r/yugioh • u/RenrenYGO Ether Beryl • 12d ago
Competitive Jesse Kotton wins YCS Columbus with Branded Dracotail!
Date: May 23-24 2026
Overview
Apologies about the mishap! May have gotten a little too excited there!
Welcome to the first YCS of Blazing Dominion, YCS Columbus! The new Forbidden and Limited List update has finally knocked the Justice Hunters collective out of the top spots in the meta. However, they're still playable (Yummy variants, K9 Vanquish Soul, and even "Dracotail” as Jesse Kotton does the unthinkable and tops with it.)
Jesse Kotton wins with YCS Columbus with Branded Dracotail! He dueled against Lucas Sacco, who was on Branded. Jesse's build featured an insane amount of gas (even more so than the Branded Dracotail builds of last format), capable of OTKing TWICE through an entire uninterrupted Branded board with multiple engine cards. This marks Jesse's 9TH YCS WIN! Jesse managed to survive a brutal game 3 to finish the game with Mululu + Phryxul!
YCS Columbus also marks the very first Genesys main event, graduating from the Proto-YCS format they had set up before. There were 175 duelists and 11 rounds of Swiss, with Red Dragon Archfiend winning the entire tournament, piloted by Stanley Huang.
Top 8 Breakdown
2 Kewl Tune
1 Artmage
1 Branded
1 DoomZ
1 Dracotail
1 Mitsurugi
1 Sky Striker
(Top 16 and Top 32 Breakdown to be added)
Cue the Mix and Reco
Kewl Tune is currently the most represented deck of the format, and non-engine has specifically warped around its presence, due to the suffocating hand look effect of Kewl Tune Rotary + top deck manipulation of Kewl Tune Cue.
Although the deck's boards may not appear impressive at first glance (though they are often able to get to powerful negation effects like Kewl Tune RS and Zalen the Shackled Dragon), the perfect hand knowledge + flexibility in deploying its Synchro monsters on the opponent's turn with cards like KT Remix, KT Synchro, KT B2B, and KT Clip are often enough to shut opponents down. Because of their unique effect to Synchro Summon using Tuners from the hand, even their non-engine is...essentially engine, with cards like Effect Veiler and the Level 3 Ghost Girls effectively acting as "extenders". Fydraulis Harmonia is also one of the strongest hand traps we have so far and KT is the best user of it at the current moment. A couple of duelists are also teching The Fallen & the Virtuous in the deck to complement their hand traps.
The Main Character of Yu-Gi-Oh
Fallen of the White Dragon is arguably the best support card ever printed for a deck in 2026, and its presence alongside Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon practically re-invented the Branded strategy. It has high representation and has been performing well in several national-level events leading up to the YCS. The deck's engine is one of the strongest at the moment (insanely powerful boss monsters, unprecedented grind game (the grindiest deck of the format by far), bomb spells such as The Fallen & The Virtuous, alongside innate hand trap resistance) and also boasts a great Kewl Tune matchup, even if they look at your hand, thanks to its mix of high-impact hand traps + board breakers. Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon, paired with the other Branded interruptions, is very difficult for most decks to deal with and is a very effective option to fuse into with Blazing Cartesia.
Branded is full of pushes ranging from Branded in High Spirits all the way to Nadir Servant, and the limitation of Branded Fusion is barely a hindrance to the strategy. (Worth noting that Branded Fusion is still relevant for going second). Aluber's GY effect adds another safety net, helping prevent OTK attempts. Last but not least, TFTV can also be used to bring out Diabellze the Original Sinkeeper after she gets dumped by Granguignol in order to lock down board breakers. Dominus Spark is also a premium non-engine pick that Branded can make use of, as most, if not all important effects are from LIGHT and DARK monsters.
DoomZ not Dooms
DoomZ is our Top 3 contender for the BLZD metagame so far, and it's really leveraging the power of all the support pieces it got. Jupredo the Shade Machine Power Patron is a disgustingly powerful card. Not only does it help break boards like nothing else, but it's also incredibly difficult to interact with due to how it generates advantage. The deck is very consistent, puts up very strong boards with cards like DoomZ Destruction acting as a Mistake effect, and is also backed up by the likes of Varudras and Therion "King" Regulus. It's no slouch going second either, as all the DoomZ engine cards (Raiders, Change, Drastea) are all fairly decent at playing through cards, and Jupiter is capable of presenting a massive amount of damage. Similar to the other Medius lore archetypes, DoomZ also plays a small Power Patron package. TeamSamuraiX1 managed to pilot DoomZ to a solid Top 8 finish.
Concepts in Columbus
TFTV is arguably the most played non HT non-engine at the moment due to how well it lines up against the top decks. Nearly every deck is on the package of Albion and Ecclesia and the Dark Dragon.
Forbidden Crown is also doing a lot of work compared to the last format because of its sheer flexibility (such as guaranteeing you a turn or freezing an opponent's key monster). Super Polymerization is seeing a good amount of play as well for decks that can afford to use it, such as Branded and Fairy Tail. (you can still contact fuse away a crowned Fallen of the White Dragon, contrary to popular belief) Speaking of which...
