|
It’s
been
about
2
weeks
since
my
last
article,
but
I
assure
you
that
it
was
well
worth
the
wait.
Welcome
to
my
next
article:
The
secret
to
dueling:
Coming
up
to
Tier
Let’s
start
this
article
off
by
defining
tier:
a
series
of
rows
or
ranks
rising
one
behind
or
above
another
Now,
in
YGO,
lots
of
duelists
have
started
classifying
decks
as
Tier
1,
Tier
2,
and
Tier
3. A
good
example
of
Tier
1
would
be
all
the
most
competitive
mainstream
decks
like
Blackwings,
Lightsworn,
and
Gladiator
Beast.
A
good
example
of
Tier
2
decks
would
be
something
like
Plants
or
X-sabers.
A
tier
3
deck
is
something
along
the
lines
of
Morphtronics
or
Skull
Servants.
I’m
one
of
the
few
duelists
in
my
community
known
for
creating
very
successful
original
decks.
Lots
of
people
have
asked
me
for
advice
on
what
to
do
when
attempting
to
make
their
own
“original”
decks
more
competitive
or
where
even
to
start.
I’m
going
to
reveal
a
few
of
these
“secrets”
today
in
hopes
of
encouraging
a
lot
more
people
to
break
from
the
norm
and
try
something
fun
and
unique,
and
of
course,
competitive,
at
their
next
competition.
*These
tips
are
for
people
who
seem
to
need
a
little
extra
help
getting
started.
Obviously,
you
can
and
should
adjust
these
suggestions
as
you
feel
fit.
Skeleton
Structure:
First,
figure
out
what
primary
deck
style
you
want
to
be
playing.
A
lot
of
people
come
up
to
me
and
say
that
they
want
to
build
a
“Dragon”
deck
and
I
always
ask
“What
kind?”
Few
people
seem
to
understand
that
you
can
have
an
unlimited
amount
of
different
strategies
embedded
into
that
one
concept.
Here’s
a
rough
breakdown
of
the
type
of
skeletons
you
should
start
with
based
on
your
personal
preference.
(These
skeletons
were
also
mentioned
in
my
previous
article,
the
secret
to
dueling:
Deck
Cycle
Theory.)
Control
(do
you
like
to
control
the
pace
of
the
game?
Play
control
based
monsters
and
a
good
amount
of
spells
and
traps
to
protect/support
them.):
Monsters:
18
Spells:
12
Traps:
10
Aggro/Beatdown
(do
you
like
to
attack
often
and
bring
out
big
attackers?
Play
a
few
spells/traps
to
make
sure
your
attacks
are
successful
but
don’t
focus
much
on
protecting
your
monsters.
Their
high
ATK
power
should
do
just
fine):
Monsters:
23
Spells:
12
Traps:
5
Speed/Swarm
(do
you
like
to
invest
everything
in
one
supersonic
flash
furry
of
cards
and
overwhelm
your
opponent?
Play
lots
of
special
summon
monsters
and
lots
of
spells
because
you
can
play
them
instantly.
Traps
will
only
slow
you
down
because
they
take
a
turn
before
you
can
even
activate
them):
Monsters:
16
Spells:
20
Traps:
4
Stall/Burn
(do
you
like
to
take
things
slow
and
patiently
wait
for
your
strategy
to
slowly
piece
together?
Hide
behind
stall
cards
like
“Gravity
Bind”
and
“Messenger
of
Peace”
and
make
sure
they
have
protection
so
they’re
not
easily
destroyed.
Monsters
aren’t
as
important
because
your
spell/trap
cards
should
suffice
at
stalling):
Monsters:
10
Spells:
15
Traps:
15
As
you
probably
noticed,
all
decks
seem
to
run
approx.
40
cards.
I
have
found
this
to
be
critical
because
consistency
in
YGO
is
everything.
Any
deck
can
pull
off
a
victory
occasionally;
however,
you
should
focus
on
being
able
to
pull
it
off
on a
regular
basis.
By
having
a
50+
card
deck,
your
combos
would
change
duel
after
duel,
and
it
might
be
hard
for
you
to
set
up
and
count
on a
particular
one.
Once
you
have
chosen
a
basic
skeleton,
regardless
of
your
theme/concept,
you
will
be
ready
to
begin
the
next
step,
synching.
Sync
it
up!
Now,
I’m
not
talking
about
synchros,
but
the
same
concept
is
used.
You
must
make
sure
that
all
your
monsters,
spells,
and
traps
all
flow
together
and
work
together
perfectly.
Ex.
If
you’re
playing
a
“Spell
Canceller”
control
deck,
it
doesn’t
make
sense
for
you
to
play
a
lot
of
spells.
It’s
very
critical
that
most
of
your
cards
have
high
synergy
between
a
good
majority
of
other
cards
in
your
deck.
It’s
inconsistent
to
have
only
two
BEWD,
one
Lord
of
D,
and
one
Flute
of
Summoning
Dragon
in a
regular
deck.
However,
maybe
if
you
played
a
lot
more
dragons,
then
the
Lord
of D
would
be
more
justified
because
it
would
serve
an
additional
purpose
of
protecting
your
creatures
as
opposed
to
just
that
one
combo.
It’s
really
crucial
to
find
high
synergy
cards
because
they
will
increase
the
flow
of
your
deck
drastically.
In
my
dark
deck
for
example,
I
love
the
synergy
that
Scapegoat
gives
me
by
being
able
to
combo
with
a
lot
of
cards
like
my 3
Cyber
Valleys,
Destiny
Hero
Plasma,
all
my
Tuners
as
well
as
just
being
a
good
attack
blocker.
Every
time
I
draw
that
card,
it
is a
live
card
and
that’s
how
I
can
tell
that
Scapegoat
has
very
high
synergy
in
my
deck.
