I don't agree with modern Yugioh

[76561198159926978]

I think Master Duel as a platform is great and the f2p experience is very decent so this is not really a complain about the app but the game this app is representing which is Yugioh.

But overall the issues I have as a returning Yugioh player is:

• The game has become solitaire, the first thing you will notice is that it takes ages for the opponent to end their turn
  
• The rules about not being able to summon more than one monster may aswell just not exist anymore because you can litterally summon an horde of monsters and this is really not an specialized deck situation no, most decks work like that now
  
• Handtraps are broken and should not exist in the game, same as with the previous point, what is the point of having dedicated spell/trap cards zones when you can now disturb the player from your hand without the risk of your card being destroyed on the field?
  
• You can now constantly interrupt your opponent even from his own turn and from your hand
  
• Cards that look like bibles with tons of effects and little time to see what is happening
  
• This point is actually a complain with MD itself: why do you put an insta losing if you run out of time?, why not just give the turn to the opponent like any other card game, its like the developers of this game don't realize that Yugioh has tons of effects and stuff you need to read on top of the thinking you have to do and they decided it was a good idea to punish you with an insta loss if you run out of time?, its ridiculous.
  
• Remember I said your opponent can interrupt you in your own turn? well they can also basically play an entire turn on your own turn, its beyond ridiculous
  
• The powercreep is through the roof seriously the amount of ways that decks this days can get a one turn kill or very fast wins is insane, cards have way too much effects, too much protection, too much removal, too much special summon, too much of everything.
  
• Remember when black hole and raigeki were considered broken and even banned? well now you have ♥♥♥♥ like: " Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS- Sky Thunder" (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ name) that can do something even worse and its considered fine.
  
  Modern Yugioh feels like you were in a boxing match and instead of trading blows back and forward untill someone wins is as if the boxers had a Rope and handcufs and tried their best to tie the other one first and then when one of them is completely tied then now proceeds to ♥♥♥♥ him up and win. Its some coward stuff seriously.
  
  I just don't feel the same satisfaction of playing when I played the old DS WC games or even old IRL Yugioh, I feel like the game just changed too much and made it just not fun anymore, no wonder many people prefer other card games even if they lack the complexity of Yugioh they are fun at least and old Yugioh was complex and it didn't needed all of this new stuff that I listed.
  
  Honestly modern Yugioh is for cowards that don't want a real fight, you just want to opress your opponent and tie his hands as much as you can so he doesn't have a chance and you have 99% chances of not suffer any retaliation.

[Raven]

You know, reading this list, and as stupid as it might sound...I feel like a lot of these issues are addressed and fixed someone in rush duels. I kinda would like more love given to rush duels. I get its the "actually for kids" version, but for real. It's fun, they don't pretend summoning limits matter and the artwork and abilities are simplified and pretty easy to get into. finishing a turn in under 2 minutes is a plus as well.

[uL Willy-G]

this is why i fell in love with cardfight vanguard instead, i still play yugioh occasionally. with vanguard you dont have handtraps and the only interaction you have on an opponent turn is choosing to guard, no book long card text to read, the new format makes it impossible to brick and guaranties both players get to do the bare minimum what their deck is designed for. no otk decks with 5 mins combos. just an overall better experience

[Raven]

Originally posted by uL Willy-G:

this is why i fell in love with cardfight vanguard instead, i still play yugioh occasionally. with vanguard you dont have handtraps and the only interaction you have on an opponent turn is choosing to guard, no book long card text to read, the new format makes it impossible to brick and guaranties both players get to do the bare minimum what their deck is designed for. no otk decks with 5 mins combos. just an overall better experience

I mean...guardian circle mechanics are still the same as hand traps, there is some really wonky combos you can do (well they banned those cards for the most part that won't allow people to guard). I do agree with most of your sentiment.

Honestly though, the thing I like best about CFVG is the tribalism. Even with standard, things are still seperated, so when you really love a deck, you don't have to worry about it getting banned/limited because someone took some janky combo outside the archetype to break it. And their way of dealing with it is better. If you use X card, you may not use Y card with it. Way better than outright banning stuff.

