It's not so bad late game either. Sure Dark Elf is less costly most of the time, but after your life points drop to 2000 or bellow then Jirai Gumo actually becomes the better option even on a failed flip.
Jirai Gumo was godlike in lategame play. I think there was a HoC vid where they were doing Critter Format and the player with Gumo got down to 395 LP left and still won the game. Dark Elf in contrast was considered stronger early on.
That's where you're wrong, because I activate MAGIC BOX! Watch as my Dark Magician disappears into the magic box...and swords impale it! But did I skewer my Dark Magician? No it was your spider and my Dark Magician emerges unharmed!
@@aaronfulton4826 Super Bistro Butcher. Level 4, 2400. When this card attacks, your opponent draws 2 cards, then add Hamburger Ultimate Recipe to your hand.
People used to creature swap Bistro Butcher to their opponent and run into it with recruiters like mystic tomato. Not the most practical interaction but it was an interesting interaction.
You could run just 3 Butcher, tons of Nova Summoners, Shining Angels, 1 or 2 UFORoid, 3 of the fire turtle floater, 3 Creature Swap and 3 Shien's Spy and hope for the flashy sacc combo, drawing literally your whole deck. Was trash tier but fun in 1-of duels.
So many of the cards in this video gave me flashbacks to my childhood, when I'd get all excited after seeing 4 stars, high atk on the card... then read the effect...
Also that card is based on a Japanese Youkai of the same name just spelled differently. Basically a spider monster that has a 50-50 chance to eat you or be your loyal spouse. The card is kinda dumb but is also pretty flavorful somehow.
Zombyra's effect is also a clever adaptation of his lore in the manga. In the manga Zombire's lore says that his body rots over time the more he fights evil.
@@Chill_Vibes186 Also on a side note: What Sacred Cards had been too easy, Reshef had been to hard. If they switched the Money and Capacity Gain from both games, they'd both be completely fine
The worst part of Unfriendly Amazon? That "effect" is a maintenance cost, so Skill Drain, which is useful for many of the other cards on this list, doesn't negate the effect, because it's a cost.
@@kotzpenner Conditions/restrictions and maintenance cost aren't negated by Skill Drain. There are also effects that Skill Drain cannot negate (i.e.: effects that activate in GY like Sangan, or in the hand like Ash Blossoms & Joyous Springs).
Fun fact, Goddess of whim's effect is kinda interesting because it doubles it's current attack, not it's original attack. I think the duel logs did a video on it.
That sounds like the kind of thing that would get abused for an otk in Duel Links Edit: Nevermind just got to that part of the video, coin flip effect ruins that entirely. Even if it would work for an otk, a deck that performs an otk
@@prismglider5922 um . . there's kind of a duel links skill that gives you 3 heads the first 3 times you flip a coin, though that's mainly used with Desperado Barrel Dragon, duel links has like, shiranui geargia & noble knights now though, & no mechaba invoked , & negateless d/d/d , the game's like, progressed a long way past that kind of classic otk combo with unsearchable cards
Duel Logs did talk about a good sum of these cards more in detail, taking a look in todays world, duel links, and possible gimmick decks it can do. He is pretty good with the information he provides.
8:10 Karate Man had a niche use that didn't really come up often in that it can run over wall of illusion, gets bounced by the wall and thus not get destroyed. So if you wanted an out specifically against wall of illusion, this card fit the bill.
One thing to consider is some of the first sets for the TCG it was mixed from 2 or more OCG sets. I believe if I am correct Bistro Butcher came out while lv 4 or lower monsters max attack was around 1550.
Sounds cool that you better option at the beggining of the game was La Jinn and you other options was 1700 atk monsters like Battle ox or the Mágical Swordman (and Powered Ryu Kishin with 1600 atk)
I actually used boar soldier in my first deck that I brought to locals. I used it to normal summon, it destroys itself, and then it triggers the effect of one of my meklord emperors in my hand. Definitely one of the smartest plays 9-year-old me ever did.
Title: "These Weren't Balanced At All" Thumbnail: Dark Elf Dark Elf in the video: "This is probably one of the most balanced of all of these cards in today's video"
Rare Metal Dragon was one of those cards that were meant to work with another. In this case, Familiar Knight that when it is destroyed both players can summon a level 4 monster from their hand. You were meant to crash Familiar Knight into something and then summon RMD.
I believe people were willing to take the downside for a 2000 atk monster because overall it took longer to get big monsters on the board making early game damage more essential Edit: also if you kept beating over your opponents monsters early game they could find it hard to get a good monster out since most high attack cards required a tribute so unless they had removal they could be caught in a bind
And removal wasn't as plentiful. Dark Hole and Raigeki were límited, and other options had significant costs and limitations. That's why cards like Jirai Gumo and Karate Man were really playable, if not the best options: the best way to renove a Big monster was usually a bigger monster.
Agreed. Not only were dark hole and raigaki limited, raigaki was expensive for a long time. The most removal in the early days were man-eater bug, fissure, earth shaker, the above cards, trap hole, mirror force, and tribute to the doomed. Removal was either expensive to the wallet, high cost, or situational.
Give me a monster called "Darker Elf" that has 2000 attack but gives your opponent 1000LP as a cost to attack. Then let me Bad Reaction to Simochi and equip something that gives me extra attacks to OTK
I guess in Soul of the Duelist there was a card released called Spell Economics, with the effect to get rid of activation costs for Spell Cards. Would have been nice to have equivalent cards for Monsters and Traps
@@SWAATSFan closest thing for traps is for counter traps a monster called Guiding Ariadne removes life point and discard costs for counter trap cards pairs well with the Solom cards and cursed seal of the forbidden spell
I miss my LOD Spear Dragon that got stolen :( Slate Warrior was also quite ahead of its time if you think about it. 1900 ATK and actually reasonably decent effects for the time.
There's no such thing as a "too long video" from you. I always enjoy listening to your analysis on cards and your videos are perfect to watch while doing work that doesn't require much attention. You're saving my days from boredom!
