The secret to dueling: Win without playing a card

Cloudstrife 189 · 09-03-2009, 07:35 AM

My first article: The secret to dueling: A direct correlation
My second article: The secret to dueling: Deck cylcle theory
My third article: The secret to dueling: Soft cheating
The secret to dueling: win without playing a card
The secret to dueling: Identity Crisis
The secret to dueling: The Forgotten Art
I really like comparing YGO to tennis, because they are both my favorite hobbies. In YGO, just like tennis, there are two ways to score a “point”. In tennis, you score a point when you either create such an incredible play/hit that your opponent can’t return it or when your opponent defeats himself by hitting into the net or out of bounds. Same could be said about YGO. You win a duel because your combo/strategy was so sound that your opponent couldn’t break through it or because your opponent misplays, thus defeating himself. I hope that this article can help educate some duelist to play smarter and cut back the misplays thus making you win a lot more duels.

Throughout my dueling career, many people complain about how they lost because they got “luck sacked” or because they drew bad all game long. I have watched many of these players duel, and I really feel that there was a lot more things going on then the random excuse they try to warrant. They constantly ask me what they could of done different and I smile and say “where should I begin…” Here are 7 simple steps I have devised to help all duelists, from beginners to experts play better and possibly win the duel before even playing a card…

*These steps are in no particular order because all of them are of the upmost importance.

Duel Zone
Come prepared to your area well equipped. It seems very unlikely to win when you arrive late and quickly try to scrounge out some old sheet of paper and a broken pen. Try to arrive at your table as soon as possible and then pull out your playmat to secure your area. Then extract your deck (main, side, and extra) in addition to your tokens, pen, paper, dice and calculator. Once you have all your components in place, along with a functioning brain, you will have all that you need to win this duel.

Life points, Life points, Life points…
Be prepared to keep track of life points. They are VERY important. They are your number one win condition in YGO. I see lots of duels, whether they be casual or competitive, where players don’t keep track of life points. This is like playing chess without a king, pointless and a waste of time. It doesn’t matter how many cards in your hand, on the field, in the grave, etc because once a player’s life points reach 0, the duel is over, and all that stuff becomes obsolete. No matter what the game state is, when a player takes damage or pays a cost, pause what you’re doing and subtract/add the damage. If they play “Solemn Judgment”, before you chain with your own, just say “hang on one sec,” and divide their life points by half. Maybe after seeing what their life points have become, you may choose to no longer respond or see that you no longer have to because you have a stronger play. Regardless or not if that’s the case, by atleast seeing the proper life points, you will have more “accurate” information to make the best play.

*Tip
When you’re keeping track via paper/pencil, when a player takes battle damage, mark it with a “B”, effect damage, “E”, or a cost “C”. If there is ever a life point dispute, you can quickly remember how they took a certain amount and resolve the issue instantaneously.

Know your deck
You must know each and every card in your deck. In some decks like Lightsworn and Dark variants, knowing the exact contents of your deck at all times is even more important. Knowing the combos you can still expect and the ones you can't are critical. Some people treat each draw phase as if it’s up to fate to decide whether they win or lose. However I’m a mathematician and I believe in odds. If you played half your spell cards and still have a good majority of your deck left, then don't count on drawing another spell card for a while. In addition, you should really know the rulings of every card in your deck and how they interact with yours AND your opponent’s cards. Prior to even putting a card in your deck, make sure you know all the adequate rulings.

Shuffling
Every time you draw a bad hand, or get sacked from your opponent’s “God” hand, just remember, YOU shuffled the deck. I see so many players just grab their decks and graveyards, do a quick shuffle and immediately start game 2 or 3. They then go “WTF” as they see a hand full of three necro gardnas or 3 cyber valleys. I just smile because once again, they just defeated themselves. Spend some time and do some nice shuffling. It’s worth it. It will drastically cut down on those poor hands.
Shuffling also entails shuffling your hand. In chess, it is illegal in a competition to stand up and look at the game from a different perspective. The reason why? You will see plays that you didn’t see before. By shuffling your hand often and constantly, you will see how certain cards look next to each other and how they could possibly combo with each other. You may see your average play but by shuffling it a few times, you may see an even better one. One cool thing I saw Adam Corn do at Gen Con Indy was play “Trap Dustshoot” and then take his opponent’s entire hand and started shuffling it as if it was his own. He did this for like 15 seconds and then found the best monster to return to the deck. By doing that, he was able to see all of his opponent’s potential plays and stop the best one. A very brilliant tactic indeed.

