Yu-Gi-Oh! Custom Concepts #1: Energy Cards

I'm taking a break from custom archetypes to show off a new system that could possibly be implemented in a theoretical new Master Rule. Unlike all other Extra Deck types, Energy Cards are not monsters (nor are they Spells or Traps), but they still take up Extra Deck space. This would require players to consider whether monsters or Energy Cards are more important for their core strategy when Deckbuilding.
Auxiliary Typhoon: ibb.co/86yzzkw
Book of a New Dawn: ibb.co/1Mbv4LK
Different Dimension Slipgate: ibb.co/4Td2jbh
Humble Legacy: ibb.co/vcS87Ft
Ojamandala: ibb.co/ZhtxGD5
Pot of Treachery: ibb.co/gPXpmc9
Primal Prediction: ibb.co/QDwWmyV
Silence Falls: ibb.co/QXwWgkr

[@Voltra_]

Ah yes... Something somehow even more obnoxious than 15 hand traps in a deck

[@gmaster1991]

Uh, you know that only the Level 3 and Variable Level Energy Cards have Quick Effects, right? It would take at least one-fifth of a player's Extra Deck to have the equivalent of one hand-trap in reserve.

[@BurstFlare]

@@gmaster1991 Pretty sure you didn't say that in the video, so I don't see how we were supposed to know that.

[@gmaster1991]

@@BurstFlare You're right. I didn't explicitly state that only Level 3 and Variable Level Energy Cards could have Quick Effects. It's just that the only Quick Energy Cards I made did have those Levels. I admit that I just stumbled on that detail by accident after the video gained comments, but it is a good way to keep these cards from getting too obnoxious.

[@MysticFact0rY]

I like this idea. While it isn’t fully fleshed out, it has basic fundamental rules that seem interesting.

[@gmaster1991]

Thanks! The basic gist of Energy Cards boils down to "effects that can be activated regardless of a player's opening hand or whether they go first or second". Some of my biggest gripes with this game involve 10-minute Turn 1s and unbreakable boards that don't even let the other player...well, play.

[@B0mbk1n]

So you basically created Extra Deck Traps. I don't think too many people would want that.

[@gmaster1991]

Not quite Traps. Only Level 3 and Variable Level Energy Cards can have Quick Effects at all. The latter requires as many as 3 Extra Deck slots to use to its fullest extent, while the former requires 3 to use at all. The lower leveled ones are more like Normal Spells, for lack of a better comparison.

[@abyssal113]

I actually had a very similar concept in mind for "Extra Deck Traps" that I called "Intrigues". The main difference we have between the concepts is that I made them Traps so they'd interact with all the Trap negation and that I made them also cost cards from your hand. The full rules were as follows; Intrigue Traps: Basically "Extra Deck Traps". Each has a specific condition, materials and an Attribute. If the game state meets the condition, you play them from your Extra Deck by sending 1 or more material monsters (as many as needed) from your hand to the GY. The materials are always tied to an Attribute for the Materials which is the same Attribute of the Trap. In addition every Intrigue costs "Extra Deck space" going from 2 to 9 (although 9 are very rare, most would cost 3-5), so if you have any Intrigues in your Extra Deck, your opponent will know because you'll start out the game with less than 15 cards in your Extra Deck. This cost is known as the "Alert Cost". An Intrigue of 2 Alert will mean you can only have 14 total cards in your ED. An Intrigue of 5 Alert only will allow you to have 11. 9 Alert and you are down to 7 cards in your ED. Or if you have 2 Intrigues of 5 Alert each, that means only 7 too. You can also only activate 1 Intrigue per turn. Like Extra Deck monsters, if they would return to the hand/deck, they go to the ED, but if they are Set from the GY, they get Set like a normal Trap. and the material can be paid like a cost. Examples: Call of the Wights DARK Intrigue Trap - 2 Alert 1+ DARK monsters If a monster declares an Attack: Destroy as many Attack Position monsters your opponent controls as Materials you used to activate this card, and if you do, Special Summon the same number of Level 1 Zombie monsters from your hand or GY. Spyderware Venom DARK Intrigue Trap - 3 Alert 1 DARK "Spyderware" monster If your opponent Special Summons a monster(s) with 1500 or more ATK: Target 1 of those monsters; its ATK becomes 0, also negate its effects until the End Phase. If you control a "Spyderware" Xyz monster, you can target 2 monsters instead. Entrapping Tornado WIND Intrigue Trap - 5 Alert 2 WIND monsters If your opponent controls 3 or more cards: Target up to 1 monster and up to 1 Spell/Trap your opponent controls; return them to their owner's hand. Armageddon Rider - Destruction FIRE Intrigue Trap - 9 Alert 3 FIRE monsters If your opponent controls monster(s) with a combined ATK of 4000 or more: Destroy all cards on the field, and if you do, Special Summon this card as a monster (Divine Beast/FIRE/Level 9/? ATK/? DEF). This card's ATK and DEF are equal to the combined ATK of all monsters destroyed by its effect. Once per turn, if this card would be destroyed by battle or a card effect, you can destroy all other cards on the field instead. Posted them first in Toxy TCG's vid here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXrclaqQnbBmnNE I like your take on the concept too, but honestly think not having some kind of Main Deck cost might break them easily. In fact, I think Primal Prediction would be quite OP already. Also, I am not that fond of the idea of a whole subset of cards that you cannot play at all unless you have 3 copies. You just know Konami would print Primal Prediction as a Secret Rare and it'd blow the 100 dollars price.

