My take on Mermails!

Hi Guys it's been a few days since I posted my mermail deck and I am here to share with you the updated version of that deck.I am not as good as Baha from dueling days, but I hope you would like this deck.

Monsters:
2 Atlantean Armsman
2 Atlantean Seahorsemen
1 Atlantean Marksman
3 Mermail Abysslinde
2 Mermail Abyssgunde
2 Mermail Abyssturge
3 Mermail - Megaloabyss
2 Mermail Abysspike

Spells:
3 A forgotten continent
2 Depthscale Kraken
2 Salvage
2 Terraforming
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn

Traps:
3 Depthsphere
1 Depthsquall
2 Bottomless Trap Hole
2 Solemn Warning
1 Solemn Judgment

What are Mermails? I have no idea but all I know is they are mermaids and what makes them awesome, aside from their beautiful faces? their ability to work together as a group.This deck is similar to Dark World, where you need to have cards that could get rid of your Mermails or Atlanteans in hand.Without them your cards will just sit in hand while waiting for the right cards.


As I have said earlier Mermails could work well together as a group,where they help each other to gain effects or help other sea creatures like the Atlanteans to gain their effects.We have Mermail Abysslinde which is when destroyed and sent to the graveyard has an ability to summon a Mermail from deck except herself.Cards like Mermail Abysspike and Mermail Abyssturge allows you to discard a water monster from hand to gain their effects.Mermail Abysspike is a Reinforcement of the Army for level 3 or lower Water monsters, while Mermail Abyssturge is a Monster Reincarnation for level 3 or lower Water monsters.Also they have their own boss monster in the form of Mermail - Megaloabyss,which allow you to discard two water monsters in your hand to special summon itself and when summoned by it's effect you can search for your deck a card with depth in it's name except: fish dept charge and depth amulet.


Now we have the cards that benefit from being sent to the graveyard to activate their effects which are Atlantean Seahorsemen,Atlantean Marksman,Atlantean Armsman and Mermail Abyss Gunde.Basically if you used them to activate an effect of a Water Monster they gain different effects.Atlantean Seahorsemen allows you to add a sea serpent monster from your deck (regardless of it's level).Atlantean Marksman allows you to destroy a facedow card on opponent while Atlantean Armsman destroys a faceup card.The cute mermaid in the form of Mermail Abyss Grunde could special summon a mermail in your graveyard (regardless of level). So with this guys, summoning Megaloabyss you earned a big monster also you can gain card advantage.

All archetype have support cards and I selected and added the three best support cards IMO for the deck and they are Depthsphere which allows you to summon a Mermail from deck and when it is destroyed the monster is also destroyed,also during your opponent's next end phase Depthsphere will be destroyed.How good is this card? This is the MVP card for me because you could use it on your opponent's turn and summon Mermail Abysslinde,during his end phase boom Depthsphere is destroyed bringing Mermail Abysslinde down and you get to special summon a Mermail from deck.Also you can use it if your opponent is foolish enough to blind MST you,they target Depthsphere? very well chain it then summon Mermail Abysslinde then your opponent will be in a tight spot already.Next is Depthsquall which allows you to summon 3 Mermails in your graveyard and summon them,the drawback is they cannot attack and destroyed during the end phase.Usually I use this card as a last line of defense or offense where I can create massive XYZ with those mermails.Last but not least is Depthscale Kraken an equipment card for Mermails that boosts their attack by 400 points.Also acts like an Effect Veiler.

So basically this deck is created to gain advantage of the Mermail and Atlantean's effects and gain massive card advantage over your opponent.Also you can do some XYZ stunts with the field card A Forgotten Temple,which allows you to increase the level of your water monsters equal to the number of your water monsters on the field.Basically imagine yourself as a shark waiting for the right time to strike, you must play passively and NEVER EVER waste your resources too early.and let your opponent do their move and play with the flow.It may sound hard but the longer you use the deck the more patient you will become.So there you have it my Mermail deck.I am still waiting to see Baha's self touching deck which for sure will be fun. :))

I would like to thank K'yde Ren of Digital Mortal for interviewing me for his blog.! I suggest that you should read his blog because it is very informative and hopefully one day I can blog like him. LOL anyway thanks for the time if you have any suggestions please leave a comment.

