Anteaus' History of Yu-Gi-Oh!

Analyzing Goat Format: Advantage

May 12, 2016 One of the defining characteristics of Yu-Gi-Oh! today is the concept of advantage. It is a concept that has its roots in Goat Format, and during Goats was was when players really began to think of Yu-Gi-Oh! in terms of card value and economy. Goat Format is a much different animal than modern Yu-Gi-Oh! as we know it. While the game still relies on hard plusses and minuses, they were honed and crafted during Goat Format; before that, players relied on a number of different concepts that, when understood, led to smarter plays and a higher skill level, but there was little emphasis on plusses and minuses before Goat Format. Top players understood the theory behind card value, which is a part of the overall concept of advantage. In this article, we’re going to delve into what advantage is and how to keep it when playing Goat Format, and also how to maximize the values of the cards in your hand so that you don’t find yourself losing control of the duel. The term “advantage” can be split into two unique categories: numerical advantage and situational advantage. While few people actually use these terms in their day-to-day dueling, many Goat players can immediately tell you which is which, even if they refer to them in other ways. You likely know all about numerical advantage - it’s the concept of going “plus” or “minus” in a duel. Situational advantage is a bit more complex, as it takes the concepts of numerical advantage and applies them to every phase of every turn in a duel. A good rule of thumb is the player with the numbers has the initiative. If you are sitting ahead in numerical advantage, either on hand or on board, you’re usually in a good spot and will usually have an easier time widening that advantage gap. Many duels in Goat Format are methodical because neither player wants to be the first to give up their numerical advantage by overcommitting to the board. Many modern Goat players, I think, focus too much on the numbers, and less on translating that advantage into a win. Drawing cards is wonderful in Yu-Gi-Oh!, there’s no denying that. Numerical advantage is of the utmost importance in the game, both then and now, as the person with the numbers tends to have the initiative and, by extension, the upper hand in the duel. This, of course, isn’t always the case - Exarion and Airknight are potent attackers on board, especially if you’re staring at them while you only have Scapegoat tokens on the field. Your opponent will be able to clear two goats and swing for 3300 damage, while also netting a +1 since they’ll draw a card off the Airknight pierce. Even if you have five cards in hand, staring at that field really sucks if you’re on the receiving end of that piercing damage. But then again, those five cards in your hand can single-handedly change the course of the duel. What if you have Snatch Steal and Mystical Space Typhoon in hand? Or a Mirror Force, and your opponent has already used their MST or Heavy Storm? Holding those power cards for when they will make the most impact on the outcome of the duel has become synonymous with Goat Format, and it’s a concept that is still around in modern Yu-Gi-Oh! today. Going up against a smaller board backed by a bigger hand is always more dangerous than going up against a big board backed by a smaller hand, which is why the early turns of the game are mostly a grind, with both players looking to gain the upper hand in terms of numerical advantage before exerting pressure on the opponent to widen the initiative gap and seize the momentum of the duel. Knowing who has the advantage in any given situation can be tricky because of how fluid the game is and how each situation is uniquely different. No two games play out the same way - a big reason why Goat Format is fast becoming one of the most popular alternatives to modern Yu-Gi-Oh!. While a standard opening in Goat Format may be to set a monster and set a backrow, what those two cards are going to be is a complete mystery. That, by the way, is one of the most powerful openings and the most commonly-seen opening in Goat Format, mostly because of the situational advantage that it gives you. Opening a set monster and a set backrow makes your opponent guess. If that’s all you do - no Pot of Greed or other spells - then you’re still sitting at a total of six gross advantage (and a net 0 between both of you) once your opponent draws for their turn. But now your opponent responds, and they have some options thanks to the six cards in their hand. This is where the grind game begins. If your opponent commits a monster to the board, they could end up running into a flip-effect monster such as Magical Merchant or Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, both of which will provide you a card upon their deaths by battle. Should they choose to use Nobleman of Crossout to get rid of your monster, they could end up wasting it - what if it’s something like a D.D. Warrior Lady or a Spirit Reaper? Surely, getting rid of one of those is a good play, but at the same time it’s not optimal, as Nobleman is best used against an opponent’s Magician of Faith or Magical Merchant or, better yet, against something debilitating like a Morphing Jar. If your opponent drops the Nobleman on your first turn, you now know that you have a bit of security in setting future Flip Effect monsters. At the same time, if your opponent follows up with a summoned Don Zaloog, was it really a waste of a play? This is where the concept of situational advantage, or initiative, comes into the mix. Really, what initiative boils down to is who has the better position in the game. As I stated earlier, it’s better to be facing a big board backed by a small hand (0-2 cards) than a small board backed by a big hand (3+). This is because the best players know how to translate the cards on their hand