[76561198159926978]

Originally posted by Robin:

Originally posted by Fenrir:

• The game has become solitaire, the first thing you will notice is that it takes ages for the opponent to end their turn
  
• The rules about not being able to summon more than one monster may aswell just not exist anymore because you can litterally summon an horde of monsters and this is really not an specialized deck situation no, most decks work like that now
  
• Handtraps are broken and should not exist in the game, same as with the previous point, what is the point of having dedicated spell/trap cards zones when you can now disturb the player from your hand without the risk of your card being destroyed on the field?
  
• You can now constantly interrupt your opponent even from his own turn and from your hand
  
• Cards that look like bibles with tons of effects and little time to see what is happening
  
• This point is actually a complain with MD itself: why do you put an insta losing if you run out of time?, why not just give the turn to the opponent like any other card game, its like the developers of this game don't realize that Yugioh has tons of effects and stuff you need to read on top of the thinking you have to do and they decided it was a good idea to punish you with an insta loss if you run out of time?, its ridiculous.
  
• Remember I said your opponent can interrupt you in your own turn? well they can also basically play an entire turn on your own turn, its beyond ridiculous
  
• The powercreep is through the roof seriously the amount of ways that decks this days can get a one turn kill or very fast wins is insane, cards have way too much effects, too much protection, too much removal, too much special summon, too much of everything.
  
• Remember when black hole and raigeki were considered broken and even banned? well now you have ♥♥♥♥ like: " Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS- Sky Thunder" (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ name) that can do something even worse and its considered fine.

Not gonna bother reading any other posts, but I just want to talk about your points (not saying I disagree, i'd actually love to agree and complain but I have to try and be logical):

1. Yes, people do tend to take very long. Unfortunately this is a problem with YGO rules and how chains work and nothing can be done about this, unless a new Master Rule comes out that changes the game drastically.
2. Summoning 4 billion monsters has been a thing for a LONG time. I too think being able to summon your whole deck sucks, but I personally hate soft once per turns. More often than not, decks that take a long time recycle their monsters so often that they may as well just verse AI if they don't want any real interaction.
3. Once again, the state of YGO means handtraps are an evil necessity. With the current game, handtraps are pretty much the only way to not let your opponent set up a board that is totally unable to be played against. Remember when MD came out and Drytron was just an absolute cancerous mess that no one wanted to play against? I STILL hate playing against Drytron now but only because their turns take as long as an entire duel does. Anyway, handtraps are the only way to have any interaction with an opponent on your turn, but are also good in forcing you to craft your deck to be able to play around them. Without them, every deck would just consist of exactly the same cards.
4. See above.
5. Eh, it's not that bad. Only a few cards really are a pain (Endymion cards/Synchro Dragons). Pendulum cards have a lot of text but they really only have one important effect. Most of the time I just look for keywords like "target"/"destroy"/"send".
6. Doesn't MD give you like 8 minutes? If you can't finish your turn in 8 minutes then you really deserve to lose.
7. Opponents playing on your turn really only is recent; first with Floo then Tear/Exosister. Most decks only do the bare minimum on the opponents turn (activate a quick effect or trap). Yes it sucks watching a Tear player do a second turn on your turn but blame Konami.
8. Every card has a weakness, but yes there are alot of unfun cards to play against. I versed a cyber dragon deck in Legacy today who went second, summoned one cyber dragon then tributed that and my entire board for some cyber dragon fusion. I was super mad and thought it was really unfair because there is literally nothing you can do about it, but then I remember cyber dragon sucks and it never sees any real play. I'm still pissed about it, but there's always a way to overcome a card.
9. Raigeki and Dark Hole are still good cards. The only difference is monsters have actual cool effects now rather than being a 1900 beatstick.

Handtraps dont solve anything, only make the game more unbearable, either constant interruption or solitaire or even both at the same time.

All your other points are just making excuses and making apologizes for the big corporation, more gaslighting trying to make us believe we are exagerating and we aren't.

Blocked.

