Answer to Incarnate Dragons....

Hi guys what's up! This will be a short one because I am still recovering from dengue which I acquired last week.So for the past 3 days I am playing Dueling Network since I cannot go out.I have found out that Incarnate Dragons are becoming a thing.Today I played 10  incarnate dragon decks but luckily I lost just to 2 in which I made silly mistakes and I haven't seen them before in action (gonna make a post about the deck later once I recovered.).Anyway here is my answer to the deck:


Mental Drain




If you guys have any ideas how to stop the Ugly Dragons just post you comments below!

Still Alive! Asia Championship Qualifier is near!

Hi everyone! Yes it's me LOL and I am still alive well I am half dead from playing YGO because of what is happening in our community.Anyway I am here to Announce that our Asia Championship Qualifier for this year is held on February 23 so for all Filipino players out there better save money and train hard!.This is the first of 3 major events held yearly so everyone should be prepared.As a long time player I am here to help players understand the fckn meta of our country.

So here are the decks that I expect to see on the said event:

1.)Machina Gadgets- The deck that I consider as the National Deck LOL because most Philippine players are using this fckin deck and I am so sick of seeing this deck time and time again LOL.Do I really need to explain how this works?They just summon gadget bla bla bla, then if you are unlucky you will die to Limiter Removal + Gearframe Combo in an instant LOL.But seriously don't get overwhelmed by their massive cards because most of those cards are just gadgets!

2.)Fire Fist - well it is the new archetype that was introduced in Cosmo Blazar.It is like the 2nd version of inzektors,though it cannot OTK you like the ugly bugs,they gain lots of advantage just by inflicting damage or destroying your monster.Only tip I can say is if you can't get rid of their fckn backrows go and eliminate their monsters ASAP!.Another tip is if you can rush this deck to it as much as possible plox.!

3.)Agents - A deck that returned because of the semi-limiting of Agent of Creation -Earth.Well the deck is not new to everyone and we all know how Skillful it is to have Hyperion in tough situations and also Kristiya is a powerful card.

4.)Wind-ups - ahh the deck that got boosted because of TCG exclusves LOL anyway this deck for me is the best deck in the tournament because of it's ability to control and OTK almost anytime.Better side those Gozen Matches or Rivalry of Warlords! Another tip be sure to know when to activate Effect Veiler and Maxx C because one wrong use and you are gone.

5.)Chaos Dragons - everyone knows how this deck works, they just play small monsters to force you to play your cards and at the right time they will just launch a swarm of BIG monsters.

6.)Six Samurai - Because opening Gateway is so skillful and we all know that every samurai player here thinks that Wslasher is their master LOL. Anyway as for the deck it is very linear just summon monsters and set backrows.Once you break through their backrows the deck doesn't have a chance to comeback because of it's poor top decking ability.Be careful of Naturia Beast BTW.

Other decks like Mermail,Verz and Sacred are not in my radar because of how expensive those decks are and we know that most players here are going for cheaper and powerful decks than expensive and powerful ones.So as you can see our Meta is a bit different from Singapore and Malaysia but what we have in common is that everyone wants to play competitively and what drives us to train hard for big events like this!

So that is it for my 1st post of 2013 :) later!

It’s been a while…

It’s been a while…

Hi everyone! It’s been ages since I last posted in this BLOG. Been very busy lately and since I just got married, I have even less time to spend for Yugioh. I was not able to join any major events lately as I had to attend some really important meetings and family matters during weekends.

Today I’m not going to talk about any tournament reports not only because I wasn’t able to join any LOL, but more importantly, I want to impart a few tips to beginners and intermediate players who want to improve their game and up their chances of winning. Please note that I am in no way claiming to be some guru, I just want to share what I know mostly for the benefit of people new to the game and encourage them to play competitively. Here in the Philippines, there are a lot of casual players who choose not to join tournaments. Part of the reason for not playing competitively is the mindset of losing to “pro” or experienced players. Hopefully, including a short “Points to Ponder” section every time I post on this BLOG will help new and aspiring players improve their game and may be able to convince people that even the best pros can lose to new players as long as they got their basics right. For the past years, I have witnessed the power level of newly printed cards grow exponentially that nowadays, the so called “pros” can lose just as easily as the next guy against lesser opponents who drew better. I am not saying skill isn’t a factor anymore, I am just stating that nowadays, luck is as much a factor as skill.

