The Good Player's Toolbox: Understanding Card Advantage

[Dr. House]

New article on my site that explains how card advantage works and how to use it. Check it out and subscribe!

http://theionsblog.blogspot.com/

[colorbrandon]

Good article, though I think you should give a mention to cards that are between +0 and +1.

For example:

Solar Recharge.
Discard 1 LS, draw 2, mill 2.

By card advantage, it's a 0. But the added effect of milling 2 is tricky to put on a scale of integers.

[Dr. House]

Good article, though I think you should give a mention to cards that are between +0 and +1.

For example:

Solar Recharge.
Discard 1 LS, draw 2, mill 2.

By card advantage, it's a 0. But the added effect of milling 2 is tricky to put on a scale of integers.

Thanks for the recommendation, we'll try to work something like that in future articles. In the meantime, a new article is up on playing conservatively! We'll pretty much have new articles every day or every other day.

[enyaD]

House, I'm loving this blog. Keep up the good work! 5/5

[HerO]

Great articles! I read the card advantage one too, and although I was already familiar with the subject, still learned a thing or two. Keep up the great work!

[Dr. House]

House, I'm loving this blog. Keep up the good work! 5/5

Great articles! I read the card advantage one too, and although I was already familiar with the subject, still learned a thing or two. Keep up the great work!

Thanks guys, we really appreciate the feedback! It means a lot to us.

In the meantime, Ms. K posted a brand-new article! Check it out!

[Rick39]

Dude, blog is pure gold, I've never understood card advantage until I read the article! Keep it up!

[StrikeCommander000]

"Well done, Watson" said Sherlock to the good doctor.

Made me understand how to use my Deck to its fullest potential.

[Bear Sounds]

The articles on your blog are very well written.
I'm just sad that I'm familiar with all of the info on them, because it means that I can't learn it from your beautiful articles :C

[Dr. House]

Dude, blog is pure gold, I've never understood card advantage until I read the article! Keep it up!

"Well done, Watson" said Sherlock to the good doctor.

Made me understand how to use my Deck to its fullest potential.

The articles on your blog are very well written.
I'm just sad that I'm familiar with all of the info on them, because it means that I can't learn it from your beautiful articles :C

Thanks! We consciously try to write articles so they'll be as clear as possible, and I'm glad our methods worked out well for you guys.

Notice that our articles are divided into categories. Articles about in-game theory go in "The Good Player's Toolbox". New, interesting, and top deck profiles go "In the Spotlight". And now, our articles on how to play individual cards go in "Show Me the Way". So just by looking at the title, you'll know which part of the game you're about to learn about. So check out our new article (and category) on how to play Trap Dustshoot!

[K.C.]

The articles on your blog are very well written.
I'm just sad that I'm familiar with all of the info on them, because it means that I can't learn it from your beautiful articles :C

Well, there's always the pretty pictures to look at :D

[Thorgrim103]

I'm in tenth grade and still don't understand integers. But I understand most of what you mean't on tere Theres a few card's I Don't know the effects of but i enjoyed the article.

[Pinkrzrh]

your not the only one thorgrim im what you call ******ed in math

[blackwinged_angel]

You sir are a genius. After reading you're article about card advantage really changed the way I am looking at deck construction. My Blackwing's are generating pluses with almost anything I do, but my quickdraw deck was a mess in terms of pluses so I'm going to have to change that...I never really thought of it in terms of overall pluses, I just looked at it in terms of individual cards and left it at that.

[Wario]

n_n Awesome article. Yeah. I was -kind of- familiar with card advantage,
but this is very very useful. Definitely worth looking over every once in a while too.

[Dr. House]

You sir are a genius. After reading you're article about card advantage really changed the way I am looking at deck construction. My Blackwing's are generating pluses with almost anything I do, but my quickdraw deck was a mess in terms of pluses so I'm going to have to change that...I never really thought of it in terms of overall pluses, I just looked at it in terms of individual cards and left it at that.

n_n Awesome article. Yeah. I was -kind of- familiar with card advantage,
but this is very very useful. Definitely worth looking over every once in a while too.

Thank you, everyone! We apologize for not posting an article over the past 3 days! Ms. K and I have been swamped with classes. Hoping to redeem ourselves, I've posted a new article on a great deck this format - Zombies! Check it out!

Also, Ms. K will be posting an article on how to do well at premier events over the weekend. Be sure to check back!

[swiftstratos]

I love your blog so much.

[Elemenati]

Your blog is so well-informed and well-organised. I LOVE IT

[Dr. House]

I love your blog so much.

