Sunday, September 20, 2015

Should Dragon Rulers return to Yu-Gi-Oh!?



The October 2015 Forbidden/Limited List is on its way soon, possibly even being revealed within the next week, and so as it approaches I can only help but wonder two things: 1. Are they really going to keep Stratos on the Forbidden List for more formats? 2. Should the "Dragon Rulers" come back?

Now, granted, there are a lot of things that need to happen in order for either of those things to happen. I'm not honestly not too sure what we'll see this coming list. I'll assume Elder Entity Norden gets a solid Limiting, as might Instant Fusion as those two go together well. Therefore Super Polymerization will probably stay on the list. And, given that Satellarknights won the 2015 World Championship, some of their key cards will also see a bit of a hit. Maybe even Necroz, because why not? I wouldn't be mad.

There's three little problems with the Dragon Rulers that might be the only reasons why they don't make a return: 1. Baby Dragons are now unlimited, 2. Dark Matter Dragon, 3. Dragon Ravine/ Seven Star Sword.

We'll start with actually one of the more recent changes to the list. With the banning of all four major Dragon Rulers, we were given back all four "Baby Dragons", or each of the Level 3 monsters that accelerated the ability to get to the Dragon Rulers. If the Baby Dragons were to remain at 3 copies per deck, it'd be an insanely deadly combination. Dragon Rulers would rise, even if they were just limited, to possibly Tier 1 status overnight. We could feel the effects of the four cards even when they were each at 1 copy per deck and the baby dragon were forbidden.

So, the question becomes, will Konami really do another switch and completely ban the baby dragons and bring back the other Rulers? I don' think they would. I think the wiser move would be to Limit them. When in mass they are great, but when there is a 1/20 chance that a player will get to both cards in their hand? It's a less manageable situation. There are also more effective ways of getting to Dragon Rulers than using the babies anyway. At their very core, their Level and attack are essentially useless.

With the addition of Chicken Race (which I can see taking a hit as well), and the rise of Upstart Goblin, as well as the precedent of using Reckless Greed in previous Dragon Ruler decks, there is no shortage of drawpower. This is something we'll get into when we discuss more Spells, but just keep in mind that acceleration is hardly an issue anymore.

The second reason that they could stay banned is that there is a card known simply as Dark Matter Dragon that seriously gets a boost from the Dragon Rulers being around. There was just one weekend of time that this deck could be used legally in tournament play, and at an event that weekend--keeping in mind that Burning Abyss, Necroz, Shadolls, and S-Knights were in full swing--the Dragon Ruler deck pretty much decimated its competition.

Yet I feel the solution here is quite simple: limit Dark Matter Dragon. I'm not really a fan of banning extra deck cards (bring back Shock Master!) but limiting them is something I'm open to. If it's truly a card so fearsome then it should be able to stand on its own and deal enough damage at just one copy. For example: Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. It's an incredibly powerful card and it is limited to only one copy. By limiting Dark Matter Dragon you still leave it available to other decks and seriously cripple the now mythical deck that almost was.

The final reason gets a bit more technical, and is similar to the Baby Dragon reason. One of the major cards that came out the same set as the Dragon Rulers, Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy, was Sword of the Seven Stars. It's one of the reasons, Super Rejuvenation notwithstanding, that the deck was so good. It banished the Dragon Rulers and allowed the player to draw a couple cards. Banishing the Dragon Rulers allows them to activate their effects, so essentially the player is getting its Plus-2 as well as a new card in hand. This Seven Star Spell Card? Unlimited to 3.

Dragon Ravine, the main Field Spell of the deck, as well as Dragunity, was also banned when the Dragon Rulers got banned to just demolish the deck. It is now back at 2 and I hope it returns to 3. It really wasn't the biggest reasons that the deck was so good. In my perfect world I would have Ravine unlimited and Seven Star limited. It is more of a help to the Rulers than Ravine, and would allow for greater strategy on when to use it.

Now, there is of course the issue that Chicken Race presents. What does one do with this much drawpower that it provides? Dragunity and other decks have seen a boost with it, as it just pumps cards out at an unprecedented rate. I hope it gets a hit, as it will help slow things down a little.  Plus, it allows for Dragon Ravine to come back.

So, should the Dragon Rulers come back, with all of these things that need to be done to accommodate them?

Of course!

The effects on the forbidden/limited list are neglible when you see the effects they have on various decks. Like I've always said, these cards were never meant to be used together, they were meant to be used with their corresponding type (Earth, Water, Wind, Fire). And in that regard they are a serious help to weaker Decks. They also help Dragon-type decks in general.

One of my favorite decks to run before the Pendulum era was a deck called "Hero Rulers" that used the banishing of fusion HERO monsters along with the Dragon Rulers to get out various Fusion types and cover many of my bases. Now with Masked Heroes becoming larger than ever I would love to return to that deck in an Advanced format.

Not to mention that my Snowdust deck took a bit of a hit once Tidal got hit. Yowza.

When on a leash, Dragon Rulers have a drastically beneficial effect on the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! They allow for budget players to use the decks they so creatively made and use as well as allowing for major league players to wisely implement them and play around them. There is more strategy and less auto-pilot involved. There's more competition when implemented as well.

I'm not saying that we just throw them back into the format without any other changes. Somethings are going to have to give way and we're going to get somethings back for them to truly help out littler decks. But I am saying that it is a better game with them than without them.

Or, perhaps I simply have Stockholm syndrome from the Dragon Ruler/ Prophecy format from 2013. I am forever scarred, but I am a survivor.


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