Why Agents are Still Good and will be even Better

Agents were first released in Ancient Sanctuary - they were almost entirely useless, with Venus bringing out nearly-pointless monsters, Saturn dealing a lot of life point damage but only if you were winning, Mars being big but only if Sanctuary was out, and Mercury letting you draw a card if you had no cards in hand. All in all, a flop.

Konami rectified this with a Structure Deck that brought not two, but three major cards:
Master Hyperion
The Agent of Mystery - Earth
The Agent of Miracles - Jupiter
The first two were great for obvious reasons - Hyperion is a massive monster with awesome destructive abilities and gave you a way to win games. Even better, it has no summoning conditions, so you can still Tribute Summon it or use Monster Reborn. Earth would let you search for other Agents (namely Venus) and was a Tuner. One other development made Agents good - Xyz Monsters. With Venus, you could now get a Gachi Gachi Gantetsu for nothing more than 1000 Life Points - putting Agents on the competitive map.

In addition to that, Honest and Archlord Kristya. Honest is good for obvious reasons, as is Archlord Kristya - Honest lets any of your LIGHT monsters get over anything, no matter how big, eliminating the biggest threats and protecting you for the turn if it's your opponent's Battle Phase. Kristya, on the other hand, once summoned, lets you recover a Fairy as well as stop Special Summons and just keeps coming back. Also, like Hyperion, it has no summoning conditions, so you can use Monster Reborn or Tribute Summon it.

Lastly is Jupiter. This card is normally underrated - and for seemingly good reason: it's little more than a beatstick. However, it does a few things which will be even more important when Lightray Sorcerer is released. First, it gives you some Graveyard control, giving you more opportunities to summon Archlord Kristya. Second, it gives any Agent an 800 ATK point boost - this can let your weaker Agents handle Level 3-5 monsters or allow Jupiter to get over anything with up to 2600 ATK, be is Stardust Dragon or Evolzar Laggia. In addition, once Lightray Sorcerer is released, it will be essential for creating the proper summoning conditions.

Onto the builds:
There are many different Agent Decks. Some work, others don't. Some worked last format, but do not work any longer.

First are Sanctuary builds. These use Sanctuary in the Sky in order to give Hyperion, Jupiter, and Earth their secondary effects, all of which are quite powerful - Earth is able to search for Master Hyperion, Jupiter lets you get back Banished Agents, and Hyperion can use its effect not once, but twice in a turn. In addition to that, it gives you access to the powerful Divine Punishment, allowing you to run four Solemn Judgments, three of which have no cost (and instead of negating Summons, they negate Effects, which is often even more important).
 This seems like an amazing strategy, but there must be some catch, otherwise people would be using it. This is the catch: inconsistency. Last format, these Agent builds underperformed due to their inherent inconsistencies. This format, they are useless against the meta decks because of these inconsistencies.

Next is Herald Agents. These use Herald of Perfection in conjunction with standard Agents.

Herald of Perfection is a great card, but the Deck still lacks consistency. Which means that Herald Agents are out.

There's also Dimensional builds that use Miraculous Descent but these are easier to stop, although quite powerful when the strategy gets rolling.

So, why can Agents work in the metagame?

There's a few reasons, among them:

Rabbits and Wind-Ups are Tier 1, along with Inzektors. Inzektors are just plain annoying but they're easy to side against. Moving on.

Rabbits have a few crucial, exploitable weaknesses. First is having high ATK. Jupiter will get over a Laggia as if it wasn't there, forcing them to waste backrow or Xyz Materials on it. A Hyperion or Kristya will do so as well, as will a Dark Mist. Most people thought that Gachi would be better, but Black Mist is superior in the Rabbit matchup. Not only is it able to kill three monsters, but it keeps half of their ATK, ending up with over 2500 ATK in many cases. If your opponent doesn't predict the Dark Mist, then they'll be forced to waste Xyz Materials on it, and if they do, they'll have to waste them on Venus - which leaves you open to Special Summon Hyperion.

