Duel Monsters: the Ruined Game.

by WhiteLancer

Now, I don't expect much that is in this article to be popular, but it is something, I beleive, needs to be brought to the Duel Monsters community. How many times have you been dueling, and suddenly gotten a feeling of deja vu? You just all of a sudden felt like you had played this duel before, too many times to count? If you have, it is because the feeling was right, you have gone through that same duel, over and over again.

Collectable Card Games are supposed to be about 4 basic things: Fun, Creativity, Strategy, and Victory. Notice the order I listed those in? That had a purpose. Most people think that Victory is in essence, a combination of the other three catagories, and it should be. However, in the current Duel Monsters community, this is just not so. Victory does not come about through Creativity and Strategy, it comes about through surrendering both of these qualities in your gaming experience, and choosing to play a Beat Down deck.

Raikegi, Monster Reborn, Pot of Greed, Mirror Force, Dian Keto the Cure Master, Change of Heart... Sound familiar? They should, because the vast majority of people reading this article have these cards in their deck. Shall I keep going? Alright, Neo the Magical Swordsman, Battle Ox, La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, Man-Eater Bug, 7 Colored Fish... How many of you out there pack these cards into your decks? Again, the vast majority of you. With all these cards being packed into everyones decks, where is the originality? Where is the creativity and strategy that is supposed to come through experimentation with different card combinations? It isn't there.

Most of you have watched the Television Series, or read the Manga, that Duel Monsters shares a common canon with, now, tell me this... Do the characters in the Television Series and the Manga pack these cards into their decks? The answer, of course, is no. If the creators of the Television Series and the Manga had built the character's decks like most people build their decks, the show would have never made it past 3 episodes before being canceled. Having the same duel over and over is boring.

Now, I reach my conclusion, the point to this long, and to most of you, insulting article on the nature of the game. This game has only been out for a short time in the United States, and already, people have bastardized it, essentially ruined it. They have taken the Creativity and Strategy that is supposed to be a part of every Collectible Card Game and replaced it with decks so simple, anyone who knows the basic rules of the game could take them and win. I know some of you out there say that the creativity will come back once more Japanese sets are released, but look at all those japanese decks, they still have the same "Staple" cards, or cards that are just as bad. I've only seen one Japanese deck without Blood Vors. Now, if you please, also, imagine Japanese cards, available to the general public, in english. There will be no end to the supremecy of Beat Down decks. Beat down decks are like a machine. Man may have creativity, and spirit, but machines are relentless, they just keep pounding away until nothing is left.

Give up your beat down cards, give up playing the same way as everyone else. Embrace your individuality, embrace creativity, find a way to duel without using those cards. If I can do it, so can you.