Spikes & Baron Duel Monster Comet - The #1 Yu-Gi-Oh OCG Site and Community

Article 23: A Reflection on 2004

My last article on this site at 2004.

2004 have been a very eventful year in the world (as like every year), but it change the game of Yu-Gi-Oh even more.

If you still do not know what I'm talking about, at late Feb. 2004, from an issue of V-Jump, we saw the following:
"Surprise!! Ban List in effect for the game"

Of course, the ban, right?? Well, it certain shock most of the OCG gamers, and to the TCG gamers, they think this news is nothing but FAKE, and I was making stuff up.

Until the scan came out...

People then whine and whine on why there's ban, why this and that is not ban and this and that is ban, etc. etc.

OK, that's first attempt Konami try to save this game from going into Graveyard.

For the OCG gamers, they know themselves how disappointed they're after the release of 308 and 309. During this course of 5 months (from 2003 to 2004), the game is eventually turning to death. Disappointing products after another disppointing one. People rant about they quitting the game and stuff.

Then the famous game saver, Soul of the Duelist came.

You may look back at my articles for it, but when SOD was release in Japan/Asia, the dead set of Dark Crisis (304 + 305) came into American shore.

Then, later, Invasion of Chaos (306 + 307)

You know what I'm talking about, even in Japan, after the Chaos monsters were release (that's 2 years ago), EACH and EVERY person in the game knows how crazy those two monsters could be. Even in the first REAL World Championship of this game, guess what dominate the tournament?

Chaos.

Then, the Chaos hate/Chaos Cookie Cutters came into the game, and pretty much this sentence shape up the metagame in 2004.

For the products by Konami, it gone better and better. They began to re-release the series 2 cards into "Beginner's Edition", and series 3 cards were reprint in "Expert Edition".

They did better on the new sets also, boosting underboost sub-types each booster (although people STILL saying most of it being underboost).

At the end of year, the Structures came. And this pretty much shape up the "revival" of the game.

In 9/1 in Asia, and 10/1 in America, the new ban list strike. It is nothing in Asia, and most people like it when Chaos Emperor Dragon is finally ban.

But in America?? People hate the ban so much that UDE/KoA was force to make "two format" in order to satisfy everyone.

And that pretty much shape up the division in this game.

At last, for the anime and manga. 2004 mark the end of the original manga and the original anime (the one with Yugi and friends). Now, with the popularity it gains, would it stop??

No...
Yu-Gi-Oh R replace the manga, while Yu-Gi-Oh GX replace the anime. The R was a side-story from the original story line, while GX have all new characters and monsters, with MUCH BETTER DECKS.

This year is a great year for this game, and the game was finally back on its track of growing. Konami finally make this game being more serious (the Structures, the United the game effort). Although they release a new and horrible Yu-Gi-Oh GX anime (which the storyline itself is stupid, the decks are good, however), still, the game grow at every age level. Keep up the good work to Konami, and hope everyone have a save New Year Day.

- Baron, on the last day of 2004