XYZ under the sea

Hi guys I just wanted to share my Water deck LOL since I am bored of this format and wanted something new,I built a Water deck out of boredom so please take a look and be amazed LOL..

Later I will make a post about this deck,hopefully you guys could share your thoughts on what cards should be added or removed. See you guys later.

2012 Philippine Nationals: My Inzecter Decklist + Top 4 Duel Videos

Here’s the deck I used during the 2012 Philippine National Championship:

I teched in Safe Zone instead of putting in BLS because I’m not very comfortable using BLS with only 3 Light monsters in the deck. Looking back, I think it would have been better for me to include BLS instead of Safe Zone and just add a copy of Sangan and maybe just relegate Mind Control to the side. Sangan will be able to fetch Veiler, serving as a fourth “pseudo-light monster” when needed. If only I had the time to test my choices out. Oh well, too late for that.

Side deck cards are self-explanatory. Feel free to post in case you have any questions on my choice of side deck cards. I also tried to put in level 5, 7, and 8 Synchros just in case I am able to mind control DAD, any Hieroglyph Monster, or any level 4 monster.

Here are the 2012 Philippine National Championship Semi-Finals and Finals Duel Videos:

Semi-finals Game 1:

Semi-finals Game 2:

Finals Game 1:

Finals Game 2:

Notice how Gruf and Hornet really loves me in both games in the finals LOL. Anyway, hope you enjoy watching the videos. Thanks for reading! J

2012 Philippine National Championship: Almost but not quite

Hi everyone! It’s been a loooong time since I last posted in this BLOG. I’ve been too busy with work lately and had to beat a lot of deadlines… I missed a lot of weekly tournaments and I was not able to join the May Philippine Monthly tournament because I had to work on weekdays and take care of wedding preparations on weekends. Yes, folks, you read it right. I’m getting married! J

Despite the hectic schedule, it is a given that I do not intend to miss the biggest 2012 Yugioh event in the Philippines – the 2012 Philippine National Championship. I’m kind of worried though as I have not played for some time, having no time at all even just for practicing and playtesting. I told myself that I cannot really expect to win this big event as I wasn’t as focused as I should be. Nonetheless, I know that I still had a chance. Anyone has a chance in Yugioh ;)

First, I have to choose a deck. Nationals is not a time to experiment, especially with my lack of playtesting, I know that I have to choose a tier 1 deck. It will either be Inzecter, Hieroglyph, Dino Rabbit, or Chaos Dragons, even though I don’t really like any of them. Here are my thoughts on these decks:

1) Chaos Dragons – Very explosive and OTK-oriented. Prone to bad draw because of the number of boss monsters. No traps. I am always plagued with bad luck when I play with LS type of decks and I don’t feel secure without traps, so it’s not my choice.

2) Hieroglyph/Hanzo Hieroglyph – OTK-oriented and a bit more consistent than Chaos Dragons. Tends to over-commit in the field when doing the combos. I don’t like over-extension and I feel that the deck is not as strong without Gustaph Max.

3) Dino Rabbit – Very control-oriented and is able to main deck Macro Cosmos, posing a big threat to Inzecter. Chaos Dragons will also struggle if Macro Cosmos is active. However, you run the risk of drawing Vanillas wherein you need to depend on your traps. Also, if you do not draw Macro Cosmos, Chaos Dragons will easily run over you. I am expecting many players to use Chaos Dragons, as it is relatively cheap to build, so I don’t think I’ll choose this.

