Originality vs. “Cookie Cutter”:
How much does it matter to you? 

1.12.05  Hey everyone it’s been about a month since my last article. I’ve been in preparation for Regionals, making new decks, testing new decks, and writing articles for my local store Gathering Place Games in Casselberry, Florida. Recently, I’ve just competed in the January 8^th Regional event in Jacksonville, Florida and I placed 10^th. My brother Kevin placed 2^nd and my teammate Jennifer took 3^rd-4^th, congratulations to the both of them in qualifying for Nationals! All in all, the deciding factors in most of my games were my smaller mistakes and misjudgments which made a large impact on the late game. This just goes to show that even the tiniest misjudgments can affect your overall game plan.

If any of you are curious, I played Chaos/Control for that Regional event. Surprisingly enough you would think that it would have been easy with such a “cheesy” deck type. The real truth however, is that Chaos/Control suffers more from small mistakes than most decks do. Since the inherent nature of the deck is Control, it must deal with every area of the opponent’s game in moderation to keep tempo. Even minute actions such as not picking up my Sinister Serpent can throw off my entire game.

My deck choice for Regionals has a lot to do with the issue of original decks versus “cookie cutter” decks. Part of the reason I have been gone for so long is that I have spent the majority of my time researching and attempting to get a grasp on the issue that has plagued the forums and duelist conversations for some time now.

Originality, by rough definition, is defined as “one-of-a-kind.” When I think of the word originality in YuGiOh, I try to relate the definition of it with this game. I’ve realized that originality, in YuGiOh terms, has an extremely vague meaning. In fact, originality in YuGiOh is very unrealistic. Think about these questions for a moment:

1)    How “original” can you possibly be without losing any competitive edge in this game?

2)    How “original” can you possibly be when everyone has the same card pool as you do?

3)    Is there such a thing as a “one-of-a-kind” deck in YuGiOh?

If I were to define “originality” in a YuGiOh sense, I would not say that a deck is original. I would define it as different. Since when has “originality” ever been relevant to your actual game-play? Does it actually matter to you? These are both serious questions that you must consider before deciding to join the band wagon of whiners claiming “Chaos this and Chaos that…” When faced with this issue, I refer back to a pair of phrases I’ve adopted from some friends of mine while playing this game, “Play what you know best” and “Stick to what you know.” If playing a Chaos deck, for example, is what you know best on a competitive level why on Earth would you stop playing it?

The opinions of others have absolutely no relevance to your skills as a player. Social pressures in your inner circle should not affect your deck choice. It does not make any logical sense to play something you are not familiar with in order to appease others. Chaos and other “cookie cutter” decks take a large amount of skill to play correctly. Any average Joe can remove a Light and a Dark from play and Special Summon Black Luster Soldier, but it takes someone of true skill to actually win on a consistent basis with that type of deck. It also takes a large amount of skill to actually build the deck correctly and fit it to your personal style of play. You cannot deny the strength of a well built Chaos deck, nor can you deny the strength of any well built deck that gains popularity.

Every time a certain deck type starts to win consistently, in the hands of a good player, and gains popularity it is automatically labeled as “cookie cutter.” Why does this happen? The problem I see with most players is that many of them don’t realize that it is human nature to want to succeed. We all want to win, it’s plain and simple. For example, when a deck takes first place in a major tournament, many players will rush to imitate that deck and attempt to attain the success that player gained from winning with that deck. This will always happen no matter how many cards UDE bans from the game.  

All players should be able to adapt and the metagame will evolve as it always does. If a certain deck type is popular and does very well wouldn’t it be common sense to include cards in your side deck that will allow your deck to prevail against it, since the majority of people play it? You could also build a deck solely to counter that deck type even. The real “issue” in this game is not lack of “originality”, but that 90% of all YuGiOh players do not realize that it does not a make any difference what deck you use to win. The real success comes from deck building skill, in-game skill, and an overall positive mentality.

Some decks will have more natural strengths than others. You cannot build a different deck and expect to succeed against the dominant deck type simply because it is not of that type. This is why you must build the side deck and main deck appropriately. Another smaller problem is that some players will not use some cards that are obviously powerful and should be included in every deck, simply because those cards are used in the “cookie cutter” deck of their metagame. Being different is one thing, but not including cards in your competitive deck that will improve your game plan just to be different is not smart at all. Stubbornness and naivety are your worst enemies in this game. You as a competitive player must learn to be more adaptable and adjust according to your evolving metagame.

If you play what you know best, you will succeed 10 times more than if you are trying to be different because the YuGiOh community says you should. It’s as simple and pure as that. I hope that players of this game will come to realize that the opinions of others, about your deck, have no relevance to your skills as a player. I do realize that no one wants to be the same as everyone else, but it is also important to put those feelings aside and do what it takes to be a successful player. Focus your attention on improving all of your skills in this game rather than focusing on what deck type you are playing. Your game-play will improve drastically just by letting go of this nonsense, and adopting a more adaptable and positive mindset with this game. When it all comes down to the wire, the game will be decided on who played their cards better, not what deck each player played. A deck type is just a label not an affirmation of your skills.

Remember to just play hard, think about your moves, and most importantly…enjoy the game.

Email me at deathjester86@yahoo.com with your opinions, comments, and feedback on this topic. If you want to talk about it with me some more, ask me for my AIM screen name and we’ll chat about it.