Points to Ponder

Before I begin, I would like to say that this section is primarily intended to give players who are quite new to the game some insights which could possibly help them succeed in the competitive scene. Most experienced players already know everything about what I have to say, so please don’t bash me and say, “we already know this. You suck. Blah, blah, blah.”

Deckbuilding. Being competitive means not only being skilled in playing the game. Equally important is the deck you choose to play and the effectiveness and efficiency of the build. There have been times where I have heard people get complimented for not using X card and still winning. Example: “Wow, he won using a standard Inzecter deck without Duality. Talk about skill. He must be really pro.” If you are saying this to make the guy feel good, then there is nothing wrong with it. But if you truly believe that winning using a deck with a sub-optimal build is all about skill, then you are mistaken. If anything, luck played a bigger factor because using a deck that lacks some essential components will make it a bit harder for you to win no matter how skilled you are and you will need luck on your side to pull through.

So, what exactly is my point here? I am saying that your deck will further lose consistency and power without certain essential cards which add to its efficiency and effectiveness (e.g. Duality in Inzecter/Heroes, Tour Guide in Wind-up/Dino Rabbit). These have either been statistically proven, determined by common sense, or the cards are just plain broken and are therefore “too good not to play.” As long as you are able to afford those cards with no problems, you will have a bigger chance of success in a tournament if you have them in your deck. Please note that I am in no way implying it is impossible to win without these “power” cards. I am just stating that they increase your chances of winning due to the added consistency and power that they give your deck.

As the saying goes, “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.” Your deck is your “weapon” of choice and if your weapon is inferior, then you’re in deep trouble if you are facing someone skilled who has a superior weapon.

Hanzo saw a new light!

Hi guys zup? It's been a while since I have posted here.Anyway Top Store Tournament is over and seriously it is a waste of time.Why? Because unlike last year, the winner for the tournament will have a chance to represent his store, to face the winners from different parts of Southeast Asia.Now the prizes are just a simple play mat, which we sell to our Japanese friend (for 1500 pesos LOL) and EXP3 for the top 2-8(yes you read that right) and the champ received A box of EXP5. Anyway that is over and I would like to share to you, what I have been using lately and here it is:


Deck: Hanzo Hieratics

Monsters:22
3 Su
3 Eset
1 Nebthet
3 Tefnuit
3 Hanzo
2 Maxx "c"
2 Effect Veiler
2 Wattail Dragon
2 Tragoedia
1 REDMD

Spells:12
2 Hieratic Seal of Convocation
2 Nightshot
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Forbidden Lance
1 Heavy Storm
1 Monster Reborn
2 Pot of Duality

Traps:6
3 Ninjitsu Art of Supertransformation
2 Torrential Tribute
1 Solemn Judgment

Extra Deck:
2 Constellar M7
3 Hieratic King Atum
3 Gaia Thunder Charger
1 Inzektor Exa-beetle
1 Volcasaurus
1 Tiras
1 Constellar Pleides
1 Sword Breaker
1 Photon Bounzer
1 Focus Force

I decided to use Ninja Hieratics because of the advantage I can get from the newly legalized card in the form of Constellar M7!!! My favorite play of this deck is to summon Hanzo and set Super Transformation and turn your opponent's monster into a dragon(usually is Su) then next turn clear backrow and go for OTK or go and summon Constellar M7 and pickup Hanzo from GY and proceed to make your opponent's monsters into another Hieratic LOL. Heck you can even recycle your hand traps to make your opponent's life a living hell.


Before, I was using Standard Hieratics but as each match I play, I realized one thing and that is other than Tragoedia and Gorz,I have no real defense, then that decided me to use Hanzo Hieratics. Sure the deck is slower that standard Hieratics but there is always a time where you need to wait and exhaust your opponent's resources before you go for the final push.Before, I always go YOLO with the deck and I have been successful with it.But in this format going YOLO everyday will not take you anywhere,sure you can top but you will never go to higher heights with that strategy.As you can see there is nothing special with the deck,but I can assure you that the deck can stand against the Meta today.It really is funny that a single card turned a deck that was hit by the Ban-list into a contender overnight.So that's it for my post today.