7:29 As far as I could see, this card came out arround the time another card called Reverse Trap was there. It basically makes every effect that substracts/adds attack/defense do the opposite until the end of the turn, meaning that, with Megamorph, 5 cards in your hand and activating that, you can get the monster to 6k attack, wich is nothing to laugh at. And yes, I know, the combo is really specific and not really consistant enough to depend on that, but it'd be funny if your opponent is about to win and you summon that monster and do that combo and just attack with a 6k beatstick lmao
@@kingv-raptor840 Yeah, that's exactly where I got the idea from, but I think that even in the early days of Duel Links we had more resources than the TCG in 2003, so I guess it'd work better there but it would be really hard to successfully pull it off, as you'd need at least two specific cards in the field and five cards in your hand.
@@Westblader Cimoo and MBT were both playing old school beatdown, with MBT playing monsters to lower his life points like Dark Elf and Jirai Gumo to fuel megamorph to double his monsters attack points. Cimoo guessed MBT's entire 3 card hand while thinking out loud about how he immediately dies, and despite playing Swords MBT topdecked an MST for a one turn kill. It was absolutely hysterical.
Oh man this brings me back. Like 6 of these cards I used to run in my yugioh deck in middle school. It was warrior tribal and the goal with the deck was to kill enough of my opponents monsters to where I could cheat out a blue eyes to finish them.
I recall there being a somewhat interesting type of deck back in the day that featured Dark Elf, Jirai Gumo, Megamorph, and Solemn Judgment (alongside a lot of the usual staples and semi-staples). It was called suicide beatdown, and Megamorph was the glue that held it together. Since Dark Elf, Jirai Gumo, and Solemn Judgment all reduced your own LP, it was relatively easy to manipulate which mode Megamorph would be in, allowing you to get in some really big single hits. I have no idea whether it saw any kind of competitive success, and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't, but by the standards of the time, it was a pretty interesting deck idea.
Back in the day, some of my friends were really into just running tons of Goblin Attack Forces, Giant Orcs, and Karate Mans. We were a straightforward bunch
@@Sad-Lesbian Probably true. And Gate Guardian was pretty much unplayable and not worth the effort to get out since it requires so much work to get out and for a 3750 ATK beatstick with no effect once summoned.
@@ShiningJudgment666 Really shows you how insane some of these drawbacks are. Yeah sure, Gate Guardian is absolutely awful but at least you get a big number out of it. Meanwhile, having 2000 attack means you have to blow yourself up or something
Jirai Gumo and Dark Elf were used extensively upon release. People often used it as a wall because 2200 ATK was higher than the highest defense monster available at the time (multiple 2000 def monsters). Plus you could attack with it when you had to - if you were low on life points, the cost really wasn't anything. Dark Elf was just good - for 1000 life points you could beat over any level 4 monster (except Jirai Gumo). That's a huge board advantage for not much cost
5:43 I used to play with this card when I was a kid. The text was in English and I didn't know how to speak or translate English that time, so, used to just normal summon him without applying any effect.
Many of these cards are what I would call "placeholder cards": ards you do not want to play, but have to play, because you don't have anything better, you really need to fill in these last spots in your deck, you already spent your week's allowance on boosters, and you have to duel the king of the playground in 10 minutes.
Great video. Just to add to the discussion, I have to say that: 1. Jirai Gummo might not have been played much, but players who go back to the Metal Raiders (Critter) or Magic Ruler format use this card and have certain success with it, in decks that play 3 Solemn Judgements. Because if you play 3 Solemn Judgements, you are playing a game where Life Points don't matter. And Jirai Gummo can run over any Normal Summoned/Set monster. And not only is the drawback a 50%, but paying half LPs is more important than just paying 1000 LPs as with Dark Elf, if you play 3 Solemn Judgements. But this kind of deck that pays a lot of LPs is the reason why people are playing Cannon Soldier in Critter or MRL format (at least in side). 2. Flash Assailant saw competitive play on Duel Links with skills like pre-nerfed Balance (very early Duel Links formats). Also it has a neat combo with Reverse Trap (boosts ATK instead of decreasing ATK). 3. Chainsaw Insect had a different errata. When it was released, the drawback of drawing one card only triggered when battling a monster. But if it attacked directly, there was no drawback.
I used that spider in a progression series with a friend. It attacks over all the early 2000 def monsters and it can just sit there with 2200 attack defending ur lifepoints too. Really decent card
When I started watching the video I thought, he can't end this series without talking about boar soldier I got it in my first yugioh set ever, it and a similar card called "nuvia the wicked" once I understood what the effects ment I thought it was a card ment to wait in your hand to be used for ritual summons, it being a 4 star and all, great video man
People like panther warrior because it was used in the manga. However, in the manga, panther warrior was just a 2000 atk vanilla with no drawbacks, so....
Flash Assailant was one of the best cards in early Duel Links days. It beat over Jerry Beans man and was just as hard to get over in DEF, since Enemy Controller changing positions was one of the best ways to out high ATK monsters.
The main takeaway for me from this series so far is how much more i like the aesthetic of the older artwork from the first decade of the game. It's not as polished but it just looks better to me, I can't really explain why though.
They look like RPG enemies that would belong in a single fantasy world. As the game progressed, stuff just started doing it's own thing, separate from any other archetype, meaning the game didn't feel like 1 single world but random stuff that was made put together
Spear dragon was one of my favorites for these kind of cards. 1900 attack and piercing damage but it went to defense mode after attacking and had zero defense. It was fun to use in like 2004
I remember one time I saw some kids using zombira the dark,they were convinced that the word "decrease" means "increase" so they kept increasing his attack. they didn't believe me when I told them the truth.(This happened in greece by the way, the cards are not dubbed at greek).
So funny, in fact, that back in the day, some people experimented with decks whose entire gimmick was to give monsters like Giant Kozaky and Ameba to the opponent. It was called Swap Burn, because the primary method was to use Creature Swap or Mystic Box. In the case of Giant Kozaky, you would have to Set it so it wouldn't blow up prematurely. I don't think Swap Burn ever saw any notable competitive success, but it was a lot of fun as a casual deck.
@@djkates1916 Swapping The Bistro Butcher was also fun... after you swap him over you attack into it with a Mystic Tomato to draw 2 cards and search out a second tomato and do it again and again and finally pull out Sanagn :)
2:38 at first this was a down side but then they printed out cards that forced them to discard two in the hand. The deck was called "Hand Control Yatta lock" it broke the game.
