Dark World, Dek Maksimal dengan Budget Minimal 2

Hai hai, ketemu lagi dengan saya. dah lama banget ngga ngepost2 lagi. Masih dengan tema yang sama, namun combonya aga sedikit banyak tapi sepadan kok sama effect nya. Dek kali ini memakai Structure Deck: Gates of the Underworld. pasti teman-teman udah pernah liat SD nya.

Saat ini harga per SD nya masih sekitar 150rb, mungkin di masa yang akan datang akan tetep stabil, but who knows? SDGU ini berisi kartu Fiend dengan Atribut Dark. Effect kartu Dark World aktif ketika mereka dibuang dari tangan ke kuburan karna effect, bukan cost. Beberapa effect nya fokus pada special summon, menghancurkan kartu di lapangan, membuang kartu lawan di tangan nya ke kuburan dan atau ke kembali ke dek mereka. Isinya apa aja sih, berikut list nya:

SDGU-EN001 Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World
SDGU-EN002 Snoww, Unlight of Dark World
SDGU-EN003 Ceruli, Guru of Dark World
SDGU-EN004 Zure, Knight of Dark World
SDGU-EN005 Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World
SDGU-EN006 Scarr, Scout of Dark World
SDGU-EN007 Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World
SDGU-EN008 Gren, Tactician of Dark World
SDGU-EN009 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World
SDGU-EN010 Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World
SDGU-EN011 Brron, Mad King of Dark World
SDGU-EN012 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
SDGU-EN013 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
SDGU-EN014 Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World
SDGU-EN015 Belial - Marquis of Darkness
SDGU-EN016 Tragoedia
SDGU-EN017 Sangan
SDGU-EN018 Newdoria
SDGU-EN019 Goblin King
SDGU-EN020 Grave Squirmer
SDGU-EN021 Card Guard
SDGU-EN022 Battle Fader
SDGU-EN023 The Gates of Dark World
SDGU-EN024 Dark World Lightning
SDGU-EN025 Gateway to Dark World x2
SDGU-EN026 Dark World Dealings
SDGU-EN027 Allure of Darkness
SDGU-EN028 Card Destruction
SDGU-EN029 Terraforming
SDGU-EN030 Dark Eruption
SDGU-EN031 Dark Scheme
SDGU-EN032 The Forces of Darkness
SDGU-EN033 Deck Devastation Virus
SDGU-EN034 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
SDGU-EN035 Mind Crush
SDGU-EN036 Dark Deal
SDGU-EN037 The Transmigration Prophecy
SDGU-EN038 Escape from the Dark Dimension
SDGU-EN039 Dark Bribe
Effect mereka bisa kamu liat di http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/SDGU Kamu juga bisa liat informasi lainnya disini 

Kalo gitu sekarang kita coba buat decklist dari original SD nya :

monster-20
3x Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World
3x Snoww, Unlight of Dark World
3x Ceruli, Guru of Dark World
3x Broww, Huntsman of Dark World
3x Brron, Mad King of Dark World
2x Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
2x Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
1x Sangan

Spell-13
3x The Gates of Dark World
3x Dark World Dealings
3x Dark World Lightning
1x Terraforming
1x Card Destruction
1x Allure of Darkness
1x Gateway to Dark World

Trap-7
2x Eradicator Epidemic Virus
2x Dark Scheme
1x Dark Deal
2x Dark Bribe


Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, You can Special Summon this card (from your Graveyard) by returning 1 face-up "Dark World" monster you control to the hand, except "Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World". If this card is discarded to the Graveyard by a card effect: Target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy that target, then, if this card was discarded from your hand to your Graveyard by an opponent's card effect, look at 1 random card in your opponent's hand, then, if it was a monster, you can Special Summon it to your side of the field. (8* ATK 2700 DEF 1800)
Effect #1: yah, selama kartu ini ada di graveyard dan km punya 1 face-up "Dark World" monster lv4 kebawah, dan itu mudah sekali :D
Effect #2: klo dibuang dari tangan karna effect kartu, effect nya hancurkan 1 kartu lawan. klo dibuang dari tangan karna effect kartu lawan, bisa ngintip kartu di tangan lawan, klo monster bisa di summon di tempatmu. #jempol.

Snoww, Unlight of Dark World, If this card is discarded to the Graveyard by a card effect: If it was discarded from your hand to your Graveyard by an opponent's card effect, you can target 1 monster in your opponent's Graveyard; add 1 "Dark World" card from your Deck to your hand, then Special Summon that target (if any) in face-up Defense Position. (4* ATK 1700 DEF 0)
Effect #1: klo dibuang dari tangan karna effect kartu, km bisa add 1 kartu "Dark World" dari dek ke tangan. km bisa search kartu2  "Dark World" sesuai dengan kondisimu saat itu.
Effect #2: tambahan, klo dibuang dari tangan karna effect kartu lawan, km bisa ss 1 monster lawan dari kuburannya face-up Defense Position. Lumayaan.

