vs Hieratics/Hanzo hieratics game theory

Hieratics are currently the most otk focused deck we see in Asia format and with the recent second place finish in the asia championships by a Hieratic variant we should expect to see more hieratic players at this years world championships. However that being said the deck is still quite expensive compared to inzektors so be prepared for them but don't go overboard because not many people are willing to spend SGD 40 on one Atums and perhaps even more on a single Gaia Dragoon.

Now lets take a look at the deck itself.

Hieratics How they work

Like Kaiba hieratics normally win the game by summoning a bunch of monsters in 1 turn if you have the money to buy all the cards for the deck.

The otk is supported by 3 themed reinforcement of the army (which the name of I can never remember) which helps them search for all their combo pieces to perform the otk.

Think of them like six samurai in the triple gateway era without shien with one gateway and 2 samurai they can normally kill you.

Similarly the hieratic otk almost always requires at least 3 cards to perform (if their are any otks that don't require 3 cards in hieratics I would appreciate it if you could comment below on how they are performed).

The main 3 cards that you see for the otk that you will normally see are:


1) Hieratic Dragon of Eset
2) Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit
3) Hieratic Dragon of Su

These are the standard 3 cards that you normally see the hieratic otk performed with however the hieratic otk can also be performed with pretty much any 2 of the hieratics and a Su.

Also an in hand REDMD can be used to help with the otk as well if the hieratic player does not have Su available to him.

Using multiple combinations of 3 out of these 4 cards the hieratics in non asia format can swarm the field with two Gaia Dragoon and one Gustaph Max as I'm sure many of you are all familiar with. They can also sit on one Photon Streak Bounzer to control the game but that doesn't happen too often.

To help make sure the otk works they clear the backrow with multiple copies of mst and forbidden lance and the only way to really prevent the otk if you have no backrow is a inhand Gorz, Tragoedia, Effect Veiler, Swift Scarecrow, or Battle Fader in hand.

What to Expect from Hieratics

The game 1 strategy for hieratics in non asia format is to farm with their Card Car D and Rota and stall for as long as possible until they feel they can clear your backrow and win or they have no other choice but to attempt the otk.

Their really is no real solve all solution to this in game 1 but see what your deck has to offer. Their are many easily exceeded cards that pose a hindrance to hieratics game 1 such as Shock Ruler, Inverz Roach, Photon Streak Bounzer, Rai-oh, Verz Opheon and etc. If you can summon any of these cards game 1 your in good shape already in my personal opinion.

Games 2 and 3 depends heavily on what you can side in. The best option I feel is siding in your Maxx C and Swift Scarecrow/Tragoedia which you should be siding in this format. Other valid options include mind crush if you know whats in their hand when they otk or mask of restrict to prevent them from even tributing their monsters. However mind crush is a gamble and they have heavy backrow to kill mask of restrict so be warned. I also personally like Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo as it kills the whole deck instantly if you can protect it.

Also note however what the hieratic deck tends to side in as well Tragoedia, Swift Scarecrow, Gorz, Bls(maybe), Macro Cosmos, Koaki Meiru Drago all of these are very real threats from hieroglyphs depending on what you might be playing so be wary of them.


Playing against Hieratics

When playing against hieratics do remember their massive backrow clearing powers. Unlike when facing other decks it might not be a bad idea to set more cards against them than you would normally do because if you eat an Heavy Storm your most likely going to die anyway.

It is important to know when to properly time the use of your spell and trap cards against the hieratic deck. A mistimed usage of a trap could quickly mean your imminent doom. With this in mind remember that the two most important cards in the hieratic otk are Su and REDMD(if they have one in hand). So open your Solemn Warnings, Bottomless Trap Holes, and Torrentials when they summon Su/REDMD. The reasoning behind this is firstly for Su he has the power to destroy your spells and traps by tributing another hieratic from hand or field. What this means is that if you don't open a trap at this moment he might destroy the card you were counting on to save yourself and proceed to herp derp all over you. In many situations he might not have normal summoned at this point but by this point you have no option unless you know whats in his hand because doing anything else will most likely lead to your demise. As for the reasoning behind REDMD he can revive and sp summon more dragons while it might seem to be a good idea to use Torrential when he summons that other dragon if they have Forbidden lance in hand the dragon will be protected and they can tribute it off for another one so it is better to just waste it on the REDMD and if they do waste the lance hope you have something else to protect you.

