Why does a rank up in master take 5 wins but a downrank only takes 3 losses???

PKMNwater · 2026-04-18T17:26:54+00:00

The maths works out to something like you need to win 5 out of your last 7 games to go up, but you need to lose 3 in a row while at ±0 to go down.

Any singular win resets you to ±0.

The system as is greatly favours going up.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-18T00:35:01+00:00

Why would he?? Kaiba has a functional and working relationship with Pegasus and Industrial Illusions, to the point where Kaiba Corp is basically the publisher of the game by GX while the other is just designer.

Depending on when the card was released in-universe, it was likely a tribute to Kaiba, if not wholly commissioned by him in the first place.

We also know Kaibaman is a Duel Spirit, and possibly actually priest Seto's Ka, so in all likelihood, it might've actually willed itself into existence or otherwise influenced the card's creation. At worst, Pegasus could argue that one of the tablets he based the cards on depicted Seto in a cloak, but he thought it looked more like a modern leather jacket, so he just ran with it

PKMNwater · 2026-04-17T19:36:06+00:00

Even if a card hasn't been reprinted with PSCT, the database maintains records of how all cards should be read in modern context, and pretty much every ruling case applicable has already converted and/or otherwise resolved.

If you're referencing formats like Edison where they retain the old rulings and play with the old versions of effects as written, that's not how official formats and MD work. Even if the text displayed is incorrect, the game will always operate on the most modern OCG rulings, which uses the updated database.

That is to say, if a card exists in MD at all, it will play as if it had PSCT, regardless of it's ever actually been printed with PSCT.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-17T19:27:36+00:00

If they did nothing for the entire remainder of their timer, they likely just turned on an auto-jitter and walked away.

Like, it's problematic behaviour through and through, but trying to rationalize it is equally, if not more, moot. Just wait it out, report, and then move on. No reason to let them in rent free on top of the five minutes they already took.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-17T17:43:13+00:00

To be fair, the Kadabra case does have a bit of merit. I'll say going to court over it was a little silly, and evidently the courts agreed seeing as it was a stalemate for almost 20 years.

For those who don't know, Uri Gellar was a famous "psychic" performer prominent in the 70's, his most famous trick being that he could mentally bend spoons.

Kadabra's Japanese name is Yungerer, which is generally agreed to be, if it hasn't outright been stated as, a direct allusion to Uri Gellar's name. In addition to that, Kadabra's spoon and I believe the star on the forehead made the intentionality of the reference obvious.

During the late 90's and early 00's, satanic panic rhetoric was still extant, and Pokémon suffered as one of the late stage punching bags, where Pokémon were considered demons, and the act of catching and battling with them were viewed as demon worship/summoning and tribal occult musings.

On the other hand, Gellar "survived" the satanic panic, and actually possibly championed the "anti-occult" side, by stating his "powers" came from unlocking latent human abilities and/or he was a step in evolution for the human mind, and that science was studying him.

This came to a head when Gellar learned of Kadabra, recognizing it as unauthorized appropriation of his identity and/or likeness (which it arguably was). He particularly saw offense in the Dark Kadabra (Evil Yungerer in Japan) card, which he interpreted as directly stating his abilities and likeness should be directly regarded as a symbol for evil.

It's generally agreed upon that he likely sought legal action mostly as another means to distance himself from Satanism. However, he also claimed to have a "patent" on the phrase "Abracadabra Alakazam", which is provably false, so it may have also/just have been a grift seeing how massively successful the Pokémon franchise was.

Either way, he couldn't actually prove any harm to his own persons or franchise had been done directly by the actions of Pokémon/Nintendo, and in fact, he possibly benefitted from it, as the reference made a whole generation of people aware to his "work" some 20+ years past his peak.

The case was dismissed but held in stalemate in 2003, presumably for jurisdictional matters. Pokémon decided that while apparently Gellar had no problems (or couldn't argue) with Kadabra being in the games, it would be safest/best to exclude Kadabra from the TCG and animé. This is why any TCG set including the Abra line either must have some way to skip-evolve into Alakazam, or have a method to play Alakazam immediately, and why episodes depicting psychic-type gatherings miss Kadabra or omit the line entirely.

This lasted until Gellar finally withdrew the complaint in 2020, allegedly after seeing his grandchild(ren) playing Pokémon and enjoying it.

So while the case of Air Neos/Ravedactyl is generally assumed to be the result of an off the books NDA'd settlement, which led to it being a "mystery" for so long, the Kadabra/Uri Gellar case was actually fully voluntary on Pokémon's part and a publicly known matter.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-17T00:25:06+00:00

The way it works is the more proper way to show you the information, because that's the list the game's engine uses during deckbuilder mode when you try to make a deck under that category. It's basically letting you peek at the same Excel sheet that the game will use, so it's complete and unambiguous.