Ceruli, Guru of Dark World, If this card is discarded to the Graveyard by a card effect: Special Summon this card from the Graveyard to your opponent's side of the field in face-up Defense Position. When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Dark World" card: Your opponent must discard 1 card. (1* ATK 100 DEF 300)
Kombo sama Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World dan Dark World Lightning atau The Gates of Dark World. :D

Broww, Huntsman of Dark World, if this card is discarded to the Graveyard by a card effect: Draw 1 card, plus another card if this card is discarded from your hand to your Graveyard by an opponent's card effect. (3* ATK 1400 DEF 800)
Buat Drawer, lumayan +2 klo pke kombo sama Ceruli, Guru of Dark World

Brron, Mad King of Dark World, When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: You can discard 1 card. (4* ATK 1800 DEF 400)
Beater lv4 dengan effect gila klo ditanganmu ada monster Dark World.

Sillva, Warlord of Dark World, If this card is discarded to the Graveyard by a card effect: Special Summon it from the Graveyard, then, if this card was discarded from your hand to your Graveyard by your opponent's card effect, your opponent returns exactly 2 cards from their hand to the bottom of their Deck, in any order.(5* ATK 2300 DEF 1400)
Buat nguras kartu di tangan lawan :P

Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World, if this card is discarded to the Graveyard by a card effect: If it was discarded from your hand to your Graveyard by an opponent's card effect, you can target up to 2 cards your opponent controls; Special Summon this card from the Graveyard, then destroy those cards (if any). (5* ATK 2300 DEF 1400)
Bisa jadi penggantinya 2 MST dengan kombo yang tepat.

Sangan, searcher Ceruli sama Broww.

The Gates of Dark World, All Fiend-Type monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF. Once per turn: You can banish 1 Fiend-Type monster from your Graveyard; discard 1 Fiend-Type monster, then draw 1 card. Field Spell.
Goldd, Sillva jadi 2600 Atker, yang bisa di kasih Eradicator Epidemic Virus. Brron juga jadi 2100, sebanding sama Cydra tapi lebih murah :D Jangan lupa Grapha jadi 3000. Epic.
banish 1, buang 1, add 1. biasanya yg terbuang itu Ceruli, Grapha, Broww, Goldd. Dan kamu dapat 1 kartu gratis dr dek. Mau?

Dark World Dealings, Each player draws 1 card, then each player discards 1 card. Normal Spell.
Drawer dan (kebanyakan) SS monster gratis? Wajib!

Dark World Lightning, Target 1 face-down card on the field; destroy that target, then discard 1 card. Normal Spell.
Lawan mu bertahan dengan set monster mereka? Ngga masalah, dan km bisa dapat monster tambahan. Bisa juga target ke Spell/Trap lawan yang ngga chainable, seperti Mirror Force, Bottomless Trap Hole, Dimension Prison, Solemn Warning. Wait, semua kartu itu banyak dipake lawan looh,, :D

Terraforming, buat ngambil The Gates of Dark World dari dek.

Card Destruction, Bayangkan klo tarikan awalmu adalah 5 monster Dark World dan 1 Card Destruction :D

Allure of Darkness, Drawer lagi klo km rasa kurang.

Gateway to Dark World, Target 1 "Dark World" monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target. You cannot Summon other monsters the turn that you activate this card. Quick Spell.
Lumayan buat tambahan monster dari grave, ato mencegah monster mu di culik lawan via monster reborn, ato  mau di banish pke dd.crow.

Eradicator Epidemic Virus, Tribute 1 DARK monster with 2500 or more ATK, and choose Spell Cards or Trap Cards; check your opponent's hand, all Spell/Trap Cards they control, and all cards they draw until the end of their 3rd turn after this card's activation, and destroy all cards of the chosen type. Normal Trap
Targetnya 3 Grapha, 2 Sillva, 2 Goldd klo ada field spell, dan kebanyakan ada, buat hancurin trap2 yg menyebalkan, kek bottomless traphole, dimension prison, ato macro cosmos :D

Dark Scheme, Your opponent can discard 1 card to negate this card's effect, otherwise both players discard 2 cards, then draw 2 cards. Normal Trap
seperti ngomong sama lawan, "buang 1 kartu ditangan ato ketemu sama boss besar ku?" Err,, #pilihanyangsulit

Dark Deal, When your opponent activates a Normal Spell Card: Pay 1000 Life Points; the effect of that Normal Spell Card becomes "Your opponent discards 1 random card". Normal Trap
Monster Reborn? Dark Hole? Smashing Ground? Sword of Revealing Light? Heavy Storm? bayar 1000 LP effect nya berubah deh, klo di tangan mu ada grapha, malah jadi monster gratisan dong. Dengan 3 Grapha dan segentong effect drawer di dek ini, km pasti ngga pake lama deh ngeliat naga itu muncul di tangan mu :D

Dark Bribe, When an opponent's Spell or Trap Card is activated: Negate the activation, destroy it, and your opponent draws 1 card. Counter Trap
Negator Spell dan Trap dan lawan dapat 1 kartu gratisan dr dek. Yaa ngga apa klo yg di negate itu monster reborn, dark hole, heavy storm, book of moon, mirror force, torential tribute, solemn judgement. Eh, semuanya kartu limit eh

Sekarang kita cek total harga nya deh,, klo beli 3 SDGU brati km bisa pke deklist diatas dengan sekitar 450rb+20rb ongkir=470rb lah. ga sampe setengah juta. tp gimana klo mau beli satuan? nih harga dari TnT 12 desember 2011.

