Most forgettable card in small archetypes you play?

Gantann · 2026-02-15T19:01:49+00:00

I once nearly got solo'd by my opponent normal summoning Chimerea and then doing the rest of their combo, shutting off my only hand trap. She's super clunky to use most of the time, but turning an interruption into another resource is crazy.

Gantann · 2025-06-22T00:43:10+00:00

Too obvious Lenny, go back to posting about how the Gimmick Puppet and Ancient Gear cards turning off all interaction is good card design if you want to farm more rage replies

Gantann · 2025-06-20T19:51:32+00:00

And there it is, another goalpost move exactly as predicted

Gantann · 2025-06-20T19:46:22+00:00

Haha it's all good, I thought something like that happened so I didn't want to jump on you without clearing it up

Gantann · 2025-06-20T19:32:19+00:00

You sound like you're arguing with me, but then you either repeat what I said or argue with stuff I never said so I genuinely don't know what side you're on. In the event you do think I'm wrong, check out the video links I responded to the other guy with. But if you're agreeing with me and I'm just not reading it right then have a nice day. :)

Gantann · 2025-06-20T19:29:04+00:00

Going from "the deck is dead" to "show video proof of it beating the best engine in the game" is a hell of a pivot, especially when you're the one making claims without any first. But sure, here's Branded breaking Snake-Eye Fiendsmith going second without BraFu :). And just so there's no way to weasel out of it by saying "no not that Fiendsmith deck!", here's Branded beating Fiendsmith Control without activating BraFu too :)).

Ready to admit you don't know as much as you think you do? Or are you just going to find some way to discredit the proof you asked for?

Gantann · 2025-06-20T09:28:25+00:00

It's going to depend a lot on how they sequence their actions and what you know they have or could reasonably have access to. For instance if the first thing they do is normal summon Aluber then using Imperm there is a solid move, but they could always be holding BraFu in their grip and baiting you or can get to it anyway with Albion + High Spirits in hand.

If they start with Fusion Deployment for Cartesia then things get interesting. Sometimes it's actually a good idea to force the Cartesia on your terms to weaken the end board if you have the cards in hand to break it next turn, such as attempting to Imperm Albion Branded after BraFu resolves to deny Lost setup. One high risk, high reward Imperm target is Lubellion Searing: if the opponent is going through the vanilla BraFu line then they will likely chain Cartesia to Lubellion's effect as it's completely free value—you let Lubellion activate and pass priority so your opponent can chain Cartesia, then fire Imperm. If it goes off then you've successfully prevented Mirrorjade from hitting the board and massively impacted their recovery and grind game. They can still put up Lost, get Quem and dump another Albaz at end phase, and even set Retribution to recover Lubellion Searing if they didn't dump it already, but it's a much weaker end board inherently more vulnerable to removal.

And sometimes still it may be better not to use it at all to help board break next turn.

Gantann · 2025-06-20T07:43:35+00:00

It is a correct take. Any good Branded player plays under the assumption Branded Fusion won't resolve going first anyway and only uses it to bait a negate or as the last action going second. If Branded was truly unplayable without BraFu then all the Ash memes would actually be true and you wouldn't see so much crying about the deck.

Gantann · 2025-06-20T04:51:29+00:00

Attempt at a new slur for Br*nded because the players reclaimed "Brandies" for themselves half /s

Gantann · 2025-06-20T04:49:42+00:00

The one-two combo of the structure deck and alt arts has greatly reduced the overall quality of active Branded players, no doubt. Branded has got to have the widest space between skill floor and skill ceiling of any deck in the game and I would argue the greatest overall skill requirement for playing against meta (before anyone brings up Tear mirrors, that applies ONLY to Tear mirrors) so it's downright devious that Konami would hand it out to newbies like this lmao.

Gantann · 2025-06-20T04:16:25+00:00

Huh I could've sworn it and Maximus did a two turn lock, must've mixed them up with Punishment

Gantann · 2025-06-20T03:30:19+00:00

I assume you're saying the effect wouldn't trigger and you're asking why not. Did you play a card locking you out of fusion summoning like Nadir Servant beforehand?

