Forum:Deck Guide/General

By Lappyzard

So, you say you want to learn how to make a powerful deck? Well, you've come to the right place. This is a basic tutorial for building a deck of any kind. Tips, things to watch out for, explanations of why certain cards are good and other cards are bad; you name it, it's here. Let's get down to business.

Player's Glossary
This is a list of terms you will probably hear a lot from regular players. I'll be using many of them myself. (This is NOT a list of game terminology. None of these terms appear in the rulebook.)
 * Backrow: Backrow cards are set Spells and Traps.
 * Bounce: To return a card to the hand.
 * Broken: A broken card is one that is overpowered and capable of generating lots of advantage all by itself.
 * Card Advantage: Card Advantage refers to the number of cards at each players disposal.
 * Clog: When the hand or field is filled with cards that can't be used effectively at the moment.
 * D: An abbreviation used by some players for draw a card. "I activate Pot of Greed and D2."
 * Dump: To send a card to the Graveyard, usually from the deck. DIfferent from milling because it sends specific cards.
 * Explode: This refers to huge plays that usually result in lots of Card Advantage and powerful monsters.
 * Floater: A Floater is a monster that replaces itself when it is removed from the field, such as Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive.
 * God says NO: A phrase sometimes used by players when activating Solemn Judgment or Solemn Warning.
 * Hit: A deck or a card is "hit" when the card or cards from the deck are placed on the banlist in order to weaken that deck's power.
 * Mill: Milling is to send cards from the top of the deck to the Graveyard.
 * Minus: To minus is to have your card advantage decreased.
 * Nuke: Nuking is when all or almost all cards on the field are destroyed. This is most often done by Black Rose Dragon.
 * The Nuts: One of the most powerful opening hands possible. "I drew the nuts. He didn't stand a chance."
 * Open: To open with a card is to draw it in your starting hand. "I opened with Royal Oppression."
 * Pierce/Trample: A monster with this effect will deal damage even if the defending monster is in defense position.
 * Plus: To plus is to increase your card advantage.
 * Poke: A poke is an attack that does not accomplish anything, usually when attacking a stronger defense position monster or a monster that can't be destroyed in battle.
 * Pop: To destroy a card by an effect.
 * Pump: To increase a monster's ATK. Usually heard when using Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn's effect.
 * Push: A big play, usually game-ending.
 * Sack: An abbreviation of "lucksack" this term can either be a noun referring to the player, or a verb referring to an extremely lucky draw.
 * Scoop: Scooping refers to when a player surrenders, and starts to "scoop" up all their cards.
 * Scoop Phase: The term Scoop Phase is making fun of the Phases of gameplay. The Scoop Phase is where the player surrenders. "I'll proceed to the Scoop Phase."
 * Scrub: A new player or a player that doesn't understand many of the rules.
 * Spin: To return a card to the deck, usually from the field and usually to the top of the deck.
 * Suicide: When monsters with equal ATK battle and both are destroyed.
 * Swarm: Swarming is when many monsters are summoned to field in a short time span, usually one turn.
 * Swing: A swing is a large scale attack, usually game-ending.
 * Topdecking: Topdecking is a situation in which you have no or very few cards in your hand and on your field, essentially leaving you to play from the top of your deck.
 * Topdecking War: A situation in which both players are topdecking.