The hieratic deck is usually slightly inconsistent so if you see them keep summoning the Card Car D and setting backrow don't hesitate to try and kill them before they kill you as that is another valid option. Just be wary of Gorz and Tragoedia.

Hanzo Hieratics


Hanzo Hieratics were made recent asia championships this year. With a reduced rate to otk thanks to Gustaph Max being a promo Hieratic decks had to innovate to battle against them and they did so by using Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo to help set up plays and provide more defensive power to their decks.
This also gave them the option to add Jurrac Guaiba in their decks which lets them destroy inzektors quickly. With its recent victory in Singapore's asia championship qualifier and the top 2 players both running hanzo hieratics the deck might see more play in the world championships this year. So how do you battle against this threat?

Well lets take a look at the new edition to the hieratic deck Hanzo. A Stratos for the ninja deck it instead searches for 1 ninjitsu art card when it is normal summoned and one other ninja when it is special summoned. The trap that Hanzo searches for in this deck is the Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation. Using this card to normally summon any of their hieratics from their deck it lets them set up plays for their otk and remove a valid threat from the board.

However remember that this card does not work on exceed monsters. Also note that if Macro Cosmos is on the field they can remove both monsters from the field but cannot summon anything as neither monster is sent to the graveyard.

While you normally won't see the deck otk as much remember that the use of one Solemn Warning puts you in otk range already and Hanzo is 1800 atk himself nothing to laugh about.

Other than the threat posed by Hanzo and Guaiba however the deck plays like a regular hieratic deck stalling and farming for the combo pieces until they can otk successfully.

So remember if your playing against a Hieratic player (for some reason many of the pro players seem to be hieratic players in asia format) always be wary of them and never drop your guard unless they are dead because you never know when they can otk you.

Thanks for reading my wall of text if you have done so.

Hopefully we won't see another hieratic deck go 11-1 quite easily in worlds unlike in asia championships this year.

Card Trooper vs Card Car D in inzektors

I've noticed that some inzektor players are now going back to the good old Card Trooper instead of using Card Car D in their inzektors. While Noobie still prefers Card Car D (reason which I completely forget) I for some reason have been liking Card Trooper better in inzektor decks. Now granted I don't play inzektors but it still interests me what cards they play because as they say knowing your opponent is half the battle.

Ok ignoring the badly photoshopped picture lets look at the advantages and disadvantages of card trooper vs Card Car D

Card Trooper

Advantages:

1) Its effect is reusable.

2) Just try and use Effect Veiler on me.

3) It can become 1900 attack.

4) When it is destroyed you draw 1 free card.

5) Mills 3 so you have a better chance of getting Hornet/Gullho in the graveyard.

Disadvantages:

1) You will mill away your spells and traps.

2) When you see Macro Cosmos in front of you.....

3) Nobody uses Effect Veiler on me (thus they will only use veiler on my scumbag bugs).

Card Car D

Advantages:

1) Its lets you +1.

2) It actually baits Effect Veiler.

3) You won't mill your spells, traps, and handtraps with this card.

4) Works under Macro Cosmos.

Disadvantages:

1) Its effect is unreusable unlike Card Trooper's.

2) He can't run over anything.

3) Once he gets hit with an Effect Veiler he's a sitting duck.

4) Can't be special summoned unlike Card Trooper.

So as you can see from the list above both Card Trooper and Card Car D both have their advantages and disadvantages. Their really isn't anything wrong with either option I feel so playtest to your preference. Personally I prefer Card Trooper because I can never draw Hornet with Card Car D when I do play inzektors on DN. 

