From: dcphipps@academicplanet.com

Subject: Balancing Your Duel Masters Deck

Hey!
This is cgman again with another tip for deck building! Hopefully, this won't be such a long one!
As with most card games, deck building is all about how to create an equal balance between different groups of cards. Even though there are only(so far) two different groups of cards to choose from(creatures and spells), these can also be split into what I'll call the four S's of Duel Masters.
What are these four S's you ask? Well, they are Strength, Strategy, Speed, and Spells.
Strategy:
This is what your deck focuses on. Of course, your deck could focus on Strength, Speed, or Spells, but, in some cases, they do not. For example, a Water deck could focus on locking the opponent by returning all of their creatures into their hand. This would force them to use their mana to summon them again. This is just the first example that popped into my mind.
Strength:
This could be included under Strategy, but every deck needs some kind of power to back up their main strategy. This is so that you don't get run over by one strong creature that your opponent might play while you set up your main Strategy. These include the double breakers and any other powerful creature that could help you in the early stages, or later on when your strategy is beginning to stop working right for some reason or another. Powerful creatures to use could be like a Zagaan, Knight of Darkness, or a Bolshack Dragon.
Speed:
Speed includes two different aspects of the game: the mana zone, and the battle zone. This could also be included in Strategy if you plan on destroying your opponent fast with smaller creatures and mana acceleration creatures, such as Poisonous Mushroom and Mighty Shouter. You need mana to summon monsters and use spells. The more mana you have, the faster you'll be able to summon creatures with higher mana costs, such as Vampire Silphy. Also, you have to have some creatures that you can summon within the first two turns of the game, when the decks that focus on higher mana cost creatures are most vulnerable.
Spells:
This has nothing to do with creatures, but they are vital for every deck. They also could be a part of your Strategy. For example(and remember, this is only an example), your strategy could include using Ghost Touch quickly to immobilize your opponent and force them to only have what they draw next to work with. Another example is using the Spells from the Light civilization to ensure that you will hit a Shield every time. You also want a few Shield Triggers in your deck because they could turn a losing game around in your favor!
So when you go to build your next deck, just think about the four S's and how to use them all to your advantage in a game of Duel Masters. -cgman