Thankful for making such a comprehensive how-to guide for this format!! I remember playing Battlin Boxer and Lightsworn as budget options back in the day right before DUSA hit!
my friend bought the traptrix structure deck which included hands and he was so confused and when i explained how hat worked he was really surprised it would all work together
My favorite deck in that format was Machina Gadget with redox. Redox was such an awesome addition to the deck, synergizing with the gadgets as a recurrable defensive option, reborn for gadget plays or fortress, and enabling rank 7 plays. I also like chain summoning gadgets. Not the great, but super fun, allowing you to spam 3 rank 4s turn one
It’s crazy having lived through the Hat format and now it can be considered a retro format lol. Same with other formats that had infernity, inzektor, wind up, mermail, fire fist, bujin, Dino rabbit also Duelist alliance format. Lol
HAT was my intro into competitive, and it taught me a ton about the game. Though I haven't played seriously in years, I still yern for those days going to the yugioh outlet and playing the mermail deck that I traded my 101 silent honor ark for
i love this format so much, it was the most balanced format we ever saw with so many decks playable and able to compete but having a beautiful trio of main decks this was peak yugioh
I genuinely believe this is the best yugioh format ever and it's not close. It really felt like sooooo many decks were viable. My personal favorite deck was sylvans, I loved how explosive they were which was special in a compatitively slow defensive format, most decks weren't like that in HAT. Nowadays of course it isn't special since every deck plays almost the exact same lol.
tbh i think the best point about the format that both control with a lot of traps are viable thanks yo artifcats but also wombo combos thanks to soul charge it create a very interesting environment
Awesome breakdown of the format! I know Battlin' Boxers aren't necessarily the best in this format, but I like them for the same reason you like Noble Knights, it's just fun when they get to do their thing :)
I loved this format, I used to run a Spirit Hand deck with yaksha, Aratama, and the Orange one, and had some rank-up magic to go into c101 and the digievolution of the xyz hand
I love the Xyz era of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It just barely prefaces the craziness that starts with Arc-V, allowing for more tempo-based gameplay that's like a more modernized Goat Format. Plus, HAT Format has Battlin' Boxers as a rogue option, and for that I love it. I once sold my friend a Slifer from Battle Pack 2 and bought the entire BB deck- it ended up being the bane of their YGO games every time haha!
I see my favorite deck of all time, X-Sabers, down there and am just thankful seeing gottoms face at all. Love them so much. Even without rescue cat in HAT.
Let's not forget that because of the slower format, Quasar is surprisingly powerful. I have really fond memories of running a TON of Quasar decks around this time.
@@MonkeyFightTCG The reason why you didn't see it during HAT proper was that it hadn't had it's big reprint in LC5D's yet so it was only the JUMP promo so it was super expensive. I have a really old build from late-2014 that still functions for HAT if you want to take a look.
I appreciate the work that went into this but since I don't know the 5 other ppl that plays this format, I fear this informative video might've been for nothing
This is the only way I can enjoy Yugioh these days, and I feel that Geargiakuri has potential to be higher tier, but it needs some more exploration for sure. Ever since Aureum turned it into a combo/midrage deck that is basically boomer Earth Machine rather than an unga bunga otk deck, it's been doing much better
I think one of the top 3 side deck cards is debunk, since it can negate almost anything against 85%ish of match ups, remaining 15% being geargia and others. Also, fun mention: in bujins 3 copies of dna surgery is mandatory for the spellbook match up because it can prevent spellbooks activation
I wish people in my area would play this format. My favorite mechanic is xyz summoning I just love Rank 4 control decks so I’m sure I would really enjoy this format.
Are there any deck building tools that can filter based on format to make building a deck in this format easier? I'd like to try to brew with this format
I notice you didn't go into Garunix, Hero, Dark World, or Harpies. How do you think these would fare in a HAT format setting? Asking because I already have a lot of the core cards for those decks and I've been looking to try HAT for a while now. I'd rather use a deck I can already reasonably build instead of having to buy a whole extra set of cards. Granted I do still have Battlin' Boxers, but I like having more than one deck available so that I don't get pigeonholed through side decking.
dark worlds are a solid deck and probably the best out of those you mentioned. I did cover it on my website. It's just a super fast combo deck that burns out of resources very quickly. Heros are played as either an OTK/FTK deck or as a very weak beatdown option. Harpies and Garunix are very meh.