Deck Guidelines

 * 1. Stick to the 40 card minimum. Well, 41 or 42 is ok. But this is the number one mistake that new deckbuilders make. Many newer players believe that by adding more cards they have more options. In fact, the opposite is true: you have less options. Why? When you're dueling, every single card you draw counts. If you can't draw the right card at the right time, you'll lose. The fewer cards you have in your deck, the greater your chances of drawing the right card. Let's say it's deep into the duel. Both players have gone through a lot of cards and now it's down to a topdecking war. Who has a greater chance of drawing the card they need, the player with 5 cards left or the player with 25 cards left? Some decks also run best with 3 Upstart Goblin effectively making the deck count 37.
 * 2. Don't try to do too many things at once. Pick one central idea and choose every card based on that idea. If a card does not blend well with your central strategy, or is counterintuitive, avoid it. There's probably a better choice. Don't mix ideas unless they actually benefit from each other. For example, there's no benefit from mixing Gladiator Beasts and Lightsworns. GBs rely on having cards in the deck, while Lightsworns mill cards out of the deck. Lightsworns rely on explosive finishing moves while GBs are much slower-paced. Some hybrids are beneficial, though. For example, Lightsworns and DARK Monsters. DARK decks thrive on having monsters in the Graveyard, and using LIGHT and DARK together allows the use of Chaos Sorcerer.
 * 3. Monsters are not win conditions. Continuing on the idea of number 2, your central theme should not be "Summon this monster". Aside from Exodia, there is no monster that will outright win you the game. Not the Egyptian Gods, not the Sacred Beasts, not the Aesirs, not Dark Armed Dragon, not Judgment Dragon, not anyone. Monsters, even incredibly powerful monsters, are tools to be used at your disposal. They are not win conditions.
 * 4. Anything worth running is worth running in multiples. This is more true of monsters than spells and traps, but is in general true. Most top decks run all cards that aren't limited in twos or threes. The logic is this: if a card is powerful, you want to draw it more often. If you have more copies you'll do that.
 * 5. The less conditional a card is the better. This covers activation conditions, costs, benefits, card advantage, everything. The best card is one that is powerful, has little to no cost, generates lots of card advantage, and requires no other cards to be present. Dark Hole is a prime example of such a card. When considering this point, ask yourself "How useful would this card be if it were the only card that I had to use?" or more simply "What would topdecking this card mean for me?"
 * 6. The more versatile a card is, the better. Continuing number 5, a card that can be used against more cards and strategies is more helpful than a card with limited use. For example, Solemn Judgment can be used against all types of cards, making it more useful than Magic Jammer, which can only negate Spells.
 * 7. The more Card Advantage you result in from using a card, the better. To explain this key point, I'll again look at Dark Hole. If the opponent has two monsters, and you have none, activating Dark Hole will leave with the opponent with 2 less cards, and you with only one less card. That generates Card Advantage. Now let's look at the same situation, this time using Lightning Vortex. Lightning Vortex requires a Discard cost, which means it requires 2 cards to play: LV and the discarded card. Your opponent loses 2 cards, and you lose 2 cards. This generates no card advantage.
 * 8. Maintain a proper balance between monsters, spells, and traps. What this means for you depends on the type of deck you're building. Lightsworns, for example, rely on milling their monsters to the Graveyard. as a result, they should run more monsters. Gravekeeper's rely on using Spells and Traps to shut down the opponent, so they should run fewer monsters in order to draw more spells and traps. Formula Frognarchs rely on the effect of Treeborn Frog, so they should run fewer Traps. To figure out the proper balance, think about what's important in the deck. What does the deck rely on and how should your monster count reflect that? What type of cards would get in the way of your strategy, and what type of cards are crucial to it?

What kind of deck should I make?
Well, that depends on you. Whether you like aggressive Beatdown tactics, slowly Burning your opponent to death, complicated combos, alternate win conditions and watching your opponent await their demise, or controlling your opponent's every move, you should pick a decktype that exhibits those characteristics and matches your playing style. Above all, pick a deck that you think will be fun!

Things to consider when choosing your deck:
 * Speed: Is my deck capable of swarming the field?
 * Power: Are the monsters in my deck strong?
 * Consistency: Can I draw or search the cards I need on a regular basis?
 * Control: Does my strategy limit my opponent's options?

Explanation of Card Advantage
Pay attention; this is one of the most important concepts in the game.

Card Advantage refers to the number of cards at your disposal, in your hand and on your field. Any time you increase this number, except through your normal draw, that's a +1 in Card Advantage. Any time you decrease your opponent's number while maintaining your own is also a +1. Any time you decrease your own number, or increase your opponent's, that's a -1. Let's look at a few examples: By learning how to understand and manipulate Card Advantage, you can turn the odds overwhelmingly in your favor. In most situations, the player with 10 cards at his disposal will almost always beat the player with only 3 cards.
 * Example 1: The opponent controls 3 monsters, and you control none. You activate Dark Hole. Because Dark Hole was used up, you have decreased the number of cards at your disposal, resulting in a -1. However, you also forced your opponent to lose 3 cards, which is a +3 for you. By combining your change and your opponent's change, you get the net Card Advantage. In this case, it's +2.
 * Example 2: Your opponent controls one monster, and you control two. You summon an additional monster from your hand, and your opponent activates Torrential Tribute. Your opponent loses Torrential Tribute and the monster, resulting in a +2 for you, since the opponent now has 2 less cards. You also lose three monsters, resulting in a -3 for you. The resulting card advantage for you is -1.
 * Example 3: You flip summon Gravekeeper's Spy, Special Summoning Gravekeeper's Recruiter from your deck. You now have one more card, resulting in a +1.
 * Example 4: You activate Smashing Ground, destroying an opponent's monster. You each lose a card, resulting in no change in Card Advantage.