As for Wind-Ups, Agents have amazing topdecking ability. Drawing a Venus gets them a Gachi Gachi or Dark Mist. Drawing a Hyperion gets them free advantage any day. Drawing a Kristya with 4 Fairies in their Graveyard is one of the best things that can happen. Drawing a Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning at any time can be game-winning. And drawing a Lightray Sorcerer will allow you to get over a lot of bad situations (as it can Banish Zenmaines). From experience, I have been able to win situations after having all monsters in my hand discarded (thank you overpowered Gravekeeper support).

All in all, the Deck is fantastic. It has few bad matchups right now and these weaknesses are easy to overcome with side decking.

Side Decking and Main Decking for the Format

This format is bound to to be exactly the same as this last segment of the September 2011-12 format was, at least until Lavals hit the competitive board.

Three cards are appearing in almost every Deck - Fiendish Chain, Maxx "C", and Effect Veiler. The first one is the most easily countered - a few Mystical Space Typhoons and Heavy Storm are obvious answers. The other two, not so much. There are two cards that both serve as good techs against these cards - Dimensional Fissure and Debunk. Debunk is a short term solution but doesn't keep the hand traps in your opponent's hand - if they blow up Dimensional Fissure they'll still have the hand traps. On the other hand, Dimensional Fissure will allow you to control the game more effectively and has more uses, although some Decks can't support it effectively.
There are also two alternatives to Dimensional Fissure: Banisher of the Radiance and Macro Cosmos - both of these also Banish non-Monsters, so they will Banish Xyz Materials and Equipped Monsters, stopping Inzektors and Wind-Ups (but unfortunately not Rabbits). The main downsides of these are that Banisher of the Radiance is a monster that you have to protect and most decks are using Thunder King Rai-Oh and even Doomcaliber Knight and Macro Cosmos is a Trap Card, requiring it to be set first as well as making it vulnerable to Royal Decree.

Of these, I would use either Macro Cosmos or Banisher of the Radiance, depending on my Deck - you have to be able to thwart Inzektors and Wind-Ups, even at the cost of being more vulnerable to Rabbits.

Next comes specific Decks:
Currently, the playing field consists of three Tier 1 Decks: Wind-Ups, Rabbits, and Inzektors. Some Rogue Decks such as Evols and Empty Jar may also show up but they aren't likely to consistently top as they no longer have a surprise factor.
Inzektors are the easiest to side against - max out your Spell and Trap destruction (to stop Royal Decree, which is sided against this card) and side in three Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors. In doing so, you will stop any of their effects as well as Tour Guide and Sangan's effects.

If you don't think that you will draw into your Shadow-Imprisoning Mirrors, you can also side in one or two Macro Cosmos. Side out your Maxx "C"s and possibly Effect Veilers.

Rabbits are also pretty easy to side against. Previously, the most popular card was Spirit Reaper. While this card is amazing, it has a huge weakness - Forbidden Lance and Mind Control will destroy it. As a result, it's often more worthwhile to run Arcana Force 0 - The Fool. You can also use Marshmallon but the downside is that Dolkka can negate its effect and destroy it, making it easier to get over than The Fool. In addition to that, Rabbit Decks have seen use of Doomcaliber Knight which negates Marshmallon and kills it. Another side is Lava Golem. This monster is insane - it can get over even Vennominaga as there is no way of preventing its summon. The downside is that you give your opponent a huge monster, but provided you side in the rest of these wall monsters, it should work fine - Rabbits don't run any cards that Tribute so they will probably die from Burn Damage. Royal Decree is another option and if you have space, you can side Decree, The Fool, and Lava Golem against Rabbits all at once. I would side up to two Lava Golems, two or three Decree, and at least two Fools. If Rabbit is your worst matchup, side three Fools and some Marshmallons. Side out your Effect Veilers, Maxx "C"s, and possibly your Fiendish Chains.

