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Looking Back – Reviewing The Format
Kelly Locke
8/10/2012 11:30:00 AM  Last week I talked about the impending updates to the Forbidden and Limited lists, a subject that's becoming increasingly relevant as we close out this format. While players are gearing up for where we're going, it’s always important to remember where we’ve come from. After all, the start of a new format is a very crucial time where you’ll be trying to predict trends and pick up cards before they become popular (and expensive!). To do that successfully, you’ll need to remember where we started from back in March, and how we ended up in a format like this one. Only then can you make educated estimates and hypotheses instead of just guesses.The March 2012-September 2012 format comes to a close at the end of this month. Without a Championship-level tournament before then I don’t see any reason to wait to do a recap of the last five months. Anyways, there are a few trends and noteworthy cards I want to talk about here—particularly those that had a large impact on high-level metagames. To begin, let’s take a look at the game mechanic that basically defined the format: Xyz Monsters. The Xyz Format Nothing kicks this game in the rear harder than the semi-annual updates to the Forbidden and Limited lists, and nobody was kicked harder than Synchro players. Looking back to 2011, Synchros were at their peak with a huge variety of multi-purpose cards. Playing cards out of the Extra Deck wasn't just a viable strategy, it was arguably the best. Even after Xyz Monsters were introduced, players were still relying on Synchros as the mainstays of their strategies. Beyond staple Rank 4s and Rank 3s for Tour Guide of the Underworld plays, Xyz Monsters saw little use. By the time Photon Shockwave was released more players were running black-bordered cards, and one deck in particular was entirely based around them: Dino Rabbit was the first truly successful deck to focus entirely on Xyz Summoning. I can’t help but wonder if we would have still seen a large amount of Synchro-based decks if the March 2012 Forbidden and Limited list hadn’t been so aggressive in eliminating them. Four of the best Tuners in the game were added on the list (Glow-Up and Spore Forbidden; Agent of Mystery – Earth and T.G. Striker Limited) while arguably the best Synchro Monster was also removed. Without Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier it’s much less important to make Level 9 Synchro Summons. Lacking that win condition, Synchro-based decks are seemingly out of the competition and underperforming at major tournaments. The March 2012 format might best be remembered as the first time Xyz Monsters truly dominated the game. Inzektors, Wind-Ups, and Dino Rabbit are all heavily focused on Xyz Summons. It's becoming increasingly popular and easy to build strategies that can toolbox out of the Extra Deck. Wind-Ups in particular share an uncanny resemblance with the Synchro toolboxes of last year. Dino Rabbit has more in common with decks like Dragunity, that summon a single Extra Deck monster each turn to establish field control. Inzektors have a tendency to rely on Effect Monsters more than Xyz Summons, but the deck rounds out the ‘big three’ of the format—further illustrating the complete lack of Synchros from the competitive scene. The Wind and Unwind of Wind-Ups The March 2012 list made one thing very clear: decks that could rapidly produce Xyz Monsters were going to be very, very good. Given that Wind-Ups were already capable of this, and had a hand loop combo with Wind-Up Hunter that was practically a win condition, it was easy to see why the deck was so hyped. Going into March, many Duelists believed that as many as five hand traps (some combination of Effect Veiler and Maxx “C”) needed to be run in the main deck to prevent a loss from the first turn Hunter loop. Maxx “C” skyrocketed in price as a result of the hype, reaching around $100 at its peak. Yet, as YCS tournaments came and went, Wind-Ups consistently underperformed compared to what players anticipated. Much like Dark Worlds last year, Wind-Ups failed to meet expectations. In a moment of cruel irony, a Dark World player (Michael Balan) took the first YCS of the format. That’s not to say that Wind-Ups were somehow a ‘bad’ deck. The theory behind the most popular builds was solid, but players were having a difficult time overcoming the huge number of hand traps being played. As the format continued it became clear that running so many copies of Maxx “C” was unnecessary. Players dropped it from their main deck and replaced it with card choices better fit for the Inzektor and Chaos Dragon match-ups. As Wind-Ups fell in popularity, the amount of tech played for them in most metagames also dropped. You know the rest of the story: the deck took the North American WCQ by storm after so many people had counted it out. If nothing else, Wind-Ups serve as the perfect example of what happens when metagame trends force players to drop cards that are effective only in particular match-ups. The Game Changer: Chaos Dragons Simply put: Chaos Dragons were the right deck at the right time. While their initial release garnered mixed reactions from many players, it's undeniable that Chaos Dragons now represent a significant portion of most competitive metagames. Given how inexpensive and accessible the deck is, it’s hardly surprising that it's practically taken over local tournaments. More importantly: Chaos Dragons upset the previously mentioned ‘big three’ and reshaped the format in doing so. The game had become saturated with small monsters making Xyz Summons (again, another example of Synchro-based decks being replaced). Then, surprise! A deck packing high-ATK monsters and huge amounts of inherent summons shows up on the playing field. A huge component of the Chaos Dragon strategy's success was due to its excellent match-up against Dino Rabbit. While Evolzar Laggia and Evolzar Dolkka have no problems negating the summons or effects of Wind-Ups and Inzektors, they have a tougher time dealing with the sheer volume of beaters that Dragons can put out. To make matters worse, most of these Dragons have higher ATK than the Evolzars. Add Chaos monsters into the mix and you’ve got a deck that can simply walk right over all but the most entrenched Dino Rabbit set-ups. With strong match-ups against Inzektor and many rogue decks, Chaos Dragons seemed to replace Wind-Ups in the ‘big three’ all the way up until Nationals. The presence of Chaos Dragons forced players to rethink their strategies. Staples like Effect Veiler and Maxx “C” continued to trend