[Daguza]

Originally posted by uL Willy-G:

this is why i fell in love with cardfight vanguard instead, i still play yugioh occasionally. with vanguard you dont have handtraps and the only interaction you have on an opponent turn is choosing to guard, no book long card text to read, the new format makes it impossible to brick and guaranties both players get to do the bare minimum what their deck is designed for. no otk decks with 5 mins combos. just an overall better experience

Yea I really wish Vanguard Zero on Mobile wasn't the simplified version of it. Otherwise I would stuck with it.

[「AMOEBA」]

Originally posted by Fenrir:

Originally posted by Robin:

Not gonna bother reading any other posts, but I just want to talk about your points (not saying I disagree, i'd actually love to agree and complain but I have to try and be logical):

1. Yes, people do tend to take very long. Unfortunately this is a problem with YGO rules and how chains work and nothing can be done about this, unless a new Master Rule comes out that changes the game drastically.
2. Summoning 4 billion monsters has been a thing for a LONG time. I too think being able to summon your whole deck sucks, but I personally hate soft once per turns. More often than not, decks that take a long time recycle their monsters so often that they may as well just verse AI if they don't want any real interaction.
3. Once again, the state of YGO means handtraps are an evil necessity. With the current game, handtraps are pretty much the only way to not let your opponent set up a board that is totally unable to be played against. Remember when MD came out and Drytron was just an absolute cancerous mess that no one wanted to play against? I STILL hate playing against Drytron now but only because their turns take as long as an entire duel does. Anyway, handtraps are the only way to have any interaction with an opponent on your turn, but are also good in forcing you to craft your deck to be able to play around them. Without them, every deck would just consist of exactly the same cards.
4. See above.
5. Eh, it's not that bad. Only a few cards really are a pain (Endymion cards/Synchro Dragons). Pendulum cards have a lot of text but they really only have one important effect. Most of the time I just look for keywords like "target"/"destroy"/"send".
6. Doesn't MD give you like 8 minutes? If you can't finish your turn in 8 minutes then you really deserve to lose.
7. Opponents playing on your turn really only is recent; first with Floo then Tear/Exosister. Most decks only do the bare minimum on the opponents turn (activate a quick effect or trap). Yes it sucks watching a Tear player do a second turn on your turn but blame Konami.
8. Every card has a weakness, but yes there are alot of unfun cards to play against. I versed a cyber dragon deck in Legacy today who went second, summoned one cyber dragon then tributed that and my entire board for some cyber dragon fusion. I was super mad and thought it was really unfair because there is literally nothing you can do about it, but then I remember cyber dragon sucks and it never sees any real play. I'm still pissed about it, but there's always a way to overcome a card.
9. Raigeki and Dark Hole are still good cards. The only difference is monsters have actual cool effects now rather than being a 1900 beatstick.

Handtraps dont solve anything, only make the game more unbearable, either constant interruption or solitaire or even both at the same time.

All your other points are just making excuses and making apologizes for the big corporation, more gaslighting trying to make us believe we are exagerating and we aren't.

Blocked.

Comments like these are the reason why Yugi-boomers are so hated.

OP does not want to understand how or why the game works the way it does. He doesn't even want to play Yugioh. He wants to play what he remembers Yugioh to be and anything else is wrong.

You cannot disprove OP because none of his arguments are based in fact, they are pure feelings and nostalgia for a game that did not exist.

[HeraldOfOpera]

Originally posted by 「TAKE ME AS I AM」:

Originally posted by Fenrir:

Handtraps dont solve anything, only make the game more unbearable, either constant interruption or solitaire or even both at the same time.

All your other points are just making excuses and making apologizes for the big corporation, more gaslighting trying to make us believe we are exagerating and we aren't.

Blocked.

Comments like these are the reason why Yugi-boomers are so hated.

OP does not want to understand how or why the game works the way it does. He doesn't even want to play Yugioh. He wants to play what he remembers Yugioh to be and anything else is wrong.

You cannot disprove OP because none of his arguments are based in fact, they are pure feelings and nostalgia for a game that did not exist.

To be fair, the game they played did in fact exist at their playground. The problem is that it was never going to be possible to make a game that is exclusively that, not even by restricting the card pool to what it was back then because the tournament decks at the time were cancer and it turns out that there were even more powerful decks that could have been run.

