They taught the fish how to synchro summon, they taught they fish how to XYZ summon, now they only need to learn how to fusion summon and they'll be truly unstoppable
For the speed up session at the start, metal choosing the Sinnoh surfing theme is based. Maxx C to 2 is great. BAN the pox! I have been watching this awesome Ladder Climb, as well as a lot of Ladybug. I DESPISE giving Disney money but I LOVE that show. I wish I had a choice in that regard. But yeah, that's all I have to say about it.
2:40:41 I think the best option is to continue with Ladder Climb as is, and just improve the quality control of the decks. Starting in bronze feels too much like bullying new/unexperienced players, and a lot of the more interesting duels from previous ladder climbs (at least in my opinion) were from the higher ranks. Not to mention, upping the quality control of decks won't stop jank decks entirely (Ancient Gear even won an NAWCQ a few months ago, so old decks are still able to compete in today's metagame), it'd just make sure that future decks are even playable to begin with. And I'd think it'd be more interesting watching you try and claw your way to the top of Master against other competent duelists, than it would be to watch you win in the lower ranks because Little Timmy's DM/Blue-Eyes/Exodia deck bricked.
I agree with this. Starting at bronze and going up with a new deck would feel more like bullying and uninteresting to watch because we know the current deck will just steamroll the opponent. There wouldn't be a back and forth. And it is possible for an older deck to go head to head with whatever is meta. It just requires a lot of work and a surprise factor. But I think that's why we watch Hardleg play. He grinds it out, he figures out different strategies, there are a good chunk of fun duels, and he does enjoy the decks he plays (Galaxy Eyes not included).
Sounds like a vote for "increase restrictions" to me. Created/Recieved support in the past 6 months seems like a good starting point. Of course dipping more into other engines is *usually* an option, but then at what point is the "feature" taking a backseat to the other 2-3 engines in the deck?
You'd be surprised how differently people would react to you if you just had a hairstyle change. As someone who changes hairstyles and wear hats a lot, it's extremely noticeable.
I think of the two options you presented, Id rather see you playing things that are actually rogue tier and seeing how far it can get. I think after a few videos at most, starting at bronze would get repetitive cause itll just be “ok we auto win until we hit mid gold and then the deck completely stalls out at Plat 5” over and over and over.
My brother in christ this is exactly why i keep coming back to this channel! I got to know you for this series and it is by far my favourite on youtube. Sometimes i just watch old episodes back and laugh at the ridiculous shit happening and it's great. I love your videos and I'm excited to see you play your favourite archetype once more
The exam things are funny, I just watched a ladder climb where Joe said "They should really make these about obscure rulings instead of random bits of lore from the story mode" and apparently Konami heard him.
HES TEACHING THE PHISH TO LADDER CLIMB!!! That's something that fish have to do at times, especially when going over a dam, they have things called fish/salmon ladders
I see we're fishing for wins with Ghoti. It's cool that we got a revisit to this deck. For the future of ladder climb. I do appreciate that the patreons get to select what gets played, however, I do think that with the state of Yugioh being filled with massive power spike after power spike, Some archetypes are just not cut out to make it to the highest tiers, and that's ok. I do think that the main ladder climb should be done with competent rogue strategies or potential meta contenders if they are voted for. We do have yugitubers that play optimal meta strategies, but I've been here since the What a Deck days, and I really enjoy seeing the unexpected, plus it's very entertaining to watch you duel Hardleg. For the decks that can't hack it in the upper tiers, perhaps an alternate account can be made that can hover around Silver/Gold/Platinum and we could use a jank or underpowered deck to showcase what it can do there. Maybe limit that to every now and then. Or heck, a new series that highlights decks or archetypes that would struggle to breach high ladder would be pretty neat and educational. Just some potential ideas.
02:39:00 - I think it's a shame that Ghoti didn't perform well this month, but I still had fun watching the videos and would really hate it if we didn't allow old decks/archetypes for the ladder climbs in the future. I think the idea of making multiple accounts and starting from bronze for a ladder climb is better, so we can see how strong this deck really performs and how fast and how far you can climb the ladder with it. edit: It would also allow us to play less optimized builds of a deck that are still strong and fun if we started in bronze, i think that would be fun and cool
♫♫The fish came back the very next day Oh, the fish came back Thought they was a goner But the fish came back They couldn't stay away Don't you know the fish came back? ♫♫
As a person Playing Memento rn, You're SPOT on with the issues of power creep, it's not enough to have one card combos that end on 8-10 interuptions, and that's kind of INSANE, just 2 or 3 years ago, NORMAL SUMMON F-ing Aliester was viable.