monster-20
3x$0.99=2.97 Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World
3x$0.49=1.47 Snoww, Unlight of Dark World
3x$0.49=1.47 Ceruli, Guru of Dark World
3x$0.29=0.87 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World
3x$0.29=0.87 Brron, Mad King of Dark World
2x$0.25=0.50 Sillva, Warlord of Dark World
2x$0.49=0.98 Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World
1x$0.49=0.49 Sangan

Spell-13
3x$0.49=1.47 The Gates of Dark World
3x$0.49=1.47 Dark World Dealings
3x$0.25=0.75 Dark World Lightning
1x$0.29=0.29 Terraforming
1x$0.25=0.25 Card Destruction
1x$0.49=0.49 Allure of Darkness
1x$0.25=0.25 Gateway to Dark World

Trap-7
2x$0.25=0.50 Eradicator Epidemic Virus
2x$0.25=0.50 Dark Scheme
1x$0.25=0.25 Dark Deal
2x$2.49=4.98 Dark Bribe
total  =$20.82 atau Rp.208.200 klo pke 1$=Rp.10rb. Ongkir 30rb max jadinya Rp.238.200. Ngga sampe 1/4 Juta! Artinya km masih punya 3/4 Juta buat pke kartu2 Epic lainnya buat dek mu, kek Mirror Force, Solemn Judgement, Solemn Warning, Bottomless Trap hole dan lainnya yang km rasa perlu. :p

See, dek hebat ngga musti mahal kan. Tunggu apa lagi mas bro mba yu.
Happy Duels.

- Herry yuukisama -

MachinaGetKaget, Dek Maksimal dengan Budget Minimal.

Kamu cuma punya uang 1 juta, tapi pengen punya dek kuat? maka Dek Machina lah jawabnya. The Machina Gadget atau aku menyebutnya MachinaGetKaget, adalah dek yang mampu bersaing pada dek budget selevelnya. Kenapa, karna  material deknya bisa didapatkan dengan mudah di Machina Mayhem Structure Deck. Type dek ini tergolong dek control, dengan swarm para gadget dan hand advantage, serta sejumlah kartu removal, seperti Dimensional Prison, atau Shrink. Cara kerja nya bisa kamu liat di gambar berikut:

Kebanyakan kartu monster nya aktif, ketika mereka di normal summon. Contohnya, Scrap Recycler, ketika dia di normal summon, dia bisa buang kartu mesin-earth dari dek ke grave, dan kandidat yang cocok untuk ini adalah Machina Fortress. Kenapa? Karena Machina Fortress bisa di SS dari tangan atau grave dengan membuang kartu mesin dengan total level sama atau lebih dari 8. Dan kandidat yang cocok untuk ngebangkitin dia dari kubur adalah Machina Force, monster mesin level 10, ketika dia ada di tanganmu. Tapi ngga usah khawatir, Machina Force dan Machina Fortress bisa di panggil ke tangan dengan mudah ketika kmu normal summon Machina Gearframe. Selain itu kamu juga bisa mengekuipkan Machina Gearframe ke monster mesinmu sebagai nyawa ke-dua. Yap, kalo monster itu mau hancur, maka Machina Gearframe lah sebagai penggantinya. Machina Force pada dek ini hanya digunakan sebagai tumbal SS si Machina Fortress, karna pada kenyataannya untuk mensummon Machina Force butuh beberapa combo lainnya yang cukup sulit untuk dilakukan. Machina Fortress mempunyai 3 kemampuan yang ngga bisa dipandang remeh. 

1st. Kemampuan SS nya. mantab.

2nd. Ketika dia ditunjuk oleh efek monster, dia bisa ngebuang kartu lawan, bukan random. Ya, kmu bisa lihat kartu lawan dan ngebuangnya. XD

3th. Ketika dia hancur karna battle, dia bisa menembakkan proton cannon dari grave untuk ngehancurin 1 kartu lawan di arena. Yap, effectnya target dan targetnya bebas ntah itu monster, spell atau trap. 

Gadgetnya sendiri digunakan untuk hand advantage dan atau bisa juga sebagai tumbal SS Machina Fortress. Green Gadget bisa manggilRed Gadget, Red Gadget manggil Yellow Gadget, Yellow Gadget manggil Green Gadget, dan klo ada 2 gadget di grave, kamu bisa pke effect #2 nya si Scrap Recycler buat ngebalikin 2 monnster lv.4 mesin-earth (yap, gadget atau Machina Gearframe) buat extra draw 1 kartu. Kemampuan untuk melakukan draw diluar Draw Phase belakangan ini menentukan hasil jalannya duel loh. Dan support yang terakhir adalah Solidarity. Kartu kontinus spell yang bisa menambah 800Atk kesemua monstermu yang ada di arena, kalo original tipe nya sama dengan original tipe yang ada di grave mu. Hasta La Vista baby~ XD. Dengan kartu itu, gadget dengan Atk terendah, Yellow Gadget mu menjadi 1200+800=2000Atk. Cukup buat ngalahin 1900Atker. Bagaimana dengan Machina Fortress? Yap 2500+800=3300Atk. No Blue-Eyes White Dragon :D Selain itu juga ada Cyber Dragon buat SS dr tangan klo kmu lagi ngga punya monster di arena. tapi berhubung dekmu mesin semua, sebaiknya jangan sandingkan cyber dragon mu sama monster mesin mu, soalnya lawanmu bisa melakukan kontact fusion pke cyber dragon+semua mesin mu. Klo udah gini kmu kehilangan banyak field advantage T_T

