Billy Brake broke pretty much every Dueling convention in the book on his way to his third YCS win in Dallas last weekend. Not only did he go with a 60-card Advanced Format Deck, the maximum size allowed as opposed to the 40-card minimum most competitors stick to, he also drafted a very specific Battle Pack 3: Monster League strategy that most players overlook or lack the confidence to commit to: the Level 3 monster rush Deck.
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When the dust settles from the Swiss rounds at this weekend’s YCS in Dallas and one round of playoff competition is completed, the 16 remaining Duelists in the tournament will assemble a brand new Deck on the spot in a Battle Pack 3: Monster League draft! Booster Draft is a relatively new part of Dueling, and many Duelists have never actually seen a real draft in progress. If you’re one of them, or if you have seen/played in drafts and you’re just looking for some tips or insight on different potential strategies in Battle Pack 3: Monster League draft, then have we got the videos for you! Read more…
Three new rising stars are taking center stage in Duelist Alliance, and they’ll be performing their way to the top of the Dueling scene! Aria the Melodious Diva, Sonata the Melodious Diva, and Mozarta the Melodious Maestro are the newest trio of talented monsters that work together to dazzle opponents. Read more…
Shadow Specters was home to a wealth of extremely powerful Xyz Monsters that are still making a big impact today! Number 62: Ronin Raccoon Sandayu is the basis for the unpredictable Obedience Schooled combo Deck, Bujintei Kagutsuchi remains a mainstay of Bujin Extra Decks as well as appearing in some Fire Fist Decks as well, Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand is one of the most feared monsters in all of Dueling and a huge part of Sylvan Decks, and Crimson Knight Vampire Bram adds “graverobbing” to the list of the Burning Abyss Deck’s powers. Of all the Xyz Monsters in the set, however, the one that’s made the most impact in the most Decks since Shadow Specters released last November is the Rank 3 Ghostrick Alucard!
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One of the first things you learn when you start playing Sealed and Draft with Battle Pack 3: Monster League is the importance of battle outcome changers. There are a lot of monsters clustered together in the 1700-1900 ATK range, so even a small boost like Master Craftsman Gamil can mean the difference between victory and defeat in a given battle. And if you can force a trade off of one of your weaker battle outcome changers like Gamil or the 400 ATK boost from Skill Successor for one of their stronger outcome changers, say something in the 700+ range, then all the better. Even if you don’t win that particular battle, the next one is more likely to go your way because you’ve saved your better cards for it – essentially, losing one battle but giving yourself a better chance to win the war.
In the Advanced Format, you don’t see as much of this because most battle outcome changers are replaced with straight-up removal cards. Some Decks, like Bujin, make good use of battle outcome changers, but for the most part, Duelists try to prevent battles from happening instead of trying to win them. Duelists interested in the Yang Zing monsters introduced last week should endeavor to do the opposite. Read more…