[「AMOEBA」]

Originally posted by HeraldOfOpera:

Originally posted by 「TAKE ME AS I AM」:

Comments like these are the reason why Yugi-boomers are so hated.

OP does not want to understand how or why the game works the way it does. He doesn't even want to play Yugioh. He wants to play what he remembers Yugioh to be and anything else is wrong.

You cannot disprove OP because none of his arguments are based in fact, they are pure feelings and nostalgia for a game that did not exist.

To be fair, the game they played did in fact exist at their playground. The problem is that it was never going to be possible to make a game that is exclusively that, not even by restricting the card pool to what it was back then because the tournament decks at the time were cancer and it turns out that there were even more powerful decks that could have been run.

OP wants the type of game from his childhood where Patrician of Darkness making you attack your own monsters was Tier 1 https://ms.yugipedia.com/thumb/3/3d/PatricianofDarkness-SBTK-EN-C-1E.png/300px-PatricianofDarkness-SBTK-EN-C-1E.png . What you're saying is basically right. They don't want to play Yugioh, they want to be a kid again playing on the playground

[Daguza]

Yugizoomers act like dis game came out in da stone age where info wasn't readily available. We had access to internet back then and even if not we had magazines and word of mouth... The game came out in the 2000s after all. Even back then players knew that Dark Magician and Blue Eyes were not good because they took 2 tributes and that Maju Garzet beat down was not best deck. I myself was already going to locals and regional as early as 2003. Meta wasn't mystery for no one except really young kids maybe.

[Sandro]

Agree, this game is devolved into a coinflip simulator with yugioh skin. Such amazing deck diversity! Every deck does the same special summon spam and cockblock strategy with the same handtraps. Its pathetic and sad really.

[HeraldOfOpera]

Originally posted by Daguza:

Yugizoomers act like dis game came out in da stone age where info wasn't readily available. We had access to internet back then and even if not we had magazines and word of mouth... The game came out in the 2000s after all. Even back then players knew that Dark Magician and Blue Eyes were not good because they took 2 tributes and that Maju Garzet beat down was not best deck. I myself was already going to locals and regional as early as 2003. Meta wasn't mystery for no one except really young kids maybe.

People who weren't even born yet in 2003 will be able to vote in the next US election. The zoomers are assuming the boomers were in fact kids at the time.

[Yerc2]

It's very disingenuous to ignore opinions about the objective state of the game by setting up completely inaccurate strawmen arguments while labelling someone is a "Yugiboomer".

It's possible that people actually want to play a TCG instead of watching someone play solitaire.

If you can't defend certain aspects of the game, that only speaks volumes about the state the game is in.

Just because someone wants to be able to play at all, that does not mean they want the game to go back 20 years. There is a healthy balance.
Even though the game was overall healthier 20 years ago, I'd still prefer to not go that far back either.

[「AMOEBA」]

Originally posted by Yerc2:

It's very disingenuous to ignore opinions about the objective state of the game by setting up completely inaccurate strawmen arguments while labelling someone is a "Yugiboomer".

Nobody is ignoring opinions on the state of the game. You see how much I write, you think I ignore people's comments?

I seem to remember replying to your comment 4 days ago

Originally posted by 「TAKE ME AS I AM」:

Originally posted by Yerc2:

~snip~

Feel free to take a look back

And I never got a reply from you, you vanish and then return replying to a completely different comment I made. If anybody is ignoring things it's you. You cherry pick arguments you think you have a chance at winning but the fact of the matter is you have no ground to stand on and can barely make a point. Any time someone claps back, you run away never to be seen again and the cycle continues.

Can you please name a time I set up a "completely inaccurate strawmen argument" and I'll reply back to you.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

It's possible that people actually want to play a TCG instead of watching someone play solitaire.

And it's possible that there are other games that are available and worth trying if Master Duel doesn't suit your fancy. I've named several throughout the course of this thread and I'll name more if you'd like.

Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Hearthstone, Legends of Runeterra, Shadowverse, Gwent, Vanguard, Flesh & Blood?