downward as their impact on the deck was minimal. Mystical Space Typhoon, which had become an almost automatic three-of for most players, began to see less play in the face of a deck that largely refused to set backrow cards. Chaos Dragons were the precise opposite of Dino Rabbit, and many players found themselves having difficulty building decks that had good match-ups against both of them. At the North American WCQ it became apparent that Wind-Ups were able to play well against both the extreme aggression of Chaos Dragons, while also breaking the strong defense of Dino Rabbit. The Rest of the Pack: Inzektor, Dino Rabbit, HERO, Hieratic I’ve mentioned Inzektor and Dino Rabbit quite a bit already, but it’s worth looking at them again. Inzektors, with their huge amount of removal thanks to Inzektor Hornet, helped to keep passive strategies out of competition. No other deck is better at punishing set cards or unchainable spells and traps. In this way, Hornet is very similar to Mastr Hyperion and Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World when it comes to destroying cards. The existence of Inzektors has further emphasized the need to have field presence protected by self-replacing monsters or effect negation. Chaos Dragons have Lightpulsar, Dino Rabbit has the Evolzar twins, and Wind-Ups use Xyz Monsters like Wind-Up Zenmaines and Tiras, Keeper of Genesis to keep Hornet at bay. Decks that can’t utilize cards like these have been, understandably, seeing little play this format. Dino Rabbit was the deck to beat for most of the format, and I’d argue that it's the best deck in the game as it stands. Great match-ups, awesome Side Decking power (especially with Macro Cosmos), and one of the best first turns in the game makes it tough to beat. The deck’s popularity drove players to run anything they could to get past Evolzar Laggia and Evolzar Dolkka. Nobody did it better than Chaos Dragons, but Dark Worlds and Piper Chaos had some success at the first YCS of the format. Both of those decks used high-ATK monsters that could get past the defenses of Dino Rabbit. While it's probably the most defensive deck in the format, Dino Rabbit's also very much the only viable defensive deck right now. Everything else has been absurdly aggressive, but we’ll have to see if that trend continues after September. HEROs and Hieratics saw some play (HERO more so), but both decks have been waiting on cards to finally flesh out their builds. Both decks are huge in the OCG, but without Elemental HERO Escuridao or Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max, both strategies are lacking crucial elements that have largely kept them out of YCS top cuts. Both of these cards are scheduled to be released soon, so their impact on the next format will be interesting to watch. I was personally hoping to see Hieratics build in a direction that didn’t involve the Gustav Max OTK, but it’s clear that the majority of players are content to wait until a loop is available. Unfortunate? Yes, but not entirely surprising. Shifting gears for a bit, let’s look at two tech cards that were featured prominently this format: Fiendish Chain and Forbidden Lance.
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Fiendish Chain For a long time, Fiendish Chain was a card that sat in my binder and collected dust. Its susceptibility to Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm kept it from being any better than Effect Veiler. I would occasionally consider it in Dragunity, but outside of that (and maybe Falcon Control) there really wasn’t much reason to run it. However, this format and the one immediately prior have been terrible for defensive traps. Inzektor Dragonfly and Tour Guide From the Underworld get under Bottomless Trap Hole, and often destroy Dimensional Prison before it has a chance to be used. Torrential Tribute and Mirror Force still see play, but Solemn Warning and Solemn Judgment are now riskier than ever before when Black Luster Soldier is just a Light and Dark away. No doubt, this format has been Fiendish Chain’s time to shine. That's especially true given the ruling change concerning monster Ignition Effects. Chain has gone from an underused tech choice to a popular, tournament-level trap. Using Effect Veiler on a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon or BLS can be annoying; they can still attack over your monsters or use their effects next turn. Fiendish Chain solves those problems by preventing attacks and being more persistent than Effect Veiler. Recently Chain has been trending downwards again, and it’s very likely that it won’t see much play next format. I would still hold on to your copies, just in case it becomes popular again.
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Forbidden Lance The prevalence of Fiendish Chain, Torrential Tribute, and Inzektor Hornet, combined with the new rulings midway through the format set up the perfect scenario for Forbidden Lance to see play. Sure, Dino Rabbit Duelists were playing it all the way back in November, but not many other players were choosing to do so. It was an ‘alright’ card, but arguably not worth playing in a format with so few cards being set to the back row. With the new Fast Effect rules, Forbidden Lance jumped in popularity as Torrential Tribute became a devastating answer to most plays. Fiendish Chain and Inzektor Hornet could also be directly countered by Lance, adding to its utility and prompting many players to Main Deck it. Like Fiendish Chain, Forbidden Lance is a card that I’d recommend keeping in a stash of tech choices that could be useful down the road. It might not be great next format, but that’s no reason to simply forget about it and trade your copies off. I try not to make too many predictions about the upcoming format as it tends to be too speculative to be worthwhile. Looking back, however, is a great way to see trends and how strategies evolved, and not just what the end result was. When the next format hits and you ask yourself “Why isn’t [insert deck or card here] good anymore?” try to remember why that deck or card was played in the first place. Often when I hear people asking those Questions it’s because they aren’t aware of the origins of many of these strategies, and find themselves having difficulty seeing past a single deck or card in the context of a given format. For an even better learning experience, try looking back at past format tops. Doing that can help you understand many of the aspects of the modern format – going through pre-2008 formats helped me get back into the game. Until next time then! -Locke 
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this card!