Graveyards/RFG
Just like knowing the remaining contents of your deck, you need to know what is in both players graveyards/rfg at all times. Forgetting a necro gardna or that you just sent their third dark monster to the graveyard is inexcusable. I can’t remember how many times I lost because I thought my opponent had a torrential tribute face down. A quick check of the graveyard could of quickly removed that fear. A lot of these duels can take forever and you might forget which game they played a particular card. Take a few seconds and double check. The game state is always changing and new cards are added to the grave every turn. A clever trick that I tend to do is right before I KO my opponent, I recheck his graveyard so I know how to side deck for game 2 and 3. By doing this, I’m sure what cards will counter a good majority of his deck so I can successfully finish the match.

Bluffing
If I had to choose one step that I’m the best at, I think it would be this. I can’t express how many duels I have won because I bluffed my opponent into thinking I had a lot of options. If you open really bad, or really good, try to keep your facial expressions/actions consistent. I love dueling at my locals when my opponent says something like “Omfg, wtf is this crap…” I just chuckle and start to overextend. . However, sometimes people do double bluff to catch me off guard. Double bluffing is when you anticipate your opponent seeing through your initial bluff. A classic example of this is when I draw and say “yes, Mirror Force” and I set a spell trap. My opponent will think that I’m bluffing him and that it can’t actually be mirror force. However, when they declare an attack, they’ll have a nice surprise waiting for them. When the tides seem against you, see if there is anything you can say or do to bluff your opponent into not attacking or being more defensive for a few turns while you can reestablish your combos.

7 seconds
Every turn, after you draw a card, pause. Take a deep breath and reanalyze all of your plays. I recommend waiting at least 7 seconds before playing a card. Use that time to check the graveyards, and ALL the cards on the field and in both players’ hands. Recheck life points and ask your opponent if he agrees at both players’ current life point count. Make sure that you are really about to make the best play. If you have a game winning play, make sure you make the game winning play. Don’t mess it up because you got carried away. If you’re sure its game, then there’s no harm in waiting the extra second or two to make sure you play everything correctly. Many, many times have I seen players defeat themselves and then beg to redo a move. I tell them “Sorry. Your misplays are part of my win condition…”
They always hate that answer, but eventually understand.

Conclusion
So think about it. Prior to going to the competition, you know each and every card in your main, extra, and side deck and how they will interact with your opponent’s. Upon arriving for the duel, you arrive prompt and pull out all your equipment and arrange it nicely on your playmat. While waiting for your opponent to arrive, you thoroughly shuffle your deck. When he does arrive, you spend an equal amount of time shuffling their deck. Upon drawing your opening hand, you pause to see all potential moves. You shuffle your hand a few times to make sure you’re about to make the best play for this situation. In between turns, you’re constantly keeping track of both players’ graveyards and remove from game piles. At the first change in life points, you will pause the duel to make sure they were calculated properly. When the odds seem against you, you will try to think of a strategic way to say or do something to stall or lure in your opponent.

When you finally get to a level when you’re no longer defeating yourself, there’s only one other way for your opponent to win – for their own strategy to be “impenetrable”. As that being their only win condition, I like to smile and sit down at the table and say “Good Luck...”

Thanks for reading,
Cloudstrife 189

jaws_is_ra · 09-03-2009, 07:54 AM

I know this will help out a lot of players in my area A lot of them try to speed duel playing so fast they end up messing up a lot of plays they could have made

cheebs · 09-03-2009, 08:03 AM

wow this really good advice

shadowstalker · 09-03-2009, 08:30 AM

I really like this article. Plus its just a great read for those who have been playing for a while and just starting out. I cant stress enough the one point Cloudstrife 189 brought up. Bluffing is just amazing when you pull it off. After reading this I thought about it and I bluff a lot in games. With a bad hand or good hand I throw down with confidence and sometimes just that will keep your opponent thinking twice.