Oh before I forgot I would like to thank the following people:
Shahmir- For teaching me how to use Hieratics
Andrew Ng- for trolling Shahmir and for letting me watch his games on DN.
Mike Ting - for destroying Standard Hieratics which turned my deck to Hanzo Hieratics overnight LOL
Yuki and Irwin- For Ultra M7
Team Asiong: LOL still the Best Team in the country 6 players in top 16 during Top Store.
Courtside - for another event without them YGO is dead 5 years ago in the country.

See you again later.

New Format Chaos Dragons

Hi everyone! YCS Indianapolis showed us that former Tier 1 decks are not yet dead even thought they are hit by Konami's Banlist and Chaos Dragons showed their power on that YCS.Let's take a look at the different builds used by the player who topped 8 with my favorite deck last format.


Steffon Bizzell (8th place YCS Indianapolis)
3 LPD
3 Darkflare
1 Red-eyes
1 Dark armed
1 Wyvern
3 Ryko
3 Lyla
2 Trooper
1 BLS
1 Sorcerer
2 TGU
1 Sangan
1 Night assailant
1 Gorz
2 Tragoedia
2 Maxx c
2 Effect veiler
1 Dimensional alchemist

3 Solar recharge
2 Mystical space typhoon
1 Charge of the light brigade
1 Monster reborn
1 Dark hole
1 Heavy storm
1 Allure of darkness

Side

3 Gemini imps
1 Maxx c
2 Thunder king
1 Mst
2 Prohibition
2 Soul taker
2 Compulsory evacuation device
2 Royal decree

Extra

1 Leviathan
1 Giga-brilliant
1 Adreus
1 Leviair
1 Temtempo
1 Black rose
1 Zenmaioh
1 Scrap dragon
1 Acid golem
1 Gaia charger
1 Exa-beetle
1 Zenmaines
1 Photon bounzer
1 Maestroke
1 Queen dragun djinn

As you can see his deck is very standard which makes the deck as good as before.Yes, the deck has lost it's 1 card almost win card when resolved in Future Fusion,2 Chaos Sorcerers and a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (no one uses 3 anyways in chaos dragons) but the deck is still explosive as hell.Summoning boss monsters for free is something to be feared.No deck in this format can handle a huge stream of monsters which contains 2000+ attack even wind-ups didn't survived the aggression of this deck.Sure wind-ups is the best deck of the format but the explosiveness of Chaos Dragons is very unpredictable you don't know when you will die against them.

All I can say he made a great call in maining Maxx "C" because he can swarm the field and force his opponent to special summon monsters under Maxx "C" which will surely net him lots of cards to fight back next turn.If his opponent just played passively surely he will die next turn because of the large stream of boss monsters.If I were to change something in his deck I will swap the Night Assailant and the Dimensional Alchemist for a pair of Debris Dragon.OCG does not yet have Tour Guide but I have seen Japanese players like NANA and others that used the deck and won which showed that the deck is a legitimate threat to every deck out there.

So that's it for my productive post LOL anyway I have something to say to the Hiero player that placed 4th on YCS Indianapolis: Hieratics is an OTK deck I know, but when your opponent played Maxx "C" ,know when to stop because you will not always get lucky if you allow your opponent to net 10+ cards.

See you guys! Thanks for your time.

Finally!!!

Promo cards are FINALLY LEGAL here in the Philippines!!! Gonna make a productive post later LOL I am playing DOTA so I am busy hahahahah

Hieratics my new love LoL

Hi guys what's up! When the banlist was announced,I sat down in front of my computer thinking of what deck to use for this format. I have tested various decks and I ended up in playing Hieratics.With the help of Shahmir -a player from Malaysia I tested with him, tried different builds and ended with this:


Decklist:

Monsters:(20)
3x Hieratic Tefnuit
3x Hieratic Nebthet
3x Hieratic Su
3x Hieratic Eset
2x Cardcar D
1x Honest
2x Tragoedia
1x Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
2x Wattdragon