I dont know what the solution could be, but I feel like bronze definitely isn't it. Bronze to gold would have just as many non games due to increase in bots, players who play decks with no real strategy, and people who insta surrender because you activated ash or something. While the number of good games with back and forth would be reduced tremendously. I guess it depends on if your goal is to show off what a deck does/is trying to do and game quality doesnt matter, or if your goal is to see just how good it is actually. Personally, I dont mind a deck getting rolled by meta because I think it gives a very clear perspective at what makes decks/cards good or bad. Which I think is interesting.
I would say quality control will be the better way to go, especially in the long run and considering your own finances, restricting the picks to be at least rogue or anti-meta (like Paleo), starting from 0 could be fun, but like you mentioned, so many lower ranked games will just be rolling over the DM players. Another potentially interesting option (which also lets you dodge the bug) would be to try some runs on something other than MD, like EDOpro, YGOomega, etc. Those are not nearly as easy for people to look at which would be the major downside, and wouldn't have the chronicling option, but would be completely free and gives a very different format.
Man, your Ghoti run was the best video in your channel and now this might be tied with it. What is it about those fish that makes for such good videos?! 🐟 🐠 🎣
Im guessing people are going to be hoping he starts at a lower rank simply because watching a larger ladder is satisfying. Personally I'd choose the opposite. Watching more recent stuff struggle at the top and get changed a bunch is fun
28:22 Hello metal :> Thanks for the serene music and the explanation, enjoyable editing as usual. As for your question, I've been revisiting a childhood game of mine, Final Fantasy 12 (the remaster this time around). Having a blast going through old-ish games right now.
I’d like to see more recent decks. Speaking as a semi casual fan that (until snake eyes) was playing master duel and trying to get to master 1, it’s reassuring that that skilled pilot can get there even with Hank. Like genoraider, fossils, and paleo were decks I did not know could make it to master 1. And yet they did. That’s an exciting underdog story.
On the future of the series, I just want you to have fun and I don't care how you do it. I think that the game is in a transition phase and isn't going to feel great to play competitively, meta or otherwise, for a while. As a TCG player who dropped the game during this year, Master Duel is reaching the powercreep "point of no return" with regard to card design. Two card combos aren't good enough anymore, most decks are able to play through multiple handtraps and still have some kind of interaction on the opponent's turn, and starters are also extenders or insulation on your plays. It feels very much like the 2017-2018 growing period YGO went through to me, with Invoked, Zoo, Gouki Knightmare, and so on, where one engine eclipses what came before due to recursion and advantage. I think that given time, the game will reach an equilibrium again, like it did around the end of 2018 in my eyes, but it's going to be rough for a WHILE as old decks are updated and new decks are released. At the end of the day, though, this game is supposed to be fun for both players at the table, and I don't think the last year of YGO has been. Master Duel has suffered less with it being delayed on most releases, but it's reaching peak suffering pretty much right now. Ladder Climb as a series will be very difficult during this period, but I have faith you'll find something that works for you and the audience, and hopefully it won't cost you money. Good luck and have fun, Joe.
As a fish I can personally say Hardleg is my Batman. I cannot sleep knowing his is out there. I'm constantly trembling at the thought I might come across him. I'm currently pissing myself another one of his videos makes his way into my fyp
I had this video on in the background while I worked on something else. Then Duel 18 happened and I got SO confused. I return and see maybe the most Master Duel thing I have ever seen.
To answer the question from the Labyrinth Duel. I’ve recently read the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. And I’m now reading Best severed Cold. If you don’t mind some Grim-Dark it’s pretty good. If book club is still a thing, I’d recommend just bundling books 1&2 together. Book 1 The Blade Itself is entirely setup for the rest of the trilogy.
