The basics of building a deck for newbies

 

Right, here’s another article on the basics of building a deck. Today, I’ll be talking about how to build a successful and balanced deck.

Right, so first of all, you have to know about the different deck-types. There are 3 main types:

 

Aggro

Control

Combo

 

Aggro is a very aggressive deck, as you can tell from the name. Aggro decks tend to swarm the field a lot and keep good field advantage. They are very fast-paced and games usually end very quickly. The best counter to agro decks is to slow down the pace of the game and try and defend your life point carefully-they will swarm all over it if they get the chance.

Control decks are the complete opposite of aggro decks. They tend to take their time and play with a slow tempo, building up their hand and field advantage and slowly chewing away at the opponent’s cards with cards that destroy the opponent’s advantage in the duel. They also whittle slowly away at the opponent’s life points.

Combo decks are the least popular deck of the three main ones. Combo decks generally use cards that work well with other cards, but do not work well by themselves (A Legendary Ocean is a good example of such a card) Combo decks have many weaknesses. The main problems with this deck type is that if you do not draw into the card you require to set up your combo, then you will probably have a dead card in your hand. Combo decks are very inconsistent, making them unpopular for large tournament events. Another big disadvantage of running a combo deck is that if your combo is destroyed, then you will be almost helpless.

I have some rules for deck building, and here they are:

 

Law 1:

Base your deck upon a theme.

 

This is one of the most important laws of deck building (obviously). You must think of a theme, or a target for your deck to achieve. This will help you judge which cards will go best with the cards in your deck. An advantage of creating a deck based on a certain attribute or monster type is that different attributes and types often have cards that go well with that certain theme. By basing your deck upon a theme, you give it a framework which you can build upon.

You can also build a deck based towards a certain goal. If you are attempting to build such a type, then it is wise to think of a wider goal. It is not good to be too ambitious and make a deck that is based on a five-card combo that allows you to win instantly, because it will be too difficult to achieve. Try for a deck that aims to focus on weakening your opponent’s card advantage and then taking advantage of their weak position. And remember: card advantage is VERY important.

 

Law 2:

Give your deck a structure

 

This law is also quite important. For almost all decks, it is best to build around (though not exactly) upon this structure:

 

40 Cards total

20 Monsters

10 Spells

10 Traps

 

It is usually better to have more spells in your deck than traps. There are exceptions to these rules, but most decks function around this build. Try and balance the number of spells and traps you have with the number of monsters.

 

Law 3:

Add several staples to your deck

 

Staples are the sort of cards that are just so good that almost every tournament-worthy deck uses them. Here is a list of cards seen in almost all decks:

 

Monsters:

 

Breaker the Magical Warrior

Magician of Faith

D.D Warrior Lady

Exiled Force

Spirit Reaper

Sangan

Cyber Dragon

 

Spells:

 

Graceful Charity

Mystical Space Typhoon

Heavy Storm

Smashing Ground

Book of Moon

Scapegoat

Nobleman of Crossout

Premature Burial

Confiscation

Enemy Controller

 

Traps:

 

Mirror Force

Ring of Destruction

Sakuretsu Armor

Call of the Haunted

Torrential Tribute

Bottomless Trap Hole

 

Notice that many of these cards have the ability to destroy stuff. Breaker the Magical Warrior, Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm all destroy spells and traps. D.D Warrior Lady, Exiled Force, Smashing Ground, Nobleman of Crossout, Mirror Force, Ring of Destruction, Sakuretsu Armor, Torrential Tribute and Bottomless Trap Hole all kill monsters. As for the rest, Magician of Faith can retrieve a crucial card from the graveyard, Spirit Reaper acts as a strong blocker and can force your opponent to discard a card in the hand, Sangan can search out loads of monsters, Cyber Dragon is an amazingly powerful free special summon, Graceful Charity thins the deck and dumps cards that you can use Premature Burial with, Book of Moon is a very versatile card, Scapegoat slows the game down to a trickle, Premature Burial lets you bring back powerful monsters, Confiscation lets you see the opponent’s hand and discard any card of your choice, Enemy Controller works like Book of Moon, being a very versatile card and Call of the Haunted lets you special summon monsters from the graveyard.

 

Law 4:

Pack lots of punch

 

Try and pack lots of monster and spell/trap removal into your deck. If you don’t, you’ll regret it when you face down a powerful monster and can’t find any way to get rid of it. The best ones are Mirror Force, Smashing Ground, Exiled Force, D.D Warrior Lady, Sakuretsu Armor and Ring of Destruction.

Cards that destroy spells and traps aren’t that useful in the current format, due to the fact that so many spells and traps are chainable now.

 

Law 5:

Every card counts

 

This is a very important rule to follow when building a deck. When deciding which cards to put into your deck, always think about the worst situation you could be in. And in most duels, the worst situation would usually be to have no cards on the field and in your hand. Then think about which cards would be good to have in such a situation. That is what makes Cyber Dragon such a good card-it is a terrific card to draw when you are topdecking, and if you are in control of the game, it can act as a powerful beatstick and serve as free tribute fodder.

Cards that require you to discard a card from your hand to active (such as Tribute to the Doomed and Dark Core) are generally not very good cards to put into your deck. If you are topdecking and draw one of those cards, then that is another turn wasted where your opponent can beat you down with their monsters. The whole reason why Change of Heart and Snatch Steal were banned was because if top-decked, then they could totally turn the tables.

 

Law 6:

Don’t be afraid to try out tech

 

Sometimes, try adding some cards which you think might be handy in a duel. These cards do not fit in with your theme, and are known as tech. One of the most popular tech used recently Last Will. It does not fit in with any specific theme, and yet is a versatile card that can act like a second Sangan.

 

Law 7:

Play-test your deck

 

When you have finally developed your deck, it’s time to get it on the road and test it. Get a bunch of friends together to help test out your deck. Duel against different decks and analyze the different strengths and weaknesses of your deck. After you finish dueling, tweak your deck slightly and try dueling again. Don’t be discouraged if you lose a lot-it’ll help you to develop your deck even further. Also bear in mind that some decks will have disadvantages against other decks. For instance, Dark World decks hate Macro Cosmos decks due to the fact that their monsters are removed from play by Macro Cosmos and Dimensional Fissure and cannot return. Every time you lose, think about different reasons why you might have lost, and change your deck so that it fits the environment.

 

Law 8:

Use multiple copies

 

For maximum effectiveness when playing a deck, use multiple copies of key cards. This will increase your chances of drawing a certain card. This may seem obvious, but you’ll be surprised at how many people ignore this rule. Another advantage to using multiple copies of cards is that it will make your deck more consistent; you will have a higher chance of drawing the cards you need.

 

Law 9:

Build a side-deck

 

Okay, so now you’ve made your main deck and play-tested it until it suited the environment that you duel in. Now it’s time to make a side-deck.

First of all, there are two paths to follow. One path is two build a side-deck consisting of cards that can counter popular decktypes in your area. The other way is to build a side-deck that will totally change your playing style. The advantage of the latter is that you can catch your opponent off guard. For instance, if you are playing with an aggressive style in your first duel, and then side-deck into a more control-type deck with burn cards, your opponent might have side-decked some cards such as Level Limit – Area B and Gravity Bind which actually helps your deck. As for the other method, do a bit of research into the most popular and strongest decks in your area, and place cards into your side-deck which will help counter them. That’s all there is to side-decking, but build your side-deck carefully; it will become a very useful tool when dueling in tournaments.

 

That’s all I have to say in this article, and I’ll see you next time. If you wish to contact me so that I can look over your decks, feel free to contact me at Philip_lee9@hotmail.com. Bye!