ATTENTION Duelists! YOUR BOY Randage wants YOU to join GoatFormat.com on March 15th
for the first ever: SLEEPER META INVITATIONAL! (open invitational) Yes, you read that right! I will be hosting
(and streaming) a deck-themed tournament series, on March 15th. Free Entry with $60 in prizes/gives away. Sign ups will begin at 11:00 am EST and round 1 will begin at 12! As always this tournament will be streamed on Twitch.tv/goatformat, time with YOUR HOST Randage.

The goal is simple, the rules are SLEEPER. I am aiming to create a fun and unique way
for the Goat Format duelists to engage in the community, make some friends and
(if you're lucky enough) win some sweet, scrumptious cash prizes. 

Next month's inaugural SLEEPER META INVITATIONAL (SMI) will feature the theme of
MACHINE based decks! In order to compete, your deck list MUST meet the following:

1. No more than FIVE non-machine monsters (THIS INCLUDES THE SIDE/FUSION DECK)
2. You may NOT manipulate the deck's theme by siding it in/out.
3. Keep in mind that this is a fun tourney with machine-based decks, do not try to find holes in the 2 restrictions above. For this reason a deck list may be declined by the host.

That's it! I hope to see a good turnout and looking forward to streaming the event.
Please try to stay true to the theme as possible! I want to see as much SLEEPER META
as possible! I will also be choosing ONE duelist's deck out of the bunch, who I find
has created the most unique/interesting list and be rewarding them a prize on top
of the winners!

Prizes will be handed out like this:
1st. Place: $30
2nd. Place: $15
3rd. Place: $5
Handpicked Deck Winner: $10

Signups start at 11 A.M. (EST)
Don't forget, MARCH 15TH!!
-YOUR BOY,
​RANDAGE

​

Immediately, you might notice that this is a highly unconventional variation on the Reasoning/Gate strategy. It adopts a fairly similar philosophy to the now well-known version labelled “Noelle-Gate” by Noelle Evelyn, insofar as building to go for the jugular and OTK rather than slowly overwhelm with the now outdated variations that rely on choices like Airknight Parshath and Dark Ruler Ha Des.

The means by which Randage reaches the same end as the Noelle-Gate version is rather different though; while Noelle relies on the use on use of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Sorcerer to fuel their centrepiece card Dimension Fusion, Randage focuses on the maxed-out Fusion Gate, backed by two copies of Terraforming to search the deck’s key combo piece. Fusion Gate is most definitely the star of the show in this deck. Fusion Gate facilitates the use of Dimension Fusion in this variation, by allowing Randage to banish his Barrel Dragon and Blowback Dragon to summon Gatling Dragon, before summoning them back via Dimension Fusion for a brutal smack down amounting to some 7500 damage altogether. Naturally these attacks will be direct shots thanks to the field clearing effects of the three mentioned dragons

GoatFormat.com had a chance to interview GFC 2 runner up Serenity. Check out the interview and deck below.

GoatFormat.com: how often do you attend live events or compete online?

Serenity: I participate in a couple of online tournaments a year. I may join more regularly in the future. I don't play the game live.

GoatFormat.com: How did you prepare for the tournament? 

Serenity: I realized that a couple of the spirit monsters will get you covered for a lot of situations. They deal with goats, beatsticks and Thousand Eyes Restrict , whilst also evading a lot of removal. The other monsters produce their advantage in my own turn, so I don't mind them getting removed. I run battle traps to maintain my life points and for extra removal. I tested this over the course of a week with little success. But I really wanted to make it work. So I made some last-minute changes and went into it with a mindset that I'm practicing, perhaps for next tournament.

GoatFormat.com:  What match-ups were you most prepared for? 

Serenity: I built the deck with the Goat Control match up in mind, but the deck is also prepared for Chaos and Aggro decks.

GoatFormat.com: Who were you not looking forward to playing against? 

Serenity: I didn't know what the other players were running, but I enjoy playing against most people, especially in the setting of a tournament.

GoatFormat.com: MVP card of the tourney? 

Serenity: Mataza the Zapper. I tested the deck without him first, but games would drag, which is not a good position for me, because my mind clogs with Spirit monsters. Mataza lets me finish games quickly. It feels like he was the missing ingredient.

GoatFormat.com: What are your past accomplishments in ygo / goat format? 

Serenity: I topped in a few FLCs and a few tournaments that were previously organized by Goatformat.com. Also, Jae Kim considered me one of the top 3 commenters on his blog (back when he ran one) and was willing to send me a box of valuable cards.

GoatFormat.com:  what changes would you make to your deck / side if any going forward?