Lastly we have Wind-Ups. Wind-Ups are the most problematic due to the hand destruction loop. Maxx "C" and Effect Veiler are main decked to deal with this threat. After turn one, you have a chance to set some backrow - the following cards can be quite effective. First and foremost is Fiendish Chain for obvious reasons, but this is also a main decked card. Now for Side Decks: Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror is an unlikely contender but consider this: it makes Wind-Up Hunter's effect a -1 (if you chain to its activation) as well as wasting your opponent's Tour Guide or stopping Sangan from giving them a potentially game-winning search.  In addition to that, you may want some backrow protection - Dark Bribe can fill this role. Normally I would advocate the use of Magic Drain but as we all know Wind-Ups main deck a full set of Mystical Space Typhoon, Heavy Storm, and Wind-Up Factory as well as Monster Reborn, Foolish Burial, Dark Hole, Pot of Avarice, and occasionally other cards. As a result, Magic Drain is rather lackluster against this specific deck. Next is Cyber Dragon. This amazing monster was even sided against Plant Synchro as an out to Rai-Oh. It remains an out to Rai-Oh but is also a way around Wind-Up Zenmaines by making Chimeratech Fortress Dragon. This alone makes it worth using as Zenmaines can be a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

Outside of these three Decks, you can expect to see a smattering of Six Samurai and potentially Evols due to both Deck's recent YCS tops. T.G. Stun will also be a rather common Deck due to it having won YCS Atlanta and the fact that it costs little to make. To counter Six Samurai and Evols, just use the same strategies as against Rabbits, although you won't need to side Decree. Against T.G., make sure to have three Royal Decree sided as well as Dimensional Fissure or Macro Cosmos.

If you encounter Empty Jar, Macro Cosmos should serve you well. Fiendish Chain will also allow you to negate one use of Morphing Jar which is likely to be a game winning move.

In one of my next posts I will write about the merit of Agents following the Banlist (and explain just how good they will be) as well as discuss Hieroglyphs and what not to do (hint: don't use Level 6 and 7 Dragons. Big Eye doesn't justify using Level 7s and Level 6s just get you another Normal Dragon which you were better off using to make a Thunder-End or Ennead).

Psychic Plants - A Hidden Gem

In my previous post, I discussed the Banlist. In this one, I'll discuss my favorite Deck for the format (up until Wind-Up/Zektors/Rabbits came around): Psychic Plants.

I'm the inventor of the Deck - I made it for Decks for Free! on Yugioh Wikia for a poster who was looking for a competitive Psychic Deck. What I came up with was a Synchro heavy deck that used the Plant Engine (Glow-Up Bulb, Spore, Dandylion, and Lonefire Blossom) and Tengu along with RFP Psychics.

The original incarnation included Overdrive Teleporter.

As you can see, Overdrive Teleporter is a Level 6 monster. Normally, I wouldn't use a Tribute Monster but after seeing Caius in Plants, I realized that this Deck was even better for Tribute Summons - Both Silent Psychic Wizard and Serene Psychic Witch provide even more tribute fodder. In addition to that, I had Telekinetic Power Well and Emergency Teleport, both of which would give me even more opportunities to Tribute Summon this monster.

Now why would I use it?

It gave me ample opportunities to do a number of things - first, I could swarm. The monsters wouldn't die during the End Phase so I could leave out some Psychic Witches. Second, I could Xyz Summon - Leviair, Zenmaines, and Leviathan Dragon were all possible Xyz Monsters. Lastly, I could Synchro Summon - be it Orient Dragon, Brionac, Naturia Barkion, or Hyper Psychic Blaster. Of course, for 2000 Life Points, this was more risky against Decks carrying Maxx "C" or Effect Veiler but at the time it was worth the risk.

Other important cards include Psychic Jumper. This monster is insane - with an Emergency Teleport and either this or a Psychic in hand, or a Telekinetic Power Well, or a number of other combos, I can steal any of my opponent's monsters for only 1000 LP - better yet, I can give them a floater such as Serene Psychic Witch or a Special Summoned Esper Girl.

