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Cloudstrife 189 on Yugioh
The secret to dueling: The Forgotten Art  
September 16, 2009

This article’s purpose is to express one thing, and one thing only: The importance of SIDE DECKING!!! This is one of the game’s best commodities that I see a lot of players fail to utilize time after time again. First, let me say that I can’t come to understand why so many players choose to ignore this convenience. Side decking in Yu-gi-oh is everything and I cannot express how many matches I have won because I was able to side deck effectively for games 2 and 3. So many players spend so much time trying to create the ultimate “main deck” that they fail to even consider the importance of their side deck. I see players constantly switching cards in their main deck every week until they get it “perfect.” Well let me quickly give you a wakeup call, THERE IS NO PERFECT MAIN DECK!!!

Example:
I currently run a Dark DAD variant. It is very reliant of its spell cards. At my locals, I was actually getting beat for the longest time by a Gemini Elf equipped with Axe of Despair while Secret Village of the Spellcasters and Skill Drain were face up. The reason why? My deck was designed with the intention of beating Gladiator Beast, Blackwings, X-sabers, and Lightsworn. I don’t main deck enough spell/trap removal to contend with such a unique deck. However, this is when the forgotten art comes into play. By side decking in Fairy Wind and Malevolent Catastrophe, I quickly came back and crushed my opponent games 2 and 3. Same thing can be said about dueling against decks such as Lightsworn. They will most likely have the advantage game 1 because their main strategy is really difficult to initially counter. However, after adding in some Dimensional Fissures/Light-Imprisoning Mirrors, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyers, Banisher of the Radiance, etc, you might find game 2 and 3 highly in your favor. I have seen a lot of duels where a player loses game 1, makes some interesting side deck choices, and comes back to finish winning game 2 and 3. I really believe that side decking is critical to winning in Yu-gi-oh. I believe that the creators of this game did not believe for your main deck to be able to handle all decks at all times. This would explain why they allow us to swap up to 15 cards after game 1.

There are 4 different ways I have found to side deck effectively. I’m going to express the pros and cons of each of these strategies so you can figure out which side decking strategy would be best for you.

Side Deck Option #1: Counter

I think this is currently the most popular way I see people tend to side deck. After game 1, people will add in cards that directly counter their opponent’s strategy. A good example of counter side deck cards would be Light Imprisoning Mirror against Lightsworn or Royal Oppression against Gladiator Beasts. By adding in these cards, you can slow down your opponent’s main strategy while still keeping yours intact. Your own strategy may get slowed down slightly but it could be highly worth it if it’s going to 100% counter your opponent’s.

Side Deck Option #2: Convert/Transform

This side decking option was a lot more popular a few years ago. The point of this strategy is to completely/partially change from your initial strategy into a new one. This is a highly effective strategy when done right, because it renders a lot of cards your opponent sided in useless. This strategy can be dangerously hard because you can only swap in a maximum of 15 cards meaning that the other 25+ cards in your deck will have to remain the same. However, I remember the look on my opponent’s face when I use to change from my beatdown deck into a burn deck; it was priceless. All the monsters destruction/stall he added in only slowed down his strategy and gave me ample amount of time to erect my new one. This strategy is perfect if your main strategy is already composed of two main focuses like DarkWorld Burn. After game 1, you could choose to drop the DarkWorld cards for more Burn or drop the Burn cards for more DarkWorld. A very successful tactic indeed. These days I find this tactic to be too inconsistent at most major competitions with the current top tier decks being played.

Side Deck Option #3: Protect

Prior to one year ago, I never understood this option fully. However, after seeing this side decking option in action, I found it to be extremely effective. This strategy is harder than the other strategies because it forces you to predict what your opponent will add in to counter you. By adding in cards that will counter their counters, it will guarantee that your primary strategies will stay intact. This is mostly seen these days in Lightsworn decks when they add in dust tornados/royal decrees to counter Light Imprisoning Mirrors. Lightsworn players have come to understand that almost all players will add in continuous spell and trap cards to counter their strategy so they have to be prepared to destroy/negate them so they can keep their strategy up and running. The main disadvantage of this strategy is that it could backfire. If your opponent chose to not add in the suspected cards, you may find yourself drawing into a lot of dead hands. I have found the best success of this option during game 3 when you already saw the counters your opponent sided in for game 2.