[@gmaster1991]

Huh, I didn't know somebody else already did something similar to this. You do make a good point about certain Energy Cards being absurdly expensive, so they should probably be relegated into more common rarities. That would fix the financial issues. And there's no reason that Energy Cards couldn't have other costs along with room in the Extra Deck. Auxiliary Typhoon could have an additional discard 1 card cost, for example, along with the no S/T clause (so it doesn't completely outclass MST). I appreciate all the feedback! I've begun to think of this concept from newer angles that I haven't before.

[@Ramsey276one]

VERY interesting But having "Intrigue" already in card names, maybe Stratagem could be better?

[@abyssal113]

@@Ramsey276one Oh. Hadn't really though about the card type name being already in some cards. That could be a minor issue. And sure, Stratagem works well too. I was using Intrigue because I imagined the card-type being used in some kind of "Noir-themed YGO Season". Kinda like Detective Conan/Lupin/Persona 5 but YGO.

[@Ramsey276one]

@@abyssal113 I see...

[@BurstFlare]

Forgot to mention this before, but the ringing sound at the beginning is kinda loud. You may want to make it quieter.

[@BestgirlJordanfish]

I think outside of needing errata, I kinda have just minor issues: • Being even easier to play than any other, this disruption can get really frustrating quickly • Newer players will have even more to mentally load if this will be so readily available at all times • Unless you’re making it feel like the power of the duelist themselves, I think monsters are just more marketable and iconic I think a push and pull might be good for the feeling of energy. Like certain spell and trap cards and monster effects may act as “Energy” while on the field, and if you meet the energy threshold you can expunge or something. Like building a battery or engine. Or almost like MtG land

[@gmaster1991]

You do make good points, though I should point out that the only Quick Effect Energy cards are either Level 3 or Variable Level, specifically to limit the amount of possible frustration. Still, I admit I hadn't considered the new player barrier. Honestly, I thought the Rush Duel format was made as a door for potential new players.

[@Prinny_421]

I like the concept, and would like to add some comments if this is revisited for future videos: 1. Use the Quick-Effect Icon like for quick-play spells [Energy Card] 2. There's usually a deeper meaning to the Extra Deck Summoning Type, and just having it be called energy seems a bit too literal 3. Since Link cards exist, giving this new card mechanic a more stylized frame isn't out of the question. 4. By using the phrase "You can only expunge...", you imply that these cards are technically not activated, and therefore cannot be chained onto. 5. I feel that the cost of banishing face down copies of itself is a bit limiting. If the cost was the activated card + any other face-down Extra Deck card(face-up pendulums should NOT be able to be used as cost), you can be more free of what effects can be put on these. (i.e. Banish Expunge this Card and 5 Others: Draw 2, cannot draw with card effects the turn you activate this card. {Yes i just made Extrav}) 6. Since these cards technically have no cost to your hand/deck for cost, I would add a game rule that you can only Expunge once per turn.