Ah, Jirai Gumo. I actually thought this thing was insane back in that day in age. To be fair, when you're running a high-damage beat-down that's aggressive enough, I found losing 4k life to hit with a 2200 beatstick was actually worth it at that point. The tempo advantage was pretty strong, and I'd often win within a turn or two because of having a solid amount of attack points on the field for no effort, and it's effect didn't nerf it as it went, like the goblin's bending over to take another one, or Zombyra lowering itself down to no longer killing the standard 2k walls. He was a good card. ... At recess. >>; But still. I shall defend this beefy bungas for nostalgia's sake. Probably one of the better over-nerfed big-bois of the set.
It was okay, not straight garbage but would screw you if your opponent had a trap or removal, but if he didn t you could cockblock them even at the cost of lp
I actually had Boar Soldier in a deck when i was a kid. I managed to fake out pretending that i put down a 2000 defense face down monster a whopping total of once, and never again. And when i successfully flip summoned it, it still sucked. Jirai Gumo however was funnily kind of a weird, pseudo defense tool where i used it as a 2200 wall and never attacked with it, making it a surprisingly good defensive tribute fodder in the old days.
I remember running a Rare Metal Dragon/Marauding Captain combo back on the playground days. Not really practical in the grand scheme but man it always felt so great to pull off.
Jirai Gumo and Dark Elf were both competitive in Suicide Beatdown decks, shortly after their release. Megamorph, pardon the pun, was huge. Jirai Gumo remained useful for a little while longer; Dark Elf was replaced by Injection Fairy Lily. Monster removal worked in their favor: your opponent had to use theirs, or risk you having Tribute fodder for the next turn. On the other hand, you *also* had that same removal. Guess what happens when even your normal Summoned, no Tribute Monster can take out a quarter of your opponent's starting Life Points? The deck wasn't competitive for too long, but it had its 15 minutes of fame. Oh, and while I wasn't tearing up Regionals or the like, it was good enough to win some local events. I was in college, and most of my components were late high school or also college age. No, that still doesn't count, but it definitely wasn't just kids at recess. ;)
You just gotta love how most of these monsters are vanilla monsters in The Sacred Cards and Reshef of Destruction, and how broken the Fiend and Spellcaster ones are under Yami.
Karate Man saw play when he came out. Yeah, there was some good removal, but in equipment decks, you could boost his base ATK to something much better, making him a clear threat and the ability was a nice bonus when the beatdown needed to finish the job.
I never played old-school YGO competitively, but I have played a fair amount of the video games. While it's hard to take the AI or decks in the older games seriously, I did get the impression that Dark Elf was a pretty good monster back then. 1000 LP to attack isn't much if it means none of their level 4's (such as those summoned by the Jar cards) can beat over you. With all the board-wiping effects and crazy spell/trap cards, tribute monsters just weren't a reliable investment and Dark Elf was almost always in control of the field without requiring any investment or support to get it there. The drawback sure stung when forced into attacking defense-position monsters, though.
I found a binder of Yu-Gi-Oh cards from high school while looking through my old things while visiting my mom today and it turns out several of the cards featured in this video were in this binder. Kinda a fun coincidence.
Hi, old school player here. Started when the only set was Legend of Blue Eyes and the Yugi/Kaiba starter decks. My first official tournament was the Metal Raiders release, and I stopped not long playing after the great ban hammer of 2003, so old school yugioh is all I've ever really known. Goblin Attack Force was my absolute jam when it came out. It's power was just too high to deal with for most single cards, so it was actually a good wall in addition to a great monster breaker. When the Envoys introduced the chaos deck, I switched to Giant Orcs, so I'd sacrifice 100 Atk for the sake of using its dark type to fuel the special summon on the envoys. It was very comoetitive for its time, and even earned me a spot in regionals. Unfortunately, my parents weren't supportive, so they wouldn't let me travel to compete in the big tournaments, but I definitely could've done well. Oh well
My janky Insect stall/burn deck with Arsenal Bug, Prickle Fairy, Man-Eater Bug, and Atomic Firefly. And...I think those were all the actual Insects for the deck.
I think I got a Bistro Butcher in my first ever pack, and even back then the effect baffled me. I seem to recall people actually using Jirai Gumo though, since its attack was so much higher than any other level 4's and you are technically always able to pay half your lifepoints no matter what.
Old Yugioh: You gotta pay the price for power. . Modern Yugioh: LMAO Lemme just summon a super powerful monster in one turn that is invunerable to most spells.
Why I don't play against other people, even in duel links. I kind of hate it how OP some decks can be. I made a deck that is Fur Hire and it can kill the other player on the first round if I go second... If not then than the next turn with their special summons and popping effects.
I remember Bistro Butcher giving me trouble in a Yu-Gi-Oh! videogame, strangely enough. I think it was a GBA title. They enemy A.I. would attack me with Bistro Butcher and my hand would get filled rather quickly, forcing me to discard cards rather oftenly... Hey, I didn't day I was good at playing Yu-Gi-Oh! back when I played that game.
The thing with some of these odd effect monsters, or at least dark elf, jurai gumo, flash assailant you played them as a budget option to tournament pack options, or just to survive till the following turn to tribute for summon skull.
The best part about Zombyra the Dark is that it's a fusion material of a really nice fusion monster too (Last Warrior from Another Dimension), so after a few attacks you could just tribute him or even fuse him
goddess of whim does not say original attack so if you equip axe of despair or megamorph, her attack can be almost 4000, not a good card but better than said in the video
Jirai Gumo is decent at stalling until you use it as tribute fodder. Also it's decent later in the game when you have lower life points and paying half isnt as much of a cost
Bistro Butcher was one of my favorites! Forcing opponent to draw cards, then using cards like Gravekeeper's Servant was brutal! Then making opponent discard cards before they could use the card. I use to drain a player's deck pretty quick with Bistro Butcher!
I love that Konami made these kinds of cards, they were always the most interesting to me, I feel like you could have added several defensive monsters in this list as well like big shield guardna and destiny hero guardna/defender whatever it's name was, yugioh also experimented with various 4 star high defense monsters with set backs, would like to see you cover some of those
I use to love Dark Elf. If I had the LP to spare, I'd attack with her, if not then she's a 2000 atk point monster my opponent had to attack into if they wanted to attack me directly so she was usually still around to become a tribute for something stronger.
Waaaaaaay back when, I ran Jirai Gumo and Goblin Attack Force pretty regularly. On a weak or empty board they tended to prompt either removal or setting something in defense mode, especially if it was before the opponent could get their Trap Holes up. Goblin Attack Force, for me at least, was in the same vein as Exiled Force: It was removal in monster form. If these kinds of things survived the next turn they made good tributes for something better, for me it was often Summoned Skull or something like Total Defense Shogun. They didn't have to fit the deck archetype, they just had to be a threat that couldn't be dealt with easily.