Additional reading on Card Advantage: | Card Presence and Card Advantage by Jason Grabher-Meyer

Additional reading on how to manipulate Card Advantage: | Simplification by Jason Grabher-Meyer

I highly recommend reading these, as he goes into a lot more detail than I do and does a better job of explaining the importance of these concepts.

Card Choices
Additional Reading on Card Choices: | Utility by Jason Grabher-Meyer

Again, I highly recommend reading this. He goes into great detail about why certain cards are good and others are not, and will also teach you how to judge the cards for yourself. He does an excellent job of explaining it, much better than I could do, which is why I am referring you to his articles.

Monsters
When choosing the monsters for your deck, think about their effects and how you can use it to: If you look at popular monster choices in the past, you'll see that most of them fit one or more of these categories. I'll discuss each of them in order. Blackwing - Bora the Spear is a popular Blackwing choice because it supports the central strategy of swarming the field for quick Synchro Summons. Sangan is a popular choice as a Floater, because when it's sent to the Graveyard, it generates card advantage by adding another card to your hand. Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner is used to swarm the field and put pressure on the opponent, since they're facing down many monsters. Thunder King Rai-Oh is an extremely popular choice because it disrupts the opponent's strategy by blocking add-to-hand effects and negates a Special Summon.
 * Support your strategy.
 * Gain Card Advantage.
 * Overwhelm the opponent.
 * Disrupt the opponent's strategy.

Other things to look at in a monster are: Level, ATK, DEF, and potential combos. Monsters that are level 5 or above are weakened because they require one or more Tributes to summon. ATK and DEF are no brainers; battling is one of the simplest and most effective ways to control the field. Potential combos allow for greater use of cards that weren't as useful before. For example, Rescue Cat summons two level 3 or lower Beasts from your deck, but destroys them in the End Phase. This by itself isn't very useful, but if you summon a Tuner and a non-Tuner, you can Synchro Summon easily. This combo is what turned the rather weak Rescue Cat into a dominant force that resulted in it being banned.

Spells
When choosing your Spells, think carefully about what you can gain from them: Again, looking at popular Spell choices, you'll see that many of these are present. Allure of Darkness is a powerful Draw Spell that allows you to speed through your deck. Reinforcement of the Army searches out any Warrior that is needed. Monster Reborn allows you to summon back any fallen monster, making it extremely powerful and versatile. Dark Hole is useful in generating Card Advantage. Book of Moon and Mystical Space Typhoon are good for disrupting the opponent, stopping their plays before they can make them.
 * Draw Power
 * Search Power
 * Summon Power
 * Card Advantage
 * Disrupting the opponent's strategy

Traps
Traps are largely used to shut down the opponent. Things to look for in a trap card are: We'll once more look at some popular choices. Solemn Judgment is one of the most versatile Traps available. Mirror Force has no cost and generates lots of card advantage. Compulsory Evacuation Device is chainable and can go off at any time, which is also a part of its versatility. Seven Tools of the Bandit stops opposing cards and protects your plays at a low cost.
 * Versatility
 * Costs and Conditions
 * Chainability
 * Card Advantage
 * Protection

Staples
Staples are cards that can be run in any deck. Aside from Tengu, all of these cards are on the banlist. Everything is Semi-Limited/Limited/Banned for a reason.
 * Reborn Tengu I honestly believe that Reborn Tengu is one of the only true monster Staple. I don't care what you're playing, run him. He's so good. Every time you summon him it's +2 in card advantage. Hate on Tengu all you want, the fact is he makes every deck better.
 * Gorz the Emissary of Darkness Gorz wins games. Unless you find yourself with cards constantly stuck on the field (like Call of the Haunted), run Gorz.
 * Book of Moon This card is so versatile. It can protect your own monsters, block an attack, disrupt the opponent, stop Synchro Summons in their tracks, the uses are endless.
 * Dark Hole I talk about this card a lot. Why? Because it's freaking good. No costs, no conditions, and it creates massive card advantage.
 * Giant Trunade This card lets you make uninterrupted plays. The ability to do that can be devastating to your opponent.
 * Monster Reborn Play this card in everything. Everything. It's one of the most versatile cards in existence.
 * Mystical Space Typhoon Same story as Trunade. Getting rid of your opponent's backrow lets you make uninterrupted plays.
 * Mirror Force See Dark Hole. What's even better is that it leaves your field untouched.
 * Solemn Judgment The most versatile negation card ever. There's a reason why it's listed under "God says NO" in the player's glossary.
 * Solemn Warning The ability to shut down any kind of summon, including the previously unstoppable Gorz, is gamebreaking.
 * Torrential Tribute While not quite as versatile as Dark Hole, this card is still incredibly useful.

