Our pick for “coolest Deck in the Top 32” of YCS Providence was easy: it’s William Casaw’s Obelisk the Tormentor Deck. Honorable mention goes to Joseph Maddalena’s Big March of Machines, but Casaw spent his weekend taking people down with Kaiba’s Egyptian God Card and that absolutely counts for something. The Obelisk Deck is actually a new spin on an old Deck you might remember called Frog Monarchs. That Deck used “Frog” cards, Ronintoadin, Battle Fader, and Soul Exchange to gather monsters to Tribute for the various Monarchs.
Monarchs are really easy to understand. You Tribute Summon them, they do something nasty to the opponent. Generation Force switched up the strategy a bit by introducing Sea Lancer. Lancer could retrieve the monsters banished to Summon Ronintoadin and use them as shields for itself to keep the Duelist alive and well until they could strike back with more Monarchs. And every time Lancer used a frog as a shield, it went back to the Graveyard where it could be banished for Ronintoadin again. Eventually it was integrated into the Deck along with Rank 2 Xyz Monsters (since the Frogs are Level 2), and Duels started shaping up like this:
- Defend early with Gachi Gachi Gantetsu.
- Strike back with a Monarch or Jinzo.
- Defend again with Sea Lancer or Battle Fader.
- Summon Obelisk.
- Fist of Fate!
If that’s intriguing to you, read on! Read more…
Threat escalation is one of the most important secrets to winning in Battle Pack Sealed or Battle Pack Draft. Because there aren’t many removal cards that can turn the tables in Limited formats, it’s possible for a single big monster to win you the game by staying on the field for several turns. Most Duels will see both players activate a couple different removal cards like Torrential Tribute or Fissure, and a couple different battle tricks like Ego Boost or Prideful Roar. But those cards are in short supply, and playing them at the right time can make or break you.
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Last time around, we talked about the fundamental differences between 40 card Sealed and 30 card Sealed in Battle Pack competition. This time we’re going to focus on individual cards. Since 30 card Sealed lets you see more of your Deck in each Duel, some cards get more powerful, while some are actually weaker. Knowing the difference will help you make the right decisions. Read more…
One of the cool things about Battle Pack: Epic Dawn is that you can use it to play all sorts of Sealed Play and Draft formats. If you’re like most of us, your first experience with Epic Dawn was probably 40 card Battle Pack Sealed Play. It’s a great format, because it’s easy, fun, and it gets you familiar with a lot of cards you probably haven’t seen lately, if ever. It’s a nice introduction to the concept of Sealed Play, and if you’ve only ever Dueled in the Advanced Format, it’s an absolute must so you can adjust to all the differences.
But once you feel like you have a handle on 40-card Sealed Play, more challenges await! You could try playing some Draft, but if you want to just up the intensity right away, then 30-card Sealed Play is the place to be. On the surface, the only difference is that your minimum deck size is smaller. You still start with ten Battle Packs, and you still build your deck from the cards you opened. Nothing too different about that, right? But look a little deeper, and you’ll find that 30-card Sealed Play is faster, with more high-impact plays; more important decisions; and a more advanced Deck building process. Since 30-card Sealed Play is emerging as the big competitive Battle Pack format (it’s going to be used for YCS Sheffield in September), here are the major differences between 30-card and 40-card Sealed Play. Read more…
Every card in Battle Pack Sealed can help you win your Duel, but a few will transform that Duel into something completely different! While some cards may help you win a single battle or make a single Summon, others are literally game-changers, reshaping your goals in the blink of an eye. Today we’ll look at four of these cards, discuss why they’re so influential, and how you can outplay them when your opponent drops one of them to the table.
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