Hand Traps - Flawed Mechanic

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates but I will try to create more articles in the coming weeks. Today I will talk about hand traps and how they're important but are also ruining the game.

Before I start, I'm not saying that all hand-traps are bad, I do think cards such as Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Tragoedia, Swift Scarecrow, Electric Virus, Puppet Plant etc are good for the game. It's mainly hand traps that can disrupt opponent's play during their turn (such as Effect Veiler, Maxx C and Droll & Lock Bird).
 
     
 
NOTE: When I mention hand traps in this article, I'm talking about the hand traps that I find problematic.


Importance of Hand Traps

Going first in Yugioh has always been an unfair advantage because your opponent has a clear field and you're able to make plays without worrying about the repercussions. To prevent this, the concept of hand traps has allowed the player going second to respond to cards being played by the turn player. This will then allow the player going second to set up his field before his opponent

Hand traps are important in the current format because of Prophecies and Dragons. The presence of hand traps can prevent both decks from going off and creating a massive board advantage and sometimes hand advantage if they have the Spellbook of Judgment or Super Rejuvenation.

Another positive is that they tend to make the game more skilled base, because you need to be able to read if your opponent has them or not and they allow you to have certain controls over the game because you can't really counter them


Flawed Mechanic

However, as the title says, I think the hand traps are ruining the game because it's a flawed mechanic. The problem with hand traps is that it is very hard to deal with because if they don't use it, it stays in their hand so you can't get rid of it. There are a couple of methods to counter hand traps which are:

Playing around them

Baiting them out

Run cards that counter them

Discard them for their hand

In my opinion, none of these are practical. By playing our hand traps, it also forces players to make a less optimum play, but sooner or later because of the way you've been playing, there're going to be moments when you can only make one play and a hand trap will just shut the play down completely.

Baiting out hand traps is also impractical because it normally leads to giving your opponent a free turn, which in the current format will allow your opponent to set up a really strong field presence which will then make it hard for you to regain control of the board

The same can be said if you run cards such as Mind Drain just to counter hand traps, which can lead you to dead draws and is something you don't want in the current format. There are only a couple of cards you can use to discard cards and the only one practical at the moment is Card Destruction, which doesn't stop your opponent drawing into another copy if they're lucky

Another problem that can occur involving hand traps is if the player starting off is able to set up his field and also has a hand trap to prevent his opponent from making plays. This scenario is very common in the current format and can mean defeat because the opponent is now even more disadvantaged.

Hand traps are also very unpredictable in my opinion. Unlike Gorz where there are certain requirements that needs to be met. These hand traps can be used anytime. It's also very hard to read because it's not on the field. I for one will admit I find it tough reading hand traps. I've had situations in the dragon mirror where my opponent summoned Big Eye against me, which should telegraph that they have at least 2 Veilers in hand. I found out afterwards they only had 1 Veiler which fooled me because I was trying to play around 2 of them.
 
Don't get me wrong. I do like the concept of being able to counter my opponent during their turn but for a resource-less game such as Yugioh, there should be a cost or a certain requirement involved to play these cards.
 
 
Solution
 
One of the solutions is to ban or restrict some of these hand traps which is stupid because it's very important in the current format. The alternative is to take a leaf out of Magic The Gathering and Pokémon and have cycles, which allows Yugioh to start fresh each format so that old cards won't suddenly be broken, (such as Super Rejuvenation) because I'm sure that it was never intended to be used liked it has been currently compared to when it first came out.
 
Of course that will never happen
 
That's my two cents anyway
 
Thanks for Reading