The Fall - Trap Cards ∣ Yu-Gi-Oh

A video detailing the trap mechanic, and how it has fallen out of favor through the course of yugioh history. What is was and what it meant for the game.
If you're reading this Ily btw xo

[@sleepyygo]

Lmao i meant to post this at noon the algorithm not gonna like this one 🤧

[@reypaciol1566]

But it found its way on mine. Welcome back, man! ♥️

[@sleepyygo]

@@reypaciol1566 tyyy ❤

[@bolobre4th]

Given how ishizu tear took over last formats I like the direction the game is taking toward slower and back and forth gameplay. A nice example we have now is labirynth, a deck that brings back the glory of playing trap cards that aren't floodgates. I hope it sticks so konami realize they're an integral part of their game and strategies around them should have a little more incentive

[@sleepyygo]

Labrynth is def the right direction for the mechanic, making the deck lean toward normal traps rather than continuous is much healthier and more fun I think.

[@louaidz1929]

We also had Altergeist in the past

[@kaueleao9957]

How do you fell now that shs is meta lmao

[@delgande]

@@kaueleao9957 labrynth is meta now?

[@kaueleao9957]

@@delgande no (?)

[@metinkartop2898]

I just might have a few things to say about this. 2014 was the year modern Yu-Gi-Oh! began, with the release of Duelist Alliance. However, the first half of that year was very slow for the TCG. OCG and TCG began getting separate banlists in September 2013. The TCG list was not very promising for trap cards; Solemn Judgment was banned while Bottomless Trap Hole, Compulsory Evacuation Device, and Torrential Tribute were limited (Eradicator Epidemic Virus as well, I think). During the first half of 2014 we had a rather slow game. Strategies like Bujin, Evilswarm, and Geargia were too simple to make room for complicated gameplay. With Heavy Storm gone, many people were counting on trap cards for defense. Mystical Space Typhoon was a staple at the time. The no-draw-first-turn rule was first applied in the second half of that year. With the release of DUEA, we got a glimpse of the modern version of the game, with decks like Shaddoll and Burning Abyss. Setting traps and passing was no longer a solid defense due to powerful engines that utilize many powerful effect monsters and can easily bring out strong bosses. Of course, people did not immediately quit playing trap cards and they still do to this very day. Labrynth is a deck focused solely on reviving generic normal traps. Dinomorphia is centered around its trap cards. Red Reboot staying forbidden means "we don't hate trap players." The question is, is it okay to have "set and pass" as a viable strategy in this game? My answer is no. Trap heavy decks are perfect for new players, and we had many decks utilizing powerful trap cards pre-2014, at which time they simply didn't want to make the game too complicated, thus that era could be considered "early." Things get extremely boring when you let people comfortably set and pass. Relying on powerful tactics and relying on powerful cards are two very different things; with the former requiring more skills than just deck building. If you sit behind your cards knowing they will protect you, then you simply cannot demonstrate your dueling skills. Playing with traps is fun, but not the pinnacle of dueling. I'm of the opinion that unique, creative strategies should get a chance to shine, which is impossible when you have dominant trap decks. No one can know what you're capable of if your opponent shuts down your entire strategy by going first and setting a couple of cards. Thanks for reading.

[@sirenbassist7854]

That’s funny we played in the same era >:D I personally think the counter argument is that anyone can set traps, and do that thing but… what seperated a novice from an experienced player wielding a trap heavy deck is when how to make 1-1 exchanges. Generating card advantage, knowing what to let through, and knowing what to stop, and side decking for the meta builds. I played an anti meta Gladiator beast deck in 2012-2013 post Prophecy/Dragon Ruler bans, and I saw alot of success in that format playing against popular strategies like mermails, ex. It’s all about the choices, but im also a sucker for combo so what do I know xD

[@eddiefiv]

Commenting for the algorithm. Need more channels like this.

[@calebrowe8572]

Yet another banger from the goat! Love these little updates. We know you're busy, but if you ever get the chance, another video in a similar style to your, "what was the eternal format" would be amazing. It's what brought me to the channel, and to this day I can't get enough of it. Keep up the awesome work!

[@sleepyygo]

Really want to make something similar in the coming months following the evolution of edison, prob gonna be a bigger project but it’s coming I promise ❤️

[@CZPC]

Imperial Order is a very fitting thumbnail.