There's a sea of content that you can participate in, a sea of games that might peak your fancy yet you and many like you choose to fascinate yourselves on a game that hasn't been the thing you remembered for over a decades, possibly longer, but you choose not to. Why if not purely out of Nostalgia for the memories you have of what you played.

What is that if it's not a Yugiboomer in it's purest form?

Originally posted by Yerc2:

If you can't defend certain aspects of the game, that only speaks volumes about the state the game is in.

What kind of argument is this??? If I defend every aspect of the game I'm a Komoney fanboy. If I admit parts of the game or Konami are flawed, then the entire game is bad or in a poor state as you're implying.

I literally cannot win with you. Why does the game need to be perfect for you to enjoy it? How does me admitting that Konami can improve how they run the game imply a poor state of the game? Wouldn't me admitting that parts of Yugioh, like Konami's poor communication for example, can be improved mean that I'm being objective about the state of the game which would mean that the positive things I say about the game are also true?

Like what is your argument here?

Originally posted by Yerc2:

Just because someone wants to be able to play at all, that does not mean they want the game to go back 20 years. There is a healthy balance.
Even though the game was overall healthier 20 years ago, I'd still prefer to not go that far back either.

What is healthy to you? This is what you and people who complain about Yugioh do not understand. You can't even tell me why modern yugioh isn't healthy. You see things you don't like and automatically assume the game isn't healthy, as if people all over the world don't enjoy the game and like those aspects of it.

Again, it seems like the people who complain about modern Yugioh, don't actually want to play Yugioh. Yet for some reason they continue to complain about Yugioh instead of playing other games that embody the aspects of the game they seemingly enjoy.

[Yerc2]

Originally posted by 「TAKE ME AS I AM」:

Originally posted by Yerc2:

It's very disingenuous to ignore opinions about the objective state of the game by setting up completely inaccurate strawmen arguments while labelling someone is a "Yugiboomer".

Nobody is ignoring opinions on the state of the game. You see how much I write, you think I ignore people's comments?

I seem to remember replying to your comment 4 days ago

Originally posted by 「TAKE ME AS I AM」:

Feel free to take a look back

And I never got a reply from you, you vanish and then return replying to a completely different comment I made. If anybody is ignoring things it's you. You cherry pick arguments you think you have a chance at winning but the fact of the matter is you have no ground to stand on and can barely make a point. Any time someone claps back, you run away never to be seen again and the cycle continues.

Can you please name a time I set up a "completely inaccurate strawmen argument" and I'll reply back to you.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

It's possible that people actually want to play a TCG instead of watching someone play solitaire.

And it's possible that there are other games that are available and worth trying if Master Duel doesn't suit your fancy. I've named several throughout the course of this thread and I'll name more if you'd like.

Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Hearthstone, Legends of Runeterra, Shadowverse, Gwent, Vanguard, Flesh & Blood?

There's a sea of content that you can participate in, a sea of games that might peak your fancy yet you and many like you choose to fascinate yourselves on a game that hasn't been the thing you remembered for over a decades, possibly longer, but you choose not to. Why if not purely out of Nostalgia for the memories you have of what you played.

What is that if it's not a Yugiboomer in it's purest form?

Originally posted by Yerc2:

If you can't defend certain aspects of the game, that only speaks volumes about the state the game is in.

What kind of argument is this??? If I defend every aspect of the game I'm a Komoney fanboy. If I admit parts of the game or Konami are flawed, then the entire game is bad or in a poor state as you're implying.

I literally cannot win with you. Why does the game need to be perfect for you to enjoy it? How does me admitting that Konami can improve how they run the game imply a poor state of the game? Wouldn't me admitting that parts of Yugioh, like Konami's poor communication for example, can be improved mean that I'm being objective about the state of the game which would mean that the positive things I say about the game are also true?

Like what is your argument here?

Originally posted by Yerc2:

Just because someone wants to be able to play at all, that does not mean they want the game to go back 20 years. There is a healthy balance.
Even though the game was overall healthier 20 years ago, I'd still prefer to not go that far back either.

What is healthy to you? This is what you and people who complain about Yugioh do not understand. You can't even tell me why modern yugioh isn't healthy. You see things you don't like and automatically assume the game isn't healthy, as if people all over the world don't enjoy the game and like those aspects of it.