4) Inzecter – In my opinion this is currently the best deck of the format, at least as of June 30, 2012. Very versatile and has the capability to control as well as explode for an OTK, depending on the situation. It has also enough traps to use both in defending and in pushing (CoTH). However, expect all people to have side deck (even main deck) hate against this deck as alongside Chaos Dragons, it’s one of the most played decks. There is also the chance of drawing poorly (No Hornet/Gruf or drawing only Hornet/Gruf), but that is tolerable. One thing I hate about this deck is its cheap ability to blow up stuff for free. So if the opponent doesn’t have an answer, you easily gain card advantage. I don’t really like this idea as I believe it is quite unfair that one is able to gain advantage without much effort. It also disables the option of setting back-row bluff cards. But that, of course, says a lot about how powerful the deck is and would just strengthen the point for me to use it.

So because of the strong points above, I decided to play Inzecter. I will not write a complete tournament report because it will be quite boring, seeing that people don’t really expect to see something new from an Inzecter deck LOL. Maybe just a few highlights and how I fared in the tourney of 114 participants. I actually qualified for the top 16 slot in day 1 where I got a 5-2 record.  The people that beat me where quite highly-ranked and finished the tourney with a 6-1 record so I had good tiebreakers. Guess what decks they were using: Inzecter J

On the seven rounds of Swiss, I faced 1 Machina, 1 Gladiator Beast,  1 Agent Angel Inzecter, and 4 Inzecter. Looks like my decision was right to main deck Mind Control and Safe Zone. It helped me in my Inzecter match-ups, but it actually boils down to who draws better, especially if you are up against players who are equally good.  The Gladiator Beast player also did not seem to draw the War Chariot or Veiler on time in both of our games so I was able to win easily. The Top 16 match was also held in day 1 and whoever qualifies to the top 8 will have to go to day 2. I had to face my worst match-up this time against a Dino Rabbit deck main decking Macro Cosmos, but somehow I managed to pull it off. I lost game 1 miserably but went on the win the next 2. One thing I noticed is that when I sided in Royal Decree and was able to use it, I was able to freely execute my Inzecter stunts. It appears that his deck is particularly reliant on Cosmos and so it does not have any Effect Veiler to stop my plays, in case I am able to negate or destroy Cosmos. So, with triple MST, 1 Heavy Storm, and 2 Royal Decree, I know I have a big chance to win and indeed I did. So now I qualify for the top 8. However, I was destined to face a teammate and friend in my first match, which made me a bit sad.

Now onto day 2. In the quarter-finals, I am facing my friend Jomer, who is a very good player and is one of the 2011 Asia Plus Team Champions. He is also using Inzecter and despite the fact that I won the match, I did not really feel that I won because I was the better player. The reason was more on my more superior draw compared to his, which allowed me to OTK him in game 3. Moving on to the semi-finals, I will now face another friend and teammate Kaloy, who is also a very good player, one of the 2011 Asia Plus Team Champions, and is the originator of this BLOG. He was using Chaos Dragons and had a perfect record so far. In game 1 I thought I was going to lose, drawing a sub-par hand of 2 Hornet, 1 Gigamantis, 1 Solemn Judgment, and  Duality. The funny part is when I used Duality, it revealed 2 Veiler and 1 Heavy Storm, both of which are not very good cards against Chaos Dragons. I took Veiler, because it can still be useful compared to Heavy Storm which is quite dead and indeed the Veiler paved the way to my game 1 win. I was able to stop his Lyla from milling and destroying my set Solemn Judgment, limiting the number of monsters in his graveyard, while continuously beating him down with Hornet equipped with Gigamantis. When he finally got a light and dark monster in his graveyard, he summoned BLS and I was able to negate with Solemn Judgment. In game 2, I sided in Bottomless Trap Hole and Dimensional Fissure but I did not draw them. The good thing is that I drew enough to perform the Inzecter Stunts and he did not have Veiler to stop it, so I won. This is a game where I feel, skill had played a factor, especially in game 1 wherein we both did not draw well. That situation is where you need to work hard to get the win LOL.

