Making the game fun again

Hey all,

So I was just thinking about how, well, I stopped playing this game a while ago and just recently came back. The reason I stopped is because, well, I felt like it stopped being fun. Back when it was just 5Ds, and even in the start of XYZs, though I wouldn't always win, I'd usually have a lot of fun. It would be almost evenly matched. Now-a-days, it just feels like it's all about winning, not about having fun. I just miss the feeling of still enjoying a game with a deck that was all my own, and being able to still be a really good player. Now it just doesn't seem possible unless you're playing a well known current deck. Trying to keep up with the competitive scene otherwise isn't really possible. It always seems so one-sided, and way too fast.

I guess I just want to know what everyone does to still enjoy this game. I've played since literally the start of the game, and I used to love it more than any other game. Now, it doesn't feel like a game anymore. Does anyone have any tips on well, enjoying it again?

I'm similar to you but I gave up on the game after the introduction of Pendulum summon. I don't play much anymore but there are some tournaments I get involved in which are hosted on this forum. These tournaments use old formats or creative decks. Have a look at some of the old tournaments.

Well I personally enjoy the meta game, it's also not as one sided as everyone makes out. My 4 meta decks are more than capable of beating each other (PePe, BA, Majespecter & Kozmo) but I also mix things up by playing non meta. We also host custom non meta tournaments here each Sunday, Such things as Goat Format tournament, Pegasus Challange, Pro Decklist, Concept tournamen the list could go on forever.

Don't force yourself to play meta because you won't enjoy it, Just play what you enjoy

I really want to do that, but I also want to rank up. Is this even possible without playing meta?

It's entirely possible! You can choose to not use Meta in BA/SA duels and EVERY tournament winner (but not lives) recives a tournament stack.

yeah just say no meta b4 u duel someone for BA, pretty sure someone will take you on

@CrimsonOverlord someone said what you want here so reply betch

'Fun' is a funny lil thing; Different people find different things 'fun'. Like, for me; I've stopped playing seriously due to just how bleh this format has turned out ... but if you find something that you enjoy playing and have fun whilst playing it ... then you can always find enjoyment in the game. Fun is whatever you want it to be. You can also always ask for no meta in BA/SA duels.

@lilithsamara welp its like you copy pasted what ive been saying around these days lol The game is fun when you play non meta decks.Meta game is literally same thing over and over.There isnt any play that has variety or emotion in meta play,you just go through the motions,make it impossible for the other one to play and give a fake gg just out of habit,not that you really mean gg because you literally were just playing with yourself because you locked your opponent out of play.Id like to play a meta made out of non meta decks.A game where you can play any deck that you love because u simply do so.I just want people to acknowledge this way of playing the game.People are pressured to win so they just netdeck the best deck out there.We should remove that mentality,a game should be fun and you should feel satisfied even if you lose because you had a great match.Granted sadly some people just want to win at any cost and really dont care much for a good game unless they win

I dont play meta and look how prosome i am

eh i play meta, but mostly non-meta and sometimes kozmos x:

And I can guarentee Im one of the besto players here x:

You just need to work on youir ruling and your deck-building

find your own creative deadly combo and take people on!

Just pray jesus, people say banlist incoming like 1 Feb Week. Just wait to see if it is the truth or not.

The game is difficult to make "fun", because there are many thing you have to consider beforehand:

1) The game always need to evolve. Be it a new form of summoning, or a new mechanic introduced, the game needs to evolve--and when it does evolve, the Power Creep exponentially curves. The first new deck that uses the new mechanic often just outclasses everything before it, thus they have to make new decks that either directly counter the deck that introduced the mechanic, or newer decks that use that mechanic more effectively. As an example, we'll look at the introduction of Pendulums with Performapals (and various other crap). When they were first released, they didn't do anything to change the game.... So Konami made Qli to get people interested, and went incredibly overboard with them.
2) No matter what you do, there will always be that one or two decks that are just simply better than the rest. It's literally impossible to make every deck just as good as the others it fights spots with. Again, as an example, we can travel back to 2011 (since it's somewhat relevant at the moment). Those formats were very, very diverse... However, Plants and Blackwings were still the undisputed top contenders regardless on how diverse those formats were.


However, the current problem this game has is Tier 0 Formats and Floodgates. And, more often than not, these degenerate problems tend to bother the community at the same exact time.... Mostly because they perpetuate each other.
As a current example: PePe + Anti-Spell
This format is a Tier 0 format, and thus decks are maining floodgates to combat it--floodgates powerful enough that seeing them turn 1 often equates to an immediate loss that game.

But floodgates have been around for quite a long time. Again (due to relevance) in 2011, there was Royal Oppression. But, before that, there was Last Turn, Imperial Order, Jinzo, Macro Cosmos and Skill Drain. And, in Formats that were more "balanced", these floodgates were often either limited or banned until the game evolved enough to simply deal with them--or a different floodgate was created that could be dealt with in easier ways, or just simply weren't as destructive as their predecessors.

But this also creates a minor paradox, when the two are together--combined with how Konami deals with floodgates. Tier 0 Formats need floodgates to even let any other deck function at all, despite floodgates turning more "balanced" formats into degenerate who-draws-it-first contests. Which, in turn, asks the game masters to create something for the players to use that can simply play around those floodgates.... But, in doing so, the game masters can just simply create a Tier 0 format. It creates a cycle fueled by the need to ever-evolve and create new things to entice old players to keep playing.

The "ideal" format, for me at least, is a format like "HAT" format, which is pretty much the sorta format that appears to be desired by this topic; it was diverse as all heck and a lot of decks could compete back then ... Duelist Alliance is what changed the game in that regard, and everything's gone from there, but it's all ebbs and flows, along with powercreep. Even then, a 'best deck' will always shine through, it's the decks around them that keep the format interesting and "fun".

I personally would prefer it if the meta decks were meta because they were easier to play well rather than inherently better than the others.