Lesson 9 [Solved by Ruby]

Ruby wrote:

Allright, I'm sure pro people are familiar with the number %15 a.k.a what are my chances of getting screwed if I set two cards first turn and my opponent plays Heavy Storm. %15 is the chance of openong with a single, specific card from your 40 carded deck in your opnening hand of 6. Therefore, in every 6-7 duels you will open with a Heavy Storm in hand and this is also correct for your opponent. Why am I saying this? Because it makes you think.


To elborate that statement, let's rewind back a few formats, where heavy was banned and we were left with Trunade. While Trunade essentially accomplishes the same mission when you are aiming for a game-winning swing, it is essentially a "-1" and no matter what anyone says, it all comes down to capitalizing on that single +1 and snowballing on it in this game. If Jason-Grepher taught me anything, it's to always gain card advantage in terms of economy. Now, despite what people foolishly claim, Heavy Storm is ALWAYS at least Plus 1, unless chained to. Nobody in their right minds play heavy while having a backrow or their opponent doesn't have atleat two. The part where it is different from HFD is merely a balance restriction to overcome abusing it by having a strong backrow of your own and making the game essentially a trap hole fight (nowadays warning war (: ) Under normal circumstances, one could argue easy plus ones/power without gameplay is unhealthy. Obviously Pot of Greed and Delinquent Duo are just wicked . Yet, in the absence of Heavy we saw that Thunder King + 5 Set go "meta" actually worked. But should it?


In OCG, they used to play Blackwings with 14+ Traps, usually one for ones. Again, they capitalized on pluses via battle/kalut-gale and Black Whirlwind, and then went to simplification. Back in 2004, where Reaper was at 3, how was the game? Reaper+MST+Smashing generates +1, and your opponent has to go another 1 for 1 to eliminate Reaper. What does this cause? Simplification. Obviously +1's are good, but they won't make a huge difference when you have 6 cards and your opponent has 5. However, when you have a card and your opponent has none, now it makes the difference. 2008 Perfect Circles did this, TeleDaD's did this. Capitalize on pluses, simplfy and win. Now Heavy Storm is obviously a plus one, but what it accomplishes justifies this : It removes players from mindlessly setting their 1for1's with comfort and force them to make a choice.

A common example would have been BoM, MST and BTH at hand. Do you go BTH? Or do you need BoM to stop an enemy combo? What if you could've hit enemy Dustshot with your MST? It all comes down to making choices and executing them correctly.1 could take the risk and set two or all three, yet is it worth to take the %15 chance? Heavy enforces decision making in terms of how one actually decides what to do woth their trap/spell defense line-up, and it is beneficial for the sake of the game other than people mindlessly sacking double warning and easly winning (:


Overall, Heavy is essential for the game, especially at the absence of Cold Wave and Trunade. Konami's rare smaet choices in a few formats, letting 3 MST and 1 Heavy in. Trap line-up is hard decision making processes in terms of deck-building and it should also be a hard process to set them during a duel, instead of being all five set go.


Coming to Dark Hole, However similiar they may look in terms of ramifications and how they operate, they are significantly more different than each other. The mai difference is in the core of the game :

Monster summoning is harder than setting traps/spells.

Despite the fact that this is perfectly normal, almost all monsters possess an inner ability score card gains > destruction through battle. When you manage to overrun an opposing monster you simply gain a plus one. In addition this leads to two possible situations, especially in the early game

A) Your opponent's field is empty, hence his ability to make plays that can overrun your own monster or make card gains is severly hampered. In such case he must either stall or sacrifice a huge chunk of lifepoints. A pro duelist always puts cards before lifepoints, yet ypu only have so many of them. As you approach late-game and it all comes down to topdeck battles, the earlier sacrifices to catch up with card advantage may get costly for whoever does them. Therefore, the opponent must stall, wasting yet another card and letting you expand your field presence to push on more pluses and capitalize on that. In this case, your outcome is highly profitable.

B) Your opponent uses a 1for1 to get rid off your monster and establishes his own field presence. Now, keep in mind that you were already at +1 and what did you force your opponent to do? Simplfy. The winning Reaper Theory. On your turn you can execute 1 or 2 1for1's and voila, you have simplified the game severely whilst maintaining the single plus.

Obviously I may have went on a tangent here, but this connects strongly to Dark Hole. Above, you can see how a single Battle Phase evolve into a player snowballing and expanding his field presence, pursuiting even more plusses and eventually the game. Now, under normal cases this could be a desirable mechanic for a game, but not for Yugioh. As I said earlier, the Trap Lineup plays a huge role in our game nowadays and once one can get the lead, it is very hard to re-establish your field presence or get the combo going. 2 Warnings, 2 BTH, 2 Torrentials and a Judgment. Not mentioning Potential Rai-Oh's and many more possibilities. As you can see the slope of the mountain is so high in Yugioh, that the tiniest snowflake can grow into a huge snowball in just a few turns...


Without a Dark Hole. Dark Hole essentially makes the players restore the equilibrium of the game state and postpone possible snowballing in order to generate more thought provoked gameplay. In addition to stopping one player from capitalizing on opening hands so easly, Dark Hole also accomplishes the same mission as Heavy Storm : It gives a sense of maintaining and managing resources to players. Back in the Day, it sure would've been tempting to go 3 Lumina and a Wulf or 3 Zombie master for example, yet attempting such comboes right now is highly risky. players have a chance to open with a field wiper is 39% (2 torrent and dark hole) That means almost half of the time, get ready to see a field wiper in Turn 3-4 at least (they don't have to be played but they will most certainly be available)

Anyhow, since I've stated how both cards have a crucial role in terms of the health and the sake of the gameplay, moving on to Sdudt and stuff.


Removal negation isn't new, it's been around for a long while all in forms of 1 for 1's . Main examples include Prime Material Dragon and Mbaas. Obviously packing a situational one for one isn't your best deal most of the time, so the "newer" destruction negaters are sort of... Better.

Starlight Road is a pure plus one that is capable of becoming a 1 for 2 when taking the Summoned Sdust's effect into acount. Of course it's condition is hard to catch, but I say 5 possible commonly played cards are juust enough (2 torrent, dark hole, heavy and mirror force) It makes a great side card, especially if the cards you were protecting can also obtain plusses or exchanges on their own.

Does this mean the value/power of Dark Hole or Heavy Storm in a duel decreases? No. Starlight Road an it's companions solely generate counterplay, and although situational at best, such cards can easly lead to mind games between the opposing sides, which ultimately is what wins the duel.


Ruby