[@gmaster1991]

Wow, those are all great ideas, especially #6. And here I thought that I...thought this concept out. I probably should've made it clearer that each copy of an Energy Card is banished face-up, not face-down. Also, the reason I specifically required multiple copies of the same card was to keep them from being TOO convenient. They would outright replace hand-traps otherwise, and I did try to avoid power creep.

[@BurstFlare]

@@gmaster1991 I think they meant that the copies of the card have to be face-down when you expunge them, not that they're face-down after being expunged. Though I guess the wording could go either way.

[@gmaster1991]

@@BurstFlare Oh, well yes, all Extra Deck cards start out face-down in the Extra Deck Zone. Energy Cards are no exception.

[@BurstFlare]

@@gmaster1991 I think they specified it because it's technically already possible to have cards face-up in the Extra Deck. Sure, the only method so far is through Pendulum Monster rulings (they even mentioned this in their comment), but since there's already one way to do it, it's not out of the question for them to make more ways for face-up Extra Deck cards to exist. To be honest, I'm kinda wanting to make an Extra Deck card type that starts the duel *face-up* in the Extra Deck, and it's entirely because of their comment.

[@Prinny_421]

@@gmaster1991 I guessed that you required it to banish the same copy face down for the effect to limit convenience. Which is kinda why I tacked on the number 6 rule. Konami has done this already; they added the rule that you can only pendulum summon once per turn when they introduced the mechanic. And honestly, I wouldn't worry about trying to replace hand-traps. Everything in this convoluted game floats into so many other things these days, that nothing besides "shuffle your opponent's cards they control, in their GY, and Banishment into the deck" will kill the game balance. And I think making making Energy card versions of handtraps feel like the next logical step.

[@MightyDantheman]

I've sadly found that YGO continues to go in a direction that I dislike. But I've found that I prefer just playing older YGO formats instead. I've also found the Tag Force games to be quite fun. Though my ideal format would be a mix of old and new in a balanced way. This format obviously wouldn't be for most people, and people would probably refer to it as a nerfed format, but I like the idea of older YGO mixed with the weaker side of the newer summoning mechanics. I know this would speed up the older format quite a bit (not that older YGO couldn't do similar things, it was just less consistent and/or took a bit longer), but I think it would be possible to make it work. I feel like Duel Links actually had it pretty decent early on, but they quickly supercharged DL's powercreep and made it lose what I enjoyed about it originally. Though the speed of a duel isn't my only issue with YGO. My biggest issues with YGO are the card test and Konami's refusal to use keywords, as well as certain ruling complexities that I feel like could either be simplified or cease to exist altogether. My ideal YGO would likely be a complete re-train of the card game, and I don't mean like Rush Duel. It would use a custom format, some rule changes to get rid of a lot of things that really aren't needed or at least change them to be more easily understand, and reprints of cards with completely overhauled effect descriptions using keywords. It's a bit wild to me when most of a card's text is just specifying when and how you can use an effect. *TL;DR:* I think people just need to find a format that they enjoy or not, perhaps even a custom one. Some ruling simplifications and card text shortening with keywords.

[@gmaster1991]

There are certain formats like GOAT and Edison that provide more balanced player experiences like you describe.

[@MightyDantheman]

@@gmaster1991 I do think those are close to what I've been looking for, but I do think those formats have some issues if using the "official" rules and banlists for those formats. I'm looking for a more custom format that fixes some of those issues and also introduces a few things from more "recent" YGO (pre-Pedulum and only the early extra deck monsters from those formats). I don't expect anyone to make such a format more official, it would just be fun to play with a small community or perhaps in a fan-made game using such a format (maybe even with some of the other fixes I mentioned such as ruling simplification and text reduction).

[@clockblower6414]

Spells/traps in the extra deck -great Not having a main deck cost- broken Check out the carnage that companion caused in MTG. Lurrus of the Dream Den specifically was the worst offender Maybe you could have face-up spells link out for extra deck ones with varying costs and types of spell, or even require monsters as materials. But definitely make extra deck mechanics cost resources

[@gmaster1991]

I'm not very familiar with MTG, I'm afraid. Banishing a certain number of copies from the Extra Deck is the intended cost, since even having more Energy Cards means having less room for Extra Deck monsters. Energy Cards are also weaker than their Main Deck counterparts, to balance out the fact that they're always accessible.

