Very Basic Deck Building FAQ

Since it's Obvious we're going to get some Newbies to the card game post here, I might as well post this.


Fact No.1: 40 Cards Are Best.

Many newbies are seen using decks of the Maximum 60 cards, this is because many think that having 60 cards is superior to a 40 card deck, becuase you can have 20 more cards, thus having more combos and the like. But let's look at it from this point of view. Without a searcher, in a 40 card deck, just after you've drawn your opening hand of five cards, you have a 1/35 chance of drawing any given card from your deck. In a 60 card deck, that would be 1/55. As you draw cards, the chances of drawing other cards obviously increases, but for best results, Use a 40 card deck. It might sound strange, but I should say that almost ALL competitive decks run 40 cards, at most they have 45 in odd cases such as gadgets and so on. I don't want to see any 60 card decks that are not 60-Card Highlander decks. Or I will In real life.

Fact No.2: Pick a Theme and stick to it.

Newbies to deckbuilding may shove random cards into a deck sharing the same type and or attribute, just for Filler space. The fact is, you shouldn't do this. EVER. Ok, now let's picture this card in your hand.

You placed this card in as filler for your Insect deck. So, all you've got now is a wasted draw. You could've drawn into a card that would change the current situation, but no. You drawn into your filler. Starting to realise your mistake now, arn't you? In other words, If a card doesn't work well with a Archtype/Deck type and or type, don't put it in your deck if you want it to be consistent.

Fact No.3: Staples.

No, I'm not talking about the little metal things that hold up pictures and the like. I'm talking about Staple Cards. A staple is a extremely Useable card that will make most any deck better.

For Instance:



This card is definately a staple. Infact, it's one of the most famous cards ever made. However, don't believe that all "Staples" are staples. For example, Many newbies call Duality a Staple. Because it shuts down your Special Summoning options, that is crucial to victory in several decks, it would just backfire. Thus, not a staple. Many Staples are given a list restriction, due to their splashability, however not every staple is on the list. Dimensional Prison is at 3 on the list, and yet it is sometimes regarded to as a staple and a backup for Mirror force if you've used it.

Fact No.4: The Banlist

A.K.A: The List.

The Banlist is updated every 6 months, once in March and once in September. There are 3 List Positions:

FORBIDDEN - You cannot use this card in an Advanced Format Deck.
LIMITED - You can only use 1 copy of this card in an Advanced Format Deck.
SEMI-LIMITED - You can only use 2 or less copies of this card in a Advanced Format Deck.

Right now, The following Cards are Forbidden:

* Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning 「カオス・ソルジャー　－開闢の使者－」
* Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End 「混沌帝龍　－終焉の使者－」
* Cyber-Stein 「デビルフランケン」
* Cyber Jar 「サイバーポッド」
* Dark Magician of Chaos 「混沌の黒魔術師」
* Dark Strike Fighter 「ダーク・ダイブ・ボンバー」
* Destiny Hero - Disk Commander 「Ｄ－ＨＥＲＯ(デステニーヒーロー)　ディスクガイ」
* Fiber Jar 「ファイバーポッド」
* Goyo Guardian 「ゴヨウ・ガーディアン」 (From Limited)
* Magical Scientist 「魔導サイエンティスト」
* Magician of Faith 「聖なる魔術師(セイント・マジシャン)」
* Makyura the Destructor 「処刑人－マキュラ」
* Rescue Cat 「レスキューキャット」
* Sinister Serpent 「キラー・スネーク」
* Substitoad 「イレカエル」
* Thousand-Eyes Restrict 「サウザンド・アイズ・サクリファイス」
* Tribe-Infecting Virus 「同族感染ウィルス」
* Tsukuyomi 「月読命(つくよみ)」
* Victory Dragon 「ヴィクトリー・ドラゴン」
* Witch of the Black Forest 「黒き森のウィッチ」
* Yata-Garasu 「八汰烏(やたがらす)」
* Brain Control 「洗脳－ブレインコントロール」
* Butterfly Dagger - Elma 「蝶の短剣－エルマ」
* Card of Safe Return 「生還の宝札」
* Change of Heart 「心(こころ)変(か)わり」
* Cold Wave 「大(だい)寒(かん)波(ぱ)」 (From Limited)
* Confiscation 「押収」
* Delinquent Duo 「いたずら好きな双子悪魔」
* Dimension Fusion 「次元融合」
* Graceful Charity 「天使の施し」
* Harpie's Feather Duster 「ハーピィの羽根帚」
* Heavy Storm 「大(おお)嵐(あらし)」
* Last Will 「遺言状」
* Mass Driver 「マスドライバー」 (From Unlimited)
* Metamorphosis 「突然変異」
* Mirage of Nightmare 「悪夢の蜃気楼」
* Painful Choice 「苦渋の選択」
* Pot of Greed 「強欲な壺」
* Premature Burial「早(はや)すぎた埋葬(まいそう)」
* Raigeki 「サンダー・ボルト」
* Snatch Steal 「強奪」
* Temple of the Kings 「王家の神殿」
* The Forceful Sentry 「強引な番兵」
* Crush Card Virus 「死(し)のデッキ破壊(はかい)ウイルス」
* Exchange of the Spirit 「現世と冥界の逆転」
* Imperial Order 「王宮の勅命」
* Last Turn 「ラストバトル！」
* Ring of Destruction 「破壊輪」
* Sixth Sense 「第六感」
* Time Seal 「刻の封印」

You CANNOT use any of those cards in your advanced format deck. I'd suggest to a mod that we have a Traditional Format section. Traditional Format is where all FORBIDDEN cards are treated as LIMITED.

I feel like a Backseat mod for saying this, but if you post a deck containing 3 Chaos Emperor Dragons, it'll be locked and or Heavily Criticised for you not following a simple to follow banlist.

Fact No.5: The Extra Deck.

The extra deck is a 15-card deck that is at the left side of the dueling playmat, here is where you put Your Synchro, Exceed and Fusion Monsters.

To Synchro Summon, you must have a Tuner and a Non-Tuner monster that adds up to the LEVEL of the Synchro Monster you wish to Play. Some cards have restrictions, some even require 2 tuners. Declare you are preforming a Synchro Summon, this is treated as a Special Summon, and thus can be negated by effects like Thunder King Rai-Oh and Royal Oppresion. Should your opponent not activate a card in response to negate your synchro summon, Place the Newly Synchro Summoned Monster on the field in Either Face-Up ATK or DEF Position.

To Exceed Summon, you must have Levels of Monster that are equal to each other, for example. NO.39 ASPIRING EMPEROR HOPE requires 2 Level 4 Monsters, as with Synchroing, declare that you Are Exceed Summoning, Instead of sending the Materials to the Discard Pile/Graveyard, Place them below the Exceed Monster. These are called "Overlay Units" and are used for several effects.

Your choice of Extra Deck is extremely important in some cases, for Instance, I can't bear to see a Fabled Deck not Running Brionac. Others, Not so much. Your extra deck should be mostly Synchro Monsters, unless running a specific deck that uses Fusions or Exceeds. The Limit to the Fusion Deck, as it was once called was 30. With The Release of The Duelist Genesis, that introduced Synchros to the game, the limit became 15.

There are probably somethings I missed, feel free to add to this.


- XX-Saber

Very very good. It covers everything needed to decrese the number of bad decks xD

Nice!
Ill add some stuff to it later if I see something wrong.