Spells:(16)
3x Nightshot
3x Mystical Space Typhoon
2x Smashing Ground
1x My body as a shield
1x Heavy Storm
1x Dark hole
2x Hieratic Seal of convocation
1x Monster Reborn
2x Pot of Duality
1x Forbidden Lance

Traps:(3)
2x Compulsory Evacuation Device
1x Solemn Judgment

Extra Deck:(15)
3x Hieratic King Atum
3x Gaia Thunder Charger
1x No.61:Volcasaurus
1x Tiras,Keeper of Genesis
1x Inzektor Exa-Beetle
1x No.25:Force Focus
1x Photon Streak Bounzer
1x Sword Breaker
1x Blackrose Dragon
1x Ancient Holy Wyvern
1x AOJ Catastor

This deck has lots of ways to OTK the opponent and my favorite is this one:

(Compulsory Evacuation Device Set a turn earlier)
-Clear Backrow with lots of hate
-Summon Atum
-Special summon Red-eyes Darkness Metal Dragon from deck
-Special any Dragon LoL
-Bounce REDMD and special summon him by removing random dragon
-use REDMD summon a hieratic,tribute that hieratic,exceed for Bounzer or Exa-beetle if the latter after using beetle effect exceed for Thunder Charger :)

Tech Choices:
Smashing Ground - I decided to use this card because there is only 1 card that can stop me in my tracks and that is Archlord Kristya.With the announcement of Promo Cards will be legal in SEA this card is the instant answer to Thunder King and Fossil Dyna.

My Body as a Shield - when your OTK fails this is the answer for Dark Hole!

Try Hieratics and I am sure that you guys will fell in love with the deck.You can also experiment builds that you are comfortable with like Malaysia's K'yde creating a Hieratic Deck with psychic cards.So later guys :)

Not YGO related post

I just want to say that I don't know how to play DOTA anymore LoL :((( pawned 0-13 today :((((

Asia Plus and some things

Hi Guys Asia Plus is fast approaching and to those who do not know Asia Plus,it is a team tournament which should be made of three members.Each member share the same banlist so meaning cards are shared to every individuals and decks must be thought carefully which will show our deck building abilities.

So by the 27th of October, our country will be holding the qualifiers for Asia Plus and the winner will get a free trip to HK and will get a chance represent the country.So for our Philippine readers please find you teammates and build your decks now because we only have a month and a week to prepare.

Last year our group had a lots of fun time talking and playing with foreign players and we have learned much from them, hopefully we could return to Asia Plus and defend the title.Asia Plus taught me many things that you cannot rely on staples alone to win tournaments,you must know that there are other cards out there from the norm.Also I have enjoyed creating decks for my team,discussing tech cards after tech cards,having training camps in other's houses but in the end you guys are all tired just from the travel and you will no longer practice LoL.


So that's it for Asia Plus and my boring short story about my experience last year.Now we will tackle the Legalization of Promo cards in Southeast Asia.

I have been playing yugioh since it began and it became a part of me.After years of playing there are cards that were not allowed for tournaments and they are the Promo cards and DT cards.We all know how powerful those promo cards are from Elemental Hero Stratos to Shock Master,but who does not want to play cool monsters like them with so cool effects.Heroes will finally have their time to shine and anti-meta players like myself will finally be able to play our favorite anti-meta cards.Promo Cards will surely change the shape of the meta here,that every deck will have to adapt with the cooler and powerful cards.Even though DT cards are not allowed (with the exemption of DT1 and DT2) playing them is surely good than much limited card pool.

So far other SEA countries will apply this rule immediately,except our country.The reason is that we are still waiting for our TO to confirm if the recent news will applied to us.So if there is someone out there that could help our TO search or get info it will be much appreciated.

Oh I almost forgot you guys should read Edsel's post on what Promo cards did to some of our players featuring Raioh  LoL it is very funny really. Edsel's Blog

My 1st tournament of the new format!

Hi guys! Yesteday I went to Robinsons Galleria to join our weekly tournament. I was planning to join atleast 3 pods today but when I arrived only the final pod is available.When I was about to put my name on the list I saw that almost all the participants are from our team which made me think twice,whatever I still joined.

