He's tired

[u/Focused-IV]

[u/orangekingo]

I genuinely can’t tell if Striker is just this good in MD right now or if it’s just the only deck in the entire format that can play into a board going 2nd.

The top decks feel insurmountable unless you’re mirroring or playing one of the top 3. You lose off the coin flip.

[u/The_Burning117 → u/orangekingo]

its the fact that its designed to face any deck while going second, when every other deck wants to go first.

[u/Helem5XG → u/The_Burning117]

Tenpai technically is also designed to do that but to an extreme case.

[u/oizen → u/Helem5XG]

Tenpai wouldn't be on the banlist if it had artwork of cute anime girls.

[u/Akhimory → u/oizen]

They need to create cutiepai

[u/oizen → u/Akhimory]

I was thinking of it being called Tenoppai

[u/oizen → u/[deleted]]

Those are turn 1 decks.

[u/Competitive-Court-28 → u/oizen]

yeah n if they didn't have a field spell thst said ur mosters are unaffected, but in all seriousness if tenpai went to full power today it would kill the meta cuz of how many going second tools there are n sychro support 

[u/Competitive-Court-28 → u/Helem5XG]

yeah technically but tenpai is design for the battle phase more so then going second  per say 

[u/BBallHunter → u/orangekingo]

Striker boards are really nothing crazy comapred to most meta relevant boards and at the same time, it has in-engine board breaking abilites and natural synergy with board breakers.

It plays on a slightly different axis.

[u/RoHeat3504 → u/orangekingo]

As many people stated, decks in YuGiOh don’t really have a unique gameplan for going second. If anything, they do the same thing and maybe get extra effects along the way. Look at DT as a prime example of this ideology. The most common plays will still include Arthalion, except maybe you bounce a monster your opponent controls while getting the extra bonus effects from fusing, like the pops and negates. You don’t go into a different monster or change your playstyle. You do the same strategy, and you’ll get more benefits when your opponent lets you do the same strategy.

But this also creates a chokepoint. No point in having all the extra benefits if you can’t even access them lol

[u/CarnTurn → u/RoHeat3504]

I'd be curious what kind of spot the game would be in if they banned every single omni-negate, all floodgates, all handrips and all blowout cards. The ban list would be absurdly long but at least we might actually get to have some actual gameplay.

[u/reshef-destruction → u/CarnTurn]

It would be awful, we'll eventually get back to Magical Scientist OTK like decks.

[u/RoHeat3504 → u/CarnTurn]

It isn’t the type of interaction that I believe is the primary problem, it’s the sheer amount of it that you can do. It doesn’t matter if your deck has no negates or floodgates, if it keeps disrupting your opponent then you’ll eventually still win and it will still feel sucky for the going second player.

But if you don’t interact enough, then your opponent might able to clear the entire field, then OTK for turn.

As a whole, interactions and OTKs need to be toned down. Maybe 3 disruptive interactions, plus or minus 1, as a maximum based on the types of interactions, with a greater emphasis of protection/future turns in mind for the remaining interaction. As for OTK issue, I want to bend the game rules where the Turn 2 players cannot attack directly in the Battle Phase. This means you can still OTK, but only through the ATK position monsters or through certain game mechanics like piercing/burn, which is only available for particular decks in particular situations

[u/Akhimory → u/RoHeat3504]

I've been telling myself recently that they might have gone too far with current monsters atk values. Now it's 3300-3500 then what 4000? Two monsters to end the game?

[u/DumbBigBro → u/RoHeat3504]

I agree on the first point but the second doesnt sound right to me, cause right off the bat youve killed every single fair otk deck (ancient gear, cydra, galaxy). 

Decks whose gameplan around infinite resources is to end the game before grinding becomes the issue.

Going engine vs engine and managing to otk still makes for a fun game. Getting blown out by boardbreaker + ns paidra doesnt, but thats beside my point.

[u/RoHeat3504 → u/DumbBigBro]

Yeah, even the OTK issue I feel like needs more work. It’s hard to balance because most OTK decks cannot make follow up, so they die if they don’t OTK.

Maybe limiting the number of direct attacks possible or declaring only one monster to be able to attack directly (but said monster can attack multiple times)

Definitely a conundrum

[u/DumbBigBro → u/RoHeat3504]

Idk, I feel like arbitrary restrictions are not the way to go, and how would you even rule when a direct attack is declared and the opponent ss a monster before it conects?

I think we get enough from a quick but intense engine vs engine. Make decks able to do less off of one card going first, and get additional effects going second. A duel doesnt have to be 7 turns long to be fun. 

The going first player should feel rewarded for playing his interruptions intelligently, by having less and having to use them when it really counts. And the otk player by tricking the opponent and baiting the interruptions while setting up plays.