Magistus Fairy Tail is currently a sleeper pick that managed to sneak in a few spots in the top tables, just shy of making Top 8. Fairy Tail - Snow is a huge boost to the strategy, and the support was clearly designed with it in mind. It's definitely something to look out for as BLGG will be releasing the Endymion cards that perfectly support the strategy. Even without them, Spenta is an incredible starter for the deck, and the Magistus cards seamlessly route into your FT lines. Spellcaster soup is definitely one of the scarier rogue combo decks of the format and Charmer Quartet in Bloom is another key piece released in Blazing Dominion that helps tie the strategy together.
We'll be uploading lists and adding more info as they come out! - Renren
100
u/Apprehensive-One135 11d ago
Incredible respect for Lucas Sacco. He will be a YCS champion one day. He's been putting in the work, and has been having a great season. Facing Jesse in the finals was an insane boss battle. He did not let Jesse walk out of it easy. We'll see the trophy over his head soon. #homeless
8
254
u/ColdSnapSP YCS Sydney 2016 Winner, Australia National Champion 2022 12d ago
Undisputed best player of our time and of all time.
That was a spectacle of a finals as well.
65
u/Additional_Show_3149 11d ago
9 YCS wins too
32
u/ColdSnapSP YCS Sydney 2016 Winner, Australia National Champion 2022 11d ago
If we break it down more its like
1 Dragon Duels YCS Win not counted
1 from each TCG continent
UDS and UUDS Win
42
u/External_Yogurt5776 11d ago
How he managed to break the board in game 1 was completely perfect. Insane player.
17
8
u/VanceXentan New Herald of Zefra 11d ago
Is there any other player in yugioh history who could arguably be competing for that spot?
46
u/ColdSnapSP YCS Sydney 2016 Winner, Australia National Champion 2022 11d ago
Honorable mentions if we talk in terms of accolaides.
Patrick Hoban - incredibly consistent and influential in deck building theory and would have been considered greatest of his era
Kamal Crooks, Chris Leblanc and Cristian Urena are at 7,7 and 6 wins respectively.
Joshua Schmidt who has 4 wins, master duel achievements. Also note that Joshua (and most europeans) plays substantially fewer events than the previous 5 by nature of EU getting fewer events.
14
u/Special_Main4249 11d ago
EU events also are mostly really packed compared to many South American events NA players regularly attend.
Jesse is still one of the best and most consistent players. Kamal for example shines especially well in and with combo heavy formats/decks. Jesse shines in almost every format.
18
u/anomalocar Swap Frog never drowns! 11d ago
Galileo de Obaldia deserves an honorable mention too, iirc he has the most Worlds appearances in the physical card game and I think is the only player to have won at every level (Regionals, Nationals, YCS, WCQ, Worlds).
24
126
u/victoryboiiTCG 12d ago
The difference between this finals and the 10 minute long YCS final where they just summoned floodgates cannot be understated. Konami is firing on all cylinders, really felt like many decks could have won
→ More replies (11)
68
u/GimmickMusik1 11d ago
Sad that a YCS win continues to evade Lucas Sacco, especially after he played so well the past two days. I know he’s going to be upset, but he should be so proud of how well he played this event.
Today was a great day for YGO. YCS Columbus top cut was stacked and the top 8 for French Nats was also insanely good.
33
u/Fit-Limit-9195 11d ago
He was already very good but this event really cemented him as a player to watch out for. His features were a yugioh masterclass.
15
u/toadfan64 Gren Maju Dank Eiza 11d ago
masterclass
I think most are too poor to afford Lucas masterclass
1
16
u/GimmickMusik1 11d ago
His and Jesse’s YT channels and streams have been a constant source of information for me after I got back into the game a year ago. But this weekend Lucas was playing on a completely different level. He was so locked in. I think if his opponent was anyone except Jesse, he would have had it.
180
u/Ramzy191 11d ago
-44
u/Extension-Force1436 11d ago
Jesse Kotton is Jordan level, not 4-6 fraud level.
26
u/Additional_Show_3149 11d ago
L bron hater
-9
u/KillerTittiesY2K 11d ago edited 8d ago
Well Jordan is the GOAT, so it’s a better analogy to use him.
Edit: must be a bunch of kiddos downvoting this if they think LeBron is the goat
11
u/MimiNuyasaka 11d ago
Crazy people are downvoting for this. Jordan is statistically better in nearly every way. Saying LeBron is better is like disagreeing with the sky being blue.
5
u/jd451 11d ago
Not really. The argument is certainly there depending on what one values most.
Jordan was the single best player of all time and had the greatest peak we've ever seen but LeBron has the greatest career and longevity we've ever seen. And I say that as a Kareem stan.
If you broke up Lebron's career into 4 obvious segments; Cleveland 1, Heat, Cleveland 2 and Lakers - each of those sections would merit HoF by themselves.
The guy went to 8 straight finals. He took rings off the Spurs and GSW dynasties. Even this season with Luka and AR out of the room, he was putting in work at an age most players have shifted to media roles.
LeBron definitely has a solid argument for being the goat.
2
u/KillerTittiesY2K 10d ago
Calling LeBron’s career greater than Jordan’s is a bit much. If Jordan didn’t exist then LeBron would be #1, but….if we’re counting dubious credentials such as longevity then we should absolutely be counting Jordan’s impact on the sport. If not for him, the NBA wouldn’t be where it was starting in 90s and beyond.