This seems to be the retro format i'd pick up as someone who doesn't like how fast yugioh is now. Looking at the cardpool, i see 2 pendel cards, are they at all useable/consistent?
@@MonkeyFightTCG Realy? When i looked up format legality i came across a site called formatlibary (the same one you link to) that list stargazer and timegazer magician as part of the card pool. If so the site needs updates.
"i just wanted to talk about noble knights again" is the most cute, neurodivergent-typed thing to say ♥️ (atleast it resonates with my nd heart who does the same stuff) now this out or the way: thanks for making this video. i wanted to get back to ygo but i'm always on a budget. especially since i play force of will mainly
I build 2 Same HAT Deck for mirror .... A friend Play this for First time .... After 5 rounds he cant get enough and want more .... Best Format ever made
@@guaritalksaboutcards I get your point but Soul Charge on it's own doesn't do anything since you need to have some Monsters in your graveyard first. It also has a Lifepoint requirement so it can sometimes even be a dead draw if you don't see it fast enough. Unlike the Trinity in GOAT Format which is broken in any stage of the game and can be put in every Deck some Archetypes can't even properly use Soul Charge like Madolche or Bujin
I truly think meadowlands should take the spotlight over HAT. its just 1 year earlier. For 1, heavy storm was limited in meadowlands but banned in HAT. I LOVE traps but i dont love THAT many traps set without consequence as seen in HAT. HAT is REAAALY good with great back and forth play but its only 1 year after meadowlands and 1 year before clown format which was a phenomenal format with ba, shaddol, kozmo, infernoid, nekroz, and more. It just seems like a weird middle of 2 great things that dont mesh perfectly, and then with just too many traps every single game. Plus theres no soul charge in meadowlands. Its unpleasantly unlimited in HAT..
Real talk the evilswarm list is a bit dog. This is really just because i ran the deck from after rulers to pepe format that i feel that way it may actually be good.
our local meta definitely prefers vegas. no soul charge, no Dionaea, no hands, no artifacts. a lot less of the just include this engine for free value.
@@MonkeyFightTCG I disagree only because of the over abundance of removal in that format with no way of protecting himself other than through battle. He would get bounced or destroyed instantly every single time.
The fact this format has Vanity's Emptiness legal at 3 copies means there is absolutely NO WAY in hell that this is "The best format in Yugioh history". You must be huffing some insane amounts copium to reach that conclusion.
Vanities is THE most outable floodgate. I get that floodgate stinky oh no, but every other floodgate stays on board if you destroy a monster by battle.
@@subject1449 It doesn't matter that it's outable. There's a reason it's banned in all modern formats and master duel. Its just another cancerous either "draw the out or lose" type of card that locks you out of the game and removes interactivity.
Maybe a nitpick, but shouldn't this format be considered June 2014 instead of April? The format is named after HAT, which didn't exist until Primal Origins was released in May. Sylvans were also not competitively viable until Primal Origins. Most people also consider the Lightsworn structure deck to be part of HAT format, and that released at the end of June and introduced Raiden and the new synchro. Lightsworn got multiple tops at the WCQ championships including 2nd at the European championship. April 2014 was YCS Vegas format, not HAT format. YCS Vegas and Mexico City were the only premier events that month, and the most successful decks were Geargia, Mermail, Bujins, and Dragons
I get the sentiment with how toxic it can be in master duel, but HAT is a different format. It's much slower and back and forth than other formats. It's a format where just normal summoning a monster then passing is viable. For more context artifact scythe despite being legal isn't ran at all in artifact centric decks. I recomend you give HAT a try!