Your blog is so well-informed and well-organised. I LOVE IT

Thank you both! New article on succeeding at premier events is up! You can thank Ms. K for working hard. :)

[JRCxyz]

The articles on your blog are very well written.
I'm just sad that I'm familiar with all of the info on them, because it means that I can't learn it from your beautiful articles :C

Same here. I do enjoy reading them, though. The Zombie deck is awesome. Loving the card choices (just like I'd play the deck).

How do I subscribe to this?

[Dr. House]

Same here. I do enjoy reading them, though. The Zombie deck is awesome. Loving the card choices (just like I'd play the deck).

How do I subscribe to this?

We have a "Follow Our Posts by Email!" section on the right hand side of the blog. Just enter your email, and you'll automatically be notified of new articles popping up. Nifty!

And thanks for the Zombie deck compliment. :D

[xnicx888]

I cant tell if that zombie list is really really bad, or just uniquely good.

[Elemenati]

I wanna ask you a question Dr House regarding the T.G. Agents Article ob the Decklist given is it recommendable to put in 2 Mind Crush and if so which cards should I take out from the Deck ?

[Dr. House]

I cant tell if that zombie list is really really bad, or just uniquely good.

Because it's different doesn't mean it's bad. People laughed at modern-day T.G. builds because it didn't run terrible cards like the previous builds had - that is, until the T.G. build won the WCQ. Remember, it's hard to criticize something that you don't know how to play. I don't like to blab about my creds (for the fear of appearing elitist), but this deck has already won me several hundred dollars over the past few weeks. It's hard to do that with a bad deck.

It's OK if you tried the deck and you're frustrated with it. It's a difficult deck to play at first, and I understand. It's different in both theory and design, so understanding why my card choices are what they are is a pretty key part of knowing how to play the deck.

I wanna ask you a question Dr House regarding the T.G. Agents Article ob the Decklist given is it recommendable to put in 2 Mind Crush and if so which cards should I take out from the Deck ?

I'd recommend two Mind Crush if your meta calls for it. Mind Crush is an excellent, excellent card and if you're facing a lot of search-heavy decks or decks that make great use of Pot of Duality, you should at least try it out.

It depends on what you're playing against that influences what you take out. :) Play around with it, see what you can come up with!

[Elemenati]

They should be since my Locals are all running DW. I play OCG

[StrikeCommander000]

I cant tell if that zombie list is really really bad, or just uniquely good.

Dude, just because the Deck isn't autopilot doesn't mean it sucks.

OT: The Zombie Deck is beastly. It scares me to even think of facing something like that. I loved the article on doing well at events; please tell Ms. K. thank you for me, Doc.

I'd love to see the article on how to stick w/one Deck in the near future, as I'm sure everyone's had that problem at some point or another.

[Elemenati]

There should also be an article on how to build a great and competitive Deck with and without budget

[StrikeCommander000]

There should also be an article on how to build a great and competitive Deck with and without budget

It's called Dark World, bro.

[Elemenati]

On other archetypes too

[NotEnoughGolds]

I noticed in the "Conservative play" article, your Master Hyperion example wasn't so much a conservative vs. non-conservative player, as much as a decent/good vs. lolbad-uniquely-awful player.

I just sort of giggled at:
Now, the non-conservative player will panic and take the least effective way out, Route 1:

Route 1:
Banish Earth from your hand, summoning Hyperion. Banish another fairy in the graveyard, destroy Catastor.

Anyway, good articles nonetheless. I'll have to point a buddy of mine to these, so I don't have to explain why first turn Brio + BLS + TKRO is bad yugiohz.

[revivaljham]

pretty ridic blog .

[Dr. House]

After a long week of tests, papers, and work, a new article is finally up! We hope to not go as long between articles as this past week, so we'll try harder to keep up.

Check out the new article on Effect Veiler!

[xnicx888]

Dude, just because the Deck isn't autopilot doesn't mean it sucks.

OT: The Zombie Deck is beastly. It scares me to even think of facing something like that. I loved the article on doing well at events; please tell Ms. K. thank you for me, Doc.

I'd love to see the article on how to stick w/one Deck in the near future, as I'm sure everyone's had that problem at some point or another.

What are you talking about? I said nothing about being autopilot. Chill the eff back and dont flame everyone who makes a statement.

[Noobazn88]

man all of these articles are great for beginners but not so good for long time veterans...any cool tips or combos for veterans would be appreciated...ive been playing since MRD came out

[Dr. House]

man all of these articles are great for beginners but not so good for long time veterans...any cool tips or combos for veterans would be appreciated...ive been playing since MRD came out

Know how many times I've seen "veteran" players seriously misplay with Veiler? Waaaay too many. But we'll definitely take your comment into consideration! I'll see which combos are worthy of a neat article and how you can employ them in real situations. :-) Thanks for the suggestion.

