YCS London 2014 Strategies & Tech Update

The first YCS oft the new format went down this weekend in London. Even though a new Banned List came into effect at the beginning of October there was no real change in the power level of the top decks. Therefore Shaddols made a really strong showing in numbers as well as in success. I do not have the current numbers at hand but as far as I remember they took up about half of the field and even more top spots. That’s a pretty good indicator for the strength of the deck. Players were taking all kinds of different approaches to the deck with only a core build staying the same: the Shaddoll engine. There were three different builds: Artifact engine with Ignition and Bealtach, one with the baby dragons and a lightworn version. All of those aiming to put decent light monsters into the deck in order to fuel Construct and add BLS. In the end the artifact engine won the event, even though it seems a little less consistent than any other version. It seems like the explosiveness of the deck outweighs the lack of consistency. Or to put it in other words: the gains in strength outweigh the little loss of consistency. The dragon version has the big advantage of easy access to Rank 4 XYZ and being able to search out Dark Armed Dragon easily making OTKs possible. The lightsworn engine seems to fall behind at least here in Europe. Americans still stick to it because Hoban is playing it.

I heard many players complain about BLS of being too strong right now and the need to get it banned again. I’m really not sure what to think about it. Last format BLS was not really a problem so it surprised me to hear that this had changed now. I will keep an eye on it.

The strong showing of Satellarknights surprised me a lot. At the end of day 1 there were quite a few at the top tables. I did not see this coming. I even thought that people would completely turn away from the deck since I couldn’t win any big events lately. It is a solid deck with a lot of consistency. The downside of the deck is that it is very predictable and linear. Luke Quinsee rode the deck to a Top 8 spot this weekend using a unique tech card: Whip Snake. I wrote about it in the coverage. He added it because it helps to beat over monsters with low attack points and because it also buys time during the opponents turn. Furthermore it is searchable with King of Feral Imps making it a strong opening play. He also took a very control based approach to the deck using a lot of backrow. The crucial point being in my opinion: the deck has to suit your style of play. If you feel comfortable with your deck you tend to play better. At least that’s what I experienced.

Other players started to maindeck Shadow Imprisoning Mirror to improve Game 1 Match-Ups against Shaddoll and Burning Abyss. Obviously the Mirror didn’t put in enough work to win the event. Shaddolls proved to be too strong due to the artifact engine.

Burning Abyss made a decent showing but failed to surprise. Some players decided to follow Billy Brake and play the mighty 60 card version whereas most relied on a “standard” build. I must admit this deck slipped my notice somehow. I know there were a few in the Top 32 but it failed to impress. Maybe the next set will make the deck stronger. At the moment Rank 3s are too weak. Dante is a decent beatstick but remains a passive card. The deck needs its traps to apply pressure. If you don’t draw any you don’t stand a chance against Shaddolls.

There were a few rogue decks at the top tables troughout Day 1. But most of them fall behind in the course of the event. There were a few Evilswarm (one even topped – don’t know what to think about this – the player is known to be shady), Prophecy and I even saw a Monarch and Madolce Deck. In the end none of them made Top 32 besides the Evilswarm Deck, which is a decent choice against Shaddoll but loses to any Satellarknight Deck. I found Prophecy to be a good metacall as well. I admit I’m biased concerning this deck, but in my opinion it doesn’t have any bad Match-Ups. Its biggest flaw is it is easily countered. If it can’t resolve Tower effect the Deck suffers a lot and loses. Had I played the event I would have chosen Prophecy.

I’m not a big fan of formats where there is one deck to dominate them all. The deck wins events even when other decks are heavily teching against it. Tier 0 formats tend to become boring soon and leave little room for innovation and development. I’m curious how the next set will affect the metagame. I haven’t really looked at Quliphords right now.