Match Duel #1: Chaos Agents vs Maldoche Clown Control
Match Duel #2: Blackwings vs Imitation Inzektors

Match #1 = 0/10 points
Match #2 = 8/10 points

Match Deck #1 Construction = 7/20 points
Match #1 Performance = 13/20 points

Match Deck #2 Construction = 13/20 points
Match #2 Performance = 14/20 points

Total = 55/100

Different Decks = 3/3 points
Attitude = 2/2 points

Grand Total = 60/100

Replays: http://www.sendspace.com/filegroup/08dxXOCPjevbdJotcs%2BnfvuedN77ylFsXk%2FnQx3dvNQ
Comments:
Well.... uh.... that sure is a unique deck! Maldoche Clown Control sounds like a neat concept. Unfortunately your deck is crippled both by running unrelated junk like Gravity Axe Graal (your opponent's monsters are going to be dead after going to Defense mode) and Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, sub-par options like Spirit Burner (which is only good when you have one of two cards out), and not running enough cards of each archetype. Two Dream Clowns and one Stumbling (criminal) on the Clown Control side, and only 3 Mageline, 2 Butlerusk, 1 Ticket and 3 of the field spell on the other side. Maldoche Baaple being missing from this is sad, it's the only Maldoche that goes with the theme. To make this better I would either go with just 3 Mageline and take out the rest of the Maldoche things for more Control cards like more Clowns, Stumbling, maybe some Locusts, or I would just add another Dream Clown, Stumbling, and the Baaples and play it like a Maldoche deck with Clown options. As for the Extra deck, your main numbers are 6 and 7, since Mageline is your best material for Synchros. With that said, you only have 1 level 6 Synchro and you're missing Black Rose Dragon. Giant God of the silver Summit isn't a good option with the materials you would use (a tuner and a Dream Clown or Mole? Ew. Even with Baaples I don't think I'd have one.) Use Temptempo, one of your main annoyances will be Zenmaines. You should definitely add a Black Corn for extra destruction, and a Utopia to protect your Dream Clowns. At least you had a plethora of side deck choices to add that you sadly didn't draw.

Interesting take on the Insect Imitation builds that were popular early on. Most of the cards are style choices, but I will say D.D. Reincarnation and Hidden Armory are win-more cards you'll only use if you're already ahead and probably couldd have won without them. Besides, you don't need D.D. Reincarnation when you have Leviar so easily available. I would just replace them with Tour Guides. Your extra deck just isn't up to par. You removed all the rank 5 tricks that are still just as usable in this deck. Especially without the Tour Guides, you don't need 3 Giga-Brilliant and 3 Leviars. Once again you're missing Black Rose Dragon, which you can make easily with an Inzektor under Ladybug's effect plus your tuners.

Match 1:
Not much to say about these games, there wasn't much you could do with what you had against my cards. Barkion doesn't do much to a deck with no traps, and second game your hand was full of useless spell cards without anything to do with them.

Match 2:
You played all three matches very conservatively, to the point that you wouldn't even attack unless you had wiped/negated all s/t cards and could perform the full Inzektor combo. You even did the full combo wrong during game 2. Inzektors are more then the one-trick pony you make them out to be. Learn to make more then just one play.

You're trying too hard to be inventive without making something consistant. You will remain in Slifer Red.

Note to admins: Yugi's Dad is paying for this retest, do not deduct and close until he posts verifying the purchase in thread.

belay that request; I will be paying, as I promised Yugi's Dad I'd pay if I didn't rank up.

and as to your advice on my decks, thank you, but I'll be adjusting them as I see fit. I don't need help to improve them. Grarl is staying in the deck and that's a fact, as is Spirit Burner. Who are you to tell me what to change about my play style in the first place? Stick to scoring and let ME do the deck building.

cagethedarkmaster wrote:

and as to your advice on my decks, thank you, but I'll be adjusting them as I see fit. I don't need help to improve them. Grarl is staying in the deck and that's a fact, as is Spirit Burner. Who are you to tell me what to change about my play style in the first place? Stick to scoring and let ME do the deck building.

I can't objectively lower your score without providing the better alternative that you're not using. If you wish to continue making bad choices and ignoring other people's advice, you are certainly free to do so.