[@clockblower6414]

Well those MTG cards were all the extra deck cards whose only cost to play were deckbuilding restrictions, and the mechanic that allowed it was the first ever Nerf in MTG. Caused multiple bans. The cards were weak for main deck cards, but much too strong when you always had them available. Im seeing your mechanic needing materials from the main deck to be balanced

[@gmaster1991]

@@clockblower6414 Huh. I didn't know MTG already tried something like this first. Now I just feel like I'm ripping MTG off...

[@clockblower6414]

Nah those extra deck cards were creatures, not spell/trap style spells, but they were still broken.

[@clockblower6414]

The idea is super cool and novel though!

[@kanishkdevarakonda5538]

1:00 To be fair the errata made it require an earth tuner, then it become pretty much unplayable

[@gmaster1991]

Yeah, jmurray1110 already pointed that out. I already feel silly...

[@kitelanford]

I could see some Extreme Duel antics involving Energy Cards as an opening at in Master Duel video game... Another thought of ED manipulation antics is Nemuleria... but yea understandable protections are there...

[@gmaster1991]

You mean to say that you could envision Energy Cards in Master Duel? Their banlist is a bit different from the TCG/OCG, so it would have a different effect on Master Duel's metagame. As for Nemleria, I'm not sure how Energy Cards would matter any more than random Rank 10 Xyz Monsters as far as its core banishing strategy goes. The more Energy Cards are used, the less cards you have to banish for effects like Dream Tower of Princess Nemleria, so there is a drawback.

[@kitelanford]

@@gmaster1991 yea, the thoughts are there... but tossing thoughts at random, and honestly, need an opening act somehow if it's the case Extreme Duels are also quirky shenangains, but could see maybe some acts with it (sometimes they break normal Deckbuilding rules... like you can have 4 Nibirus... due to one being Created...

[@cyberwing89k33]

A design like this would only be good if it promotes contol strategies or main deck boss monsters. I assume these are supposed to be spell speed 1? Also these can very easily powercreep normal spell cards. Unless Konami's card design is 100% on point these will become a big nuisance. It's one of the only ways I can see the game expanded mechanically after links but I'm not sure if they even should do that. To me, links were the perfect capstone to where the game has plenty of interesting design spaces without being completely overwhelming. And what is keeping energy cards from just being a free starter/extender/boardbreaker/handtrap that you don't have to draw? EDIT: And what is keeping these from just being used better by the top strategies like a lot of generic things already?

[@randombadchannel8700]

The issue with rogue decks is that unless you help the decks specifically, meta decks are always going to benefit more from generich ish cards.

[@gmaster1991]

I'll answer your questions and concerns in the order that they're printed. Yes, having more Energy Cards means having less room for Extra Deck monsters. That is the point. Some Decks aren't meant to use them to their fullest potential. Yes, Energy Cards are typically Spell Speed 1 (unless they're Quick Effects, of course). And yes, they could easily power creep Normal Spells if not balanced properly...though I considered that possibility a mixed blessing rather than a curse, since "Cosmo Queen, the Queen of Prayers + searchable Secret Village of the Spellcasters" exists. And yes, Konami's card design would have to be perfect. I even made a point to design each Energy Card weaker than their Main Deck equivalent as a counter-balance for how easily accessible they are. I only made eight of them as a concept reveal - I'm not going to actually make a whole saga on this. I'm going right back to Gaming Custom Cards. And yes, you may be in the right about Links being a potential capstone. If there was some way to limit the potential for those 10-minute Turn 1s or unbreakable Turn 1 boards without Energy Cards, then I would say you would definitely be in the right. The only two Energy Cards that can potentially give the player resources at all (Book of a New Dawn and Humble Legacy) would only benefit weaker and/or underused archetypes - Subterrors, Blue-Eyes, etc. Those are just my way of helping them contend with those overly seen Tier 0 Decks. Also, the potential for being a board-breaker or hand-trap was the point. The sheer amount of space that those two would take in the Extra Deck puts a limit on that kind of thing. Again, 10-minute Turn 1s and unbreakable Turn 1 boards are too rampant... Finally, there's nothing keeping Tier 0 Decks from using Energy Cards, per se. However, most, if not all, of them require heavy use of an Extra Deck, meaning less room for the more powerful Energy Cards.

