Opinion: Is Genesys a Fake, Soulless, Corpo format?

In my last two articles on Genesys, I’ve tried to take a more objective approach to the analysis of the format; looking at the cards themselves. Those were topics focusing on Points and Performance. This conversation, driven by recent disparagement within online circles, is instead about People and Perceptions. I’ll be approaching some personal opinions on Genesys through the answering of the three adjectives given in the title, one after another. I’d rather focus on the format as a player, but I gained some coverage from a recent discussion online, and I’d like to give my thoughts in a long form, as I have before. 

So, let’s get right into it. 

No, of course not. Genesys is less than a year old, and it was released as “early access”, according to its debut blog post. We’ve had celebration events at stores for the coming of the format, “Proto” YCS’ which use a regular Swiss structure, with extra rounds to compensate for the lack of a Top Cut, and we’ve had “big top” regionals, treating Genesys as a whole day’s event, just like Advanced format. This sort of big top is coming to YCS events, too. Quite late, I must admit, but they’re an inevitable commitment by Konami. 

Genesys is a very real format, but it’s one in its infancy. Long online matchmaking times(though I’ve not experienced them) are going to be inevitable for a format with no incoming premier events, and the fast turnaround point adjustments(compared to the time between lists in TCG, at least) work against its favour here; Who wants to play a format where the decks they’re practicing might not even exist for the event they’re bringing it to? 

I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to play Genesys right now. I think they’re missing out on a real alternative to yugioh, where Armored Xyz(0) is a meta-defining engine, where playing Kewl Tune Rotary(40) comes with tradeoffs, where Book of Eclipse(3) is arguably a stronger breaker than Illusion Gate(0). Where the average hand-trap still hits like an Effect Veiler(8) in Tengu Format. Where an interrupted combo can’t simply jump into a new one with link summons. If this sounds like the same game as Advanced to you, then I have a Rainbow Bridge(0) to sell you. 

I’m not even sure where this one comes from. Genesys is the only format we’ve gotten in maybe a decade where Konami is writing posts and giving insight to their decision making. An example is just from last week, where they released point adjustments for Blazing Dominion, and re-iterated their distaste for cards that “attack” the extra deck. What they mean by this is they don’t want pointed cards integral to a strategy getting removed before they can even be used. It’s no longer a “what?” when you see Kewl Tune Crackle at 70 points, because we’ve had a person at Konami tell us why. Presumably, that person had a soul.

Compare that communication to players scratching their heads and trying to reverse engineer the recent Advanced list bans for K9-04 Noroi(15) and CXYZ Gimmick Puppet Fanatix Machinix(100), and you can feel like there’s a beating heart that cares making the Genesys point adjustments, even if it might sometimes be misguided. In regards to the OCG list? No clue. That's a stat-driven change that leans the format into a different direction. I'm thankful I'm not over there to have to deal with it.

So, if we’ve gotten personality unseen in Konami since Kevin Tewart, then maybe its the players with no soul? That’s, of course, nonsense. I’ve had maybe one unsociable opponent in all my time of competing in Genesys events, and had some of the nicest conversations with similarly passionate players about their deckbuilding and personal tech choices, why they chose certain things over others, and how their fantastic combo works, and can only work, in Genesys. I've had far worse opponents across the board playing retro format public events against people who seemingly hate to be around modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, and the sight of someone with a mat that doesn't mention Shonen Jump on it.

But all these encounters I've had were at premier events. We don’t see many Genesys locals across the UK, and that’s no surprise to me. Yu-Gi-Oh! Is historically not a profitable game for stores. Many places struggle to get enough numbers for a five round(17 players) tournament of Advanced. Where would interested players even go? My local store, which saw no less genesys players on weekend than when it ran advanced, has stopped hosting them since March. Could you reasonably expect a growth of players for a new format with nowhere for them to play in person?

