A Resurrection

"An opera has no dialogue, only song" -Hidden Fog

Our lives are on an enormous roulette wheel, and every day we wake up, we spin that wheel and hope for the absolute best. Whatever it lands on will determine the outcome of that day; good or bad. Almost every little entry on that wheel is one you wrote on yourself, but there were already some options written on there that you could not erase. These are your bad days, your depressing days, your melancholy days, the days no human being is permitted to live without. Life is only gracious enough to allow you to fill the details of your life based on how you want to live it. We would all very much appreciate an average day just like any other rather than land on those bad marks, because an average day warms on to everyone. Most of us all naturally hate change and there's nothing wrong with that; however, life attached our beings to this wheel for reasons beyond us, and you know what the worst part is? Somewhere on this huge wheel, in the smallest of the smallest area, lies one option that says "You die today."As we age, all these melancholy sections life put on our wheels grow larger and larger, until landing on them is truly inevitable.

All of this is leading up the fact that sometimes, you simply have no choice but to deal with what the wheel of life has dealt you. You meet new people, and old ones may leave you, but life will always go on until you land on that fatal area. Until then, it's up to you to decide how you live your life, and you have no choice but to spin that wheel and hope it gives you your daily dose of the usual.

This is all mostly for me.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Game Analysis Week 15

By Froylan Carreno

Everything has come down to this. The last I week I'm obliged to write this blog. And the last week before the new ban list is announced this Friday. I have to say, it's been really therapeutic writing these articles, and I have enjoyed writing them as well. Though I realize I'm mostly writing these to myself and no one will probably ever read all these articles to their completion. My words are my own.

Any who, everyone is just up in arms debating what the ban list will do to the meta. I could really care less but I just want Konami to hit Dragon Rulers, and FINISH them off once and for all (whereas they failed horrible last ban list at hitting them). I haven't been doing much of anything Yugioh related, too busy with other things. I was just on DN using Lightsworns. The deck was not as broken as people thought they were going to be. I lost to a Cyber Dragon deck with it's own new support, and personally I think it's a lot better than the Lightsworn support. Heck. Cyber Dragons even got an Xyz monster that is pretty good, because it fucked me up good. Though to be fair, I did draw pretty bad, and it looked he drew pretty good.

In other news, I still only have one lame Inzektor deck I've had since and much before I started writing this blog. I've been meaning to get a 2nd deck for a long time, but there are just so many choices on decks I could use, it's very hard to make up my mind. I want to find a deck that cheap, cool, and wins at least somewhat often. Among those I chose Hieratics, Battlin' Boxers, Traptrix, Bujins, and couple of other decks I can't remember. I'm just so indecisive even now. Inzektors have served me well up to now, I'm going to consider dismantling them until much later.

I'm really out of ideas to write about now. Things have been extra slow lately. The only things going on is the ban list's approach, and for many it's like an early Christmas. lol. Nothing really big is going to happen until after it's released, and after that nothing else until January. I might come back here and write about it. But now I will have my own schedule. And I'll be able to write about other things besides Yugioh, because frankly I get tired writing about news that no one really cares about, or they already know. I want to write about Pokemon or anime, or even about my freaking day. I love Yugioh, but I didn't realize writing about it would be so . . . trying. When I go off, I go off though and I could write for pages upon pages of nothing but Yugioh. Hmmmmm maybe I just wanted to express my opinion instead of writing Yugioh news. Yeah I think I'll do that now. For now though, I have a lot of other homework to get to, and they all need doing. To the one or two people who read this to their entirety. I salute you.

you.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Game Analysis Week 14

By Froylan Carreno

Time and time again, Yu-Gi-Oh has mesmerized me. The amount of times you get good deals on cards from friends and vendors, and the times you get ripped off by them. In a way, it's a lot like real life and if that's not deep, I don't know what is. Really, that's all this article really needs, but some things have been buzzing around the Yu-Gi-Oh world. The ban list is upon us soon, and its hard to believe it's already been almost 15 weeks since the the new/old banlist was unveiled, and since I started writing this blog. Its been a good run, but I think I might just update this blog every now and then, even after my class ends on the 15th week. But for now its Yu-Gi-Oh talking time.