Alright, finished through the video. I can FEEL the descent into the Fishy Abyss as it goes on. I realize I never answered the question you asked about competitive decks vs casual whilst in chat, I moreso said "At Least Ancient Gears Won't Be Shit". I am for either variant suggested for the future climbs, but I offer a compromise in the middle. Giving the Patrons the power of voting no doubt leads to at least a few more Patreon subscriptions, but you also said there's a vast majority who have not once voted. I feel that perhaps the middleground of a discussion stream with your live viewers to poll, or pick your brain about say the top 3 voted decks? As you stated the Livestream viewers are the ones who get to see the bulk of the grind, and they're also the ones most actively (I presume, I'm not in the Discord) contributing to deck modifications. Being able to kinda see where everyone thinks the ladder meta is at before locking in an archetype that is so outmatched you start to lose sanity. I've been watching you here on YT since the GLORY days of Crystrons, as well as the deck build challenges, and I think the latter parts of this are the most genuinely down and distraught I've seen you. Not an edit, but spaced out because this was a fucking nerd essay. Would respond to Metal prompts but I never got over my oppositional defiance growing up. Heck off dad.
that intro, finally we can peak a little bit more into the reality of gaming chair man, but there is still so many unanswered questions like, how does he uses a toilet?, so many mysteries to unfold.
With respect to the future of the series, I'm personally on the side of playing the more competitive decks -- I love seeing you find the fun elements of popular meta/near-meta decks, and frankly the long-form content provides a lot of insight into how to play with and against those decks (i.e. "Tearlament can Fusion Summon 3x/turn", "Stop the Memento Horse if you can") that I personally find really valuable. That being said, I get the appeal of playing jank decks -- would there be a space for compromise, such as opening the selections up to jank decks both in December and one additional month? (April Fools? Christmas in July?) Those might be interesting to do as new accounts, but could avoid the massive monetary investment of making a new account *every* month.
Im of the opposite mind. You can find many insights into meta because those that play it often post those findings already; it's very easy to find guides to, say, tears or snake-eyes. Ghoti, not so much. It's more intresting, and more valuable, to hear how jank goes up against meta; that's how you find the meta-breakers.
I disagree. It's BORING to watch the same decks that are tearing the meta on a video series like this. One of the main selling points this series is to climb with a deck that may not necessarily be meta, but it could bring interesting solutions to fight it. It's a HECK of a lot more fun and interesting to see how Deep Beyond just wipes away a board and wins a game, than watching Yubel combo for the millionth time. Ghoti has it REALLY rough, especially in Master Duel, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it can't get up there, or that it would be REALLY cool if it does. So, I cannot agree that JUST bringing competitive decks should be the way to go.
Dude awesome stuff. I had a greater appreciation for Ghoti when I saw your first vid on it. I now play it when i need to do synchro missions but I absolutely love it. You will have a fun time againt Yubel decks theres some real back and forth to be had. I couldn't get the white fish to click with me but glad to see you're having better luck
I can't speak for others, but I watch ladder climb primarily for you and not the decks. I enjoy seeing you learning the ins and outs of the meta as you continue modifying your strategies to climb the ladder. As funny as it is to watch jank decks beat meta, the games that they end up winning are few and far between, and you'll be struggling to get those few wins. As much as this series chronicles Master Duel's history, it also chronicles your growth as a player, and part of that is deciding what decks you should be taking to the ranked ladder.
Hi Hardleg, I appreciate you chosing this deck, and your timestamps, and the fishing hat, very funny! I continue to seance for meta zombie support so I can see you build/play that too!
It’s a shame about the current state of Yugioh - there’s a plethora of decks that are really fun, competent and able to have really fun back and forth games. But the power sprint has rendered them “bad” I don’t even mean old decks, just about everything that isn’t a 1 card combo deck is like this, and even some that are I really do think Yugioh would’ve benefitted from a rotation system, I know people like bringing back old decks/cards every now and again, but that’s so rare compared to entire decks just becoming outclassed that at least it would quell the amount of creep
3:01:51 I'm so glad we're back to having fun, like genuinely. I've been falling asleep several times this ladder climb. Ghoti isn't good enough this meta and unfortunately isn't as fun as Paleo too. Paleo really raised the bar and I've seen what Ghoti can do I guess. Hopefully the Ancient Unga Bunga climb fares better for ya Hardleg!