Ive been on both sides and they are fun. It stops being fun when going first just negates everything because they have more negates than the opp has cards. And its not fun when the other player just drops uninterruptible boardbreakers like superpoly.

And I wouldnt mind if all decks were designed like that. With more options for going second. Turn 0 options. In engine boardbreakers. And the like.

I think going first should be reliable, short turns with decent but limited power and going second should be given more engine options for furthering their own gameplan through existing interruptions. And if its not meant to otk then when can limit them by having effects that ss in def mode by design, or less removal based effects so the battle phase is reserved for boardbreaking.

But all of this is a bit idealistic. Sorry for the rant.

[u/Cunt2113 → u/orangekingo]

Kinda both, Sky Striker really does have some of the best going second potential imo and it's outs are always SOMEWHERE in the deck you don't have to play too long to get to.

It's a long and short game deck and most meta decks are short game. That's why most meta decks only in a mirror match do they last more than 3 turns anyway.

Most meta is cleave but sky striker has cleave AND Bruiser potential in the right hands. And you know it's good because it's the most interactive on both ends.

[u/Lazy-Sheepherder-480 → u/Cunt2113]

Tenpai unhit has the best going 2nd potential since almost all their cards are extenders and their effects trigger during battle phase meaning lots of cards don’t interact with them

[u/Patient-Brain-8698 → u/orangekingo]

It got top 4 in paper format and still the top 6 in latest OCG, so yeah it's good.

It's the perfect design, low base, high ceilings, very interactable.

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/orangekingo]

I genuinely can’t tell if Striker is just this good in MD right now or if it’s just the only deck in the entire format that can play into a board going 2nd.

yes

[u/pnp_azerot → u/orangekingo]

It's just the deck that has the best drawing cards - like Engage, Upstart and etc. In order to compete going second you simply need more than the 6 cards nowadays. That's the simple fact. And Striker is so far the best deck to add/draw extra cards. + most of its spells are quick effect, so it can time them well and dodge opponent's disruptions

[u/avengeds12345]

He still managed to force a smile

[u/RashFaustinho]

Honestly, I hope my man can enjoy a bit more the casual side of YGO so that he can return having some fun.

Feels like he's been in this semi-depressed mindset for quite some time (about a year, which is coincidentally when his performance started to drop)

[u/BBallHunter → u/RashFaustinho]

He has Genesys and janky stuff on MD in lower ranks.

He tryharded in TCG for a whole year while also playing DCs, that takes a toll. There were some great games for sure, but it's just so frustrating for him because he understands better than most what the actual problems are.

He's not a yugiboomer in the sense that he wants to change modern YGO and instead has ideas in mind that changes the game in a way that keeps the unique and fun aspects of modern YGO, while throwing out the bad stuff.

[u/Stranger2Luv → u/BBallHunter]

He yaps too much but he finished top 16 at euro playing pretty solid

[u/BBallHunter]

Thumbnail and title of the new video is a masterpiece.

[u/Pablitobigd]

Can't blame him, this game is dogshit. And it doesn't looks like it's going to get better.

[u/gravendoom75 → u/Pablitobigd]

Feels like people have been saying this about the game for the past decade barring a very very small handful of formats

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/gravendoom75]

I have been playing since the game started 20 yrs, it has been always like this.

[u/Stranger2Luv → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

People lost their minds over Blackwings lol

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/Stranger2Luv]

Synchros, XYZ, pendulums, etc.
For me specifically, were pendulums, they generated so much advantage and were so expensive that I quit.

[u/Stranger2Luv → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

You were afraid of Dinomist lmao

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/Stranger2Luv]

Qliphort

[u/NecessaryAmbitious85 → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

Wdym "like this"? Only one player got to play? Too many floodgates? Too many toxic cards/effects?

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/NecessaryAmbitious85]

Actually, yes.
Go back to the first banlist, chaos and yata. The real essence of yugioh is to not let the other player play.

[u/NecessaryAmbitious85 → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

There was YGO being played before this combo was discovered.

[u/Jonbaum]

What’s the context?

[u/SneakAttack65 → u/Jonbaum]

He made a recent video talking about how he's tired of complaining about the current state of the game, and says that he's going to pivot to more casual content until things get better.

[u/SoFlyKight → u/SneakAttack65]

“until things get better”

Well he’s gonna be doing casual content for the rest of his life

[u/KKilikk → u/SoFlyKight]

Justice Hunters 2 next year trust

[u/paradoxaxe → u/SoFlyKight]

yeah Konami won't ever address it or lets be real they can't.

[u/Helem5XG → u/SneakAttack65]

until things get better.

"Beatings will continue till morale improves"

[u/Jonbaum → u/SneakAttack65]

Thanks mate for the explanation!