Cards being used for different purposes.

When you look at a card that has potential, what do you see?

When you look at a sub-par card, do you just toss it into the jank pile?

Is there no way to make other uses or uses for a card?

I do not believe so.

For example, let's take a card that we all know very well.

Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit.

We all know that he is a combo maker with Hieratic/Hieroglyphs and is the stepping stone for OTKs for the deck itself.

However, not many people realize that he is a good Tribute Engine by itself too.

Being a monster with a Cyber Dragon-like effect, he can be Special Summoned to Tribute for a Tribute Summon without any set-up the previous turn.

It is searchable because of it's Search Spell, or it's archetype E-Call.

When It's Tributed, it gives you a free monster, which is key for a Exceed/XYZ Summon.

And we all know that there are several good Tribute Monsters in this game.

First and foremost is Caius the Shadow Monarch. His effect balances out the negative advantage that you get when you Tribute Summon him. So by itself, it's a +0.

What happens when you add Tefnuit into the picture?

You would remove a problem on the field, and have 2 Level 6 monsters on the field. Which translates into the above mentioned Exceed/XYZ Summon into a Rank 6.

Rank 6s are immensly powerful. There's a Double Effect Veiler in the form of Photon Streak Bouncer, or the Advantage Generator in the form of Sacred/Constellar Messiah 7, which allows you to repeat the same play 2 turns later (if it survives) by recycing both Tefnuit AND Caius.

Not to mention that, Tefnuit and Caius are LIGHT and DARK respectively, which compliments the Chaos theme which allows you to either go for BLS/Lightpulsar/Chaos Sorcerer as a follow up play.

Another card would be Dark Resonator.

People will remember this card from the Show, where it's the Tuner of Jack's choice to make his joke of a soul Synchro. *Yes, Red Deamons Dragon sucks. =/ Whatcha gonna about it? -rolls eyes- *

It doesn't have a self-Special Summon effect, which is why many people diss it off.

However it has it's uses.

For one, it's immune to battle Destruction once per turn. This would allow it to srvive certain Situations and allow you to counterattack next turn with another monster *a.k.a. Dragonfly/Centipede/Loli-girl/etc-etc* to make a Level Synchro even if the effect gets negated by Veiler/Fiendish Chain/Soft-negation.

It's also a Loli-girl target. Which can be helpful as it allows your to bring it out and leave 2 other copies of it in your deck to increase your chances of getting another copy and making another instant Rank 3.

It's also a DARK which acts as a road to bring out Dad/Damudo and Chaos theme monsters which are incredibly powerful in their own right.

There is potential in any card, you just need to find it.

Hmmm, regarding WCQ...

Should I Hatred times 10000?

Or should I just play Flood and kill times 1000000000000000000000?

Or a mixture? Control, Spam, Control, Spam... it's hard to decide.

Anyway, I have SOME time until the next 1, around 6 days... I got time to think. Heh.

VS inzektors game theory

Its 415am in the morning as I'm typing this out but I can't sleep so I thought to myself about what I've been doing on DN recently and decided to type this up.

 Its quite obvious that inzektors are the most popular deck in our current OCG meta for worlds and perhaps even locals. Their ability to gain advantage using hornet, perform easy otks with gigamantis (and zektkaliber), and their versatility make them a powerhouse to be reckoned with. This whole meta has been affected by inzektors and many cards main decked in previous formats are now not run because of inzektors. A good example of this would be bottomless trap hole. However because of inzektors other cards have become increasingly popular as well. Demon Chain had a brief surge in popularity for a while only to be replaced with raigeki break and/or phoenix wing wind blast. 

Now back on topic lets take a look at what makes an inzektor deck win

1) Resolving the effect of an inzektor

That is all it needs.

