From: DrgnSlyrX@aol.com [mailto:DrgnSlyrX@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 5:00 PM

Subject: card advantage-it's not everything! By Fluffy

    I'm sure we've all heard it a million times before: card advantage, card advantage, card advantage. Most people seem to be of the opinion that the only way to win in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh is to have as much card advantage as possible.

    However, the winner of a duel is not necessarily the one who draws more cards; it is the one who can take his opponent's life points to zero more quickly. When my final attack lands, it doesn't matter how many more cards my opponent has, I still win.

    Some examples: under the first ban list I ran a Blue Eyes White Dragon deck utilizing Paladin of White Dragon. Now there's a terrible deck for card advantage. -1's and -2's all over the place. However, that deck turned out to be extremely good. Why? Certainly not because I had more cards. It was because I summoned powerful monsters, summoned them quickly, and protected them well. I took my opponents' life points faster than they could take mine, and so I won. I don't think there was one tournament I went to under that format that I didn't make top 8 at least, and it was a rare Cookie Cutter Chaos deck that could beat me.

    My friend currently uses a VWXYZ deck; probably THE most resource-draining deck in the game. But it is well-made and very strong, and he can beat many of the more card-conscious decks. It is because he understands that he will win by taking life points, and when he does it won't matter if he has a hand or not.

    Remember, all that card advantage means is that you have options. However, if your opponent has two options that are better than your five, they still win. It won't matter how many cards you have when your life points hit zero, even if you have 10,000 cards in your hand (and God help you if you do).

    Thank you.