Becoming a Better Duelist 2: Running Under the Limit
Back with another edition of Becoming a Better Duelist. We've covered the basics of deck construction, and why it's best to stick as close to 40 cards as possible. (It's something that's true in most any card game--the minimum number of cards maximizes the consistency your deck has.) Now, let's delve a little deeper into the concept *of* consistency, and while we're at it, I'll reveal another truth: Your deck doesn't *need* 40 cards. It's true. Most decks can accomplish their win condition with about 25-30 and the rest become cards to shut their opponent's actions down, or worse, "filler" cards that you probably won't need in your average duel.
And even if it did need forty cards and smashed at tournaments--eventually, the banlist will hit your deck, limiting the most essential parts to your deck so that it's not so overpowering everyone has to run the same deck to be competitive. So then what? Do you give up on the deck? Probably not. Add inferior cards to replace missing ones? That won't offer the help you need.
Instead, the better answer is to simultaneously reduce your potential dead draws, decrease the size of your deck, and raise your deck's consistency by adding draw cards.
This was the first spell card which allowed good draw power in the game: Pot of Greed. A very simple effect that allows you to draw two cards, It *seems* balanced, but the truth is those two cards could very easily turn the tide of a duel in your opponent's favor. So this card was banned about a year and a half ago or so.
However, there are two really good replacements I'll be talking about, along with a third which was recently created for the OCG but won't see release in America for three months yet, and a fourth that's created only for a specific type of deck.
Upstart Goblin is the first of these we'll examine. It's effect is self-explanatory--draw an extra card while your opponent gains 1000 LP. The benefit of this particular card is you can play as many of them as you have in your hand.
The downside is obvious--it runs contrary to instincts to GIVE life points to your opponent. Not only does this make him that much harder to kill, but several of the most powerful traps cost life points to use so this is essentially letting them use those traps for absolutely nothing. Because of it's notable caveat of giving life points to your opponent, Upstart Goblin has been relegated to OTK (One Turn Kill) decks, where once the win condition is set up they can swing for so much damage in a single turn that the extra 3000 life points become irrelevant. Other decks are known to use it over the next card because of it's ease to obtain, but it's not recommended. Plus, well...let's get to the next card to talk about that.
The King of splashable draw cards. Casual players often look at the card in terms of net advantage and consider it worthless, but with the exception of one deck (which both cannot use it and doesn't need it), all other competitive decks play this card, and with good reason.
Remember last time I said that in a given duel, the ONLY options you have are the cards in your hand, on the field, and (at the start of your turn) the card at the top of your deck? This card breaks that rule--displaying the next THREE cards you'll draw and allowing you to choose whichever one you need the most for your current situation. Admittedly, it is at the cost of special summoning for the turn, but by speeding up your win condition, it balances the duel over the long term in your favor.
The only reason competitive decks generally don't run this in threes used to be the cost of the card. Going for over $150 on eBay, Pot of Duality at one point was only for those with far too much money. But a reprint of the card is out at the end of this month, so now a playset can be obtained for $27--still pricey, but considerably less so, making the only advantage Upstart Goblin had mostly gone.
The last splashable draw card I wanted to look at was Momentary Truce. Coming out in the recent Photon Shockwave set in Japan, the card allows both players to draw a card, but no battle damage can be inflicted until your next turn.
This one's a toss up. You're not giving your opponent LP, but more dangerous than that, you're giving them a card. You're counting on being closer to your win condition than your opponent is to their own, but you're also relying on the added bonus that no matter what your opponent does next turn, he is incapable of inflicting damage.
I like the card personally, but I'll be testing it in a select few decks before I commit to it over/in addition to Pot of Duality. Supposedly it works best in OTK decks, but even if that were true, it would still have to survive the opponent's turn, where a field nuke could ruin everything.
The very last card we'll look at is for a specific kind of deck, and I wanted to talk about it so players could learn what that deck is and whether or not their deck qualifies to run this card.
This seems like an excellent card at first. After all, everyone will eventually have five+ monsters in their graveyards, and the opportunity to take the best of those, put them back into my deck, and draw *two* cards on top of that is incredible, right?
Trouble is, most decks aren't fast enough for this card. Pot of Avarice is at it's best when it's used in a deck capable of synchro spamming--IE, abusing the effects of one's monsters to repeatedly synchro summon and dump cards into the graveyard.
Decks like T.G.s (Tech Genus) or plants do this with ease, and can often go through two of these in a single duel, swinging the tide heavily in their favor by placing key monsters back into the deck and drawing more cards leading to a exceeding advantage over one's opponents.
A good sign this card will do well in your deck is if you constantly find yourself synchro summoning twice or more in a single turn. Otherwise, put this card in a box somewhere and forget about it.
Don't look at draw cards as just draw cards. They essentially mean, for every one copy you use, your deck is running at one less card than is supposedly allowed. This allows for greater consistency in your deck. Sure, you can only have one copy of a certain card, but a draw card helps thin the deck a little bit, and each one you have makes it *that* much more likely you'll draw that one limited card that will win you the duel.
Anyway, I'm running a little long again. Over the next two weeks I'll be discussing staple spells and traps and how your deck benefits from running them. Catch you later folks.
