The secret to dueling: A Direct Correlation

[Cloudstrife 189]

Over the past years, I've seen many duelist complain about why they can't win. They come up with their own original decks and lose, they netdeck the Regionals/SJC/National champions' winning decks and lose, and even have other people build their decks for them and of course, still lose. However, i'm not saying this happens to each and every person, but for people that this applies to, I hope this article helps.

I will start off with a short story of my SJC Indy expirence. The day before the event, I was dueling with my glad beast deck against Ryan Newburn and his famous LS deck. Somewhere around the 5th or 6th beating, I decided that glads just weren't doing it for me. Even after all the advantage they generate, I was still trying WAY too hard to win the duel. This is not the same problem for blackwings who instantly win the duel after all their advantage is created. No, glad beast have to fight til the very end each and every time. So that evening, I decided to go back to my hotel and take a variant of Adam Corn's black salvo deck to the jump the next day, and this is where my story truly begins.

That night at the hotel, I make the deck, and crush everyone in my room 2-0 for the entire night. Feeling overly confidant, I go to bed and wake up early the next morning, eager to attend the jump. As fate should have it, my first round was up against no other than Ceaser Gonzales who is playing salvo dad as well. To make an incredibly long story short, he crushes me like no other. He was playing the entire game extemely defensively with moves like "draw,pass" while I was trying to inflict as much damage to him ASAP with doom lords and fear mongers before he could utilize his combo. My agressive plays were my downfall and he 2-0's me.

Now, I don't know if any of you guys have played with salvo dad, but it is not aggressive at all. The whole method behind the madness is to play it slow until you get all your combo pieces and then you explode. But throughout the whole day, I just didn't want to take it slow. I was trying to peck my opponent's to death with these weak destiny heroes and dekochi's before my opponent could release their own combos. Sad to say, this is not the way you play the deck. By the end of the event, I think I beat half my opponents only because they were like WTF are you doing and they had no idea if I was playing some wierd variant or not....

And that is when the revelation began. I am not a slow tempo duelist. I hate stalling until time is called, or until my combo is finally developed. It just isn't me. However, obviously that is how the deck is meant to be played. I like OTKing my opponent's or being very aggressive. I think a friend of mine made a good point when he said "WTF were you doing taking salvo control?" I told him that it worked really good in play testing but he said that's besides the point. At the time, I didn't fully understand what he meant and proceeded to walk back into my hotel room and that's when it hit me. I saw my team mate playing a thunder king/barboros/skill drain/opression build against glads. I stared upon the table and couldn't believe my eyes. His opponent had glad beast samnite, laquari and equestte on the field and my friend had skill drain, oppression and solemn and also had a thunderking and barboros in DEFENSE MODE!!!! I immediate started going bananas and screaming at my team mate for letting this happen. I said "how in the ******* can you be defending against a glad beast deck when ALL of your monsters are stronger then his and you have him locked down via solemn,skill drain and oppression????" He started rambling some excuse about how his life points were low and how he was going to beat him next game when he could side deck in some glad beast hunters and jijistu maters...

I damn near punched him into next weak. I told him that he needs to be aggressive against glads and that this wasn't how his deck was meant to be played. And this is where the point of the article finally comes into play.

I don't think there are currently any decks that do all the winning by themselves. Same thing can be said about the player. If I can use a quick example, lets take a look at tennis. It's not so much as the raquet winning because its $500 dollars or the player winning because he's just that good. No, I think that its because of the combination between the player and their raquet that creates the "unbeatable" team. There are many types of raquets you can buy; ones that create topspin, one's that slice well, one's for power hitters,etc. Its up to the player to find the proper raquet to go with their hitting style. The same can be said about YGO. If you're an aggressive player like me, then you need to play with a deck that can express your aggressive playstyle. It does you no good taking Adam Corn's salvo deck to an event and attacking all day with doom lords and fear mongers like I did. You should be taking a beatdown variant like LS,BW or even Thunder king/skill drain. Because no matter how good players say the deck is, its only that good if you have a style of play that corresponds to that. I constantly wonder how good me and my team mate both would of done if we would of switched decks for the event and if he would of took the defensive black salvo, and if I would of taken his beatdown skilldrain/oppression.

And this also applies to helping people with decks in the future. I think that you should ask them what type of duel style that player currently likes, and then, and only then, help them make a deck. Just grabbing their cards and making changes that you think go well with the deck does nothing for the player if they don't know how to play it, or don't want to play it like that. Speaking on my own behalf for my meta, I know a lot of my local players would do a lot better at an event taking a deck with a playsyle they're use to as oppossed to taking Corn's newest version of Cornarchs or salvodad.

So in conclusion, I just want to say that I deeply believe that the secret to dueling is found between the player and his/her deck. I believe that if you can correlate the two playstyles, then, and only then, will you create a force to be reckoned with...

-Cloudstrife 189
"Tray Massengale"

[The_Dark_Monarch]

Very good article. =)

I am also an aggro duelist myself, however I have noticed, if I go too aggressive early on, I tend to 'run out of steam' very fast, thus setting my opponent up for a late game finisher.

