Joe Bogli made the Top 8 at YCS Atlanta, the first-ever Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series event to play out the Top 16 in Draft!  That experience may pay off today, as Bogli’s back in the hunt for a Championship title, now with more time spent Drafting and studying War of the Giants: Round 2.  He actually arrived here today with a hand-written list of priorities: cards he knew to be top picks, helping him organize his thoughts and his choices.  While he had to leave that behind once the drafting actually started, he had a clear set of highlights in his mind that he’d be looking for in his packs today.

 

War of the Giants: Round 2 Draft Play is divided into three rounds.  The first round is three packs of Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants; the second round is a War of the Giants: Round 2 pack; and the third round is another three boosters of Battle Pack 2.  Today we followed Joe Bogli through his complete drafting process, so we can show you every card he picked at every stage of the draft… and every card he passed up on.  Let’s get started!

 

Drafting Round 1 – The First Three Battle Pack 2’s

For each pack passed to Bogli, we’ll show you what he received and what he eventually chose.  Remember, the cards he doesn’t choose pass to his opponents, but he could get a chance to see those cards later once each pack makes its way back around to him.  Check it out!

 

Pack 1: Half Shut; Doomcaliber Knight; Winged Rhynos; Treeborn Frog; Little-Winguard; Time Machine; Mermail Abyssmegalo; Half Counter; Ego Boost; Chiron the Mage; Super Conductor Tyranno; Krebons; The Fiend Megacyber; Oracle of the Sun; Zubaba Knight.

 

From this pack, Bogli picked The Fiend Megacyber.  It’s Tribute bait you can Special Summon, but it’s also a strong attacker all on its own.

 

Pack 2: Spell Striker; Twin-Sword Marauder; Super Conductor Tyranno; The Fiend Megacyber; Swords of Concealing Light; Cyber Valley; Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer; Mirage Dragon; Vylon Prism; Fiend’s Sanctuary; Plaguespreader Zombie; Draining Shield; Twin-Headed Behemoth; Fortress Warrior

 

Here he picked Mirage Dragon, a mid-sized attacker that can evade a lot of the best battle tricks in War of the Giants.

 

Pack 3: Steamroid; Shrink; Evocator Chevalier; Mirage Dragon; Revival Jam; Axe of Despair; Dimension Gate; White Night Dragon; D.D. Warrior Lady; Phantom Dragon; Gravity Axe – Grarl; Forbidden Dress; Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts

 

Shrink was the immediate pick here: it’s a really powerful trump card in battle, and spoiler!, it was going to pay off later on in the tournament.

 

 

Pack 4: Curse of Anubis; Time Machine; White Night Dragon; Winged Rhynos; Magician of Faith; Darklord Desire; No Entry!!; Embodiment of Apophis; Zubaba Knight; Winged Rhynos; Swords of Concealing Light; Spell Striker

 

Bogli picked Magician of Faith, probably in part because he just picked Shrink.

 

Pack 5: Overworked; Gilasaurus; Aye-Iron; Big Shield Gardna; Dododo Bot; Gravity Axe – Grarl; The Fiend Megacyber; Shield & Sword; Maha Vailo; Miracle Locus; Des Mosquito

 

Here he took Dododo Bot.

 

Pack 6: Shield & Sword; Mirage Dragon; Aye-Iron; Zombyra the Dark; Cloning; Phantom Dragon; Jurrac Titano; No Entry!!; Plaguespreader Zombie; Splendid Venus

 

Cloning is a great card-for-card answer to big threats, and it was Bogli’s choice here.

 

 

Pack 7: Fighting Spirit; Twin-Headed Behemoth; Oracle of the Sun; Little-Winguard; Chaos Hunter; White Night Dragon; 2 Labyrinth of Nightmare; Brain Crusher

 

Labyrinth of Nightmare is a tremendous, game-warping card in War of the Giants Draft, if you know how to play it!  Bogli clearly understood its strength, and getting it here as a seventh pick seemed kind of nuts.

 

Pack 8: Reverse Trap; Ancient Gear Golem; 2 Bazoo the Soul Eater; Axe of Fools; White Night Dragon; Rope of Life; Drillroid

 

Drillroid was an easy choice for Bogli here; a mid-sized beater that would disrupt big defenders, and combo with Labyrinth of Nightmare.

 

Pack 9: Little-Winguard; Oracle of the Sun; Zubaba Knight; Half Shut; Super Conductor Tyranno; Chiron the Mage; Doomcaliber Knight.

 

With its 1900 ATK and effect-stopping ability, Doomcaliber Knight was the handsdown choice for Bogli on Pack 9.

 

Pack 10: Fortress Warrior; Fiend’s Sanctuary; Twin-Headed Behemoth; Plaguespreader Zombie; Super Conductor Tyranno; Twin-Sword Marauder.