To be really Fair, Hardleg made the Unchained Ladder Climbing before the new wave of supports, It was even meta some months Ago, so It would be ok Now with the Second Ghoti vídeo to do this remake.
2:41:00 As much as I'd love for you to one day replay decks like the egyptian gods (my personal pet deck) or other jank decks, I think I'd prefer if you'd stuck to rouge or top 20 decks. I find it satisfying when Decks you play reach that fabled Master 1 status, gives a sense of accomplishment that this playstyle, although may not be able to in a few months from now, was able to reach the highest of highs in the competitive mode in master duel. In addition to that, I'd much more prefer if you show off your level of skill and competency in the highest levels against equally and/or stronger opponent's, than wait for lil timmy to understand why their gemini monster can't use its effect yet after being summoned and then proceed to beat them ina instant.
Every time i see the Deep Beyond, im reminded of that Hellraiser quote: "We have such sights to show you!" *takes your board away into the deep beyond*
As someone here from the WaD days, I really prefer you playing some funny jank decks. There's a whole fun casual side of the game, and while I have really enjoyed the ladder climbs I feel like something has been lost in trying to make a deck "good enough to climb". If I wanted a deck pushed to it's limits being played perfectly I'd be watching Josh Schmidt or Jesse Kotton, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to watch one of the most entertaining and funny content creators I follow make jokes, go on rants, play some dumb shit that wins in a weird and unexpected way. Melodious Beatdown, Ghostrick Burn, the Christmas Gift decks, Stoic Challenge Lyrilusc, Ojamadness, Pure Kaiju's etc etc. That got a little rant-y, but my point is that IMO making the show be playing new archetypes in master is going in the wrong direction. At least not every month. Maybe it's worth keeping your main account at Diamond-Masters for then the patrons pick a good deck, but I think trying out playing something silly in Bronze/Silver would be more fun. Maybe there's some way to have only a few accounts and time decaying so you can always start in Gold? Idk, the show's certainly gotten bigger since you started climbing on MD so maybe I may be way off base, but that's my 2 cents and I'll still be here whichever way you choose.
I think rotating accounts would be a decent side-series for Ladder Climb at the very least. Have maybe three rotating accounts which Joe can jump between monthly playing wacky decks in Gold or something. That way, even if Ladder Climb has to go the more competitive route, people that enjoy his jank decks still have an outlet for his personality. You could even incorporate old series ideas, like the Deck Build Challenge reimagined as a versus series with other YugiTubers seeing who can climb highest with a chosen deck, or Dumb Decks, or even What a Deck. There's a lot of potential in having accounts that can play in a less competitive environment beyond just playing worse decks for okay results against worse/newer players.
A random rules note! The reason the answer was Ghost Ogre rather than Maxx "C" is that Maxx "C" has nothing in common with Nibiru and so cannot bridge between it and Fenrir.. Ghost Ogre shares its attribute (Light) and Fenrir's Type (Psychic).
What could be an option going forward is to create a new account, start with low level jank, work up as high as possible, then the next month, up the quality of the deck to match the starting tier. Then that way you’ll get to a point where you make it to masters with a deck that has a chance, and in the mean time, you can play the jankier/low level decks in appropriate levels. Then when you make it as high possible, go again with a different account. I appreciate that the costs would increase, but this allows you to have your cake and eat it. I love this series, and will continue watching, but would be great to ensure you are enjoying the process
2:40:41 My two cents in the matter, as someone else brought up, is to up the quality control of decks to make sure they have a good opportunity to get to Master, just for the sake of making the premise of the show possible. I wouldn't mind the idea of making alternate accounts for the purposes of leaving it to Jank Decks only. I would imagine the process of getting staples on ALL of those potential climbs to be incredibly tedious and repetitive, but something like... starting at Silver and climbing from there with a similar time limit to Ladder Climb (6 streams or 6 play sessions of 4 hours each), or a high rank threshold of Diamond could be an interesting alternative to how the show currently is. I just LOVE Ladder Climb, easily my favorite piece of Yu-Gi-Oh content ever. I just would like for it to prosper, and not become a grueling procress because Power Creep sucks.