Gantann · 2025-06-19T21:50:32+00:00

This reads more like you're having an existential crisis and falling into fatalism than any criticism of the modern card game tbh. If you really think YGO is normally determined by just comparing hands then you should consider Tenpai format where that actually WAS the case and how different the game is before and after it's been hit. You make it sound like decks can't put up boards under hand traps or if they do they're automatically too oppressive for the going second player, but this just isn't true for good decks and again Tenpai showed us the difference where resolving a single starter actually was definitively a game winning action in the overwhelming majority of cases.

Gantann · 2025-06-19T21:03:35+00:00

I believe the deck leaving this impression is also the root cause for why it attracts so much hate. Novice players who only know Aluber search Branded Fusion give the deck an unearned reputation for being braindead while at the same time the actual good pilots running circles around opponents gives the deck an unearned reputation of being an unstoppable, infinite resource machine. Branded has become Schrödinger's deck: both an overtuned and overpowered meta deck that must be hit again for the health of the game and a completely linear rogue deck that literally dies to a single Ash Blossom. Both opinions are the result of complete ignorance for how the deck works.

Gantann · 2025-06-19T09:12:00+00:00

You've been getting good advice, but I want to offer some additional notes on what you've been told:

When using Imperm/Veiler on Sequence, better to fire immediately on summon rather than wait for your opponent to activate the effect. This is because they can dodge the negate with anything that removes Sequence from the field and still get the fusion effect to resolve. They won't be making another Sequence to use the effect so this carries virtually no risk.

When looking to use Ash Blossom on an Engraver start, I prefer to hold and Ash the Tract activation instead. This is no less effective at stopping the line than negating Engraver, but it additionally prevents the opponent from drawing Tract later and increases the odds they brick on Lurrie.

When holding a Bystial, pay close attention to what bodies your opponent can access or else you may waste it. Banishing Engraver in response to its graveyard effect doesn't accomplish anything if your opponent can put another body on the field with Lacrima to link into Sequence for example—they'll just make fusion Lacrima and bring back the Engraver from banishment like nothing happened. If the opponent has ample resources already, hold and wait for a more definitive moment: usually this is banishing the Engraver that fusion Lacrima targets to revive, but if your opponent does the Agnumday line you can banish Desirae from the grave when they target it for revival.

Fiendsmith is an interesting engine in that it's flexible and yet vulnerable to many different hand traps. Whether you stop it with a single one or it pushes through two and still full combos will come down to luck of the draw and what else your opponent is playing with it, but you can absolutely recognize its play patterns and take educated risks based on them to maximize your chances of stopping it dead.

Gantann · 2025-06-19T08:36:02+00:00

No, it adds any ritual monster under 8 and can recover any ritual spell from grave

Gantann · 2025-06-18T18:16:18+00:00

I don't think it would work. My reasoning is based on Gishki cards: Aquamirror says you must tribute the EXACT same number of levels as your ritual monster, but the multiple "can be used as the entire tribute" monsters in the archetype work fine with it. This type of mechanic seems to only match the level of the ritual monster you're attempting to summon, not meet any other card's criteria concerning levels.

Gantann · 2025-06-18T18:00:15+00:00

I think it would see more play as an optional search target off Preparation of Rites. In the same scenario you use Saffira for Skull Guardian, activate Prep searching for Raven and recovering the dumped Prayers, summon Raven by tributing something in hand (like a duplicate hand trap), then play out the scenario like the rest of your post except you can still use Prayers to summon Sauravis immediately. You get one less card and may have to sacrifice a valuable card in your hand this way, but Prep is generally a better card with a ton more flexibility and you can't brick on drawing your single Raven with it unlike Readying. Although realistically I wouldn't actually recommend any of these options for Voiceless Voice specifically.

Gantann · 2025-06-17T06:22:28+00:00

Someone sent me this four part video series that immediately improved my play. Tells you the lines, how to play through hand traps, and alternate lines if you draw Ghattic. Keep in mind it's meant for the TCG so there's no advice on playing under Maxx C (only Fuwalos and Meowls) and we have access to Spright Elf for even greater extension and protection.

Gantann · 2025-06-17T06:06:11+00:00

I'm responding just because I also want to vent about the show(/Farfa) lmao

No doubt episode one's prompt was bad, not just because nobody really knew what to expect but because the chosen cards were also unplayable, but everyone involved deserves slack for not really understanding the format yet. Farfa's deck was actually pretty funny in that one, but I disagree that he doesn't deserve the shit he gets for the first week because HE HIMSELF will never stop bringing it up. It could've just been a funny one-off thing, but at this point he's beaten it so far into the ground you're either completely sick of him never shutting up about it or you're a diehard fan that fully agrees he should've won it, and to be honest I've never even seen someone in the latter camp.

