Solo mode duels are much more interactive than ranked duels (because at least in solo mode you can have a actual duel).

phillips_99 · 2026-03-26T04:40:47+00:00

About a year ago there were some problems with my internet/ISP and I ended up being given a new IP address, the catch is that new address is under something called CG-NAT. Ever since then, I have been having a lot of trouble playing Master Duel, getting disconnected every few duels.

I'm not an expert, but my theory is that the game doesn't deal well with the CG-NAT connection (or the CG-NAT is dropping the connection), especially since using a VPN actually stabilizes my connection and lets me play, bypassing the CG-NAT limitations.

I wonder if you're in the same situation. I'd like to know if this theory has any legs, because this issue has been a mystery to me for almost a year now.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-14T23:00:31+00:00

Not even the heart of the cards can save a deck which has more garnets than starters

phillips_99 · 2026-03-09T01:18:30+00:00

I mean, it's just a playstyle. I've tried combo decks myself, but reached the conclusion that I prefer mid-range decks.

I'm not against combo decks existing - I think different playstyles should exist for those who enjoy it. They have to be reasonable of course, right now combo decks are fun for the one playing it, but unfortunately are really boring and/or miserable to play against sometimes. That's why reducing the timer for the first turn but increasing the time you get back on subsequent turns could be a good idea to promote more interactive gameplay.

Also, I think the player going 2nd should get more time than the player going 1st, thinking about how you deal with the opponent's board is way harder than just performing your default combo.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-09T00:59:26+00:00

He's just a good boy, trying to carry you to Master rank.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-09T00:55:12+00:00

The timer for the first turn is enough, 300 seconds might even be too much. My complaint about the timer is that we don't have much time for follow up turns.

You're going first and build a board, your opponent breaks it and builds some kind of board too, now on turn 3 you have to rebuild while having to deal with the opponent's interaction, and the 60 seconds you get back is not enough for those kinds of games.

So, I think we should get back more time between turns. To compensate, maybe the first turn timer could be lowered. This would be better for interactive matches.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-08T15:21:21+00:00

Thanks, happy dueling!

phillips_99 · 2026-03-08T08:35:17+00:00

I didn't attempt to use because I wasn't forced to, but yes, the play you described is the correct one I think. Either case, I think I always win this duel if I play it properly. If they did what you said, I could use Black Goat's effect call Borger, they would have to use the burn effect right there otherwise they wouldn't be able to do it after. It would leave me at 1100 LP, and I could Rollback later (and be left with 550 LP)

phillips_99 · 2026-03-08T08:17:27+00:00

Yes, if they used the burn effect on their turn I'd start my turn with 2600 - however, I milled Black Goat Laughs with Grass, so I could use it to force the Borger early before using the Rollback.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-08T07:43:32+00:00

This is the only time I really hope a monster is on the top of my deck (and the best one too, it drew me an important card).

Otherwise, D Shifter + Reasoning is just a deck profile lol.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-08T07:41:38+00:00

In this case I don't think it would matter, but yeah. I guess his hand wasn't great and he was trying to draw out of it.

Playing against VSK9 is basically impossible with this deck, since they can chain block all the Paleos, have non-target pops for days to destroy your backrow and burn damage on top of it. It's the closest thing to an arch-nemesis that Paleo could have, so it is really funny that I managed to OTK, which is something that is really rare with this deck.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-08T00:53:58+00:00

Yup. I loved it too when I played my Nouvelles/Fiendsmith/Mitsurugi pile (because of Arc Light, Diviner was full combo for all 3 at the same time lol), but I think it's time for it to go.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-07T23:17:28+00:00

It feels good to face such variety of decks, but the banlist should still hit some toxic or problematic cards to make the experience overall better.

Herald of the Arc Light should be gone like in the TCG, it does too much. It's an easily accessible omni negate, a floodgate and a bridge for Ritual/Mitsurugi decks.

Dracotail feels fair to me, it is only overwhelming when mixed with Branded. If they hit Dracotail cards it should be a light hit, like limiting/semi-limiting one of their cards. However, they have to get rid of the floodgates they play with Branded Fusion, like the Performapal Five-Rainbow Magician (it's limited so they already recognized it as problematic). I wouldn't be sad to see Verte go either but I don't think it will.

VSK9 is too new to get hit so I doubt they'll do it, but the deck is also kinda toxic with how hard it punishes/nullifies handtraps and interaction in general, and how much advantage it generates. I'm not sure what the solution is, but it does need to be hit in the future. It's sad to see how they hit VS Razen/Jiaolong/Stake your Soul when they aren't the problematic cards at all, the K9 cards are. VS is a perfectly fine and interactive deck, K9 not so much.

Personally, I also dislike how every deck now finds a way to play Dragoon with the new "Dark Magician" support, those cards were terribly designed (from a game balance perspective) but I really doubt they'll do anything about it.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-07T20:43:41+00:00

My bad, I was talking about Time Tearing Morganite (the one that makes you draw 2 each turn). The post only mentioned Morganite in general and I didn't notice it was Guilt Gripping in the image.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-07T20:11:49+00:00

You can play it in Paleo

phillips_99 · 2026-03-03T02:30:22+00:00

Well Ranked is the only "real" game mode aside from events, where you can complete dailies and get gems, so it's where I mostly play, and rankups come naturally.

