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Living the Metagame: The New York Regionals

Dave Brent

March 01, 2004

View all articles by this author

“Vampire Lord and Zombie decks will crush all and dominate tournaments!”

“I run a 45 card deck and so does everybody else I know that wins.”

“Control decks are unbeatable!”

How many times do we hear these kinds of statements? People offer a lot of opinions on various aspects of the game. As noted in my first article, most of these opinions are probably shaped by each player's local game, and such opinions may or may not be on track for the metagame. The Regional tournaments give us a window into the metagame to see what might be fact as opposed to fiction.

The first official Regional tournaments of 2004 were held in Brooklyn, New York, and hosted by Kings Games. Two separate tournaments were held on January 3 and January 4, with a total of 168 duelists competing for the opportunity to earn a spot in the National tournament this June, or maybe just to prove their dueling skills.

There have been several Regionals since then, and by the time this article is published, there will have been more than ten Regionals held. The Restricted List has changed since this tournament as well.

So why discuss this particular Regional? Simply put, because it was the first. As the evolving metagame is analyzed in this article series, this Regional provides us all with a snapshot of the metagame at the beginning of the year. As new sets are released and new strategies unfold, we can look back to this data point and mark the twists and turns of the metagame.

The hope is to collect and evaluate data from all the Regional and National tournaments and present articles that summarize the information gathered as well as highlight things that may be of interest. The analysis will not cover the rooms, locations, and so on. This information will hopefully help you shape your views of the metagame as well as give you a basis to agree (or not) with the kind of blanket statements at the top of this article.

Regional Tournament Format

For those new to the tournament scene, the Regional tournaments incorporate the Swiss pairing format. The players' cumulative records determine the pairings for each round after the first. The advantages of Swiss-style pairings are that players continue to play competitively throughout the entire tournament and that players are matched against other players at their same skill level.

Players are not eliminated in a pure Swiss-style tournament. Each player duels in each round until the tournament is over.

For example, the first Regional tournament in the Midwest, held in Niles, Illinois, on January 10, 2004,was pure Swiss-style and was completed in nine rounds. In contrast, the New York Regionals were modified Swiss format, using a single-elimination eight-player bracket, made up of the Top 8 players after the Swiss rounds, to determine the winner. Seven rounds of Swiss were played, followed by the single-elimination Top 8.

Modified or pure Swiss format tournaments each have advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I like the single-elimination Top 8--it's more dramatic, and it results in a single, clearly visible winner.

The biggest perceived "flaw" with a modified format is that the person with the first place match record of the day does not necessarily finish first. For example, at the end of the Swiss rounds at the January 3 Regional, Elliot Ortiz was the only duelist with an incredible 7-0 match record. He won the first of his Top 8 matches, and then faced Andy Zhang, who had a 6-1 match record in the Swiss, in the semifinals. Andy's only loss during the Swiss that day was to none other than Elliot! Andy prevailed in the match that counted, winning it 2-1, and he advanced to the finals. Andy went on to win the day. On January 4, the duelist in sixth place after the Swiss portion, Russell Pearce, went on to become a finalist, securing a spot in Nationals.

While some may cringe at how it plays out, the way I look at it is that in a modified-Swiss tournament, the Swiss portion is a qualifier for the Top 8. Once in the Top 8, the slate is clean and anyone has a chance to win.

By the Numbers

Although they're referred to as the Brooklyn or New York Regionals, it might be better to refer to them as the East Coast Regionals. Duelists from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware all competed in the events.

Here are some statistics that you may find interesting:

The average deck size of all decks was approximately 42 cards.

The average deck size of the Top 8 decks for both days (sixteen decks total--the "Sweet 16") was 40.4 cards. The largest deck had 42 cards.

The average Sweet 16 deck had the following stats:

· 17 monsters--the lowest number was 15 and the highest was 20

· 6 traps--the lowest number was 4 and the highest was 10

· 7 out of the 16 used a Fusion deck

· All had side decks

Sweet 16 Deck Types

The deck variety was staggering: Burn, Exodia, Final Countdown, Earth, Warrior, Fiend, Zombie, and so on were represented and played well.

Classifying the Sweet 16 decks was difficult in some cases. Is a deck with Yata-Garasu, Delinquent Duo, and Forceful Sentry a Beatdown - Hand Control Hybrid or just a Beatdown deck with a few control cards added? I think it is the latter, for the same reason I don’t classify a deck as a Beatdown - Burn Hybrid just because it has Ring of Destruction or Ceasefire in it. So with that qualifier, here is how I classify the Sweet 16:

6 Beatdown - Hand Control Hybrid

3 Best-of -Breed Beatdown

2 Fiend

2 Zombie

1 Light - Hand Control

1Gravekeeper’s Beatdown

1 Magical Scientist Burn

What I found really interesting is the variety of approaches used even among the same general deck type. For example, some of the Control decks used Spirit Reaper only, some used Don Zaloog only, and others used both.