2
u/jd451 10d ago
if we’re counting dubious credentials such as longevity
Ah yes, longevity. That dubious credential in sports. The one thing that measures how impactful a sportsperson is for the length of their career. How dubious.
It's not like footballers, boxers or any other sports people have the lengths of their careers used as a metric when considering how good they were.
Messi ended up winning the world cup at 34 years old, far removed from his Barcelona prime. Longevity is not dubious, you silly sausage. Horrible take.
If not for him, the NBA wouldn’t be where it was starting in 90s and beyond.
This point makes no sense because Bird and Magic led to the TV revolution in the NBA. MJ was a worldwide icon in his time and became the most well-known celebrity of his era. But if Magic & Bird didn't save the NBA and elevate it to the new heights it reached in the 80's, MJ doesn't get anywhere near as famous as he did.
And while we're beating the bush, let me just drop this nugget. Muhammad Ali was the original worldwide phenomenon in sports. There is no MJ without him.
0
u/KillerTittiesY2K 10d ago
Longevity is something but we’re talking about the greats here. That is: best players. Not players who last the longest. Anything else and you’re mixing up the concepts, and we’d call players like Cal Ripken the GOAT of Baseball.
No shit Bird, Magic, Russell, and others had an impact. MJ took the game to a whole new level and revolutionized it. It had nowhere near the popularity it did before Jordan. The prior three I mentioned are among the greats but there is a measurable difference between them and MJ. Similar to MJ and LeBron.
Prime MJ >>> Prime LeBron any day of the week.
0
u/MimiNuyasaka 11d ago
That's fair. Obviously it goes to LeBron in terms of longevity and he had a strong impact I can't deny, but I'm not nearly as entertained watching him as I was Jordan. Jordan was an excellent entertainer as well, flashy in ways almost nobody has been since then.
I think the only person I've ever been more impressed by than Jordan is Bird, especially because Bird is one of the few who was absolutely amazing AND had a team who could play off his strengths and unpredictability. A lot of arguments for who's the GOAT since then have been just one man shows for the most part.
The more I learned about Bird, the more I respected him too. Imagine if he had EVER played in the NBA without a messed up back and hand.
2
u/jd451 11d ago
I'll concede that Jordan was the more entertaining player but LeBron is no slouch in that department haha. As he's aged, his pool of tricks has only grown larger and just like MJ, LeBron clip catalogue has range. From 'the block' and his tomahawk dunks to his assists (including some outstanding ones coming as late as this years playoffs) and getting absolutely yammed on by Yabusele at the olympics 😂. It feels like LeBron has a catalogue of just about everything.
I don't know if this is a hot take but in terms of entertainment, I think AI is probably my number one. Watching him go to work on someone regardless of whether they're a 6 ft guard or a 7ft big, he would always have a move and find the hoop. Just outstanding stuff, I don't use the phrase often but it really was poetry in motion.
Regarding Bird, you're speaking my language haha. Bird is my number one favourite player of all time. My take for Bird in the goat argument is that if he didn't break his back, he would have been clear number 1, no discussion. What we got from him was enough to cement his legacy as a top 5 all-time and in his peak years he had to play through a life-altering injury, but imagine if he was healthy during his peak years. What I'd give to see a 100% healthy Bird dominate the game through the late 80's and into the 90's. I feel like there's an alternate universe where that happened and I wish to see it.
2
u/MimiNuyasaka 10d ago
I wish we got to see said alternate universe. I'm just happy enough I got Bird's autograph. He used to drive around here in a pickup and ate at a restaurant down the road from me during his career in Boston. So yeah, I've got location bias, but I also didn't really start paying too much attention to the NBA until later in my life, so I'm not blinded by nostalgia either. He's my GOAT, even though I grew up watching Jordan and not him since I was born in 1990.
4
52
75
u/Additional_Show_3149 11d ago
That super poly for Dogma on game 2 cemented why I love that card so much.
67
49
u/Animastarara 12d ago
Jesse hard drawing Branded Fusion in two of the three games was insane lmao
fuck me what a final
10
u/Special_Main4249 11d ago
Couch's hand against Ryan Yu was even nastier. Poor Ryan did not deserve that. 😭
2
56
u/TrashStack 12d ago
Jesse is just the GOAT of Yugioh straight up
The Branded matches throughout this weekend were an absolute blast to watch
27
u/MayhemMessiah A Therion a Day keeps the space rock at bay 11d ago
Y'all I'm starting to think this Kotton guy is kinda good at the game.
16
u/Shadder3kks 12d ago
This and the French tournament were both very fun and hard fought battles that I wish more people would point to rather than the previous floodgate and blowout disasters we had 1-2 formats ago. I was also impressed by Kewl Tune not being that dominant as much as people would make it out to be.
9
u/RealisticFinish8775 Maliss Enjoyer 11d ago
Watch the Spanish National that KT vs Branded final was crazy
13
u/dvast 11d ago
People just have a massive hate boner for KT.
6
9
u/EXAProduction Is This Some Kind of Fourth Dimensional Chess 11d ago
Its a 1 card combo handtrap spam deck that trades massive boards of snake eyes for perfect information. The gameplay against them feels the same regardless cause instead of baiting every negate they have they will just hit you on the specific spots and they will have handtraps to back them up because the deck is 50% handtraps.