Semi-Staples
Semi-Staples are cards that can be run in just about any deck. There are some decks where they're not as useful.
 * Sangan This card is a semi-universal searcher. Its uses are too numerous to list.
 * Thunder King Rai-Oh One of the greatest control cards in the game, TKRO is a powerful addition to most decks.
 * Neo-Spacian Grand Mole Another fabulous control card, Grand Mole screws over Synchro monsters.
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind A one card out to many troublesome monsters such as Stardust Dragon and Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En.
 * Effect Veiler and D.D. Crow are both useful cards to stop your opponent's big plays and force them to waste cards.
 * Pot of Duality or as I like to call it, Pot of Consistency. This card makes any deck more consistent.
 * Call of the Haunted A powerful revival card, similar to Monster Reborn but not as versatile.
 * Compulsory Evacuation Device An extremely versatile disruption card, but not for every deck.
 * Dimensional Prison Useful for dealing with a number of troublesome monsters.
 * Dark Bribe, Seven Tools of the Bandit, and Trap Stun Useful cards to protect your big plays.

Cards to Avoid
This section will discuss many of the pitfalls that await new deckbuilders. Cards that seem powerful can actually destroy you.
 * Magical Mallet, Reload, and Card Trader Yes, it lets you trade cards you don't want for a new hand. But when you think about it, you're only making life easier for your opponent. If you activate all your Mallets and Reloads on your first turn, you've reduced yourself to a single card with which you plan to take on the opponent's six. If anything happens to that card, which it most likely will, you will, without a shadow of doubt, lose. These cards cost you card advantage for no real benefit. Avoid them at all costs.
 * Lightning Vortex Speaking of costs, that's the main reason why this card isn't as good as it seems. Yes, it destroys all your opponent's monsters, but it has a cost, and that means it's outclassed by Dark Hole in every way. It's rare that Lightning Vortex will give you card advantage, and is a card that's better off avoided.
 * Draining Shield and Magic Cylinder If you're going to stop your opponent's attack, at least take the monster down with your Trap card. These cards cost card advantage in exchange for Life Point advantage, which is a terrible idea. If you play these cards you're going to lose the game.
 * All single-use Burn Spells and Traps and Life Point Gaining Spells and Traps Card Advantage. If you're going to give it up, do something more than a few points of damage.
 * Pot of Avarice Unless you can put a ton of monsters in the Graveyard on a consistent basis, avoid this card. If you really want to "recycle" your monsters, play cards that let you Summon them from the Graveyard instead. Pot of Avarice thickens the deck, and unless you're thinning your deck at high speeds, don't play this card.

Deckbuilding Don'ts

 * Don't feel confined to one Archetype. Just because you're playing a certain archetype doesn't mean you can't include other powerful cards like Neo-Spacian Grand Mole.
 * Don't pick cards because they'll be helpful if the duel is going in your favor. Pick cards that will be helpful if the duel ISN'T going in your favor.
 * Don't be stubborn about your card choices. The best way to improve your deck is to share ideas. Be careful not to become stubborn and refuse to try out ideas, because it may turn out that the idea you rejected could have skyrocketed your deck's power. Don't absolutely insist on keeping certain cards and not trying others.
 * Don't be afraid to experiment. All the best decks are constantly evolving. A deck is never finalized. Keep trying new things, and you may be the one to bring your decktype to the next level.
 * Don't be put off by Life Point Costs. The only Life Points you should be concerned with losing are your last ones. All the other ones don't matter, because whether you win with 10,000 or 100, you still win.
 * Don't think that having a lot of Life Points means you win. Nobody ever won just by having a lot of Life Points. As I said before, the only LP that matters is your last one.
 * Don't pick a card without looking at any other cards. Often times you'll be able to find a stronger, more effective version of the card you're considering using.
 * Don't make an OTK deck thinking it will be consistent. A consistent OTK deck is the biggest oxymoron ever, right after the George Bush Center of Intelligence. If you DO manage to make a consistent OTK deck, the next banlist will kill it.