A New Blog (and a Better Pojo)

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Pojo member Paul Bang (username: paulbang111); he wanted to discuss some aspects of the Traditional Format with me. Like most of the people who send me e-mails or befriend me on Facebook (for the record, I quite like it when players do this), he knew what he was talking about and our conversation was lively and informative, giving me hope that the Traditional Format is most definitely alive and well, if only on a small scale. I was then, however, rather surprised to discover he had started his own blog, a very pleasant surprise indeed. He tells me he's going to be focusing on individual cards and their usefullness in Traditional; he already has a couple of articles up, and you can find his blog here: The Traditional Format Blog.

In addition to this, Paul and a few other members have been trying to increase the viability of the Traditional Format sub-forum of Pojo, starting various discussions and debates (which have been, again, very lively) on particular decks, tech cards and so, and even trying to start an online tournament and league system. While I don't post all that often on Pojo myself these days, and severely dislike playing online, I'm very pleased to see such attempts to improve this aspect of the game and to know that I'm no longer alone in my quest for a respected Traditional Format.

$300 Budget, Theory and a LOT of Text

A good friend of mine and exceptional player from Adelaide, Ashley Schmerl, posted an essay on Pojo entitled 'Playing for Advantage or Playing for Position? A Cheap (ish) Way to Play the Format'; it goes through an in-depth analysis of Card Advantage during the in-game play position, even going so far as to coin a new, more complex term, Fluid Useful Card Advantage, and then arrives at a conclusion through the construction of a decklist to best showcase the redefined theory. It's a brilliant essay, and definitely worth a read: it can be found here. He also posts videos for the AdelaideYuGiOh Youtube Channel.

An Update . . . Finally.

I am afraid I must offer up another apology: previously, I said that I would try my very hardest to maintain updates on the blog whilst also composing essays, but, as readers may have noticed over the last couple of months, this has quite clearly not been possible. Work on a second essay has been compounded with other writing projects (not related to Yu-Gi-Oh!, but still of immense importance), and, with a full-time job and personal care to consider in addition, something - in this case, the blog - has once again had to fall by the wayside.

However, the essay in question has been completed and published (and can be found here: http://articles.alterealitygames.com/?p=13090), and I will have time, from now on, to devote to the blog: I still have an enormous list of decks to write about (the common phrase "as long as my arm" springs to mind), and will aim to get the next one up as soon as possible. Also, I am, as I have stated before, very interested in posting tournament results, and so, if any readers have such (even if it is only standings or which decks made the Top Cut, and not actual decklists), it would be much appreciated if they could be sent in; I can be contacted through either my e-mail address or Facebook page, both of which are in the badge at the top of the sidebar.

Revising 'On Skill'

At the time of publication, I firmly believed everything to be perfect; however, after due consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the final example decklist in my essay On Skill: a Discourse in Favour of the Traditional Format needs to be revised. The changes I have made are as follows, accompanied by my reasoning behind the alterations:

One for One has been dropped from the Main Deck, allowing instead the inclusion of Ring of Destruction. The Spell Card, with only a single prime target, and being indicated for a very narrow combo, was simply too low on utilty, and, therefore, functioned simply as dead weight in far too may situations. The replacement, Ring of Destruction, is one that I think to be an obvious choice, being omitted in the first place due to space issues and nothing else.

Next, the Goyo Guardian has been removed from the Extra Deck in favour of Thought Ruler Archfiend. The latter's ability to negate cards such as Snatch Steal, Change of Heart, Ring of Destruction, and other targeting Spells and Traps common to this format is simply too amazing to pass up when given the chance, and adds another level of versatility by giving a further option over the multitude of possible gamestates.

Finally, the Side Deck has been almost completely rebuilt to allow for a better ability to counter the Top Tier. It now appears thus:

3 Effect Veiler
3 Droll & Lock Bird
3 Maxx "C"
1 D.D. Crow
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Heavy Storm
1 Dark Hole

A Change in Terminology

With my first Scholarly Essay now published, and with the distinct intent to compose and publish many more, I have decided that a small change in terminology is needed to avoid confusion between the short works I do for this blog (which are, one might say, more relaxed) and the longer pieces I write that get published elsewhere (which are, no doubt this time, my serious, more important discussions). With this in mind, any posts made here formerly which were known as "Deck Essays" will from now on be known under the new title of "Deck Analysis", and the work formerly known as a "Scholarly Essay" will simply be called an "Essay". I was finding it quite difficult attempting to differentiate two completely opposite ends of the spectrum while each contained the word "essay", so this will, I feel, make that task much, much easier.

