Hey everyone, this is The_SynchroGuy, and welcome to “YGO Recap Week!” The weekly series where we go over just about any and all Yu-Gi-Oh! related goodness so you don’t miss out on anything.
Couple of interesting things to go over today. Sadly though, no new cards were revealed this past week. And we’re probably not going to be any for a while since Photon Hypernova is not going to be in the OCG until October. Sad day. 
Regardless though, we still had some big news happen. And hopefully Konami is taking note of it. Anyway, let’s recap the past week!
Master Duel
https://ygorganization.com/master-duel-new-forbidden-and-limited-list-announced/
A new banlist has been revealed for Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. This list will go into effect on August 31st, and boy does it bring some changes. While cards like Maxx “C” and Kaiser Colosseum are still around, the list did hit some big ones. Like: Imperial Order, Vanity’s Emptiness, True King of All Calamities, Destiny HERO – Celestial, and so on. These hits are without a doubt thanks to the data collected from the Duelist Cup that took place during some of the past couple weeks of August. While these hits don’t necessarily deal with what’s currently causing the current meta, it does deal with some pesky cards that needed to be dealt with.
And they even bumped up a couple of cards. Including Salamangreat Gazelle, which is still currently limited in both the OCG and TCG. (That move was quite the surprise.) This doesn’t make Salamangreat the best deck, but given how it’s such a fan favorite deck, I’m sure a lot of people are excited to be able to play 2 copies of Gazelle. (Now we just need the mate version to get released.)
If you have any copies of the cards that got hit on this list, fear not! Once the new banlist goes into effect, you can dismantle those cards and get extra crafting points to craft a new card.
https://ygorganization.com/master-duel-plunder-patroll-solo-mode/
Lastly, we now have the Plunder Platroll solo gate added to Master Duel. While this deck may not be one of the best decks right now, it can be quite the strong deck if you know how to use it. And if you build it right, you can have a strong army that’s ready to go at a moment’s notice.
I played through the solo gate, and as usual, the loaner decks are always some weird mix-mash. But it’s still a nice little introduction into the Plunder Platroll archetype if you’re just starting to learn it, and the little lore we’re given is a fun little one this time around.
Card Game News
https://ygorganization.com/ocg-cyberstorm-access/
The next main booster set, after Photon Hypernova, has been announced. Cyberstorm Access! This is obviously going to be the VRAINS set. Which makes sense since the last two sets before it were 5Ds and Zexal based, so it was about time to revisit VRAINS. Right now, we don’t know what is going to be in this set, and we won’t be knowing for quite some time. But without a doubt, there’s obviously going to be some new cards focused around Yusaku, the main character of the VRAINS series. Or at the very least it’s going to contain some Cyberse support.
This set is going to be released in the OCG on January 14, 2023. It has not been announced when this set will be released in the TCG yet, but this will more than likely be released for us around May of 2023. And again, we’re not going to know what’s in it for a long while. I mean, we still don’t know the other 90% of the cards that are in Photon Hypernova yet. So in the meantime, we’re just gonna have to be patient.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Meta
OCG:
https://roadoftheking.com/ocg-2022-07-metagame-report-8/
The OCG continues on with its week by week Spright and Tearlaments format. While they still have other decks like Byssted and Floowandereeze doing their best to break through the mold, the top 2 decks still have more power/tops compared to them. Anyway, let’s see how these 2 decks have evolved from last week.
Tearlaments have started side decking Extra-Foolish Burial as a way to avoid cards like the Byssted monsters and “Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries” since they all require that there be a monster on the opponent’s field in order to activate their Quick-Effects. This way they can activate the Fusion Summon Effects of their Tearlaments without any interruption.
As for Spright, some have started to tech in a new card. “News Reporter from the Underworld” (https://yugipedia.com/wiki/News_Reporter_from_the_Underworld). While this monster is a link-2 monster, the main reason she is being used is for her destruction protection effect. This way they can keep their Buster Lock alive. More specifically, it’s being used to protect your field from Raigeki. But they need to summon News Reporter by using I:P Masquerana in order to save everything. If they don’t, then they can’t use the protection effect since News Reporter would be designated to go to the GY like everything else.
I love seeing how these decks change and adapt over time. It may look the same, but there’s a little difference here and there that can surprise you in one way or another. And that’s one of the things that keeps the game enjoyable. It’s like ice cream. No matter how many flavors there are, it is still just going to be plain old ice cream. But it’s those different flavors and toppings that makes it so interesting and enjoyable that will keep you getting more. And that’s why I love seeing these new tech choices players come up with. It’s ice cream, but either with a new flavor or topping. 