Nah, now that I'm calmed down, time to grind. and boy do I have a big axe to grind with you. since you see yourself as being in a position to criticize someone's play style; you won't mind if I criticize your critique. And I DO hope you listen, because I've got a very strong opinion. Gravity Axe-Grarl. since you criticized that play first, we'll start with that. I run grarl because it combines with stumbling, the key card of the deck. put it on a dream clown and your opponent is going to have to give up a destructive effect in order to get around it. otherwise, they can't attack or do anything but defend. 2 dream clowns in play and it's all over, as far as summoning is concerned. it also has the advantage of working with messenger of peace to the same effect, giving dream clown enough attack to survive any monster weak enough to get under messenger. In case of not having stumbling or messenger, I've got safe zone to protect my dream clown, and take out removal monsters like breaker and lyla (safe zone them after they target safe zone for destruction). That's staying in because it works. Spirit burner is also intended to couple with stumbling, and works well with dream clown OR grand mole. with grand mole, it provides something to the mole lock that it doesn't otherwise have, damage dealing. Another noteable use for it is it's combination with Naturia Landoise and spirit burner. With mermail/atlanteans in full bloom, this card combo can end them, giving me a guaranteed effect negation every turn. I've shut them completely down with landoise play alone. This isn't an aggro deck, it's a stun deck; so yes, it DOES largely rely on getting and keeping cards on the field to combo with one another, so don't dare lecture me about preserving hand/field control. I put in the madolches for 2 purposes; 1: to maintain hand control even while minusing my hand with the clown combos, and 2: to provide the deck lv 4 earth types to facilitate my barkion summon. You're also mistaken about the stumbling; I DO use 2 in the deck. you just didn't see one of them apparently. Now for Gear Golem. I put him in because I wanted to have the option to use karakuri burei; an obvious choice for clown control. Never came up though, and I do agree that a third dream clown would be more efficient, so I made that change. As for my extra deck lineup, I did not notice I'd removed BRD. It WAS in there, I guess I cycled it out in favor of something else, but that problem has been corrected, though with the heavy use of SLR and the huge revolution is over in this format, it's a questionable play. The only time I'd use it is if I could do so without sacrificing my normal summon for the turn, and that rarely happens for me. as for the silver mountain, are you kidding me? he locks backrow cards and if destroyed by card effect gets me back my dream clown, and he's wasted extra deck space? stop acting like you know clown control, you obviously don't see his potential. Temtempo, black corn, and utopia. all decent options, in fact, i might actually use temtempo and black corn, incorporate them into the deck, but I have to figure out what I want to remove first. Utopia, on the other hand, is a concern for me. Far too often in my real life games, I've beaten utopia users simply because I drew into mind control, a common play for any deck running xyz. My other concern is mermail/atlanteans, and their big eye useage. the card is just too much of a liability in my view, whereas maestroke does plenty for giving me a stall monster to work with, and so much more. he can give me game ending pushes that utopia can't even dream of. No, utopia will not see play in any deck of mine, save for the utopia ray build I'm working on with the zexal weapons.

Now that I've addressed clowns and defended my choices properly, let's discuss my inzektors. DDR, as I recall, is an equip spell..... so wouldn't it make sense to use it on one of my inzektors? Sure, the way I played the deck was heavily geared towards the OTK that I, admittedlly, messed up, but that's not the point. The point is, I chose to run it based on the OTK, and I actually pulled it off with a high degree of consistency. Even when I messed up, I maintained enough field advantage at the time that the only way around it would likely be a field wipe. Let's get into the individual card choices. DDR I already covered, but let's discuss the black rose dragon. I can definitely plus off of it with my use of the giga mantis and zektaliber, it's just a personal preference. I don't own BRD in real life, so I have had to work around not having it, and it's just not suited to my play style. I'm perfectly capable of maintaining field presence without field wiping you with BRD. I consider BRD a crutch. The rank 5 summons, though easy enough to use, aren't my preferred method of winning. I wanna win with bugs, so I triple up on my giga brilliant for that reason alone, and leviair helps me out for those instances where my opponent hits me with bottomless and stops my double dragon combo. lastly, for the tour guide, I don't want to run it or sangan because, despite the pluses, they are fiends, and I don't want to rely on them because I feel that I can fill that space better with my synchro options and dark armed dragon. It was one or the other, I chose the synchro option. simple enough.