I see so many Upstart Goblins... Can't we have "HAT without Upstart Goblin"? Or even better, "Every format without Upstart Goblin"! Make the decks three cards more interesting!
Personally I think this format was the perfect mix of speed and combo climbing balanced by back and forth play.
Thankful for making such a comprehensive how-to guide for this format!! I remember playing Battlin Boxer and Lightsworn as budget options back in the day right before DUSA hit!
my friend bought the traptrix structure deck which included hands and he was so confused and when i explained how hat worked he was really surprised it would all work together
Yeah, it's really cool how they included those cards in a modern release. It makes it very easy to get into the format!
My favorite deck in that format was Machina Gadget with redox. Redox was such an awesome addition to the deck, synergizing with the gadgets as a recurrable defensive option, reborn for gadget plays or fortress, and enabling rank 7 plays.
I also like chain summoning gadgets. Not the great, but super fun, allowing you to spam 3 rank 4s turn one
It’s crazy having lived through the Hat format and now it can be considered a retro format lol. Same with other formats that had infernity, inzektor, wind up, mermail, fire fist, bujin, Dino rabbit also Duelist alliance format. Lol
HAT was my intro into competitive, and it taught me a ton about the game. Though I haven't played seriously in years, I still yern for those days going to the yugioh outlet and playing the mermail deck that I traded my 101 silent honor ark for
i love this format so much, it was the most balanced format we ever saw with so many decks playable and able to compete but having a beautiful trio of main decks this was peak yugioh
doesnt come close to edison
@@Statistic189Edison is cancer. Going first opening hand: hamster caius dustshoot. Seems fair to me.
I forgot the biggest cancer deck: frogs
Great video, love so many of these decks, DW is one of my favs ever
Madolche was my hat format deck. It was so much fun. I legit never beat mermails the whole time but it was still a good time.
It's okay no one likes mermails, lmao
Oh boy the nostalgia seeing these deck lists, It's being amazing looking at a retro format that I ACTUALLY GOT TO PLAY BACK IN THE DAY!
Id love to see a format summary of Duelist Alliance format. That was my favorite.
I genuinely believe this is the best yugioh format ever and it's not close. It really felt like sooooo many decks were viable. My personal favorite deck was sylvans, I loved how explosive they were which was special in a compatitively slow defensive format, most decks weren't like that in HAT. Nowadays of course it isn't special since every deck plays almost the exact same lol.
This was great, I think I’ll make this my Time Wizard format of choice.
tbh i think the best point about the format that both control with a lot of traps are viable thanks yo artifcats but also wombo combos thanks to soul charge it create a very interesting environment
Awesome breakdown of the format! I know Battlin' Boxers aren't necessarily the best in this format, but I like them for the same reason you like Noble Knights, it's just fun when they get to do their thing :)
I loved this format, I used to run a Spirit Hand deck with yaksha, Aratama, and the Orange one, and had some rank-up magic to go into c101 and the digievolution of the xyz hand
If only konami cared as much for older format as you.
Thanks for your work !
I love the Xyz era of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It just barely prefaces the craziness that starts with Arc-V, allowing for more tempo-based gameplay that's like a more modernized Goat Format.
Plus, HAT Format has Battlin' Boxers as a rogue option, and for that I love it. I once sold my friend a Slifer from Battle Pack 2 and bought the entire BB deck- it ended up being the bane of their YGO games every time haha!
Everyone loves battle boxers. They're just such a fun deck.
I lowkey expected artifacts in infernity just for the meme of setting monsters in S/T. And then I saw freaking Fusionist in the ED.
I remember people cheating with infernity because of artifacts. Now it’s mandatory to see all set cards 😂
Awesome and informative video
I see my favorite deck of all time, X-Sabers, down there and am just thankful seeing gottoms face at all. Love them so much. Even without rescue cat in HAT.
My deck in that time was Lightsworn Ruler, and Chaos Dragons turbo, good memories.
Let's not forget that because of the slower format, Quasar is surprisingly powerful. I have really fond memories of running a TON of Quasar decks around this time.