Lets compare this to another deck such as for example machina gadgets

1) resolving the gadget/machina gearframe eff

2) defending or pressuring the opponent with heavy backrow to get beatdown

3) a stream of advantage from gadgets and machina

As you can see with other decks you normally have to worry about multiple things such as the backrow, maintaining advantage, etc. However with inzektors it doesn't matter if you are down 4 cards from your opponent or what their backrow is. All it takes is for them to be able to summon one damsel and use its effect properly and you will lose normally 3100 life minimum if you have no monsters to defend you.

This also means that this is all inzektors can do to win.

Unlike many other decks where even if you fail at the main strategy you have a back up option for victory besides the main cards inzektors do not. Laval has the cannon, verz rabbit has thunderbird, heroes have miracle if their exceeds fail, etc. If the inzektor engine dies so does the deck.

The main point of this is to show that all you need to do to win against inzektors is never let them resolve the effect properly. 

So there are the obvious cards for this such as effect veiler or shadow imprisoning mirror and destroying the inzektor with a solemn warning, torrential tribute, or raigeki break is always another option.

However what do you do if you can't stop the inzektor from using its effect?

There is not much you can do about this so I'll give a list on what options you have

1) If you know you can't stop it don't over commit to the field and give them more targets

2) Have some back ups ready in hand for them just incase

3) Pray they can't otk you this turn

Not much right? Well normally thats the best you can hope for.

In conclusion the main point of me typing this wall of pointless text is to teach one lesson. Everything inzektor players do in some way or form is to aid them in performing the eff of their inzektor safely. They will summon cards to bait you and waste your resources so that they can summon damsel and use its effect successfully. So try to not waste your resources too early and remember that the only true threat in their deck are the inzektors and possibly BLS/DAD. Hopefully you can grind them down and win the game.

Thanks for reading!!

Bugs should burn in a fire.

What to expect in Games 2 and 3 in WCQ and how to fight your opponents side deck

I had a sudden urge to do a post about this today because I've been thinking about this a lot lately and felt it would be a good idea to express my feelings on the topic. While I could make a post about what side deck cards you should or could use in games 2 and 3 I feel that enough people will eventually or will do a post on this topic so there isn't a point in doing so. The point of this article is to expect what your opponent might do in game two and three against you and what you can do to counter this.

Of course take this post with a grain of salt because this post is dependent on the fact that your opponent is of a certain skill level and will put these cards against you. You never know when you might meet somebody that is still quite inexperienced at this game who might put in some random cards against you. When that happens I hope that you can hopefully compensate for this with greater skill, knowledge, and planning than your opponent might have.

Anyways as for todays topic lets create a scenario here which you might see at a major tournament here.

You are playing Inzektors with a Card car D engine.

Your opponent is playing Rabbit Ragia with main decked macro cosmos.

You played an moderately long game 1 against him and saw no effect veiler.

You have lost Game 1 due to him protecting his macro cosmos and beating you down with his exceeds.

In this situation it is quite obvious he will leave the macro in as it wins the game almost instantly against you if he can keep it alive.

Your opponent might also side in chain disappearance to against you to solve the problem straight away instead of taking a chance and having you herp derp to victory.

So on the assumption that your opponent is putting the expected side deck cards in against you what you should see are things that will stop the summon and effects of your inzektors from working which is quite obvious.

Thus your main problems are:

Forbidden Chalice
Macro Cosmos
Chain Disappearance (possibly)
Demon Chain
Transmigration Prophecy

Also lets not forget the core of his deck the laggia itself.

Now the question is if you know whats coming how do you prepare for it.

Well Firstly the obvious backrow removal.
Then the even more obvious laggia hate snowman eater etc.

Now what do you take out?

Well taking out Card Car D is generally a good option as you actually don't need it to win.
I normally take out one pot of duality as well along with a few uneeded traps such as compulsory evacuation device. That should give enough room for you to put your side deck hate in.

Well that was a basic example of what to expect from Macro Ragia but what about something more complicated?

In this scenario you are playing Hanzo Hieratics

In this game your opponent went first set one card and ended his turn.

On the following turn of this game you destroyed his lone backrow a torrential and proceeded to otk him with a swarm of Hieratics since you had a godly hand.

