Fear for the future of the game

It has just occurred to me that the metagame is becoming faster. Back in the good old days, Vampire Lord was nearly indestructible. We then see him gradually lose play upon the release of the better beat stick, Cyber Dragon. Today, virtually no one uses Vampire Lord anymore because his effect isn't too good for today's standards. After Tactical Evolution, the game was headed for something that was out of control.

Game breaking cards of yesterday become measly pieces of poor card choices today. Spirit Reaper is one of those cards that were staple before that lost its edge. Cards like Breaker, the Magical Warrior and Raiza, the Storm Monarch, which were broken cards before, are now reduced to semi-playable and/or Side Deck Material at best. Even Mirror Force isn't a sure staple in today's decks. Tributing for monsters today is a very troublesome task and is not usually the good choice. Equip Spells and Field Spell cards do not see play anymore. You would probably know something is wrong when you see these problems crop up.

We see archetypes come and go: Dark World, Six Samurai, Volcanic, Crystal Beast and much more. After Tactical Evolution, some of the Archetypes like Gladiator Beasts, Lightsworns and Blackwings are still solid and see competitive play until today, even after a few set releases prior to their introduction. Will these new wave of archetypes lose competitive edge soon enough? I think not.

Because of the strength of these new wave of archetypes, people are buying less packs-newer archetypes introduced today cannot basically even come to even ground with these established beasts.

It would be nice to actually implement a "cycling" of cards, like what they do at Magic: the Gathering. After two main sets and four subsets and a core set, the cards rotate, which means that you cannnot continue to use, say Lightsworn after one "cycle" of set(s). Older sets can still be played via vintage format or extended though, although the mainstream format, also known as Type 2, would only use the newer cards. This would inspire new deck ideas and force the players to think better to make their decks. Archetypes like the Earthbound Immortals would get to enjoy seeing play on major events if this happens. This would also encourage players to not just buy singles off eBay and pull them the traditional way: through packs.

But this mechanic do have its cons. Cards would lose value after the so-called cycle and people will have to continue changing decks format after format just to update their deck to the latest trend that is legal for tournament play. This means additional heavy cost for the players.

Chaos Sorcerer was changed to Semi-Limited this current format. I woudn't be surprised if Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning would get legal on the next list if this trend continues.