A lot of duelists eyes were on this event to see if the dominant trio of decks (Dino-Rabbit, Inzektors and Wind-Ups) would stay the course in their superiority or would a duelist who swam against the current rise again much as what has happened in prior YCS events. Rogue duelists everywhere rejoiced as the top 64 players after 12 rounds of play sat ready to square off. While the trinity of powerful decks were represented in the brackets, the biggest surprise were the number of rogue decks that made their way to the top tables. The severely underrated Dark World deck won out the main event surprising everyone, but a lot of talk surrounded a particular theme that hadn’t seen play in quite some time.

Fast forward to YCS Texas, where Dino Rabbit finally won alongside a field of Dragons, Inzektors and showing no signs of slowing down, the Elemental Hero Deck made an appearance (as well as a spin on a fave of yours truly, Blackwings)!

The release of the Premium Collection Tin saw the TCG release of Masked Hero Acid which inspired many duelists, including yours truly to take another look at the Elemental Hero deck theme. The Elemental Hero deck has many tricks to its name, and some of the plays it has were noted to counter the most played decks in tournament play, especially what many view as the current deck to beat in Dino-Rabbit. With the changes in ignition effect priority finally hitting the TCG market (OCG has had this ruling for a while now) Dino-Rabbit seems to be on a decline as cards like Effect Veiler rise in abundance in playability and are showing up in main decks everywhere.

In the recent weeks I have been tinkering away with the Hero theme and found many combos and cards that go against the current meta that are so prevalent in this format. I personally have shied away from the Mask Hero into Masked Hero Acid play that many duelists have taken a liking to and instead have focused more on an anti-meta approach that can counter Dino-Rabbit, Wind-Ups, the Inzektor theme and another deck we’ll be featuring soon, the Hieratics. Let’s take a look at the current deck list I’ve been testing out.

Monsters: 13

[3x] Elemental Hero Neos Alius

[2x] Elemental Hero Ocean

[1x] Elemental Hero Stratos

[1x] Gorz the Emissary of Darkness

[1x] Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

[1x] Snowman Eater

[1x] Spirit Reaper

[2x] Thunder King Rai-Oh

Spells: 17

[1x] Book of Moon

[1x] Dark Hole

[1x] Future Fusion

[3x] Gemini Spark

[1x] Heavy Storm

[1x] Mind Control

[2x] Miracle Fusion

[1x] Monster Reborn

[3x] Pot of Duality

[1x] Reinforcement of the Army

[2x] Super Polymerization

Traps: 11

[1x] Bottomless Trap Hole

[2x] Fiendish Chain

[2x] Hero Blast

[1x] Solemn Judgment

[2x] Solemn Warning

[1x] Starlight Road

[2x] Torrential Tribute

Side Deck: 15

[2x] Cyber Dragon

[1x] Snowman Eater

[2x] Forbidden Lance

[3x] Mystical Space Typhoon

[1x] Bottomless Trap Hole

[2x] Chain Disappearance

[1x] Compulsory Evacuation Device

[2x] Dimensional Prison

Extra Deck: 15

[1x] Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

[1x] Dragon Knight – Draco Equiste

[2x] Elemental Hero Absolute Zero

[1x] Elemental Hero Gaia

[1x] Elemental Hero Great Tornado

[1x] Elemental Hero Nova Master

[2x] Elemental Hero The Shining

[1x] Ally of Justice Catastor

[1x] Stardust Dragon

[2x] Blade Armor Ninja

[1x] Number 39: Utopia

[1x] Number 39C: Utopia Ray

A pricey addition but not necessary

Now I understand that the lack of Maxx “C” may be a little out of of left field, but as it isn’t a cheap card by any means, one could change up the main board line-up to include Thunder King Rai-Oh in that slot which frees up some side board options as well. I wanted to work this deck on a budget, and for most players this is the case. So no Maxx “C” since quite frankly, I don’t wish to purchase or trade for them.

It's Morphing Time!

For a deck with many aggressors, surprisingly enough the proper way to play this deck is to maintain a degree of board control and card presence throughout the early and mid-game. Too many players get punished for early aggressive attack pushes and lose out to the bigger plays against the aforementioned Big Three and even more-so in the mirror match. Super Polymerization is the best card you want to see in many games as its text basically states it cannot be negated. As an example, when the Dino Rabbit player makes their Dolkka or Laggia play, a well-timed Super Polymerization removes the huge threat from the field and allows you to special summon Elemental Hero Nova Master from your Extra Deck. With his high attack, their isn’t much in the Dino Rabbit arsenal that can take him down, and with back up protection in the deck’s many spells and traps, the sudden change in the game state can coast you towards victory.