About the discussion on the future of ladder climb... I don't believe starting fresh is the way to go, if you can't make it to master from diamond, then you can't get from bronze to master anyway, it just cuts out the middle man, but there's also still a problem of only being able to use decks powerful enough to exist But what I've also seen from watching these videos, is that there is a big difference from when you play jank decks and when you play meta, it's somewhat refreshing to sometimes see something powerful pop up in ladder climb, it's just unfortunate that right now whats powerful is snake eyes, Horus, things like those that are also just boring to watch You do like to keep an eye on the game as a whole, perhaps use that as a way to keep things fresh? Something like ask the patrons to vote for a deck available as a focus in a new selection pack, and see how far it can go, because it's certain that most decks won't get to master, but what is more interesting is to see how far a deck is pushed to get past diamond, that might see something like a ladder climb with ragnaraika, which might not normally get picked and would also double as a lets build if you don't know how to play that deck It's a different format to most other yugitubers who build a deck for one or two streams and almost never play it again, just for the sake of content, this style of play would have some meat to it
2:40:41 - It's possible the answer to your question is to turn the different titles you sometimes use into an actual difference in 'type of video.' Any deck that could realistically have a "how fast can X get to Master" should start from a plat or diamond account, while any that fall into "how far can I make it with X" category get a fresh one. There is a risk with this option in that you split your audience for these videos: some like seeing jank do jank things, while others are more interested in keeping up with the game and various meta matchups. It also doesn't fix the weird middle ground of "Can I make it to master with X" decks where there is a genuine question of how far a strategy will go. However, the theoretical benefits of this are pretty good. Even if a general audience is split, patreons will be rewarded with a more diverse selection of decks they can pick for this series. Doing a "one size fits all" solution cuts off either the top or bottom end of what you are able to play, but starting different decks at different levels keeps the diversity that makes this series interesting. It should also help the cost problem of making a new account every time. While it may not be something you can afford to do every month, it doing it once every two or three months is more reasonable. There could also be patreon incentives where, if you received enough support to make creating a new account financially viable, the frequency those jank episodes come out increases. Finally, while it may not be a true fix for decks where you overestimate their relative power, if you do give a bad deck the chance to hit master and it will obviously fail, you could either "master saga" or "budget build" the low elo content in the last few streams. Someone picking up your deck for grinding gold or low plat don't need the 'full power' version, they need a version they can build for cheap. Thus, by either limiting the number of secret packs you pull or the number of SR/UR cards you play, you do three things: make the episode more relevant for that portion of your audience, keep costs down for yourself after having built the deck once already, and keep the power of the deck more in line with what you will face in the lower ranks.
Honestly, these videos are entertaining regardless of if you can actually get to master or not. Even on powercrept decks its nice to see you learn the deck and explore the variants while trying to steal games from higher ranked players. At the end of the day, most of us tune in for Hardleg shenanigans and not to see only wins.
Hello, Mr Consequences! I have an idea. Because of the way the rank decay works, I don't think you'd need a new account every month for Ladder Climb. If you have a few accounts, and cycle them, the decay will bring you down a rank every time the ladder resets. That way you can start in silver or gold every single time and have less of those non-games, while still giving you room to climb with any deck you or the patrons want. I'm not saying this is definitively how I want the show to move forward personally, I haven't decided yet, but this is AN OPTION to help mitigate that non-game issue you talked about. It would require more work on your end, because you'd be doing Duelist Cups and things a few times for the Gems, but it's something I thought of.
30:56 yeah! Am actually re-reading my favorite novel but like voice acting it with friends who have never read it, is this cool long series of murder mysteries that talk about the nature of truth, authors and stories themselves, really reccomend it to both you and hardleg, mr editor, is called Umineko when they cry :)
I really miss the days before POTE when a deck didn’t need a 1 card starter that ends in 4-5 disruptions with no locks to be viable. Thanks for nothing Sprights and Tear.
30:56 my favourite furry visual novel is finally getting updates again so that's amazing. Saving up some money to comfortably get a few other games as well. Can't say em though
Ghoti reminds me of Dragunity. A really interesting syncro archetype, that gets recked by overpowered modern decks. Sad but true for one of my favorite newer decks to come out in the last two years.