Now in this scenario you have won the first game and are at an advantage.

However you do not know what your opponent is playing and what to side deck for game 2.

Now lets think about this for a second. In this scenario the goal should be not to find out what your opponent is playing but to figure out what he might not be playing.

Your opponent only set one backrow and ended his turn.

What decks would not make a play like this?

We can eliminate rabbit ragia as first they only set one backrow and ended turn even if he drew 3 sabersaurus and 2 kabazauls along with that torrential he would at least summon one of them right?
and since he did not summon anything I can make the assumption that he is not playing rabbit ragia.

Following this line of logic we can also eliminate Machina Gadgets most of the time because even if he drew 5 gadgets he would at least summon 1 to add one to hand as well.

Also any deck with a relatively large spell and trap line up could be eliminated from the equation as well due to the fact that he would have at least set one more backrow which is the standard play.

So basically judging from this one play we can assume he is playing a deck which special summons monsters quite easily but he cannot summon any of them because they are all stuck in his hand with few backrow.

Thus I would most suspect him playing chaos dragon or hieratics.

While this does not mean you should side in all your chaos dragon and hieratic hate in your main deck it might not be a bad idea to side in some Maxx C and a Tragoedia to back up your veiler.

You also have to account for the fact that your opponent is side decking against you as well so prepare for the basics such as Maxx C, mask of restrict, mind crush, tragoedia, and all the other stuff that people use against hieroglyphs.

If your side deck does work then all is good however if your opponent is playing something completely off the wall then just remember you have game 3 to try to win.

I hope with this article people will be better able to understand why you side deck some cards in and how you should prepare for games 2 and 3 better.

Thanks for reading.

WCQ decks and how to prepare

WCQ in Singapore is as usual held in the Asia format aka no promos no dt cards etc. This automatically removes some of the threats seen at weekly locals such as verz rabbit and laval. However this provides room for other decks to take their place. Six Samurai will still be a valid contender in this format as gateway and shien lockdown is still as annoying as ever. Gravekeepers could appear as well because of the sackiness that is royal tribute. Another deck that will also prove a threat in the competition is Machina Gadgets which thanks to the power of geargiganto X has become a advantage engine that can rival inzektors. Even without tinplate goldfish to help the deck still runs fine and fortress is still as strong as ever so don't disregard gadgets. There will most likely be an army of inzektors at asia unless people have all decided to jump on the hanzo hieroglyph bandwagon after asia (but I doubt it) and Rabbit Ragia still poses a valid threat with first turn rabbit. In conclusion, with this diverse format and the threat of inzektors running amok this WCQ looks to be full of variety and it is hard to tell which deck will win. My personal bet is inzektors due to how many people will be playing them but you never know if some random Six Samurai will win it all like WSlasher always does in the phillipines.

So how do you prepare for the WCQ in 1 months time? Lets say you haven't decided what deck you want to use in the WCQ lets make a list to help you decide what deck you want to play.

1) What choices do I have available to me

This refers to what deck you can make in the month or so until the WCQ. If you don't have the finanaces or friends to buy or borrow Hanzo for a Hanzo Hieroglyph deck than don't even think about it. You should stick to choices that you already have available so that you do not have to rush to complete the deck and enter the tournament with having little to no practice with it.

2) Do I know how to use the deck well?

Lets say you can make the deck easily do you know how to use it well? I'm not talking about knowing all the basic combos and plays of the deck I'm talking about the little important things like the rulings of how certain cards in the deck react to other cards or all the little tricks the deck has. For example a few people asked me when I played my arrive hero deck why I didn't use a second hero arrive to combo more when my field was full of monsters. Apparently they didn't know you can only use a hero arrives when you control no monsters. So If you want to use a new deck make sure its something you have enough time to practice with it so that you gain a good understanding of its mechanics, combos, and strategy.

3) Are you comfortable with the deck?

