A lot of players today have trouble building decks of there own. They post it on forums seeking for help. They ask there friends or online stars for advice over email. This never really made sense to me. When I build decks, I build it towards the meta, whats to be expected and if I need special side deck cards because I have to play against a Dark World deck and a stall deck every local. The key to building your correct deck doesn't lie within other people. It's something I (and many players) refer to as "Play Style."

The reason we call it 'play style' is every player plays differently, thus, creating there own style. The players use an abstract diagram, kind of like this:

Conservative - - - - - - - - - - - - Mixed - - - - - - - - - - - - - Aggressive

Being a very conservative player means you hold back more than often. For example, there is an opening to attack directly with Spirit Reaper, but they still have a face-down spell or trap on the field that you haven't got a chance to attack into yet. This can help make an accurate read of the face down, suggesting Sakuretsu Armor or Widespread Ruin. Instead of being aggressive and taking the chance of attacking with Spirit Reaper, conservative players might wait an extra turn or two for additional spell or trap removal, or if they have too many tributes in there hand to risk an open attack at losing there monster. They rather make the conservative play and wait until next turn to push life point damage and hand advantage. Therefore, by setting the Spirit Reaper, you cna set up better plays next turn instead of taking the risk of attacking.

Being an aggressive player doesn't mean you make risky plays to push life points all the time. Using the Spirit Reaper example again, attacking might not be an aggressive play nor a conservative play, it may just be the smart play. What if there was still Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon, 3 Snipe Hunter's and Chiron the Mage still left in your deck. Why not wait a few turns when you are likely to draw one of them to clear the path, right? But on the other hand, it could be game 3, and all you saw both 1st and 2nd game was Bottomless Trap Hole's and Mirror Wall's. Attacking with Spirit Reaper would be a great idea, because they not be able to deal with it when it's attacking them. A lot of the time, people think some one is making a bad play when it might just be there own play style, or they are making a play adjusting to what they saw during the first couple games or even turns in a game. That's why you take the 'benefit of the doubt' (an actual life lesson) to ask questions as to why they would make the move - not make fun of them for "misplaying hard!" when for all you know, you could be the one mistaken.

Then of course, everyone thinks in the diagram that they are a mixed play style of conservative and aggressive. You assume you are this because you don't think you push for life points all of the time nor do you wait for the clear attack with the perfect cards. But the truth is, there is once again a big difference between a play style and a correct move. Another example: Your opponent starts off game 1 with the classic T-Set (1 set monster, 1 set spell or trap) and passes to you. You have Cyber Dragon, Confiscation, Bottomless Trap Hole, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, Mobius the Frost Monarch and Sangan. To my preference, I would special summon Cyber Dragon and normal summon Sangan, set my Bottomless and Confiscation before I attack into a face down monster. Why? Because what if the face down is a Morphing Jar? The chances of a face down Morphing Jar is slim, especially if they only set 1 spell or trap. But you never really know. It's like making a Fusion Deck without any Polymerization or any Fusion-related cards. What if they play Exchange, and you end up trading your Mobius for the Metamorphosis? Without the fusion deck full of different leveled fusions to choose from (which could make or break your game), instead you now have a dead card. Setting or 'over-playing' your field into a face down may pay off, I know it has for me. By setting my Confiscation and over playing my field before I attack isn't a play style. It's the smart play, especially if you are starting off a new game.

By playing my Cyber Dragon and Sangan decided my play style. Instead of going Cyber/Mobius or Cyber/Zaborg into the face down right away, I played Sangan to bait out an opposing Cyber Dragon. And with Confiscation and Bottomless Trap Hole, I can make that happen so easily. Save the Bottomless for Cyber Dragon while I confiscate something more useful to them, like D. D. Warrior Lady or Ring of Destruction. Anything to counter my Sangan-tributed Mobius next turn, then for the 3rd turn I would tribute Mobius (if the Cyber isn't there anymore) for the Zaborg (if whatever I got off of Sangan isn't the wise choice to play instead).

The purpose of this article is to inspire you to build decks towards your play style. Even if you and your friend play the exact same deck, your winning record might differ because you play the deck better, whether it be played conservative or aggressive, you will win according to your play style. Remember, there is the conservative play and the aggressive play. But always in the middle, there will be a right play. You may not see it and will stick to your play style at the time. Confidence builds a better deck and can carry you through the tournament. But if you are watching a match and don't understand a play when you see one, ask the player after why they did that. You can help them, or they can help you.

As always, thanks for reading,
Ryan Peddle

MSN/E-MAIL me at: imagination436@hotmail.com AIM me at: imageNation436