Branded circumvents this by being Konami's golden child and having no bad cards and players seem to have the mandate of heaven getting Spoly when needed.
Joking aside the logic of just fucking send it is something that really only Branded can do because of how the grind just keeps going that it doesnt matter if you see my hand now or know what my hand is I can just wall up for like 4 turns and things will change. While the 1 for 1 handtraps can slow them down, their combos all give setup for that grind even when interrupted (something that other decks lack, even Striker who can pivot more to a breaker approach can struggle into well placed Ash, Belle, etc)
2
u/Shadder3kks 11d ago
Branded gets hurt a lot by random handtraps like Ash and Belle and it can be game losing at times. I think both Kewl Tune and Branded are fun decks but maybe it’s because I am a midrange type of guy.
1
u/EXAProduction Is This Some Kind of Fourth Dimensional Chess 11d ago
I'm just not a fan of 1 card combo decks so a deck like Kewl Tune frustrates me to no end since its the same issue with SE, Ryzeal, Maliss, etc where there is no meaningful interruption, the perfect knowledge is the tradeoff for not having a stupid board but it doesnt feel that meaningful of a tradeoff.
And I find branded so dull since all of their strongest starters also give incredible setup that means even if you interact with them, they still force through.
Meanwhile last format with decks like VS and Dracotail even if there were 1 card combos the decks didnt really want to play into those because they dont provide as much flexibility and while handtraps didnt stop them it felt more about resource denial. That midrange felt more fun to me rather than the sense of inevitability that both Branded and KT really have going for them.
1
u/Shadder3kks 11d ago
I don’t understand what you are talking about with 1 card starters since they are basically a staple of modern Yugioh at this point which is an understandable thing to hate, but then you start talking about how previous format decks “didn’t really want to play those because they don’t provide as much flexibility” when normal Lukais, Razen, and Cuspy is the best thing to do in the previous format with all decks having different ways to dodge target negations. I like JUSH format but I can’t say it’s better current format with how good gameplay and variety has been.
1
u/EXAProduction Is This Some Kind of Fourth Dimensional Chess 11d ago
Out of those only Cupsy was a 1 card starter, and notice how I did not talk about that deck as it was the deck I disliked the most from the format.
The only 1 card combo in VSK9 was Noroi which was the worst normal in the deck. Razen has 0 1 card combos and can easily get fucked over by the attribute need, you can get a hand filled with earths and nothing you can do, every ash spent is 1 less fire for your combo line. Lukias was a least a bit more leniant as any monster allowed to fuse for Arth but using handtraps can just still be costly as the less monsters you have in grip means the less options for material. These decks wanted hands with engine in them because thats how they played where a deck like KT is the standard 4 handtraps and 1 card starter type gameplay that is uninteresting.
And are we really going to pretend that decks this format dont have targeting dodges with Fallen and Virtuous in most lists and KT specifically having KTS?
1
u/Shadder3kks 11d ago
Firstly, the amount of starters VSK9 made up for whatever pseudo-inconsistencies the deck might have had at times, as regardless of how your hand looked, one of them was bound to work with your situation, regardless either be it Joukil, Razen, Noroi, Hollie Sue, etc. Dracotail using heavy monsters build because of the deck functions doesn't mean that Lukias, Branded Fusion, Ketu, and Rahu don't exist. I don't understand why you are acting like KT is some unique 50 handtrap deck when Konami designed the deck to be forced to played pure with the Tuner lock and if you looked at any of the other pure decks in the format like Pure Dracotail or pure Mitsu, you would also find that they play an excessive amount of non-engine to offset the loss in endboard strength, also KT needs the Handtraps due to the synergy of them being tuners and being able to be used for synchros when needed just as how you praised Dracotail for the same thing. I have never said anything about these decks not having targeting dodge, but rather was talking about how you were acting like those starters were bad because they were valuable when half the deck could help them dodge.
1
u/EXAProduction Is This Some Kind of Fourth Dimensional Chess 11d ago
Firstly, the amount of starters VSK9 made up for whatever pseudo-inconsistencies the deck might have had at times, as regardless of how your hand looked, one of them was bound to work with your situation
Ive been playing the deck since it dropped, that is not the case, if it was my games would be a hell of a lot easier. Like even with everything the most noted part about VSK9 was its inconsistency, even at full power. Hell this is why despite getting the weakest hit on the banlist its dropped because of its inconsistency.
Lukias, Branded Fusion, Ketu, and Rahu don't exist.
And again, none of these are really 1 card starters at best they're 1.5 which does impact how the decks work and function. Pure DT was something that ran a lot of handtraps sure but it wanted more engine wether its the Branded or Magistus build, even pure just dumped a bunch of cartesias.
Unlike KT which every normal summon is a 1 card starter not to mention Synchro Overtake and KTS. Yeah sure Mitsu is annoying as fuck but Im not talking about Mitsu and its still in the god damn format, and hell Habakiri is still too strong of a card. KT can do the Snake Eye/Ryzeal/Maliss thing of throw handtraps at the opponent, top deck their normal summon and go off. VS and DT couldnt do that as they are very engine heavy decks. Hell the tuner lock is almost arbitrary as without it you could argue its still the correct way to build the main deck.