So finally I am one win away from bagging my 3rd National Championship and representing my country in the World Championships for a second time. I really wanted to win because I felt the need to redeem myself especially because I did not perform very well during the 2010 World Championships. My opponent in the finals is no other than my friend and teammate Irwin, who is a very good player and a former judge/tourney organizer. Honestly, it sucks to play against your friend/teammates for the entire duration of day 2, but it takes away the pressure as well, because win or lose, you know that the winner will come from your team. As to Irwin, this is actually his first major event in Yugioh, but let us not down-play his experience. I know for a fact that he is a very competitive and strong player as I often play with him when he was a judge and I have nothing but good things to say about how skilled and dedicated he is. I also heard that he has been consistently joining and winning weekly tournaments lately while I was not even playing at all. He is also adept in other card games such as MTG, WOW, Vanguard, etc. And he happens to be using the best deck around, namely Inzecter, so I know this is a very tough match for me. In game 1, we both started slow, but he got to the Centipede/Damsel + Hornet pieces first. All I got where Grufs and a couple of Hornets and I did not draw Veiler on time. My only Centipede was Veilered. I had Heavy Storm but was unable to capitalize with any plays even if I activate it. Game 2 was pretty much the same. I drew mostly the smaller “equip” Inzecters and my single Veiler was not able to stop him as he had Reborn (his last card), ending his turn with Centipede on the field and Damsel in hand. I have MST in hand and I top decked Warning. GG. Again I drew Heavy Storm and am unable to capitalize because of my sub-par draw. Well, that’s too bad. I almost had it, but that’s life I guess.

On hindsight, I think Irwin was indeed the more deserving person to win. Because given that I am busy with work and wedding preparations, I might not have enough time to prepare for Worlds had I won, substantially lowering my chances of success. As to Irwin, he is pretty skilled, dedicated and he play tests a lot so I think he has a better chance than me ;)  I wish him good luck in his journey to Japan J

My Chaos Dragon Decklist

So basically this post is about my deck that I have used during our Nationals, I was about to make a deck profile with Mike Ting but I can't find him so I will do it myself xD.

So here is my Asia Format Chaos Dragons:

Basically it looks similar to most Chaos Dragon decks with some tech choices which I believed that are a big factor on my finish during nationals, I will explain my card choices below:

Tragoedia - the reason I chose this card is because it could help me survive against the mirror match when my opponent foolishly attempted to end the game immediately I will just drop this and he can't get over it then on my turn I will punish him for over extending.Remember the time that LS ruled the game? The mirror match is usually decided on when a player drops his best monsters on the board, in this case if my opponent over extended I will be saved by tragoedia if I have it in my hand,then on my turn I could steal his monsters via it's effect or get rid his boss monsters with my own.Another good reason to run this card is obviously it can change levels so I can use him as an XYZ material depending on situations.

Instant Fusion - well before this card is not included in my main deck but after I have seen Malaysian Champion Sung Lee's decklist I tested it out.This card game me a lot of moves during the nationals it saved me a lot of times.It could help in making XYZ that you need rank 4 or rank 5 also this card could produce a monster that can be tributed,you lack a dark attribute monster in your graveyard?no problem this card gives you that for a cost of 1000 and tribute it for Lightpulsar Dragon or Darkflare Dragon.You can also use that monster as a material to synchro summon a Brionac or a Catastor.The most important part is it makes your in hand Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon alive,by paying 1000 life points you can summon Darkfire Dragon and banish it to summon REDMD.I would like to thank Sung Lee for this one.

Mind Control - well basically I added this card because of the mirror match since I expected a lot of Chaos Dragons in the tournament.Usually they will leave their Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon on the field if they do I will just take it from them then use it's effect and banish it for my own REDMD.Also it can be used for getting rid of pesky XYZ like Crimson Shadow and Zenmaines.