[@TheArranha]

When decks that made strong first-turn combos and many strong quick-play effect monsters, especially those with omni-negate, began to appear, traps gradually lost their place in the game. Because their main appeal for use, even with their disadvantage of having to be set before being activated, was that they were the main and most powerful form of interruption during the opponent's turn and that is no longer the case in the game, unfortunately they are too slow if they aren't a floodgate.

[@trueblueryu5713]

Another issue is that old traps need buffs the same way that old spells and monsters got buffed. If power creep made a bunch of cards irrelevant anyway, then why not see if that can fix the issue Magic jammer is unreliable? Just remove the discard cost, replace it with maybe a 1K lifepoint cost so that it’s not completely free. Magic drain is unreliable? Make it so your opponent has to tribute a monster to negate it instead of discard a spell. Cursed seal is unreliable? Make it any discard instead of you discarding a spell. Judgment of Anubis is unreliable? Loosen the activation requirement. Gift of the mystical Elf is useless? Make it based around the cards in or sent to the graveyard instead. Trap holes are irrelevant? Make them last until the end of the turn, or at least until the end of MP1. They might not be meta, and it might be a more complicated balance method than my suggestions, but there are ways to make traps at least reasonably relevant again.

[@EmerDCP]

Pokémon player here! I first jumped into Yugioh around 2015 (shortly before Pendulums entered the game I think) I enjoyed the game at the time but only had played for a couple of months. Decided to try again in 2020 and was thrown for a loop when no one was playing traps except me and my friend. In any Card game, I moreso enjoy formats that are slower and more methodical, focusing on a strong setup rather than a 1 or 2 turn combo. Regardless, this was a really great video! It was nice to learn about another card game!

[@metinkartop2898]

Pendulums came in July 2014.

[@Chasecon]

Been waiting for this video for legit years

[@sleepyygo]

Ily

[@BadReligi0nFan69]

I say this is the fate of games in general. I played yugioh on and off literally since I was like 5 getting the Kaiba starter deck and now I'm 27, quit comp yugioh like 5 years ago, but play Edison with friends of mine now. I think that its sort of like evolution, where you have to continuously churn out (as a business) new cards that are faster to give people incentive to buy the cards and then because they're better than the previous ones (incentive to buy them), the old cards get put to the wayside (like some form of natural selection). New stuff they make are new mechanics like Synchro, then XYZ, then Pendulum, now LINK -- each one faster than the other (maybe not XYZ so so much in comparison to Synchro but you get me) to outpace the previous one to incentivize buying them, and to make new stuff because the game will feel boring if the speed never changes and you're essentially playing cards that are no different than the last set (to an extent still an issue but I digress). The game will never go back to "what it was" because its just a different, dare I say, generation? As well as the power-creep essentially making it where you gotta ban so much of the previous years to make you "go back" to BA, Tele-DAD, or PePe, or Wind-Ups, or Dragon Rulers? But wait.. those were the previous iterations of "broken shit", so then do you try and go back to what? Edison? Or Goat? The game is no longer like you said, poking, guessing, strategy how it was but throwing 3 of the most recently released broken waifu card that costs you $120 ("we had" Draccosack, DAD, Nekroz, etc.) The game can't go back -- its the same reason that most videogames now have a sliding movement mechanic, the guns have high firing rates, you have numerous dimensional movement like flying and gliding, show someone decades back playing DOOM Winston or Genji from Overwatch or if you can put someone playing WaW now the "new" Modern Warfare, or just the new Zombie maps compared to Nacht der Untoten (night of the undead) -- shit is way different. In the end -- all games are derivatives of Chess.

[@sleepyygo]

It’s not necessarily the definitive fate, which is why I bring up the conversation. Not to say that you’re wrong in expecting what feels like inevitable power creep, as I do think it is probably most realistic to just play older formats to experience the type of methodical gameplay I was speaking about. At the end of the day it is likely a business and a game designer will fall victim to their own spiral of ‘this has to be better so it sells’. I don’t think that’s the only way to go about game design and I think it’s more present in yugioh than anywhere else because this IS a problem solved by rotating cardpools. The fate of Yugioh (a strength and weakness) is that it is ever changing, a glorious game with a life of its own. There are hot and cold eras but at the end of the day it’s a lovely journey that has lost and gained some incredibly interesting mechanics through it’s evolution.