As a whole, the Deck works fantastically - it has a great Plant matchup as it can make large plays and summon big monsters easily as well as use Naturia Beast.
Against Gravekeeper's, a Deck which often hurt Synchro Decks, I could get out Naturia Beast and Barkion pretty easily on my first turn, allowing me to stop either Necrovalley or their massive array of backrow - or even both at the same time.
The Deck had issues with T.G. and other Stun Decks but a Naturia Barkion would often seal the game in my favor.

Then comes Rabbits, Inzektors, and Wind-Ups. The first issue is the fact that everyone is running Maxx "C", Effect Veiler, and Fiendish Chain. With these three cards out, Overdrive Teleporter is far too risky - I'm paying 2000 LP and then they either negate it or draw cards when I attempt to make a play. It went out.

I added in Rai-Oh, a fantastic card against everything but Inzektors.

Even so, it just isn't cut out for this final segment of the format (and definitely not next format).

And now for an analysis of the Deck and the Deck itself:

Strengths:
The most obvious one is its Synchro Summoning capability. I can Synchro Summon many times per turn - Konami may have called Plants "Synchrocentric" but the Deck was really a mash of good stuff - this is a Synchrocentric Deck.
Next is the ability to maintain advantage. All the Plants are good for maintaining and generating advantage, as is Tengu, while the Psychics give me more opportunities to generate advantage. When I Synchro Summon, it can be a +1 in terms of card advantage.
Speed - Many cards in this Deck allow me to pull off first and second turn combos which can pretty much guarantee my victory.
High ATK - Silent Psychic Wizard is an amazing monster - it has an ATK which allows it to match Rai-Oh in battle and even profit off the exchange - a move which is incredibly useful at any time in the game. The Deck also includes Rai-Oh and Psychic Commander, which can kill anything with 1900 or less ATK.

Weaknesses:
Maxx "C" will stop my plays and leave me with a lot of monsters lying around.
Dimensional Fissure is pretty painful - yes the Psychics focus on Banishing but they do so themselves - doing so with a Dimensional Fissure means that I can't get their effects.
Other Stun cards also severely reduce the Deck's strength.

Now onto the Deck:

For those who need a list:
Dandylion
Esper Girl x2
Glow-Up Bulb
Gorz the Emissary of Darkness
Lonefire Blossom
Psychic Commander x2
Psychic Jumper
Reborn Tengu x3
Serene Psychic Witch x3
Silent Psychic Wizard x3
Spore
Thunder King Rai-Oh x2

Dark Hole
Emergency Teleport
Enemy Controller
Foolish Burial
Heavy Storm
Mind Control
Monster Reborn
Mystical Space Typhoon x2
One for One
Pot of Avarice

Bottomless Trap Hole
Dimensional Prison
Mirror Force
Solemn Judgment
Solemn Warning x2
Torrential Tribute
Trap Dustshoot

Ally of Justice Catastor
Ancient Fairy Dragon
Black Rose Dragon
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Formula Synchron
Naturia Barkion
Naturia Beast
Orient Dragon
Scrap Dragon
Stardust Dragon
T.G. Hyper Librarian
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Leviair the Sea Dragon
Number 17: Leviathan Dragon
Wind-Up Zenmaines

The Banlist And What Should Have Happened

Obviously, the Banlist is a controversial topic. Many players don't care either way - they're just here to play. Others are extremely picky about the Banlist and have very polarized opinions about cards and strategies.

I'd say that I'm one of the opinionated people. When it comes to Banlists, I have a very clear idea in my head of what should happen. This usually does not happen.

Take, for example, the recent Banlist:
Due to the fact that the Banlist is based off the Japanese Metagame (OCG), we have to deal with crappy banlists all the time. Of course, to compensate, we get TCG Exclusives like Tour Guide and Tengu. And Tins. And stuff like the Legendary Collection. Anyhow, we have the banlist. The most noticeable thing is the fact that four Tuners were hit - The Agent of Mystery - Earth and T.G. Striker were Limited, while Glow-Up Bulb and Spore were Banned. The next noticeable thing is that Inzektors, Rabbits, and Wind-Ups aren't on the list at all. This is because both were from recent packs and Konami wants to make money. Also, by eliminating Plants from the metagame, they increased the amount of users using Xyz more than Synchro Monsters.

