Forum:Deck Guide/Stall

by Gadjiltron

Intro
Every Deck is different. No two Decks are the same. Unless they got netdecked, which is frowned upon.

Some Decks enjoy summoning large monsters. Swarm Decks summon many monsters in one turn.

Some Decks do damage without battling. Burn Decks damage the opponent's LP without attacking.

Some Decks like to win within a single turn. OTK Decks make combos to accomplish that.

But one kind of Deck just constantly defends, turn after turn after turn, shrugging off their opponent's attempts to damage them. Is there even a win condition for just turtling? Well, sort of. Depends on the build.

Mechanics
As the name implies, Stall Decks are focused around defending themselves from opponents' attacks or attempts to do damage to them. Of course, the nature of the cards they use prevent the Stall Deck from making any kind of offensive presence. As there is no win condition granted from defending all the way, the definition of Stall is used to support other types of Decks that can provide a means to win.

Perhaps the most popular means of a win condition from a Stall Deck is Final Countdown, which is impossible to stop after it has successfully activated, but needs the Deck to survive 20 turns (10 from each player) during the Duel. Thus, a Stall Deck partially devotes itself to draw power to get Final Countdown sooner while also replenishing resources to supply its defenses.

Related Guides
See the following for examples of Decks that may utilize Stall to help achieve their goals.
 * Slow Burn Decks
 * Mill Decks
 * Exodia Decks

Strengths

 * Potentially annoying - To the opponent, anyways. Several recent cards have given the Stall Deck very very convenient options of fending off opponents' attacks or denying the Battle Phase entirely, buying them extra turns while the opponent is a sitting duck (damage wise).

Weaknesses

 * Requires their win condition to do anything - Is Final Countdown somehow at the bottom of your Deck? Well, you're basically screwed, since all those turns of defense accomplish nothing if you don't have your win condition set up beforehand.
 * Slow - Sometimes, just a turn of a lapse in defenses is all it takes for the opponent to utterly destroy you. The fact that the Stall Deck is made of cards that are more difficult to search than most other archetype-specific cards complicates this.

Win Conditions
These are the cards commonly used by Stall Decks to try and net a win.
 * Final Countdown - The general win condition for a Stall Deck. Once it successfully resolves, there's literally no way of stopping Final Countdown unless the Duel ends prior to its 20 turns. The 2000 LP payment, on the other hand, does make it easier for the opponent to finish the player off if they can't defend themselves well enough.
 * Wave-Motion Cannon - 20 turns seem a little too long for you? Try 16. Well, chances are the opponent is likely to destroy WMC before you reach its optimal 8000 damage, so it's better to distribute it across 3 copies.
 * Exodia the Forbidden One - While possible, a Stall Deck relying on drawing Exodia is often seen as unrefined since faster variants are more often played nowadays.

Defenses
And these are cars that often appear to help defend the player.
 * Spirit Reaper and Marshmallon - These are two very well-known walls that cannot be destroyed in battle at all, thus blocking off non-Piercing battle damage until the opponent gets rid of them via removal or the like.
 * Battle Fader and Swift Scarecrow - And in case the opponent does manage to get a direct hit in, Battle Fader and Swift Scarecrow are there to stop the direct attack and forcibly end the Battle Phase, denying any further attacks from getting in. Battle Fader is usually seen as slightly superior due to Special Summoning itself at the same time.
 * Zero Gardna - A humble monster with a Quick Effect (activates on either turn) that provides a Waboku effect, protecting you and your monsters from battle. Why use it over Waboku, then? Perhaps because Royal Decree can't negate it, and it slips outside the reach of Skill Drain.
 * Cyber Valley - When targeted for an attack, Cyber Valley can banish itself to forcibly end the Battle Phase while also allowing an extra card to be drawn.
 * One Day of Peace - Both players draw a card and take no damage till their next turn. Which is a major aid for you since you want to stay alive and need an extra draw while not really bothering about doing damage. Recently Limited due to some off-the-wall mill loop, but that shouldn't terribly hurt your defense options.
 * Messenger of Peace - A very useful card that prevents strong monsters with at least 1500 ATK from attacking at all, and with a negligible maintenance cost of 100 LP per turn. Since it doesn't look at Levels like Gravity Bind or Level Limit - Area B do, it also blocks off Xyz Monsters which are immune to those cards.
 * Threatening Roar - A Chainable Trap that prevents the opponent from declaring an attack. The little rulings surrounding it means that for best efficiency, you are best activating it at the end of the opponent's Main Phase 1, before they proceed into the Battle Phase. Similarly, Thunder of Ruler does a similar thing but is restricted to the Standby Phase, greatly reducing its surprise factor.
 * Frozen Soul - Activated only while your LP is at least 2000 less than the opponent's, Frozen Soul forcibly skips your opponent's next Battle Phase. The conditions are easily met if you either used Final Countdown beforehand, played several Upstart Goblins, or simply let your opponent beat you around a little.
 * Fiendish Chain - Often seen as Side Deck material in other Decks to help negate effects and attacks, Fiendish Chain becomes a rather invaluable means of protection in a Stall Deck as it pretty much renders the target monster useless.
 * Wall of Revealing Light - Pay 3000 LP and pretty much all of your opponent's monsters will have trouble trying to attack you.