Jadi, mari kita hitung berapa sih budget yang diperlukan. Berikut list nya:

Monster - 18

3 Machina Gearframe @20

3 Machina Fortress @30

1 Machina Force (atau 2, suka-suka kmu aja)

2 Green Gadget

2 Red Gadget

2 Yellow Gadget

2 Cyber Dragon

2 Scrap Recycler

=sub total 50/0

Spell - 13

3 Solidarity @10 (dari SD Lost Sanctuary)

1 Monster Reborn @50

1 Giant Trunade @10

1 Dark Hole @50

1 Book of Moon @40

2 MST @10

3 Smashing Ground @10 (dari SD Lost Sanctuary)

=sub total 210/200

Trap - 9

2 Bottomless Trap Hole @40

2 Dimensional Prison

1 Compulsory Evacuation Device

1 Mirror Force @30 (dari SD Dawn of the Xyz)

1 Solemn Judgement @50

1 Torrential Tribute @40 (dari SD Lost Sanctuary)

1 Trap Stun @50 (atau, 7 tools of the bandit @10 dari SD Lost Sanctuary) 

=sub total 250/210 (trap stun7tools)

Xtra Deck - 1

1 Chimeratech Fortress Dragon 80

=sub total 80/80

biaya keseluruhan nya adalah

2 sd Machina Mayhem @ 250 (harga sekarang, dulu sih saya belinya @140 Hahaha)

Monster- 50/0

Spell- 210/200

Trap- 250/210 (trap stun/7tools)

Xtra- 80/80

Totalnya 1090/1050 (trap stun/7tools), klo pke 3 Sd jadinya 1280/1240 (trap stun/7tools)

Jadi sebaiknya cukup beli 2 SD saja, dan sisanya bisa beli satuan, dan dek mu sudah siap untuk dimainkan XD

Happy Duels

The secret to dueling: Hidden Advantage

Thanks to Cloudstrife 189. Source of this article came from http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=767706

Disclaimer

*This concept is very hard to explain fully. A lot of people use this concept all the time but I don’t think it has been properly named so I’m going to name it. I’m going to try my best to explain it as I see it. All comments and suggestions to better fix my understanding of this concept would be much appreciated.

Welcome to my next article, The secret to dueling: Hidden Advantage.
Sorry that it took so long for my next article but I hope it doesn’t disappoint. 
I was going to post this article prior to SJC Austin to inform players on what to expect. However, I’m very happy that I didn’t. After going X-2 at yet another SJC, and not topping once again *sigh*, I feel that I have even more insight to share with you. I truly feel that the secret to this current format lies in this concept of hidden advantage and knowing what card(s) can produce it. First, let me share with you hidden advantage as I see it. Hidden advantage can be looked at in two ways: the concept itself and the cards that help generate the concept.

Hidden advantage is the concept of cards (either itself or other cards) gaining advantage off the fact that either itself or other cards have gone back to the deck/grave/rfg. 

A few examples of popular monster cards creating this advantage are as follows:

Mezuki
Dimensional Alchemist
Necro Gardna
Vayu
Mystic tomato
D.D. Survivor/scout plane 
Gladiator Beast Equestte 
Almost all boss monsters (Judgement Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Gyzarus, etc)
Etc…

The reason I call these cards hidden advantage is because of the fact that they don’t always create advantage, thus, they aren’t a “plus 1.” These cards only have the potential to create advantage. Cards like Mezuki and Vayu aren’t very good on their own, but if their equivalent counterparts exist in the grave as well, then they will indeed continue to create advantage even after they are destroyed. You can’t count on all these cards to always create advantage, but if you manage to get your initial combo(s) initiated, they will add more power to your arsenal. Cards like Mezuki/Vayu can at least attack for some damage and block a few attacks as well. However, their real potential shines once you have them in the grave. Just like necro gardna, being able to choose when to activate their effects is critical in maximizing their potential. 

All boss cards, but more specifically, monsters, tend to create an insane amount of advantage, but once again, only if your combo hasn’t been disrupted. Cards like DAD will create advantage assuming that you can summon it. If your opponent disrupted you earlier with Macro Cosmos/Royal Oppression/Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror/Etc, DAD will be the last card you want to draw.

Hidden advantage for spells/traps is any card that has the potential to create more advantage then just the average 1-for-1 trade off. However, I feel that we need to also go a little more specific on this definition. These cards usually create more advantage based upon how successful your strategy has been going so far this duel.

Example of some popular spell/traps that create hidden advantage:

Beckoning Light
Charge of the Light Brigade
Burial from the Different Dimension
Etc

Once again, if your combo has been executed properly this duel, these cards will add even more advantage to your team. Cards like beckoning light/burial from the different dimension are extremely weak at the beginning of the duel, but become border line broken towards the end. Charge of the Light Brigade creates its hidden advantage by setting your graveyard up for future use while also granting you a free lightsworn monster in the process. 

Now, these cards are called HIDDEN advantage because the amount of advantage generated by these cards tend to come as a shock. Cards like Mirror Force and Torrential Tribute use to be “hidden advantage” a few years ago when they use to catch people off guard. However, because they are so heavily played in almost EVERY deck these days, I don’t think there is much “hidden” about them. They just create PURE advantage. Same can be said about Pot of Greed. I just want to emphasize my point an additional time, Hidden advantage cards are “Hidden” because they MAY or MAY NOT create advantage. I find all hidden advantage cards to be combo specific. 