Interesting I've never seen them this format, but it sounds like a great strategy to try.
@@MonkeyFightTCG The reason why you didn't see it during HAT proper was that it hadn't had it's big reprint in LC5D's yet so it was only the JUMP promo so it was super expensive. I have a really old build from late-2014 that still functions for HAT if you want to take a look.
I appreciate the work that went into this but since I don't know the 5 other ppl that plays this format, I fear this informative video might've been for nothing
Just join the hat format discord! We've got over 1000 members and have multiple tournaments every month.
one of the best formats with goat and edison
love your videos mftcg :)
This is the only way I can enjoy Yugioh these days, and I feel that Geargiakuri has potential to be higher tier, but it needs some more exploration for sure. Ever since Aureum turned it into a combo/midrage deck that is basically boomer Earth Machine rather than an unga bunga otk deck, it's been doing much better
I think one of the top 3 side deck cards is debunk, since it can negate almost anything against 85%ish of match ups, remaining 15% being geargia and others.
Also, fun mention: in bujins 3 copies of dna surgery is mandatory for the spellbook match up because it can prevent spellbooks activation
I wish people in my area would play this format. My favorite mechanic is xyz summoning I just love Rank 4 control decks so I’m sure I would really enjoy this format.
I can't believe u got a rata cameo!
What is the idea behind the ojama's in spellbook?
Are there any deck building tools that can filter based on format to make building a deck in this format easier? I'd like to try to brew with this format
There are ygopro filters for only hat format card pool and banlist. You can find it and other tools through the discord
Bro Bujins were my jam back then
Used to sweep locals with wind-ups during this time. Excellent access to all the xyz toolbox
I notice you didn't go into Garunix, Hero, Dark World, or Harpies. How do you think these would fare in a HAT format setting? Asking because I already have a lot of the core cards for those decks and I've been looking to try HAT for a while now. I'd rather use a deck I can already reasonably build instead of having to buy a whole extra set of cards. Granted I do still have Battlin' Boxers, but I like having more than one deck available so that I don't get pigeonholed through side decking.
dark worlds are a solid deck and probably the best out of those you mentioned. I did cover it on my website. It's just a super fast combo deck that burns out of resources very quickly.
Heros are played as either an OTK/FTK deck or as a very weak beatdown option.
Harpies and Garunix are very meh.
My second favorite format of all time.
what's your first?
@@MonkeyFightTCG Edison baby!
Could u explain us the difference between early mid and late hat format and which is the best in your opinion?
This seems to be the retro format i'd pick up as someone who doesn't like how fast yugioh is now.
Looking at the cardpool, i see 2 pendel cards, are they at all useable/consistent?
There are no pendulum cards, those were released immediately after this format
@@MonkeyFightTCG Realy? When i looked up format legality i came across a site called formatlibary (the same one you link to) that list stargazer and timegazer magician as part of the card pool. If so the site needs updates.
No it lists them as coming out afterword's. The format ends when the first Arc V starter deck is released
After this, they introduced decks that float endlessly like burning abyss, dragon rulers and shaddolls and it all went downhill.
Dragon rulers were before hat format
I remember trolling Shaddols with Hunders, so many people would open with Winda and I would just double normal into a Castel XD
"i just wanted to talk about noble knights again" is the most cute, neurodivergent-typed thing to say ♥️ (atleast it resonates with my nd heart who does the same stuff)
now this out or the way: thanks for making this video. i wanted to get back to ygo but i'm always on a budget. especially since i play force of will mainly
I think you could play more decks in Edison and late tengu format.
I build 2 Same HAT Deck for mirror .... A friend Play this for First time .... After 5 rounds he cant get enough and want more .... Best Format ever made
You can't just put Worm Zero in Rogue and not elaborate!
I can and I did
I swear nobody could beat my madolche deck during this time
LIGHTSWORN RULERS BEST DECK
i might be biased after speanding more than 3k on that deck lol
This was a funny way to say Edison.
Edison low key sucks
I like how HAT format doesn't have sacky cards like Trap Dustshoot or Delinquent Duo.