Combos
And these are some simple card combos that can be used to deter attacks.
 * 2x Marauding Captain or 2x Magician's Valkyria - Both cards protect other cards of the same Type from being targeted for attacks. Two of them under your control means that the opponent cannot attack at all, provided you don't control face-down monsters or monsters of other Types.
 * The Dark Door and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow - The former card only permits players to attack with one monster at a time. The latter card can negate an attack once per turn, and re-Sets after resolution.
 * Ground Collapse and Ojama Trio - The former card prevents your opponents from using 2 of their Monster Card Zones. The latter fills the remaining 3 with 0-ATK Tokens, preventing further Summons. If you so wish, you can up the ante by using Ojama King instead of Ojama Trio, and Ojama Knight instead of Ground Collapse, though this is better performed in an Ojama Deck.
 * Spirit Barrier and Astral Barrier - The former card prevents you from taking Battle Damage while you control monsters. The latter card lets you protect your monsters from attacks by turning attacks into direct attacks. Which are then completely neutralized because of Spirit Barrier.

Example Deck
This example Deck focuses on searching and using Final Countdown to win, with Wave Motion Cannon as backup.

Tag Duel Options
Since you have a lot of options that restrict attacks for both sides of the playing field, you're best off with a partner that also doesn't attack a lot. Consider pairing with any of the Slow Burn Decks so that you have another supply of defense, or pair with any of the Quick Burn Decks so that you can shield them in between volleys of damage.

Other Tips
Need draw power? Everyone loves draw power. Consider the following to help you dig through your Deck and find the cards you need.
 * Cardcar D - During the Main Phase 1 where you've Normal Summoned this card, you can Tribute it to draw 2 and end your turn while sacrificing any other Summons as well. Since you're likely to be relying on your various effects rather than big monsters to defend you, it's a welcome draw power option.
 * Pot of Duality - Dig through the top 3 cards of your Deck and add one to your hand, though in return you can't Special Summon for the turn. Considering your relative lack of monsters, this should not pose a big issue.
 * Gold Sarcophagus - Pretty much the only way to search out Final Countdown, as otherwise there isn't another good means to get any Spell from your Deck to your hand.
 * Upstart Goblin - You're not aiming to deplete the opponent's LP, so why not?

Or perhaps you seek more defensive measures? Gadjiltron (talk • contribs) 05:22, February 25, 2013 (UTC)
 * Arcana Force 0 - The Fool - Yet another monster that cannot be destroyed in battle at all. Be careful if using him, because his 0 DEF means you take the full brunt of Piercing attacks, and if he ever goes into Attack Position, you are fully vulnerable and cannot manually set him back into Defense.
 * Fortress Warrior - Not as sturdy as Spirit Reaper, Marshmallon, or AF0, since it only resists destruction in battle once per turn. Fortunately, Fortress Warrior comes with the bonus of you never taking any battle damage, deterring Piercing attacks as well.
 * Nimble Momonga - When destroyed in battle, Nimble Momonga grants you 1000 LP while setting up to 2 more copies on the field to help soak up more hits. This eventually gives you 3000 more LP to last longer in the Duel.
 * Solemn Wishes or Golden Ladybug - A steady 500 LP gain doesn't seem like much, but after all your defenses are exhausted, you'll be sporting a nice 5-digit LP total which might take some effort to fully deplete.
 * Draining Shield - Block off an attack from a large monster and gain a large amount of LP in exchange, thus forcing your opponent to expend more effort in taking you down.
 * Breakthrough Skill - A two-use Trap with no specific activation timing that negates any monster effect without destroying it. Use it to deny your opponents further advantage or protect your setup from destructive monster effects.