Well , it’s been a while before I’ve delivered an actual article worth considering about. Sure my decks can spark the occasional brainwave, or at least  be interesting to read, but it’s been a while since I’ve delivered a proper article such as this. Lets hope I haven’t lost my touch eh guys?

 

Now you all know me fairly well, or at least you should do by now. I’ve been at pojo for pushing a year now , and I’ve posted a hell of a lot in that short space of time. I’ve out lasted quite a few of the New-Gen writers and hopefully confirmed myself as a regular on the site. During my time, one topic through and through has  reappeared as a constant theme in essentially every article I’ve wrote. I’m always preaching for new decks to come out, theme support, and all that. Moaning about how CC is rubbish and easily beaten, if you put the effort into it, and that originality is the true way of this game. Although all  that still holds true , my message has become somewhat distorted since it began, much like that of a fisherman’s tale, or a message in a game of Chinese whispers. Things tend to snowball, and get bigger and bigger until what you get resembles nothing like what it did originally.

 

That’s what’s happened with my message, and I  think it’s about time that I turn all this on its head, and hopefully try to settle the score.

 

The idea that a purely original deck, full of cards never used before, with enough effort behind it could easily triumph over a deck built with enough power to topple a country is a complete delusion. During my time, I’ve met a wide variety of duelists, all with a varied view of the way the game should be played. I’ve talked to original duelists, CC duelists, Veterans and beginners, and I’ve learnt a lot from our conversations and E mails. A lot of these people have all vouched for originality, and have tried to find their own path to success, not being bogged down using cards simply because everyone else is, or cards to counter cards just because the latter is commonly played. They just duel for themselves, and make it on their own. I applaud that, and that is the way I truly believe people should do it.

 

I’ve also talked to people who feel the opposite way, that if a card finds success it automatically merits use. Lets just ignore those shall we? We’ll just focus on the ones that think a bit Ok?

 

Contrary to this, I’ve also met people who are at completely the opposite end of the spectrum, and it’s those I’m going to be talking to today. 

 

Some people that I’ve met completely HATE the idea of conforming even the tiniest little bit, to the point where they refuse to use cards like Graceful Charity, or -Pre mature burial for no other reason than because everyone else runs it. Now  that is ludicrous. Simply not using a card for the sake of not wanting to be a conformist is the complete extreme of the concept of originality, and that is where we enter a danger zone where people completely exclude themselves to a point where the game 8is no longer fun anymore, and any good card is seen as an enemy. Lets face it, if you don’t use powerful or at least effective cards against a person that does, you WILL lose, and you WILL lose very badly, and it will be no one’s fault but your own. Burying yourself in originality will not make you better, in fact it will only push you up until a point much like this where all that you are left to do is moan about the cards that are out their, and demand Holocaust banning outright. This doesn’t solve anything, since people will only use the next best thing until eventually there’s only a distinct number of cards left and the game is dead. If you isolate yourself now, even if you do get your own way eventually it’ll lead to a point where you’ll isolate yourself again. It’s not healthy.

 

Now most of you will read this and think that it doesn’t apply to you at all, you simply run original because you don’t want to be considered mindless, or that uniformity is more annoying and tedious than anything else. That’s generally why people insist on being original in the first place, it’s not so much rebelling against the system, as it is just avoiding monotonous play, which can be respected. No one wants to play everything exactly the same, every time, all the time.  But that’s the trap you can fall into, I mean even I did.

 

I eventually got so wrapped up in my ways that I refused to budge on anything. Cyber Dragon in any deck was a no-no simply because I didn’t think it was incredibly powerful, and therefore meriting use. Chaos sorcerer wouldn’t find a way in either because he wasn’t a mega power, and I even got to a point where Spirit Reaper, DD Warrior lady, and Exiled force were replaced in my spell caster deck simply because they weren’t themed specific and incredibly beneficial. Now I’m not saying that any of those cards are absolute staple , or must have, but they were powerful, and they were completely disregarded because they didn’t fit my deck as well as I’d like.