The biggest point of contention I have with your assessment of my deck building skills is the fact that you refuse to take into account that I didn't build the deck for the sole purpose of winning. winning should be, and is, an afterthought to a master strategist. I chose my cards because they have synergy and amazing combos. Our matches with these 2 decks were epic, and didn't lack excitement for a single moment (with the exception of me playing "conservatively" with my inzektors) I have something to say to that, as well. what would YOU do if you had zektor OTK and suspected torrential and solemn warning to be face down? yea, that's what I thought. I see a duel as a performance, a spectacle. A duel loses all meaning to me if you focus only on winning, and less on the imagery you can construct with your plays. I did zektor swarm with double dragon, simply because it's my own unique way of playing inzektors. I vomit monsters onto the board all at once, build up my army, and re-vomit one more time, before moving in for the kill. The image I wanted to instill in my opponent with inzektors is a bunch of bug bits flying all over the place and everything in tumultuous chaos. I accomplished my inzektor deck's goal very nicely, and feel that you are mistaken in your assessment of my technique and my performance. I dazzled. that's a grade-a performance all in itself. Your only concern was the combo's immediate winnability. You'd have scored me higher if I'd completed the OTK or used less resources and completed the OTK, but not for pulling out all the stops? That isn't performance, that's conservation.

I DO have one last request. Please change the posted deck name. I told you, my deck is called Cute Clown Control, NOT madolche clown control.

cagethedarkmaster wrote:

Gravity Axe-Grarl. since you criticized that play first, we'll start with that. I run grarl because it combines with stumbling, the key card of the deck. put it on a dream clown and your opponent is going to have to give up a destructive effect in order to get around it. otherwise, they can't attack or do anything but defend. 2 dream clowns in play and it's all over, as far as summoning is concerned. it also has the advantage of working with messenger of peace to the same effect, giving dream clown enough attack to survive any monster weak enough to get under messenger. In case of not having stumbling or messenger, I've got safe zone to protect my dream clown, and take out removal monsters like breaker and lyla (safe zone them after they target safe zone for destruction). That's staying in because it works.

It works with your two Stumbling, that you didn't have room for more of because you're using things like Gravity Axe Graal. It's a combo that only works if you have that one Stumbling and a monster out, otherwise it's a lousy 500 attack booster. It consolidates your resources on one monster, and doesn't help Dream Clown when it's most vulnerable, ie in Defense mode. It's a win more card in a deck that only wins if it gets that starting advantage.

The Safe Zones seperately are a good idea, and do everything you want Axe to do better.

Quote :

Spirit Burner is also intended to couple with stumbling, and works well with dream clown OR grand mole. with grand mole, it provides something to the mole lock that it doesn't otherwise have, damage dealing. Another noteable use for it is it's combination with Naturia Landoise and spirit burner. With mermail/atlanteans in full bloom, this card combo can end them, giving me a guaranteed effect negation every turn. I've shut them completely down with landoise play alone. This isn't an aggro deck, it's a stun deck; so yes, it DOES largely rely on getting and keeping cards on the field to combo with one another, so don't dare lecture me about preserving hand/field control.

Spirit Burner doesn't have any combination with Stumbling. It doesn't change a monster's position once per turn, it specifically turns a monster to Defense Mode. Just like Graal, consolidating your cards into one monster so that if you lose that monster you minus hard is bad. Equip cards in general are bad unless they replace themselves like the Inzektor sword.

Justifying it as a sub-par burn combo with Mole that is effectively a -1 every turn for 600 damage doesn't change how horrible that trade is. The Naturia Landoise combo is again, a one-off combo that is rarely going to happen, still going to end up minusing you when it does because Mermails tend to get a bunch of free monster effects, and not worth using instead of a card that would actually lock your opponent's deck or work with your Maldoche cards. Combos only work if the cards in the combo are good. Stun decks don't magically work because of three-four card combos, they work because every seperate piece does something to stun your opponent.

Quote :

I put in the madolches for 2 purposes; 1: to maintain hand control even while minusing my hand with the clown combos, and 2: to provide the deck lv 4 earth types to facilitate my barkion summon. You're also mistaken about the stumbling; I DO use 2 in the deck. you just didn't see one of them apparently.

Looking back, you're right, you do have two Stumbling and I missed the second one. I'm aware of why you have the Maldoches in the deck, and Maldoche is an interesting decktype. You just don't have enough of them to justify 3 of the field card and a Ticket. You lost the second game because you had a hand clogged with field spells and no Maldoche to use with it. If you just need level 4 earths, just use the 3 Mageline, they cycle without needing Maldoche Chateau. If you want to keep the whole kit and caboodle, add more Maldoches.