Serenity: I really got punished for not adding backrow removal to the side deck. My attitude is not to fix what isn't broken, and I bet on others to weed out the alternative decks so that I have more space in the side deck. But I'll probably dedicate at least some space in the future. Also, I want to try another build with Ectoplasmer in the main deck. I don't see the card as quintessential, but it's great when it works.

GoatFormat.com: Any advice you have for players wanting to compete in tournaments?

Serenity: Just go for it. I treated this tournament as practice and landed in second spot. The idea is to simply find out how far you can make it based on your current skill level.

GoatFormat.com: Any shutouts you wanna make? 

Serenity: Shane is the most awesome Yu-Gi-Oh! player (and person in general).

Congratulations to Emperor Vitiate on becoming the second ever GFC Champion. Emperor Vitiate defeated Serenity_ with a 2-1 victory in the second set of grand finals.  Emperor and Serenity have now both qualified for the Goat Format World Championship.

26 Duelist entered GFC 2, check the below for a break down on the types of decks entered. You can find the tournament bracket here, and you can watch a replay of the tournament on YouTube.

Below you can see Emperor Vitiate's PACMAN deck, as well as the other 3 decks that made top four at the Goat Format Championship.

We had a chance to interview our new champion Emperor Vitiate.

GoatFormat.com: How often do you attend live events or compete online?
Emperor Vitiate: Rarely, this was my first live tournament.

GF.com How did you prepare for the tournament?
EV: I didn't really prepare, I was going to use either PACMAN or Aggro and picked PACMAN on the day.

GF.com: What match ups were you most prepared for?
EV: Goat control, Chaos and Aggro. Which is convenient because they make up most of the field. 3x Book of Moon and Compulsory Evacuation Device stop Thousand Eyes Restrict and Chaos can't remove my monsters because they flip themselves down. Wall of Revealing Light, Level Limit Area B and Gravity Bind make aggro a free win.​

GF.com: Who were you not looking forward to playing against?
EV:  I didn't want to play theNano because he is a good player and he was a big threat because of his Chaos Warrior deck which uses Skill Drain.

GF.com: MVP card of the tournament?
EV: Wall of Revealing Light. It won me several matches and bought me time to stabilize against Zombies, and Serenity's Spirit deck. Also my Gravekeeper opponent scooped when i flipped it.

GF.com: What are your past accomplishments in Yu-Gi-Oh! or Goat Format?
EV: I don't really have any accomplishments :C

GF.com: What changes would you make to your deck / side if any going forward?
EV: The main deck is fine but I would cut Messenger of Peace and maybe Waboku. I already have Threatening Roar for otk decks and Messenger was just there as a stall choice against decree decks by siding out Gravity Bind. But things like recruiters, Dekoichi and Sangan get under it so it could maybe be dropped.

GF.com: Any advice you have for players wanting to compete in tournaments?
EV: Don't go in expecting to lose, a lot of your opponents will make mistakes and when you notice it they wont feel so invincible after all.

GF.com: Any shout outs you wanna make?
EV: I will shout out Skully for making the effort to run this tournament and keep the community going.

Coming in second place we have Serenity with the much talked about Spirit deck. The Goat Format community has never seen success at this level with a deck quite like this one. Serenity played outstandingly well this tournament and even managed to take a match off of Emperor Vitiate with only had Heavy Storm and Breaker The Magical Warrior at their disposal for spell and trap removal! Check out the deck below.

In third place we have atteytewd with Gravekeepers!

In in fourth place we have Yu-Gi-Oh! Legend Jonathan LaBounty. Labounty placed 5th at the 2005 Yu-Gi-Oh! national championships. This was his first GoatFormat.com tournament and he has already declared he is now on the hunt for a GFC championship title!

Here are your top 10 players for ranked play on GoatFormat.com for January 2020. If you are looking to prove you are the best of the best then join our ranked play on discord. Going forward the top 3 players every month will qualify for the GoatFormat.com 2020 World Championship.

The second Goat Format Championship event will be held on  Febuary 9th 2020. As always tournament entry will be free with a first place prize of $10, and an invite to the 2020 GoatFormat.com World Championship tournament. We will be taking sign ups on Discord at 11:00 am EST and the GFC will begin streaming live on Twitch.tv/goatformat at 12:00 EST. The tournament will be double elimination, all losses must be reported on Discord and all winners must submit replay links.

​A little over a year ago, I helped Skully found GoatFormat.com with one goal in my mind, to create a welcoming and sustainable Goat Format community. Goat Format is truly a wonderful game, and I want there to always be a place for people to play it and learn about it. I believe that I have done my job to help create the kind of community that I originally had in mind.

Look for Goat Format Championship 2 coming February 9th 2020, sign ups begin 11:00am EST 2/8/2020. To sign up join our Discord channel.