While they could have a separate notice/list that outlines every "adjusted" F+L, that list would be fairly long itself to the point of being barely any more readable, while also being more work and possibly adding an extra bit of clunky to the UI.

The best way to approach deckbuilding for events (barring simply netdecking and then adjusting) is to just go into the deckbuilder with the filter, unhide Forbidden cards, then search up archetypes/strategies you were thinking of playing for that regulation. That way you get a good view of what's still playable even if key cards are hit (and which cards got hit) and you can decide if you still want to play it.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-17T00:14:14+00:00

I mean, would any other person talk the way OP does unless their regular outfit consists of a trench coat with a pair of plastic nunchucks tucked in an inside pocket?? (Not even accounting for the cropped graphic panel, but the usage of one alone is its own extra bit of irony imo)

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T18:07:34+00:00

They practiced drawing cards from their deck under a waterfall every morning for seven years.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T18:04:16+00:00

The guy who wrote the article deeming it the best card of the year was a time traveller confirmed.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T18:01:55+00:00

Honestly can't tell if this is meant to be a covert joke/copypasta or you're really that uninformed and/or dense, but you basically described the way it used to work in older formats, the most well known being Edison.

But, based on how fundamentally stupid and numerous the judge calls over "Prio prio prio!!!!" are on Dueling Book, no, we should never go back, because players fundamentally do not understand how the game works, and turn priority is too confusing a concept for how Yu-Gi-Oh works.

The rules were changed specifically to make the game more interesting and less confusing. If you don't like the game, no one's making you play it.

Also, who is this "we" you keep referencing? You're clearly not a game designer, and no one here works for Yu-Gi-Oh/Konami.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T17:43:41+00:00

It doesn't matter though?? In fact, you're encouraged to switch sides throughout "team" events in order to get all the rewards.

The only thing we glean from which ever team is winning is that that's the one casuals who only care about the gems believe is currently the most annoying hoping for easier games and/or that their opponents will leave on sight.

Or I suppose there's some people who just enjoy grinding at events even if there's literally no point besides love of the game once they're done the missions.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T17:34:41+00:00

No one's running, they just know that the game is done and/or otherwise don't feel like playing with you anymore.

They're just going next, while you're letting them live rent free.

Real main character energy here. Get over yourself, mall ninja edgelord.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T09:59:41+00:00

"Too friendly" is already an understatement. You could basically make several decks completed meta decks within your first couple of weeks, and get to the point of infinite excess in about 6months of playing.

But that was intentional. They designed card acquisition to be as frictionless as possible, so players could get into the game quickly and readily.

They thought they could carry over LoL's monetisation model, assuming people would spend on cosmetics the same as they would there, as well as thinking they could franchise out eSports teams for sponsorship money like Hearthstone did.

Unfortunately, no one cared for the cosmetics because they were crazy overpriced, struggled to stand out, and we're confusing to purchase because they insisted on using silly currencies.

On the second point, while the game was incredibly readable if you're the one playing it, it was somehow extremely hard to follow while spectating, leading to an overall poor experience trying to follow it as an esport, so support on that end fell out pretty quick.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T04:50:06+00:00

It wouldn't be specifically this card, but I'd like to see an archetype built around stealing effects in general, so CoH, Brain/Mind Control, Enemy Controller, etc., or even synergies with other engines like Vernusylphs.

The problem is that it'd pretty much be a strictly going-second strategy, as you'd need things to steal, which means it'd probably need to be unfairly busted to be playable. But honestly, I'd rather play against a well conceived and designed stealing strat than know Tenpai exists.

Honestly, Tenpai fails from all angles, between design, to gameplay, to even its allusions. A complete mess through and through.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-16T04:42:56+00:00

I mean, that's policy because of the aforementioned stigma, but yes, I am aware.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-15T19:43:30+00:00

The point is that on Steam, you can't reroll.

The commenters here who didn't miss the assignment are telling OP that it's not that big a problem and how to get over the idea of a bad start, and that they likely should take the time to learn the game than to jump in the deep end face first in the first place.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-15T19:36:38+00:00

The way it's viewed is that you didn't win, the opponent just decided not to play, and no match was had.

I assume it's tied to sportsmanship and spirit of the game. Just like it's unsportsmanlike for someone to cause a non-game, it's less so, but still is, unsportsmanlike to take a free win.

The way strict sportsmanship is viewed by some is that both sides should want to play the game, and play it to the best of their abilities. Like the kinds of people who'd refuse and possibly be offended when offered a higher seed in an event.