Cards in the main decks varied from deck to deck. Of course, many of the expected cards appeared in most, but not all, decks, such as Breaker the Magical Warrior, Jinzo, Tribe-Infecting Virus, Sangan, and Witch of the Black Forest. However, Twin-Headed Behemoth, Kuriboh, Masked Sorcerer, Giant Rat, Mystic Tomato, Dark Ruler Ha Des, Airknight Parshath, Creature Swap, Metamorphosis, and Magic Drain are just some of the examples of the varied cards chosen by the top duelists. While those cards are not surprising, it does make the point that there doesn’t appear to be one single “cookie cutter” deck used by all top duelists.

The side decks were interesting, to say the least. Many expected cards were in the side decks to complement the main decks. Nobleman of Crossout, Seven Tools of the Bandit, Book of Moon, Kuriboh, Waboku, and Torrential Tribute could be found in many side decks. However, I was intrigued by the less commonly-used cards in these side decks, such as Battle Footballer, Infinite Dismissal, My Body as a Shield, Tsukoyomi, and Chain Destruction.

The Winning Decks

The decks of the two winning duelists are listed below.

January 3, 2004: Andy Zhang

40 cards total.

Monsters

1 Jinzo

1 Tribe-Infecting Virus

1 Fiber Jar

1 Witch of the Black Forest

1 Sangan

1 Sinister Serpent

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

Spells

1 Dark Hole

1 Raigeki

1 Painful Choice

1 Harpie’s Feather Duster

1 Heavy Storm

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Change of Heart

1 Snatch Steal

1 Mirage of Nightmare

1 Graceful Charity

1 Pot of Greed

1 The Forceful Sentry

Traps

1 Imperial Order

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Waboku

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Mirror Force

Side Deck

1 Kycoo the Destroyer

1 Confiscation

1 Nobleman of Crossout

1 Archfiend Soldier

1 Kuriboh

1 Waboku

1 Gemini Elf

Fusion Deck

3 Thousand-Eyes Restrict

3 Ryu Senshi

3 Dark Balter the Terrible

3 Dark Flare Knight

1 Empress Judge

1 Roaring Ocean Snake

1 Punished Eagle

Andy’s deck is a classic Beatdown - Minimal Hand Control Hybrid main deck. The side deck allows the deck to shift into a full Hand Control strategy by using another Don Zaloog, Cofiscation, Drop Off, and Time Seal. It also can shift to a Beatdown-oriented configuration using cards such as Archfiend Soldier and Gemini Elf.

January 4, 2004: Edward Nikhmah

40 cards total

Monsters

1 Sangan

1 Twin Headed Behemoth

1 Witch of the Black Forest

Spells

1 Card Destruction

1 Change Of Heart

1 Dark Hole

1 Graceful Charity

1 Harpie's Feather Duster

1 Heavy Storm

3 Last Will

1 Monster Reborn

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

1 Raigeki

1 Swords of Revealing Light

Traps

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Imperial Order

1 Mirror Force

2 Waboku

Side Deck

1 Morphing Jar #2

1 Waboku

Fusion Deck

3 Dark Balter the Terrible

1 Reaper of the Nightmare

3 Roaring Ocean Snake

3 Ryu Senshi

1 Thousand Eyes Restrict

Ed’s deck is an excellent example of a Magical Scientist deck prior to the February 2, 2004, restriction of Magical Scientist to one copy per deck. Two cards to highlight are Gilasaurus and Reasoning.

Reasoning is used to special summon one of the two key components of the one-turn kill combo: Magical Scientist or Catapult Turtle. Catapult Turtle is what’s usually hoped for, since Reasoning allows you to bring it onto the field without the need for a tribute.

Gilasaurus is one of those underplayed cards that can shine in a Magical Scientist deck. Basically, Gilasaurus allows you to treat it as a special summon, with the downside being your opponent also can special summon a monster to the field. Well, the downside does not matter if you can use it to get Magical Scientist and Catapult Turtle on the field. There are many combos possible with this card, for example:

Summon Gilasaurus and treat it as a special summon
Activate Last Will
Tribute summon Catapult Turtle by tributing Gilasaurus
Special summon Magical Scientist
Execute the combo--and that's game.

It’s a well-built Magical Scientist deck with some very effective cards to throw the opponent off his or her game.

