SQO: Super Quant Optimization

Hi, everyone. I’m just keeping up with my goal of regular posts. Nothing has dramatically changed from my last post, but I’ll find enough to talk about, I’m sure. Please enjoy my rants about SEO, Super Robot Wars, and Super Quant.

The Site: SEO and Indexing Progress!?

Some great news on the backend, following great news from last week, too. I’ve been able to substantially increase the amount of my pages which are indexed on Google, meaning they know show up in search results.

Just even having the possibility of someone randomly stumbling upon one of my hundreds of pages is an enormous boost in visibility. Hopefully, I start seeing that translate into readers and subscriptions. I’m probably up, what, 60 indexed pages from when I started this overhaul?

I’ve been using the Yoast plugin to monitor SEO. When it’s enabled, you receive colored indicators for each post/page as to their perceived SEO practices and “readability.” Capriciously, I’d been trying to get both into the green zone for simple satisfaction. When fiddling with things that could get a page indexed, I noticed an overlap between having these metrics recognized as “good” and becoming indexed.

I know some people will read that and think, “no shit.” Believe me, I’ve had some of that reaction, myself. But to me, SEO and simply being indexed shouldn’t be intrinsically related. Appearing in search results and where you appear in those search results are, to me, different topics. Maybe it’s my technically-precise sensibilities as a professional writer, but I think that level of clarity is warranted and part of why I got into my field.

So, since finding this out, I’ve been going to unindexed pages, getting their rankings in green, then resubmitting an indexing request. Usually, that’s enough. There’s a very small number of pages I still cannot figure out, and I’ll save those for last.

For established readers, the benefits of good SEO and increased indexing are abstract: higher viewers leads to more subs, and more subs leads to more money to support myself and create the content they read. Less abstract are the hundreds of changes I make in the process of revisiting reviews. I’ve made numerous fixes to typos, syntax, and formatting already. All of my work is being unilaterally improved.

The earlier I have my pages sitting in search results to be discovered, the more likely I am to see some benefit from it, so this project has taken priority. I can’t give an estimation on how much remains to be done, as Google Search Console organizes its reports in a way that’s tedious to parse. For instance, some of my legitimate reviews might be marked as unindexed alongside image URLs, which are deliberately not indexed. The reports also are slow to remove outdated URLs, further cluttering results.

Yoast and SEO

I’m moving along at a decent clip, though; especially considering I work on this site, like, eight hours a day or more. Sometimes getting a page to a “good” SEO ranking is as simple as changing my key phrase to be identical to the page’s title. On that note, I’d like to discuss something frustrating with Yoast.

Your key phrase is the search phrase you want your page to appear for. If someone were to Google Super Mario World, my page would be more likely to show up if I set my key phrase to Super Mario World. The catch is that, the more common your key phrase is, the more competition with other pages you have.

Other SEO metrics make up the difference here, and someone like me has to use manual editing and a layman’s understanding of SEO to compete with sites using automatic algorithms to nickel-and-dime SEO “points.” That practice is part of why search results are so shitty now, because good SEO doesn’t reliably correlate with good content.

A major way to improve key phrase issues is by having similar phrases. Instead of Super Mario World, you could set “mario snes,” and/or “smw.” You probably get the idea. The problem with Yoast is that the ability to add further key phrases is locked behind their paid premium version, which I can’t afford. It’s a pretty major blow to my ability to reach people, since it’s so fundamental. This is one of many obstacles I’ve discovered since I began my website that keep independent domains from gaining traction.

It’s the “you need to spend money to make money” bit, but it’s even more oppressive online. In the real world, no one can personally prevent you from physically, grassroots campaigning for your business, etc. In cyberspace, you can be denied existence without anyone knowing you were ever there. It’s pretty horrible, and I doubt the average person has any conceptualization about how monopolized internet traffic is. Past a point, there are barriers you cannot overcome without already having financial investment.

When I started, one of the first pieces of advice I received was to use alternate, less-common key phrases like I mentioned above. I did this, and Yoast would routinely mark my pages as having poor SEO, which is likely why many weren’t indexed. Yoast has many metrics that are only flagged as “good” if you’re using a consistent key phrase.

One example is how Yoast recommends you have your key phrase in your URL. Simple enough. But it also recommends your URL not be too long. If your title is too long, like a piece of media’s can be, then you can’t use its name as a key phrase while also having it in the URL.