Now, let me start connecting some pieces together. I’m going to list a few examples of how hidden advantage may be generated. When I duel against a player and I just destroy and send their third dark monster to the graveyard, I don’t usually think twice about it because it was something that eventually had to be done. However, when they proceed to drop a Dark Armed Dragon on me, they start gaining much more advantage from that third dark monster then I initially planned. HOWEVER, if they don’t have Dark Armed Dragon, then I’m in a very safe place to be. Another example that happens a lot comes from dueling against Lightsworn duelists. If they mill 2 Judgement Dragons, and three honest, that can either be VERY good or VERY bad depending on if they have their hidden advantage card Beckoning Light. Without beckoning light, I’m in a very safe spot knowing that I can attack with immunity from honest and without the fear of them dropping a JD in retaliation. However, if they do have Beckoning Light, then I just lost because they now have access to the strongest cards in their deck. My last example deals with Gladiator beasts. Sometimes it is very good to know that their Bestari is in the grave and only accessible to them by two other cards (equestte and darius). I know that they won’t be searching for it via Proving Ground or tagging out to destroy a spell/trap anymore. However, if they do manage to get access to one of those two monsters, then their bestari is going to be right where they want it followed by Gyzarus. 

Obviously this list goes on and on because a lot of people are exploiting this concept this format. Now, if we look at SJC Austin specifically, almost every deck was focusing on this concept and these cards in one way of another. Some decks I dueled against tried using the Lightsworn concept of milling an insane amount of cards to load their grave with Mezuki/Vayus/etc. If they were successful, then they got more advantage than normal. They had the normal advantage that the lightsworn monsters posses but also received the advantage of the “Mezuki” they just sent to the grave. The problem with this concept comes from what I expressed in my last article: The secret to dueling: Coming up to tier. By playing too many “hidden advantage” cards, their decks tend to be too inconsistent. Their hands get clogged with cards like Mezuki,Beckoning Light,necro gardna,JD and burial from the DD. All of them can be game breaking at the right time, but obviously there isn’t enough “circulation” to get the combo rolling in the first place. However, once they got their combos going, I was quickly overwhelmed by them, their full field, and the myriad of cards still left in their hands.

To start wrapping things up, hidden advantage can be a hard concept to understand. The cards that generate this concept can be good because they can serve multiple purposes even after they’re destroyed. They can be very bad because they take time to set up and can slow down your initial strategy before you can initially get it flowing. How many hidden advantage cards you play should be based on how often you’re use to getting your combos off. If you play with a LS deck and never have problems milling effectively, then you could afford to play some more monsters that trigger while in the grave like vayu/mezuki. However, if you’re playing in a Meta where people constantly main deck “Dimensional Fissure” and such, then these cards may be very poor choice to play. This concept is best countered by disrupting the flow of their deck. If their hidden advantage card(s) can no longer create that extra advantage, then they become just a minimal threat. If my opponent can’t keep any zombies in his graveyard to combo with Mezuki, then I won’t mind destroying Mezuki without hesitation. However, if my opponent has 20 other zombie monsters in the graveyard, then I start second guessing myself before graving the Mezuki. 

In conclusion, it is your choice on whether to make your deck more focused on this concept or not. There are definitely pros and cons that should be considered that I expressed prior. A lot of expert players are exploiting this concept and it seems to be working in their favor. However, if you’re having consistency problems already, then this concept will only slow your deck down further. As always, any comments and tips are greatly appreciated and I’ll end again with a famous quote.

"Test,fail,adjust..."

The secret to dueling: Coming up to Tier

Thanks to Cloudstrife 189. Source of this article came from http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=760721

Let’s start this article off by defining tier:

a series of rows or ranks rising one behind or above another

Now, in YGO, lots of duelists have started classifying decks as Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. A good example of Tier 1 would be all the most competitive mainstream decks like Blackwings, Lightsworn, and Gladiator Beast. A good example of Tier 2 decks would be something like Plants or X-sabers. A tier 3 deck is something along the lines of Morphtronics or Skull Servants. 

I’m one of the few duelists in my community known for creating very successful original decks. Lots of people have asked me for advice on what to do when attempting to make their own “original” decks more competitive or where even to start. I’m going to reveal a few of these “secrets” today in hopes of encouraging a lot more people to break from the norm and try something fun and unique, and of course, competitive, at their next competition.

*These tips are for people who seem to need a little extra help getting started. Obviously, you can and should adjust these suggestions as you feel fit.

Skeleton Structure:

First, figure out what primary deck style you want to be playing. A lot of people come up to me and say that they want to build a “Dragon” deck and I always ask “What kind?” Few people seem to understand that you can have an unlimited amount of different strategies embedded into that one concept. Here’s a rough breakdown of the type of skeletons you should start with based on your personal preference. (These skeletons were also mentioned in my previous article, the secret to dueling: Deck Cycle Theory.)

