Ritual Mechanic in YGO

[Plasma Prince]

I personally am a strange YGO fan and duelist in the sense that I love the idea of using all the summoning mechanics: Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, and now Link. I've always liked basing decks around all of these, such as Odd-Eyes (which uses them all, except Link of course). But as I watched ARC-V I felt quite disappointed and it made me ask: why didn't they use Ritual Monsters more?

 

Yes, I know, the typical reason: it's not a part of the Extra Deck. But when you think about it, Pendulum Monsters are part of the Main Deck as well. Of course, those cards can go to the Extra Deck but you get the idea. I was honestly pretty mad that there was no Ritual Dimension in ARC-V. I mean, imagine how cool it'd be if the Ritual Dimension was behind everything! Sadly, no luck.

 

It occurs to me that Rituals definitely need more respect, especially in the anime. They count as a Special Summoning mechanic as well, and honestly instead of continuous new mechanics for their next installments (let's be honest, they're probably going to make more after VRAINS) they could make one based on Ritual Summoning.

 

What do you guys think? 

[BANZAI!!!!]

Moved to banlists and theory.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

Ritual dimension was like the OG dimension zarc destroyed

[Plasma Prince]

Ritual dimension was like the OG dimension zarc destroyed

 

But it didn't seem like Rituals were prominent in the OG dimension. If that were the case we'd see characters like Zarc and Akaba using Rituals more. That's what irritated me.

[Sleepy]

Yeah I also originally expected something different.

What happened was Standard at the center with knowledge of all mechanics but unable to use the "true" versions of them.

What I expected was to have no central dimension and instead have Ritual be the last one, and Pendulums be the bridge interconnecting them. 

They even named their project the Arc Area, or 5th (the space in-between them is what I originally thought it'd be).

 

Instead turns out Rituals were neglected and Standard became Pendulum. Nobody ever asks about Rituals, even Reiji didn't even have Rituals even though he was praised on being able to use all mechanics.

 

 

To be fair, it's a very hefty, outdated, and underwhelming mechanic. It is finally gaining an inherent edge over the others with the Link era's arrival. Weather or not something will be actually done with them is yet to be seen though.

[Plasma Prince]

Yeah I also originally expected something different.

What happened was Standard at the center with knowledge of all mechanics but unable to use the "true" versions of them.

What I expected was to have no central dimension and instead have Ritual be the last one, and Pendulums be the bridge interconnecting them. 

They even named their project the Arc Area, or 5th (the space in-between them is what I originally thought it'd be).

 

Instead turns out Rituals were neglected and Standard became Pendulum. Nobody ever asks about Rituals, even Reiji didn't even have Rituals even though he was praised on being able to use all mechanics.

 

 

To be fair, it's a very hefty, outdated, and underwhelming mechanic. It is finally gaining an inherent edge over the others with the Link era's arrival. Weather or not something will be actually done with them is yet to be seen though.

 

It was quite a boastful statement throughout Arc-V. They would point out "person A has mastered all summoning mechanics" but not once did it apply to Rituals. 

 

I think it's great that Link is giving the upper hand to Rituals, although I'm sadly guessing they won't be using them in the anime despite this (I'd love to be pleasantly surprised, though.) 

 

I really think the reason Rituals are hefty and outdated is because Konami doesn't bother working on them. Take for instance, Pendulum. They changed the Pendulum Zones to incorporate Link Monsters better, so if they can change things for Pendulum, why not Rituals? The problem with Rituals is how many cards are needed but when you think about it they're basically more specific Fusion Monsters. Some changes could fix that in my opinion. 

[Sleepy]

To be fair, They were still figuring out the game's standards when Rituals were made. 3rd TCG booster expansion ever, Magic Ruler.

It's around the times when Fusion was also too expensive to really be viable, and most limit/ban-worthy staple spells were made. Also, powercreep often was as simple as 100 more ATK in the average monster.

 

Rituals wasn't as well thought out as the other mechanics, and yeah support is lacking. If I remember correctly, last time I checked the game had more HERO monsters than Rituals, Level 2 Rituals still don't exist, nor do WIND Rituals. 

 

If I hadn't been around when it all started, the logic assumption would have been that Rituals were the first special mechanic made before the Extra Deck and Fusions improved upon the idea. Who would have thought they made a mechanic worse than Fusions at a time when the best Fusions the game probably had were B. Skull Dragon and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon. Any other options were along the lines of The Fusionist.

