The Meta Post

THIS POST IS IN-PROGRESS AND WILL UPDATE WHEN I FEEL UP TO IT.
(For convenience, I stickied this article so you don’t have to dig through the archives every time you want to keep up with new hotness. Aren’t I nice?)

I just don’t have time anymore. You probably don’t have all that much time either, and while those 10k+ word posts are cool if you have a spare hour and a bunch of interest, you probably aren’t the person who has both a spare hour and a bunch of interest. They’ll go up every now and then, but they’ll be sidelined for now.

So, what’s important for people to know about? Well, the game is actually in an incredibly desirable state right now. We have more than 10 unique sets capable of topping tourneys without being laughed at, some of those sets having multiple decks easily capable of doing so. It’s important to know the top decks in the meta, what they can do, their gimmicks, and why you should consider playing those decks for your next tournament. That’s precisely what this post will be about. It should more rightly be called The Meta Decklist Post, but I’ll get to that. Continue reading

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Braver New World

So, we had a good run. The old rating system certainly worked out for awhile, but then card quality got higher and higher, and eventually the vast majority of cards got crammed into the ‘Playable’ category. That’s just not helpful. So, let’s get freaky. And by freaky I mean detailed.

We don’t use it here, but there’s a pretty well-documented system of grades that is used around the world, notably in America, which some percentage of our readerbase is from. It’s a letter-based system, going from A to F (realistically only to D, but bear with me), where A is a good grade, and F is an abysmal one. Pretty elementary. Actually, literally elementary. For that reason, we’ll use this system, which so many others before us have adopted. Continue reading

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The Two Economies of Weiss Schwarz

So, I haven’t written for a whole year now. Work caught up with me, I’ve moved house twice because of it, and ongoing issues have made it so writing high quality articles is not at the forefront of my mind. I haven’t even managed to update the Meta Post, which is unfortunate. It’s rare that I even get the chance to write anything nowadays, but when I think there are topics worth writing about, then it’s worth spending some time doing so. One of those topics is the metrics by which we measure a card’s worth. Continue reading

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A Tale Of Two Metas

I’m back.

I’ve criticised the Japanese metagame before. I’ve called it inbred. I’ve called it insular. I’ve called it uninspired. I will not retract any of these statements, because I see no need to, and because I’m about to justify everything I say.
To be honest, I don’t think Japanese players are bad. I don’t think they consciously make bad choices in deckbuilding. Many of their choices are based on what has been winning in their region, just as with pretty much every cardgame, and you can hardly criticize a community for emulating successful strategies. However, on a macroscopic level, their deck choices are extremely different to those made by players in more or less any Western country. If you ever look at Japanese tier lists, there will be an enormous difference between those and the ones you’ll find littered on the Foreign or Global communities. So, instead of being counterproductive like I usually am, I think it’s a wise idea to examine why there’s such a gulf in deck choices, and why I think that both Japan and the West have reasons behind their deck choices.

Continue reading

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How to Raise Your PUP – Part 3: Haruhi

I’ve been dreading this review for some time now, and that kind of spilled over and delayed KLK for like half a month, but we’re finally here. Delving into unknown territory, or something like that. Despite owning a sort-of Haruhi deck (I say sort-of because the deck has one of each Endless Eight sleeved), I really have no insight as to how you play the deck now. Haruhi needs all the help it can get, and the fact that the cards you just got range from mediocre to heartbreakingly trait-limited… it’s almost like Bushiroad really, really hates Haruhi players.

When you take a proper look at the set, you’ll see that Bushiroad tried very hard to do good things with the flavour. Lots of cards are therefore not in the relevant traits, which just goes to show how far development has come in making decks dumb as doornails when it comes to trait optimisation. I firmly believe the game would be more interesting if not every idol had <Music>, but I digress. We’ll cover each card in what I regard as surprising depth, because this is not a no-brainer set. There’s a lot to consider when you choose cards for inclusion, and a lot of the time you will be wondering why there are so many hoops to jump through. Continue reading

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How to Raise Your PUP – Part 2: Kill la Kill

Alright, let’s get the dirty fence-sitting opinion out in the open. I think Kill la Kill is fine. No, it’s not as good as Gurren Lagann. No, it didn’t save anime. No, Satsuki is not best girl, and neither is Mako. Kill la Kill is fine. That’s all. And it finally got a Power-Up Pack.