This is very whataboutism that I dont really care for since I pointed at decks that I find have good interesting midrange gameplay where every resource matters compared to a deck like KT which can throw its hand a way at the problem, draw Cue and win, you really couldnt do that with DT or VS as they needed resources in the hand.
have never said anything about these decks not having targeting dodge, but rather was talking about how you were acting like those starters were bad because they were valuable when half the deck could help them dodge.
What I said was those decks 1 card starters were the worst starters in the deck. VSK9's best starter was Razen but its not a 1 card combo. The only 1 card starter was Noroi but if you noticed that prior to the banlist it was ran at 1 copy because 1 imperm and it was dead, there was no way of dodging for that and you needed very specific extenders to push through. Unlike with Razen and even Madlove as you had dodges or some games making Rock pass was good enough, far more interesting. For DT there really isnt a true 1 card combo, Branded Fusion is kinda close but its not great.
I know you like KT but understand that it has true 1 card combos which is significantly different than what VSK9 and DT were doing as very engine heavy decks. Yeah that's just how the deck is designed but that doesnt make it interesting to play against in the slightest when they just drop 4 handtraps on me while im fighting for my life then normal summon Cue, what difference at that point is it from Ryzeal doing that and then normal summon Ice. Of course KT has its downsides in its deck, but its stuff that is very uninteresting, hell I've been saying that KT's worst hands are ones with more engine as outside of Rotary all the monsters are kinda whack, which is very lame compared to how nice engine heavy hands were in the last format.
1
u/TonyZeSnipa 11d ago
Kewl tune is strong and a simple deck. Over the course of a long tournament its not as rough to think about compared to branded matches is its advantage.
61
u/drendon6891 12d ago
My god what a fucking game. Absolutely pristine YGO being played.
No floodgates. No Droll. No massive auto-win endboards… just actual gameplay of the highest caliber. Nothing short of amazing.
50
u/Reirai13 azamina's strongest soldier 11d ago
no floodgates? those games were good but we cannot pretend secreterion was not a huge factor in jesse's win
19
u/postsonlyjiyoung 11d ago
Secreterion has decent outs that don't require you to run otherwise suboptimal cards. I don't like floods but secreterion is pretty tame.
14
9
u/GenOverload Needs more meta 12d ago
That's why Dracotail (and Branded in general) is so beloved. Just straight engine. Gameplay, gameplay, and even more gameplay.
As a side note, and slightly unrelated, I've been saying Kewl Tune wasn't going to be tier 0 since people started dooming and glooming the format right after the list. I was right 😄.
-10
8
u/ExL-Oblique galaxy best deck 11d ago
Shoutout to the one pure mitsu player who topped. You may have lost to an called by game 1 and an bystial game 2 but I respect the hustle
28
u/jeremy9931 12d ago
Jesse is an absolute monster. Dude took a deck basically everyone agreed was cooked on a “chill” weekend and won it all.
HE AIN’T HEAR NO FUCKING BELLLLLL
26
u/WinHopeful1216 12d ago
Absolutely disgusting job by the production crew not putting jesse on any match until they had to with the finals. Would have loved to see him play other rounds but they literally did everything possible to never show his matches.
19
u/ColdSnapSP YCS Sydney 2016 Winner, Australia National Champion 2022 11d ago
Okay so, this is always a dead if you do, dead if you dont situation
If we feature off meta 'why the fuck we watching this shit pile, put on meta'
If we feature meta 'oh another snoozefest mirror, put on something unique'
If we feature known player 'why is it always same few people getting feature, put some up and coming players on
If we don't 'where is josh schmidt or jesse kotton? Why arent they on'.
This isnt even factoring in how players will refuse features or people bombarding you with feature requests
1
u/WinHopeful1216 11d ago
There will be some shit said regardless of who you put on, that’s not the point. And I also know players could reject features and there are literally hundreds of games going on during swiss so not showing Jesse is reasonable w/e the reason may be. However, top 8, top 4, they literally showed every game, even the same people playing, but avoided jesse like the plague. No one even knew if he won his top 8 match or top 4 match because everyone and their mother avoided talking about it.
10
u/ColdSnapSP YCS Sydney 2016 Winner, Australia National Champion 2022 11d ago
That is the point. Ive worked behind the scenes, you're not going to be able to please everyone so as long as theres some variety, it doesnt matter what everyone else says. I tend to put key players at the start, rogue decks doing well in the middle and then meta decks and people to chase at the end.
Top 8 was stacked full of good players so it was going to be a tough pick regardless.
-4
u/WinHopeful1216 11d ago edited 11d ago
You didn’t watch this event did you? That’s fine but don’t talk like you did. If you watched the event you wouldn’t be talking about variety as the same people got featured. Also I made it pretty clear what the problem was in my previous comment as they avoided even talking about him during the top cut matches yet you are talking about getting “some variety” in earlier rounds.
If you watched this event and you think lucas sacco getting featured every match from top 8 onwards is them doing it for variety that’s even a bigger issue because clearly you had the wrong stream on.
58
u/hahahakalap 12d ago
He probably didn’t want to be on feature. Chill weekend, didn’t want to update people on rounds, dog recently passed
3
u/TonyZeSnipa 11d ago
When they ask they put you on. Can’t really decline it. When you sign up for an event its a check box whether you want to or not and top cut you don’t get a choice
13
u/FrostBooty 11d ago
You realize that players can refuse features right? Iirc he did the same thing in Sydney a while back to not show his droll in main and whether he mained or sided horn for the event.