Again, it seems like the people who complain about modern Yugioh, don't actually want to play Yugioh. Yet for some reason they continue to complain about Yugioh instead of playing other games that embody the aspects of the game they seemingly enjoy.

Forgive me for not formatting this reply properly, it's just kind of messy with multiple comments being weaved in and out. I'll try to respond to each of your messages in order though.

You reply to peoples' comments, but sometimes ignore or deflect from the content of their messages without actually addressing what they're saying.
Like when someone mentions things in the game that they're dissatisfied with. Some of which are objective aspects of the game.

You're associating comments about distaste towards the current state of the game, people desiring the game to have better balance, or for a the game to have more strategic back and forth gameplay with "ignorance towards the game".
It's possible to be knowledgeable about the game and still reach these same conclusions.
In this particular case, I just missed your comment, because I don't always go through every comment since I last replied.
There are also times when I just stop replying to circular arguments when I've already corrected someone, or when someone's reply doesn't detract from my point.

It's not that MasterDuel isn't enjoyable. It is enjoyable, and it could be more enjoyable. So I think it's reasonable to discuss opinions about what could improve the game.
In my particular case, nostalgia has nothing to do with it. A lot of complaints I see about MD aren't about the newer mechanics themselves, but rather the extent of what the newer mechanics enable due to years of the powercreep of cards.
Like if someone is floodgated or has all their stuff negated- That's not enjoyable, but the mechanics themselves aren't the sole cause of the situation.

I don't think the game needs to be perfect either. But I will always want it to get better.
I just think it's unhealthy for the game to revolve around taking away your opponent's ability to play on turn 1. And for player 2 to have to accept defeat if they don't get specific cards in their opening hand. At least with the consistency that modern meta decks have.
Such an anti-interaction meta is like a glaring issue for a TCG IMO, even if it is intentional. I guess this just boils down to preference though.

In general, I believe that the game would be healthier if turns were shorter, duels lasted more turns, there was less consistency and low/no cost control effects or card advantage, more powerful enabling cards were banned, and getting locked out wasn't as common.
I don't think it would be good if the game went to turn-set-pass.
I believe you're making a couple inaccurate assumptions.
1. That people do not understand the game
2. That people like individual aspects of the game, rather than the game as a whole

It would be nice to play the game without such a narrow viable deck roster, to not consistently lose you ability to resolve cards, and to not have to wait 10 minutes for your opponent to finish their first turn. I will never stop preferring for the game to go in that direction.
Despite those issues I have with the game, it is still enjoyable, that's why I still play it.

[「AMOEBA」]

I actually really enjoy this comment because it's genuinely one of, if not the first time someone has genuinely given valid criticisms of the game and master duel without resorting to the fallacy of not wanting to accept modern yugioh's identity.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

You're associating comments about distaste towards the current state of the game, people desiring the game to have better balance, or for a the game to have more strategic back and forth gameplay with "ignorance towards the game".

Personally I like the back and forth of paper Yugioh, side decking helps a lot in that aspect as you are rewarded for planning for matchups you know you might face and implementing ways that your deck can adapt.

Master Duel's B01 system fails in this aspect and the sad truth is I don't think adding a B03 format would fix it. A sizeable chunk of MD players, to put it nicely, aren't the sharpest tools in the shed; I doubt most even with tournament decklists would understand how to properly sidedeck . That coupled with the simulator's already slow pace and bloated economy, and division of the playerbase I think the mode would just fail.

Right now I think the balance of the game is honestly pretty good there's a lot of decks that are viable right now and with a new banlist that just got announced, the top decks are getting hit again with pretty substantial consistency hits. MD's back and forth isn't traditional, but with the exception of one card, I think proper deck building can make the game really fun to play and interact with.

The reason why I say people who complain about MD are ignorant about the game is well... look at the people in this thread. Many of them have flat out admitted they don't even play the modern game, or got into Master Duel more than just surface level yet here they are complaining thinking they know how to fix the game. It's not correct to assume that for everybody I understand, but for a good majority of people it is genuinely pure ignorance.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

A lot of complaints I see about MD aren't about the newer mechanics themselves, but rather the extent of what the newer mechanics enable due to years of the powercreep of cards.