And even if it did need forty cards and smashed at tournaments--eventually, the banlist will hit your deck, limiting the most essential parts to your deck so that it's not so overpowering everyone has to run the same deck to be competitive. So then what? Do you give up on the deck? Probably not. Add inferior cards to replace missing ones? That won't offer the help you need.
Instead, the better answer is to simultaneously reduce your potential dead draws, decrease the size of your deck, and raise your deck's consistency by adding draw cards.
This was the first spell card which allowed good draw power in the game: Pot of Greed. A very simple effect that allows you to draw two cards, It *seems* balanced, but the truth is those two cards could very easily turn the tide of a duel in your opponent's favor. So this card was banned about a year and a half ago or so.
However, there are two really good replacements I'll be talking about, along with a third which was recently created for the OCG but won't see release in America for three months yet, and a fourth that's created only for a specific type of deck.
Upstart Goblin - Draw 1 card from your Deck. Increase your opponent's Life Points by 1000 Life Points.
Upstart Goblin is the first of these we'll examine. It's effect is self-explanatory--draw an extra card while your opponent gains 1000 LP. The benefit of this particular card is you can play as many of them as you have in your hand.
The downside is obvious--it runs contrary to instincts to GIVE life points to your opponent. Not only does this make him that much harder to kill, but several of the most powerful traps cost life points to use so this is essentially letting them use those traps for absolutely nothing. Because of it's notable caveat of giving life points to your opponent, Upstart Goblin has been relegated to OTK (One Turn Kill) decks, where once the win condition is set up they can swing for so much damage in a single turn that the extra 3000 life points become irrelevant. Other decks are known to use it over the next card because of it's ease to obtain, but it's not recommended. Plus, well...let's get to the next card to talk about that.
Pot of Duality - Reveal the top 3 cards of your Deck, add 1 of them to your hand, then shuffle the rest back into your Deck. You can only activate 1 "Pot of Duality" per turn. You cannot Special Summon a monster(s) during the turn you activate this card.
The King of splashable draw cards. Casual players often look at the card in terms of net advantage and consider it worthless, but with the exception of one deck (which both cannot use it and doesn't need it), all other competitive decks play this card, and with good reason.
Remember last time I said that in a given duel, the ONLY options you have are the cards in your hand, on the field, and (at the start of your turn) the card at the top of your deck? This card breaks that rule--displaying the next THREE cards you'll draw and allowing you to choose whichever one you need the most for your current situation. Admittedly, it is at the cost of special summoning for the turn, but by speeding up your win condition, it balances the duel over the long term in your favor.
The only reason competitive decks generally don't run this in threes used to be the cost of the card. Going for over $150 on eBay, Pot of Duality at one point was only for those with far too much money. But a reprint of the card is out at the end of this month, so now a playset can be obtained for $27--still pricey, but considerably less so, making the only advantage Upstart Goblin had mostly gone.
The last splashable draw card I wanted to look at was Momentary Truce. Coming out in the recent Photon Shockwave set in Japan, the card allows both players to draw a card, but no battle damage can be inflicted until your next turn.
This one's a toss up. You're not giving your opponent LP, but more dangerous than that, you're giving them a card. You're counting on being closer to your win condition than your opponent is to their own, but you're also relying on the added bonus that no matter what your opponent does next turn, he is incapable of inflicting damage.
I like the card personally, but I'll be testing it in a select few decks before I commit to it over/in addition to Pot of Duality. Supposedly it works best in OTK decks, but even if that were true, it would still have to survive the opponent's turn, where a field nuke could ruin everything.
The very last card we'll look at is for a specific kind of deck, and I wanted to talk about it so players could learn what that deck is and whether or not their deck qualifies to run this card.
Pot of Avarice - Select 5 Monster Cards in your Graveyard. Shuffle those cards into the Deck, then draw 2 cards.
This seems like an excellent card at first. After all, everyone will eventually have five+ monsters in their graveyards, and the opportunity to take the best of those, put them back into my deck, and draw *two* cards on top of that is incredible, right?
Trouble is, most decks aren't fast enough for this card. Pot of Avarice is at it's best when it's used in a deck capable of synchro spamming--IE, abusing the effects of one's monsters to repeatedly synchro summon and dump cards into the graveyard.
Decks like T.G.s (Tech Genus) or plants do this with ease, and can often go through two of these in a single duel, swinging the tide heavily in their favor by placing key monsters back into the deck and drawing more cards leading to a exceeding advantage over one's opponents.
A good sign this card will do well in your deck is if you constantly find yourself synchro summoning twice or more in a single turn. Otherwise, put this card in a box somewhere and forget about it.
Don't look at draw cards as just draw cards. They essentially mean, for every one copy you use, your deck is running at one less card than is supposedly allowed. This allows for greater consistency in your deck. Sure, you can only have one copy of a certain card, but a draw card helps thin the deck a little bit, and each one you have makes it *that* much more likely you'll draw that one limited card that will win you the duel.
Anyway, I'm running a little long again. Over the next two weeks I'll be discussing staple spells and traps and how your deck benefits from running them. Catch you later folks.
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