[@SpazzyJester]

MY pot idea Pot of Audacity: Normal Spell card Effect: Look in your opponents deck for any 2 cards and banish them then your opponent can draw 2 card; Your opponent can negate this card's effect by letting you draw 2 cards.

[@gmaster1991]

Huh. Interesting. On one hand, it's a +1 for your opponent most of the time (I doubt your opponent would just let you draw 2). On the other, this could combo well with techs like Appropriate or Lullaby of Obedience.

[@Yojack872]

even if you don't consider MR5 MR5 it's still MR5

[@gmaster1991]

It is? I don't remember the 2020-2021 revision of MR4 being explicitly labeled "MR5". I'll have to look this info up later.

[@BurstFlare]

It's not officially called "Master Rule 5". People just call it that because it was still a major change to the rules. But since it doesn't add a new card type, I'd say it's more of a "Master Rule 4.5". And actually, what we call "Master Rule 4" isn't officially called that, but is instead "New Master Rule".

[@gmaster1991]

@@BurstFlare Fair enough.

[@mhb8645]

You should make ritual energy card

[@gmaster1991]

This was only meant to show off a concept, so I wasn't intending to make an entire series of this. (Although, I could've probably justified an Energy Card that could Ritual Summon a non-Effect monster.)

[@zeo4481]

0:18 Ok for MR6 we can:

[@gmaster1991]

It referenced how players were initially only able to summon multiple non-Link Extra Deck Monsters by having a Link Monster point to multiple zones.

[@TheLVJ]

Please work on your audio mixing. The music volume, especially.

[@gmaster1991]

I've been trying, but I could never find the right balance between the intro and my voice.

[@jmurray1110]

You forgot that goyo guardian got errataed before getting unbanned right It didn’t need an earth material

[@gmaster1991]

Really? It didn't? (Checks EDOPro's card database) Well, how about that? You're absolutely right. No wonder it was banned!

[@jmurray1110]

@@gmaster1991 yeah i wouldn’t have know that without mbt getting frustrated when it gets brought up Also I’m kind of surprised I’m way newer than you

[@gmaster1991]

@@jmurray1110 Guess I'm just getting old... 😆

[@jmurray1110]

@@gmaster1991 still I’ve been playing only a couple months

[@JPARnum1]

interesting...

[@gmaster1991]

It is, to say the least.

[@ozeistudio6916]

New sub

[@gmaster1991]

😀

[@BurstFlare]

5:20~5:28 On April 3rd, 2019, Konami changed the rules so that verification is no longer required and you only look at cards that the card text specifically states that you look at. (kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJDMnpKKoNikjNU 5:56~8:38) So no, you do *not* need to show your opponent your Extra Deck to prove that you have no monsters in it, they just have to trust you on it. That being said, if you lie about it and later play a card you lied about, that's grounds for disqualification. The concept is interesting, but I personally think that it should have a different cost than using up multiple copies of itself. I usually put cards in my deck because I want to use them, not so I can throw them away. But that's just me.

[@gmaster1991]

Really? That was over 5 years ago. I really am more behind on the modern TCG/OCG than I thought, just like with Goyo Guardian's errata. Ah, well. I know now.

[@BurstFlare]

@@gmaster1991 (Edit: gmaster initially said "retrain" instead of "errata" in the comment that this is replying to, which is why I made this reply in the first place, and he edited said comment after the fact to fix his error) Minor thing that I feel should be pointed out, retrains and erratas are two different things. An errata is a change to a card's text in a newly printed copy of that card that is also applied to older copies of the same card, while a retrain is a new, separate card that's clearly based on an existing card but does not change said existing card (for example, "Obnoxious Celtic Guard" is a retrain of "Celtic Guardian", but the former doesn't change anything about the latter).

[@gmaster1991]

@@BurstFlare Whoops. I typed retrain by mistake. Yes, Goyo Guardian was errata'd, not retrained. (Now I can't help but wonder what a retrained Goyo Guardian would actually look like. Maybe something that makes the Goyo archetype worth playing..?)

[@dragonmaster951753]

The concept is cool but these would be broken to an extent. But the game is already broken so might as well

[@gmaster1991]

Yeah, this concept would absolutely be overkill in any other TCG ever made. That's just how sad Yu-Gi-Oh!'s game state really is...

