Looking back on the past twelve months, I think it’s safe to say that 2006 was the most dramatic year for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG yet. While the Chaos Sorcerer format of last summer was probably my least favorite, I’ve really enjoyed the current Advanced environment. Monarchs have certainly set the standard, but they’re far from unbeatable, and in the past six weeks I’ve won local tournaments with Fiends, Chain Strike Burn, and Cyberdarks. Heck, I even chalked up a victory with a deck dedicated to Five-Headed Dragon. This week I’m packing a modified version of Jerome McHale’s Final Countdown/Clock Tower Prison deck (check it out here), spiked with Winged Kuriboh and Flute of Summoning Kuriboh. Flat out, I love this format.
Last year we saw Emon Ghaneian chalk up the best winning streak of all time, taking a side event prize card, two Shonen Jump Championship titles, and a Top 8 spot at Nationals in a matter of months. Theeresak Poonsombat got back on the horse and broke his own record of six SJC Top 8s, and 11-year old Austin Kulman won the US National Championship to become one of the most memorable celebrities this game has ever seen. We saw decks like Chain Strike Burn, Dimensional Fissure, Chimeratech Overdragon, Dark World, and even Chris Moosman’s Prickle Fairy concoction make Day 2 appearances. Shrink arrived in UDE territories, we got way more promos than ever before, and Champion Packs have rekindled the fire of local level tournaments by providing awesome, high-value prizes. Chaos Sorcerer and Cyber-Stein are behind us, and looking back I’m pretty impressed with 2006.
And everything’s just going to get better. Let’s take a look at some of the things we can expect in the coming year.
Little Yugi’s Gadgets!
I made a new year’s resolution to try and ease up on the exclamation points, but I can’t help myself: like many of you, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We’re just nine days away from the release of the newest Structure Deck, Machine Re-Volt, and it’s packed with more new cards than any Structure before it. Extensive Ancient Gear support, a new trap monster, and Yugi’s Green, Red, and Yellow Gadgets all make their debut here. A lot of the new cards are tournament worthy, and there are some great reprints, too. Enemy Controller, Pot of Avarice, and a pair of Sakuretsu Armor cards are just some of the notable entries making a comeback as easily-accessible commons.
The Gadgets will be legal for use in Shonen Jump Championship Orlando, just a few weeks away, and some of the regulars on the SJC circuit have already been cooking up decks to showcase the new clockwork wonders. Gadgets come in three colors, and when you normal or special summon one, you get to search your deck for a corresponding color and add that monster to your hand. No life point costs, no discards, no strings attached. Green searches Red, Red searches Yellow, and Yellow searches Green, creating a complete cycle. Even though the Gadgets have relatively weak ATK and DEF, it’s easy to see how they could overwhelm an opponent with sheer numbers, and they’re an exciting monster group because they can be played in so many different ways. Want to go for an OTK? All you need is Ultimate Offering and one Gadget, and you can fill your field for a crushing series of attacks. Prefer to play the numbers? A deck packed with monster removal like Sakuretsu Armor and Smashing Ground will keep the field clear of opposing monsters while yours continue to swarm. Pretty soon, your victim’s out of cards, and your Gadgets will still be hopping around the field. You can use them to fuel discard effects like Lightning Vortex or Snipe Hunter, and they can be really nice with Pot of Avarice. There’s a lot of diversity, and only through practice and testing can a duelist find the Gadget strategy that’s right for him or her. On January 17th we’ll all get our chance to give them a try.
Strike of Neos
A little bit further on the horizon is Yu-Gi-Oh!’s next booster expansion, Strike of Neos. Featuring significant additions to the ranks of Dark World and the Neo-Spacians, it also introduces a brand new family of Warrior monsters: all three groups get some impressive new cards. There’s some other neat stuff too, and the set’s got a lot of material that could make an impact in tournaments. Take it from me, get your playsets of Goldd and Sillva before this set hits the streets.
Speaking of which, the Strike of Neos Sneak Preview events will be held next month, and for the first time since Beast of Talwar, we’re going to be treated to an all-new card that’s never been seen before—not even in Japan! Details have been scarce, but the new promo is said to be part of a joint effort between Konami and Upper Deck Entertainment, and the possibilities are endless. Previews will probably be huge, since both the promo and powerful cards from the set itself are bound to drive big turnouts.
A New Shonen Jump Championship Prize Card
We’re only eight days into the year, but Upper Deck Entertainment has already announced seven Shonen Jump Championships between now and October. There will certainly be more added to the schedule as time passes, but for now, everyone’s waiting for Orlando later this month. And with good reason: even if you already knew everything I outlined above, odds are you didn’t know this . . .
Shonen Jump Championship Orlando won’t just be the first SJC to see Gadgets in competition. Sources at UDE have also confirmed that the event will mark the debut of a new exclusive prize card: none other than Kaiba’s long-awaited Crush Card Virus! If you’re a fan of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series, played the videogames, or are just one of the thousands of fans waiting for this trap card to arrive, then you’re probably familiar with it. But if you’re not, think of Deck Devastation Virus with a required tribute of a Dark monster with 1000 ATK or less (instead of 2000 or more), and then let it blow away any opposing monster with 1500+ ATK for three turns. Wince! This might be the most powerful prize card we’ve ever seen, and competition in Orlando is going to be fierce.
Beyond that, there are tons of promos, another Champion Pack series, and more in the coming months. In a few weeks Julia Hedberg will take a more detailed look at new stuff coming out this year, but for now, kick back, get ready for Gadgets, and prepare for the best year Yu-Gi-Oh! has ever had.
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com