Neon Pix!

This is the first time in 5 months I feel motivated to talk about Yu-Gi-Oh and the likes, so I thought i'd capture the moment in a blog post. As of late, i've been working a lot (Working at a local pub) and studying hard for my A-level exams (In law and psychology... I couldn't have chosen the easy subjects, no?). But I find myself sat inside on a sunny Tuesday afternoon with nothing better to do than sit here and mess about with the Yu-Gi-Oh cards gradually gathering dust on my shelf. So I got to putting together some decks, as after these exams, I have Nationals to look foward to in Bristol in june.

Hyper Librarian.
So, after perusing the forums, I came across this little synchro guy;



At a first look, i'm thinking. So? How many times would you syncho in a turn to make this adventageous? The answer? An absolute buttload. With the release of Doppelwarrior and the clear synergy between him, Junk Synchron and Doppelwarrior, I decided to put the deck together on YVD;

3|Lodt|Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter
3|5ds1|Junk Synchron
2|Stor|Doppelwarrior
2|Crms|Debris Dragon
1|Jump|Dandylion
1|Stbl|Glow-Up Bulb
1|Tshd|Spore
2|Ptdn|Lonefire Blossom
1|Sovr|Level Eater
1|Csoc|Plaguespreader Zombie
2|Dp03|Card Trooper
2|Sovr|Quickdraw Synchron

1|Tdgs|Charge of the Light Brigade
1|Sdrl|Foolish Burial
3|Stbl|Tuning
1|Lob|Monster Reborn
1|Lob|Dark Hole
1|Mrl|Giant Trunade
2|Sye|Mystical Space Typhoon
1|Lod|Reinforcement of the Army
1|Ysds|Book of Moon
1|Rgbt|One For One
3|Een|Pot of Avarice

3|Tp4|Royal Decree

3|Stbl|Formula Synchron
2|Dp08|Armory Arm
2|Abpf|Drill Warrior
1|Csoc|Iron Chain Dragon
1|Ha01|Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
2|Jump|T.G Hyper Librarian
1|Dp09|Junk Archer
1|Csoc|Black Rose Dragon
1|Tdgs|Stardust Dragon
1|Ha04|Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

In testing, the deck goes crazy as soon as you get one librarian to stick to the table. If you make 2 stick, then you should win, barring some kind of miracle or some crazy play error on your side. Here's what the deck does;

Yes, it really is that nutty, and having tested it, if the stuff for this is legal at British nationals, this is what I shall be playing. That or the Dewloren varient. But that's for another day and another blogpost.

I shall be posting here more frequently now I have time to myself, but for now, thanks for reading.

NeonPix! (Steven Parkes)

Since the archetype was brought in this time three years ago (Feels longer, right?) I have been an avid Gladiator Beast player, but lately my love for the Roman warriors has begun to waver, to the extent where I took Plant Synchro (Or Debris-Hime) To YCS Milan.



Now, in hindsight, this was a terrible choice for me, as a properly teched Gladiator Beast deck would have put me in great stead, and I may have performed better than I did at the event. Since returning home, I dusted off the old Gladiator Beasts and took them to one of the biggest local tournaments in the UK; Patriot Games in Sheffield. Back in the game's heyday, the tournament would regularly draw in 150+ competitors from all around the country. Nowadays, it only pulls in around 100, but in comparison to some of the other events in the country, it is still by far and a way the biggest local tournament the UK has to offer.


This is the build I took to Sheffield;

Steven Parkes - Gladiator Beasts
Monsters: 18
2 - Gladiator Beast Laquari
2 - Gladiator Beast Darius
2 - Gladiator Beast Equeste
1 - Gladiator Beast Bestiari
2 - Gladiator Beast Retiari
1 - Gladiator Beast Murmillo
1 - Gladiator Beast Secutor
2 - Elemental Hero Prisma
3 - Test Tiger
2 - Effect Veiler


Spells: 10
1 - Monster Reborn
1 - Dark Hole
1 - Cold Wave
2 - Mystical Space Typhoon
3 - Book of Moon
1 - Shrink
1 - Enemy Controller


Traps: 12
1 - Solemn Judgement
1 - Mirror Force
1 - Torrential Tribute
1 - Royal Oppression
1 - Seven Tools of the Bandit
2 - Bottomless Trap Hole
2 - Dimensional Prison
2 - Gladiator Beast War Chariot
1 - Trap Stun


Side Deck: 15
3 - Cyber Dragon
2 - Legendary Jujitsu Master
2 - Snowman Eater
2 - D.D Crow
1 - Giant Trunade
2 - Nobleman of Crossout
1 - Emergency Provisions
2 - Fairy Wind


Extra Deck: 15
2 - Gladiator Beast Heraklinos
3 - Gladiator Beast Gyzarus
2 - Chimeratech Fortress Dragon
1 - Red Dragon Archfiend
1 - Colossal Fighter
1 - Stardust Dragon
1 - Black Rose Dragon
1 - Goyo Guardian
1 - Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 - Ally of Justice Catastor
1 - Armory Arm

Breakdown -
Monsters
The monster line-up was pretty solid, I particularly liked the two copies of Gladiator Beast Retiari, as this format has become heavily Graveyard oriented, thanks to cards like Debris Dragon, XX-Saber Faultroll, Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North, as well as spell cards like Pot of Avarice.
One downside to the build though, would be Gladiator Beast Secutor. The two times I made big plays into it, only for it to get Effect Veiler'd or Battle Fader'd. So I would Drop Gladiator Beast Secutor for a third Gladiator Beast Laquari.