Control (do you like to control the pace of the game? Play control based monsters and a good amount of spells and traps to protect/support them.):

Monsters: 18
Spells: 12
Traps: 10

Aggro/Beatdown (do you like to attack often and bring out big attackers? Play a few spells/traps to make sure your attacks are successful but don’t focus much on protecting your monsters. Their high ATK power should do just fine):

Monsters: 23
Spells: 12
Traps: 5

Speed/Swarm (do you like to invest everything in one supersonic flash furry of cards and overwhelm your opponent? Play lots of special summon monsters and lots of spells because you can play them instantly. Traps will only slow you down because they take a turn before you can even activate them):

Monsters: 16
Spells: 20
Traps: 4

Stall/Burn (do you like to take things slow and patiently wait for your strategy to slowly piece together? Hide behind stall cards like “Gravity Bind” and “Messenger of Peace” and make sure they have protection so they’re not easily destroyed. Monsters aren’t as important because your spell/trap cards should suffice at stalling):

Monsters: 10
Spells: 15
Traps: 15


As you probably noticed, all decks seem to run approx. 40 cards. I have found this to be critical because consistency in YGO is everything. Any deck can pull off a victory occasionally; however, you should focus on being able to pull it off on a regular basis. By having a 50+ card deck, your combos would change duel after duel, and it might be hard for you to set up and count on a particular one. Once you have chosen a basic skeleton, regardless of your theme/concept, you will be ready to begin the next step, synching.

Sync it up!

Now, I’m not talking about synchros, but the same concept is used. You must make sure that all your monsters, spells, and traps all flow together and work together perfectly. Ex. If you’re playing a “Spell Canceller” control deck, it doesn’t make sense for you to play a lot of spells. It’s very critical that most of your cards have high synergy between a good majority of other cards in your deck. It’s inconsistent to have only two BEWD, one Lord of D, and one Flute of Summoning Dragon in a regular deck. However, maybe if you played a lot more dragons, then the Lord of D would be more justified because it would serve an additional purpose of protecting your creatures as opposed to just that one combo. It’s really crucial to find high synergy cards because they will increase the flow of your deck drastically. In my dark deck for example, I love the synergy that Scapegoat gives me by being able to combo with a lot of cards like my 3 Cyber Valleys, Destiny Hero Plasma, all my Tuners as well as just being a good attack blocker. Every time I draw that card, it is a live card and that’s how I can tell that Scapegoat has very high synergy in my deck. The more synergy cards like these you can find, the more successful your overall deck will be. However, you do need a few things to reward your hard work, and yes, I’m talking about a “Boss.”

Give it a Boss

Now, I find a Boss card to not just be a monster card, even though that is how it’s usually referred to. I find a Boss to be any card that will give you an insane, massive amount of advantage, when your strategy is working to help push for that game winning play. The Boss card may change from deck to deck. In a Lightsworn deck for example, their Boss Cards might be Judgement Dragon and Beckoning light. They are both ridiculous powerful on their own, but only if you have managed to do your central strategy and mill a lot of cards. In my current deck, I play 3 Bosses. I play Return from the Different Dimension, The Dark Creator, and Dark Armed Dragon. For my deck, drawing any of those Boss cards at the beginning of the game usually only creates a temporary dead card in my hand. I much prefer to draw “The Dark Creator” or “Dark Armed Dragon” after I have had a few turns to set up my combos. “Return from the Different Dimension” is only helpful after I have managed to remove from play a good majority of my creatures. However, after I have managed to do so, any of those above cards usually set up a game breaking play for me. It is very important to remember, however, that the more Boss cards you play, the less synergy your deck may have. You still need to make sure that you include a lot of cards to potentially turn the Boss cards “online.” 

Now, let’s look at one deck that became semi successful by following a similar concept. I only choose to speak about the following duelist because I have firsthand knowledge of this account. Derek Rouse took a Dark Red Enchanter deck to SJC Columbus in 2008. He first decided that he should play a control oriented deck because of other duelist’s extreme need of hand advantage during the current format. He then decided that he should focus on the Theme of using cards to control his opponent’s hands and opted to play cards like Don Zaloog and Thestalos. To help bring out Don Zaloog and tribute fodder for Thestalos, he used cards like 3 Mystic Tomatos. Because he ran tomatos he could afford to run cards like Creature Swap and Newodria to control his opponent’s field. So his Don Zaloog could score more battle damage, he played 3 copies of Shrink. He also chose to play more high synergy cards like Soul Exchange. Now, if this was his only strategy, he would have done “okay” but not nearly as successful as he did. He chose to play 3 boss monsters that would maximize his deck’s overall synergy. By playing 3 Dark Red Enchanters, he could capitalize on his deck’s overall concept of hand control. If he could manage to bring out an early Dark Red Enchanter or 2, every time he played one of his other cards like creature swap/soul exchange (which was already creating advantage), he would gain even MORE advantage with the discarding ability of Dark Red Enchanter. All his plus 1’s would quickly become plus 2’s and 3’s and would quickly become too much for his opponent to handle. This was a prime example of an original deck almost coming up to tier 1.