At its first printing Goddess of Whim was not once per turn. That was added after some players would declare that they were using the effect constantly until either its ATK was high enough to one-shot the opponent or time ran out
I used to play a Dark Elf and Jirai Gumo with Big Bang Shot in Old School Yu-Gi-Oh and found it quite effective, but by that time all the board wipe cards were already banned.
I remember during the GX era making a deck around Goblin Attack Force and other cards like it that change position after battling and made a pretty interesting gimmick deck that made meta decks harder to play, revolving around Labyrinth of Nightmare, Zero Gravity, and other traps and quick-plays that made the deck hard to work around. It could also dodge traps like Mirror Force that sought to punish aggro decks while keeping my bois at attention and ready to attack.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Jirai Gumo has no downside if you believe in the heart of the cards.
It's not so bad late game either. Sure Dark Elf is less costly most of the time, but after your life points drop to 2000 or bellow then Jirai Gumo actually becomes the better option even on a failed flip.
Jirai Gumo can always attack. You can't divide all the way to zero.
I could hear Joey's voice when I read that
Jirai Gumo was godlike in lategame play. I think there was a HoC vid where they were doing Critter Format and the player with Gumo got down to 395 LP left and still won the game.
Dark Elf in contrast was considered stronger early on.
That's where you're wrong, because I activate MAGIC BOX! Watch as my Dark Magician disappears into the magic box...and swords impale it! But did I skewer my Dark Magician? No it was your spider and my Dark Magician emerges unharmed!
We need more Bistro Butcher because we need to make the Hungry Burger Archetype
Haha imagine a retrain, he could definitely be the decks searcher
@@aaronfulton4826 Super Bistro Butcher. Level 4, 2400. When this card attacks, your opponent draws 2 cards, then add Hamburger Ultimate Recipe to your hand.
@@justinmadrid8712 That would be cool having a burger archetype... like a one card that has burger in its card name :)
@@CardMasterBrian We could add fries too and a big soda.
@@Slayerthecrow A whole fast food theme :D
People used to creature swap Bistro Butcher to their opponent and run into it with recruiters like mystic tomato. Not the most practical interaction but it was an interesting interaction.
Mystic Tomato into Mystic Tomato into Mystic Tomato into Witch is huge, that's draw 8 with a search, spicy old-school exodia tech
TheDuelLogs did a Exodia turbo deck using that exact strategy lol
I actually was about to comment this. Playing back in the day, I actually did this in a few decks xD
I remember doing this. It was a great time.
You could run just 3 Butcher, tons of Nova Summoners, Shining Angels, 1 or 2 UFORoid, 3 of the fire turtle floater, 3 Creature Swap and 3 Shien's Spy and hope for the flashy sacc combo, drawing literally your whole deck. Was trash tier but fun in 1-of duels.
So many of the cards in this video gave me flashbacks to my childhood, when I'd get all excited after seeing 4 stars, high atk on the card... then read the effect...
Dezeff: I can't pronounce this card.
Also Dezeff: *Pronounces it perfectly*
Also Dzeef: Zombraya
Continues calling it "the spider"
Also that card is based on a Japanese Youkai of the same name just spelled differently. Basically a spider monster that has a 50-50 chance to eat you or be your loyal spouse. The card is kinda dumb but is also pretty flavorful somehow.
@@clayxros576 spouse you day? Interesting
@@clayxros576 I like those odds.
I loved that manga chapter where a kid was cosplaying as Zombyra to be a hero.
Zombyra's effect is also a clever adaptation of his lore in the manga. In the manga Zombire's lore says that his body rots over time the more he fights evil.
And here I thought zombrya was a summoned skull cosplay
If you played Reshef of Destruction for gba, he will make an appearance when the neo ghouls run over domino city
@@TheDendran Thats true i saw the kid in that game for sure on the gba
@@Chill_Vibes186 Also on a side note: What Sacred Cards had been too easy, Reshef had been to hard.
If they switched the Money and Capacity Gain from both games, they'd both be completely fine
Most of these monsters: Hey, look at how much ATK I have! There's a cost, though.
Gene-Warped Warwolf: Imagine having a cost lmao. Couldn't be me.
Those 2000 atk normal monsters all have a place in my heart man. I still remember how nice that super rare gene warped looked too
Not an effect monster. Wouldn’t expect a cost but I see your point
Dark Elf w/ Megamorph: Cost? I think you mean combo.
@@clayxros576 I kinda feel dumb for not having noticed this combo in all these 18 years...
2000 atk and no drawback is Alexandria dragon
The worst part of Unfriendly Amazon? That "effect" is a maintenance cost, so Skill Drain, which is useful for many of the other cards on this list, doesn't negate the effect, because it's a cost.
Not to mention, he probably doesn't have any friends. :-(
Also, it's mandatory.
@@MetaKaios Not if you run Solomon's Lawbook :P
Is this for real? I thought Skill Drain basically removes the text entirely, making it a normal monster.
@@kotzpenner Conditions/restrictions and maintenance cost aren't negated by Skill Drain. There are also effects that Skill Drain cannot negate (i.e.: effects that activate in GY like Sangan, or in the hand like Ash Blossoms & Joyous Springs).
If only Doug released this before Cimo and MBT faced off in their recent duel... :3
Joseph said "I don't need Exodia to obliterate you" 😂
The heart of the cards was with him in that duel
Appreciate cimo's read with that though!
It was so hilarious.
Exactly
Fun fact, Goddess of whim's effect is kinda interesting because it doubles it's current attack, not it's original attack. I think the duel logs did a video on it.
She can probably otk
Duel logs Pog
That sounds like the kind of thing that would get abused for an otk in Duel Links
Edit: Nevermind just got to that part of the video, coin flip effect ruins that entirely. Even if it would work for an otk, a deck that performs an otk
@@prismglider5922 um . . there's kind of a duel links skill that gives you 3 heads the first 3 times you flip a coin, though that's mainly used with Desperado Barrel Dragon, duel links has like, shiranui geargia & noble knights now though, & no mechaba invoked , & negateless d/d/d , the game's like, progressed a long way past that kind of classic otk combo with unsearchable cards
Duel Logs did talk about a good sum of these cards more in detail, taking a look in todays world, duel links, and possible gimmick decks it can do. He is pretty good with the information he provides.