Lastly, there is one cool deck that actually made an appearance and got 3rd place at the China City Tournament Zhengzhou a week ago. True King Dino!
As I said before, though the format here is still dominated by Tearlaments and Spright, that doesn’t mean other decks can’t stand up to them. While getting one representation won’t change the format as a whole, it’s still cool to see players being able to do well with rouge and tier 3 decks.
TCG:
YCS Rio took place this past weekend, and I think it’s starting to give people some hope, but not in a way that you think. As expected, Spright and Tearlaments continue to do well as they took a little over half of the top 32 cut spots combined. (At this point, I think we can say we’ve entered into Spright and Tearlaments format. Luckily it’s not as ridiculous as it was in the OCG when it first started.) And we still had other decks make a good standing at this event. One of them being Mathmech which not only took 5 of the top 32 spots, but one managed to make it to the finals!
However, the deck that won the event overall was Mystic Mine Burn!
And here’s why people are hopeful, and thankful for this result. Now that Mystic Mine has not only won a YCS, but has saw play in many of the decks that managed to make it into the top 8, top 4, or just win the event altogether, as of late, players are hoping that Konami will finally give Mystic Mine the boot all the way to ban camp.
Will it happen though remains to be seen. This is not to say that Mystic Mine won’t get hit, it’s definitely on the table. But we have had cards in the past that were on the table to get hit and just never got touched once. Anything can happen, so just be prepared for either result once we get our new banlist.
Regardless of that, there were quite an interesting decks that managed to top at this event. Like Dinomorphia, Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade… heck, some people were trying some weird, but interesting mixes. Like, how do you combine P.U.N.K., Spright and Tearlaments into one deck?! Would like to see how that deck works.
If you want to see some of the deck lists for any of the decks that topped at YCS Rio, including the winning deck, Ygoprodeck has you covered.
https://ygoprodeck.com/category/format/tournament%20meta%20decks
The next upcoming event is YCS Niagara, which takes place from September 10th-11th. After this event, we may start to anticipate a new banlist since the next YCS after that one is YCS Ecuador, which starts in October. Dropping a new banlist after Niagara would make sense as it would give players enough to adapt to the new changes made to the list. Don’t mark my words on this banlist drop idea though.
Decks to Checkout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k15GzF17jxg
If you’re looking to try out a new gimmick in Yu-Gi-Oh!, El Exordio has you covered with their show off of the new Vaylantz deck. This Pendulum archetype bases around the column mechanic. While we have had archetypes based around this mechanic before, Vaylantz takes it to a different level by using the ability to shift from one column/zone to another. Even make an old card, Senet Switch, more useful. At least for this archetype specifically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWr5TdCGj84&t=3s
Remember the old days where Flip effects were pretty relevant? Do you ever feel bad how that mechanic seemed to have phased out, in a sense, or that you simply miss it? Well, with the release of Power of the Elements came a new Krawler card that helps add more consistency to the archetype. If this interests you, then checkout Duel Evolution’s Krawler build to help give you a start on how to build one.
Favorite Content of the Week
TheJWitttz, mostly known for his Pokemon related content, has made a video discussing the history of the very first iteration of Yu-Gi-Oh! That being the Bandai version. This was a fun video to watch and learn where Yu-Gi-Oh! first started until it got to where it is now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4mBUUdLbQ
Nyhmnim has returned with another video for his channel, and decided to talk about the history of Ultimate Rares. This rarity has been around for over 10 years. It’s fun to learn where it started, what cards got the treatment, and there’s just something appealing about looking at the cards in this rarity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ANfSG5awA0
DistantCoder gives us another ruling quiz, this time featuring Paul from TeamAPS as he tries to answer ruling questions about Branded Despia. There’s always some fun and interesting stuff to learn from this series. Especially in terms of rulings.
Conclusion
Thank you guys for reading this! I wish I had more news to bring to the table, but I guess this will do for now. The biggest topic is without a doubt Mystic Mine, and everyone is going to be paying attention to it come YCS Niagara. We’re either gonna see players trying to play the hell out of it, being prepared for it, or both. Niagara might just be what makes or breaks the newest banlist, if Konami decides to give us one. With all of this in mind, what are some things you hope to see on the newest banlist? I would love to hear your thoughts!
I’ll see you guys in the next one! Hope you have/had an awesome day today! 