Let alone finding a good enough list to actually play; content creation is massively lacking for Genesys, and where it happens, it’s not so great. MBT is doing Predaplant combos wrong and PeepsYGO thinks Illusion Gate is worse than Dark Hole(1); these are the biggest two names I can think of when it comes to regular content on Genesys format, and they have no idea what they are doing!

There's a likelihood content picks up for Genesys after July, when YCS events start running events simultaneously with a Friday Genesys, Saturday Advanced, and Sunday day two for both. We can see what people like Jesse Kotton and Joshua Schmidt bring to those friday swiss tournaments and, if they're willing, what place they finish in day two. With that comes more eyes, more decklists, discussion, and general buzz for the format beyond what we have now. Until then, the best Genesys players who are innovating most on the format are playing in a pub in the Bristol, England to no audience, and they can’t even guarantee a private room upstairs.

Yeah, of course it is. Advanced is a Corpo Format too. This is a trading card game made by a corporation. Did you expect it to not to be made to push players to buy new product? Do you seriously believe Illusion Gate should cost no points, and that the entire Magnet engine shouldn’t cost anything either? These are changes to make you buy packs for new cards, just like Advanced Yu-Gi-Oh!. 

In 2010, Edison was a Corpo format too. Now? It’s not profitable. Everyone who plays Edison has every card already. Edison players (rightfully) ignored Light of Destruction reprints, don’t care about Retro Pack reprints, don’t like the new card stock, and didn’t buy any packs to get Trap Dustshoot(94) and Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis(0) from Rarity Collection Four. If Time Wizard isn’t profitable, why support the format? Sure, running RBETs might have a profitable system structure, that’s great! Now if you run them, you can be the Corpo who runs it for profit and can wrongly decide whether Mind Crush(0) lets you look at your opponent’s hand. For Konami? Short of the venue space being free, they never profit from running any event, so just having players attend doesn't seem a tall order; they might like them buying packs too.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I hate Edison Format; I was a big fan of the innovative boom from 2022, and always looking for ancient cards no one had used before. I loved seeing Teva(0) spike to £20 online after getting a top 4 finish at an Edison event. I loved playing with Gemini Soldier(0) and feeling all the youth fill my veins looking at that nostalgic artwork. Unfortunately, it’s grown stale for me, and that’s why I’m excited for Genesys format. 

Its point system draws me in for a unique style of deck-building that lends itself to powerful cards and old favourites, and its promised regular adjustments make the best decks constantly need to adapt based on new changes in a way retro formats just don’t have(One Dark Illusion(0) in the Blackwing maindeck just doesn’t tickle me enough, I’m afraid). 

Removing Links and Pendulums makes it more approachable, at least from the outside, for older players. Curbing the strength of modern decks built to compete with link monsters helps massively to balance the format as well (thank Holactie for 70 point Dodododo Warrior, even if it’s a tad overkill), and I think the format, even with all its sins and cards short of points(think Gravity Collapse(0) and Dimensional Fissure(0)) offers players a genuine back and forth. I also think playing second is so much more possible in a world where a Gameciel breaks half of a board on its own, and breakers are cheaper than bosses.

Back to being Corpo; you’re delusional if you seriously think any trading card game, alternative format or not, can exist at scale without a profit incentive. It’s not a negative to say Genesys was made to sell product, but it’s not an excuse either. Would I prefer new cards not get a blind eye a la Illusion Gate? Of course, but they don’t all get preferential treatment. We can see that with the Kewl Tune Support; you can’t even play one copy of all the new support cards in a 100-point deck. 

If you want to see what a game with no profit incentive looks like, I’m sure you can find Keyforge decks in your local card store’s clearance. For me, I’ll keep playing Genesys so long as it keeps pointing all the FTKs and Degenerate cards, all the way down to Koa’ki Meiru Doom(0).

If you've read so far, I'd like to thank you very much for listening to my diatribe. I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this, and it was first written as a powerful expression of my own feelings. I hope I've managed to make it legible and enjoyable to read. If you've got any opinions of your own, be it points I've not mentioned here or rebuttals to what I've said, I'd love to hear them! Comment here or mention me online, and I'm likely to see it.