Don’t tell me you didn’t see it coming. They used exactly no scenes from the climax of the series despite it having finished airing (merchandise production happens months in advance anyway). The same thing is going to happen with Re:Zero, except it’ll be another full booster or extra pack to siphon away your money.

With that out of the way, it’s time to talk about the second-best set coming out of the PUPs. I’m sorry Haruhi, you just have all these little issues that make deckbuilding for you an absolute chore, and no amount of anti-climax 3/2s will save you. Now, I can’t claim to know Kill la Kill anywhere near as well as I know Railgun, or even as well as I know Haruhi, but let’s give it a shot anyway. It’s a little irresponsible of me to post this without testing, but I literally haven’t got the resources to test (my locals hasn’t even got the PUPs in yet, and I don’t have easy access to a printer), and I think any amount of discussion about this would be appreciated. Continue reading

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How to Raise Your PUP – Part 1: Railgun

Yes, I know that Power-Up Pack isn’t the actual name for these things, but PUS is both less amusing and also kinda disgusting, so just roll with it.

For some (read: no) reason, we never really review trial decks or auxiliary product, and that’s probably going to continue for the same lack of reason. That’s okay though, because I haven’t written anything in like a year, and I wanted to talk about the PUPs anyway. It’s always nice to see what unique gimmicks Bushiroad will give to each set in order to make them play exactly the same I mean, to make them special snowflake sets with plenty of unique charm and power.

We’re starting with Railgun, because that is both the one I am most familiar with, and also my vote for the deck that got the most out of this set. I am aware that both Kill la Kill and Haruhi arguably got more from their PUPs, but that is because those sets sucked a lot more than pre-PUP Railgun did. So yeah, Railgun. Continue reading

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Reading Deeper into the Anti-Anti-Climax Stance

Bushiroad just announced the banning of Unlinking of Information and the placing of targets on Mikuru and Gilgamesh (on a watchlist, so to speak). These three cards have an obvious thing in common – interfering with your opponent’s ability to safely slam climaxes. While Mikuru is the overall strongest one, Gilgamesh isn’t too far behind (due to not needing to enter a combat step at all). The Asakura event counter is playable a level earlier and can interfere with the various [C] +soul climaxes in a damage race, which is the only boon it has over the Level 3s. That’s why I call it the least useful – this is a medium effect at best, and trades tangible advantage for intangible advantage. However, Bushiroad has decided that the event is the one most worthy of banning – either it is the strongest, or it is the most applicable. I believe that it is the latter, as any level of analysis whatsoever shows that it can’t possibly be the overall strongest. We’ll get into the later.

Before I go any further, I just want to say – I am a fence-sitter regarding this issue. We do not have enough information to decide whether this was a reasonable thing to do or not. I have my own reservations about it – particularly the timing of the announcement – but as for whether it was justified? We’ll have to wait and see. I can, however, dissect their announcement using current cardpool viewpoints – and I don’t like what I see.

Let’s first look at Bushiroad’s justifications for it.

各参戦タイトルの名シーンを舞台に再現するというヴァイスシュヴァルツのコンセプトにおいて、クライマックスカードは重要な役割を持っており、現在ではヴァイスシュヴァルツ発売当初に比べ、クライマックスカードにより重要性を持たせたカード開発をしております。
そのため、クライマックスカードの効果や連動したコンボを容易に無効にできてしまう当該カードを広く使われることは望ましくないと判断いたしました。

For those who aren’t fluent in weebspeak, this basically says ‘Climax cards are hella important. We’re gonna be making good climax combos, so anti-climax cards are anticlimactic. That’s as many as four tens. And that’s terrible.’ Now, I can understand that they have a direction for the game. They want climax cards to be huge and swingy. They want climaxes to do heaps, and they want you to have security regarding your climax plays. In that case, just ban every sac counter, every healing counter, every antidamage counter, every antidamage support, and the Rei & Zen memory kickers as well. Hell, ban overspec counters as well, clock kicks should always land if you went to the trouble of playing a climax. This is flawed reasoning. The aforementioned list of counterplay does more to existing (and almost certainly future) climax combos than one series’ mediocre Level 2+ only event counter ever has or likely ever will. If you want people to experience the heat of card game climaxes (or whatever BSR SEA has as their slogan) then just get rid of all counterplay. Make the game that sackfest all the scrubs claim it is. Just completely remove one of the major draws to a series that desperately needs its time in the sun. A series that was once dominant, and has the chance to be dominant once more.