 

Twin-Headed Behemoth is an alright defender, and a risk-free attacker.  It was Bogli’s Pack 10 choice.

 

 

Pack 11: White Night Dragon; Revival Jam; Phantom Dragon; Tanngrisnir of the Nordic Beasts; Steamroid.

 

Steamroid can swing over bigger monsters really easily, so it was another late pick that was almost too good to be true.

 

Pack 12: Zubaba Knight; Time Machine; 2 Winged Rhynos.

 

With lots of monsters so far, Bogli chose the resiliency of Time Machine from this pack.

 

Pack 13: Overworked; Big Shield Gardna; Gilasaurus.

 

Big Shield Gardna can block damage, stall, and deal out some hurt as a defender, so Bogli chose it over the unlikely late pick, Overworked.

 

 

Pack 14: Splendid Venus; Plaguespreader Zombie.

 

With few Giants to War with thus far, Bogli chose Splendid Venus over the card-munching draw-stopping Plaguespreader Zombie.

 

Pack 15: Brain Crusher.

 

Finally, Pack 15 gave him Brain Crusher, one of the least-desirable cards in the set in the eyes of drafters here at YCS Chicago.

 

With those fifteen picks made, Bogli had the following cards so far: Time Machine; Labyrinth of Nightmare; Cloning; Shrink; Brain Crusher; Splendid Venus; Big Shield Gardna; Steamroid; Twin-Headed Behemoth; Doomcaliber Knight; Drillroid; Dododo Bot; Magician of Faith; Mirage Dragon; The Fiend Megacyber.

 

 

Drafting Round 2 – One Pack Of War of the Giants: Round 2

With a good mix of cards so far, Bogli was free to continue taking whatever he felt was the best pick from each pack he drafted.  A lot of his picks in the second round of drafting came right off the list he’d built and studied in preparation for this tournament.  For instance…

 

Pack 1: Memory Loss; Worm Apocalypse; Evilswarm Heliotrope; Invader of Darkness; Berserker Scales; Sergeant Electro; Mystic Box; Tribute to the Doomed; Cyber Gymnast; Wall of Illusion; Chow Len the Prophet; Deep Sweeper; Blade Knight; Attention!; Berserk Gorilla.

 

Sergeant Electro was one of Bogli’s top cards to look for, since it can deal alright damage on its own, locks down a card when it hits play, and can keep making more and more trouble for your opponents the longer it survives.  It was an immediate pick for Bogli.

 

 

Pack 2: Evilswarm Ketos; Evilswarm Mandragora; Butterspy Protection; Berserk Gorilla; Golem Sentry; Yomi Ship; Share the Pain; Sergeant Electro; Worm Jetelikpse; Worm Apocalypse; Mogmole; Swallowtail Butterspy; Playful Possum; Dimension Slice.

 

Here he took Butterspy Protection, a versatile defensive card that was again, high on his list of cards to look for.  It’s a subtle card that most inexperienced players tend to overlook in War of the Giants Draft.

 

Pack 3: Release Restraint Wave; Conscription; Mecha Phantom Beast Stealthray; Different Dimension Gate; Megamorph; Shift; Deep Sweeper; Worm Jetelikpse; Medium of the Ice Barrier; Black Pendant; Heroic Challenger – Night Watchman; Power Breaker; Needle Ceiling.

 

Release Restraint Wave was a risky choice with Bogli starved for Equip Spells at this point, but it’s a high-impact card that can win games almost entirely on its own.  Everybody sets all their stuff in this format, so Restraint Wave can crate huge swings of momentum.

 

Pack 4: Evilswarm Ketos; Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf; Evilswarm Obliviwisp; D.D. Esper Star Sparrow; Cyber Prima; General Raiho of the Ice Barrier; Hypnocorn; Dimension Slice; Heroic Challenger – Night Watchman; Invader of Darkness; Berserk Scales; Conscription.

 

Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf creates a useful Mecha Phantom Beast Token whenever it hits the field.  It can also redeem Tokens for ATK boosts, making it tough to approach in battle and giving it combo potential with anything else that Summons tokens… like Cloning, one of Bogli’s previous picks.

 

 

Pack 5: Majest Mech – Goryu; Shift; Adhesion Trap Hole; Madolche Baaple; Skull Kraken; Mecha Phantom Beast Blackfalcon; Pineapple Blast; A/D Changer; Evilswarm Obliviwisp; Covering Fire; Lucky Iron Axe.

 

Here he took Covering Fire.

 

Pack 6: Majestic Mech – Goryu; Mogmole; Invader of Darkness; The Wacky Alchemy!; Chow Len the Prophet; Chthonian Blast; Lucky Iron Axe; Skystarray; Gentlemander; Sauropod Brachion.

 

With that Release Restraint Wave under-supported, Lucky Iron Axe was both an enabling combo card and a nice little battle pump!