Side Deck Option #4: Randomize

This is the side decking strategy that I currently use. I find this strategy to be the most fun and the most effective because it best correlates to my deck and playstyle perfectly. This strategy takes 15 cards that all do a variety of things. A few of the cards might be counters, a few of the cards might change your strategy and the remaining few might protect your initial strategy. However, to take it one step further, I have personally found the best success in choosing 15 DIFFERENT cards! By adding in a few cards of each category, I find myself creating an awesome mix of effects which really throw my opponent off his game. A good example of this would be my side deck choice against Gladiator Beasts. I add in one copy of Royal Oppression, Thunder King Rai-oh, Deck Lockdown, D.D. Crow, Legendary Jujitsu Master, and My Body as a Shield. Now, I’m not saying that this is the best strategy. In fact, I would highly recommend that you choose one of the first three strategies before attempting this one. I have just found this one to be the most successful because I never get clogged with multiple counters/protection cards and really confuse my opponent about how to side deck for game 3. Do they add in Dust Tornados to counter my royal oppression? Nobleman of Crossout/Shield Crush for my Jujitsu Master? Do they side deck out their Gladiator Proving Ground because of my Thunder King Rai-oh? This strategy really grants me the edge because I am not affected by it but my opponent is at a complete loss. If you ever want to try a more interesting side decking tactic, then maybe give this one a shot.

Special Trick: Smoke Screen

When side decking, shuffle your complete side deck into your main deck then go through and take out 15 cards. Because you don’t have to inform your opponent weather you side decked or not, he will have no idea. You could have taken out the same 15 cards you just added in or you could have changed your strategy completely or anything in between. By doing this, you will once again have a little extra advantage and your opponent will now have less information on how to make his own side decking decisions.

Need help side decking?

It takes a long time to figure out what cards to add in and what cards to take out for each matchup. However, this is when time and practice come into play. If you ever can’t figure out what cards to take out, I find it best to take multiple copies down to 2 or even 1. I know it might first appear bad to take out a copy of “Luminia, the Lightsworn Summoner,” but if you can effectively and consistently destroy their “Light-Imprisoning Mirror,” it could be worth it. In time, you will eventually discover your own side decking strategies.

Conclusion:

You now know 4 different ways to side deck: Counter, Convert, Protect, or Randomize. They all have their ups and downs and all need to be considered. You should really spend a lot of time play testing to see which is best for you for your Meta (your central group of players, decks and playstyles). If your Meta is full of Monarchs and Zombies, I would build my side deck a lot differently than if it was full of Blackwings and Lightsworns. Give your main deck a break sometimes. Your main deck doesn’t have to win every game, every time. It was never suppose to. The main deck can’t handle everything. Instead of changing your main deck week after week, spend some more time and focus on your side deck. It might just surprise you how powerful it can be. I have gotten my side deck so effective right now, that I don’t mind losing game 1 because I feel extremely confident making a comeback in games 2 and 3. Try to practice side decking at every opportunity you can. Even when playing casually, add in some side deck cards and see if they are really accomplishing what they were meant to accomplish. Some people feel that if they won game 1 that they don't need to side deck for game 2. By side decking efficiently, you can make that game 2 victory come even easier.

However, sometimes you may not need to side deck. Your main deck might have enough natural counters that your side deck might just get in the way. However, you should always be considering your side deck and thinking about what cards, if any, you should add in to make this duel a lot easier.

So from now on, try to never agree to play a match without side decking. If your opponent says something like “Well, I don’t have a side deck, can we play without them?” Tell him that you’re sorry, but that your side deck is just as important as your main deck. Tell him that they act as an inseparable team. Tell him, that for this duel, he’s going to learn the significance of side decking, and come to appreciate and fear this forgotten art.

Thanks for reading,
Cloudstrife 189