8:10 Karate Man had a niche use that didn't really come up often in that it can run over wall of illusion, gets bounced by the wall and thus not get destroyed. So if you wanted an out specifically against wall of illusion, this card fit the bill.
And being niche didn't suck so hard with his Warrior-type and RotA being at 3 back then. 😎
One thing to consider is some of the first sets for the TCG it was mixed from 2 or more OCG sets. I believe if I am correct Bistro Butcher came out while lv 4 or lower monsters max attack was around 1550.
metal riders was a mess of a set
Sounds cool that you better option at the beggining of the game was La Jinn and you other options was 1700 atk monsters like Battle ox or the Mágical Swordman (and Powered Ryu Kishin with 1600 atk)
@@sangan3202 I heard that the strongest lvl 4 in MR was Hitotsu-Me Giant which had 1200 ATK.
@@Imitationistthat was only true for about a couple of months. The first set of cards included monsters with more attack points almost immediately
I actually used boar soldier in my first deck that I brought to locals. I used it to normal summon, it destroys itself, and then it triggers the effect of one of my meklord emperors in my hand. Definitely one of the smartest plays 9-year-old me ever did.
Now that's how you play yugioh
@@deletedTestimony
Unironic yes tbh. That's a synergy that should be used more often. Except in Dragon Link. Dragon Link can go die
Cute. 😄
Can you remember how many Nuvias were in your deck then?
No Nuvias, just a one off boar soldier to summon my two meklords, my whole deck was one ofs because I didn't have 2 of any good cards
Ahh I remember when “Spell Ruler” was called “Magic Ruler” 😂
💯💯💯💯
Boomer
I feel ya I still have cards with magic card printed on them lol
(regardless of position)
Dumbass@@skinnymatt64
Title: "These Weren't Balanced At All"
Thumbnail: Dark Elf
Dark Elf in the video: "This is probably one of the most balanced of all of these cards in today's video"
Not to mention occasions where it's "penalty" is actually a feature that makes the card worth playing.
Rare Metal Dragon was one of those cards that were meant to work with another. In this case, Familiar Knight that when it is destroyed both players can summon a level 4 monster from their hand. You were meant to crash Familiar Knight into something and then summon RMD.
Like in the movie
It could also work with flute of summoning dragons.
Nah, I'd foolish burial into monster reborn. I had 8 of those anyway, so I didn't care when I was 6
Wow Doug you're going to look really foolish when Flash Assailant Infernities sweep Worlds next year
👀
it exist?
Poor Dzeeff. This is going to end his career.
They already make it. Its called reverse trap.
I played Flash assailant in infernity back then... i feel stupid now
I believe people were willing to take the downside for a 2000 atk monster because overall it took longer to get big monsters on the board making early game damage more essential
Edit: also if you kept beating over your opponents monsters early game they could find it hard to get a good monster out since most high attack cards required a tribute so unless they had removal they could be caught in a bind
And removal wasn't as plentiful. Dark Hole and Raigeki were límited, and other options had significant costs and limitations. That's why cards like Jirai Gumo and Karate Man were really playable, if not the best options: the best way to renove a Big monster was usually a bigger monster.
Agreed. Not only were dark hole and raigaki limited, raigaki was expensive for a long time. The most removal in the early days were man-eater bug, fissure, earth shaker, the above cards, trap hole, mirror force, and tribute to the doomed. Removal was either expensive to the wallet, high cost, or situational.
Give me a monster called "Darker Elf" that has 2000 attack but gives your opponent 1000LP as a cost to attack. Then let me Bad Reaction to Simochi and equip something that gives me extra attacks to OTK
Sounds like Muscle Medic except he packs 2200 ATK.
That would've been way too op in old school yugioh.
I guess in Soul of the Duelist there was a card released called Spell Economics, with the effect to get rid of activation costs for Spell Cards. Would have been nice to have equivalent cards for Monsters and Traps
@@SWAATSFan Ariadne is basically the version for traps, given most of the traps with LP costs are counter traps.
@@SWAATSFan closest thing for traps is for counter traps a monster called Guiding Ariadne removes life point and discard costs for counter trap cards pairs well with the Solom cards and cursed seal of the forbidden spell
Dzeef: "You'd have to play without cards in your hand for this card to be competitive"
Kalin: *Laughs in Infernity Inferno*
Slate Warrior and Spear Dragon: true OGs
I miss my LOD Spear Dragon that got stolen :( Slate Warrior was also quite ahead of its time if you think about it. 1900 ATK and actually reasonably decent effects for the time.
Slate Warrior was a thing of beauty back in the day, finally a 1900 lv 4 with an actually good effect
Skilled Dark Magician was also a 1900 beatstick with a decent effect. You don't have to run DM to play it so it's basically a vanilla.
@@ShiningJudgment666if it got stolen u shoulda called the cops. When a single one of my cards got stolen got that sucker put in jail.
There's no such thing as a "too long video" from you. I always enjoy listening to your analysis on cards and your videos are perfect to watch while doing work that doesn't require much attention. You're saving my days from boredom!
7:29 As far as I could see, this card came out arround the time another card called Reverse Trap was there. It basically makes every effect that substracts/adds attack/defense do the opposite until the end of the turn, meaning that, with Megamorph, 5 cards in your hand and activating that, you can get the monster to 6k attack, wich is nothing to laugh at.
And yes, I know, the combo is really specific and not really consistant enough to depend on that, but it'd be funny if your opponent is about to win and you summon that monster and do that combo and just attack with a 6k beatstick lmao
I remember that deck in duel links. It was pretty annoying how you would be winning and then the ai just kills you for no reason with reverse trap.
@@kingv-raptor840 Yeah, that's exactly where I got the idea from, but I think that even in the early days of Duel Links we had more resources than the TCG in 2003, so I guess it'd work better there but it would be really hard to successfully pull it off, as you'd need at least two specific cards in the field and five cards in your hand.
Speaking of Dark Elf... GAME 3 LOL
You would have to have monster reborn megamorph a monster you can normal and a way to deal with swords
wym by game 3?