Urban Legends

As I mentioned in "The Big Picture," current rules and rulings (as well as how well duelists understand them) are a factor that shapes the metagame. I thought it might be helpful to highlight the top misconceptions or areas of confusion in the rulings to help others prepare for their Regional tournaments.

The “Top 10” cards that generated questions that required a judge to resolve them (at several Regionals) are as follows:

1. Breaker the Magical Warrior--Breaker is not a multi-trigger Effect monster. Its effect is spell speed 1 and can only be used in its controller’s main phases. When Breaker is normal summoned, the counter placement effect triggers. If Ring of Destruction is chained to that effect, the damage inflicted is 1600, not 1900.

2. Necrovalley--You still get the effect of Vampire Lord (revival effect), Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, and Sinister Serpent with Necrovalley on the field.

3.Sinister Serpent--Sinister Serpent will not return to your hand if it's destroyed by Dark Balter the Terrible.

4. Cyber Jar--When resolving Cyber Jar’s effect, after both players have seen the cards picked up, a player can place monsters face down and then shuffle the face down monsters.

5. Skill Drain--Skill Drain does negate flip effects if it is active on the field. You can chain it to an effect triggered by a flip summon. However, you cannot activate Skill Drain in the damage step, so you can’t activate it after a flip due to battle.

6. Swords of Revealing Light--You can activate Swords of Revealing Light with Imperial Order on the field. Although the effect is negated, the turn count continues. You can activate a card during your opponent’s turn in response to non-chainable events. This can be done during any phase of your opponent’s turn. For example, you can activate Ring of Destruction during your opponent’s draw phase immediately after your opponent draws.

7. Ceasefire--Ceasefire does not require a face down monster on the field to be activated if there is at least one face up Effect monster on the field.

8. Mirage of Nightmare--If a player has both Imperial Order and Mirage of Nightmare active, the player can choose to resolve the effect of the Mirage first. Since it is negated, no discard is required. Then the player can choose to not pay for Imperial Order.

9. Snatch Steal--If you activate Snatch Steal to gain control of your opponent’s monster, and your opponent chains Imperial Order, then Snatch Steal is still equipped to the monster at activation. Imperial Order resolves first and will negate the change of control effect, but it does not negate the activation of Snatch Steal. Therefore, Snatch Steal remains on the field equipped to the monster. If Imperial Order is no longer active, the monster will change control. Also, if you activate Premature Burial to summon your monster in the graveyard and your opponent chains Imperial Order, then Imperial Order resolves first and negates the effect of Premature Burial. Premature Burial does not equip to the monster at activation since its effect must resolve first to get the monster on the field. Therefore, the monster never gets to the field and Premature Burial is destroyed.

10. Magical Scientist--When you summon Magical Scientist, your opponent can activate Torrential Tribute after you have declared whether you will you use its effect immediately. Torrential Tribute is then chained to the effect. All monsters on the field will be destroyed, and then the monster summoned by the effect of Scientist hits the field. If it is Ryu Senshi, it is too late to use its effect to negate Torrential Tribute. If your opponent waits until after Ryu Senshi is summoned to activate Torrential Tribute, then you can use Ryu Senshi’s effect to negate Torrential Tribute.

For whatever reason, the above questions came up multiple times and were the most hotly contested at multiple regional tournaments.

Local Game or Metagame?

Sometimes readers will question whether a Regional tournament is a reflection of local conditions or truly a reflection of the metagame. Time will tell. It is interesting to note that half the duelists at the Niles, Illinois, Regional tournament on January 10 had a Fusion deck. One side decked Magical Scientist; the other used it in his main deck. At the February 1, 2004, Long Island Regional tournament, three out of four duelists had a Fusion deck, and two duelists had Scientist in their main decks. That looks like a solid trend to me. While Spear Dragon appears to have been more of a factor at the Niles event, it had less play in the east. Scapegoat also seems to be on the rise again, which will probably impact the use of Spear Dragon and Airknight Parshath.

One thing appears certain--pure Hand Control decks have not fared well in the current environment. However, the Beatdown - Hand Control Hybrid decks have maintained a solid place as the dominant winning deck type. The way they are built and played appears to vary based not on region, but on player style and preferences.

Final Thoughts

With a Restricted List change, Evolution Decks, and a new booster set, the metagame will certainly change (as always) in the near future--but by how much? It’s interesting to note that only a couple of the decks in the Sweet 16 are actually affected by the Restricted List changes. I think the Chaos monsters will have a great impact on what the winning decks will look like in the near future. It will be fun to come back to this article in the future to see how things compare.

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