust Dragon.  Stardust Dragon is pretty obnoxious with any form of protection since the deck will certainly have to XYZ to get over it if the opponent opts not to attack with it into your Dimensional Prisons.

As recently as this week, players have been testing Forbidden Lance and Forbidden Chalice as potential cards for the mirror.  The idea is that you can increase your opponent’s Fire/Ice Hand’s attack with Forbidden Chalice and then run your hands into it to destroy cards and make their hand miss timing.  Conversely with Lance you can decrease your own hand’s effect to have a similar effect, as well as, allow your cards to dodge opponent’s Traptrix Trap Hole Nightmares, Prisons, and various other trap cards.  While I am uncertain whether or not Forbidden Lance will see prolonged play over Mystical Space Typhoon, and likewise for Forbidden Chalice over Breakthrough Skill/Fiendish Chain, however, the theory seems sound, and it being another way for the opponent’s Hands to miss timing seems like it could be extremely valuable for many matchups, not just the mirror.

In short, YCS Philadelphia brought us a surprise, in the sense of two decks taking almost 65% of the spots in top 32, and helps in defining the format moving forward to this coming weekend at ARGCS Washington.  In Washington, look for a spread between the main two of HAT and Geargia and then any combination of Bujin, Dragons, and Madolches to follow. 

An Astral Projection

Earlier today, promotional documents, usually reserved for Official Tournament Stores, surfaced for both Astral Pack 5 and Battle Pack 3.  The Astral Pack 5 announcement was particularly interesting, as it appears to have announced reprints for Bujin Yamato, Bujingi Turtle, Jenis, Lightsworn Mender, and Charge of the Light Brigade.   Obviously, the most intriguing of these is Bujin Yamato, as right now the only way to get it is through packs of Judgment of the Light.  It seems unlikely that Bujingi Turtle and Jenis will be reprinted as anything except super rares in an Astral Pack, so that presumably accounts for 2/10 of them.  In addition, the announcement of Charge of the Light Brigade being reprinted, lends me to believe it is likely to be one of the ultimates, as it has been printed in both common and super before.  This leaves Bujin Yamato, who’s rarity will cause a significant change in value if it is either super or common.  If it is printed as ultimate, its value will drop slightly, but not by much.

As has happened before almost every Astral Pack that I can remember, people will predict or create wishlists for every card in the pack that they would like to see reprinted, whether that be with new text or in a higher rarity than it has ever been printed in before.  Below are my personal wishlist of what cards I believe should be printed in Astral Pack 5.

Mermail Abysspike (Ultimate Rare) – Abysspike and Abyssturge are both played a significant amount and would make the set that much more sought after.

Shooting Quasar Dragon (Ultimate Rare) – Quasar needs a reprint for worldwide play, but it is more likely to see a reprint in an inevitable Legendary Collection of some kind or a tin than an Astral.  However, it would look really cool as an ultimate rare.

Swap Frog (Super Rare) – Like Gemini Spark before it, Swap Frog has been on a number of wishlists for what seems like forever.  Swap Frog is long overdue for a foil reprint.

Vanity’s Emptiness (Super Rare) – Starstrike Blast has made a bunch of cards worth an obscene amount of money, especially commons that have any sort of relevance.

Dark Trap Hole/Darkfall (Super Rare) – For similar reasons as Vanity’s Emptiness, the card deserves a reprint that is easier to get than its DL16 counterpart.

Geargiarsenal (Super Rare) – Ultimate rares would almost look out of place as Armors and Accelerators are already super.

Geargiano MKII (Super Rare) – Same explanation as Geargiarsenal

Mermail Abyssturge (Super Rare) – Abyssturge would be a well-deserved super as it would almost finish off Mermails in full-foil.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Leopard (Super Rare) – Played in 3.5 Axis, and would go well with a lot of other super cards in the deck already.

Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Gorilla (Super Rare) – Same as Leopard

Crusader of Endymion (Common) – Endymion is a card that has never been reprinted and literally has value as a foil for virtually no reason.

Skill Drain (Common) – Another common that has value despite the amount of times it has been reprinted, why not give it another one

Droll & Lock Bird (Common) – Starstrike Blast rare that saw play at some point and should have been reprinted an age and a half ago.  Droll is likely to see a reprint at some point in something like this, as insignificant as it may be now.

Madolche Magileine (Common) – Drop the bomb on this card already before it gets too out of control

Geargiarmor (Common) – Same thing as Magileine

In short, I always look forward to Astral Packs like many duelists, as they are an exciting time to further foil your deck and are normally cards that hold their value significantly, especially if they are a good card to begin with.  It will cause franticness and chaos without a doubt for the highly sought after cards.  As well, additional cards will become relevant from the pack after release and show significant rises in value.