Basics of Deck Building(YGO)

[MasterSimon]

No matter if you are new or an experts it is always good to keep in touch with the basics

Basics of Deck Building:

0) Know Your Rules!: You sould make sure you know how to play and that your combos can work. If you need help there are many websites with the card rules, or you can ask a judge(like me ^_^)

1) Pot of Greed: hmmm two cards for the price of one! sounds like a good deal. Pot of Greed is just about the ONLY card that can go in just about EVERY deck.

2) Theme: There are many themes out there. Pick one and run with it or try and push the envelope on deck archetype. (Theme Ex: Aggro, Chaos, Control, Burn, Fiend, Warrior, Wind, ect...)

3) Support Your Theme: Try and use cards that will give your theme the advantages. Try and make up for the weeknesses of the theme and use cards to amplify its strength.

4) Combo: Obviously some cards work well together and can have a great outcome for you. Try using strong combos to support your theme.

5) Consistency:
-Avoid using cards that will disrupt your theme, or cards that do not work well together.
-Avoid using cards that are too situational.
-Avoid using single copies of unrestricted cards*
(*NOTE: This does not aplly if there are already cards that have a similar effect in the deck and cards that will support a minor theme or combo in you deck.)

6) Deck Size: MOST decks should not contain more than 40 cards

7) Ratio: The following ratio applies for most decks, but not ALL.
15-17 Monsters
16-23 Spells
3-7 Traps

8) Side Deck: The side deck is a very valuable tool. USE IT! It may contain the cards you need to support you deck aginst a less used deck type.

9) Playtest: Once a deck is made you should test it before any serious competition with it.

by: MasterSimon (help from every YGO site i have been to)

Edit: FOR ADVANCED FORMAT!

 

[MegaDitto]

Good guide.But most people perfer Graceful Charity over Pot of Greed and mainly the cards that could help your deck is.
1.Ragkei
2.Change of Heart
3.Dark Hole
4.Pot of Greed
5.Monster Reborn
Those will help your deck with al sopot of greed.Everything else is very good.Espacilly the card ratio.

 

[MasterSimon]

i should have also said this is for the advanced format
not many people i know play Traditional anymore...

 

[MegaDitto]

i should have also said this is for the advanced format
not many people i know play Traditional anymore...

You got a point there.

 

[Dsaerno]

Can anyone post the complete banned list, or post a link to a site with it?


EDIT: The ratio of monsters to spells and traps should be 1:1, 1:1.5, or 1.5:1. That is 20-20, 25-15, 15-25. Anymore or any less could limit your deck's odds of winning.

 

[Pogiforce-14]

You're ratio is off. It should be:

Monsters: 17-19

Magics: 12-14

Traps: 12-14

That is the ratio I've seen used most often in successful decks.

 

[MasterSimon]

How can you run 12-14 traps and have a successful deck?
there isn't even 12 traps i could think of that are good enough to go into one deck =/

REASONS TRAPS ARE BAD!
(1) Slow: The game is about speed and synergy! Having to wait to use a card will only slow you down... =/
(2) Most Are Too Situational: Flexability will allow you to use a card in a tough spot otherwise it is just useless or not as usefull.
(3) Quick-Spell > Trap: nuff said =/

Ng Yu Leung the 2003 World Champion had the ratio
16 : 18 :7
idk what could be more succesful than world champ
(though the deck could have been better)

Dsaerno: you would never need more monsters than you would need spells =/

Forbidden List

 

[Pogiforce-14]

Reasons why that is wrong:

1.) # of quickspells in the game< #of traps in the game
2.) Quickspells are usually weaker than traps and don't ahve the negation power of most trap cards. I.E> Magic jammer, trap jammer, seven tools, cursed seal, ring, bottomless trap hole, mirror force, etc.
3.) Most trap cards are not situational, at least no more than magic cards.
4.) A deck without trap cards in it is as good as dead.
5.)Traps make for a steadier chain, allowing better combos and game flow and therefore give you much more "synergy" than quickplay spells.

you underrate Traps so much it's startling. I must admit that makes me question your level of skill...

 

[MasterSimon]

Mirror Force = Banned
Magic jammer, Trap jammer, 7 tools, Cursed Seal = why would you use those =/
at GenCon SoCal the top 8 decks all had from 0-8 traps
common links?

1 Ring of Destruction
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted

only 3 cards used in all but the deck with no traps
Bottomless Trap Hole, Sakuretsu Armor, Dust Tornado, Waboku, Raigeki Break were those others floting around =/

Monsters went from 9-20
the one with 20 used Nimbles and Giant Rat for Deck thining.

and all of the top 8 decks didn't look so good anyway =/

 

[Pogiforce-14]

You're point being?

They used those traps because they are staples. For one thing, this isn't gencon, and you aren't from there. and for another, Those traps may have been floating around, but they were still used and probably saved their butts much more often than the magics do. The only quick play spells I've seen anyone bother to use seriously were scapegoats and mystical space typhoon. if you play so much magic with only so many quickplay spells in the game, you won't be able to defend yourself properly when the opponent pulls soemthing big.