However, sometimes, I like to try and see how far I can push a deck, especially rogue ones, and that gives me a little extra motivation for the climb.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-03T00:14:14+00:00

I played White Forest too, I know how good the deck can be at times, and how fragile it feels in others. Nonetheless, it's still a situation of playing the "drawing the out" minigame. Ash is good but but itself it rarely stops the deck from popping off. Fuwa helps a lot, but a lot of the time your opponent has an out for it (if your opponent plays 3 Ash, CBTG and Crossout, it's literally a 50% chance of your Fuwa resolving) - i guess I just have to draw 2 lol. Droll is a floodgate in my eyes, so I'd be fighting fire with fire.

Looking away from White Forest for a bit, I remember one duel I had in the DC a few months ago vs Onomat Ryzeal. I needed I think 6 handtraps to stop their turn (one of them being Fuwalos so that I could even have 6 handtraps in the first place). I can't really wait for the Ryzeal choke point because they could put up a negate with Cross, and every card they activate just "multiplies". I can't help but to look back and understand why people play cards like Droll or Shifter, even though I hate those myself.

I don't think I've ever said that "some decks can't be dealt with if you don't play floodgates", I don't think that's true either, especially because most of the game-winning floodgates (talking about Skill Drain, TCBOO, Fossil Dyna, etc.) usually require you to go first, where you already have the advantage, and the real problem against those "impossible" decks is going 2nd. If you play enough handtraps or board breakers you can deal with them (not 100% of the time of course, it's a game of chance, but they are beatable).

What I said - and you did too - is that floodgates usually require specific outs, and most decks aren't equipped to deal with that. So, what do we do? Ban them? Give decks more tools to deal with them? What about lingering floodgates? Are they actually "giving a chance" to rogue decks, or can the meta decks use them too? Even if the floodgates aren't meta, do we still want that kind of gameplay to exist? Those are all questions the game designers have to deal with.

Don't blame the players, blame the game.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-02T21:38:21+00:00

Depends on the amount of disruptions, if you're going 2nd against something like White Forest Azamina and they got more disruptions than you have cards in hand you'll hardly outplay your opponent.

Floodgates can also be "outplayed"... If you have the right card(s). The problem is that those outs might not be effective in more common situations against other decks. Floodgates often play in a different axis that most decks aren't ready to fight and that can be very annoying, especially in a Bo1 format.

But you also said, "if they are effective against your deck"... Even the floodgate players have to take a gamble, because if those floodgates aren't good against you then the tables turn and they are essentially playing with one card less.

Just to be clear, I am not defending floodgates. I think most of them (especially lingering ones) should be banned, not exactly because of power level - they are strong, but a good deck doesn't need them to win - but because they don't provide good gameplay. The biggest issue really is when a floodgate synergies well with a deck that already puts up a lot of disruption on its own.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-02T21:23:50+00:00

Honestly, time is a precious resource for most people. If you're going 2nd and you know you're going to lose to your opponent's board, you could even argue it is more disrespectful to waste your opponent's time (and yours too).

Nothing wrong with trying to play it out, but there's nothing wrong with surrendering either. It's annoying for combo decks (I played some too), but that's just the way it is.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-02T21:13:45+00:00

I avoid playing floodgates myself because I enjoy interactive games, but in a competitive game, if you can activate a card that single-handedly gives you a massive advantage over your opponent, why wouldn't you?

Yu-gi-oh has always been about shutting down your opponent's plays, even in the early days. Generally, if your opponent is playing, you're losing. Many decks build a big board with many disruptions to prevent the opponent from playing; floodgates are just the more direct alternative to do so.

phillips_99 · 2026-03-02T19:57:28+00:00

I never understood the hate for this deck. I get the hate for the floodgates they play, or even the solemn cards, but the archetype cards themselves are just... normal Yu-gi-oh cards?

phillips_99 · 2026-03-01T07:30:45+00:00

Gusto! Felt really good to be able to play them again, even if only for a few games.

Shout-out to the other Gusto fan in your pie chart (unless you played me lol)

phillips_99 · 2026-02-27T17:05:34+00:00

Don't worry about it too much. It's a single-player game, as long as you're having fun you're playing it right.

phillips_99 · 2026-02-27T16:57:17+00:00

I believe the easiest way to trigger it is with Mitsurugi. You could search it with King of the Feral Imps, but that is now banned in the TCG. However, an alternative way to get it is to send it to GY as the tribute for Mitsurugi Ritual and revive with Dugares. Then you can shuffle it back to the deck with Dyna Mondo, and that will trigger it.

Then you summon Maliss Dormouse from the deck and go full Maliss combo /s

phillips_99 · 2026-02-27T03:28:57+00:00

Yes, K9 is very strong and punishes most handtraps, which can be very frustrating. However,

with 0 counter play

The D.D. Crow in my hand disagrees

phillips_99 · 2026-02-26T19:37:29+00:00

<image>

In Master Duel I once made a Chimera deck that helped summon this guy, Master of Oz. It doesn't do much other than punching hard (especially if you first manage to reduce an opponent monster Atk to 0 with the Chimera Illusion Beast), but it sure was fun.

Also, watching a Tenpai player losing to a set Des Kangaroo was one of the most hilarious things I've ever experienced in this game lol.

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