@@Westblader The most recent video of cimoooooos series with mbt in that history of yugioh series
Only to top deck the MST. Wow
@@Westblader Cimoo and MBT were both playing old school beatdown, with MBT playing monsters to lower his life points like Dark Elf and Jirai Gumo to fuel megamorph to double his monsters attack points. Cimoo guessed MBT's entire 3 card hand while thinking out loud about how he immediately dies, and despite playing Swords MBT topdecked an MST for a one turn kill. It was absolutely hysterical.
Oh man this brings me back. Like 6 of these cards I used to run in my yugioh deck in middle school. It was warrior tribal and the goal with the deck was to kill enough of my opponents monsters to where I could cheat out a blue eyes to finish them.
I recall there being a somewhat interesting type of deck back in the day that featured Dark Elf, Jirai Gumo, Megamorph, and Solemn Judgment (alongside a lot of the usual staples and semi-staples). It was called suicide beatdown, and Megamorph was the glue that held it together. Since Dark Elf, Jirai Gumo, and Solemn Judgment all reduced your own LP, it was relatively easy to manipulate which mode Megamorph would be in, allowing you to get in some really big single hits. I have no idea whether it saw any kind of competitive success, and I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't, but by the standards of the time, it was a pretty interesting deck idea.
I am playing Tag Force 1 and this is the deck I currently use.
U can just play Dinomorphia
Back in the day, some of my friends were really into just running tons of Goblin Attack Forces, Giant Orcs, and Karate Mans. We were a straightforward bunch
An early Earth aggro deck! Very nice
I used Bistro Butcher in my Mill deck in one of the the GX era DS games. Good times
Ah, Chainsaw insect... Bring back memories of my Ultimate Insect Princess Deck.
"I can't pronounce Jirai Gumo"
"ZOMBRAYA THE DARK"
You know as well as I do that Gate Guardian was the perfect beatstick in oldschool YuGiOh.
Maybe, but ultimate blue eyes and senketsu armor and even b.trap hole would destroy it
If you really want to straw man Ultimate Obedient Fiend also best beat stick but with Skill Drain as that card does nothing cause of its effect
Tbf, Gate Guardian is arguably better than Boar Soldier lmfao
@@Sad-Lesbian Probably true. And Gate Guardian was pretty much unplayable and not worth the effort to get out since it requires so much work to get out and for a 3750 ATK beatstick with no effect once summoned.
@@ShiningJudgment666 Really shows you how insane some of these drawbacks are.
Yeah sure, Gate Guardian is absolutely awful but at least you get a big number out of it.
Meanwhile, having 2000 attack means you have to blow yourself up or something
Jirai Gumo and Dark Elf were used extensively upon release. People often used it as a wall because 2200 ATK was higher than the highest defense monster available at the time (multiple 2000 def monsters). Plus you could attack with it when you had to - if you were low on life points, the cost really wasn't anything.
Dark Elf was just good - for 1000 life points you could beat over any level 4 monster (except Jirai Gumo). That's a huge board advantage for not much cost
5:43
I used to play with this card when I was a kid. The text was in English and I didn't know how to speak or translate English that time, so, used to just normal summon him without applying any effect.
Jirai Gumo is legit terrifying in Duelists of the Roses. They also made Panther Warrior and Bistro Butcher useable.
Many of these cards are what I would call "placeholder cards": ards you do not want to play, but have to play, because you don't have anything better, you really need to fill in these last spots in your deck, you already spent your week's allowance on boosters, and you have to duel the king of the playground in 10 minutes.
I'm a little sad that tardy Orc didn't make the list, but we know he missed the bus.
Basically Boar Soldier with fewer downsides and more attack.
Great video. Just to add to the discussion, I have to say that:
1. Jirai Gummo might not have been played much, but players who go back to the Metal Raiders (Critter) or Magic Ruler format use this card and have certain success with it, in decks that play 3 Solemn Judgements. Because if you play 3 Solemn Judgements, you are playing a game where Life Points don't matter. And Jirai Gummo can run over any Normal Summoned/Set monster. And not only is the drawback a 50%, but paying half LPs is more important than just paying 1000 LPs as with Dark Elf, if you play 3 Solemn Judgements. But this kind of deck that pays a lot of LPs is the reason why people are playing Cannon Soldier in Critter or MRL format (at least in side).
2. Flash Assailant saw competitive play on Duel Links with skills like pre-nerfed Balance (very early Duel Links formats). Also it has a neat combo with Reverse Trap (boosts ATK instead of decreasing ATK).
3. Chainsaw Insect had a different errata. When it was released, the drawback of drawing one card only triggered when battling a monster. But if it attacked directly, there was no drawback.
I used that spider in a progression series with a friend. It attacks over all the early 2000 def monsters and it can just sit there with 2200 attack defending ur lifepoints too. Really decent card
When I started watching the video I thought, he can't end this series without talking about boar soldier
I got it in my first yugioh set ever, it and a similar card called "nuvia the wicked" once I understood what the effects ment I thought it was a card ment to wait in your hand to be used for ritual summons, it being a 4 star and all, great video man
People like panther warrior because it was used in the manga.
However, in the manga, panther warrior was just a 2000 atk vanilla with no drawbacks, so....
Anime. Not manga. And in the anime it did need tributes
@@unaffectedbycardeffects9152 No idea what happened in the anime because I didn't watch it.
In the manga it did not need tributes.
@@IamGrimalkin I have no idea, I haven't read the manga, but the video did talk about the anime, so I believe the manga to be somewhat irrelevant
Flash Assailant was one of the best cards in early Duel Links days. It beat over Jerry Beans man and was just as hard to get over in DEF, since Enemy Controller changing positions was one of the best ways to out high ATK monsters.
The main takeaway for me from this series so far is how much more i like the aesthetic of the older artwork from the first decade of the game. It's not as polished but it just looks better to me, I can't really explain why though.
One of them is background. The bg is simpler, giving us cleaner look to the card, compared to modern card which goes bling-bling
@@archiebellega956 It took me 2 hours to figure out what I was looking at when I saw Doomking Balerdroch
They look like RPG enemies that would belong in a single fantasy world. As the game progressed, stuff just started doing it's own thing, separate from any other archetype, meaning the game didn't feel like 1 single world but random stuff that was made put together
I remember Dark Elf from when I was a kid. She is so beautiful. I don’t know much about the game, but I loved the art of that card so much.