Konami has been a bit excited about this month's banlist. Not only did they announced a release date for it, they also hinted at what might be in it. Anything from unbanning Crush Card Virus (a very OP and expensive card that basically kills every deck) to supporting zombies and Batterymen with getting some of their support back from the banlist. But really, I'm just hoping they unban SOMETHING, since nothing has been unbanned for over a year, and the unbanning is my personal favorite part of the banlist. I really thought it was shame they didn't unban anything in forever, but this time around we might all get a break! Also, the ban list will almost undoubtedly hit Dragon Rulers, and like Prophecy and Constellers as well, to name a few. It would be nice if my Inzektors could get a boost from the ban list as well, but I know just would they could do if they got their old power back.

Honestly, I haven't been on DN, in a while. I have too much other stuff to do, but I have been keeping up with some of the big Yu-Gi-Oh players on Youtube. Too much to my delight, they've informed me that there are several decks besides Dragon Rulers starting to top regional events. I gave this some thought and came up with some theories: Perhaps people are starting to become aware that Rulers will get the ax this coming ban list, or maybe they were just tired of using them. Either way, this is great news that pleases me. Yu-Gi-Oh is a card game that needs to be about variety, not a one single deck absolutely killing every other deck (cough Dragon Rulers). Dragons have had their time, and it's time for the ban list to put them down.

To close things off, I'm about one week short of getting the 15 articles I need for the class so I just might write one last of these later today or tommorow. I enjoy writing these, but at my own pace and when I feel like it. Lately, other hobbies have been interesting me a bit more than this game, but Yu-Gi-Oh will always be there, at least in my heart. Because I just got back into Pokemon, and boy is it back more than ever. Even so, I will write another article as soon as I can. For the sake of the class and my conscience.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Game Anaylsis; Week 13

By Froylan Carreno

I find it funny as soon as "Number 7: Big Eye" got reprinted, everyone starts pulling him out out of his native pack. Before, he was worth nearly a hundred dollars (and was one of the few cards to ever reach that threshold), and after his reprint as a PROMO card, his price hiked down to 30$, and will probably continue to spiral downwards. Most of the other secret rare cards that were reprinted as promos are now worth less than 10$, when at their peaks could have been worth upwards of 50$. It really sucks when one of your expensive cards gets reprinted, but that's Yugioh for you: A bet, or a an investment. You pull an expensive or good card you don't need, your objective is to sell or trade it as fast as possible (unless you want to keep it to make your trade binder look pretty, like me). To put this cards value in perspective, "Big Eye" had the effect to take any monster from the opponent field, and allowed Big Eye's controller to use it as its own. Since there are not many legal cards that have this effect, Big Eye was believed, and is still considered, one of the strongest monsters of all time. For me personally, he is on my list of cards that NEEDS to go to one via the ban list. Only having to worry about one Big Eye is not nearly as bad as having to worry about 3 that could all sometimes be made in one turn. He was partly broken, and shot up in price, due to Dragon Rulers, and Dragon Rulers alone. Big Eye was originally a ten dollar card, until word got out that you could make rank 7 Xyz's easily with Dragon Rulers, and before Draccosac, Big Eye was the only good rank 7 Xyz. Then Draccosac himself was released, and all hell was unleashed with the unstoppable power of Dragon Rulers. So one could say, Dragon Rulers would not be what they are today without the assistance of Big Eye. And vice-versa. 

Recently on DN, I've been playing with Lightsworns, an old archetype that recently just got support. Overall, the new reformed deck is not as good as it used to be, and perhaps even worse since you have to sacrifice many cards in the deck to squeeze all the new cards and the cards that you now have to run to make the most of them. The deck definitely has had me some awesome duels, but some equally disappointing ones as well. Right now I am just trying to enjoy dueling with it, and not worrying much about how good or bad it is. The deck works and can hold its own and that's mostly all that matters. Like most decks on DN, I will eventually lose interest in it, but if I deem it to be competitive, it will most likely remain on my list of favorite decks. 

Not much else to speak about. Nothing Yu-Gi-Oh noteworthy is occurring in the coming weeks, except the ban list in about a month's time. I've been talking about it for a while now, and now that its approaching I feel weird getting a ban list so quickly after another. Originally, another ban list would not have been released until March, but this new system is much more copacetic for me, and likely for everyone else as well---Simply for the fact Dragon Rulers, and any other broken cards, will hopefully have a much shorter life span, thereby improving the Yu-Gi-Oh game, and meta in general. So yeah, only a few weeks left until then, and until then. Or a little before lol. 

