Konami has finally decided to change the structure of the YCS (Yu-Gi-Oh Championship Series) by making the Top 16 onward a Booster Draft format. For the whole article, follow this link.
This announcement has brought some division to the Yugioh community with some people believing it is a good idea and most of the players (at least, the complainers seem to be far more visible) believe it is a terrible idea.
Can you guess what I think? From the style of my blog I would certainly hope so.
This Top 16 change is one of the best ideas Konami has had in a long time.
I am not afraid to draw criticism. Please comment below on whether you agree or disagree. So far though, most of the protests from the conservative players follow the lines of "This is stupid", "Now a YCS is luck-based", etc.
Here are examples of typical comments I have found:
- "This is a pretty %$#@ing stupid idea. There is no way I can think of to keep this balanced for any player. So, after you worked so hard and spent days/weeks/months researching, testing, and constructing a deck, all you get is a chance to lose to drawing absolute bullshit." - YouTube user Reiden Lightman
- "This is so stupid. Sealed play should be a side event, not a main part of the core tournament experience. This reduces the Top 16 to pure luck. A great player could pull shit and still lose to a mediocre player who pulled amazing."
First of all, some people seem to be confusing Sealed and Draft formats. While Sealed has some luck to it, drafting has a very small luck factor. You only take 1 card at a time, and it takes much skill to decide which cards to draft, not draft, or counter-draft (prevent your opponents from taking it). There are many articles on the strategies required in Drafting so I do not think it requires further elaboration here. In addition, the Battle Packs are designed for drafting. They are supposed to be as balanced as possible and force you to rely on your skills. Each pack is not made out of one solid gold card and four scraps of toilet paper. It may happen in a few packs, but overall, THE PLAYER IS RESPONSIBLE for good drafting.
Isn't the draft still luck-based?
Christ I hear this one alot. "But what if you open broken?" "What if your opponent gets better cards? A scrub could beat you." It shows a severe lack of confidence in one's skills to say that the game is over as soon as you look at your starting hand. But let's say your opponent gets some better cards than you or you get some duds. If they "open broken," so what? Are you going to throw down your cards, complain, and say that you couldn't win the Draft simply because your opponent has better cards?
Besides, you just played 11 Rounds where that exact same situation happens sometimes. Especially in Constructed, people have already faced situations where they have a bad hand, and their opponent "opens broken." I don't hear people complaining about it as much (except when they lose). In fact, don't people always try to optimize their deck for the best possible hands? Therefore drafting for the Top 16 would not technically change much, would it? Except that having everyone construct from the same card pool further minimizes the ability to have a completely "broken" deck.
Fun fact: Even if your constructed deck has a 80% win rate (between your deck build and you skills), your odds of making through 11 rounds including 1 loss is only 23.6%) so chances are that you have already been forced to deal with bad luck, and good luck, on your fight to the Top 16.
The Top 16 Change gives everyone a chance to shine.
When you look at the Top 16 deck lists, it's usually 14 meta decks (i.e. Dragon Rulers currently) and a few lesser-played ones. Those rogue decks are usually quickly weeded out; they never make it all the way to the Finals. It's no longer a fair match-up. "But you don't have to play rogue decks." Indeed, that seems true. But for one thing, not all players can afford to buy whatever cards they need to create the current "best" deck (i.e. still Dragon Rulers). Not all players have time to test extensively. So they work with whatever they have and use their skill to make it to the Top 16.
"But Dragon Rulers need skill too, to be played successfully." I cannot argue against that statement, (well, I could but I do not feel the need to at the moment) so FINE. We can agree and acknowledge that those players who made it to the Top 16 all have good skill piloting their deck, yes? So at this point, if all the players are presumably skilled, what is wrong with showing the skills in a new way? Drafting requires players to examine new cards, reflect on new combinations and how cards may interact, and become more flexible. Changing to Drafting will showcase a player's deck-building skills, creativity, abilities to think quickly and duel with a deck he hasn't "play-tested/prepared for months." After all, if you claim to be a good swimmer, will you only swim the 100 meter freestyle? If you claim to be a good piano player, can you only play classical and refuse to play ragtime? If you want to be called a good Yu-Gi-Oh player, I believe that you should able to show that you are well-rounded and can demonstrate skills at something other than piloting the "best deck" that you are accustomed to.
Conclusion: The Top 16 Change is going to be a great era for dueling.
Agreements? Disagreements? Let me know what you think!
-Fossil D23
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