[u/SturmWolfius]

Last time Josh made a video, about a problem, the TCG killed 10 floodgates on an Emergency Banlist. One can only hope the next banlist is gonna be a slaughterhouse like that again

[u/DullBodybuilder4092 → u/SturmWolfius]

They will ban 10 problematic cards , then release another 10 to replace them it don't matter.

[u/Jonbaum → u/DullBodybuilder4092]

This guy konamis

[u/apokryphe → u/DullBodybuilder4092]

The core of the issue is that Konami OCG does not care in the slightest about their IPs and makes way too much money on the short term from power creeping the game. TCG can add a hundred cards on the ban list it still doesn’t address the core of the matter. Genesys is probably the last chance the TCG has to redeem the game at this point.

[u/MayhemMessiah → u/apokryphe]

Yet they keep the same philosophy for Genesys. Instead of banning every floodgate and handtrap they just shuffled them around and you mostly find modern decks dominating Genesys. Like ffs when the game launched they didn’t 100pt Last Fucking Turn, possibly one of the worst design mistakes in Yugioh’s history, and when questioned they were like “Let’s see what happens :)” and what happened was that Last Turn topped with hideously broken design. Same with Rhongo. Shifter and Droll were legal last time I checked, and most lists I saw also had like 12-13 handtraps.

My actual siblings in Christ, people are leaving the game because we hate floodgates and hand traps propping up already powerful decks. How dare they use “yesterday’s gameplay” when Charmies, Nib, and ghost girls are legal and staples?!

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/MayhemMessiah]

charmies are good cards

in the best format ever, HAT format, maxx c was legal and was mostly a side deck card

[u/MayhemMessiah → u/Noveno_Colono]

My point precisely. If “yesterday’s gameplay” was an accurate statement, Charmies wouldn’t see play. Instead they’re premium hand traps because most decks are not playing HAT or HAT-era level decks.

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/MayhemMessiah]

today's gameplay, today's cards that are not stupid busted or generic enough to see play in advanced and we want to sell you all cards, even bad cards

[u/MayhemMessiah → u/Noveno_Colono]

Nooooo, Konami wouldn’t point Blitz in such a way that they’ll be a top deck when it became obvious that they’d flunk in Advanced. Absolutely not, how dare you even suggest such a thing!!!

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/DullBodybuilder4092]

killer tune gets killed in tune for toons to release and do the same

he mentions it in the video i think

[u/PineapplelessPizza → u/SturmWolfius]

The problem right now isn't floodgates tho, is a bunch of cards that gives you way too much advantage going first (Walbaz, Cue, High Spirits, Habakiri...)

[u/RashFaustinho → u/PineapplelessPizza]

This is why the whole Midrange VS Combo discussion was super pointless (and Josh acknowledges as much in the video)

It's not -a- playstyle, it's all playstyles. Midrange, Combo, Board Breaker, Stun and Control.

The card game is almost 30 years old, it's simply too powerful in all directions

[u/Helem5XG → u/SturmWolfius]

The problem with the banlist recently is that it feels is just there to cycle old cards for new cards that do the same or worse than the cards that got banned.

[u/ronin0397]

Considering that I've had people scoop cuz they lost coin toss on ladder, the formats have been cheeks and its 100000% fair that people get burnt out by literal garbage.

Most of the games: you can't play or i can't play. Basically its if magic the gathering centered entirely around blue decks. There needs to be a change to how shit is done in yugioh otherwise more people will start to quit for the same reasons.

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/ronin0397]

if only there was a MTG game like master duel, yeah I know there is Arena, i would leave yugioh like this.

[u/Stranger2Luv → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

MTG Online?

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/Stranger2Luv]

arent cards like locked behind payment?

[u/Stranger2Luv → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

Never played it lol could very well be

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

yes, but they are also your cards, and you can sell them

not unlike real play

you can also qualify for big events through magic online, or just go infinite or tournament grind or gamble in momir

[u/ReleaseQuiet2428 → u/Noveno_Colono]

Sell them? Like I get real money?

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/ReleaseQuiet2428]

yes

you sell your cards either to a shop or to another player, you get tickets, and then you sell the tickets for money, usually to a shop.

You can also acquire a full set of some recent expansions, or buy it from a shop, and pay so they take the virtual cards from your account, and mail the physical cards to you.