"I know it was a little bit longer, I apologise for that"
(Looks at the Reading Every Normal Monster Video)
Spear dragon was one of my favorites for these kind of cards. 1900 attack and piercing damage but it went to defense mode after attacking and had zero defense. It was fun to use in like 2004
I remember one time I saw some kids using zombira the dark,they were convinced that the word "decrease" means "increase" so they kept increasing his attack.
they didn't believe me when I told them the truth.(This happened in greece by the way, the cards are not dubbed at greek).
lol that would be insanely op at that time
Where is Giant Kozaky ? He is literally the level 4 monster with biggest attack points... and a funny drawback.
So funny, in fact, that back in the day, some people experimented with decks whose entire gimmick was to give monsters like Giant Kozaky and Ameba to the opponent. It was called Swap Burn, because the primary method was to use Creature Swap or Mystic Box. In the case of Giant Kozaky, you would have to Set it so it wouldn't blow up prematurely. I don't think Swap Burn ever saw any notable competitive success, but it was a lot of fun as a casual deck.
@@djkates1916 Swapping The Bistro Butcher was also fun... after you swap him over you attack into it with a Mystic Tomato to draw 2 cards and search out a second tomato and do it again and again and finally pull out Sanagn :)
@@CardMasterBrian why not just get sangan off the first attack?
@@lamarpray5324 more draws.
@@mattcurnell2545 ohhhhhhhhhh I get it cuz you creature swapped it....you attack in to it...ok makes sense now im a dumbass 😭😭😭🤣🤦♂️
7:00 AH YES THE INFERNITY TECH THAT WILL BRING THEM BACK TO TIER 0
In duel links 2017 the guy who got 1st in the world in a KC cup ran 3 Flash Assailant with a handless balance deck
@@heartman6314 Glad that a ran into another man of culture. DLM is the GOAT
2:38 at first this was a down side but then they printed out cards that forced them to discard two in the hand. The deck was called "Hand Control Yatta lock" it broke the game.
As a kid I felt ripped off when Nuvia the Wicked was in my rare slot.
I remember playing chainsaw insect and wondering why I lost all the time lol
Ah, Jirai Gumo. I actually thought this thing was insane back in that day in age. To be fair, when you're running a high-damage beat-down that's aggressive enough, I found losing 4k life to hit with a 2200 beatstick was actually worth it at that point. The tempo advantage was pretty strong, and I'd often win within a turn or two because of having a solid amount of attack points on the field for no effort, and it's effect didn't nerf it as it went, like the goblin's bending over to take another one, or Zombyra lowering itself down to no longer killing the standard 2k walls. He was a good card.
... At recess. >>; But still. I shall defend this beefy bungas for nostalgia's sake. Probably one of the better over-nerfed big-bois of the set.
It was okay, not straight garbage but would screw you if your opponent had a trap or removal, but if he didn t you could cockblock them even at the cost of lp
I actually had Boar Soldier in a deck when i was a kid. I managed to fake out pretending that i put down a 2000 defense face down monster a whopping total of once, and never again. And when i successfully flip summoned it, it still sucked.
Jirai Gumo however was funnily kind of a weird, pseudo defense tool where i used it as a 2200 wall and never attacked with it, making it a surprisingly good defensive tribute fodder in the old days.
I don't mind longer videos Doug, so no apology necessary!
I remember running a Rare Metal Dragon/Marauding Captain combo back on the playground days. Not really practical in the grand scheme but man it always felt so great to pull off.
And then there was Giant Orc, the playground budget version of Goblin Attack Force.
Jirai Gumo and Dark Elf were both competitive in Suicide Beatdown decks, shortly after their release. Megamorph, pardon the pun, was huge. Jirai Gumo remained useful for a little while longer; Dark Elf was replaced by Injection Fairy Lily. Monster removal worked in their favor: your opponent had to use theirs, or risk you having Tribute fodder for the next turn. On the other hand, you *also* had that same removal. Guess what happens when even your normal Summoned, no Tribute Monster can take out a quarter of your opponent's starting Life Points?
The deck wasn't competitive for too long, but it had its 15 minutes of fame. Oh, and while I wasn't tearing up Regionals or the like, it was good enough to win some local events. I was in college, and most of my components were late high school or also college age. No, that still doesn't count, but it definitely wasn't just kids at recess. ;)
I thought Dzeeff would talk about the only Level 4 with the highest ATK: Giant Kozaky
You just gotta love how most of these monsters are vanilla monsters in The Sacred Cards and Reshef of Destruction, and how broken the Fiend and Spellcaster ones are under Yami.
17:32 how did one of Entoma's weapons get a Yu-Gi-Oh card?
Karate Man saw play when he came out. Yeah, there was some good removal, but in equipment decks, you could boost his base ATK to something much better, making him a clear threat and the ability was a nice bonus when the beatdown needed to finish the job.
The bistro butcher might be tbe best legal "pot of" card lmao
I never played old-school YGO competitively, but I have played a fair amount of the video games. While it's hard to take the AI or decks in the older games seriously, I did get the impression that Dark Elf was a pretty good monster back then. 1000 LP to attack isn't much if it means none of their level 4's (such as those summoned by the Jar cards) can beat over you. With all the board-wiping effects and crazy spell/trap cards, tribute monsters just weren't a reliable investment and Dark Elf was almost always in control of the field without requiring any investment or support to get it there. The drawback sure stung when forced into attacking defense-position monsters, though.
So basically every monster that went into the Skill Drain deck
Worth adding that Zombyra topped years after its release in a deck devastation virus build that used it as the tribute.
I wish kiddy me had a big brain on Dark Elf and Big-Spider
I found a binder of Yu-Gi-Oh cards from high school while looking through my old things while visiting my mom today and it turns out several of the cards featured in this video were in this binder. Kinda a fun coincidence.
Heh both assailant and karate man were meta in duel links at the start 😆
Hi, old school player here. Started when the only set was Legend of Blue Eyes and the Yugi/Kaiba starter decks. My first official tournament was the Metal Raiders release, and I stopped not long playing after the great ban hammer of 2003, so old school yugioh is all I've ever really known.