C A N T W A K E U P

C A N T W A K E U P

I am not opposed to them printing broken things. Experimental design is the way of the future. It is the way of progress. That is why we have banlists – damage control. What they’re doing now isn’t damage control, it’s bubblewrapping. You’re bubblewrapping the game of WS so hard that nobody will be able to recognise it from outside. Every set is blurring together, and then we’ll have nothing but Do-Dai mirrors. I would rather play Critfight Sackguard competitively than be subjected to that. I can understand that every set needs to hit a certain power level to be recognised as a playable modern series, but don’t get rid of the little remaining uniqueness that makes these older series what they are.

Now, onto actual thoughts regarding whether or not this ban is necessary from a power level perspective. Let’s dissect exactly why this counter isn’t particularly strong, even taking into account all the powerful on-reverse climax combos in the modern age.

1) Many climaxes render effects before the first counter step.

While there are plenty of on-reverse climax combo, there are a similar number of effects that don’t need to reverse, that give effects on attack, or even give effects on climax placement. The Haruhi counter hits none of those. Kuroyukihime ignores it. Rin plays around it with consummate ease. Even the newly spoiled Io completely ignores it. We can even talk about Level 2s. Multiple Kuro fields can play around it. Hanekawa completely ignores it. I could go on and on, but long story short, it doesn’t do enough to the meta at large to warrant a banning. Many decks don’t even play a climax combo finisher, despite having the option to. The counter doesn’t even remove the +soul effect of stock soul climaxes, which are rising rapidly in popularity. The counter just hits too narrow a distribution of decks to currently matter. It’s certainly possible that they’re about to print some really unreasonable stuff for Haruhi, and maybe some unreasonable on-reverse finishers to go alongside for other sets, but even so, that doesn’t justify this pre-emptive banning.

doesnt do jack to this guy either, hoo boy

doesnt do jack to this guy either, hoo boy

2) The most important climax combos are at Level 1.

It’s not even disputable, to be honest. The difference between To-Love Ru getting two Mikan reverses and not getting them practically means you’re playing a different deck. Sometimes you still sack into getting triple Yami, but you do so with no stock, a probable damage deficit, and hopes and prayers. This is opposed to doing so comfortably with 6 hand, a solid 6 stock post-Yami, a Darkness Plan in hand, a full field and the option to go single-Yami turn into triple Yami turn. If it can’t even stop the engine in the midgame, then the counter isn’t particularly special, because current WS is won in the midgame. Every good deck has a strong midgame plan, and climaxes at Level 1 are almost always a part of that. None of these anti-climax cards do jack against them.

3) It’s a non-searchable event that isn’t even guaranteed to be good.

Darkness Plan almost always finds a target. Healing Magic and Jupiter are on-turn heals at worst. Salvage events will always convert themselves into real cards. This card? Half the time it won’t do anything, and the other half of the time it ranges from moderately useful to a blowout. The problem here is that the blowout will only happen if you are ahead/at parity, and if your opponent isn’t thinking about it at all. The event is an actual draw to Haruhi, so any knowledgeable opponent will be thinking about it when fronting a SY deck. All other times it is pretty shrugworthy, and even moreso if the climax has already done its job (eg. the Kuroyukihime Wind, the Triad Primus stock soul… or any stock soul, to be honest).

4) You can play around it. Hard.

There are so many cards played in quote unquote meta decks that completely nullify this ability, and it is notable that they are all in sets that would otherwise be affected by the counter. Machine of Ice Sinon makes your double Last Shot field threatening again (even ignoring the fact the first one would go off regardless, and that SAO can play a heal that can buff soul without a climax). Go-to-jail Miyu turns Zweiform from a deck scared of losing its climax to one that is almost completely unconcerned (triple Zweiform almost never happens). Yui lets your clock kicks go off unmolested, and even ignoring that, Animal.dec has a finisher that doesn’t even need a climax. Need I go on?

I haven’t even gotten to the bit where side and direct attacks completely ignore the counter, and I don’t think I need to.