If you use an acronym, then you run into conflicts with other metrics. Yoast likes your meta description (the description that appears alongside search results) and SEO title (the page title in search results) to have your key phrase in them. If your key phrase is an acronym, then you risk your SEO title not being apparent to the person searching. “What’s SMW,” they think, and continue scrolling to other results.

But if you manually make your SEO title “Super Mario World (SMW),” then your metrics could be punished for having an SEO title that’s too long, or because your key phrase (SMW) isn’t at the start of the title. But “(SMW) Super Mario World” or “SMW: Super Mario World” look like shit, and wouldn’t necessarily address the length issue.

Another thing Yoast checks for is if your first paragraph has your key phrase. The problem is that my first paragraph is often metadata. If my key phrase is the name of what I’m reviewing, then putting the title there is redundant, because my pages automatically generate their titles at the top. But Yoast doesn’t check the title. So I risk my SEO being flagged as “poor.” On many pages, I’ve changed the “AKA” field to “Name(s)” so that I have an excuse to restate the key phrase/title in the first paragraph and earn those SEO “points.”

There are dozens more of these conflicts, and I’ve had to sacrifice creative freedom to circumvent them. It really sucks, and it gives some insight into how arbitrary SEO practices are. Every justification for something being the way it is can be fulfilled via other means, but if the algorithm can’t identify those means, they don’t count. It’s just… so, so stupid.

Yoast and Readability

This is a weird one. Yoast categorizes your readability score as separate from your SEO score, but in my experience, Google decides to index your pages partially from your readability metrics.

Being a writer, the readability score pisses me off more than anything else. Some of the tips aren’t bad. You can be flagged for starting three or more sentences with the same word. Sure, that’s fair. If I noticed that myself, I would be inclined to change it.

On the other hand, it can’t recognize deliberate repetition as a literary tool. If I start sentences the same way for humor purposes, it’s going to be flagged just the same as if I had done it accidentally. I can’t assume it won’t be the arbitrary difference in getting that page indexed, so I have to ruin my joke as to not be penalized.

The readability metrics are designed for the lowest common denominator, peer-reviewing you as a high school teacher would. I have nothing against this on principal, but the fact it’s tied to my writing being visible in search results, I’m forced to abide by the same general rules I once did as a student. As any professional in an artistic field will tell you, guidelines exist to build a parsable foundation; not as an end goal of fully realized, individual expression.

Basically, rules exist to be broken, but you need to know why those rules exist to break them effectively. Using repetition as humor is effective precisely because I know to not normally do so. The subversive element is punctuated by it not being a literary device I regularly employ.

The worst of Yoast‘s readability metrics, however, is the sentence word count. Yoast doesn’t want more than 25% of your sentences to have more than 20 words. That might not sound unreasonable, but I promise you that far more sentences exceed that limit than you realize. That sentence just now is 19 words. It’s not impossible to shorten it and retain intended meaning; I can spot multiple ways already. But, it’s not remotely difficult to parse despite Yoast being a hair away from flagging it as a “bad sentence.”

Like I alluded to earlier, it’s easy to understand why Yoast encourages this. Americans in particular are increasingly illiterate, and that’s reflected in their writing. If you peer-review a modern high school or college student’s essay, as I have done many times, you’ll notice that run-on sentences are a common trend. It’s natural to want to curb that behavior, but in looking for an overly-simplistic solution like a 20-word limit, you dodge the problem.

A run-on sentence isn’t such because of its wordcount, but its structure. But Yoast doesn’t expect its average user to read a paragraph or two explaining the concept. Instead, they impose a word limit and hope that it incidentally prevents run-on sentences from emerging. They’re treating the symptom, not the disease. Nevertheless, as far as SEO algorithms and Google indexing are concerned, what’s the damn difference?

In desperation to get some of my pages indexed, I’ve had to “dumb down” verbose sentences, even when said verbosity allowed more precise expressions of my thoughts. Putting that aside, there’s other literary tools to consider, such as a sentence’s rhythm, or the pacing of the entire text body. Forcing every sentence to be a single statement can make you sound like a neanderthal, or like you’re a page on the Simple English Wikipedia.

