Philippine Meta

Welcome to the Philippine meta. Where every card choice is labeled as poor and unreasonable, at least according to Shriek.

Place
Locals are held in Robinson's Galleria located at Pasig City. Regular weekly tournaments are always held twice every Saturday of a week, with two batches. Registrations are up as early as 9:00AM and the tournament proper starts at 12:00NN. Depending on the number of participants, the second tournament start between 3:00PM to 4:00PM. Entrance fee for both tournaments are PhP150, or USD$3.

Prizes are inconsistent and depends on the number of participants per tournament. You are guaranteed one OCG booster pack of Asian-English "Raging Battle" per entry.

The venue itself has 7-8 tables, always full prior to the tournament until the actual tournament. There are always people in the sidelines who, even though does not join the tournaments, hang out there to trade cards and talk.

Every month, there is also a so-called Monthly tournament being held. This will replace the regular weekly one and is better attended and organized. Prizes are a notch higher too.

Products
Useful cards are rare to come by, as only few people are buying booster packs. Speaking of booster packs, one is retailed for PhP150 or $3. Packs of this price is the OCG. TCG packs are also sold but for double the price.

The reason why there are only few people who buy booster packs is because people think they aren't guaranteed to get what they want in the packs unlike when they look for them via trading or buying from other people directly, which is usually the cheaper and much more convenient alternative. I also have the same belief.

"Light of Destruction" has long since been out of print. In this case, the shop is also sold out. This makes Lightlord cards very hard to come by and if they do, they are usually very expensive.

Meta
The meta itself is full of people who play cards conservatively, hence the reason for the card choices. Lightlords and Black Feathers are present but they are outnumbered by the Anti Meta and Zombie decks. Needless to say, part of the reasoning behind this is because the cards needed to create Anti Meta is much more accessible and cheaper while having good results all at the same time. The control concept is king in this turf. Gladial Beasts still in the meta is a testament to this.

Be ready to side in that "Trap Hole" and "Royal Decree" as a lot of people run Gadgets and Anti Meta. "Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness" is always present in every deck. Hybrid themes are common. "Black Brutdrago" cards that work around it are also a local personal choice.

Watch Out
Last December Monthly, people who joined were handed out official Konami Duelist ID information sheets.

Worlds, here we come.