[Noobazn88]

lol i don't even use veiler so i will not misplay with it lols

[Dr. House]

Remember guys, if you have any suggestions for articles, feel free to post them! We have a pipeline set, but if you guys can give us some cool ideas, we'll definitely modify it.

[Dr. House]

New article's up, go check it out! We've been getting few emails from our beloved fans, telling us how much they really like our "Good Player's Toolbox" articles. You asked, we granted - we have a new one!

[A Luna]

Nice one Dr. House
Enjoyed reading that :), also the Effect Veiler one underneath.

[The zombie guy]

Nah honestly that zombie deck is pretty bad. It would have been fairly good before an actual XYZ ruling was made.


Good read though.

Additional Comment:

Dude, just because the Deck isn't autopilot doesn't mean it sucks.

OT: The Zombie Deck is beastly. It scares me to even think of facing something like that. I loved the article on doing well at events; please tell Ms. K. thank you for me, Doc.

I'd love to see the article on how to stick w/one Deck in the near future, as I'm sure everyone's had that problem at some point or another.

It has no synergy with itself. It wouldn't do much.

It was considered auto pilot before the ruling.

[Dr. House]

Nah honestly that zombie deck is pretty bad. It would have been fairly good before an actual XYZ ruling was made.


Good read though.

Additional Comment:



It has no synergy with itself. It wouldn't do much.

It was considered auto pilot before the ruling.

Oh, look. It's the little pro that thinks he knows how every deck should be run while giving no constructive criticism, this is always a fun one. This is also the same guy that thought you could Solemn or Thunder King a Gorz in the damage step (http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?p=22933302#post22933302) or that Heavy Storm shouldn't be mained this format (http://www.pojo.biz/board/showpost.php?p=22959083&postcount=772). You thought the Tech Genus engine was better than Tour Guide (http://www.pojo.biz/board/showpost.php?p=22916055&postcount=32). Well, you're obviously the best player on here, guess I better scrap everything and post your decklist.

Oh, wait. You don't have one. You don't even know how the cards in here work. My bad. :-) The entire first section of the article was dedicated to the synergy of the deck, and I have no clue how you missed that. Next time you want to insult someone's idea, do it on another thread where they actually think you're good. Or be like the other people in here that actually contribute ideas instead of put people down.

To everyone else: thank you for the help and compliments!

[NotEnoughGolds]

^^ Speaking of which, since a guy that's played this game forever can't recognize a trigger effect, maybe you should have posted my answer to his Gorz question in your article:

If a monster says "When/if something happens, (you can) do something", then it is always a trigger effect. No exceptions. It will never ever be an inherent summon that you can negate with Solemn Judgment, Horn of Heaven, or Thunder King Rai-Oh.

Also, the article didn't exactly explain why you need to negate the effect that summons, rather than the summon itself. Which is that cards/card effects can not be activated while another card is resolving. By the time Monster Reborn has resolved, the monster has already been successfully summoned, leaving no opportunity to negate the summon at any point with Thunder King Rai-Oh.

[K.C.]

Nah honestly that zombie deck is pretty bad. It would have been fairly good before an actual XYZ ruling was made.


Good read though.

Additional Comment:



It has no synergy with itself. It wouldn't do much.

It was considered auto pilot before the ruling.

...just LOL. I can only imagine the type of player you are.

[Dr. House]

^^ Speaking of which, since a guy that's played this game forever can't recognize a trigger effect, maybe you should have posted my answer to his Gorz question in your article:

If a monster says "When/if something happens, (you can) do something", then it is always a trigger effect. No exceptions. It will never ever be an inherent summon that you can negate with Solemn Judgment, Horn of Heaven, or Thunder King Rai-Oh.

Also, the article didn't exactly explain why you need to negate the effect that summons, rather than the summon itself. Which is that cards/card effects can not be activated while another card is resolving. By the time Monster Reborn has resolved, the monster has already been successfully summoned, leaving no opportunity to negate the summon at any point with Thunder King Rai-Oh.

First part sounds good, I'll work that in tonight. I love your explanation for the second part. Definitely putting that in. Thanks!

[NotEnoughGolds]

Excellent! Glad to help!

Another worthy example to include is a synchro summon performed with Formula Synchron's effect or Urgent Tuning.
These synchro summons are the result of a card effect, and thus cannot be negated with Horn of Heaven, Solemn Judgment, TKRO, or Roach.

[thegreengiant]

As a returning player, this is a great way to come back. I just read every article and now I feel like a better player, without playing.. You know your stuff. Keep up the good work. I bookmark your page.
Again thank you, House

[Cido]

Damn man, really good articles! Keep doing what you are doing :D
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