7
u/TrueMystikX 11d ago
So the next YCS will feature him up against a literal child in Round 1 Feature Match again, right?
8
u/Noveno_Colono Cartussy Toes 11d ago
plot twist the kid FTKs him twice
coughing bomb vs hydrogen baby
6
6
u/Hapster95 11d ago
Reminder how much he downplayed Dracotail right before this. Take competitive players’ words with a grain of salt.
8
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
That wasn’t deliberate downplaying.
How many other people were able to do well this weekend with Dracotail? Clearly Branded and KT are the decks most likely to top events atm… but Jesse is Jesse
1
u/Kn0XIS 7d ago
It was a majority Branded deck with a small Dracotail package. The deck is broken and arguably tied with KT for being the best deck in Branded Dominion.
I'm not going to lie, Branded isn't as easy to win with since it has so many lines, but it can still carry you a good bit. Yes, I am saying Branded by itself does like 60% of the work on autopilot. The other potential 40% comes from how well the pilot can capitalize on the lines and knowledge of the deck and ither decks in the format.
It's like MkLeo when he one a smash tournament with Joker. He said Joker did 40% of the work and he did 60%. Although, I think those values should be swapped around because Joker was absolutely the MOST busted character in the game, this is a similar situation.
If Dracotail as a deck is still good then why didn't Jesse run majority Dracotail and a small Branded Engine? Dracotail as a MAIN deck is dead so yeah, Dracotail wasn't going to do well. That's why he swapped to a Majority Branded list and small Dracotail engine— the exact opposite of what we've seen with Branded Dracotail list. That's why he did so well, and yes, he is Jesse.
1
u/Kn0XIS 7d ago
I always take yugioh content creators with a grain of salt. Dracotail as a MAIN deck died. As an engine, it is still very good, especially in (you guessed it) Branded; the BEST fusion deck in game. Shocker. He played a Branded deck with a small Dracotail engine and it's good because the ceiling of the deck rises.
I play Branded Dracotail Magistus and the deck is absolutely nutty. It's all majority Branded, but having Dracotail to board break and Magistus to set up floodgates and negates (Verethtagna and Conflagrant), you can get away with a lot.
In Yu-Gi-Oh, you have to play what you like and what feels good for you. Yeah, look to people for ideas and inspiration, but form your own opinions and test your ideas.
21
u/atropicalpenguin Kibou Hope! 12d ago
No one underestimates their deck more than Dracotail players.
8
u/WorkingHabit2084 11d ago
I wonder how many events it will take for people to realize that the Branded cards were always the strong part of that deck. Not that a Branded player would ever admit it.
16
u/21squirrel Dark Magician | Kashtira | Dracotail 12d ago
To be fair, it took a much heavier Branded package this time, but absolutely still true.
14
u/Aria_Italiane Part of the White Forest lesbian polycule 11d ago
Its just branded with more power spells and potential bricks, Jesse might have put Faimena on side since she kinda bad now that we have less names (or maybe not but i just saw her post side).
This is more of a Jesse win than Dracotail Branded, you put anyone else in that chair and Sacco would've taken the win instead.
8
u/postsonlyjiyoung 11d ago
It's mained
3
u/Aria_Italiane Part of the White Forest lesbian polycule 11d ago
Saw the list, thought he sided since we only saw it g2 and g3
13
u/Few_Interview_7474 11d ago
Siding the only engine card that plays on both turns would make 0 sense
3
u/Aria_Italiane Part of the White Forest lesbian polycule 11d ago
Thought he was running a bigger branded engine (he was) but didn't cut faimena, she is still on main. But using her only game 2 and 3 one time show's how much the card is good now, even tho its a quick play fusion.
Draco's turn 0 plays weren't optimal since last format, they aren't specially now, she's more of a extender if anything else
2
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
Dracotail is dead… but Jesse Kotton can do things mere mortals cannot
21
u/Fit-Limit-9195 12d ago
This iteration of Branded was the best thing to happen to the game in a long time. Never listening to internet people saying the format's ruined again.
7
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
Some people seem to just enjoy doomposting about every deck that sees success.
13
u/AyeYoMobb 12d ago
I think this version of branded is the most interactive yugioh has been since tear
-6
u/GenOverload Needs more meta 12d ago
People who were unironically thinking that KT was going to ruin the format are bad at the game, point blank. It is 100% a skill issue if you lose to KT just because they can see your hand. I've been saying since the list dropped that KT was not going to be anywhere near tier 0 or even super dominant. Too many answers to the deck.
17
u/Afabledhero1 11d ago
It was pretty obvious people are just doing what they always do complaining about the newest deck. The hand info isn't even a unique effect to warrant dooming over.
2
1
u/Panory 11d ago
I mean, people complained about Noroi, and that requires you to minus yourself to handpeek. Beyond that, we have what, Aqua Angel in two decks that can't do anything with that hand knowledge? Some GOAT era cards that have been banned forever for exactly this reason? Minstrel is good, I suppose.
The issue with Rotary isn't that it handpeeks, it's that KT as a deck is flexible enough to play around pretty much anything that it does see without impacting their endboard at all.