YOu claim this helps the synergy reducing the traps, but you really aren't thinking. Traps are the deadliest cards in the game, and you best remember that. here is a combo I know of that requires only one magic card to win the game for you:

BLS plus Mage power and three cards face down. Activate ring on BLS, Activate barrel behind the door.

5000 +5000 equals 10000. 10000=dead.

I'm sorry, but you need to show a less biased opinion if you're claiming to show them the basics, because this topic is misleading and won't get anyone very far if taken seriously.

 

[MasterSimon]

How any times have you pulled off barrel behind the door?
on anything? maybe a few =/
Reason? too Situational =/
reason those other traps where used =/

Waboku has been used even before the ban list came, not very situation and chainable! The Perfect Trap!

Bottomless Trap Hole and Sakuretsu Armor work ok in the Advanced Format as long as u just use 1 or two as TeCH becasue of less Removal(lack of 3 MST)

Dust Tornado and Raigeki Break Take Place of MST(a quick-spell) becasue it got limited to one =/

 

[Orochi Breakwing]

You're point being?

They used those traps because they are staples. For one thing, this isn't gencon, and you aren't from there. and for another, Those traps may have been floating around, but they were still used and probably saved their butts much more often than the magics do. The only quick play spells I've seen anyone bother to use seriously were scapegoats and mystical space typhoon. if you play so much magic with only so many quickplay spells in the game, you won't be able to defend yourself properly when the opponent pulls soemthing big.

YOu claim this helps the synergy reducing the traps, but you really aren't thinking. Traps are the deadliest cards in the game, and you best remember that. here is a combo I know of that requires only one magic card to win the game for you:

BLS plus Mage power and three cards face down. Activate ring on BLS, Activate barrel behind the door.

5000 +5000 equals 10000. 10000=dead.

I'm sorry, but you need to show a less biased opinion if you're claiming to show them the basics, because this topic is misleading and won't get anyone very far if taken seriously.

Wow....flame city, huh....

Anyway, methinks you are OVERestimating traps. The only decksI can think of to throw traps in bulk in are control decks. Plain and simple. On the b-sides, magic usually is what gets your beloved traps out of the way, and its the main thing that gets a deck going speedwise. The best cards are always green, because you can activate them without waiting for something to happen.

Traps take out an opponent when they do something. Magic doesent give them the chance to do that something.

 

[Mullet]

I must admit that the GenCon tournys like SoCal are big, but it isn't everything, like three traps are not enough, I run like ten traps, and I beat the best people in my area.

 

[Pogiforce-14]

Raigeki break was used even before Mst wws limited. Again, not thinking. Raigeki break isn't jsut used for magics and traps. Often enough it's used on monsters too. Dust tornado allows you to play down a card as well after it's activation, whichis another additional effect. Both are powers MSt does not have.

and I actually have pulled plenty of mean combos with traps, as a matter of fact. One I found very mean: Hiro's shadow scout plus null and void.

 

[MasterSimon]

i never saw Raigeki Break before the advanced format =/
i sure saw 3 MST though =/
Raigeki Break seems like TTTD to me(btw TTTD isn't a good card =/)

You can only chain "Null and Void" to an effect that draws cards and does nothing else. So it won't work with Hiro's Shadow Scout =/

and 0 traps works fine i have two FTK decks that use 0 traps =/
but then again i have seen an FTK deck with traps but that is becasue Makyura the Destructor makes them like spells =/

 

[Pogiforce-14]

um, yes it would. HIro says your opponent "Draws three cards and shows them to all players. All magic cards are then sent to the graveyard." Or something like that. Since they "Draw" It can be chained to it. meaner than Graceful chairty void, even.

and their are plenty of draw cards out there. Dark mimic levels 1 and 3, pot, jar, charity, reckless greed, airknight, etc.

 

[MasterSimon]

You cannot chain "Null and Void" to "Disturbance Strategy", "Graceful Charity", "Card Destruction", "Morphing Jar", "Mind Wipe", "Dragged Down into the Grave", or "Reload".

=/
learn ur rules oh there is another basic of deck building!

 

[Pogiforce-14]

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You can only chain "Null and Void" to an effect that draws cards and does nothing else. You can chain "Null and Void" to the activation of "Pot of Greed" or "Jar of Greed". You can chain "Null and Void" to the activation of the effect of cards like "Airknight Parshath".

You can chain "Null and Void" to a Continuous Spell or Trap Card that causes drawing, such as "Mirage of Nightmare" or "Heart of the Underdog".

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You can chain "Null and Void" to the effect of "Royal Magical Library".

seems there are a lot more cans than can'ts.

 

[MasterSimon]

yeah but that will only work if they do it =/
so basicly Pot of Greed and Airknight unless you want to force them with Sasuke Samurai #3 or Bistro Butcher

but enough fighting over that =/
obv my deck guide works ^_^
last i got this much negative feedback it was from a guy i easly beat...who had the same opinon as Pogiforce

it is obv just the difference between levels of competition and the area meta seeing as u play on a small lvl and i play on a much larger lvl...

 

[Mullet]

There are good players in Virginia, there are just a few of them.

Where do you like Simon?