|
Ace’s Multi-Purpose Writing
Module #3
In Case of Emergency, Change Cards
By: Ace of
Spades - 03.17.05
Apologies for no articles
since my win. I picked a darn good time to win a competition
as my Drama Club was getting down to crunch time with our
spring production. This overrode all other projects on my
priority hierarchy.
But you don’t want to
hear about my personal life. You want…
…strategy for a
children’s card game.
The previous
article dealt with changing the deck when a new set arrives.
This one will deal with changes made between sets, during
the game itself, and when new rules arrive.
Restrictions and Bans
Chances are, you’ve heard of the new restricted
list, and may even have play-tested it. I’m not about to
give my own opinions on it and I’m certainly not going to
put in here, because you can find it in countless other
places.
Restrictions and bans can result in something as
trivial as switching cards to something as important as
changing the whole focus of your deck. Change of Heart is
banned, and that’s easy enough to remedy by putting in
Snatch Steal or Enemy Controller. It’s not that easy if you
happen to be running an FTK deck. That Scientist user is
going to have to pick a new deck type or change the focus of
his OTK deck.
When a card is banned, you need to scramble to
find something to replace it with. The common strategy would
be to find cards with similar effects and small costs and do
the switcheroo. When Imperial Order got the ban, people
began to use Magic Drain more often. When Harpie’s Feather
Duster was banned, players ran to get their Heavy Storms and
Giant Trunades back into the deck.
Likewise, if a card has been un-banned, the
player may want to put the good card back in. Someone using
Sakuretsu Armors most likely wouldn’t pass up an opportunity
to put Mirror Force back into the deck, removing the
placeholders.
Also, if a card has been restricted, the player
will need to either find equal cards or support cards for
the restricted one. With Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys banned
to one, players will have to throw in more support for it,
because it has been made that much harder to bring it out
onto the field.
A good idea is to always keep copies of banned
and restricted cards so that they can be easily brought back
into the deck, should they be un-banned or un-restricted.
You don’t want to have to go around scrounging for Raigekis
because you traded yours away when they were banned, but
Konami decided to bring it back.
A good player and a good deck-builder should
always be ready for changes in the gaming environment and
have multiple configurations ready so that the deck can be
made fully functional in what ever new scenario Konami cooks
up.
Being ready for changes brings us neatly into
the next section…
The Side-Deck
The Side-Deck is fairly easy to build when you
have your deck planned out. There are essentially two ways
to go about building a side-deck.
-The Multiple-Scenario-Response Method (MSR)
This version utilizes mostly Class C cards. The
MSR side-deck contains 15 cards commonly associated with
your deck type so that the deck can be ready to face any
situation, but still retain the same theme. For example, a
Warrior deck revolving around swarmage might make a
side-deck using:
-A
good amount of equips and power-ups, so that the deck can
easily arm up soldiers rather than bringing out new ones.
Or
-Several Warriors with protection effects, so that the
Warriors you do bring out can stay on the field longer and
easier, while keeping your hand or field from overflowing
with monsters.
-The Quick-Change-Garage Method (QCG)
This version, oddly enough makes use of the
Class F cards you hopefully considered before when you built
the deck. The QCG is centered around the idea of being able
to switch decks easily when the opponent calls for it.
A typical QCG side deck
might be able to switch standard Control over to Chaos or
Hand Control. A Stall deck might have a side-deck built to
convert to Burn or even Weenie-Rush.
Of course, no side deck
can change your deck completely, but the changes should be
able to easily convert the focus and goal of your deck. A
Water deck can’t use a side-deck to switch to a Light deck
because both decks require more than 15 cards of a certain
type.
Errata
On occasion, UDE will mess up their translations
and accidentally make a card better or worse than what it
once was. Eventually, the company will make the change, but
until then, players will be running 3 of the card if it’s
better or stay away from it entirely if it’s worse.
You can profit greatly from this. If you know a
card is going to get an errata, make sure to get your hands
on them. Collectors love error cards and players will be
sure to want them if they are better than their original
counterparts. Conversely, players will instantly be looking
for the card if the errata makes it better than the error
made it out to be.
For example, say a long-forgotten rule about
Raigeki was uncovered, changing the card into this:
RAIGEKI*
Spell Card
Activate when you have a Thunder-type monster on your side
of the field. Pay 500 LP to destroy all of your opponent's
monsters on the field.
There are now two options for you. You can
remove the card entirely and put in something else. Or you
can switch around your support so that you can still use the
card to great effect.
The average player will
just toss this card out but you will be able to put it to
good use with the appropriate monsters. The average player
doesn’t carry too many Thunder monsters, excepting maybe
Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, so you’ll be able to catch them
off guard when you come in with Thunder support and this new
monster-destroying effect.
And that is the third and
final component of the SABC-FU way. The next columns will
deal with underrated deck types, the gaming environment
itself and all sorts of other junk. Prepare yourselves.
-Ace of Spades, who’s quite aware of the fact that this
article was shorter than the others.
Next week will be longer.
Ace can be contacted at
ctrlaceofspades@gmail.com
Contacting Me
All right, I want to put
some stuff to rest. I’ve gotten a good amount of mail from
the first two columns and I want to help you get an idea of
what I mind.
-DO NOT send me childish
flames. They go straight to the Trash without a second look
and your address will be blocked.
-DO NOT send me requests
to make decks for you. I made up the system to help you
build a deck. Besides, there are much more skilled players
around here for you to ask.
-DO send me constructive
criticism
-DO send me your ideas,
decks and strategies
-DO send me deck lists
for rating through the SABC-FU method. Please include the
decklist though. If I run out of material, I might throw
them into the next articles. You heard it here, folks. Send
Ace your decks and get them featured in an obscure Yugioh
column!
Anything not mentioned is
fair game, however.
*They’re not really doing this. Thought I’d catch you before
you march off to Konami with your gasoline and
illegally-acquired weapons. I’d hate to be responsible for
the downfall of a company like that. Sure, it’d be kind of
cool, but that’s not our way.
|