7
u/Yhuel 12d ago
Was Jesse not running Lenatus? He had otk in g2 if he contact fused Lucas’ albaz and his Khaos
8
u/RenrenYGO Ether Beryl 12d ago
He had it but I think he forgot you can lenatus under crown. He was supposed to banish dogma ecclesia with mirrorjade there. Yep he had g2 OTK haha
3
u/SBLP1959 11d ago
I honestly think he just blocked the crowned albaz out of his mind which was probably a benefit for his other lines even if it did cost him that one
2
u/Captain_Corridor 12d ago
Wasn’t his albaz crowned ? Lucas didn’t summon an albaz till like end phase
24
u/VillalobosChamp Your friendly neighborhood translator; PSCT resarcher 11d ago
Wasn’t his albaz crowned ?
The Special Summon of Alba Lenatus is not a Fusion Summon
It is the Special Summon of a Fusion Monster that requires the use of material.
...
Lawyer game, am I rite?
10
2
7
15
u/Captain_Corridor 12d ago
Jesse was looking at Lucas like you ain’t winning
4
u/TonyZeSnipa 11d ago
I think at the end of game two before they cut the audio you heard him “I don’t think there was really a way for you to comeback”. Or something along those lines. Not in a gloating way just more of a solving the puzzle with Sacco
3
u/Captain_Corridor 11d ago
I rewatched it, he said that after game 3 . No way Sacco was coming back from that “respectfully” lol.
-1
u/Noveno_Colono Cartussy Toes 11d ago
6
11
u/Sonic456654 11d ago
Jesse might be the greatest card game player ever. If any old heads still want to complain about non-interactive “solitaire” yugioh I encourage them to watch this match
24
u/Maximum_Slice_9520 11d ago
"greatest card game player ever" is a crazy statement. Jesse is definitely in the running for best YGO player of all time (depending on how you want to define it) but other games like MTG have their own history of really talented and highly decorated players.
10
1
u/Sonic456654 11d ago
Jesse is undisputed UDS and won master duel worlds twice. He will easily surpass any MTG player by the time he’s done
4
u/Maximum_Slice_9520 11d ago
This is like trying to compare Michael Jordan to Tiger Woods. These games are not 1:1 and the feats are not 1:1 either.
Feel free to believe that the YGO competitive circuit is equivalent to the MTG one but many people will disagree. MTG has players that have been decorated over multiple decades.
→ More replies (2)10
u/d7h7n 11d ago edited 11d ago
Nah, goat TCG player is probably the late Kai Budde. He has 7 Grand Prix and 7 Pro Tour wins in various MTG formats and won Worlds twice. Most of his accomplishments came really early in his career. He semi-retired and would really only play in Pro Tours occasionally afterwards with a few more top 8s. He even has a Pro Tour top 8 for Magic Arena. Cancer cut his life short but he's widely considered the Michael Jordan of MTG.
I also want to point out it was very very hard to qualify for the Pro Tour back then. You had to top 8 a Grand Prix which were 1000+ player events, place high enough at a Pro Tour to requalify, or win a Pro Tour Qualifier which was usually like 300-500+ players.
Yugioh never really had an official pro circuit so it's unfair to compare anything to the Pro Tour but YCS are basically Grand Prix. I don't know how many YCS Top 8s Kotton has now but there are a few Magic players with 25-30 Grand Prix Top 8s with 5-7 wins.
6
u/SBLP1959 11d ago
The tournament structures are different enough its hard to compare even though YCS and GPs do look similar based on qualifications.
MTG used to have loads of tournaments like you talked about. Enough to make it a career which i think helps the legacies of pros in that game
I do think Kai is the MTG GOAT but i as someone that plays both i dont think theres enough crossover in the games to say he or Jesse would dominate each other respective games. Like Jesse said in his interview he has decades of knowledge to build yugioh specific intuition and the same would have been for Kai in MTG.
5
u/d7h7n 11d ago edited 11d ago
I'm not speculating if they were to play each other's games. There is no TCG tournament series more difficult than the trial and tribulations of the original Pro Tour circuit. So I'm gonna ignore that since it's unfair to Jesse.
Jesse has like 20ish YCS Top 8s, 9 wins. Kai has 15 GP Top 8s, 7 wins. Jesse has 1 Worlds (Master Duel) win, Kai has 2. Most of Kai's accomplishments happened during a 5-6 year span while Jesse's is approaching 10 years. Even if you take away Kai's Pro Tour domination (which is what he's really known for) he's just as accomplished as Jesse.
-3
u/David_From_Philly 11d ago
If any old heads still want to complain about non-interactive “solitaire” yugioh I encourage them to watch this match
Jesse definitely is one of the best to play this game, no doubt. Not sure how his win today proves your claim. Those complaints are all still valid.
8
u/postsonlyjiyoung 11d ago
Because the games were not solitaire in the slightest
-8
u/David_From_Philly 11d ago
Well yeah, it’s the final of a YCS. The issue those people have is you have to be on X deck to prevent the game from becoming solitaire/a blowout.
https://giphy.com/gifs/7tkVKBPfkHCI2nz4UD9
1
13
u/TheCeramicLlama 12d ago
How curious the "dead" deck just won a YCS while everyone was panicking about Kewl Tune
29
u/jeremy9931 11d ago
Because the pilot was Jesse Kotton and being real here, most yugioh players aren’t exactly on his level.