 

Pack 7: Butterspy Protection; Kazejin; Berserker Scales; Invader of Darkness; Worm Apocalypse; Winged Sage Falcos; Different Dimension Gate; Memory Loss; Evilswarm Mandragora.

 

Another Butterspy Protection!  Bogli snapped it up immediately.

 

 

Pack 8: Skystarray; Ribbon of Rebirth; Worm Apocalypse; General Raiho of the Ice Barrier; Gentlemander; Cursed Fig; Adhesive Explosive; Blackwing – Elphin the Raven.

 

Ribbon of Rebirth was kind of a “best of the worst” pick here.  It was one of Bogli’s longer decisions, with Pack 8 offering no real standouts.

 

Pack 9: Attention!; Berserker Scales; Blade Knight; Deep Sweeper; Worm Apocalypse; Invader of Darkness; Memory Loss.

 

Worm Apocalypse offered a quick bit of disruption, and Bogli picked it over Blade Knight.

 

Pack 10: Worm Jetelikpse; Playful Possum; Mogmole; Dimension Slice; Worm Apocalypse; Evilswarm Mandragora.

 

Evilswarm Mandragora’s a nice beatstick and Tribute Support at the same time, so it was another easy pick from a largely weak pack, making the cut over Dimension Slice.

 

 

Pack 11: Deep Sweeper; Worm Jetelikpse; Heroic Challenger – Night Watchman; Conscription; Mecha Phantom Beast Stealthray.

 

Mecha Phantom Beast Stealthray has high DEF, and promises possible combos with Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf!  Bogli took it, adding to his list of cards that harass the Spell and Trap Card Zone.

 

Pack 12: Dimension Slice; Heroic Champion – Night Watchman; Invader of Darkness; D.D. Esper Star Sparrow.

 

Dimension Slice was the easy choice here.

 

Pack 13: Shift; Madolche Baaple; Skull Kraken.

 

Shift made the cute over two sub-par monster cards.

 

Pack 14: Sauropod Brachion; Invader of Darkness.

 

Bogli chose Sauropod Brachion over Invader of Darkness, only to find that his next pack was going to be…!

 

 

Pack 15: Invader of Darkness.

 

Bogli gave a laugh, wondering out loud what the odds of that were.  The Invader brought Bogli’s Round 2 Draft list to: Sergeant Electro; Mecha Phantom Beast Stealthray; Evilswarm Mandragora ; Worm Apocalypse; Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf; Invader of Darkness; Sauropod Brachion; Lucky Iron Axe; Ribbon of Rebirth; Release Restraint Wave; two Butterspy Protection; Covering Fire; Shift; Dimension Slice

 

Draft Round 3 – Three More Packs of Battle Pack 2

When Bogli opened the second of his three Battle Packs, Pot of Duality was an immediate standout!  But another card from the third booster immediately overshadowed it…

 

Pack 1: Memory of an Adversary; Des Mosquito; Airknight Parshath; Prideful Roar; Pot of Duality; Big Shield Gardna; Miniaturize; Kunai With Chain; Necro Gardna; Forbidden Chalice; Needle Sunfish; Rising Energy; Vylon Prism; Vylon Stella; Gilasaurus.

 

Memory of an Adversary’s an incredible card in this format, eliminating virtually any monster and turning it against your opponent a turn later!  It’s a huge game-winning card, and it was Bogli’s pick over Pot of Duality.  When Bogli passed Pack 1 to Alejandro Ahearn, he couldn’t believe that Bogli had passed Duality and made it his immediate pick.

 

“IF YOU PASSED THIS, WHAT DID YOU TAKE?!”

 

 

Pack 2: Gyroid; Aye-Iron; Ancient Gear Golem; Shocktopus; Threatening Roar; Beast King Barbaros; Card Guard; Cyber Dragon; Kunai With Chain; Tiki Curse; Evocator Chevalier; Mosaic Manticore; Fortress Warrior; Shield & Sword.

 

Beast King Barbaros is both a 1900 ATK beater a game-smashing three-Tribute monster; it’s versatile and risk-free, and it was Bogli’s pick for Pack 2.

 

Pack 3: Twin-Headed Behemoth; Truckroid; Copycat; Sinister Seeds; White Night Dragon; Mythical Beast Cerberus; Fortress Warrior; Mask of Weakness; Plaguespreader Zombie; Zombyra the Dark; Magician of Faith; Machine Lord Ur; Gene-Warped Warwolf.

 

Gene-Warped Warwolf as a third pick?  Unlikely, especially after it played a starring role in the winner’s deck from YCS Atlanta.  Bogli took it in a heartbeat.

 

Pack 4: Half Counter; Skill Successor; Curse of Anubis; Truckroid; Steamroid; White Night Dragon; Mythical Beast Cerberus; Dark Resonator; Chiron the Mage; Magician of Faith; Tasuke Knight; Strike Slash.