One Fiery Hero!

One of the many great plays this deck can make begins on its first turn. Opening with a hand of Reinforcement of the Army or E – Emergency Call if you wish to go that route; means you’re searching out Elemental Hero Stratos, which in turn when he is summoned and provided his effect isn’t negated by any of your opponents cards, you can search for another hero from your deck to your hand. With the recursion effect of Elemental Hero Ocean, Stratos’ second effect becomes even more prominent, as he can also destroy opposing magics and traps up to the number of Hero cards on your side of the field. Remember you can only choose one of these when Stratos is summoned, so knowledge of your position and game state is very important when playing him.

Ride With The Wind ~ Elemental Hero! STRATOS!

The rest of the monster line-up is meant to throw some tricks at the opponent. Neo-Spacian Grand Mole is a card that can get annoying in almost every match-up and forces opponents to waste a card on him if they wish to get rid of him. This means one less option to take down the decks many mighty heroes, and a great advantage for the player running the Hero deck.

Snowman Eater and Spirit Reaper provide a good sense of tempo, and Snowman Eater is also a water type monster which creates fuel for a Miracle Fusion play into Elemental Hero Absolute Zero, who stands tall with 2500 attack points and a destruction effect that can ruin your opponents plans if he leaves the field in any way.

One of the weaknesses of the deck is its lack of option against Dark themed decks like Blackwings or Dark World or even the Inzektor theme. While currently Hero duelists have to be smart about their side deck options in these match-ups, a look to the future presents a nice option that many Hero duelists will probably want to own when it releases in August. Below is a card art preview of the Dark Elemental Hero; ELEMENTAL HERO ESCURIADO!

Even In the Darkness, A Hero Emerges!

There have been a ton of articles written about the brony culture from an outsiders perspective (you can Google them) this isn’t going to be one of those them. This is going to be more of a personal one, telling you about my experience and why I choose to represent Equestria  to the fullest. I do get quite a few puzzled looks as to why I have a plastic pony on my book bag (which is my favorite pony Applejack.)

My indoctrination into the herd started a year or two ago. I used to lurk the hive mind of the internet and during my travels I would stumble across pony threads that would contain images like this:

My curiosity was piqued and I decided to check out the first two episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which was a two-parter. As I initially expected, it was very girly for the first few minutes. What I did notice was that it was very colorful and the flash animation was pretty damn crisp. I recognized one of the voice actors right off the bat, it was Tara Strong . Tara is a fairly prolific voice actress, and during this time to me she represented X-23, a character I used in Marvel vs  Capcom 3. In any case, the episode seemed very tame until they introduced Nightmare Moon (or Luna, a horse that controls night), and the escape from prison on the moon in which she was placed by her sister, Princess Celestia. Celestia and Luna are deities of sorts because they control the day and night cycle. It’s later revealed that Nightmare Moon was once a princess too, but went nuts with jealousy over how all the ponies loved the day and slept through the night. Ultimately, she tried to cause an eternal night so all the ponies loved her too.  Yeah, she did it for the love of the ponies, but she really tried to cause an eternal night? Wow, okay I’m interested in this. And from that point it went on, I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the pony universe. They battled hydras, dragons, Cerberus, giant ethereal celestial bears, manticores, cockatrices, changelings and just about every mythological monster save for Medusa and probably Typhoon. There’s even an episode about sharing featuring  Native Americans. In this case they were buffalo and the whole episode was about how their stampeding land was taken from them by settlers out west for apple trees which were crucial to the settlers there. There was even a Star Trek homage when they had Q-like character appear and spread chaos on the show. The best part was that the character was voiced by John de Lancie. The subject matter and pop culture references made the show stand out to me, but what really endeared me was how the producers embraced the community and made references to memes in the show.

I’d like you to meet Derpy Hooves. She is a pony that was born by pure chance. Her derpy eyes were caused by an animation glitch, but that didn’t stop fans to taking a liking to her. She grew in popularity so much that in this past season  she was given a speaking part. She also was at the center of some controversy, some people…am I right? In any case, the level of fan and production interaction is refreshing. We do sometimes get it in the gaming industry, but here it seems more genuine.