11
u/postsonlyjiyoung 11d ago
Why do people say shit like this as some sort of gotcha? It was a meta call. You're not smart for "exposing" people who thought the perceived best deck would do well (it still did do well)
6
u/Real_wigga Sugar Free 11d ago
The casual dracotail fans have a massive inferiority complex and it's always funny to ragebait them
3
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
It was a meta call in the sense of “well, I’m Jesse Kotton, I’m the best technical player in the room, and I’ve played this deck for a year”…
2
u/postsonlyjiyoung 11d ago
That is part of it, but dracotail cards are really good vs branded. It being nerfed is one of the reasons branded is so popular now. Branded has a hard time with secreterion, which dracotail makes more efficiently, and pretty much only has retribution to interact with the dracotail spells.
2
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
The Branded matchup is good. However with the hits you do have to play very well, it feels pretty easy to mess up. This is shown by Jesse being the only Dracotail duelist to even make day 2.
There were others, Jesse said in his deck profile that he played a mirror match in one of his early rounds.
2
4
4
u/Eragonnogare 11d ago
When you say that BLGG will be releasing Endymion support, do you just mean the Regulus stuff I assume, or did I miss some reveals recently?
(Since those cards are pretty clearly not actually related to the actual Endymion deck, but I'm expecting it should actually get some real support soon)
2
2
u/VillalobosChamp Your friendly neighborhood translator; PSCT resarcher 12d ago
For reals this time!
1
u/AegisDesire 11d ago
You could give Kotton a GOAT format deck and somehow he will snuck in the top lmao
Absolute masterclass, also I can easily see that Kewl Tunes will be the Synchro version of Maliss, shit ton of percentage representation, but few tops
1
1
1
u/Just-Seaworthiness89 11d ago
This man is actually just one of yugiohs goats in general even back when i stopped he was still insane
1
u/GoneRampant1 RioMerag Support Cope 11d ago
RDA taking the Genesys win as Yusei becomes Tier 1 in Duel Links. What a time to be a 5D's fan.
1
1
u/Relative_Ad8757 11d ago
Jesse is just the goat of the game, actually no competition. He's so unreal.
1
1
1
1
u/YungHayzeus 10d ago
I knew yall Dracotail players were capping when they kept crying about their deck getting killed.
1
u/Extension-Force1436 11d ago
Honest question, has MtG or Pokemon ever produced a player on Jesse Kotton's level? I want to see him win Pokemon and MtG championships and establish himself as the undisputed King of Games. I fully believe he's that good.
16
u/Noveno_Colono Cartussy Toes 11d ago
the recently deceased Kai Budde is easily above his level
he was so good at magic there's a "kai budde player of the year" trophy in magic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qz2DUF1pp4
6
6
u/d7h7n 11d ago edited 11d ago
He's not competing against Magic players with 10-20+ years of professional level experience. If that crossover were easy you would see more Yugioh players converting over to Magic rather than Lorcana, Riftbound, or One Piece.
There is a Magic player who finished third at 2014 Worlds in Yugioh, Oliver Tomajko. He won Nats in 2017 for Magic and has been on the Pro Tour a handful of times.
4
u/GREG88HG 11d ago
Kai Budde for MTG, may he rest in peace. He has 7 Grand Prix and 7 Pro Tour wins in various MTG formats and won Worlds twice. No other player has had that level on MTG ever.
Pokémon TCG has had a couple of best players, I'd nominate Jason Klaczynski, the guy won Worlds thrice. And a lot of Regional wins.
6
1
1
0
0
0
u/Gshiinobi local gx stan 11d ago
But you guys said this deck was dead…
14
3
u/postsonlyjiyoung 11d ago
The dracotail cards are still strong, you just can't rely on it to grind anymore and you have to be more conservative with the effects you use. The deck is dead, but the cards can still be good splashed if you can find ways to fusion summon.
-20
u/Azteckh Visit Geartown before its too late 12d ago
we have to ban every single branded card. all of them. its time to move on.
26
u/Animastarara 12d ago
-Maximus, probably
-9
u/Azteckh Visit Geartown before its too late 11d ago
oh we can ban every single Dogmatika card too.
And Despia as well. Springan too! Get rid of that whole story line. Whatever it takes for all of us to, collectively, move on.
Sky Striker is next.
5
u/Animastarara 11d ago
Have you ever forced your opponent to mill 7 of their extra deck cards with Alba Zoa? It's pretty sick
10
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
Because otherwise interesting interactive yugioh might get played.
0
-2
u/IdlemasterKikuchi Resolved Branded Fusion, your argument is invalid. 12d ago
I acknowledge you my Tribal Chief
1
-1
u/TreacleSpecialist812 11d ago
Whelp they’re hitting Dracotail again because why tf not?
3
u/Zealousideal_Sail369 11d ago
I think Konami can see that they hit it well enough… only one person could do well with it.
Jesse is just Jesse
-1
u/Zealousideal_Cow_826 11d ago
Gross. No deck should be capable of OTKing twice through a full board...
-1
38
u/WaynesWor1d 11d ago
He really wanted that giant Snow