As for Gilgamesh and Mikuru? Well firstly, the whole watchlist thing is a farce. Their reasoning for restricting these cards at all is entirely philosophy-driven. That’s why they hit the weakest one – it is the most applicable, and therefore the one most likely to ruin their plans for climax combo world. The watchlist thing is a statement, and that’s all. I would be very surprised if Gilgamesh went on a banlist of any sort.

Gil doesn’t have a good shell at the moment. Every deck he can be run in has superior climax options, because those options are guaranteed to do something. God forbid you run into something like Milky or LB, which don’t even depend on climaxes lategame. To be more precise, every deck that can run Gil is far more interested in keeping up in the damage race, so 2k1s is marginal at best at helping with that, and needing to have one in hand the turn they play their Bayo’en? There’s a reason Gil saw little to no play, even when Fate/Zero BP was the only booster available in EN.

And Mikuru? She’s probably a shoo-in to the <SOS> deck if ther- wait. She’s not SOS trait? What? She’s in a set where almost all the current synergies are trait-driven, and where <Time> and <Animal> are only mildly supported? AND she’s worst girl?

i like this one

i like this one

Jeez. I hope the Haruhi PUP is insane.

Closing Thoughts

There is actually one more major objection I have – probably the only real objection I have. Like I said at the beginning, there is a lot that we can’t see in regards to this decision. However, let’s pretend. Let’s pretend for a moment celebrex 100 mg. Suppose that Haruhi (or any upcoming set, really) is indeed going to have a broken combo that needs this counter gone. The Power-up Pack creates a situation where Haruhi is as dominant as Nisekoi or Railgun in their respective eras. There is somehow a ridiculous non-interactive combo with a climax combo that requires a front attack. Somehow, through antidamage in TLR, KC and LB. Somehow, through Kiznaiver’s bodyguard heal strategy. Somehow, through the complete nullification of the existing powerful sets. Even assuming that… why would you announce this ban pre-emptively, and why in the name of God would you announce it at all?

If it is indeed going to be unreasonably broken, all this will do is draw attention to the set. That’s ridiculous. You are actively encouraging the meta to become as broken as you believe it will be. Why not just monitor the effects and issue an emergency banlist? It’s not like you had qualms doing so for Nisekoi. Every single pre-emptive banning done by BSR so far has been unnecessary. Disgaea got exactly nothing from D2 and was pushed out of the meta for years. Shin-chan was not going to suddenly take over the meta if Action Bastard, an off-colour overspec, was allowed at 4.

This was a poorly-thought out decision from the very beginning. It might well be correct. The event might well need to be banned for their greater vision. However, they could have waited 3 months. Impatient bastards.

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August 2016 Banlist Roundtable, Tier List Included

You know the drill.

Comments, feedback, criticism, dank memes, frank memes, fresh memes, dressed memes, Trump memes, dump memes, and all your love below. Or in the Youtube comments section, we’ll respond eventually additional info.

I don’t even dislike Vegemite.

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das boot

No, we’re not dead. Just sleeping.

lycheepunnet, El Pres and special guest Beenly go through boats. This was a fragmented review due to me getting night shifts, El Pres getting a vacation job, and timezones in general. This is also why Inuyasha was a typed post and not a video a la meme. While Yellow and Green were done 福汇官网 in an almost timely manner, the latter two colours were done literally 2 weeks afterwards, at which point the dust had settled on the new set and builds had been slowly established. I’m not sure I agree with not including Hibiki in the final builds, but I also don’t play boats.

You can see the sample builds I’ve mocked up over at , which is still regularly updated (contrary to any disparaging rumours passing Australians might try to spread).

Tier discussion will drop soon after the new restriction list is revealed, and after I commission teru to once again shop MisaKuro into some hip & fresh meme. Also, we’ll be doing Rabbits soon too (spoiler, it’s not looking great for those guys who ordered cartons).

 

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The Path of Least Resistance, feat. Inuyasha (Rinne Set Review)

This article will double as a strategy article and a set review for Kyoukai no Rinne Inuyasha, though I’ll probably publish it as the latter before the former is complete. I feel that it’s a great candidate for the topic at hand, so I’m going to cover each card briefly. If Inuyasha never interested you and you want to skip to the actual strategy article, then that’ll be an option. Eventually. Continue reading

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