As a huge fan of Yu-Gi-Oh since watching the original TV series, I cannot help but see that as time has passed there has been one crucial problem with the card game. This fault can be summed up simply as the OCG/TCG split. If you are unaware, the game as it stands right now runs differently in the East and West of the world. In countries such as Japan, players are able to get the new sets as they come out along with the most updated ban lists to come with them for tournament play. In the US and Europe however we will have to wait a while for our formats to catch up. This is especially such in Europe as we are even further behind than the Americas.

This is a big problem that sadly cannot be fixed overnight, but at least the TCG formats in the US and Europe can be optimised. All that needs to be done is to adjust the delays between the releases of the two regions so that we are closer to one another and there for more in line with current meta’s, ban lists etc. For us players in Europe we are so far behind that it constantly feels as if we are being neglected by the guys over at Konami.

On top of all this, the OCG/TCG split has also caused a lack of variety of decks being played at a  tournament level. Six out of the Top Eight from the recent Yu-Gi-Oh World Qualifier in the states featured Nekroz decks. This is in comparison to Grand Prix Las Vegas for Magic the Gathering that had every deck in the Top 8 vary tremendously. It is a shame to see so many fun archetypes never get the chance to shine simply because the meta is dominated by what wins over in the OCG. This however will not stop me from building my favourite deck in recent times, Superheavy Samurai’s.

What are your thoughts on the problems with Yu-Gi-Oh as well as the OCG/TCG Split? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

by Dominic Coles | June 23rd, 2015