Spells
A few questionable choices in the spells on my part, mainly the inclusion of Shrink. It helped a lot during the tournament, avoiding Bottomless Trap Holes, and swinging over bigger and more troublesome monsters, such as Stardust Dragon.
The better choice I made was the inclusion of Mystical Space Typhoon. Due to the massive influx of Gravekeeper decks (Something I will cover in greater detail in a guest spot on PJ Tierney's blog later today) and the already huge influence that Royal Decree has on the format, Mystical Space Typhoon felt like a good choice, and it paid off, as I was paired Vs Gravekeepers round 3, taking game one due to a Typhoon play, only to lose on time game three.


Traps
A fairly standard line-up of traps, with the exclusion of Solemn Warning. In Hindsight, two copies of the card would have been better options than the Trap Stun and Seven Tools of the Bandit.


Side
Again, standard, all except for the Fairy Wind, they came in against Gravekeeper decks, and decks with high face-up spell and trap counts. This card pushed the Gravekeeper player hard Game two, but eventually lost out to a Royal Tribute play.

All in all, I think it would be foolish for players to disregard Gladiator Beasts this format, and after a strong showing in Milan, I have a feeling that more duelists will reach for the deck given the choice.

- Steven Parkes

"King Tiger What?"
Heading into YCS Milan, if I were to ask you about King Tiger Wanghu, many of you would have had to delve into your boxes of commons and rares to know what i'm on about. This is no reflection upon players in general, as through your dueling career, you will have seen this card, or may have even played it, but for a long time, the Tiger has been redundant, sitting in those boxes of commons.


At YCS Milan, people were touting plant synchro to pick up the win with no major problems. All you would hear pre-event was "Debris" this and "Dandylion" that. Even some of the hardened X-Saber players had made the jump to Debris-Hime, and even quickdraw variants. The Anti-Meta players picked up on this, none moreso than Noel Garde (As seen featured in my work on PJ Tierney's blog Here)


Good call / Bad call
King Tiger Wanghu was the ultimate meta call at the event, and I have no question that if asked, Noel would say that the Tiger or Banisher of the Radiance was the deck's MVP that weekend. King Tiger as a starter has a pretty solid attack at 1700. This trumps all of the monsters normal summoned in the deck, forcing the player to set a vital Debris Dragon just to keep a foothold in the game.


Alongside this, the effect of King Tiger to automatically destroy anything summoned with less than 1400 attack decimates the debris match up, as the most commonly played monsters in the deck all lose out to this ability. Debris Dragon, Lonefire Blossom, and Dandylion all fail to the King, and even the tokens summoned from Dandylion's effect are destroyed, leaving the Debris-Hime player at a severe disadvantage.


King Tiger wasn't only a good call for the Debris-Hime match-up Tiger also thrives against a lot of other top tier decks, X-Sabers lose their Fulhelm Knights and Emmersblades, and Blackwings lose their Blizzards and Gales.


It's not all roses and tiny monsters...
and King tiger lost out to the mirror however, due to Doomcaliber Knight, Thunder King Rai-oh and the likes all having bulky attacks, aswell as losing out in the Light Gemini decks, utilising Stratos and Neos Alius.


It may not be as effective splashed into other deck's side decks, but with the right protection and support in the Antimeta deck, King Tiger Wanghu can take you a long way in a tournament...

Check out some of the work I did for PJ Tierney at http://theirishduelist.blogspot.com.

This article follows the evolution of Antimeta to it's climax of second place at YCS Milan

Hi there! My name is Steven Parkes, but I am known as "Pixie" throughout the country. (Don't ask, childhood nickname gone bad). I am 19 and from Wolverhampton in England.

This blog will be primarily focused on the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. A game I have been playing for seven years now, with some degree of success. I have qualified for each national championship for the last three years, Pharaoh Tour finals each year it was run, Fortune Tour finals since it's inception. I also recently travelled to YCS Milan, where my deckbuilding prowess earned me a deck feature from Konami.

That said, I am better known for my deckbuilding skills rather than my playing. I take the opportunity to judge or write coverage for events. Judging and writing are another 2 of my strong points. I recently wrote coverage for the 2nd Ukaypro championships in February 2010, and I have since been chosen to join the media team on the ukaypro.co.uk website. Writing Yu-Gi-Oh material and articles. This has led me to setting up this blog, to provide a new perspective on the game from someone who knows the intricate mechanics of the game, rather than just a hardened veteran player.

I'll be making two, maybe three posts a week, and will eventually get around to setting up features and segments.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog, and come back soon for something that I, personally, am really excited to see grow and blossom, and eventually giving something back to the players.