The best thing, I have found, is to play conservatively & try to minimise your opponent's resources, before you go in for the final, aggressive kill.
It's very difficult to build a deck that works this way. Most of it, is up to the skills of the duelist, to try & 'reinforce their position' before being able to play it fast & safe.

There is a relationship between the duelist and their deck.

I have loaned my deck out to a few close friends & they lose badly with it..they suggest changes, most of which, simply do not suit my playstyle.
I never seem to have the same problems they experience..when all is said & done, they laughingly joke it off by saying 'your deck must not like me'. LOL

This is yet another reason why I no longer post my main deck on internet forums, nor 'fix' other people's decks..
Yes, I offer suggestions occasionally, but whatever I suggest, is not to try & make the deck 'better'..it's just an 'alternative' for the owner of that deck to try out and see if he/she prefers it.

I could go on about 'netdecking' & such, however & whilstever people think that 'I will play whatever wins, even though I don't know how or why it does'..I have a snowflake's chance in hell of trying to change anybody's mind (not that I would ever be so presumptuous anyway).

[r3skyline]

testing helps with developing a playstyle for each deck.

altho the better players/longer ones know how to adapt because of knowing what a deck does/accomplishes.

not saying your not good, just it sounds like you dont have all that much experience with trying out new decks and whatnot.

[Turd Ferguson]

So basically, to win you need a good deck and the ability to play it correctly.

Wow, I could have never figured it out. /sarcasm

[BarbeqdBrwniez]

I agree with this, whenever I try a deck like LS or BW, I don't do all that well (mind you, I ALWAYS mill bad with LS, but BW I do alright with), but I am thinking that a semi-aggressive deck may be more for me, I mean even in video games such as Command and Conquer, I usually just sit back, and build up defenses and a large army, while sending small amounts of units to attack my enemies.

[.:Fighter:.]

I'm a variable duelist.

Mostly aggressive, though I often change my playstyle during a duel.
I usually have 0.5% of an idea what i'm actually doing.

Samurai:
Ma Main deck. I often go for huge plays with Cunning, very aggressive.

BW:
I tend to overextend like mad in the beginning and deplete my hand.

Still, my early explosions often seal the deal for me, my opponent unable to keep up. I often wait around and give my opponent a chance or 3, hanging around until i find a cool enough way to win.

Aliens:
My basic Rogue deck, I like to play for fun, so I tend to pull all sorts of wild combos outta my as$, and most of them don't work. Aggressive, but like toy fighting, barely serious.

Frogs:
Defensive for the most part, often locking my opponent up with Dupes and stalling until I can pull of a synchro and beat face with Junk Warrior/Wetlands.

Dark World:
Also aggressive, depleting my hand for wild combos with Brron and tuners.
Synchros are the real kings here, TRA being my #1 choice.

Warriors:
Kind of my Billy Deck. Obviously aggressive, swarming as fast as possible, and keeping control of the game with things like DD Assailant.
Heh heh...ass...

Snakesworn:
Ths deck is pretty defensive, waiting and milling until I can explode with Gol'gar, Limit Reverse, Vennominon and Rise.Game generally follows.

[Kaishin]

Originally Posted by The_Dark_Monarch

The best thing, I have found, is to play conservatively & try to minimise your opponent's resources, before you go in for the final, aggressive kill.

I agree with this.

[thatisstupid1212]

put something in the OP about the 3 rock/paper/scissor deck variants

* control (antimeta/GBs)
* combo (Salvo/cat synchro)
* aggro (LS/BW)

[Kudou Shinichi]

Nice article btw

You should've used your team mate's DrainOppression Deck instead.

[PKpwnage]

Originally Posted by thatisstupid1212

put something in the OP about the 3 rock/paper/scissor deck variants

* control (antimeta/GBs)
* combo (Salvo/cat synchro)
* aggro (LS/BW)

I did something like this months ago.

http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=663945

(note the date of creation)

[TylerGardner]

I don't actually believe in "playstyles". I think its more along the lines of just not being that good at the game when you blame your style for the reason you didn't do well with Glads or Lightsworns.

Once you get to a certain level, you can use any deck because you know how everything works. You can pretty much play any tcg.

[TheDemonizer]

Also to be successful, you need the heart of the cards and you need to respect your cards, each and every one of them even kuriboh because it is such a good card. /Sarcasm

[TylerGardner]

Originally Posted by TheDemonizer

Also to be successful, you need the heart of the cards and you need to respect your cards, each and every one of them even kuriboh because it is such a good card. /Sarcasm

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.

[Cloudstrife 189]

Originally Posted by r3skyline

testing helps with developing a playstyle for each deck.

altho the better players/longer ones know how to adapt because of knowing what a deck does/accomplishes.

not saying your not good, just it sounds like you dont have all that much experience with trying out new decks and whatnot.

I understand how the deck is suppossed to be played, but I don't think I had much faith in the strategy. If my opponent has an open field, i'm so use to captiolizing on it as oppossed to just summoning a cyber valley and ending. Many times, I wish I could just summon a thunderking and start attacking his open field. When I side decked, I almost always added in kycoos just so I would have a decent attacker outside of stratos/synchros/dad.