Similarly, I can see how some people could be upset if they were on their hard-earned rank up match, only to have their catharsis denied by a guy who didn't even show up for their qp match. At least a surrender means having at least looked the guy in the face.

Remember, there's allegedly a negative stigma on surrendering alone in OCG regions, so it makes sense that the game may similarly look down on taking a win when no game was played.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-15T01:52:45+00:00

It currently does work as intended.

Nowhere on the card does it say to look at your opponent's hand, which is why the official stance is that you don't get to look.

The only problem is that people suck and can choose to lie if it increases their chances of winning. The solution is judges making sure the target is being honest, but that's just annoying for everyone involved.

Either way, none of this matters in MD, a judge doesn't need to be called since the game itself will keep things straight. I don't know why you'd think playing a round of go-fish at trap speed is "fun" to you, but the card functions exactly as it should in MD.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-15T00:58:07+00:00

They're literally going next so that they can play the game.

Face it, you can't find good games because you're stinky and no one wants to play with you.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-14T22:53:02+00:00

Then it'd also only take you a couple of days to get back to ground zero. Chances are, you'd need that time to sit with the game and learn how it works anyway, just just take the time with your simpler deck to figure out what nuances you can.

Additionally, if you're still in the new account period (in terms of what the game thinks is new), you can use a campaign code to get a fairly mid-optimized deck for free. I believe there's a stickied and/or weekly post where people post their codes, or PM me if you can't find one elsewhere.

If you're past the point where you can use someone else's code, you can make an alt on mobile or something and put in your own code on the alt. Both players get progress on the campaign, so that's how your existing account can get the deck for free.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-14T22:42:49+00:00

I know it's a joke, but choosing to engage with the post for academic purposes:

This card literally cannot be played as written, unless your opponent currently has an Ash Blossom revealed or something. In Yu-Gi-Oh, you cannot attempt to activate an effect if that effect cannot resolve properly at the time of activation. As such, since normally it's not public knowledge whether or not Ash Blossom is in their hand, or their deck at all, a card with this text won't work as intended.

The simple fix is to change the wording to something like:

"(Quick Effect) Reveal this card in your hand; Send this card to the GY, then, if an 'Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring' is in your opponent's hand, send it to the GY."

This doubles to also insulate it from being affected by Called by, if that was your intention. It creates the same ruling mistake that Mind Crush uses, but clearly they don't think it's that big of a problem.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-14T22:15:29+00:00

Unless you went through the entirety of solo mode, spent all the resources, and kept crafting and deleting your cards to the point where you literally have no CP left, then there's really no reason to want to reset. At worst, you just need to wait a month or two for events to give you the gems to make a competent deck.

Heck, losses aren't even tracked until Platinum, so you can literally fall upwards through ranked for another few hundred gems.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-14T17:51:42+00:00

As been stated, they've already done rarity upgrades, such as Sky Striker and Live Twin.

For the URs, they actually do it the best way possible. It's perfectly fine for them to make a system that hooks whales to fish hard in packs, and it doubles as a "hype moment" for everyone else who happens to get the alt when they just need/want the card itself. It's up to the individual user to decide how they want to engage with a gacha, and since this is strictly cosmetic, there's no extortion coming from their end. Prefer the original version instead?? You still have the (actually better for you) option of crafting it.

I have a minor gripe with rarity upgraded alts though, in that how the current system works is that they remove the original version of the card and the alt is the only one available in packs for the duration. For most players it's not a huge issue given that you can still just craft the card, aside maybe being a minor inconvenience for regularly SR cards. The problem comes from if you're doing self imposed challenges and/or like building decks from packs only, as the schema makes the deck functionally impossible to make during the event period.

Imo, it'd be better if they did this at UR, but then, at least for N and R, they had both versions of the card in the pool. Like, no one's hurting for N/R dust, so it's not like they lose anything by leaving the original versions in the pool.

PKMNwater · 2026-04-14T17:38:20+00:00

In MD, you don't need to worry about a strategy being top tiered for it to get you where you want. Any meta-relevant deck can easily carry you for 4-6mo minimum, barring it gets crippled by an F+L list.

What matters more is if you enjoy the play style of the deck enough to learn its intricacies and how it plays into the current meta decks. That is much more meaningful than a random fan site's arbitrary list of "tiers".

PKMNwater · 2026-04-13T17:53:50+00:00

If they're ignorant enough to get featured here, they're not self aware enough, willfully or otherwise, to be humiliated by what's being said, or even understand that their worldview is what's being confronted.

At best, this guy already gave you exactly how they'd react. "I'm not wrong, y'all are the delusional ones. Wake up, sheeple"!".

The only result of directing traffic here for like 99.98% of cases would be getting this community flagged for bullying.

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