into plays that will affect their net advantage over you. Opening a set monster and backrow (commonly referred to as the “1-1” or “T” opening) is powerful as it leaves you with two cards on board and four in hand. Your opponent is now staring at a small board backed by a big hand, which is a dangerous situation to simply rush headlong into. So the majority of the time they’re going to do their own 1-1 opening, or perhaps a 1-2 opening, with a set monster and two backrow. The 1-2 opening is a common response to the 1-1, as it helps mitigate the damage that a set Dust Tornado or Mystical Space Typhoon can do against a mirror 1-1 response. Blowing out a lone backrow at End Phase can be devastating, especially if it’s something like a Scapegoat or a Book of Moon. But look at what the 1-2 response does - it commits another card to the board, putting your opponent at just three in hand to your four. On your draw, you have a monster you can Flip Summon, a backrow you can activate, and - after your draw - five potential plays. How you translate those cards in hand to direct advantage on the field is going to be highly dependent on what’s going on in the duel. A popular 1-1 is a set Magician of Faith and a backrow (often a piece of spell/trap destruction or protection for the Faith) while hoarding a Delinquent Duo or a Pot of Greed. Since most opponents don’t want to lose any advantage on the first turn of the game - which can be debilitating, especially if you open none of the Trinity - they will often forego the aggressive play in order to keep the numbers even. So many times, in the first turn of the game, a 1-1 set with Magician going first and a Pot/Duo in hand will often lead to a massive second turn for you once you can get it off. That type of numerical advantage generation - with the double Pot of Greed play, a total of +4 - will immediately put you at +4 over your opponent. A Duo is even more brutal especially against a 1-1 response, as they’ll have four cards in hand...and zero once you drop Duo twice in one turn. So with the Pot you end up going +4 and having a whopping eight cards in hand to your opponent’s four in hand, and with the Duo you end up with four cards in hand versus your opponent’s zero. That’s simply brutal. Of course, it’s situational and, more to the point, a relatively useless play if you have nothing to follow up with. Opening up a Delinquent Duo when you’re going second and your opponent plays the 1-1 opening is not all that great unless you can follow it up with a play that swings the momentum firmly onto your side of the field. But even then, on turn one, how much advantage are you really going to be able to generate? The key is to not just go plus on your opponent; it is to make the advantage that you generate work for you to end the game more efficiently. This forms the basis of the concept of card value. Card value is how valuable the cards in your hand are when you look at the overall state of the game on a given turn. Knowing the value of each card in your deck will allow you to make more optimal plays to keep the initiative clearly on your side. It’s always tempting to try to generate advantage from the get go, but remember that being unable to put extended pressure after you’ve gone plus one or two on your opponent can lead to your opponent drawing themselves back into the game. Goat Control eschews this early advantage generation in favor of more control in the mid-to-late game. Decks like Beastdown and Monarchs trade that long-term advantage generation and momentum control for sustained big pushes with big monsters that can leave you reeling. Overwhelming the board with big beaters can keep you from making optimal plays, which is what those types of decks want to do. However, being able to withstand the assault can leave you with more overall command of the game, especially after you’ve worked through some of the larger monsters in those types of decks. Therefore, it’s safe to say that putting early pressure on your opponent can lead to suboptimal plays which can help you to widen the advantage gap and maintain it for the win. But that’s all against the “rogue” decks of the format. The Goat mirror doesn’t work like that as much because it’s much easier to close an advantage gap if you play your cards right. Having something like Airknight Parshath up your sleeve is nice, but it sucks when it’s the only card in your hand and your opponent has four more cards than you do. Card value is fluid, just like initiative and momentum, and cards in hand have more value when they have more utility and can do more things for you on a given turn. This is a big reason why the mirror is so skillful - a single misplay, using the wrong card at the wrong time, or not anticipating a play from your opponent and thus sacrificing a valuable card, can be absolutely devastating. Summoning an Exarion Universe is nice, but putting him on board turn one - in Attack Position, no less - is a real waste of its potential value. D.D. Warrior Lady has a lot of potential, but using it on something like a D.D. Assailant is simply a waste of that potential. But imagine you hold one of those D.D.’s until your opponent drops a Jinzo or an Airknight Parshath. Now, you have an opportunity for those cards to actually go out and do their job - clear the board of a big beater that’s able to gobble up your monsters. At worst, you set them and bait a Nobleman out, but at best, you take out a large monster that was preventing you from getting anything going. While they may be useless in some scenarios, simply having them in hand to deal with threats as they arise can be a good way to turn the tables and swing that initiative back to your side of the field. At the end of the day the only way to master the concepts presented here is to go out and practice. If you’re looking for more, you can contact me any time at anteausonyugioh@gmail.com.