 

Now you may recall my noting on this in a recent article ,  and I’ll touch on it again now, giving you just a little bit more insight into by beautifully assorted mind and life. Joy.

 

My spell caster deck, towards the end of the last format was getting tired, and fairly stale. I wasn’t sure what direction to go with it, and I was still waiting on two of the themed power house card that would ‘complete it’, Injection fairy lily and Dark Magician of Chaos. ( and I still am btw) . My deck was incomplete , and I was trying to compensate by trying out a variety of different ideas. Finally, and begrudgingly I added a Chaos sorcerer. The power boost that simple card added to my deck was unbelievable, it had been ages since I’d felt something like that pulsate through any of my decks. My deck jumped right up there once more, it was intoxicating .

 

After the new list, my new found deck was reduced to tatters. Magician of Faith hit 1, Tsukuyomi was gone, along with my Chaos sorcerer, the card that sparked it all. As I tend to  do in my times of need, I reverted to my Fiend deck in the events of a crisis, it’s old, and fairly reliable. But as time tends to do, it moved on and my fiend’s weren’t any where near their former glory. Now this is the part where you read another of my articles that goes into great detail into how I came about my new deck, and become shocked  at the dramatic turn of events  revealed in it. I posted it about 4 weeks ago, go ahead, press back and read it, I’ve got time…..

 

….Back? Good. Hang on now, don’t lie to me, I’m not stupid. I know you didn’t turn back, you’re just too lazy for that sort of thing aren’t you? Well I can’t say I’m not disappointed.

 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I’m  now running a sort of Warrior / Phoenix Hybrid  that’s fairly successful. Truth be told, it’s a lot better than any of the deck’s I’ve ran over the past few …well years yeah. There’s only one problem with it.

 

As it stands, the deck’s fairly original, in the way that it uses a tried and tested deck type, Warrior, takes an under used card from said type , Marauding Captain,. And uses said card in said deck to bring out said Nephthys in an interesting combo with another monster, of which I’m sure you’re all aware. My deck runs fairly smoothly, I must say, and has forced my friend to up his game considerably  since my Dark Magician days, which is pretty sweet actually. The only negative is that power is VERY addictive, especially for me considering my long absence from it.  As I tend to do, I blame the regressive format , since initially, that’s where everything screwed up, but enough about that.

 

Right now, my decks fairly competent. It was a massive leap from where I was 6 months ago , but at the same time not entirely at it’s best, and as you’d expect, I’m tempted to improve it, but at what cost? Marauding captain is currently the most original concept in the deck, and he fit’s the warrior theme, which is cool, but he’s also a dead draw at times, as is the Hand of Nephthys , and because of this, so is Apprentice Magician. I’ve also got a Gigantes in there, and a Morphing jar, which is neither here nor there, and I REALLY want to improve it. Cyber Dragon is a far superior replacement for Marauding Captain , considering a nearly double attack boost resulting in essentially the same result, except less situational. Also, I’m having a rough time against Don Zaloog , and I was considering adding a couple in place of a the other two cards holding me back somewhat, after all he fit’s the warrior theme. But then you realise the dilemma I’m in. In doing this I’ll increase my deck’s potential quite considerably, but for the cost of my originality and claim to my desire not to conform I could easily be labelled a guy with a CC deck  , even though technically that isn’t true considering this set-up isn’t really being used.

 

I think the main problem with this is that once I bite the bullet and decide to replace the cards for the stronger ones, what’s to say I won’t replace any cards that then become a nuisance and all my original deck is gone, being replaced instead by a heartless computerised logic deck. So, I’m making a stand, and I’m not going to completely conform to the will of the CC, I’m going to make my deck powerful sure, but not at the cost of my own soul, and that’s the main point of this article.

 

Conformity can help  you become more powerful indeed, and refusal to conform at all will only suceede in spiting you, but a total conformation will cost you more than you’ll probably ever realise.

 

That’s all for now folks, I think I’ll leave you to stew for a bit.

 

Dark__Maltos@msn.com

 

Have a good one guys.