Goblin Attack Force was my absolute jam when it came out. It's power was just too high to deal with for most single cards, so it was actually a good wall in addition to a great monster breaker. When the Envoys introduced the chaos deck, I switched to Giant Orcs, so I'd sacrifice 100 Atk for the sake of using its dark type to fuel the special summon on the envoys. It was very comoetitive for its time, and even earned me a spot in regionals. Unfortunately, my parents weren't supportive, so they wouldn't let me travel to compete in the big tournaments, but I definitely could've done well. Oh well
Does anyone remember arsenal bug? I used to play that when I first started lol
I do. My first ever and only real Yu-Gi-Oh-decks are an old dinosaur-deck and an insect-deck which is similarly old.
Good card in battle pack 3
My janky Insect stall/burn deck with Arsenal Bug, Prickle Fairy, Man-Eater Bug, and Atomic Firefly. And...I think those were all the actual Insects for the deck.
Bistro Butcher, ah yes that card I gave to my opponent so I could run a bunch of shit like Mystic Tomato into so I could draw a bunch of cards lol
In Duelists of the Roses, you lose 50 LP every time your Dark Elf battles. 1/80th of your starting life points!
Though there are a lot better things you could be doing in DotR
Eyy Clovis
@@thrusteavis sup
@@ClovissenpaiDotR bro plz plc plx plz pxlx how i get blue Eyes ultimatebDragon as mmy decklesdrr its not wroking please
Jk lol I like your vids
@@ClovissenpaiDotR ....too real? 😬
I think I got a Bistro Butcher in my first ever pack, and even back then the effect baffled me. I seem to recall people actually using Jirai Gumo though, since its attack was so much higher than any other level 4's and you are technically always able to pay half your lifepoints no matter what.
Old Yugioh: You gotta pay the price for power.
.
Modern Yugioh: LMAO Lemme just summon a super powerful monster in one turn that is invunerable to most spells.
dont you mean play 50 different cards in the first turn to just win the game.
This is also the reason why i stopped buying new yu gi oh cards it's not fun anymore
Why I don't play against other people, even in duel links. I kind of hate it how OP some decks can be. I made a deck that is Fur Hire and it can kill the other player on the first round if I go second... If not then than the next turn with their special summons and popping effects.
Control decks exist ya know. So do handtraps
@@RinaShinomiyaVal I only duel links. We dont have too many good handtraps right now. I only use kiteroid but its semi limited so yeah.
The Bistro Butcher that draws your opponent 2 cards with 1800 ATK vs the Chainsaw Insect that draws your opponent 1 card with 2400 ATK.
Do you have a playlist for these videos? I couldn’t find it
I remember Bistro Butcher giving me trouble in a Yu-Gi-Oh! videogame, strangely enough. I think it was a GBA title. They enemy A.I. would attack me with Bistro Butcher and my hand would get filled rather quickly, forcing me to discard cards rather oftenly... Hey, I didn't day I was good at playing Yu-Gi-Oh! back when I played that game.
Must have been The Eternal Duelist Soul. My favorite yugioh game all time
penguin knight has the best psct of all time
dzeeff do you know the db grinder?
The thing with some of these odd effect monsters, or at least dark elf, jurai gumo, flash assailant you played them as a budget option to tournament pack options, or just to survive till the following turn to tribute for summon skull.
Gumo still seems good. It’s a stall card and even tribute fodder.
The best part about Zombyra the Dark is that it's a fusion material of a really nice fusion monster too (Last Warrior from Another Dimension), so after a few attacks you could just tribute him or even fuse him
1:55 youre welcome
Bistro Butcher having a drawback is even stranger when just a year later Gagagigo, a normal monster with 1850 attack (and sick lore), was released.
goddess of whim does not say original attack so if you equip axe of despair or megamorph, her attack can be almost 4000, not a good card but better than said in the video
Ah yes, my old “Goblin Attack Force summon, save it with a battle trap, and tribute it for something bigger next turn” special combo
Jirai Gumo is decent at stalling until you use it as tribute fodder. Also it's decent later in the game when you have lower life points and paying half isnt as much of a cost
Bistro Butcher was one of my favorites! Forcing opponent to draw cards, then using cards like Gravekeeper's Servant was brutal! Then making opponent discard cards before they could use the card. I use to drain a player's deck pretty quick with Bistro Butcher!
As long as you are trying to be OG... MAGIC Ruler, please. ;)
I love that Konami made these kinds of cards, they were always the most interesting to me, I feel like you could have added several defensive monsters in this list as well like big shield guardna and destiny hero guardna/defender whatever it's name was, yugioh also experimented with various 4 star high defense monsters with set backs, would like to see you cover some of those
Flash Assailant was a viable rogue deck in the earlier days of Duel Links.
I use to love Dark Elf. If I had the LP to spare, I'd attack with her, if not then she's a 2000 atk point monster my opponent had to attack into if they wanted to attack me directly so she was usually still around to become a tribute for something stronger.
I remember Flash Assailant and Dark Elf, Flash Assailant wasn't that great, unless you wanted to use Infernity's Phantom Hand
Waaaaaaay back when, I ran Jirai Gumo and Goblin Attack Force pretty regularly. On a weak or empty board they tended to prompt either removal or setting something in defense mode, especially if it was before the opponent could get their Trap Holes up. Goblin Attack Force, for me at least, was in the same vein as Exiled Force: It was removal in monster form. If these kinds of things survived the next turn they made good tributes for something better, for me it was often Summoned Skull or something like Total Defense Shogun. They didn't have to fit the deck archetype, they just had to be a threat that couldn't be dealt with easily.
There's also Armor Exe, which was also pretty unplayable.
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Fun Fact: Jurai Gumo was used in top tier Speed Duel decks as a wall that could push for game with the Joey Skill "I'm Just Gonna Attack!"
Jesus, I had most of those cards when I was a kid xD
At its first printing Goddess of Whim was not once per turn. That was added after some players would declare that they were using the effect constantly until either its ATK was high enough to one-shot the opponent or time ran out
I too have been watching Cimo's history of yugioh series
I used to play a Dark Elf and Jirai Gumo with Big Bang Shot in Old School Yu-Gi-Oh and found it quite effective, but by that time all the board wipe cards were already banned.
@Dzeeff - You pronounced Jirai Gumo correctly :)
I remember during the GX era making a deck around Goblin Attack Force and other cards like it that change position after battling and made a pretty interesting gimmick deck that made meta decks harder to play, revolving around Labyrinth of Nightmare, Zero Gravity, and other traps and quick-plays that made the deck hard to work around. It could also dodge traps like Mirror Force that sought to punish aggro decks while keeping my bois at attention and ready to attack.