Mystical Space Typhoon - I used 1 because I feel like having it in my main deck gives me a chance against rogue strategies like Gravekeepers and Dark World which are really hard to fight without any S/T destruction besides Heavy Storm and sometimes Lyla and Ryko are not enough against them.

D.D. crow - I sided this dude because I need to side against Inzektors which are not that hard if you can prevent their equip cards.For those who don't know you can activate D.D. crow in response to the activation of the effect of an Inzektor monster,if you remove their only Inzektor in their graveyard let's say Inzektor Hornet they are forced to equip another Inzektor in their hand if they don't equip any monster you have a chance to verify their hand and you can use that information to decide if you can kill him next turn or not.

Malevolent Catastrophe - This card is sided against Samurai,Rabbit and Gravekeepers or any other decks that rely so much on their S/T.Since this card is no longer that popular it have caught many players off guard during nationals,I only put this in my deck if my opponent goes first.

Royal Decree - same to the card above the difference is I am using this card if I go first instead of Malevolent Catastrophe.

So that's it for my decklist if you have any other questions just leave a comment below.

Placing 3rd in Philippine nationals with Chaos Dragons

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I posted in this blog because I am preparing for our nationals for
the last few weeks.So the most awaited event in Philippine YGO history started yesterday and it is the biggest nationals in our country with 114 participants,after 2 days of hard fought battles we have a new national champion Irwin Arogo!! he finished the tournament with 10-1 record losing a match during the 2nd round of the swiss and won all his matches after that.


Tournament report:
Format:Swiss(Asia Format)
Deck used: Chaos Dragons

Round 1 vs Junely Santos (Machina Gadget)OXO
Game 1:Early Swarm of Red-eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Light Pulsar Dragon are too much for his gadgets.
Game 2:I lost since I could not get rid of his Utopia and Gearframe.
Game 3:I hide behind Red-eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Light Pulsar Dragon.

Round 2 vs Edsel Gozon (Inzektors)OO
Game 1:I had a very godly hand and OTK'd him on my turn.
Game 2:Early swarm + Effect Veiler in hand secured my victory.

Round 3 vs Chiro Morilla (Six Samurai)OO
Game 1:I forced my way to his entire backrow and he can't get rid of my big monsters.
Game 2:He Managed to summon a Shien, Kizan and Zanji with Six Samura United on the field faceup with 1 counter on it. On my turn I summoned a Darkflare Dragon and a Lightpulsar Dragon
then I removed Light Pulsar Dragon to special summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and special Summoned another Darkflare Dragon then I exceed summoned Tiras,keeper of genisis
and attacked Kizan and Zanji.After Battle Phase I destroyed Shien with Tiras and use Mystical Space Typhoon on his Six Samurai united.Then he can't get rid of my monsters.

Round 4 vs (Chaos Dragons) OXO
Game 1:Early Pressure of BLS,Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Light Pulsar Dragon while he have no graveyard forced him to play defensively.
Game 2:I swarmed the field again to pressure him when I attacked for game he use battle fader. On his turn he summoned Eclipse Wyvern and played Emergency Teleport to summons Krebons then he synchro summoned Black Rose Dragon to wipe my field,then he played Monster Reborn to take my Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and it went downhill for me.
Game 3:Future Fusion 1st turn nuff said.

Round 5 vs Carlo Evangelista (Inzektor) XOO
Game 1:I died to inzektor stunts.
Game 2:I opened with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon , Light Pulsar Dragon and 3 Effect Veilers,a terrible hand but when I drew my 6th card it is Instant Fusion!So I played Instant Fusion summoned Darkfire Dragon removed it to summon Red-eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and I special summoned Light Pulsar Dragon.Then I won because of my 3 Effect Veiler's LOL
Game 3:The most important part of this match is when he has a faceup Zenmaines in def position and a face-up Crimson Shadow Ninja.I summoned Black Luster Soldier Envoy of the Beginning and removed the ninja
then I tributed it for Light Pulsar Dragon because I am desperately in need of light monster then I summoned Chaos Sorcerer to remove Zenmaines then exceed them to summon Photon Streak Bouncer then I attacked directly which left him with 500 LP and I won 2 turns after that.

