In Part 1 of 'A First Glance at the Yu-Gi-Oh! September Advanced Format", we looked at the changes in the Advanced Format's Forbidden and Limited Lists and the decks that have been affected. Now let's take a look at the changes to the Semi-Limited and Unlimited Lists.
The Semi-Limited List (two copies of each card between deck and side deck)
- Monsters:
- Chaos Sorcerer
- Snipe Hunter
Spells:
- Mystical Space Typhoon
Traps:
- Magic Cylinder
- Ojama Trio
The Unlimited List (three copies of each card between deck and side deck)
Monsters:
- Goblin Zombie
- Cyber Dragon
- Black Rose Dragon
- Treeborn Frog
Spells:
- United We Stand
Traps:
- Royal Decree
Unlike the Forbidden and Limited lists, the changes in the Semi-Limited and Unlimited Lists don't necessarily affect some of the top tier decks. These lists do, however, help players come up with other "outside of the box" innovative deckbuilds.
Chaos Sorcerer
This card hasn't been on my radar for a while. With Chaos Sorcerer back at 2, expect twilight style decks to have a small impact in the environment. Chaos Sorcerer is one of the many cards that can efficiently deals with powerful Synchro Monsters without a drawback (like vs. Stardust Dragon for instance). Some innovative twilight style deckbuilds from previous formats might be revisited because of Chaos Sorcerer on the Semi-Limited List.
Snipe Hunter
Amazingly enough, Snipe Hunter might be a staple card in any innovative Twilight deckbuilds that might see Chaos Sorcerer in them as well. Snipe Hunter is one of the few "destruction effects" that walks around Stardust Dragon's (as well as many other cards') destruction negation effect, as a die roll is the determining factor and not the monster's direct effect. This former staple card of every deck can really make an impact as many decks will be looking for methods to get around all of the powerful Synchro Monsters in the game.
Mystical Space Typhoon
With the mass removal effect of Heavy Storm being added to the Forbidden List, adding Mystical Space Typhoon to the Semi-Limited LIst makes a lot of sense from a player's perspective. This makes the game fair as the cost of playing one card destroys one card, whereas Heavy Storm was able to establish a minimum 2 for 1 advantage for a player in the previous formats. The second copy of MST may find it's way into side decks more as trap/spell removal may be secondary to monster removal in this format.
Magic Cylinder
The move to the Semi-Limited list for Magic Cylinder is a bit of a mystery, though not an unfair move. With trap and spell removal taking a huge hit, players may consider running two copies as a defensive win condition in a large scale monster removal format. The loss of Heavy Storm may pave the way for a sneaky defensive win, including decks that are built around effect damage, more commonly known as Burn decks.
jama Trio
Attention duelists: those ugly little critters in bikini bottoms are back! Ojama Trio on the Semi-Limited List means more innovative players may lead themselves onto the Burn Deck horse. The old combos with Ojama Trio such as Lava Golem lockdown can lead to massive effect damage. This card's move also ties in with Magic Cylinder and the loss of Heavy Storm, possibly marking the return of the Burn deck. Should that be the case, players may consider side decking Destiny Hero Plasma again. Or Royal Decree. Both of those will work.
The Unlimited List
Goblin Zombie
In any other format, this move would be completely unfair. Fortunately, this format has a very under-powered Zombie archetype, a deck that hasn't seen great success without Mezuki on the Semi-Limited List or Card of Safe Return off the Forbidden List. While this might have a slight advantage in a pure Zombie build, the bottom line is that with all of the best cards that take advantage of Goblin Zombie either on the Forbidden or Limited Lists, this move does not really affect the format at all. Zombie decks now have more speed and may even catch up with all the decks that have been slowed down, but only if they get sent to the graveyard or destroyed from the field first.
Cyber Dragon
This move to the Unlimited List might make the biggest splash in the entire format. Machine decks have been hurting ever since the first limit on Cyber Dragon, which placed it on the Semi-Limited List. Back at Unlimited and with amazing support coming out of the Machina Mayhem Structure Deck, machines may run rampant again with many of the original OTK combos that made the deck so deadly in formats past. Extra decks will once again have Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Twin Dragon, Chimeratech Fortress Dragon, and Chimeratech Overdragon to create massive ATK power and limitless one turn win possibilities.
Black Rose Dragon
This version of the Advanced Format seems to be leaning towards monster removal and Black Rose Dragon is the Queen. Without Heavy Storm, Black Rose Dragon is the only method (and a very difficult one) to mass remove spells/traps, as well as monsters, from the field. Look for a lot of players to set up their win condition around this effect.
United We Stand
This one's a bit of a puzzle. With so much monster removal in the format, I'm not sure how having 3 copies of United We Stand is significant at all. An interesting move to say the least, but not a significant move in the format at all. Maybe for decks like the Six Samurai archetype that can produce monsters on the field very quickly, United We Stand can be tested as an experiment if the monsters can stay on the field long enough. Other than that, I don't see this making an impact at all.
Royal Decree
This change is attributed to the loss of Heavy Storm. With the format allowing less trap removal, Royal Decree maybe one of the few remaining answers against trap heavy decks, which will make appearances because of Heavy Storm being added to the Forbidden list. I don't know if decks will run 3 copies of Royal Decree, but expect to see combined totals of 2 or 3 between main decks and side decks.
Overall, many changes to the format have made the game significantly more fair. Adding Heavy Storm and Brain Control to the Forbidden List in the eyes of many players was long overdue. With many of the top decks receiving drastic changes, it appears at first glance that the skill players will strive in this format. Either that, or a Dark Hole/Black Rose Dragon board wipe will set up the win for many players. We should see more play from Starlight Road, as multiple monster removal will be seen in many decks.
Thanks for reading duelists! Best of luck in this new format! Next time, Kidzworld.com will take a look at the deck types that may make an impact on this format!
Anthony Ngo TCG Writer
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