The community itself has been absolutely amazing by creating music, art and even fighting games based on the series. This series has brought out some pretty creative and talented people. Below is one of my favorite rap songs of all time, and it’s pony based.

There has been a ton of parodies released and since it’s the internet, Rule 34 is always in play. The thing that surprised me most was that as bad as the ‘net can be, often the fans of the series have been positive.

Why have I chosen to become a brony and join the herd? I think I’ve always been a brony to be honest. I just haven’t had the word for it. Bronys are generally happy and positive people. I have always been one to try to see the good side of things no matter how bad a situation may be. Each of the main ponies represents something different in the series. Together they form the Elements of Harmony, something that is essential to the survival of all. In any case, my favorite ponies in the series are; Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Applejack, a southern apple farmer represents honesty. Rainbow Dash, a high flying Pegasus daredevil represents loyalty. Pinkie Pie, a uhh… rock farmer and party hostess represents laughter.  These are the three things that I feel that represent me the best. Also, the fact that Applejack is a blonde just like my favorite character Cammy in the Street Fighter series.

I knew within a few episodes that I was a fan of this show, my Facebook and Twitter feeds reflected that. Initially people thought that I was trolling because at the time, it was the thing to do. However, in time people began to relent on their stance against ponies, at least when it came to me because they realized I was a genuine fan of the show. Eventually I became the Pony King to most of the people that know me. Someone even painted a picture of me in all my glory. What does it mean to be the Pony King? Well it’s just that I was everyone’s favorite brony. I guess that says a lot about me and the community. If you remember, I brought my Applejack toy with me to EVO to calm me down and keep me focused. Applejack has made her trip with me to other tournaments as well, and this year and people aren’t making fun of it like they used to. Not only that, but someone that I was dating (it’s complicated now) got me an amazing hoodie from the show, and an MLP ice cream cake.  A girl getting a guy a cake based on a TV show for little girls may have been seen as very questionable back in the day, but today it’s fine. I guess that’s just a sign of the times.

For me, watching the show is part of my Saturday ritual. I do what have to do during the day, come home, prepare food then watch the day’s episode and unwind. The episodes for the most part are good, but I hate some character specific episodes because not all of the characters are very interesting (I’m looking at you Rarity and Spike). Eventually I found myself gripped by the stories presented. As simplistic as they were, I often tried to figure out why the bad guy was a bad guy. In this season’s finale, I knew something was wrong but I couldn’t figure out why it was wrong, or what the bad guy was up to until it was revealed, and man I was blown away. When I suggest this show to people I tell them to watch a few episodes, because it takes you a while to get acclimated to Equestria.

This year at PAX East I have never gotten so much bro-hoof (hand shake using just the knuckles, think of a pound) just for wearing my Applejack t-shirt. I won’t lie to you, it felt incredible to be just accepted by a random assortment of people not based on my skin color,gaming ability, fame levels, money, or etc, but just based on the fact that I like ponies. I even gave out hugs! I don’t  feel as if I have trouble making friends, sometimes I’m very likable but I could see how if you are a Flutterguy (A shy brony. The name comes from Fluttershy, who is the most timid on the show) being a fan ponies could give you common ground with another person, and make it easier to talk with them. Acceptance is a powerful thing.

So come hug me bro.

Beside the usual show, the GeekFist crew created and celebrated their very own holiday called Troll-Mas. The idea was to give other members of the crew something related to their interests but totally unexpected. OmegaZed took on the challenge by delivering Ninjago figures to the crew, but Krismas countered with Redakai, trolling with it not once but twice in the same episode! Needless to be said, the special events will continue and Troll-imania has been born! Details on that will be coming soon.

So for your listening pleasure ladies and gentlemen and mutants, here is the download link for the full episode! Click it and be sure to like us on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!

The episode is available here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/geekfist/Geekfist_2011_Award_Show.mp3
We’ll post a full listing of the awards given out soon!

As usual you can get the episode right here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/geekfist/Geekfist_Merry_Rant-mas.mp3

On Tuesday, December 13, the daring new dramedy webseries “THE STREET FIGHTER” premieres on The Game Station.