Great job Cloudstrife 189!!!

PJ · 09-03-2009, 08:40 AM

Quote:

“Sorry. Your misplays are part of my win condition…”

I've got to use that one!

Good article mate, it's nice to see pojo users posting their 'dueling secrets' with more frequency now. I'll probably compile them and write a big long article on my blog about it all soon enough

Scruffy_07 · 09-03-2009, 08:42 AM

cloud remember to follow your own advice, all im gonna say is set lumina and ccv and end, if that doesnt show that you took the time to check everything than idk wat does, alot of the players at your local might fall for your bluffs but at the same time you might as well play cup of ace, its 50-50, either way love the articles dude, never thought to check grave before a game ends, wouldnt be bad to do before the declare final attacks either

The_Dark_Monarch · 09-03-2009, 08:43 AM

Decent article, albeit a lengthy one.

You could have shortened the whole thing down to the 7 P's:

Quote:

Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

lol

MadMilling · 09-03-2009, 08:44 AM

good job. helpful for newcomers

Cloudstrife 189 · 09-03-2009, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJ

I've got to use that one!

Good article mate, it's nice to see pojo users posting their 'dueling secrets' with more frequency now. I'll probably compile them and write a big long article on my blog about it all soon enough

lol..good to see i'm starting a trend...

Additional Comment:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Dark_Monarch

Decent article, albeit a lengthy one.

You could have shortened the whole thing down to the 7 P's:

lol

I don't think that quite encompassed the whole thing but thanks for the tips regardless lol. You were a crucial piece because my confidence was shot after my previous 2 article blunders...

Thanks again

Cobra Fist · 09-03-2009, 08:57 AM

You know whats up Cloudstrife 189!

Sintaro · 09-03-2009, 09:16 AM

This is really a good article. The "7seconds" I have done many times at a regional for my first round and through out the day. Helps stay focused and know whats going on to the point.

Also a good thing to add is "Notes"! It's key to write down after a trapdust shoot. Knowing what they have will make the game easier on you. Baiting out plays, playing around cards and just overall making them play your game with no surprises.

spuller · 09-03-2009, 09:17 AM

Good article for people who are new to the game

And yearh bluffing and mind games wins games

TacoKing · 09-03-2009, 09:17 AM

I totally agree with the part about getting there in time to get your playmat, cards, dice, and other stuff set. Like a chef's mise en place, you're a lot more comfortable when you don't have to think about where your stuff physically is.

PKpwnage · 09-03-2009, 09:19 AM

*****: Don't be an idiot.

Haseo · 09-03-2009, 09:57 AM

I love this article.

Cloudstrife 189 · 09-03-2009, 10:15 AM

Wow..i'm really surprised..so far, each person seems like a different "step" and this article seemed pretty successful... My confidence is slowly starting to come back...Thanks .... I'll keep writing as long as you guys keep reading...

Pain-du-Poulet · 09-03-2009, 10:17 AM

Nice article

Realy Helpfull

Cloudstrife 189 · 09-03-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sintaro

This is really a good article. The "7seconds" I have done many times at a regional for my first round and through out the day. Helps stay focused and know whats going on to the point.

Also a good thing to add is "Notes"! It's key to write down after a trapdust shoot. Knowing what they have will make the game easier on you. Baiting out plays, playing around cards and just overall making them play your game with no surprises.

Hmm..notes are dangerously important but ironiclly I have found them to be distracting. Writing down their hand after dustshoot is crucial, but trying to take notes after every play in the game (like when trying to write your own tournament report) I feel distracts you too much from the actual duel. But yea, if you can successfully keep notes while dueling and not lose your focus or stall the game, then go for it....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scruffy_07

cloud remember to follow your own advice, all im gonna say is set lumina and ccv and end, if that doesnt show that you took the time to check everything than idk wat does, alot of the players at your local might fall for your bluffs but at the same time you might as well play cup of ace, its 50-50, either way love the articles dude, never thought to check grave before a game ends, wouldnt be bad to do before the declare final attacks either

Yes, I admit that during the 2009 National Championhips that I did set a luminia and crush as oppossed to necro and crush. This is once agian why I find my own advice so helpful. If I would of slowed things down with my own 7 second rule and not have shuffled my hand so fast, I wouldn't have errored that bad. Just because I write the steps, doesn't mean I'm a complete master of them yet...