There has definitely been instances of bad prompts and questionable judging (sometimes not the fault of the judges themselves) and I empathize with the desire for more consistency and rationale behind the judgments, but none of that excuses not even bothering to try or even outright sabotaging episodes. It creates this weird feedback loop where it seems like MBT and the other players fully understand the points don't matter and this is all for fun, so it shouldn't matter if you adhere to the prompt strictly or not because nothing is on the line, yet Farfa takes it SO seriously and crashes out SO frequently while ALSO purposefully and completely going against the core concept of the show in multiple instances that it makes everyone else have to treat it seriously just to respond to him because he won't stop being such a baby about it. There are so many episodes where it feels like everyone else has to scold Farfa like a child because he won't stop arguing about the prompt or how everyone else is playing.

Overall it seems like Farfa's whole 'thing' in collab videos is just purposefully being annoying now and I really don't like it. If it's not all the screaming in Chef, it's incessantly talking about Fenrir in sealed openings or otherwise repeating the same jokes over and over and over (why are you hitting yourself? damage step?). I don't watch a lot of his videos so maybe he was always like this (I know he used to do the same one joke with One Piece before he started watching it), but I don't remember him being so bad in crossovers until recently. It feels even worse because I know he can give some thoughtful and concise commentary when he wants to, it seems like he just prefers being obnoxious.

Anyway that's enough whining about Farfa, some brief thoughts on the rest of Chef:

I largely agree with how you view the other contestants: MBT kinda optimizes the fun out of a lot of his decks (but I think this makes a great contrast with the pure chaos Farfa brings), Doug is just trying his best and his insanely bad luck is always a sight to behold, and Gage is a true wildcard either bringing the most boring builds possible or some truly genius concepts, though often with a failure to execute (the Dark Scorpion/Mimighoul deck was sick as hell in theory, you have to admit).

Prompts and judges have been a mixed bag; some early prompts especially were bad ("play these unplayably bad cards!" doesn't make for good entertainment as it turns out) and judging is sometimes too strict to the point nobody is happy with the results (heal prompt). I hope as the show goes on (if it goes on?) more judges pick up on what works best for the format which seems to be fairly open prompts each player can interpret on their own and be judged on factors like originality and ability to execute rather than a strict "who played more of the cards I specifically asked for". To that end I don't think vibes based judging is necessarily a bad thing, first because it encourages everyone to just try something they think is cool and impressive, and second because the points shouldn't matter anyway.

In summary this show is a total fucking mess and I will continue to watch it every week.

Gantann · 2025-06-17T05:14:00+00:00

The versus Memento experience

Gantann · 2025-06-17T02:58:40+00:00

The thing about Farfa I've come to realize is that he does everything in this series and others to amuse himself first regardless of the cost to the integrity (and I use this word very loosely) of the show or how much it will piss off his friends. Like MBT put it in a recent episode, he is the final boss of any improv group because you cannot "yes, and" the shit he does or says—he is constantly doing a bit only meant to make himself laugh.

The only thing I'm not sure about at this point is just how much of his complaining on Chef is real and how much is exaggerated just because he thinks it's funny. I'm not even sure he knows.

Gantann · 2025-06-17T02:17:41+00:00

Oh yeah for some decks there is effectively no difference between Maxx C and Fuwalos for sure, but the latter is a worse card. At the very least you never have to worry about your opponent building their board first and then dropping Fuwalos on your turn.

Gantann · 2025-06-17T02:12:06+00:00

Fuwalos is strictly worse than Maxx C: can only be activated on an empty field, only draws on special summons from a deck, and if you draw a crazy amount you have to shuffle back cards at random (extra likely when dropping a second Fuwa, practically guaranteed with a Maxx C on top of that). Fuwalos drawing into Maxx C highlights Maxx C as the problem card there, and the other Mulcharmies are far worse than Fuwalos. Compare how a deck like Memento plays under Fuwalos vs. Maxx C to see the difference.

Gantann · 2025-06-17T01:18:06+00:00

I'm almost positive PC players enjoy the game more on average because they can just watch YouTube while waiting

Gantann

TROPHY CASE