 

One successful attack with Truckroid can turn it into a nigh-unstoppable attacker, and it was an easy choice here.

 

Pack 5: Skill Successor; Luster Dragon; Sinister Seeds; Mirage Dragon; Maha Vailo; Photon Sanctuary; Card Trader; Belial – Marquis of Darkness; Zoma the Spirit; Needle Sunfish; Plaguespreader Zombie.

 

Luster Dragon’s another simple beatstick, and Bogli took it in moments.

 

 

Pack 6: Power Frame; Hyper Hammerhead; Earthquake; Hyper Ancient Shark Megalodon; Flame Tiger; Cyber Valley; Nightmare’s Steelcage; Tour Bus from the Underworld; Union Attack; Necro Gardna.

 

Hyper Hammerhead can answer much larger monsters and open up attack opportunities.  With a strategy that was largely favoring smaller attackers instead of big Tribute Monsters, it was a great fit for Bogli’s Deck as it was taking shape.

 

Pack 7: Brain Crusher; Fortress Warrior; Winged Rhynos; Vylon Prism; Revival Jam; Rush Recklessly; Reverse Trap; Curse of Anubis; Card Trooper.

 

A little light on simple battle pumps, Bogli picked Rush Recklessly.  It’s fast, reliable, and good at what it does.

 

Pack 8: Cyber Valley; Gogogo Golem; Rope of Life; Super Conductor Tyranno; Revival Jam; Anarchist Monk Ranshin; Vylon Prism; Frostosaurus.

 

Bogli picked Frostosaurus as his high-Level beater of choice.

 

Pack 9: Vylon Stella; Gilasaurus; Needle Sunfish; Vylon Prism; Des Mosquito; Big Shield Gardna; Necro Gardna.

 

Bogli picked another Big Shield Gardna, adding to his defensive wall!

 

 

Pack 10: Ancient Gear Golem; Aye-Iron; Gyroid; Fortress Warrior; Mosaic Manticore; Shield & Sword.

 

Gyroid is another good defender, offering Tribute fodder and blocking power.

 

Pack 11: Twin-Headed Behemoth; Mythical Beast Cerberus; White Night Dragon; Plaguespreader Zombie; Machine Lord Ur.

 

See above: Twin-Headed Behemoth blocks pushes and allows for counterstrikes.

 

Pack 12: Tasuke Knight; Dark Resonator; White Night Dragon; Curse of Anubis.

 

With cards like Labyrinth of Nightmare in the mix, Curse of Anubis was a strong late pick that would help Bogli keep manipulating the shape of the game.

 

 

Pack 13: Plaguespreader Zombie; Belial – Marquis of Darkness; Sinister Seeds.

 

Again, Bogli used his late picks to grab his high-Level monsters.  This time that meant Belial – Marquis of Darkness.

 

Pack 14: Tour Bus from the Underworld; Union Attack.

 

Union Attack isn’t the best battle pump in Battle Pack 2, but it was more useful for the card pool Bogli had assembled than Tour Bus.

 

Pack 15: Brain Crusher.

 

….aaaaand Brain Crusher.

 

 

Here’s the complete list of everything Bogli wound up drafting!

 

Monsters: 29

1 Sauropod Brachion

1 Hyper Hammerhead

1 Doomcaliber Knight

1 Steamroid

1 Twin-Headed Behemoth

1 Belial – Marquis of Darkness

1 Drillroid

1 Frostosaurus

1 Dododo Bot

1 Worm Apocalypse

1 Mecha Phantom Beast Stealthray

1 Gyroid

2 Big Shield Gardna

1 Luster Dragon

1 Truckroid

1 Gene-Warped Warwolf

1 Beast King Barbaros

1 Magician of Faith

1 Mirage Dragon

1 The Fiend Megacyber

1 Evilswarm Mandragora

1 Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf

1 Sergeant Electro

2 Brain Crusher

1 Invader of Darkness

1 Splendid Venus

1 Twin-Headed Behemoth

 

Spells: 6

1 Union Attack

1 Shrink

1 Ribbon of Rebirth

1 Lucky Iron Axe

1 Release Restraint Wave

1 Rush Recklessly

 

Traps: 10

1 Labyrinth of Nightmare

1 Curse of Anubis

1 Memory of an Adversary

1 Time Machine

1 Cloning

1 Covering Fire

2 Butterspy Protection

1 Shift

1 Dimension Slide

 

Out of those cards, Bogli made a 40 card Deck that ran everything, save Twin-Headed Behemoth, Splendid Venus, Invader of Darkness, and the pair of Brain Crushers (which were reserved for his Side Deck).  Would it pay off?  Check out his Top 16 Feature Match to find out!