Man the talk about power creep really hit home as someone who used to play master duel almost religiously and ever since the release of Snake-Eyes has lost all motivation and has just moved on to other things. I used to play a bunch of rogue decks with some even below the tier of rogue (I got baited by anime nostalgia into building blue-eyes when I started master duel) and the gap between the meta and rogue has become so incredibly large that it feels very disheartening to try and play anything that's not tiered. I love this series cuz of the large variety of decks and archetypes we get to see in it, decks that some people wouldn't even call "real decks". I personally don't care about whether or not we get to see the decks make it to master. Something something it's all about the journey not the destination. It's really unfortunate that there are a lot of archetypes we'll never get to see on this series cuz of power creep (archetypes like dream mirror, weather painters or evil eye come to mind). Episodes with these archetypes would just be "coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb" all the way through. Anyway that was my rant on the topic. I hope we still get ladder climbs with relatively rogue decks even if it's getting harder and harder to justify playing rogue.
I got an ad for Phished on the Ghoti video. Even Google is making jokes about this one. I agree with powercreep being wild over the past year though. I hit the top rank of seasons 2+3 using a blind second Madolche build, and can't imagine hitting Master 5 with any kind of Madolche now. Extra weird when you consider they had things like IO and Vanity's Emptiness legal back then.
Man, as rough as it was to see my Ghotis struggle on the MD ladder, I can't say I'm too surprised either. The lack of 1-card combos, along with extremely punishing HTs (Nibiru, Maxx C, etc.), makes the deck incredibly difficult to climb with. IMO, decks like Ghoti have become relegated to "event decks" where they can only really shine with a curated banlist. For example, in the Water/Wind festival in August, I was playing a Fish Synchro Pile deck that incorporated Ghoti, White Aura, Fishborg, and Sharks. All of these fish archetypes were tied together with "Superancient Deepsea King Coelacanth", which essentially acts like a Junk Speeder except for Fish monsters. Btw, I highly recommend checking that card out, Hardleg. The endboard would be Dragite, Gymir, a Shif on field, a Zep in the GY, and a Snopios in the hand. Essentially an FTK. The fact that this event had no Maxx C, Ash Blossom, and Nibiru meant that the full power of Ghoti could be realized. Plus FKSE/Yubel were also banned too. I think that for future Ladder Climbs, you should pick Rogue decks that have gotten significant support within the last 2 months. I get that this timeframe may be too soon, but even a deck like Ghoti, which got some support in August, is already outclassed by the current meta decks. Furthermore, I don't think the support that Ghoti got was enough - the deck still isn't very resilient to HTs. Besides, seeing you get frustrated with the game makes us feel bad too. Many of us are all too familiar with loss streaks on the MD ladder. The trick is to find a deck that is rogue-ish (people love underdog decks), but can also make strong plays against meta decks. RaidRaptors is another rogue deck (that you mentioned) that despite being non-meta, it can still make crazy 1-card combo plays. We just need to find more decks like this. I think Ancient Gears was a fantastic choice since that deck can 100% get to Master 1, but most people will brush it off thinking of it as overpriced jank. Another option could be Plant Link Pile. Plant piles are so incredibly strong and resilient (besides losing to Maxx C), but many are unwilling to learn the deck to its convoluted lines. Essentially, every pack that releases monthly contains usually one "underdog" archetype that can definitely get to Master 1. For October, this will be Ritual Beast and Infernoid (both are very viable and very underrated archetypes). I think focusing on these rogue decks that are a part of every new set release will make for interesting content and less frustration for you too. I still think you should stay in Diamond-Master rank as playing jank against new-ish players doesn't make for very interesting content IMO. Pushing a rogue deck to its limits on the ladder is what I think this series is about. Cheers and stay well Hardleg. Sorry for the long post
I think having seperate accounts for different power levels would be the solution. One of my favorite duels I've had on MD was metaphys vs ghoti since both decks were constantly playing during each standby phase. Fun matchups like that don't happen without people playing unique decks on the ladder.
I still had fun watching this one even if the deck wasn’t as GOATy as one might like. I think playing more competitive decks makes sense in this powercrept environment. I actually really enjoyed the Tearlament episode (and your reasoning for playing it in the year two retrospective made a ton of sense; what else would you play that wouldn’t just be getting steamrolled by Tearlament?). I agree with other folks I’ve read, I don’t think starting a new account and entering Bronze with every deck you play makes much sense. I did like the idea of trying out a new account for random jank decks once or twice a year, though; it is a good idea for when you’re playing an intentionally lower-powered deck. But I think most months, I’d prefer seeing something that can compete with the meta. I even like seeing the top meta strategies; the contrast of the Tearlament episode compared to the Snake-Eyes episode was especially interesting!