Having said that, however, there have been many links made on other websites to specific posts on this blog, and I do not fancy killing them along with the traffic they produce (most of which is, I should guess, from highly interested parties). For this reason, all previous posts under the title "Deck Essay" will retain that old name, with new ones only having the altered title of "Deck Analysis".

My First Scholarly Essay

I had originally intended, as the previous description in my sidebar noted, to use this blog for organising my thoughts about Traditional Format Yu-Gi-Oh! with the intention being, one day in the future, to write a single treatise detailing all of my work. However, I had recently decided that, while I had no problem with accomplishing the first objective, the latter was too mammoth a task to achieve at one time, and, furthermore, quite simply, incongruous with the task of promoting this amazing format (which has always been, and will always continue to be, my chief objective). Upon reaching this conclusion, I secretly began work on the first of what would hopefully be a collection of scholarly essays amalgamating my disjointed, somewhat casual work here into a serious, academically-minded corpus of knowledge regarding the Traditional Format. This took place in the December just past (2011), and, after two months of studying, testing and composing, the final product, an essay entitled On Skill: a Discourse in Favour of the Traditional Format, has been published by Alter Reality Games. It can be found here: http://articles.alterealitygames.com/?p=11118.

I must apologise to my readers, for this treatise has interrupted the posting of other, blog-related works for this month, but, under the circumstances, I think (and should hope) that I am forgiven through the final result of such all-consuming work. Deck Essays (and, also, hopefully, Quick Articles) will, of course, continue as normal, and I shall attempt in future to accomplish these and scholarly essays at the same time. Again, though, my apologies.

I extend my sincerest thanks to Alter Reality Games for being so kind in publishing my work on their most respectful website, and I look forward to bringing even more to the table.

An Apology

I must offer up an apology: in my introductory post, I announced that my first article would be an analysis of the Traditional Format. Now, in my mind this worked very well, but became much more complicated as I began writing it; It became far too long, far too arduous, and far too in-depth for the purposes that this blog is meant to serve. It became, in short, the beginning of my treatise.

I have therefore decided to do only Deck articles and tech card articles, which will help me to gather my thoughts as was originally planned. Again, my apologies.

In the next couple of days I will post my first article, which will be (definitely this time) a Deck analysis of my Deck from last format, Diamond Dude Turbo. While one may argue that it is not current enough, I believe it will act as a perfect first article for others to read, and will allow me to document one of the tier one Decks from Traditional Format.

An Introduction to My Reason

Traditional Format is an amazing facet to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game; despite this, however, it always has been - and remains to be - an all-too-often over-looked facet to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (and, indeed, it saddens me terribly to say this, but alas! it must be acknowledged). It is with this fact in mind (and, specifically, the latter section in paranthesis) that I have enlisted the use of this Blog. Through this medium, the objectives I foresee the ability to achieve (and which I feel I need to achieve) are primarily two-fold: the first is a personal one - that I will be able to gather my thoughts about the aforementioned topic into a physical form, rather than allowing them to merely chase each other around my mind, and also to have a strong motivation for doing so. I intend, once this has been accomplished, to compose a treatise detailing my work; the second is a, shall we say, global one - that, by achieving herein my first objective, I will be able to bring to the attention of the Duelling world the brilliance that is Traditional Format. I know, from reading many message boards, that I have a hard task in this latter one.

One may say, having read the above paragraph, that somebody who lives in Australia (which is merely a small demographic in the Duelling world, a proverbial backwater of knowledge) would not be able to achieve such a deep set of tasks. I concede, one may argue such a point convincingly. I will, however, offer the following defense: unlike the majority of people in this day and age, I am an immensely observant and understanding person, and have spent the last seven or eight years applying these two personality traits to this game. Quite simply, I know what I am talking about.

And with that comment (which I dearly hope did not sound too egotistical), I have said my short introductory piece. I will post next week my first essay, which will be an analysis of the Traditional Format. Until then.