*soul charge enters the chat*
@@guaritalksaboutcards I get your point but Soul Charge on it's own doesn't do anything since you need to have some Monsters in your graveyard first. It also has a Lifepoint requirement so it can sometimes even be a dead draw if you don't see it fast enough. Unlike the Trinity in GOAT Format which is broken in any stage of the game and can be put in every Deck some Archetypes can't even properly use Soul Charge like Madolche or Bujin
There's 4 Noble Arm Excalibers in the Noble Knights main deck
Yes, the best way to play noble knights is to cheat. That way you don't have to worry about their downsides.
I truly think meadowlands should take the spotlight over HAT. its just 1 year earlier. For 1, heavy storm was limited in meadowlands but banned in HAT. I LOVE traps but i dont love THAT many traps set without consequence as seen in HAT. HAT is REAAALY good with great back and forth play but its only 1 year after meadowlands and 1 year before clown format which was a phenomenal format with ba, shaddol, kozmo, infernoid, nekroz, and more. It just seems like a weird middle of 2 great things that dont mesh perfectly, and then with just too many traps every single game. Plus theres no soul charge in meadowlands. Its unpleasantly unlimited in HAT..
Still playing hat?
Yep
Real talk the evilswarm list is a bit dog. This is really just because i ran the deck from after rulers to pepe format that i feel that way it may actually be good.
our local meta definitely prefers vegas. no soul charge, no Dionaea, no hands, no artifacts. a lot less of the just include this engine for free value.
I used to play battlin boxers cuz they were cheap. man those cards are just so bad. even if they released years earlier
Well battln boxer lead yoke is very good for hat format specifically. Outside of that the deck can really struggle.
@@MonkeyFightTCG I disagree only because of the over abundance of removal in that format with no way of protecting himself other than through battle. He would get bounced or destroyed instantly every single time.
He also protects from card effects
First!
The fact this format has Vanity's Emptiness legal at 3 copies means there is absolutely NO WAY in hell that this is "The best format in Yugioh history". You must be huffing some insane amounts copium to reach that conclusion.
Skill issue tbh
@@MonkeyFightTCG Cope
Vanities is THE most outable floodgate. I get that floodgate stinky oh no, but every other floodgate stays on board if you destroy a monster by battle.
@@subject1449 It doesn't matter that it's outable. There's a reason it's banned in all modern formats and master duel. Its just another cancerous either "draw the out or lose" type of card that locks you out of the game and removes interactivity.
Maybe a nitpick, but shouldn't this format be considered June 2014 instead of April?
The format is named after HAT, which didn't exist until Primal Origins was released in May. Sylvans were also not competitively viable until Primal Origins.
Most people also consider the Lightsworn structure deck to be part of HAT format, and that released at the end of June and introduced Raiden and the new synchro. Lightsworn got multiple tops at the WCQ championships including 2nd at the European championship.
April 2014 was YCS Vegas format, not HAT format. YCS Vegas and Mexico City were the only premier events that month, and the most successful decks were Geargia, Mermail, Bujins, and Dragons
The only reason this format isn't peak is because Emptiness was arround.
And Maxx C
If Maxx C is legal than im steering clear.
I get the sentiment with how toxic it can be in master duel, but HAT is a different format. It's much slower and back and forth than other formats.
It's a format where just normal summoning a monster then passing is viable. For more context artifact scythe despite being legal isn't ran at all in artifact centric decks.
I recomend you give HAT a try!
lol scared
I see so many Upstart Goblins... Can't we have "HAT without Upstart Goblin"? Or even better, "Every format without Upstart Goblin"! Make the decks three cards more interesting!
Infernity not being Meta is wild cap. I was topping crazy in that era.
I mean we can look at the historical tops and they weren't that high compared to other decks. Plus we can combine that with modern results of the deck
Vegas > Edison > HAT
😂 LOL NO
Wrong this u can play gadgets different ways u don't have to play the trapticks cards
This format sucks
Skill issue