Deck used: Pure Hieratic
Format:Sanctioned - Single Elimination

Game 1 vs Drain Valley
Round 1: I started with Cardcar D then and a set card. He opened with Necrovalley then summoned Malefic  Cyber End Dragon and inflicted 4k damage to me.On my turn I OTK'd him.
Round 2: I opened with full monster hand and surely I can OTK him with that hand,but he used Royal Tribute on his 1st turn :(
Round 3 I stalled with Tragoedia for a while and keep using Mystical Space Typhoon on his Necrovalley to prevent him from summoning Malefic Monsters.

Game 2 vs Irwin Arogo (Genex Mermail)
Round 1:Game went slow during the 1st 2 turns and I OTK'd him when he left a monster on the field during his turn.
Round 2:I think he just ended his turn immediately then I summoned Photon Bounzer.On his turn he summoned a Mermail Abysspike which I negated with Bounzer just to prevent him from searching from deck.He discarded Atlantean Seahorse and searched for Megaloabyss he ended with Megaloabyss,Zenmaines and Gachi Gachi both exceeds are in defense position leaving me with no cards on the field.On my turn I OTK'D him destroying Megaloabyss with Volcasaurus then attacked Gachi Gachi with double Thunder Charger.

Game 3 vs Jomer Flores (Agent Inzektor)
Round 1:He just set a monster then I OTK'D him LoL
Round 2:He made a wall of 2 Zenmaines,Gachi Gachi and a Hyperion.I swarmed the field then destroyed Gachi Gachi and Hyperion.Next turn he died LoL.

Game 4 vs (Machina)
Round 1: I attempted to OTK his clear field but suddenly I made a mistake LoL I was aiming for double Thunder Charger and a Focus Force but I ended with 2 Thunder Charger,Nebthet, and a 0 attack Wattdragon LoL.Next turn he summoned Scrap Dragon and destroyed my 2 weak monsters :(
Round 2: I OTK'd him immediately LoL
Round 3: This game went to a grind game I have a Hieratic Atum,a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and a  Hieratic Su on the field. He had a defense positioned Maestroke then he summoned Gearframe and Summoned Machina Fortress.He equipped Gearframe to Fortress attacked my Hieratic Atum and I won because Red-Eyes stayed on the field for 2 more turns.Then Alvin Lim asked him why he didn't attacked Red-Eyes,he said that he was afraid of Mirror Force.


So This is my Tournament Report for the start of the Format and to those who say that Hieratics are dead Go and burn yourselves LoL.Thanks for your time :) See Ya!

Attention to all Duelists!

Quit complaining about every format and start playing!


Yugioh will never return to what it is used to,if you truly love the game, play and adapt! So stop whining about the game!.

Hope you heard the message.

My Top Decks of the format

Zup guys!As the title says I will make a quick post for the new format so here they are:

1.)Mermail - with the deck's ability to control and swarm the field faster than other decks expect this deck to be on your top tables every event.

2.)Wind-ups - as of now windups are not that popular in asia format but wait until Wind-up Shark and Wind-up Rabbit gets reprinted.For TCG I suggest you must be prepared facing this deck,even though Wind-up Zenamaity is limited the deck can still swarm like crazy.

3.)Hieratic - you guys may laugh at this but seriously even with just 1 REDMD the deck can still OTK and swarm the field with large amount of XYZ monsters.

4.)Agents - the deck is back and Kristiya is still one of the best monster in the game especially that Inzektors are dead there is nothing to stop the anti special summon fairy.


So that's it for my quick post I did not include DW in the list because of so many weakness of the deck especially the mirror if the deck became popular.

A very special day for one of Philippine's top player!

                   Hi guys what's up?? Today is Alvin Lim's Wedding and Team Asiong/Team Top deck are attending.I would like to congratulate him for this special day! For those who do not know Alvin Lim AKA "Blue Minotaur" he is the two-time National Champion and the most respected player in the country.So best of wishes to Alvin Lim and his wife to be.Anyway for YGO related stuff the banlist is out and it's official you can find it at
http://shriek.twoday.net/stories/129655023/ I will tell you guys that next format is going to be interesting,don't count out my beloved Chaos Dragons because they are not dead yet that is for sure.So see you guys later and I must get dressed now because if I will be late Irwin will scold me LoL :)) later guys!

