September 2007

The construction of an original deck guide part 1: Objectives by GM muka

First time writer and long time pojo-goer/yu-gi-oh veteran Muka here. In the Chicago suburbs area, I've long been hailed as one of the "greatest deckbuilders" of all time. Not to be cocky, but the decks I build are frequently sucessful, and I know there are reasons that they are.

You may wanna print this as a checklist, its actually quite useful.

Reason #1

The reason good decks work is good decks work for a reason.

No, that sentence isn't a random set of words, it has purpose. Ever deck, no matter whether it be the current cookie cutter Monarchs, a chain burn deck, or even Six Samuria, all good decks work towards some goal. First thing you need to do establish a goal, and here are common goals...

Attack and support: Strike with big monsters and find ways to clear the way for them. This is why Monarch decks have been so sucessful, they take any problems they have off the board. 2400 is a pretty good bit, and it only takes three strikes to usually mean game (most lifepoint costs are 800+, and some random damage is likely to exceed that as well.)

Burn: The stratagy that has the most diverse decktypes, burn's success rely that it knows exactly what it is doing. Its not easy to counter burn without the card "Des Wombat", and many good burn decks have methods of even removing him from the field.

Shock and Awe: A deck similar to "Attack and Support", Shock and Awe uses larger card effects such as "Dark Magic attack" and "Burst Stream of Destruction" to land the opponent in a single, but savage, turn of hot water. At this point, you have cleared out all threats, and had better commence your damage, the game could be over before your opponent could even defend himself. Most "Shock and Awe" decks can also be called "OTK".

Alternate Win: Exodia is the most famous Yu-gi-oh card by a long shot because it wins the game automatically. While much rotection must be installed to get such an effect, its certainly a powerful one, and an instant win scenario leaves no doubt who won. Often enough however, you may wish to distract your opponent with some other chore, such as braking your defence or lock so he doesn't have time to pick at your hand or lifepoints.

When you have picked your class (even theme decks will fall into one of these), make sure you support it. Fish might be a theme, but they have no win condition, nor the raw power to muscle through. You MUST work towards a goal.