Conclusion

So, you’re trying to make a new deck to be as competitive as possible. First, give your deck life by giving it a “brain”. Figure out what you want your deck to include whether it’s the theme of “Dragons” or the strategy of “Hand Destruction.” Give the deck some structure by starting with a “skeleton.” If you’re starting with a new/original deck then possibly start with the above “skeletons” I’ve established based on your appropriate playstyle (Aggro, Control, Beatdown, and Swarm). If you’re trying to play a different variant of a current Tier 1 deck, then maybe check on the forums to see if there is a better skeleton available. After you have the “brain” and “skeleton” of your deck, you need to give it “blood” by creating synergy and making sure all the cards all work together. Finally, you need to give your deck a “heart” in the form of a boss card. Remember that it may sound like a good idea to have multiple “hearts”, but if your “blood” ever starts to get clogged, then your hearts won’t work properly, so make sure you have enough white blood cells to keep everything in proper circulation. The final thing you need to do is give your deck a jump start to make it come alive. Where you plug in the jumper cables? I’ll leave that up to you…

The secret to dueling: A fight against time

Thanks to Cloudstrife 189. Source of this article came from http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=755450

Last year, my friend developed a really effective deck. It was a Final Countdown Deck that utilized on stall until the 20 turns were up. During the play testing, he constantly defeated us, time after time again. He then decides to take this deck to his first ever regional and proceeds to lose round after round until he eventually drops. The reason why? Time!

A lot of duelists who play, tend to only play casually, and never have to realize the importance of the time limit. This is mostly because those matches are played until a victor is declared. However, after going to a major completion, many duelists quickly learn the importance of the clock. Many, many duels are lost because duelists did not defeat their opponent fast enough and were forced into the end of match procedure. This article is going to address what to do to prevent that, and what to do when time is running out.

First, I’m going to begin this article with a little bit of uncertainty. I'm going to state my mere opinon that I think winning due to time isn't a win condition to strive for. In professional football/basketball, it is a skillful tactic to use the clock to your advantage. It is very wise to change your playstyle and start stalling things out before time is called. In fact, that is a strategy that needs to be exploited effectively to win in those types of sports. However, the major difference between those sports and YGO is that for those sports, your win condition is based upon time being called, in YGO, it is not. In basketball/football, players will keep playing until the buzzer finally goes off. In YGO, it is very likely that you will complete your match way before then. I believe that YGO only has a time limit in tournaments to keep the matches flowing at a decent pace, so you can complete all your matches on one given day. The problem comes up when players try to exploit the time limit like people do in basketball/football and purposely try winning during the end of match procedure. I find this approach to be unethical and downright cheating. If players continue to play cards, and keep the game moving, that is one thing, but if players start to spend 2-3minutes thinking about each move, constantly checking and rechecking the graveyards, etc, then this is where I must draw the line.

Now, there are a few things I must first clarify. In the above story about my friend playing a Final Countdown Deck, I still can’t say whether he was cheated or if he lost on his own accord. On one hand, his deck does take at least 20 turns to win each duel, which means it’s going to be a long duel. However, on the other hand, most of his moves consisted of “draw, pass” and I can’t imagine his opponent’s having too much to think about when they’re locked down by Skill Drain, Clock Tower Prison, and 3 Solemn Judgments. All I know is that he lost every duel due to time because his life points would always be lower than his opponents thanks to the steep costs of Final Countdown and Solemn Judgment. 

To help being a victim of slow play yourself, make sure that you are playing at a good pace yourself. If your opponent seems to be thinking a lot in between plays, you have to ask him to make a choice. Try to be as polite as possible, but let him know that you have no intention on having this game go into time. If he continues to stall, you must inform a judge. That may piss your opponent off, but that will ensure that you won’t be cheated by time this duel. If enough people complain about the same person enough times, then they WILL fix the problem. I understand that some players do need to think about their plays to make sure that they don’t misplay, however, I like what a judge told us at my last regionals during the player meeting:

“This is a major tournament. I understand sometimes you might want to check a “Lightsworn” player’s graveyard 8-9 times a turn because it’s constantly changing. However, because this is a major tournament, you are expected to make your plays in a timely manner. This isn’t “practice.” This is the real deal…You must try to make all your plays in a quick manner and keep the game constantly flowing. Slow play WILL NOT be tolerated…”

Now, I must admit, this is kind of harsh for the new players. However, the judge did make a very good point. If this was another practice duel, then they would have “x” amount of time to read all the cards and think about what the best play is. However, this is not a practice duel. This is a tournament. The same thing can be said about taking tests. During the homework, you can spend however long you want doing it until you get the correct answer, but during the test, you have a time limit. The same thing applies in YGO. If you would have done your “homework” enough times, you wouldn’t need to spend as long making any particular play. Just because you failed to allot enough time to doing your “homework” during your off time, doesn’t mean that you get to take all day during the tournament, “test” ,until you eventually get to the correct answer. 

It may get to the point during the duel, where both players are indeed keeping the game flowing but time is still about to run out. If this is happening, then I recommend that you change your strategy. Just like during a test, if you only have one minute left, then try to go for the big point questions while you still can. Once again, the same thing applies in YGO. Once time is called and the End of Match Procedure is applied, the victor will be decided by lifepoints so it is very wise to keep yours much higher than your opponent’s. Now, without slow playing and cheating yourself, you must do a 360 degree turn-around with your playstyle. All those “Solemn Judgments” and such become offline. If the duel is going to be over with any minute now, you can’t afford such a steep cost unless you can make up for it in a turn or two. You must try really hard to do one of two things: defend or over extend. If your life points are higher than your opponent’s, then you must try to protect them at all cost. If your life points are less than your opponent’s, you must try to drop theirs down as much as you can. There’s no use in trying to save cards for later at this point. The duel is about to be forced to end, so you must have the “now or never” attitude. 