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!!.

Weekly Tournament report! 6/9/2012

Hi guys it's been a while since I have posted something in this blog, kinda busy watching NBA and cheering for my Boston which lost to Miami :( and also doing school related stuff.I am still having a hard time to decide what deck to use for nationals, because of the following reasons:

1.)Philippine's meta is different from other countries because not everyone could build a  tier 1 deck.Which means people here use different kinds of decks from Machina Gadgets to Dark World and to any deck you can and cannot imagine.Some people might think it is easy to win here but actually it is not because  you cannot predict what your opponent is using especially those who are not the regular guys since they do not play the Big 3 decks in the country which is Inzekter, Chaos Dragons and Samurai.

2.)We have seeded players for this event- as you have read from the other blogs from Malaysian and Singaporean players they are having a tournament which grants the winner a slot to be seeded in their nationals.Being seeded give you a big advantage because you will be inserted in the tournament on a specific round,which makes you fresh than the other players that played before you entered and also it gives you the opportunity to prepare and watch how the other players play.

3.) I am still looking for the deck that I am most comfortable with LOL.In every big event I always choose the deck that I am most comfortable with,usually not the deck is the strongest in the format.

So that's it so far I have tested and used every deck in the format and there are so many decks to choose from and it is really hard to decide.


So for my tournament report:

I went to Courtside so early because I got bored in our house LOL,I registered for the 2nd POD and I borrowed Irwin's Chaos Dragons.Don't expect this report to be informative because Chaos Dragons usually ends up with an OTK most of the time.

Round 1 vs Jeff Legarda (Wind-up Inzektors) OO
Game 1: I have a terrible hand of high level monsters but luckily he is using Wind-up Inzektors and discarded 4 cards in my hand. On my turn I summoned  Light Pulsar Dragon,Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and a Dark Flare Dragon.
Game 2: same as game 1

Round 2 vs Van Williamson (Chaos Dragons)OXX

Game 1: I opened with Tragoedia,Light Pulsar,Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon,Dark flare Dragon, Eclipse Wyvern and a Lyla. I just ended my turn and he played Future Fusion and swarmed the field then he is stopped by Tragoedia and on my turn I OTK'd him.
Game 2:He OTK'd me since I have no Tragoedia LOL
Game 3: :Lost to back to back top decked Torrential Tribute.


Since I lost early I decided to join the 4th POD of our tournament and I still used Chaos Dragons.


Round 1 vs Sergeo Cruz (Inzektor)OXO

Game 1: Forced my way to his back row and summoned a Light Pulsar and Red-eyes Darkness Metal with Veiler in hand, when he summoned Inzektor Damsel I negated it's effect with Effect Veiler.
Game 2:Damsel loop + Transmigration Prophecy got rid of my key cards.
Game 3:First Turn Future Fusion.


Round 2 vs Kent Diño (Inzektor Wind-up)OXO
Game 1: He summoned Zenmaighty which got Veilered and then I OTK'd him on my turn.
Game 2:I have total control on the field I have Chaos Sorcerer and a Light Pulsar Dragon, while he has a facedown Inzektor Gullho which he saved with Book of Moon that is blown by my MST and a set monster with 1 card in hand which is Inzektor Damsel searched by Inzektor Centipede.I attacked with Chaos Sorcerer on the facedown Inzektor Gullho and my Light Pulsar Dragon attacked the facedown monster which is Morphing jar #2. >_>
Game 3:I opened with Charge of Light Brigade and Solar Recharge LOL also I have D.D. Crow in hand and Effect veiler to stop his combos.

Round 3 vs Jeff Legarda (Inzektor Wind-up)OXO
Game 1: While shuffling his hand cards he noticed he have 7 cards in hand.We called the judge and he was awarded with a game loss.
Game 2:Dimensional Fissure + Wind-up Loop
Game 3:I just set all my spells in my backrow and hoped does not have a Heavy Storm.Then I took control of the field with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Light Pulsar Dragon destroying everything in their path.

Finals vs Irwin Arogo (Inzektor)XX
I gave him the win coz we are hungry and I borrowed his deck LOL.



So thats it for my report until next time,if you have any comments just leave it below thank you for your time!