To be honest, I've been around the block quite a few times and am very expirenced with a lot of decks. However, after watching other people win with the deck, I concluded it just wasn't for me. 98% of all the duels that went into time at the jump were the salvo decks because they play so slow... I have a life and I wanted to get up and chill with my friends and trade, so I just started poking here and there with the weak destiny heros/dekochis and obviously those weren't the best moves.

I'm 10x's better with the deck now, but I still don't think it fits my play style. Summoning a cyber valley and ending my turn while waiting to draw into that one dark armed dragon, isnt my favorite way to duel, even though, I must admit, its still ridicously effective...

[mirasaki]

I think the best way to duel is by making your own deck, and picking the greatest number of cards that work together in a combination for the highest amount of possible synergy.

For example, if someone took a bunch of cards from the restricted list and made a deck out of it, yes the cards would be powerful, but they wouldn't assist each other well.

However, for example, in my Yusei deck, I pick cards that work well with others in multiple situations, creating maximum synergy:


Dandylion (In my deck, provides fodder for synchro, Tricky triggers it, Card Trooper triggers it, works with Debris Dragon)

Hero Kid (In my deck, works with Junk Synchron, Debris Dragon, Road Warrior, Maruading Captain, Reinforce Truth, Limit Reverse, Call of the Haunted, Reinforcement of the Army)

That's why you can't beat the person that originally made a certain deck. They've thought of every situation beforehand while building the deck, They know their deck's weakness, they know the content of their deck while they play to optimize their moves, they have more experience, and of course, their deck suits their playing style if they built the deck from scratch and it works well for them.

[Raijin1]

awe that's not very nice of you guys, i do believe in a certain play-style and this article was a very good read. If you guys don't have anything nice to say, then just keep it to yourself.

[alexis`on`fire]

hey guys I made a revelation, you have to play the deck the way it's meant to be played to win with it, omg I'm gonna be so good now that I know this

Seriously, why would you play a deck that must be played a specific way if you don't want to play it that way?

The reason people fail at this game is BECAUSE THEY'RE STUPID, exactly the way you were in this example.

[smokin_gunnz]

I like aggro players because they usually run into my torrential tribute

[Chaos Corps]

Yea, way to long for me to bother reading, this is Pojo, not the library of congress.

[Aarikku]

Originally Posted by hitman

So basically, to win you need a good deck and the ability to play it correctly.

Wow, I could have never figured it out. /sarcasm

You've missed the point.

He's talking about people having a certain innate playstyle that you have to keep in mind when picking a deck. It's not just "Oh, X deck is an aggro deck, I'll play aggro."

Good article, albeit wordy.

[breakerDS]

Cool story bro

You're doing it wrong...

This article really does speak the truth. It's a big misconception that players just pick up a deck and know how to use it right. Perhaps it could be that they don't have the patience to play through a game with skill drain/oppression or they are too timid with a Blackwing deck. It's really about learning how you yourself play and recognizing what type of deck suits you. Even when you do know your playstyle and the deck that you use, you still have to make that arduous task in improving your deck/strategies in order to play effectively.

As an aggro/semi-control player myself, it was an easy fit for me to use BW well but it was my build-up of one of my fun decks that made me find my playstyle deck; Morphtronics. People often say that they are a junk deck but utilizing that and abusing their special summon/reborn prowess have allowed me to win a large majority of my games. The timid set-ups that give way to creating big hits and OTKs is how I play in general so it's mostly a case of player/deck synergy which makes you a successful duelist.

[samus_aran115]

Nice article. Read through the whole thing and enjoyed it.

I can't relate to this at all because I don't go to these things or have anywhere near enough cards to make multiple top 8 decks, but....Cool story.

[Troop_Dupe_Scupe]

I play Gadgets. At nats (during the Glad/LS format) I played Glads, they were defensive then. I topped. At Euros I played Glads during the BW/Catsynch/LS format. I scrubbed. Why? Because I ran the Aggressive Airbellum build which I despise. When I play BW I play the Skill Drain version with three Sirrocos. I'm a conservative, control player.

[Aarikku]

I'd wonder if you can actually figure out which playstyle you have from just one successful deck. Maybe from two that worked awesomely, you could figure out what's similar between them and work something out.

That said, my two best... Frogs and Black Luster Soldier/Advanced Ritual Art/Dragon Master Knight. ...So, yeah.

[breakerDS]

Originally Posted by Aarikku

I'd wonder if you can actually figure out which playstyle you have from just one successful deck. Maybe from two that worked awesomely, you could figure out what's similar between them and work something out.

That said, my two best... Frogs and Black Luster Soldier/Advanced Ritual Art/Dragon Master Knight. ...So, yeah.

I think that most of the time, it's time that helps you realize how you play. Be it that you are told by friends or opponents how you play through your moves, you slowly learn about your playstyle. It's one of those things you realize unexpectedly >_>