1:57:37 Wow, the Dinomorphia match-up is all but free for you: you have Runick cards, Keaf has zero ATK, and even Deep Beyond might be able to activate under Rexterm.
Oh man, I love Ghoti. I also play that Sekka's Light build!! It's not the most competitive but it sure is a lot of fun! I love me some Sekka's Light Tuna.
For your question at the beginning of stream 6: Case-by-case basis. Asses the decks power level, and decide at the beginning of your climb. Otherwise, alternate monthly.
I've been feeling the shift you mentioned toward the end myself for a while now. Kinda curious who agrees with my scale and what the thoughts are on it. High power decks are characterized by in archetype or adjacent archetype one card starters; they become Tier Zero when a general support card allows them to guarantee set-up without drawing said card the selves. View this as a scale with Zero & One at the top an' these are there- if you face them your cooked and surrender is less painful. Low Power decks have a two or three (searched by the others or in archetype support) combo. These decks can be elevated to a Mid' Power deck by the same cards that make High Power decks into Tier Zero threats. Anything reliant on three cards or more is politely a Casual Deck, although Chaff or Fodder would be more appropriate. Example: Icejade needs to set-up two back row, one card on field, one card in the field zone, and then it can really go. If any point is broken, you may as well have logged on/ sat down, surrendered, and called it a day. Pilot skill matters still, but the raw power gap is just bat s*** insane anymore. Every non Tier Zero, High Power deck is called Rogue because they're upper ceiling is table 5000 fodder compared to the REAL decks of the format, which blows open hard every month or two. Don't get me wrong, I hate it. Modern players just play lightly flavored pile decks and the seasoning (how much of an actual archetype) you run is getting thinner by the set. But hey, if a 40 card pile with 31 board breakers, hand traps, and pains in my a** is Yugioh now I guess that's the game?
I'm a little late but I'd like to add my 2 cents. I would prefer if the show stayed as it is right now. I think if we ask the question "Can this deck make it to Master?" The answer sometimes is going to be NO. But that doesn't make the journey worthless, it makes it even more hype when we do make it one month with a deck that most people don't even consider on Tier lists. I think that's the best part of this show, I loved the Generaider video and the Springans video, because of how good they did. I also personally loved the Ojama and Galaxy Eyes videos despite the fact I knew you would never make it. Is that surprise factor that makes it fun. I, myself last month made it to Master 1 with Genex, and this month I plan to try it with P.U.N.K. , I didn't expect to make it to M1 on either. If you fail more, experiment more to make it more interesting. That's my opinion
Man, it's a shame things went like this for this rerun, still it was a super fun watch, and that Runick Ghotti deck looked awsome, but then again Runick variants are always so cool. As for the future of ladder climb, i think it's fine to keep it as is, but you will need to be more picky on the decks, powercreep is just gonna get worse and worse, so you'll definetely have to be pick better decks and trying to do an old deck like when you did Kozmos is just not worth it, some decks are just too old even if they get new support.
To add to the future of ladder climb discussion, if people really wanted to see some serious jank decks maybe a what a deck style stream/series would work. Rather than trying to climb the whole month with it you do 10 duels and try and get it to perform as well as it can in those 10. While ladder climb carries on with decks that are a little bit more viable in the current meta
Awesome intro and awesome editing on the video (loving the pokemon soundtracks, pop ups with rulings, messages). Unfortunate that it was not particularly successful. Hope this isn't a repeating trend.
As for the two options you presented for the future of ladder climb, as a lot have shared I think it's best if you just up the quality of the decks you allow. It sucks to say that, especially since I've been watching you since your What A Deck days and back then jank was your whole thing and it was fun to watch you build weird decks and just have fun playing them. But if the goal is really to see how far a deck can go up the MD ladder then being more strict on what can be played is the best way to do it. If possible or if you have time for it, maybe starting a new series about the more janky decks could be fun, focusing on the decks that aren't meta enough for ladder climb. I understand however that something like that would take a ton more time to set up so I'm not expecting it, but that could be fun too.
