What card symbolises the game's decline?

[Sov]

((DISCLAIMER: NOT SAYING THIS CARD IS BROKEN, JUST AN EXAMPLE OF YGO'S DECLINE IN CARD DESIGN FROM THE OG ERA))

I think "Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon" symbolises the decline of the game pretty well. It essentially has no cost other then "showing a blue eyes" for a free 3000 ATK monster with a destruction effect.

Its just the best example of the modern era of Yu-Gi-Oh. No, its NOT that powerful but it represents the "something for nothing" era really well, where most cards have minimal costs to actually use. I think that's the thing I don't like about modern yu-gi-oh more then anything else, there are no costs or drawbacks to using cards these days and costs have become more and more pathetic.

Cards like Raigeki and Harpies Feather Duster were banned for a reason for a very long time, because they have no cost for a really powerful effect and rightfully so. There should be real costs or drawbacks to using certain cards in the game because that's what creates enjoyment, an actual risk of cost.

Cards these days are all benefit/benefit rather then benefit/cost. I don't think its unfair to bring up this criticism, a lot of video games in the modern era are very benefit/benefit rather then actually have costs to them.

Cursed Seal of Forbidden Spell is a good example of a well designed card, a very powerful effect at the cost of losing a potentially powerful magic card, especially if you need to extend your combos so you need to make an active decision with it. If it was designed today, it would be "you may" rather then "you must" and cards like Guiding Aradine make the cost aspect completely redundant anyway.

Blue Eyes, Red Eyes and Dark Magician have all become bloated messes in this era sadly because of this philosophy.

[Merilirem]

I don't think the game has declined. Its changed but there are easily as many positive changes as negative. Alternative having no cost is something someone who doesn't understand balance would say. The "cost" is running Blue Eyes and needing it in hand to use Alternative at all. Balance isn't just about what happens in the game but also about what happens when you build your deck. Powerful cards that require other cards to function are inherently less powerful than something you can just use on its own. This is why generic cards can become such a nightmare to the Meta.

Also Gen Z era? Really? You want to know why those costs started fading out of many games? They weren't fun. Sometimes they make mistakes but the fact is for the most part the limitations of older games just weren't as fun as the freedom that came by removing those limitations. Its evolution not a decline.

[Ti-A]

Neos Fusion, if memory serves, it was the first, tho maybe it was Red Eyes Fusion, tho ultimately it doesn't matter since both represent the same problem.
It perfectly represents the decline and the main problem with the card design, virtually unrestricted, special summoning capability of high powered monsters that instead of having costs gives advantage equivalent to banned/eratad cards like Future Fusion, and Foolish burrial.
Of course it started rather low end with Neos Fusion, but it culminated into Branded Fusion, an archetype that doesn't just goes +1 but +5 all purely due to the double foolish burial + fusion summon from deck.

[Sov]

Originally posted by Ti-A:

Neos Fusion, if memory serves, it was the first, tho maybe it was Red Eyes Fusion, tho ultimately it doesn't matter since both represent the same problem.
It perfectly represents the decline and the main problem with the card design, virtually unrestricted, special summoning capability of high powered monsters that instead of having costs gives advantage equivalent to banned/eratad cards like Future Fusion, and Foolish burrial.
Of course it started rather low end with Neos Fusion, but it culminated into Branded Fusion, an archetype that doesn't just goes +1 but +5 all purely due to the double foolish burial + fusion summon from deck.

Exactly, its a joke to call these monsters "boss monsters" because of how ridiculously easy they are to summon now. These cards used to take set-up, now you can just spit them out on your first turn with no detriment or cost to you as a player, no choices, no intelligence.

[Soren]

Originally posted by Vivas:

Its just the best example of the Gen Z era of Yu-Gi-Oh. No, its NOT that powerful but it represents the "something for nothing" era really well, where most cards have minimal costs to actually use. I think that's the thing I don't like about modern yu-gi-oh more then anything else, there are no costs or drawbacks to using cards these days and costs have become more and more pathetic.

As opposed to the old days with pot of greed, graceful charity, and many other cards that either needed full bans or erratas. Obviously power creep is a problem though. I certainly agree as a fellow yugioh boomer even if your Gen Z comment is a bit cringe.

Pokemon has the same problem on a technical level. Fans addressed those problems like 10 years ago with Pokemon Online. By having several matchmaking categories. Like Never Used, Under Used, Over Used, and Uber tier matchmakings. But this is Konami. Most we get for alternative modes is festivals/events.