Yu-Gi-Oh! Game Analysis; Week 12

By Froylan Carreno

Yeah I changed up the title a bit. I might change it around some more later on. But yeah a bit has happened since last week. Konami announced a special re-release of Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants, that by itself is not very newsworthy, but it's the promos that are being put in it that are significant: "Safe Zone, "High Priestess of Prophecy", "Number 11: Big Eye", "Fog King", and "Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana." All these cards are EXCELLENT reprints that all were worth at least 20$ before this sets announcement. Naturally, their prices will drop significantly, as is the case with all reprinted cards. For me personally, the only card I will be looking to get is "Safe Zone, as the other cards are mostly archetype specific, and have no use outside of their respective decks. Could these reprints be meta changing? No, simply because Dragon Rulers are still around, and they ain't taking no one's @#$%. just yet. Either way, this set would have gone largely unnoticed and unpopular if it wasn't for the inclusion of these reprints, which by the way are getting reprinted as Ultra Rare. It sucks the most when a one-rarity card is reprinted as a promo in the exact same rarity. However, there are no Ultra Rare Cards being reprinted in this set.

Honestly, I've been playing Call of Duty mostly since last week, but I have had some time to continue playing on DN with Traptrix. They've been pretty successful for being such a small and poorly know archetype. They've done well enough that I'm actually considering building them in real life. They are cheap, easy to find, and almost every backrow card it needs I already have. The only problems with it are that you almost always have to go first, or you will have a tough time winning, as the deck lacks big monsters to kill other monsters already on the field, excluding the Extra Deck. Really, it's a deck that could be much better if it had a bit more support. Ergo, the deck has really not been doing great in the meta, but I have heard of it topping a tournament once or twice in the past. I guess they can be considered a rogue deck because of that fact. Though they still have a long way to go to become Tier 2 or higher.

On a more personal note, one of my friends has been spending a crap ton of money on Yu-Gi-Oh cards since he got financial aid, and went from having nearly nothing, to having almost something. . . which is not much but I guess it's still better than nothing. He is also playing Call of Duty, and he seems to enjoy it almost as much as I do. It's just so amusing, it's been distracting me from almost everything. Hmmmm but I just finished a duel on DN, and the dude ragequit because I basically killed his whole field with my backrow (Backrow = Spells/Traps in the "backrow") A lot of people actually quit, and it's pretty amusing. Though I don't get any experience points, the experience itself is self-motivating. For me, at least. GG until next week. Lol.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Analysis Week 11

By Froylan Carreno

Hello everybody! Just trying to catch up a bit here. Hopefully I'll only be a day or two behind after this, if at all. So really, not much has happened since yesterdery... but there I'll some things I forgot to mention. Yesterday I traded quite a bit of my actual cards for money and other cards I thought would be nice. I got a "Fusion Devourer" and a "Sage of Silence." The cards themselves are pretty much useless and worthless, but I really like the art on them.I traded some cards I didn't really use or care about so it was about worth it. I also got 20$ for selling my "Diagusto Emeral," a card that is realllllllly pretty and somewhat useful, but my friend just kept begging me to sell it to him, and I kind of felt bad for saying no for so long, so I sold him it^_^.

I'm still on the fence of what second deck I want to make, it could be either Battlin' Boxers, Heiratics, or Bujins. All 3 decks are good in their in retrospect, the best one probably being Bujins (but also the most expensive). Battlin' Boxers would probably be the cheapest and easiest deck to play/build, but likely also the weakest and relies too heavily on protecting one monster. Heiratics would be somewhere in between these two, but it's much more inconsistent than the other two decks put together. You essentially have one play, and if you exhaust all your resources making that play, you're almost guaranteed to lose. If I had to chose, I would play none of these decks. If Ghostricks were good, I'd definitely be playing those, or if I had the money to afford one of my good decks on DN, I would build one of those instead. But remember, one always has to weary of the ban list, and all the major changes it might bring to the Meta. Oh, and I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I collect banned cards. No real reason, except its' just cool, and some cards rocket up in price when they get unbanned, or even when they are rumored to be going to be unbanned... Lol.