If that’s your audience, that’s perfectly fine. But I write to express myself and deliver high-quality analysis for those interested in reading such. If you’re part of that audience, search engines like Google are intentionally hiding educated sources from you. They assume that you, statistically, are one of many functionally-illiterate people, and appropriately cater your results. It’s a vicious feedback loop of anti-intellectualism, and Yoast has to play into it. The game is rigged, but it’s the only game in town.

There’s an ever-ongoing battle against artists, but much of the murders are done behind closed doors and in dark back alleys.

Video Games

I’m over halfway through Super Robot Wars X now. It’s making me want to finally watch the second season of Code Geass. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. My opinions on X are largely unchanged. It’s a cheap-feeling game with a poorly-planned storyline. The basic gameplay loop provides some enjoyment, but as far as SRWs with substance go, it’s on the lower end.

I have a review drafted, as always. Who knows when that’ll be out. I might publish part of it, as I wrote a lot about Mashin Hero Wataru‘s narrative presence. It’s a contentious topic, and if I published the review in full, I’ve no doubt many readers would jump to that section first.

There’s another review closer to completion that I’ve been teasing. I still don’t want to say the name and spoil the surprise. The review contains substantial plot and thematic exploration, so I’m proud of it so far. I still have to take some screenshots and format them in the article. I have a bunch of other side-projects I’ve been working on, too, as always. They’ll be out when they’re out!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel and Super Quant

I haven’t been playing too much; mostly just trying to keep up on daily Gems. Support for an archetype I like, Super Quant, recently dropped, so I’ve taken up playing them again. That’s what I’d like to talk about.

I saw some people hyping the new cards up when they were first revealed for the OCG. Having played with them: I think they kind of suck. Some players have a bad habit of reading cards and greatly underestimating the kinds of effects that are needed to compete in modern YGO.

Super Quantal Fairy Zetan

Super Quantal Fairy Zetan reads as strong: it special summons itself almost for free, mills a card, and summons from deck. What’s easy to overlook, however, is how a consistency-raising card is only as good as what it’s raising the consistency of. All older Quant cards have weak effects almost across the board, and support like Zetan does not make them better, which is what it needed to do.

A huge problem with the deck is how much it eats shit to nearly any hand trap. A few effects discard for cost, which is an extremely bad chokepoint in modern YGO. Nibiru is nearly impossible for Quants to play around. Maxx C and Mulcharmy Fuwalos are an instant-loss. Ash Blossom on Zetan may as well be, sometimes.

Their most baffling vulnerability is Effect Veiler and Infinite Impermanence, as Konami have demonstrated the importance of being able to dodge these interruptions. Quant’s starters are far too limited to justify them not having a way to do this. Either or both of Zetan and Black Layer should’ve had ways to tribute themselves or others as a quick effect to avoid Veiler and Imperm. Instead, they got… nothing. Konami made getting to Great Magnus easier, but only under the assumption that your opponent has no interactions, which doesn’t happen.

Layer 19 “Sudden Incursion! Super Quantum Black!!”

Layer 19 is a hilarious card for how presumably generous Konami felt at making each of its effects HOPT as opposed to all of them. The reality is that it’s also ridiculously underpowered. The second effect to summon a Quant from deck is fine in theory, but it’s rendered inert if your Normal Summon is removed from field. In some cases, especially going second, a negate on either Quantal Fairy’s tribute effect is lethal.

You could use Layer 19 preemptively, but that still makes the card needlessly weaker as a response to interruptions. You can’t get in one extra summon under Maxx or Fuwa, for instance. Konami obviously didn’t want the card to be too free, but that’s easily solved by making its requirement the revealing of Quant cards in hand and/or deck.

The setting a Trap card from deck that can be activated that turn is appreciated, since neither current Quant Trap has any reason to even be a Trap. Part of why is because their effects aren’t very helpful, and again, Layer 19 struggles to make them better.

Magnaformation can now be used during your first turn attempting to make Magnus, elevating the card to “marginally playable.” It can prevent your Quants from being Veilered or Impermed, but that still requires that you open an ideal hand. What, were you going to use Blue Layer to search Layer 19? What if she’s the one who was negated? This isn’t what kills Magnaformation’s viability, though. That’s something I’ll get to in a bit.

Magnaslayer is a bit more useful now. Quants historically have a problem closing games out quickly, because they often blow all of their resources on making Great Magnus. This robs them of the attack power needed for an OTK. With Magnaslayer’s piercing and three attacks per turn, that should be a non-issue. Of course, that’s if you choose to run it, and it’s still vulnerable to removal. It’s not a good card, but it’s less of a meme than it was before. Also, in cases where your opponent can’t out Great Magnus—which aren’t uncommon—it’s “winmore.”

