Okay so to follow up some discussion thats taking place in the discord server, I figured I'd post all this stuff out here to format the ideas better and make things less congested. Basically I want to talk about changing the lanc%/york% to main categories rather than misc, talk a bit more about monitoring/ruling these runs to make them even more accessible to run, and also talk about ng+ runs as misc categories.

First of all, any% is any%, no doubt about it, however lanc/york sides each are a respectable run. You start the game and reach the credits, its any% same as most any%s are. Even games that dont have proper completion deadlines generally any% is accepted as reaching the credits. Now I'm not suggesting any of these three runs be put below any of the other ones, I'd just prefer lanc% and york% to be counted as full runs and not misc categories because in all seriousness, they are proper full runs and treating them as misc categories removes any motivation to really play them, which I think is wasted potential for either side runs that could be optimized better than both side any%. Again I'm not suggesting to make the current both sides run a misc category, but rather treat all three as proper categories.

Anyways, considering we have access to more passwords now, and both of them have different DC allowances (795 for Red rose side, 757 for white rose side), it means for either side you can have a myriad of deck setups that any player is comfortable with using. The sides havent been run since the password discoveries as far as I'm aware, and are barely run at all, but they're actually objectively better to run now as you could have your own deck edits and they'd be less reset heavy. For both side any% runs you can easily lose time at all points in the game and its no surprise to me why barely any people run the game. I currently have a 1:15:59 and despite being ahead of this time by 4 minutes I get to one duel where I lose time and have to reset the run, do all those duels again and am forced to skip 5 minutes of dialogue each time i do it. Less people want to run it and im sure even less people are happy to watch it, especially when you get better times where you have less time allowance to lose, you reset more often. Current world record holder cant even get within 2 minutes of the world record that he achieved years ago purely because the game is so reset heavy, so I thought having the seperate sides as their own major category rather than them being misc is more of an incentive for people to run them. Again, You do one side or the other, they can be optimized better as you'd only need cards for strats on the duelists for one side or the other, and have your independent DC allowance for the entry deck edit without having to worry about losing time editing the deck again to get more optimal cards in the deck or remove them depending on what you're doing for your run.

Now in hopes that these will be approved as main categories, I also would like to propose ideas/rulesets or at least ask for people to suggest ideas for them that make them easier to restart the runs. If you start at side selection (I think the current ruling is to start the timer at deck selection to make it seem more legit) then that means a console runner could share the same advantage of resetting past all the dialogue (as emu runners use savestates) by setting up a save file with an original starter deck and allowing them to hit 'continue' rather than new game to save skipping 5 minutes of dialogue (or however long it is) after every ruleset. Something along the lines of: -Deck contents must match one of the existing starter decks -Deck leader must match the same rule and not allowing a rank up for the deck leader during the run if it gives the deck leader an advantage such as a leader ability -Proof at the end of the run if needed that the contents of the save match what was present from start to the end of the run -No reincarnation allowed until 5 duels into the run (this can also be remedied by reincarnating in the custom duel before hitting Continue)

I think this would be easy to monitor as runs need to be watched to be verified, so you could easily see not just during deck edits, but during each duel if the player used any cards they have not obtained legitimately

Seems like a lot of work just to be able to run the game, but it means that a console player can simply set up a file on a memory card so that they can exit the game/reset the console and hit 'continue' to start a new run, rather than having to skip through all the dialogue all over again. Considering this is one of the most reset heavy games to optimize due to the amount of RNG in it (something i dont need to explain to anyone who runs the game), it would be a fair way, at least I think, to be able to grind and run the games. Please let me know if anyone agrees/disagrees with this. This is something that I dont expect people to agree with as nobody runs on console, but it would allow console runners to have the same benefit emulator runners get by being able to restart the game without skipping dialogue every single time. If not, you could still have the old ruleset but just have lanc/york as main categories. Because in reality theyre just as legit runs as any%, but are actually better to run as theres less duelists to reset on so more people would be inclined to grind better times on. And in saying that, it means more people are playing and running the game to in turn, potentially figure out more strats for the game that could be used in the category that runs both sides. Considering there are so many options in the game now, we could potentially find out quite a bit about that run by grinding/optmizing times on the side categories and then implement those strategies elsewhere.