Conclusion:
This article is not meant to scare you. Before going to a competition, ask yourself if your deck can complete a match in under the 40minute time restraint. Don't try to start playing too fast and make a lot of misplays. You are alloted a fair amount of time to think between plays. All this article is meant to do is to encourage you to get good at what you do, dueling. The more you duel, the faster you get. The faster you get, the less of a problem the time limit will be for you. If your opponent appears to be “thinking” a lot, ask him once to speed it up. Tell your opponent that you understand that it’s a hard choice, but he must keep the game flowing because we’re playing under a time restraint. If he continues to slow play, you have to get a judge involved. This is my only recommendation to avoid being cheated by slow play. Winning because of time is not a win condition that should be exploited in YGO. When the clock is getting dangerously close to sounding, change your playstyle to 100% aggro or 100% defensive, accordingly. Abandon all thoughts of “card advantage” and “plus ones, minus ones.” All that matters after time is called, is who has the most life points. 

I’ll end with a famous quote from Andrew Jackson,

"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”

The secret to dueling: Absolute Value

Thanks to Cloudstrife 189. Source of this article came from http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=775058

Absolute Value: The distance away from zero

This article is going to go into the very unique details of card advantage and all those plus 1’s, minus 1’s people seem to talk about. Welcome to the secret to dueling: Absolute Value.

The basics of YGO may have changed through the formats especially with the inclusion of synchros. However, all cards seem to have one thing in common, they can generate plus 1’s or minus 1’s. 
This may initially seem very hard to understand, but once you do, it’s priceless. 

The basic formula goes like this:

Each turn we have the potential to generate plus 1’s by drawing a card, adding cards to our hand, adding cards to our field or by sending cards from your opponents field or hand to the grave/deck/RFG.

Each turn we have the potential to generate minus 1’s by paying a “discard” cost, tributing for a monster, having our own cards destroyed or by playing a card that immediately goes to the graveyard.

Here’s a few examples:

I play Fissure. That is a minus 1 because it instantly goes to the graveyard. Fissure’s effect destroys a card on my opponent’s side of the field so that generated a plus 1. In the end, it becomes a 1 for 1.

I play Pot of Greed. It is instantly a minus 1. I draw 2 cards, thus adding to my hand presence so that becomes a plus 2. If you add your -1 and your +2, you get a +1. 

I play Phoneix Wing Wind Blast. It’s a minus 2 (one for the card itself and one for the card you have to discard). It removes one card your opponent controls back to the top of their deck which is a plus 1. In the end, it is a 2 for 1 or a minus 1.

You tribute a monster for monster for Caius the Shadow Monarch. That is a minus 1. You remove from play your opponent’s monster. That’s a plus 1. Once again, that resulted in a 1 for 1. 

Now, you should understand the basic principle behind it. However, let’s start making it a little more complex:

I summon Caius the Shadow Monarch (-1) and target to remove my opponent’s f/d bottomless traphole (potential +1). My opponent responds with his bottomless traphole (-1) to destroy and remove my Caius (+1). My Caius no longer removed a card from my opponent so he generated no advantage and I'm still at a (-1).

However, let’s look at this:

In the same situation, I use Caius to remove from play my opponent’s monster and he still responds with bottomless traphole. My Caius (-1) got rid of 1 of my opponent’s cards (the monster) so my Caius instantlly became a 1 for 1 this situation. My opponent also used his bottomless traphole, another 1-1, meaning that we both broke even. (This is why a lot of players tend to use Caius/Raiza’s effect to always remove creatures before spell and traps).

Obviously, there are a lot more situations that arise on a duel to duel basis. However, this basic formula remains the same. A lot of the boss cards, however, tend to generate the most broken advantage of “X”, where X can be any amount. Cards like Judgement Dragon can destroy anywhere between 0 and 11 of your opponent’s cards at any given point and can continue to do so every turn. Same can be said about Dark Armed Dragon. Some cards like Grand Master of the Six Samurai can continue to return to your hand over and over again creating a plus 1 for each additional time he does. 

*I know there are a lot more examples but this article was just aiming to give people a basic understanding of the principle.

Obviously, players tend to focus on creating as much advantage as possible. However, not all advantage is good advantage. You may have 6 cards in your hand and 5 cards on the field but still have no way to deal with "Judgement Dragon" meaning that all that advantage you have is useless. Advantage is only good at raising the odds you have to counter your opponent and win the duel. If you’re playing a Vennominga deck, it may be wise to waste all your resources early to bring our Vennominga because no matter how much advantage your opponent has, they most likely still can’t destroy her meaning that she’s eventually going to generate all that advantage back. In addittion, because your ultimate goal is to win the duel, eventually try to turn all your advantage into a game winning play.

In conclusion, I call this article “Absolute Value” because you should be trying to generate as much advantage as possible in YGO. The more advantage you have (the further you’re away from 0), the more hope you have at winning the duel. However, don’t forget that there is Hidden Advantage that I spoke about in one of my previous articles that throw some things out of whack and make calculating the exact advantage generated very difficult. I wish you guys best of luck and will end with this,

"In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.”