This in my opinion is a big factor in choosing what deck to play. You can't play a deck well if you are on some level not comfortable with it. Sure you can be competent but to reach that next level you have to be comfortable with the deck and how it plays. A good example of this is myself. I had an inzektor deck and I sold away the foils of it because I frankly didn't feel comfortable playing the deck. The way the deck played did not appeal to me and even while I got top 8 with it at locals once or twice it just never felt right. So what I suggest is follow your heart and pick the deck you like the most for this tournament. Now I'm not saying for a very competitive player who loves neo spacians to play them what I'm saying is that pick something you like and can enjoy playing with over and over again for the tournament because with all the practice and rounds you will have to go through at the WCQ It will not feel good to play something you do not like.

As for what I want to play I have a few options that I'm considering but haven't finalized anything yet. The qualifier tournaments are good for testing your deck for the main event itself on the 23rd so be sure to attend at least 1 or 2 to test your final build of your deck. If you have time to meet up with friends go do so as regular practice is important if not maybe try to play with your friends on dueling network or another online yugioh program.

Lastly, for the night before the main event itself make sure you get a good night sleep and get a good breakfast in the morning so you have the energy to do well. Bring a large water bottle with you and some snacks because you might not have time to go buy food in between rounds.

Good luck to all of you who are planning to play for the World Championship Qualifiers!!!!

My goal is to at least win a few rounds.

Tourney Report 12/5 (Where apparently inzektors became popular in singapore again)

So I went to Dhoby Ghaut to play today since I had nothing better to do and played in the tournament
26 people attended this time if I remember correctly and there were 4 swiss rounds until top 8 single elimination.

Deck used: Arriving Putra

Round 1: Sam (The Eternal Malaysia Champion aka I'm so fucked) (inzektors)

So i fought Sam in the first round again <_<

Game 1: I lost to the usual inzektor shenanigans nothing special here.

Game 2: I stopped the inzektors for as long as I could but suddenly a wild tour guide appeared and I had to use solemn judgment on it which led to my doom when he summoned another on me the following turn.

Current Record: 0-1

Round 2: Keith Chen (Infernities)

Game 1: I show him an otk hand and he scoops lol

Game 2: I torrential he used starlight road me and he beat me down with street patrol and the stardust.

Game 3: Shadow imprisoning mirror stops him from doing anything the entire game and I just beat him down with heroes and exceeds.

Current Record 1-1

Round 3: Mango (Inzektors)

Game 1: I misplayed like hell and proceeded to lose to his inzektor shenanigans.

Game 2: I summoned 3 bubbleman and ate a torrential but manage to recover from that and beat him down with exceeds and fusions.

Game 3: I stopped his inzektor plays with some traps and made a blade heart and stratos to kill him after using night shot on one of his traps and returning the other to the top of his deck using phoenix wing wind blast.

Current Record: 2-1

Round 4: Winson (Machina Gadget)

He let me up

Top 8: Bixuan (Inzektors)

Round 1: The usual inzektor shenanigans happen and I couldn't stop him. When I tried to miracle fusion something to come back into the game I saw a solemn warning and scooped.

Round 2: I stall for a bit and just spammed monsters and killed him.

Round 3: Laval Chain, Bls, and Inzektor Damsel appeared while I sat there with this look on my face.



First time I've ever seen bixuan lucksack I think lol.

Bottom 4: Vishal (inzektors.... again)

Round 1:He didn't have the best hands and proceeded to get killed by me.

Round 2: He said he had a genius hand ............

Round 3: I had a shadow imprisoning to stop his inzektors and beat him down eventually. Epic fail moment of the match is when I tried to activate zephyros effect by returning bubbleman to hand with shadow imprisoning mirror on the field lol.

So i got 5th-6th and decided to take a card car D since I wasn't interested in the new duelist edition atlanthal or a common rare chaos soldier.

Inzektors now run card trooper it seems since card car D according to many players isn't as good as card trooper.

Congrats to noobie for topping too we'll get top 4 next time....... maybe......ok probaly not.