And this is something I 100% agree with. Konami has a single format and it's an eternal one meaning every card is playable to a degree. Every set needs to bring something new to the table or be stronger than the last so naturally powercreep is going to happen for the new product to be relevant. Konami also doesn't support older formats unless by sheer coincidence like the Yugioh 25th anniversary products or if they reprint cards and give an old archetype support.

There's no segway into getting into the game so just jumping in can seem very daunting to new and returning players which I wish they handled better.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

Like if someone is floodgated or has all their stuff negated- That's not enjoyable, but the mechanics themselves aren't the sole cause of the situation.

I don't think the game needs to be perfect either. But I will always want it to get better.
I just think it's unhealthy for the game to revolve around taking away your opponent's ability to play on turn 1. And for player 2 to have to accept defeat if they don't get specific cards in their opening hand. At least with the consistency that modern meta decks have.
Such an anti-interaction meta is like a glaring issue for a TCG IMO, even if it is intentional. I guess this just boils down to preference though.

In general, I believe that the game would be healthier if turns were shorter, duels lasted more turns, there was less consistency and low/no cost control effects or card advantage, more powerful enabling cards were banned, and getting locked out wasn't as common.

This is sadly just how Yugioh's identity as a high speed game as developed. Honestly Yugioh is one of the fastest TCGs on the market right now and while I get what you're saying, I don't think slowing it down is the correct answer as that's part of the reason why people play the game.

I don't think changing this part of the game would help since depending on how you look at it, Yugioh is too far gone to suddenly decide to take the game in a new direction. It's why I recommend playing another game that actually has the slower methodical playstyles that older yugioh had.

A common bad suggestion I see is limiting the amount of special summons a player can do in a turn, for example like 5, except if this happened then a bunch of decks just cease to function. My favorite deck Live Twin for example, would literally get mid combo and then just stop. I don't think that's very fair imo or reasonable to expect Konami to print new cards just to accommodate this arbitrary restriction.

Ironically, Konami did actually attempt to slow the game down with "New Master Rules" otherwise known as Master Rules 4, and... well... everybody hated it. It was when Links were introduced and one of the things that happened were that you couldn't special summon from the extra deck unless it was to the Extra Monster Zone or to a zone a Link monster pointed to.

It's not exactly what you explained, but the Yugioh community at the time hated it so much that "Master Rules 2020/2021" or "Master Rule 5" came out and essentially changed everything back to what it originally was + Link monsters. What I mean to say is I don't think core changes to the game or it's pace would go over well simply because it didn't in the past.

Originally posted by Yerc2:

It would be nice to play the game without such a narrow viable deck roster,

One thing I will say about both Yugioh and Master Duel is that the game is probably as diverse as it's been in a long time.

I went to locals on Saturday playing Live Twin Spright and I played against a pretty good variety of decks. I played against Dinos, Naturia Runick, Kashtira and Blind Second Gren Maju, in that order and a lot of these were very close games. I actually had a lot of fun that day and if anybody reading this has the opporunity, make a deck you enjoy and go to locals. Chances are you'll have fun I promise.

Even Master Duel, a game where people complain about Tearlaments till the cows come home honestly has a really solid meta right now. Just look at the tournament tier list: https://www.masterduelmeta.com/tier-list 8 decks that are solid enough in tournament to be worth placing in a tier list and you don't have to play them if you don't want to.

https://www.masterduelmeta.com/top-decks Look at all these decks that people are playing, some are meta yes, but many of them are made by people who just genuinely enjoy playing the deck they do and want to share their builds.

https://www.reddit.com/r/masterduel/comments/14ceiax/finally_got_to_master_rank_with_my_trusty_fluffals/ Here's a post I saw a couple of days ago of someone making it to Master Rank using Fluffals and you can bet that's not meta.

The game can be fun if you want it to be and people shouldn't think they're forced into playing the meta or nothing else. God people are playing Ghoti after all and they're awful. I think there's valid things worth changing about Master Duel, but the game of Yugioh? Nah. It's pretty cool