Plant Synchro deserved a banlist hit - the Deck remained Tier 1-2 for more than two years. Many people claimed that Dandylion was the reason for its success - I totally disagree. While Dandylion is an amazing card, it's a lot less useful outside of Quickdraw decks than Glow-Up Bulb. Glow-Up Bulb makes your Level 4 monsters such as Reborn Tengu into Level 5s at no cost to yourself. In addition to that, while Dandylion is amazing with One for One, it wouldn't be nearly so good without Glow-Up Bulb. I predicted the Banning of the Bulb, but Spore? Trishula? With Bulb Banned neither of those really needed a hit - Plant Synchro would be relegated to the realm of Nordics or worse, the decks floating around behind Tier 2.

Trap Dusthoot was also Banned and I can understand the rationale - a good player drawing this on their first turn hand has a really good shot at winning the duel.

As for T.G. Agents, they were obviously powerful, but not topping in the TCG. As of late we have seen little action from Agents in the Top 32 of YCS events. Instead, they are dominated by Wind-Ups, Inzektors, Rabbits, and to a lesser extent, Plants. Yes, Agents did deserve a hit, but not Earth - that does little compared to actually hitting the power cards - Venus and Hyperion. While you may argue that Earth is like Reinforcement of the Army, being a searcher, in many ways, it is not. You have to waste your Normal Summon to search - in a fast metagame, this can be lethal. If you were to hit Venus the Deck would rely on Earth searches instead of just summoning Venus. As for Hyperion, if you hit it, the Deck will lose a bit of its explosive power and "sackyness" (unfairness, ability to draw a card with nothing out and win).

Lumina was brought back to two - this was a good decision as Lightsworn still weren't topping without three Charge and Honest.

Marshmallon at two should be fine in a fast format, although in a slow format it promotes slow burn (which is not a fun deck to duel).







Torrential Tribute was put at two - this is an odd choice, as most costless mass-destruction cards are at one or zero. Nonetheless, in this format, more ways to stop Inzektors, Wind-Ups, and Rabbits isn't a bad thing.
Shien's Smoke Signal should not have gone to two. The deck topped a YCS even in this format without two. The trick is finding the right build.
Level Limit - Area B is fine at two, three would be better.
Ultimate Offering to two makes sense as Gadgets are broken with it.
Emergency Teleport at two is a nice gesture, although an odd one, as they just hit a bunch of Tuners. Maybe they think it's some consolation...
The most controversial decision was Reborn Tengu. It's a TCG Exclusive, and those are not normally hit, but it was. A fourth card from Plant Synchro hit. The deck is pretty much dead because of it. People argue that Tengu is broken. However, it really isn't - it's kind of like Duality that it helps a ton of Decks but not the best Decks (of course, in some circumstances, Tengu leads to broken plays but these are not just because of Reborn Tengu).

Call of the Haunted was put at three. It's not seeing use at two, so no reason not to do this.

That is what did happen - but what should have happened?

First, we should have seen Wind-Up Zenmaity go to one and Wind-Up Rat go to two. No Hunter, you cry in anguish - but what about our hands? With Rat at two and Zenmaity at one, the loop is all but dead. In addition to that, a large portion of the Decks' power is removed - they no longer can summon three Zenmaity and another monster, or two Zenmaity and a Xyz, they can't pull off as big comebacks when drawing a Rat. Of course, hitting Shark would have been just as effective, but since it's a TCG Exclusive we can say that it probably wouldn't have been hit had Konami been thinking properly.

Next, Inzektors. I want to see Hornet Banned. Some people favor hitting Dragonfly - this makes some sense, but the deck still does the same thing - drop an Inzektor, blow shit up. This is not only overpowered, but boring. A well-protected Inzektor player can gain massive amounts of advantage over a few turns. This is not right. Hornet at one seems like a good solution but then again - they still have Armageddon Knight and if all else fails Summoner Monk (to get Armageddon Knight) to send Hornet to their Graveyard. And remember - you only need one Hornet to win.

