Hello, people. You love Top Tens, I love Top Tens, so here now is an article that we all could love. These tips and tricks are not to be done in a particular order; there just happen to ten of them.   ^__^   These are tricks I've either picked up from dueling, or from listening to the advice of others, or from watching the anime. And please, PLEASE read this from 1 to 10, or else it will be confusing. Alright, here we go.


Tip 1: Know your opponent.
       Everyone has a favorite strategy: Beatsticks, Burners, Deck-Outs, Yata, Exodia, Weenies... They're all out there. And most of them, whether they mean to be or not, often become cliche. This is an Achilles* heel [*I'm not sure of I spelled that right], because they're setting themselves up for a counter deck. I'm sure all of you reading this are thinking, "Hey, I have a favorite strategy. So what?" Well, you could be setting yourself up for some trouble, my friends. I've learned this tip all by myself when dueling the same people over and over again. They're all my buddies, of course, so I hope there's no hard feelings if they see this article. Bottom line: if you duel someone long enough, you will most likely catch on to their gameplay, and using that knowledge to your advantage is good.

Tip 2: Construct your deck wisely.
       If you're one of these duelists that play the same people all the time, then you may have purposely constructed your deck to counter theirs. This could be a good and bad idea, because sooner or later they'll counter your current strategy with a whole new one. It's good to make two or three decks, and switch them around so that your opponent won't see what's coming. And they don't have to be cookie-cutters (in fact, I honestly despise cookie-cutter decks), just creative and challenging.

Tip 3: Bring a Side Deck... Always!
       Even if you're a casual duelist like me, and even if you play online with IM buddies, always ALWAYS carry a Side Deck with your main deck. Why? Because changing up your cards can really psyche your opponent out. I'm most likely to build a graveyard control side deck with cards like Card Destructon and Soul Release. I'm saying this, because it leads right into my next tip...

Tip 4: Graveyard control.
       Are you sick and tired of those Chaos monsters? Do you wish you could just snatch up that CED from your opponent and rip it to shreads? Well, you can do the next best thing by side-decking Graveyard control cards. Perhaps the most effective Grave control card out there is Necrovalley, since (as far as I remember) it disallows anyone to take monsters from the Grave, and removing monsters from the grave and out of play counts. This may sound like a one-sided tip and that it's only anti-Chaos, but actually, it's not. A lot of duels end up taking monsters from the Grave, like Monster Reborn, Premature Burial, and the like. Controlling your opponent's Grave could very well be a game saver.

Tip 5: Work on your poker face.
       This is only tip 5, but it really should be the number one tip of all. The only thing that can seriously kill you in a duel is when you're playing someone face to face, then you have a possible one-turn kill in your hand, and showing your excitement by giving off a great big smile. Your opponent will see it, and work to oppose it. And it doesn't end with faces, guys; it works with words, too. Think back to the duel between Tea and Crump; she placed Mirror Force face down and said, "So, are you going to attack me?" If you seriously want your opponent to attack you, do NOT give him or her the invitation, because then he or she will say, "...I was, but now I think I want to dispose that face down trap of yours first." Just try to keep your composure throughout the duel; I know how hard it is, but do try.

Tip 6: There are other Staples out there (Part 1).
       Everybody makes such a big deal of Jinzo, Vampire Lord and the like, but there is one type of monster out there that to me seems like it's under-appreciated. These monsters are Mystic Tomato, Flying Kamakiri #1, Mother Grizzly, UFO Turtle, Shining Angel, and Giant Rat. These are the Super Searchers, as I like to call them. Sure, Witch and Sangan are good, but they don't actually help you summon a monster to the field as soon as they're destroyed. The only downside to the Super Searchers is that if you really want their effects to work, you will most likely have to suidide them. But either way, they can be great monsters to work with, because either way- either by using them as decoys to distract your opponent, or by actually using their effects- they can help you bring out a Tribute Monster all the sooner. And while we're on the subject...