Quote :

As for my extra deck lineup, I did not notice I'd removed BRD. It WAS in there, I guess I cycled it out in favor of something else, but that problem has been corrected, though with the heavy use of SLR and the huge revolution is over in this format, it's a questionable play. The only time I'd use it is if I could do so without sacrificing my normal summon for the turn, and that rarely happens for me. as for the silver mountain, are you kidding me? he locks backrow cards and if destroyed by card effect gets me back my dream clown, and he's wasted extra deck space? stop acting like you know clown control, you obviously don't see his potential.

You have to know how to judge your opponent. Don't BRD if they set four s/t and one monster and you're usually good. Alot of the main decks aren't using SLR or Huge Revolution or any traps really. As for Gaia, he doesn't reborn monsters when he's destroyed mate, he reborns your Earths when you attack and destroy another monster. The s/t lock is potentially good, but seriously not as good as having the Dream Clown + Strategist would be. Perhaps you should read your cards more closely before deciding I don't know what I'm talking about.

Quote :

Utopia, on the other hand, is a concern for me. Far too often in my real life games, I've beaten utopia users simply because I drew into mind control, a common play for any deck running xyz. My other concern is mermail/atlanteans, and their big eye useage. the card is just too much of a liability in my view, whereas maestroke does plenty for giving me a stall monster to work with, and so much more. he can give me game ending pushes that utopia can't even dream of. No, utopia will not see play in any deck of mine, save for the utopia ray build I'm working on with the zexal weapons.

Most people aren't running Utopia Ray anymore due to extra deck space issues. It might be a problem with low level competitors, but having the option is more important then one card that could overlay it. You're too worried about combos that have an extremely low chance of happening instead of focusing on consistent, good ways to play and win, and that philosophy is why this deck doesn't work very well.

On the knowing what I'm talking about: Clown Control has been one of my favorite decks since the original clowns came out in Metal Raiders. Your representation of it as a sacky deck that can only win if it gets the right blue moon of cards together makes me cry tears of shame.

Quote :

Now that I've addressed clowns and defended my choices properly, let's discuss my inzektors. DDR, as I recall, is an equip spell..... so wouldn't it make sense to use it on one of my inzektors? Sure, the way I played the deck was heavily geared towards the OTK that I, admittedlly, messed up, but that's not the point. The point is, I chose to run it based on the OTK, and I actually pulled it off with a high degree of consistency.

On that note, you shouldn't try to pull that again since OTK decks are banned during testing. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt and not zeroing your score for doing it. DDR is an equip spell that minuses you to play, that only works if something is removed, that doesn't do anything on its own like your far superior Sword, of which the function is already performed by an Xyz you were running 3 of. If DDR is destroyed, so is your Inzektor, so you're not getting much of a plus there from their effects.

I can understand only wanting to work with cards you have irl, but we're not grading you based on your irl deck, you havve the entire card pool here to use. Making sub-par deck decisions because you don't 'want to win that way' is frankly unprofessional. You're handicapping yourself for the sake of a standard that doesn't exist. I also wasn't suggesting taking out your synchros for Tour Guide.

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The biggest point of contention I have with your assessment of my deck building skills is the fact that you refuse to take into account that I didn't build the deck for the sole purpose of winning. winning should be, and is, an afterthought to a master strategist.

We're grading you based on how well your deck plays out. If you wanted me to grade it based on amazing combos, I would still be telling you the combos are bad and to make ones that actually work.

Quote :

I accomplished my inzektor deck's goal very nicely, and feel that you are mistaken in your assessment of my technique and my performance. I dazzled. that's a grade-a performance all in itself. Your only concern was the combo's immediate winnability. You'd have scored me higher if I'd completed the OTK or used less resources and completed the OTK, but not for pulling out all the stops? That isn't performance, that's conservation.

Yes, my only concern as a tester is to look at your deck and decide if overall it is doing what it's doing to the best of its ability. I would score you higher for playing the deck right then for trying to misguidedly impress me with your ability to overlay a bunch of cards at once yet fail at the OTK you reportedly based the deck around.

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I DO have one last request. Please change the posted deck name. I told you, my deck is called Cute Clown Control, NOT madolche clown control.

The decks are named so anyone at a glance can tell what you were using. If you can make Cute Clown Control into a name that evveryone on the site recognizes I will happily call it that on test results, otherwise I'm going to call it what it is.

Word.