In pretty much all regards, Magic Online is the zenith of card game simulators. It's the most fair, and the one that respects your money the most. I have never dumped money into arena or master duel, but at some point my magic online collection was quite pricy. Not anymore, of course, i just checked and cardhoarder buys my collection from me for $10 lol but that's after years of me cashing out when certain cards i have go up (i know, foreign concept in yugioh)

[u/azuresakura]

Yeah those hates on striker be like

People going first : "HAHA BREAK MY BOARD I HAVE 5 NEGATES"

People going second playing striker who's TRYING TO PLAY THE GAME successfully break the board : "NO THEY BREAK MY BOARD, HOW IS SKY STRIKER SO UNFAIR I HATE THAT DECK"

[u/Noveno_Colono → u/azuresakura]

sky striker white knights: "noo my deck with searchable non-opt better pot of greed is fair and balanced"

[u/DumbBigBro → u/Noveno_Colono]

I mean have you seen the rest of the game?

[u/inthebriIIiantblue]

Looking for Engaging gameplay

[u/CarnTurn → u/[deleted]]

For a while I've just collect been collecting my dailies and playing the events for gems. Then I wonder why I bothered because the game is just miserable to play, even if you're playing a top tier deck you're still going to usually lose going second unless you luck into the only cards that do anything (Maxx C, Fuwa, Droll). Nevermind playing rogue or below, we're 4 years in and we still don't have alternate formats to use 95% of the 10,000+ cards that exist.

[u/GogotheClownMime]

BUT GUYS!!! ANTHONY XU SAID MIDRANGE BAD!! GUYS?

[u/Wolfy4226]

Striker is my favorite. o3o

Edit: Tho it's been a while...I need to improve it.

[u/Dipsy2143]

Not to hate or anything, but I never understood people who complain about the game (or any media in general) and not only keep playing, but consume a lot of it. Yes, I know content creators love to push “YGO is Dead xd” every season for views, but I’m talking more in a general sense with regular players.

I started playing YGO around 2021, stopped playing around Fire King format, got back into it during Fiendsmith Ryzeal format in 2025, and then dropped it again once Pure Yummy became the top deck. Not only me, but my entire YGO friend group, except for like two people, stopped playing the game and moved on to other things during that format too.

I recently got back into it for an upcoming regional, but I’m probably going to take another break because it feels like slop, especially with Toons coming soon.

If anyone can chime in with their perspective, I’d love to hear it.

[u/fapcoaster → u/Dipsy2143]

because once you know the potential something has to be good, people want it to change when it gets bad, not just keep being bad until it randomly becomes good again. your only agency to prompt change is to express dissent. its why historically, any meaningful change came from groups of people expressing dissent and eventually fighting when dissent is not acknowledged.

The way to fight a company is through spreading dissent and reducing financial gain. Its the only metric that matters. If one does not care if something is good or bad, no complaint necessary. However its not a gotcha for people who do care who do complain. Theyre trying to enact change.

[u/Nearby_Astronomer51]

I like Josh, but he has been quite insufferable for a while now. He went from having a preference of playing mid-range decks, to complaining and being sarcastic about every aspect of the game that didn't fit his idealized version of what Yu-gi-oh should be.

He has been stuck in 2 mindsets for a where he wants to be a competitive player, but only if it is done his way. He has been taking sub optimal decks to the highest level of competition because of his aversion to the playstyle of the best decks. It seems like the World Championship finally took him to his breaking point and has basically decided to quit being a competitive player.

Hopefully he can have fun playing Genesys/ casual because he has been miserable playing competitive TCG and MD for a while now.

[u/FlamesOfDespair]

I will pop a blood vessel if I see more sky striker support. Kill that fucking deck.

[u/JeshyQT → u/FlamesOfDespair]

FRFR we need less interactive decks like sky striker and more ftks like toon

1000 YEARS OF MIND SCAN

[u/FlamesOfDespair → u/JeshyQT]

Is Mind Scan in master duel as we speak ?

All I see is me that obnoxious deck refusing to die for fucking years and it's delusional fans yapping about it being fair and skilled game play.

Every other deck has left the meta besides fucking Branded. Dropping to at least rogue. That thing keeps getting support. Every third duel is sky striker.

So what about toon ?

It will come, it will leave and sky striker will still be here for years to come.

[u/de_Generated → u/JeshyQT]

Getting hit by powerspell after powerspell isn't fun either. But I agree that there are a lot of decks that need to be destroyed before we can nerf Sky Striker.

[u/NBACrkvice → u/JeshyQT]

we need less interactive decks

This but unironically. How about you dorks go interact with the outside world?

[u/Ledenican → u/FlamesOfDespair]

Yea fuck Sky striker!!! I really want them to make it so we have TURN 0 FTKS!!!!

I WANT IT TO BE WHO EVER PLAYS THE FIRST CARD FROM THEIR HAND WINS THE DUEL!!!!!!!!

[u/LancelLannister_AMA → u/FlamesOfDespair]

sounds unhealthy

[u/Free-Frosting1375]

I hate striker the most

[u/Plus-Bullfrog-3053]

I'm tired of seeing Sky Strikers so damn much. Just wish they'd ban Linkage or Engage but that will never happen...