[@sbslctv]

Ngl bro. That pot of treachery might be one of the worst cards i have ever read. Imperm exists, forbidden droplet, even raigeki, i can’t see how giving your opponent 2 draws to remove one monster in anyway shape or form is gonna help win the duel. Cool idea but i don’t think anybody would sacrifice the massive toolbox that is the extra deck. Especially not for a card like that, these cards would need to be OP asf to be worth it

[@gmaster1991]

I should point out that it shuffles any 'card', not just 'monster', plus it can't be responded to AND doesn't require any resources from your hand or field. Its main purpose would be to take off an omni-negate, provide S/T removal to a Deck that doesn't have any, or just do some weird Generaider and/or Appropriate shenanigans. The card's design would likely go through fine tuning in the event that Energy Cards go past the conceptual stage. This video really just exists to show off the concept itself, not really the cards themselves. So yeah, all in all, there were bound to be a few stinkers in there.

[@sbslctv]

It is cool ngl, would be interesting to see but i just feel like the cards would need to be so broken to keep up. Its gotta be worth picking a great interaction over, if done right could be really cool nice idea and video mate

[@goncaloferreira6429]

1- thinking inside of the box will never solve the game´s problems. 2- thinking of new " master rules" is not the way to go. 3- i think yugioh has an identity problem. for a game that decided to not have a resourse/ cost system it always has to go the extra mile the place cost on its cards. Also the idea that archtypes would solve the generic nature of the early days seems like a falacy since so may cards go in every deck.

[@gmaster1991]

Okay, you have my attention. Do you have any ideas that might fix the rampant '10-minute turn/unbreakable board' issues, aside from just banning every single card responsible for it? That was my biggest reason for featuring the Energy Card concept.

[@goncaloferreira6429]

@@gmaster1991 hello. well, that is how we think differentely. you see, designing cards/sets that fuel the current state of the game, "10-minute turn/unbreakable board' issues", as you put it (but there are many more problems, design wise ad other) will not solve the problems, rather just add more of it to the mix. I believe yugioh needs a year 0, reseting the game, banning all cards as you put it. A new design philosofy will never work without said reset as the direction i would take ygo design clashes with everything the game has done for to many years. To solve a problem you need to see the whole picture -easier said tham done. you cannot think of banning cards as a solution to op cards, you need better card and game design. if both your game´s threats and asnwers go hand in hand in how op they are add ing more of them solves nothing.

[@gmaster1991]

@@goncaloferreira6429 I hate to admit it, but you might be right. Konami already crafted something similar to a "Year 0" with Rush Duels, so they may have already considered an idea like mine. Ah well... Energy Cards were still just a concept in the end.

[@goncaloferreira6429]

@@gmaster1991 ruah duel is close to what i envision in the sense that it breaks from normal ygo. it is a sucess in japan with the demographics it is intended to, somewhere close to the 10th most bought tcg in japan. still, it is a simplifcation of the og game. the energy idea is ok but this type of analysis depends on how serious you take these card design exercises.

[@gmaster1991]

@@goncaloferreira6429 Gotcha. If a Concept Episode 2 ever comes around, I should consider the implications first, then the potential benefits, instead of the other way around.

[@cottonuwu3167]

Yugioh is too balls deep into wombo combo shit that all i can see happening next is a collapse. When the games gets so fast that we dont reach turn 3 peopler are gonna complain. And will continue flocking to alt formats.

[@Ramsey276one]

4:48 O M G XD

[@Pppp-zi7ex]

To be honest, pot of treachery would be considered a joke

[@some2043]

it is only a -2 i won't be playing however if it made the opponent shuffle i would replace every board breaker with it

[@Pppp-zi7ex]

@@some2043 Return an opponent's card to the deck, and make him draw 2, no one with minimal brain capacity would use that

[@gmaster1991]

To be fair, Pot of Treachery's art IS literally Pot of Greed with an evil troll face. 😆 But yeah, it probably would hit the ban-hammer shortly after debut. That's just the case with all new concepts, though. We never did get Wind-Up Carrier Zenmaity or Knightmare Goblin back in the TCG...

[@Pppp-zi7ex]

@@gmaster1991 Another joke card, It wouldn't be the first