[Sov]

Originally posted by Soren:

Originally posted by Vivas:

Its just the best example of the Gen Z era of Yu-Gi-Oh. No, its NOT that powerful but it represents the "something for nothing" era really well, where most cards have minimal costs to actually use. I think that's the thing I don't like about modern yu-gi-oh more then anything else, there are no costs or drawbacks to using cards these days and costs have become more and more pathetic.

As opposed to the old days with pot of greed, graceful charity, and many other cards that either needed full bans or erratas. Obviously power creep is a problem though. I certainly agree as a fellow yugioh boomer even if your Gen Z comment is a bit cringe.

Pokemon has the same problem on a technical level. Fans addressed those problems like 10 years ago with Pokemon Online. By having several matchmaking categories. Like Never Used, Under Used, Over Used, and Uber tier matchmakings. But this is Konami. Most we get for alternative modes is festivals/events.

I don't think the Gen Z comment is "cringe" at all. I think its a valid observation, many good games that used to be fairly balanced, not just yu-gi-oh, but they have been totally broken to appeal to a generation that can't sit still and have an overblown opinion of their self-importance. It really says something about the failure of Millennial and late Gen X parenting.

I agree with you as well, YGO would benefit from a tiered system like the one you are suggesting but the game has sadly devolved into vomiting over the board for years and its neither fun nor engaging gameplay. Most people just net-deck, copy the same as each other and then do the same thing every game.

[Neptuna]

Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End was released in early 2004.
For the "cost" of banishing 2 of the most common cards from your graveyard you win the game and your opponent can't even respond because priority was a fun and balanced mechanic.

For actual modern Yugioh it would be Infernity Launcher / Archfiend
Enabled the first modern combo deck of building a board with multiple huge monsters with good effects and searches negation and destruction on the way. Also the reason why hard once per turn effects exist

[Soren]

Originally posted by Vivas:

I don't think the Gen Z comment is "cringe" at all. I think its a valid observation, many good games that used to be fairly balanced, not just yu-gi-oh, but they have been totally broken to appeal to a generation that can't sit still and have an overblown opinion of their self-importance. It really says something about the failure of Millennial and late Gen X parenting.

I agree with you as well, YGO would benefit from a tiered system like the one you are suggesting but the game has sadly devolved into vomiting over the board for years and its neither fun nor engaging gameplay. Most people just net-deck, copy the same as each other and then do the same thing every game.

Where you are coming from just seems like generational bias. Whether you are pretending to be someone suffering from it as too meme/point farm, or someone who actually has it, I dunno. But typically your type of behaviour is only made in satire these days. You know, making fun of how millennials are supposedly killing the diamond industry and what have you.

To put it plainly. The issue is a power creep one rather than the audience of yugioh all being Gen Z now. Power creeps in gaming aren't really the fault of newer generation being appealed too. Rather it's natural conclusion of card sales always trying to stay relevant and one up another. If anything, the data of yugioh professionals show a lean towards millennials still being the largest audience of the game and not Gen Z.

[Arkew Von Greffer]

the beginning of the end symbolise really well XD

[Lexida]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Zoodiacs stacking over each other , cmon bruh literally ignoring what is xyz is

[aben WHY (VC Off)]

Originally posted by Vivas:

I agree with you as well, YGO would benefit from a tiered system like the one you are suggesting but the game has sadly devolved into vomiting over the board for years and its neither fun nor engaging gameplay. Most people just net-deck, copy the same as each other and then do the same thing every game.

Net-decking isn't caused by modern Yugioh card designed, it's in every card game with online community.
Net-decking is a result of information being more accessible. Through collective effort, a format eventually become "solved" as people figured out the best list for each decks, or at least the core of them.

Complaining about net-decking is like complain about textbooks.
"Oh, so you just learn how to do this formula from the books instead of spending decade reinventing math from ground up? How pathetic." That's what you sound like.

[C.C. 折オリ枝 の 夫]

Check OP's post history, he's the guy who made multiple threads about Gen Z ruining the game, and among many other claims, he wants to add a special summon limit of 2.

[Aldain]

Maxx C is the only acceptable answer.

From the moment that card became part of the OCG meta Konami continued printing insane BS at an alarming rate under the false assumption that Maxx C would take care of it all.

[Prokaizer]

When you play just 1 card and that 1 card allows you to play another 20 cards, then you know that whole game is a joke.-

[Astrallight]

Originally posted by C.C. アヌビス:

Check OP's post history, he's the guy who made multiple threads about Gen Z ruining the game, and among many other claims, he wants to add a special summon limit of 2.

You can already do that with summon limit card. He properly dont even know that card exists.

[Papa Shekels]

Originally posted by Astrallight:

You can already do that with summon limit card. He properly dont even know that card exists.

That's to be expected from somebody who clearly doesn't play the game and just complains with political bait posts