Rabbits  also need to be hit. Stun is a rather boring Deck in my opinion. I'm sure there are many of you that disagree with me on this, but having to break through four Traps without a Heavy Storm is just not fun. All the player has to do is play a Laggia, set their hand, and win. Seriously. Some people have said to hit Laggia, others have said to hit Leviair, and some have even said to hit the Vanilla Dinosaurs. All of these people are wrong:
Leviair is a great card but even Limiting it will do little to hurt the Deck. You'd have to Ban it to make a difference and that's just not fair.
Same goes for Laggia.
The Vanilla Dinos actually makes some sense - Semi-Limiting them would drastically decrease the consistency of the Deck, but at the same time, it makes so little sense - they aren't the reason the Deck is broken - hit the enabler!
Rescue Rabbit is the enabler. It creates unfair situations. Yes, Laggia and Dolkka exist. But hitting them will hurt Evols a lot more than is worthwhile. Yes, Rabbit can boost Normal Decks. But most of them don't really need it, and Gem-Knights, the best ones around, can juts use Gemini stuff - it works a lot better than Normal Builds. Just challenge Lappyzard21 sometime and you'll see.

In addition to that, I would like to see Grapha Semi-Limited. I think the reasons are obvious. It's just a stupid card - especially for a boss monster. If it had 1700 ATK, it wouldn't be an issue. But with 2700, it is.
Tsukuyomi should come off the banlist - it's too slow for the current metagame.
Magician of Faith should too - it brings back Spells but it's also too slow. Maybe if Inzektors died it would be too powerful but while they exist Flip Effect monsters are rather...risky...
Dark Magician of Chaos could come back for this format, maybe not for another. It would be a nice way to help decks other than Wind-Ups, Inzektors, and Rabbits.
Blackwing - Kalut the Moon Shadow should go to two - Blackwings just can't top and they deserve some mercy, like Lightsworn. Whilrwind to two would be a problem as it would almost be like Semi-Limiting both Gale and Kalut and Semi-Limiting
Gale is just wrong.
Gladiator Beast Bestiari should go to two. It would give Gladiator Beasts some more power without breaking them.
The Transmigration Prophecy should have gone to two. Seriously. It's not good.
Archlord Kristya should have been Limited. It's an insanely good card that makes games entirely one-sided.
With two Malicious Destiny Draw is pretty safe to go back to three. With three, definitely not, but at two, yes.
Royal Tribute should have been Banned, or Limited at worst. It's insane - it's usually a +1 or +2 but can get rid of your opponent's entire hand. And people complain about Wind-Up Hunter...

That's all for now, comments are welcome!

The First Post

For those of you who know me no description is necessary.

For those of you who don't, I'm BobaFett2 (BF2) for short.

I'm the Head Administrator of Frost and Flame Academy as well as a contributor for Yugioh Wikia. I play on Dueling Network.


I post on Pojo in the Collectors Forums.

I'm a huge Yugioh fan. I've traded through the mail with a lot of people.

I enjoy skill Decks and do not enjoy Stun Decks. I'm a pretty good duelist. I play in real life with Gladiator Beasts among other Decks. I love Plant Synchro, especially Glow-Up Bulb. I invented the cheaper Psychic-Plant variant (which doesn't use Tour Guide and is more Synchro-Focused). I am not a budget player, but neither am I one who plays with full Tier 1 decks. I can afford them, but the cost is too high and I'd rather not spend tons of money on a card that will probably be hit.

I have some skill with graphic design. But not a lot. Same goes for programming.

And in the words of the immortal Monty Python's Flying Circus's John Cleese...
And now for something completely different

As for the blog itself...

I will be posting as regularly as I can about the game, be it the banlist, the meta, interesting decks, cards, or investing. That will be all for now.