A product of its time if you will. Just like Toons which debuted in the same set. They all have had so many defects.
Rituals could become better though, and I don't just mean archetypes with absurd levels of searching and consistent power plays like Nekroz or Gishki.
I mean as in, generically better.... 

 

 

 

If its any indication, there might be a reason Konami downright stole their card color in favor of their new mechanic... Maybe they are expressing how little they care about the mechanic xD

[Plasma Prince]

To be fair, They were still figuring out the game's standards when Rituals were made. 3rd TCG booster expansion ever, Magic Ruler.

It's around the times when Fusion was also too expensive to really be viable, and most limit/ban-worthy staple spells were made. Also, powercreep often was as simple as 100 more ATK in the average monster.

 

Rituals wasn't as well thought out as the other mechanics, and yeah support is lacking. If I remember correctly, last time I checked the game had more HERO monsters than Rituals, Level 2 Rituals still don't exist, nor do WIND Rituals. 

 

If I hadn't been around when it all started, the logic assumption would have been that Rituals were the first special mechanic made before the Extra Deck and Fusions improved upon the idea. Who would have thought they made a mechanic worse than Fusions at a time when the best Fusions the game probably had were B. Skull Dragon and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon. Any other options were along the lines of The Fusionist.

 

A product of its time if you will. Just like Toons which debuted in the same set. They all have had so many defects.

Rituals could become better though, and I don't just mean archetypes with absurd levels of searching and consistent power plays like Nekroz or Gishki.

I mean as in, generically better.... 

 

 

 

If its any indication, there might be a reason Konami downright stole their card color in favor of their new mechanic... Maybe they are expressing how little they care about the mechanic xD

 

Yeah, that's a fair explanation. I've heard about the lack of Ritual Monsters but apparently it was because they wanted to put their time into Fusion, which of course led to Synchro, and so on....

Rituals can still work now. They just need more cards and make it a little easier to summon them. Nekroz was a great deck but they don't seem to care of bringing it further. 

 

 

And yes, the people at Konami are savages. Not sure if intentional or accidental savages though but something makes me lean toward the former (that may be since they had the chance to use Red or Bright Orange or a Bright Green card color, but noooooo)

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

I mean, there was that one time a ritual deck ruled the game for like a year. And they didn't even circumvent the mechanic that much.

[Blake]

I mean, there was that one time a ritual deck ruled the game for like a year. And they didn't even circumvent the mechanic that much.

It was also the only remotely well designed attempt at Rituals ever.

 

Issues being they gave it too much bite via Trish-Exciton Catch 22/Unicore is not a fair monster.

 

Every other ritual deck is/has been either sheet or a mess of garbage design. Sad, really.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

It was also the only remotely well designed attempt at Rituals ever.

 

Issues being they gave it too much bite via Trish-Exciton Catch 22/Unicore is not a fair monster.

 

Every other ritual deck is/has been either sheet or a mess of garbage design. Sad, really.

Gishki Hieratics were meta

[UltimateIRS]

Gishki Hieratics were meta

 

Through, as Black put it, garbage design.

[Darj]

Maybe it's just me, but can't agree with Nekroz being well designed or that they didn't circumvent the Ritual mechanic too much. I mean, you got to admit their search power is ridiculously good, and they kind of played around the Ritual mechanic by being able to use monsters in the grave or Extra Deck as materials, or revive the Ritual Monster with Cycle; not saying the latter is broken nor anything; in fact, I find it as a nice way of giving Ritual Monsters a push. But in the end, it's still playing around the mechanics of Rituals of requiring the assembly of Ritual Monster + Ritual Spell + Tribute fodder.

 

But they were quite close. Personally I would be fine with them if, let's say, Clausolas and Brionac had a discard effect different to searching, and the Ritual Spells didn't go back to your hand as +1s.

 

Also, IMO Valkyrus played an important role too, in staying alive + draw power. In short, they have a lot of good stuffs.

[Blake]

Maybe it's just me, but can't agree with Nekroz being well designed or that they didn't circumvent the Ritual mechanic too much. I mean, you got to admit their search power is ridiculously good, and they kind of played around the Ritual mechanic by being able to use monsters in the grave or Extra Deck as materials, or revive the Ritual Monster with Cycle; not saying the latter is broken nor anything, in fact IMO it's a nice way of giving Ritual Monsters a push; but in the end, it's still playing around the mechanics of Rituals of requiring the assembly of Ritual Monster + Ritual Spell + Tribute fodder.