So yea in summary i would like the independent side runs as main categories, not misc ones, but also there I discuss a way for console runners to be able to run the game with less pain resetting just like the majority of emu runners get to use savestates. Again, the only reason emu should be allowed to run this game is because you need the NTSC version to get any half decent time, so for me this is making it more fair for people who choose to run the game on a console.

After that, i'll go back to the NG+ categories. I suggested something like this ages ago and the person/people i discussed them with did not seem very keen on them, so I'll explain them again. Having a 'no holds barred' run as misc category where you can merely hit continue, and finish either side (so ng+ yorkists and ng+ lancastrians depending on what side is shown in the run) - pretty much no rules just beat all the duelists on that side with a timer starting when you hit continue/side selection and then ending on the final You Win box like a normal run. But unlike the main categories, in this run you are allowed to have a 100% pre-edited deck. The reason I'd like these to be actual categories (ofcourse misc ones cause theyre kinda just for fun) is so that we'd be able to utilize strategies and cards that the main categories would never use. Stuff like high levelled deck leaders for movement advantage as well as the best possible low dc deck setup that will be able to beat the side as fast and reliable as possible, using cards that you'd never be able to rely on in the starter decks such as Meteor Black Dragon+ an equip to quickly finish off enemies. I have no idea why this idea was rejected harshly when I suggested it but I think it'd just be a fun misc category to have there that gives runners of the game a break from the serious categories. Emulators can easily cheat in any deck they want, as can console players if they have a cheating device or memory card reader and can load a cheated file from an emulator, stuff like that. Again these are misc categories so they shouldnt be taken seriously, but to me its like, why not have these categories? It would be fun to run, and I also think fun for viewers to watch the game be totally destroyed with overpowered cards. Having people RTA a run like this could be both entertaining and rewarding without anyone having to worry about emulator/cheating device/pay to win or whatever cause its a misc category.

Again please everyone let me know what you think. A few people were mentioned in the discord when a few of these ideas where thrown out but it didnt really seem to get anywhere cause I guess people dont care as much as I do, but really when you consider the only main category is a run thats probably never going to be beaten because you need perfect luck and perfect play throughout the whole game to beat it, this game feels like it has really hit a dead end in that regard. So I'm throwing these ideas out hopeful that people would consider them. People dont run the game because its hard to get anywhere in the only category that matters, and its a absolute shitfest when it comes to resets. So I think if we have categories like this, maybe more people would get into the game and the community would strengthen somewhat. If not, at least people that do run the game would have more options than just the one category to play and the other categories being 'memes' when at this point I think they are legitimate categories.

So after a few ideas, I've come up with some solid and not so solid ideas.

My basic idea is. Start on the white rose side. Get a Dancing Elf from Tea. Just after Mai, or maybe even Mako, or maybe even Joey, you go into the deck editing screen.

Now that you're in the deck editing screen, you remove Skullbird, Zanki, and Gokibore. Skullbird and Zanki are removed because theyre not very useful outside of Mai's duel, and you need to make room for other cards to drop your DC as quickly as possible. Now instead of adding a fake trap like you normally do, you add the Dancing Elf you got from Tea. Now you enter the passcode for Dimensionhole. this is something I'm 100% on - the whole point of this 'route' is to include the Dimensionhole, so that for the last 80% of the run you have 2x the chance to draw Dimensionhole, and in some cases even the ability to draw both in one duel which can also be useful. This password should be part of everyones route - not only is it immensely useful but considering you need to access the deck editing screen to progress, you may as well use the passcode for it. Not to mention, the passcode is W1A7W101 - This is actually incredibly easy to enter - the A and 7 are the furthest characters away from zero, the W's require three down inputs, and the rest of the characters require 1 or less input. So for anyone running in the future, you definitely want to use this passcode, it's a no brainer imo.