Tip 7: How DO you distract your opponent?
       You're not always going to draw a lucky hand, so when constructing your deck try to use Monsters that can act as decoys. Your opponent will want to keep his or her best cards on hold until your super monster comes out, so all you have to do is force him or her to act too quickly. Let's use my own deck for an example; my deck is mostly Dragon-based with a few surprises. My ultimate goal is to summon the Blue-Eyes, but I need two monsters to tribute for it, of course. Here's a trick I can pull off with my deck: Let's say I've been able to successfully summon a Flying Kamakiri #1's to my field, and my opponent has one of his best cards, Raigeki, in hand. I really want him to waste that Raigeki, so I summon my second Kamakiri, and end my turn. Now, my opponent knows that with these two monsters, I can summon ol' Bluey, and he also knows that if he tries to destroy them with his two monsters, I'll just get two more and summon Bluey next turn. Then, it hits him: he can kill four monsters with three stones. He attacks my Kamakiris with his two monsters (say Mad Dog of Darkness and Archfiend Soldier), then when I special summon two Winged Dragons, he plays Raigeki in Main Phase 2. It looks as though my strategy has failed me... But here's where my planned has worked: I remove from play the two Winged Dragons to Special Summon two Garudas, then tribute THEM for Blue-Eyes. Next, I play MY Raigeki to destroy my opponent's Beat-sticks, and I'm free to go for an open 3000 attack. Well, okay, this is an incredibly near impossible situation, but it can happen. It can happen to you too; you just have to come up with creative decoys.

Tip 8: There are other Staples out there (Part 2).
       If you're getting confused about the order in which these tips are coming, please bear with me. I've just told you one of many possible psyche-out strategies by using the Super Searchers. Now, I want to talk about the ultimately under-rated monster: Twin-Headed Behemoth. This baby is a must for any Tribute deck; make your opponent kill him, he comes back, then you sac him for a big daddy next turn. Sounds simple, right? Ha! This baby saved me from a full-blown Vampire Lord deck. That's right, people! One monster, thanks to cards like Monster Reborn and Premature Burial, saved my butt. All I had to do was keep on getting him killed off my Vampie so that I can draw my ultimate monster, Dark Ruler Hades. And yes, it finally did happen, I won, and I couldn't have done it without my Behemoth. Get this monster! Now!!! [Sorry; didn't mean to yell...]

Tip 9: Make friends, not enemies.
       Everybody plays to win, right? Well, at what price? I am very sad to say that I've lost a dear friendship with someone because I was so determined to win a game that I went the extra mile. Don't get me wrong, I didn't cheat- in fact, that's my final tip- but my friend, who will remain nameless, was dueling with her standard non-Tribute deck. She loathes tribute monsters, whereas I play with a lot of them. After a couple duels, she became all the more resentful and leery of me. Then at last, she snapped, and I never saw her again. Folks, you really have to ask yourself one question: when playing this game, whether at a tourney or casually, what's more important: winning the duel or bonding with your opponent? Seriously, there is only one answer: bonding with your opponent. The more friends you make, the better your chances of getting more tips and tricks by those who have more experience. Never cast out the newcomers; never rag on the kids who want to play by the anime's rules; never ever resent someone because of their strategies (unless they're cheating). An honorable duel includes not taking this game seriously or personally. The more personal it gets, the worse you feel when it's over. Take it from someone who knows. Don't just respect your opponent; remember, they're just like you, only with a different deck.

Tip 10: Honesty is the best policy.
       The absolute worst thing anybody can do when playing this game is telling their opponent how to play a card. You've heard it before; there have been people at tourneys that have actually argued with judges on how to play traps like Waboku, or monsters like Vampire Lord, et cetera. If you honestly know how a card is meant to be played, don't lie about it. If you're that desperate to win by lying to your opponent about how you're winning is so low, you shouldn't even be playing this game. And on another note, if someone questions you about how cards are played, if you know the tru answer, say it. Don't give them a bad tip and watch them lose and laugh about it; that's just wrong. Yes, folks, this is a rule of morality, and that's why I saved it for last. Nobody likes Weevil Underwood; why? Because he's a no good cheater. Why would you ever want to sink to that level? I'm not taking names or pointing fingers here, people, I'm just stating the facts: if you spot a cheater, run. And never look back.


Okay, those are my rules; most of them seem like common sense, but hey, there's nothing wrong with common sense. So please, heed my words and have fun dueling. Peace out.

Snodin: KaodMaster@aol.com