The format is horrible, deal with it !

Hey DGA peeps!

If you were a follower of my articles, you were probably wondering why it has been such a long time since I wrote an article for you guys, and today you will learn why. The reason is that our current and previous format didn't really give me the will to write an article about this game, and I don't think I need to explain the reasons; the banlist is self explanatory. I even thought about quitting the game, but I'm here, writing an article for you guyz and you're about to know why I'm doing this. This article is really different from what I usually write about.

First of all, let's talk about the current format. The end of the last format was absolutely awful and the new banlist actually made it worse. You probably read the last announcement Harper7000 made. He became so mad at the banlist that he actually quit competitive Yugioh and I can't blame him, for I felt the same way he did when I saw the new banlist. I know it's not good to bring your personal and team problems in an article, but just to let you know about how disappointed I was of the format and how inactive I was in Yugioh, I was almost kicked out of DLK (The Delta Knightz) for being so absent, so that alone tells you about how much I was enjoying playing the game (sarcasm), but then I realised something - I was acting like a scrub, like a damn quitter, and that's not me. You know I have never been a meta player, I like creativity in decks, but when the format does not allow it, well, there is nothing much you can do other than adapt to the format, and that's what I did. I went back to locals with my old friends and after some playtest sessions with them, and with some teammates, I realised that the format is not as bad as it seems after all.

Let's get to the real problem, I say the problem is not the format, the problem is online gaming. I know I sound like a madman saying that, but let me explain myself. When you play IRL you're able to make reads on your opponent's cards and next moves just by watching their body language - the way they touch their cards, how nervous they seem and such, but on DN you cannot make such reads right? That's the way that skilled duelists are able to stay at the top of this game, but those are things that are almost impossible to do on DN because you cannot read your opponent's body language. You are not seeing them, but that doesn't mean that you can't bluff your opponent.

Now that we got to the main point of what this article is about, we will start a discussion about how you can bluff your opponent when playing online, and how you can read some of the set cards your opponent controls. To know how to bluff an opponent online you have to know what are the kind of information you can give your opponent when playing on DN:

1st: How many times do you look at your Graveyard?
2nd: How many times do you look at your Extra Deck?
3rd: HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU LOOK AT YOUR EXTRA DECK???
4th: How many times do you shuffle your hand?
5th: How many turns has a card been set?

As you can see there isn't much space for bluffing when you play online, but when you are creative you might find some ways to confuse your opponent and make him do the move you want him to do. I will give an example and I want you guyz to continue this and give some examples of plays you can do to bluff an opponent when playing on DN, you know, if you have some.

Example: You are falling behind, and you have an open field.

Your hand is Dark Hole + Maxx "C", and you topdeck GORZ, but you don't want to use your Dark Hole this turn because he doesn't have enough monsters on the field to really gain a plus from it.

If you draw, then you just end your turn it's obvious that you either have a weak hand or a Gorz in hand. You don't want to look weak in front of an opponent or predictable, so what will you do? First of all, you buy some time thinking, take a look at your Grave, then check your Extra Deck, then spend some more time thinking, then take a look at your opponent's Grave, then retake a look at your Extra Deck. After that, you can take a little more time thinking, or just end your turn.

What that says to your opponent, is that he might think you're either playing conservative, or you're waiting for the next turn to do your big move. You'll also make him think you have a Reborn in hand, and all that false info you're giving to him might put some pressure on him, and he might try for a big push. Depending on what kind of deck you're playing he might not want to give you a next turn and he will fall into your trap. That's a nice move to do when you're in late-game.

Even on DN you can tell when your opponent's hand is weak, so you should always try to bluff in any kind of way. Don't ever let your opponent know that your hand is weak!

This is just an exemple of something you can do. I am not saying that it will always work, but I'm just showing you a way that you can try to give false information to an opponent with the limited ways we have to do it.

To finish this article I wanted to make a Special Thanks section for the people who supported me to stay in the game, and those that helped me with all my playtesting lately. I have too many people to thank, but I'm pretty sure you recognise yourselves reading this article. I also want to invite you guyz to share your comments below, but also if you have personal ways to bluff on DN and wanna share them with the DGA folks, you are invited to share them with us.

Sincerely,

Your DLKz Meta Knight
Scorpion67

PS : Thanx VioletSkarm for correcting the Grammar of this article

There was still a slight error in grammar that i picked up but it's nothing to worry about. Your article makes a lot of sense. Guess if i want to play online I've got to accept the fact that i'll be outplayed by these top level decks but i can still cause the player grief. Problem Solved.

You can do these little bluffs all the time, but in the end, if your opponent has the nuts, they have the nuts, and all of the top decks can beat you a lot faster than you're giving them credit for. Very rarely do duels ever enter that late-game stage any more, they just last a turn or two, then someone combos, and it's over.

This is simply a 'nuance' of dueling, like the extra spices on a roast. Not a priority, but never something that should be completely disregarded. Good job, Scorp. Editing the article felt silly though cuz you're a Frenchie. :]

I simply call it "mindfucking" =)

I'm just saying I love the title of this article.

Glad you didnt dislike the article after all easn't sure if it was a good idea to upload it.

@VioletSkarm : I'm not really a frenchi I'm Hispanic XD but I speak 3 lengages o.0 and I never really studied english XD sorry if my article gave you a hard time

First off, I want to say HI! (considering I haven't been on much) But this tends to shine light on the reason as to why I came back into competitive. There really is NOTHING we can do about the list and we just have to find new and crazy ways to stop the gayness. I'm personally happy with the double Torrential and it's been helping ALOT. Luckily, I play dragons so I love to REDMD into Photon Galaxy Eyes and screw up alot of Zenmeister plays (or just plenty of xyz's for that matter.) As for Inzektors, I don't care much anymore. I side 3 Chain Disappearance and it's quite mean for both Hornet AND Dragonfly. Bluffing, Gestures, Focus and deck Stability are ALL key factors in TCG, OCG however, we're just going to have to deal with it. And even then, JUST PLAY SMART!

I mean, they created the Side Deck for a reason, right?

Scorpion67 wrote:

Glad you didnt dislike the article after all easn't sure if it was a good idea to upload it.

@VioletSkarm : I'm not really a frenchi I'm Hispanic XD but I speak 3 lengages o.0 and I never really studied english XD sorry if my article gave you a hard time

Yeah, yeah, I know, but you're Frenchy enough for me.