Round 6 vs Cliff Georpe (Hieractics)OO
Game 1:OTK
Game 2:Used Effect Veiler on his Atums then Dark hole to clear the field then swarm.

Round 7 vs Jeff Legarda (Inzektor Windup)OXO
Game 1:1st turn Future Fusion then I swarmed immediately during that same turn.
Game 2:I got looped discarding all cards in my hand.
Game 3:1st turn Future Fusion again LOL I swarmed again immediately then I got dark hole nxt turn 2 turns Later I managed to summon FGD and attacked his face-up Wind-up Hunter.Then on his turn he summoned Wind-up Rat,I immediately removed his Wind-up hunter via D.D. Crow which resulted in
leaving his Wind-up Rat in attack position,he then suicided his zenmaines to my FGD and destroyed my dragon during end phase.On my turn I topped Chaos Sorcerer and attacked his Wind-up Rat for the win.

Top 16 vs JM Pornete (Dark World)XOO
Game 1:Skill Drain + Grapha + Gates of the Dark World.
Game 2:Locked him with Royal Decree.
Game 3:Highlight of this match is when he played Card Destruction while I still have 5 cards in hand and he know what are the 4 cards in it since he used Dragged Down to the Grave  and It resulted in me drawing
Future Fusion , Black Luster Soldier Envoy of the Beginning ,Dark Armed Dragon and other cards that I can't remember LOL.


So by the End of the 1st day I swept the entire tournament with an 8-0 record LOL in my entire YGO career I have never swept swiss rounds before.So I am kinda nervous for the next day and a the same time kinda confident because there are people who have won nationals that are undefeated the entire tournament.

Day 2:
Top 8 vs Cliff Georpe (Hieractic)OXO
Game 1:I opened with 1st turn Future Fusion, he managed to put me in top decking mode which I topped Monster Reborn after I cleared his field with Dark Hole.
Game 2:I got OTK'd since I have no Effect Veiler in hand.
Game 3:I have 2 Effect Veiler's in hand when he attempted to do his combo's and I topped Dark Hole out of nowhere and won from there since he is on top decking mode.

Top 4 vs Alvin Lim (Inzektor)XX
Game 1:For the 1st time in this nationals I was not able to setup my graveyard and I couldn't capitilize on his terrible hands for many turns.
Game 2:A I got killed by Inzektor stunts.

So it is the end of my streak but still I want to have a trophy for this tournament so I kept my focus and played the final game.

Battle for 3rd place vs Rick Mondenedo(LS Lightray)OO
Game 1:I OTK'd him
Game 2:swarmed him and he died.


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nationals is now over and all I can say is I gave everything in this tournament played almost everything perfectly ,minimized my misplays as much as possible and every move I made are thought carefully.In the end I am still 1 game away from the finals and another win away from winning the entire tournament with an undefeated record.
So what is next for me? I need to take a break and prepare for the upcoming Philippine Open Championships this August, then prepare for the Top Shop Qualifier which I place 4th last year and hopefully to defend the Asia+ Crown with my teammates later in the year.
I would like to thank everyone who supported the event and also for those who supported me thank you everything is appreciated.

For the top 8 breakdown here it is:
3 Inzektors
2 Chaos Dragons
1 Laggia
1 Lightsworn Lightray
1 Hieroglyph

I would like to thank Malaysian Champion Sung Lee for giving me the idea to main Instant fusion which is really really useful in Chaos Dragon, he is a good player that knows what tech cards works for his decks.
Also I would like to give a shout out to all my teammates we owned the top 3 spot of this year's nationals!! We did it LOL! Again congratulations to Irwin Arogo for winning the nationals do your best in Japan and hopefully you can win it all!!.