The
more
synergy
cards
like
these
you
can
find,
the
more
successful
your
overall
deck
will
be.
However,
you
do
need
a
few
things
to
reward
your
hard
work,
and
yes,
I’m
talking
about
a
“Boss.”
Give
it a
Boss
Now,
I
find
a
Boss
card
to
not
just
be a
monster
card,
even
though
that
is
how
it’s
usually
referred
to.
I
find
a
Boss
to
be
any
card
that
will
give
you
an
insane,
massive
amount
of
advantage,
when
your
strategy
is
working
to
help
push
for
that
game
winning
play.
The
Boss
card
may
change
from
deck
to
deck.
In a
Lightsworn
deck
for
example,
their
Boss
Cards
might
be
Judgement
Dragon
and
Beckoning
light.
They
are
both
ridiculous
powerful
on
their
own,
but
only
if
you
have
managed
to
do
your
central
strategy
and
mill
a
lot
of
cards.
In
my
current
deck,
I
play
3
Bosses.
I
play
Return
from
the
Different
Dimension,
The
Dark
Creator,
and
Dark
Armed
Dragon.
For
my
deck,
drawing
any
of
those
Boss
cards
at
the
beginning
of
the
game
usually
only
creates
a
temporary
dead
card
in
my
hand.
I
much
prefer
to
draw
“The
Dark
Creator”
or
“Dark
Armed
Dragon”
after
I
have
had
a
few
turns
to
set
up
my
combos.
“Return
from
the
Different
Dimension”
is
only
helpful
after
I
have
managed
to
remove
from
play
a
good
majority
of
my
creatures.
However,
after
I
have
managed
to
do
so,
any
of
those
above
cards
usually
set
up a
game
breaking
play
for
me.
It
is
very
important
to
remember,
however,
that
the
more
Boss
cards
you
play,
the
less
synergy
your
deck
may
have.
You
still
need
to
make
sure
that
you
include
a
lot
of
cards
to
potentially
turn
the
Boss
cards
“online.”
Now,
let’s
look
at
one
deck
that
became
semi
successful
by
following
a
similar
concept.
I
only
choose
to
speak
about
the
following
duelist
because
I
have
firsthand
knowledge
of
this
account.
Derek
Rouse
took
a
Dark
Red
Enchanter
deck
to
SJC
Columbus
in
2008.
He
first
decided
that
he
should
play
a
control
oriented
deck
because
of
other
duelist’s
extreme
need
of
hand
advantage
during
the
current
format.
He
then
decided
that
he
should
focus
on
the
Theme
of
using
cards
to
control
his
opponent’s
hands
and
opted
to
play
cards
like
Don
Zaloog
and
Thestalos.
To
help
bring
out
Don
Zaloog
and
tribute
fodder
for
Thestalos,
he
used
cards
like
3
Mystic
Tomatos.
Because
he
ran
tomatos
he
could
afford
to
run
cards
like
Creature
Swap
and
Newodria
to
control
his
opponent’s
field.
So
his
Don
Zaloog
could
score
more
battle
damage,
he
played
3
copies
of
Shrink.
He
also
chose
to
play
more
high
synergy
cards
like
Soul
Exchange.
Now,
if
this
was
his
only
strategy,
he
would
have
done
“okay”
but
not
nearly
as
successful
as
he
did.
He
chose
to
play
3
boss
monsters
that
would
maximize
his
deck’s
overall
synergy.
By
playing
3
Dark
Red
Enchanters,
he
could
capitalize
on
his
deck’s
overall
concept
of
hand
control.
If
he
could
manage
to
bring
out
an
early
Dark
Red
Enchanter
or
2,
every
time
he
played
one
of
his
other
cards
like
creature
swap/soul
exchange
(which
was
already
creating
advantage),
he
would
gain
even
MORE
advantage
with
the
discarding
ability
of
Dark
Red
Enchanter.
All
his
plus
1’s
would
quickly
become
plus
2’s
and
3’s
and
would
quickly
become
too
much
for
his
opponent
to
handle.
This
was
a
prime
example
of
an
original
deck
almost
coming
up
to
tier
1.
Conclusion
So,
you’re
trying
to
make
a
new
deck
to
be
as
competitive
as
possible.
First,
give
your
deck
life
by
giving
it a
“brain”.
Figure
out
what
you
want
your
deck
to
include
whether
it’s
the
theme
of
“Dragons”
or
the
strategy
of
“Hand
Destruction.”
Give
the
deck
some
structure
by
starting
with
a
“skeleton.”
If
you’re
starting
with
a
new/original
deck
then
possibly
start
with
the
above
“skeletons”
I’ve
established
based
on
your
appropriate
playstyle
(Aggro,
Control,
Beatdown,
and
Swarm).
If
you’re
trying
to
play
a
different
variant
of a
current
Tier
1
deck,
then
maybe
check
on
the
forums
to
see
if
there
is a
better
skeleton
available.
After
you
have
the
“brain”
and
“skeleton”
of
your
deck,
you
need
to
give
it
“blood”
by
creating
synergy
and
making
sure
all
the
cards
all
work
together.
Finally,
you
need
to
give
your
deck
a
“heart”
in
the
form
of a
boss
card.
Remember
that
it
may
sound
like
a
good
idea
to
have
multiple
“hearts”,
but
if
your
“blood”
ever
starts
to
get
clogged,
then
your
hearts
won’t
work
properly,
so
make
sure
you
have
enough
white
blood
cells
to
keep
everything
in
proper
circulation.
The
final
thing
you
need
to
do
is
give
your
deck
a
jump
start
to
make
it
come
alive.
Where
you
plug
in
the
jumper
cables?
I’ll
leave
that
up
to
you…
Until
next
time,
Cloudstrife
189
|
