The holiday season is in full swing, and after some brief technical difficulties over the weekend, we have seven more days of great new articles for you here at Metagame.com!
Wrapping Up 2007 This Week On Metagame.com
Next week our editing staff takes a well-deserved vacation, but for now, I get things started with a look at one of the most powerful cards in the current format: Destiny Hero - Plasma. With two Top 16 showings at Shonen Jump San Mateo, Plasma is a far more versatile card than it may first appear. It’s both an answer and an ally to Light and Darkness Dragon, and its relationship with that monster is only the tip of the iceberg. Today I show you how to get the most out of its dual effects, so click on over to check out The Binder.
Tomorrow, Jerome McHale tackles the task of building a Volcanic Monarch variant. With the deck’s success at San Mateo and the release of Royal Firestorm Guards, more and more duelists are looking to try out this “hot” (ha!) strategy as it continues to develop. Plenty of great deckbuilding and no puns whatsoever on Tuesday’s installment of Almost There!
On Wednesday, Curtis Schultz dives into the mailbag one last time for 2007, answering rulings questions submitted by you, the readers. Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, Card of Safe Return, and the Six Samurai all get a bit of needed explanation, as Curtis swings open the doors to the year’s last Duel Academy.
Thursday, Matt Murphy fixes up a deck called Nightfallen Harvest in The Apotheosis. A Fiend deck with heavy control elements, it uses stuff like Evil Hero Malicious Edge, Double Summon, and Evil Hero Infernal Gainer to wipe out opponents before they get a chance to defend themselves! Combos abound in this sweet new deck, and get ready for some surprising twists from Matt that you might not see coming.
Bryan Camareno likes to preach the value of practice and the role it plays in your dueling career, but practice is nothing without a few key elements. Persistence and experimentation are key to your success, because without them, you won’t be taking full advantage of your practice sessions. Bryan’s going to show you how to turn your test games from passive to active experiences, and he’ll explain why that’s one of the most important ways to better yourself as a duelist.
Hugo Adame made a big impact with his third place finish at San Mateo, and his deck has lead the way for thousands of duelists now playing Macro Cosmos. Three such decks made it to Day 2, but Adame’s was hands down the most successful, so this Saturday Matt Peddle’s going to examine why. What made Adame’s strategy and execution so good, and why was his side deck an important piece of the puzzle? Matt will dissect Hugo’s deck and reveal all. If you’re a competitive duelist, you don’t want to miss this one!
Finally, Ryan Murphy finishes out our year of content with a follow-up to last week’s super-popular Yugi deck! This time around, Ryan’s building a Traditional format Dragon deck with heavy elements of Kaiba, including the affluent duelist’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon. This is more than just a character deck though: it’s got some awesome combos that add up to a very cool drawing engine (a rarity in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG).
After that, we’ll be taking two weeks off, but Metagame.com’s not going to leave you high and dry for the holidays! Our writers have gone back over their work for the past year, and selected their favorite articles from your favorite columns. Join us as we take one last look at the best this year had to offer, brought back one more time complete with writer commentary.
When we return on January 7th, we’ll have one week before we start our previews of Phantom Darkness, so get ready to kick off the new year in a big way! What might be the greatest Yu-Gi-Oh! booster set of all time is just weeks away, but until then, happy holidays to you from all of us here at Metagame.com. See you in 2008!
—Jason Grabher-Meyer
Contributing Editor, Metagame.com