 

Also, IMO Valkyrus played an important role too, in staying alive + draw power. In short, they have a lot of good stuffs.

Searching by making your monsters double as 1-shot spells isn't circumventing it. It's playing into the mechanic with the hopes of enabling something costly. The banish part kinda is, but shrug. Kaleido is super good, flavor wise, and Nekroz is all around solid in design. A bit too much power was given, sure, but the core idea is good and the overall implementation led to a good, but not overwhelming, deck.

 

Valk played a role, but he wasn't TOO good. He was the level of unfair that good card design necessitates.

[Darj]

Searching by making your monsters double as 1-shot spells isn't circumventing it. It's playing into the mechanic with the hopes of enabling something costly. The banish part kinda is, but shrug. Kaleido is super good, flavor wise, and Nekroz is all around solid in design. A bit too much power was given, sure, but the core idea is good and the overall implementation led to a good, but not overwhelming, deck.

 

Valk played a role, but he wasn't TOO good. He was the level of unfair that good card design necessitates.

 

I had a last-minute thought for my previous comment and edited accordingly before noticing your reply.

But yes, I agree the core idea is good; if anything, they went a bit too far with the search power. I mean, personally I could have lived with Trishula and Unicore wrecking a bit of havoc if their search power didn't enable them to assemble their Ritual Summon so easily, often as soon as in their first turn.

[Plasma Prince]

I had a last-minute thought for my previous comment and edited accordingly before noticing your reply.

But yes, I agree the core idea is good; if anything, they went a bit too far with the search power. I mean, personally I could have lived with Trishula and Unicore wrecking a bit of havoc if their search power didn't enable them to assemble their Ritual Summon so easily, often as soon as in their first turn.

 

Searching by making your monsters double as 1-shot spells isn't circumventing it. It's playing into the mechanic with the hopes of enabling something costly. The banish part kinda is, but shrug. Kaleido is super good, flavor wise, and Nekroz is all around solid in design. A bit too much power was given, sure, but the core idea is good and the overall implementation led to a good, but not overwhelming, deck.

 

Valk played a role, but he wasn't TOO good. He was the level of unfair that good card design necessitates.

 

Yeah, I agree. It was a bit much. But I enjoy Nekroz and I think the new Link mechanic could help them out.

It was also the only remotely well designed attempt at Rituals ever.

 

Issues being they gave it too much bite via Trish-Exciton Catch 22/Unicore is not a fair monster.

 

Every other ritual deck is/has been either s*** or a mess of garbage design. Sad, really.

 

I think the main issue with the Ritual decks is that over the years Konami has practically given up on them. They need more development if any improvement is expected.

I mean, there was that one time a ritual deck ruled the game for like a year. And they didn't even circumvent the mechanic that much.

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about deck popularity and tournaments. Which deck are you referring to and what year was this? Just curious. 

[UltimateIRS]

I'm not very knowledgeable about deck popularity and tournaments. Which deck are you referring to and what year was this? Just curious.

Nekroz.

[Plasma Prince]

Nekroz.

 

Oh right. I like those quite a bit but the banlist screwed them up.

[Sleepy]

I agree that Nekroz are a wonderful archetype to play with. There are a couple issues like how they were strong in floodgates against the Extra Deck at a time when we had more predominance in "go into your Extra or die" kinds of decks, although this one has gotten better over time. Or how the searching they got was overboard. Shurit, Brionac, and Unicore.

Or that for their time, it was pretty unfair that you couldn't play around them most of the time between Trishula or Exciton Knight.

 

 

Though my biggest issue with this is that Nekroz is just a good example of a good archetype. We don't really get much support towards the mechanic as a whole.

Rituals are a harder and more expensive (advantage and consistency-wise)  mechanic than anything else in the game, but this doesn't mean they couldn't be worked into game a little more broadly. Nekroz stand only for Nekroz, and they just happen to function as Rituals, but I'd like to see something nice come out for the mechanic a bit more. Pre-Preparation is nice but I would prefer some re-working on the Spells/catalysts like they did for Fusions or a tweak to the mechanic itself like they did for Pendulums (although Pendulums were nerfed instead).

[Neutrality Man]

Experiment: Every Ritual Spell can now Summon from the Grave like Odd-Eyes Advent. In exchange, Ritual Summoning from the Grave cannot be overpaid, and must have the exact amount of Levels. From the hand works the same as always.