User:MrVariant/Discard Deck

A discard deck is a type of deck that specializes in making your opponent lose cards in their hand. There are many variants of this type of deck, and it was popular with the Yata-Garasu Lockdown before essential cards like Delinquent Duo got banned because it punished players for going second.

Detonation Discards
There are quite a few cards that combine well with discarding by destroying them through effects. Smoke Grenade of the Thief is an Equip Spell Card which can revolve an entire deck around it by using Breaker the Magical Warrior, Mobius the Frost Monarch or Kuraz the Light Monarch (remember to equip your opponent's monster first). Don't use Gearfried the Iron Knight or Cyber Raider because the other cards are a lot more versatile by destroying your opponent's cards.

Other cards that can detonate are: Dark Coffin, Blast with Chain, Big Bang Shot

The equip spells can even be further supported by Power Tool Dragon or Hidden Armory.

Bounce Discards
These types of discards need you to know what is in your opponent's hand. Mind Crush and D.D. Designator can destroy cards sent back to hand by Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and Compulsory Evacuation Device. These also work when opponents play cards to add from their Deck or Graveyard to their hand, such as Reinforcement of the Army.

Amazoness Chain Master is a good card to make your opponent sweat when they have a large hand. Monsters (like Don Zaloog) that rely on Battle Damage for discard effects are nearly impossible to use since they can be stopped without even being destroyed by cards like Scapegoat. Use Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch or Evigishki Gustkrake to be successful by just summoning them.

Strengths

 * Can quickly force opponent to topdeck. Even a card like Magic Drain works stronger in a discard deck.  Drastic Drop Off is best here.
 * Makes your opponent more hesitant about destroying spells/traps because cards can chain or make the attempt backfire.
 * Disables nasty surprises in the hand such as Honest or Gorz the Emissary of Darkness.

Weaknesses

 * Dark World, Fabled any other decktype that combos off these discards. You may want to use alternatives that bypass the discard effect such as D.D. Designator or steal the card like Amazoness Chain Master, which works with Creature Swap too; this guarantees things against discard combos, unlike random discards.
 * An overwhelming field advantage by the opponent makes their hand irrelevant. The detonation and bouncing mentioned should help take care of things, but targeting protection like Obelisk the Tormentor can stop that.
 * Infernity requires no cards in the hand, so it's a matter of who gets shut down first.

Final Thoughts
Yu-Gi-Oh is a game in which deckbuilding should not be completely strict to 1 theme; it can simply use 7-10 cards for one of these discard themes as well as anything to add to the general synergy for more consistency. If you have dark monsters, by all means use Dark Armed Dragon, Escape from the Dark Dimension and Allure of Darkness. Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning is great if you use Kuraz the Light Monarch and Breaker the Magical Warrior. Valkyrian Knight can help both Black Luster Soldier and Kuraz.

Cards that compound upon synergy are a blessing too, because they multiply your combos. Reborn Tengu helps offset Big Bang Shot if you need to equip your monster, makes Dark Simorgh and tribute monsters like Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch more playable, and using Fire Formation - Tenki is an easy draw when Kuraz the Light Monarch detonates it after getting Reborn Tengu or a Beast-Warrior Tuner like Shiba Warrior Taro.