Still a crap load of bad players playing Dragon Rulers on DN, but I've gotten used to it. Noble Knight cards in Shadow Specters is a crap ton of money, as expected. And all the decks that actually need support, like Toons, Ojamas, and Spirits, have no new support, as usual. If you play Yu-Gi-Oh, you learn to expect a lot of things from Konami, primarily to never expect much of them. They don't go by what people ask for, only what will line their pockets with the prettiest wall paper. I really hate it when they reprint cards that did NOT need a reprint, like "Gagaga Cowboy", and BLS. There were tons of other cards that were more in demand, and harder to get, with too many of them to name. If they really want to make money, and keep their consumers happy, they should listen with what we have to say, or at least what I say:
1. Better ban lists, by unbanning more cards that will do nothing if they come back, and by banning more cards that NEED to be banned IMMEDIATELY.
2. Give archetypes that actually NEED support... support! Like Toons, Spirits, Ojamas, and Bujins! Don't just give them random shitty cards either. They've done that before, and only angered everyone.
3. FIX first turn advantage. It really sucks that going first almost guarantees you a win. It would STRONGLY help if they made 1st turn player skip their Draw Phase and Battle Phase turn 1, or prevent them from activating any card effects or Special Summoning any monsters that turn. This is my #1 pet peeve about Yu-Gi-Oh!
4. When there is STRONG demand for it, reprint a card that people are actually asking for. Don't just reprint random shitty cards or cards that have been expensive forever and are un-usable this format. That just hurts long-time players, and gives them second thoughts about purchasing card packs.
5. As much as I like exclusive cards for the TCG, I still think OCG gets far better treatment from Konami, and it should be nearly equal. It's not fair that almost every card there is low-rarity, and all the good cards are bumped up in rarity here in the TCG. Everything gets released WAY earlier in the OCG as well. And they get AMAZING bundles over there that never, ever make it overseas. Even their ban list is better than ours, and they've literally been the same until September 1st arrived. . . And that's your Konami lesson for today.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta Analysis Week 10

By Froylan Carreno

Yay or neigh? Celebrate my tenth blog post? Heck might as well. Well, no, not really:/ The meta is starting to somewhat become visible for the next format. Dragons SHOULD and hopefully will be gone this January (because they are beyoooooooond annoying.) I think I've outgrown my Bujin fetish, for now at least. At the moment, I'm using Noble Knights, and with the new support they've just received, I can see them being a solid rogue deck next format. Rogue decks are decks that capable of holding their own against other decks in the game, including some meta decks. They will occasionally top a tournament, and usually gives players false hopes of them becoming meta. But just because a deck tops once or twice, does not mean it the deck that's "the one". The deck that is "the one" will be the one that is constantly topping EVERY tournament and claims around 12 of the 16 top spots. And almost ALWAYS, making this deck will cost you around a 1000 big ones. If Noble Knights are "the one", since almost every important card is Secret Rare, the deck could easily soar above 1000$.

So yeah, Noble Knights are pretty chill to use. Not too OP, not too weak sauce. Just made a Dragon Ruler player on DN ragequit, and it felt OH so good. I even took a picture to commemorate this event.
I can't near describe the thrill when I make a Dragon Ruler player quit. Almost brings a tear to my eye. Yes. Oh and Shadow Specters is about to be released in the TCG. Not toooooooo many good cards in there, at least not enough for me to go out and buy a shit ton of packs. Everything good I might pull I will likely just trade to friends who need it more than I do. But there's really nothing like the experience of cracking open a brand new pack of cards,except maybe actually pulling something good from one of them (which is hard as @#$%). I will suppress my hunger to finish writing this article. The world must know what I have to say... Toast. Toast is pretty freaking good right about now, lol.

In other words, I plan to go out sometime in the week to buy a special edition of Judgment of the Light, the as of this moment newest Yu-Gi-Oh card pack. I'm not sure why, I guess I just want the box more than anything else. Everything else inside is just a nice bonus<3 Still would be nice to pull some Bujin stuff to motivate me to make the deck in real life. But Call of Duty Ghosts just came out! And there's just so much stuff to do, I can't even seem to fit much time in for Yu-Gi-Oh anymore! But I can always try to squeeze a littttttttle bit every now and then. Perhaps more next week, huh?