It’s the story of Phil, a journalist who loses his job and enters the world of pro-am fighting game tournaments to earn the respect of his son. Guest starring a host of famous YouTubers including iJustine and KassemG (full list below) and competitive gamer Alex Valle, “THE STREET FIGHTER” is a six-part narrative (twice a week, all thru December!) shot on the RED EPIC and directed by The Game Station’s own Layne Pavoggi. “THE STREET FIGHTER” is written by Aaron Umetani (“THE BROTHERS MARIO”) and produced by Aaron Zaragoza.

You can find all the details about the tour here.

As usual, you can get your episode right here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/geekfist/Geekfist_Post_NYCC_We_are_Not_Exhausted.mp3

New York Comic Con/Anime Festival Day 1 Report

While the New York Comic Con was the definitive highlight of the weekend, tucked away in the upper levels of the Javits Center with a beautiful open area of sunshine and windows was the New York Anime Festival. Led by a throng of fan-artists and dealer displays selling their custom made hats, costumes and trinkets, the New York Anime Festival bathed in newfound glory, much like the anime industry itself.

In the years prior, the NYAF was shoved in a corner in the basement of the Javits Center like a forgotten stepchild and met with criticism from the die hard anime fans that live in the tri-state area that felt disrespected. It was as if anime didn’t matter amongst the Hollywood folk and the much bigger comic book and video game industries.

Those voices definitely weren’t ignored this year as the NYAF was given a breath of fresh air, much like the anime industry has been given a second chance at life through the evolution of digital distribution and the internet. GeekFist Radio sat down with fellow geek comedian extraordinaire Uncle Yo (www.uncleyo.com), cosplay entertainer Mario Bueno (www.mariobueno.com) and a fellow fan and artist ByronDZero to discuss the rebirth of the anime industry, the convention itself and how conventions like the New York Comic Con are for the fans, by the fans. You can listen to that discussion here http://traffic.libsyn.com/geekfist/Interview_one.mp3.

Afterwards, we met up with Frankie Muniz and director Joe Eckhardt to discuss the new superhero all-ages film, “Pizza Man.” Frankie has been away from the industry for awhile now and we were all shocked that he would make his return with a film like this. The film stars not just him, but Diamond Dallas Page, Roddy Rowdy Piper, Corbin Bensen, Shelley Long, Stan Lee and Adam West. We sat down with Frankie and the director of the film to discuss not only the film itself, but how they were enjoying the con as well.

That interview can be listened to here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/geekfist/Interview_two_.mp3

With that out of the way, we knew we needed to hit up something comic book related and outside of talking with Joe Kelly of www.manofaction.com we also sat down with Ryan Sohmer and Lars Desouza of Blind Ferret Entertainment, the minds behind such incredible webcomics like www.leasticoulddo.com,www.lfgcomic.com and www.the-gutters.com for a hilarious interview on their present and upcoming projects and their lack of radio interview habits. Be warned that juvenile language and many a sex joke are found within this link http://traffic.libsyn.com/geekfist/comic_con_3rd_interview.mp3

Be sure to check back for pictures as well as our Day 2 report soon!

It's so beautiful.

While Sony did previously say it would be available in the global market “starting” at the end of 2011, Sony’s highly anticipated follow up to the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, will not make a state side launch by the end of this year. Japan will be receiving the Vita in time for the 2011 holidays. Sony now plans on pushing back the US/European release until some time in early 2012.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Chairman Kaz Hirai stated to the press in Tokyo that the launch would not be accompanied by a lowered price, despite Nintendo’s recent price drop on the Nintendo 3DS.

“We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable,” Hirai said. “There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”

Some see this delay as a good thing as it might give the Vita more time to acquire titles for it’s launch as the line up, as it stands right now, is pretty weak. I personally think that this delay is a bad idea financially for Sony, but then again, when does Sony ever think about what will work out in their favor.

The PS Vita will start at $249 for a WiFi only model, alongside a 3G-enabled version for $299. PS Vita games will run you $39.99.

This week the Geek Fist boys talk about Patapon 3, L.A. Noire with its Hardcore Parkour in the 1940s, and the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game Guardian Heroes HD.  OmegaZed gives his opinion on Sony’s new plan for their portable game market.  Finally, since all the dust has cleared from the crisis, they talk about what the PSN Shutdown was exactly and how it affected everyone.

- What We Are Playing: Patapon 3 and L.A. Noire

- The PS3/PSP connection

- Why Nintendo is Good For the Gaming Market- What is Coming Soon: Guardian Heroes HD

- PlayStation Network Shutdown reactions

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