[quote] I can understand only wanting to work with cards you have irl, but we're not grading you based on your irl deck, you havve the entire card pool here to use. Making sub-par deck decisions because you don't 'want to win that way' is frankly unprofessional. You're handicapping yourself for the sake of a standard that doesn't exist. I also wasn't suggesting taking out your synchros for Tour Guide. [/end quote]

really? so now you're bashing my principles, saying they're invalid. Lady, you really should learn to be more professional yourself. You don't deserve the rank you hold in this forum, much less the right to lick my boots. Don't worry though, you'll never play another test match with me again, I assure you of that. I justified my decisions with my principles, and dammit, you nor anyone else will ever be able to convince me to abandon them. To hell with you and your blatant disregard for self-respect. I made the choices I made because I like the combos, not because they were the best or the most favored. Accept that and stop being so damn hyper critical. This is my style, and it's no less valid or potent than anything YOU would do.

As for the name change; whatever floats your boat. you didn't duel madolche clown control; you dueled an original build, but if you're too retarded to accept it for what it is, who am I to change your opinion? This test should be invalidated on the grounds of poor tester etiquette if you want my honest opinion. Did you even bother to mention how badly you were losing the first game against my Cute Clown Control deck, or did you simply decide to not mention it because that duel was invalidated due to the server shutting down on us? You fail to recognize the deck's potential based only on the test results alone, rather than taking into account the potential of the deck itself.

This is a professional game. Your principles will continue to hold you back until you play to win instead of to satisfy your own conditions. It's quite obvious you don't like hearing it from the vitriol you've been pouring out in response, but it's the truth.

we're playing for different reasons, you and I. just please, I ask, do NOT insult my decks or play style.

Testers only suggest improvements in lines of consistency and versatility. They are testers because they know the cards, the decks, and the game more than most, so their opinions and suggestions are valid. If you do not wish to at least consider them, that is your own prerogative. Critique is also what we do in testing, taking what we are given from the testee and giving constructive criticism as to the build, the card choices, and manner of piloting the deck which includes timing and judgment calls, as opposed to just combos. The criticism is not to insult or bash, they are suggestive, and from a perspective outside your own that has critiqued many, with the knowledge and experience to back that critique.

Whatever your reasons for playing, whatever your preferences in card choices and playstyle may be, those are your own. We are not testing how much you like a card or combo. We are testing how successful you are at building decks, whether they have a focus with more than one win condition, their success rate in lines of consistency, their versatility, and then how well you as a player pilot your creation and your overall skill, as in timing, judgment, and how far you think ahead and what answers you and your deck can come up with to overcome or counter. This is also to evaluate where about your level is for dorm placement. To some it does not matter, to others they want to improve and reach higher levels. If you are the former, then there should be no complaint, if you are the latter, then you would pay kindly to the critique and suggestions of a tester on this forum.

while that may be true, there's a fundamental difference between suggesting a few changes to a deck and telling a player to scrap their deck altogether. That's not cool.

Yes indeed it isn't fun being told your deck needs to be axed, but good duelists and deck builders know when its time to stop trying to build a deck that already and probably will not go into a further potential level until more cards or added, or until the build has changed into another variant, win condition, or feel a player gets from it on 1st time using the deck. I would like to add that for the couple of times i've been tested, the tester has made good suggestions, sometimes even the best that I couldn't just figure out on my own. Yes you are supposed to play to win, try your best, not try to pull off the most situational plays in the game That indeed costs you lack of peformance and play level, when you had many other optimal choices. I don't wanna bash anyone or anything the testee did, but if you made Obelisk would you complain about the suggestions made? Most probably would'nt even read the sugesstions up there, if they did make obelisk. But thats what the testers are here for to help you and get you to a better level than what you already are. Sorry if it didn't work out how you wanted it, but yes eventually you learn that besides luck, the next big thing is deck build, then how you play the deck, then even further than that, at the most experienced level of play... how you make the most optimal play using little to even 1 card plays that change the situation. I know I may not be the best out here in CEA, and may not be Obelisk neither, but I do know I take every chance to learn from anyone regardless of rank or position. This is what i have to say on this...

oh I'm not discounting Shadow's advice, I'm just disagreeing on some of her key points for stuff I should remove. I also disagree with her assessment of my deck's structure and flow. If you look closely, I did find a few bits and pieces of advice useful, and have even incorporated some of them into the changes in my decks. I'm not saying she didn't give any good advice, I'm saying she was wrong to tell me to scrap my deck, and to pick apart the key cards for my deck.

Removed DP from Yugi's Dad, Tester DP awarded and Locked!