But my incredulity towards those two cards is dwarfed by one fact of Layer 19: it can only set the Traps from deck. This is a fucking mind-boggling decision. These two cards infamous for being bricks on your first turn even during their release era are more of a risk to run than ever in modern YGO. If you draw them at single copies, you cannot set them same turn with Layer 19.

You can finagle them back into the deck with Blue Layer, but you have to do so while having one less card in your hand in a deck that can’t handle hand traps. Of course, you might also have to compromise your combo line. Running multiple copies of these cards is a joke solution, as it just increases the odds you open a completely unplayable hand.

I don’t know. The “from deck” restriction is so nonsensical that I can only theorize its card designer overlooked it, doesn’t play the game, or something to that effect. If it was deliberate, it demonstrates a shockingly bad assessment of card quality from a professional game designer, which isn’t good. It would be entirely reasonable to have a draw effect if you set a Trap from hand, and/or allow it to set a Trap from the GY or Banishment.

And you know what? It still wouldn’t be a “good” effect. There’s no getting around opening the Traps being deadweight going second, for starters. In my opinion, running almost any of the Quant backrow is so incredibly risky for so little reward, that I think Layer 19 should have set one of every differently-named Quant Spell and Trap.

No, really. Think about it. Alphancall is terrible, so it would have to be a completely free card to justify its inclusion. The Traps suck as is. Magnacarrier is a bad card the deck needs to do anything, so even more searching is fair. Alphan Spike’s board-breaking effect might actually be worth a damn if it wasn’t mandatory to get Magnacarrier sometimes, meaning its single copy is usually Banished before it can use its on-field effect.

Literally, who cares if the player gets all of those at once? The only concern I can think of would be using them for card economy in decks that could exploit them to pay costs. In that case, just put archetype locks on the damn thing. Heck, you could even make the locks more severe depending on the number of cards the player adds to their hand or sets. I know you forgot you could put locks on cards, Konami, but you actually still can; especially for bad archetypes needing otherwise broken effect strength.

The last effect of Layer 19 is actually the first, and it’s the worst of all. You can change one attack position monster to defense position. What year did this card come out? This isn’t even worth calling “gravy.” For as modest of an effect as it is, it’s a bad version of that kind of effect.

Alphancall and Blaster Magna are two other Quant cards that involve battle, and Layer 19 has anti-synergy with them, because it cancels battles you could’ve benefitted from. The effect could’ve reduced a monster’s attack to 0, allowing you to at least destroy your opponent’s monster. It could’ve let you select your opponent’s attack target in cooperation with the aforementioned two cards. It could’ve been a board-breaking effect going second.

What it should’ve been is literally anything other than what it is. Konami just wanted three effects for novelty, and seemingly thought Quants would be too good if the third one did anything helpful.

Super Quantum Black Layer

Black Layer is… okay, I guess. Similar to everything else, it’s needlessly underpowered. It shouldn’t require your opponent to do anything for its Special Summon. Have the designers even seen a Kashtira card? Even then, it needing your opponent to use a monster effect means it can’t extend past Imperm, so that’s great.

The instant XYZ summon is neat, reliably getting Magnus to 6 materials and doubling as (admittedly very clunky) interaction during your opponent’s turn. It being a Zombie means it can be milled with Delta of Invitation, which itself can provide cost for Magnacarrier with its recursion effect. That’s cool.

…Where’s the Black Layer XYZ, though?

Verdict

This shit sucks. Konami keeps dragging me to new levels of jadedness in regards to legacy support. I don’t expect Quants to be made into a tier 0 deck or anything, but they can be way fucking better than this. It feels like they barely tried. Maybe they were overly-concerned with reliably getting a Towers out turn 1, but is Magnus really that scary compared to the average meta deck board?

I don’t think he is. If they were that worried, they should have explored contingency effects that would have allowed the player to pivot into a control-style strategy with Blaster Magna and multiple Quantal XYZs. It would make the deck less all-or-nothing without providing them such a resilient board.

Well, I bummed myself out. Konami, if you ever want to know how to design better legacy support, feel free to reach out. I’m gonna go do… something.