[@BadReligi0nFan69]

@@sleepyygo You read all that!? Holy hell, thanks! I was, sort've on a mental rant and kinda just kept typing, so, I appreciate it. Yeah I get what you mean though with the idea of rotating pools, so that's a good counter to my argument, I do still think there are profit incentives involved given that they are in fact a company selling a product, but nothing STOPS people from playing Goat and Edison to get that more type of methodical gameplay you mentioned, yeah with bluffing, card counting, less crazy ass combos and more outplaying the other.

[@finalfantasy14orxiv]

Trap cards still are and can be relevant imo look at tear, suliek is an amazing example of a good trap, it can do things on both turn 1 and 2 through being milled generating advantage off of a havnis or discarded off of reino. I feel like konami needs to make traps have multiple applications within decks to properly integrate them and not just revolve traps around set and pass, another good example is chuche in virtual world it has functions on the first turn due to it working in conjunction with the deck and not as a "win more" piece but helps build your board with its graveyard effect and on field allowing your virtual world monsters to target it

[@sleepyygo]

Yeah as I said, the relevance of traps at this point lies in searchable one or two ofs generally that you can set up reliably or floodgate esk effects. The issue there is that as trap cards go the mechanic is functionally wasted imo on searchable traps because even though they diversify your interaction and from a competitive standpoint that is ofc powerful. However a searchable trap card is revealed knowledge and takes away the point and mechanic of a trap card in the first place. At least in my opinion. There are many things they CAN do to make trap cards relevant, I think all of those applications take away from what a trap card is actually meant to be sadly.

[@DarkSymphony777]

Another good archetypal trap is calendar rotation for vernusylph. It's a back to the front for the deck/also helping you get resources to your hand in a pinch, plus a rush field swarm if you have no hand in a pinch

[@traplover6357]

1) They are searchable in-archetype and not standalone 2) Modern Traps like Infinite Impermanence and Transaction Rollback operate being useful in the 1st turn vs old traps.

[@lack_of_reality]

Mom, wake up! Sleepy just posted a new video!!!!

[@sleepyygo]

😘

[@delgande]

2017/links killed trap cards With links we got super massive boards and ash blossom made traps redundant Zoo used solemns but spyral didn't need any and then gouki made them obsolete Thunder didn't use any iirc and from TOSS only salamangrrat used traps. Elslich is the only meta deck I remember that used traps besides floodgates. Combo decks didn't get out of hand until links Summoning 5 level 4s for xyz plays was weaker than 5 random monsters for link climbing for firewall/trigate/gumblar/summon sorc/halq/etc Link summoning was perceived as a way to slow the game but instead of going minus, Konami decided to make links plus with on summon effects like knightmare draws/Isolde summon It was now a race to see who can build the biggest board since now the tools existed to enable that Just look at saryuja and firewall. Each takes less materials than quasar but give you much more advantage. Link era cards also gave everyone free negates on big bodies like savage dragon Handtraps are good first or second so there's no reason to play traps since they're useless going second and going first a handtraps can work like a regular trap in the 1 for 1 exchange

[@merlinwant1427]

missed you ❤

[@07Sader]

Something that kinda bugs me is how many people just say modern Yugioh is a total upgrade because of its combos and how old Yugioh was just "discount MTG". It totally disregards the greater presence of the game concepts old formats have like bluffing, playing around backrow, advantage, tempo, and so on. Given the years of powercreep, I don't think we'll ever get back to the days of everyone packing power traps, but Konami is definitely aware of this since they keep printing powerful, if conditional, trap cards like Weighbridge.

[@timbitz079]

The man is back!

[@sleepyygo]

❤❤

[@Brawler_1337]

I messed up and lost a long comment comparing Trap Cards to instants in Magic the Gathering. Suffice to say, I think Yugioh’s strongest element was the Trap Card, and unfortunately they’ve fallen by the wayside. Maybe at some point I’ll rewrite that comment, but… I just don’t want to spend that time right now.

[@ZackeroniAndCheese]

Could you use more than 1 music track in your next video? Or a longer track with more variance. The same short loop for 7 minutes was driving me crazy and taking my focus away from the content

[@sleepyygo]

Sure i gotchu homie

[@ZackeroniAndCheese]

I enjoy older formats because of trap cards. Pre errata Ring of Destruction being my favorite

[@thefinalskarm1754]

wooooooo ties woooooooooooooooooo

[@vincebelgera2237]

Tbh his old videos used to be better imo

[@sleepyygo]

I fell off

[@thefinalskarm1754]

i think trap cards are stinky