So after you swap those three out, then include the dancing elf and the dimensionhole, you have a deck cost allowance of 11. Normally I'd suggest using a fake trap, or cursebreaker if you managed to get one from mai, but I was thinking of just using the Violet Crystal passcode because its 10dc and it goes far considering your deck. It's a little bit tedious to enter but considering that would be an extra potential thousand damage in a duel you use zombies on to win, and also it gives you another spell/trap card that you can utilize in other duels for ai manips (such as blocking a summon points of theirs without their deck leader moving away). The reason why I suggest removing Gokibore as the 3rd card to remove is because it is the highest DC card in your deck that wont be useful to you again. It's not used for any fusion and is only useful on forest terrain - which you can summon Chimaira, Flower Wolf, Rose Spectre, and now with the inclusion of Dancing elf, a Nekogal #2, all which give you 2 hit kills on weevil, which is the only point where your forest cards even really matter on the Red Rose side.

You get the dancing elf from tea that way you have a female card. It's extremely easy to get (remember that the enemy deck leader always shows up in the slots, provided their deck leader is obtainable in the slots - so in the run you're already guaranteed to have it in the slots) There are two beasts in your deck, so you can use it to make Nekogal #2, which is mostly for the Richard Duel, but also nifty to get a more reliable fast weevil. This isn't really a major deal but its more useful than a fake trap - which you can use if you happen to miss the Dancing Elf from Tea. You can also fuse the dancing elf with Saggi or Akakieisu to make Dark Elf, which is nice.

You still have a 756 deck cost deck after Bakura, so what you can now do is go back to the deck editing screen for the last time in the run - take out your useless Kattapillar and go ahead and enter the code for Shadow Ghoul - LXNTAHCF. Your DC will still be low enough to duel everyone after Bakura with this deck. Again, the code is a bit tedious to enter compared to Dimensionhole, but Shadow Ghoul is the card which will be responsible for fast duels against Labyrinth Ruler, and all three Stonehenge Duels. If you add it in immediately after Bakura, you can also use it against Yugi, then its immediately effective on the red rose side - it can come in handy versus other opponents with labyrinth such as Keith, you can use it to block him from summoning/moving away from you if you pin him from one side. And dont forget, its 2100 on wasteland/yami, which gives you another 2 hit killer on those maps - which half of the maps on that side have wasteland/yami, so yeah, its pretty nice. Then when it comes to the Stonehenge duels, the Wall Shadow is a two hit kill on the final bosses. This isnt really a factor on Skull Knight because its still better to just do the typical 'glitch guy' fight. But this cuts so much time off of Labyrinth ruler. 2x dimensionhole and 2x shadow ghoul can easily make labyrinth ruler a fast duel when usually its one of the longest.

Another small idea i thought of after this is, when you deck edit the 2nd Shadow Ghoul in after bakura, you still have some DC allowance, so you could enter the code for a 2nd Cyber-Stein and take Basic Insect out to put it in. Considering youre going back into the deck editing screen already, it would take about an extra 10 seconds-ish to do this action, and cyber-stein (especially having 2) helps you significantly with all the decks that dont have wasteland yami - particularly Pegasus but also Richard. So yeah, considering with my idea you're already going to the deck edit screen to add 2nd shadow ghoul, that extra 10 seconds it takes to swap our your basic insect for a cyber-stein i think is worth it. cyber steins code doesnt take that much time to enter. Over the course of adding in these passcodes over any current decent route, you'd potentially lose like a minute max in an hour plus run, but potentially save so much time its ridiculous. This route increases the chance of beating the current world record by not only making it more likely to draw good cards, but inversely making it less likely for you to draw hands full of garbage.

So yeah, basically for this route with these codes, remember that all this deck editing probably adds a minute onto your time for the following perks which can easily cut minutes off the current world record -

You have 2x chance to draw dimensionhole for ~18/21 duels You have 2x chance to draw shadow ghoul on all of the duels that have labyrinth tiles (with the exception of soloman, because he is before Bakura) You have nekogal #2 to make up for not having garvas, which nekogal #2 is also useful on Richard who is one of the duels that is easy to struggle on if you dont get a good draw You still have punished eagle for mai

Considering the duelstrats that cut the most time out of the run involve Dimensionhole and/or Shadow Ghoul, this is the route I propose. I'm gonna try running with this idea soon, I was just waiting to have a peek at figuring out the deck cost levels of everything inclusive, which helped me decide what i wanted to add after the Dancing Elf and Dimensionhole. Just let me know what you guys think about it, what you like about it, what you dont like about it, and feel free to suggest alternatives to anything I've discussed.