Engines through history

Since the game was created, we all need ways to get our cards faster. So the concept of engine came up and have been evolved until today. At the begining, the most powerful engines in the game were cards like pot of greed or graceful charity. However, the hability to get a +1 so easily disappeared eventually. And another logical engines like destiny draw or allure of darkness start to control the game, this new kind of engines didn't give a +1 but increased the possibility to draw the things you needed in order to get your wining condition. And finally now we have a new kind of engine that basicly don't give any kind of advantage to the player at the moment, instead it gives a potential position that can not be overwhelm. I am going to explain myself a little bite.

we need to analyze the first engine to understand what is going on now.

Pot of greed (+1): An instant way to get an extra card and you dont need to be a "pro" to know how to play it. It didn't have any sinergy with other cards, so almost every deck needed one of this. Since every player needed at least one, konami gained a lot of mone from it. The problem of this card was that the player who draw it first, will have enough advantage to win the game in a few turns. Doesn't matter what format we are, an extra card will always be crucial. The history of yugi has proved how this type of cards are unconsistent.

Destiny draw, Solar recharge, allure of darkness (0): Any of this cards give extra cards on his own. But the material required could be use it like a weapon in the future. That is how Destiny hero malicious, disk commander and dasher become the extra card that pot of greed used to give us. That is how Solar recharge put the last Lightsworm in the graveyard while the summon of JD came closer. At the end, this type of engine became as strong as pot of greed and eventually had to be limited in some way.

The conclusion: Drawing cards and putting key cards in the grave at the same time without any cost was not a good idea.

After wining alot of money, Konami decided to create a new type of engine...

Lonefire blossom, Karakuri Shogun burei/bureido, Gravekeeper recruiter, Scrap storm, Worm Xex, and more (0): At the begining they look like an average card with not real porpuse, but things start to change slowly. Lonefire is probably the most played card right now thanks to reborn tengu, hyper librarian and formula syncron. Thanks to lonefire we can get any plant of the deck, it wasn't a big deal when it first came out but right now a whole deck plays around this concept. However lonefire is better than any other searchers because it also load the graveyard (key of the plant strategy), and That is how a new type of engine was created. Now you don't get any extra card, instead the engine is part of the core strategy, increasing the sinergy in the deck. Now we live a new age, where the new definition of engine is...

Engine (2011): Any card capable of search for any key card of your deck, also it works in the in core of your strategy.

I already talk about lonefire blossom, now I'm gonna give you some more examples...

Gravekeeper recruiter -> Search for GK and indirectly search for necrovalley. Also works with lithograph and is fuel for GK descendant.

Bureido/Burei -> Search for any KK in order to maintain the combo.

Scrap Storm -> Quick spell, if you play it correctly, it will work like a Reinforcement of any Scrap monster.

Worm Xex -> Key monster with a lot of sinergy in a reptile strategy, also send Worm Yagan to create a instant +1.

In the past if you wanted to abuse of some engine, you only needed to buy one card. But now, if you know a specific engine is stronger than the rest, you will have to play the entire strategy around it (which means a lot more money for Konami).

So, the next time you see a card with free draws in your effect maybe have to think twice before dropped with the rest, like "advanced draw"