The_Dark_Monarch · 09-03-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cloudstrife 189

Additional Comment:

I don't think that quite encompassed the whole thing but thanks for the tips regardless lol. You were a crucial piece because my confidence was shot after my previous 2 article blunders...

Thanks again

No problems.

I once had this in my sig:

Quote:

'A post should be like a skirt: long enough to cover everything, but short enough to be interesting'.

Although most of what you have mentioned here is practical common sense, unfortunately, those with 'common sense' are in rather short supply in this game nowdays.

Keep up the good work & K.I.S.S.

twins4life714 · 09-03-2009, 10:31 AM

I hardly ever post, but I felt that this thread deserved a response. Both players new to the game, and veterans can benefit from reading this as it perfectly shows how to go about playing this game. Countless matches have been lost simply because people play too quickly. Take your time, make the proper move after considering options, and you should win far more than you lose. Thank you for writing this article.

-twins4life714

killaklown · 09-03-2009, 10:32 AM

It was a good read. I did like the "B", "E", "C" suggestion, I lol that I never thought of it thank you

DragonMaster2606 · 09-03-2009, 11:04 AM

Good read man! And did you get banned or something?

PJMan · 09-03-2009, 11:47 AM

GG mate.
Article is very good even for vets. Actually when you are well prepared and come early, you feel more confident. And being self confident is extremely important.

JachS · 09-03-2009, 12:07 PM

It was a very nice read. I was already aware of nearly all of the material and fundamental theories you covered, but it will be informative to novice players of the sort. My favorite section of the article is the idea of using Bluffs to your advantage.

I remember playing a Monarch player last format. I had a clear field, with my opponent have one Monarch and two monsters out. My lifepoints wouldn't survive another Battle Phase, and I was reduced to Monster Reborn and Torrential Tribute in my hand.

Then I had an idea. I was going to pretend that I didn't know about the rulings of Dandylion, so I Monster Reborn'd the card from his Graveyard and set TT. Next turn, he entered Battle Phase immediately and attacked the Dandylion. I placed the card in the graveyard, looked up to my opponent and said, "I get the tokens, right?". He explained to me the Dandylion ruling and special summoned two Fluff tokens to his side of the field, making me respond with TT.

I'm getting used to tracking LP with Pen and Paper, so I definitely will try out the "B/E/C" method you explained. I rarely conflict with my opponent with LP, but I will do it as a precaution for my upcoming regionals.

Also CS189, a word of advice. Don't flood your sentences that aren't article related with periods. Messages don't have to contain silence and pauses and it will give the reader impression that you're either inexperienced on a Subject Matter, or just aren't confident in general.

So, in other words, Brighten up!

Cloudstrife 189 · 09-03-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragonMaster2606

Good read man! And did you get banned or something?

No, i didnt get banned. When pojo changed servers a while ago, my account got locked up. I posted in the appropriate forums and pm ed pojo, but there was little they could do. I went a.w.o.l. for a bit but decided to start posting again. I'm happy that you guys welcome me back with open arms. The only sad part is is that I only have 24 post and that my status still says newbie. I'm going to have to fix that.

Additional Comment:

Quote:

Originally Posted by That Blue Boy!

It was a very nice read. I was already aware of nearly all of the material and fundamental theories you covered, but it will be informative to novice players of the sort. My favorite section of the article is the idea of using Bluffs to your advantage.

I remember playing a Monarch player last format. I had a clear field, with my opponent have one Monarch and two monsters out. My lifepoints wouldn't survive another Battle Phase, and I was reduced to Monster Reborn and Torrential Tribute in my hand.

Then I had an idea. I was going to pretend that I didn't know about the rulings of Dandylion, so I Monster Reborn'd the card from his Graveyard and set TT. Next turn, he entered Battle Phase immediately and attacked the Dandylion. I placed the card in the graveyard, looked up to my opponent and said, "I get the tokens, right?". He explained to me the Dandylion ruling and special summoned two Fluff tokens to his side of the field, making me respond with TT.

I'm getting used to tracking LP with Pen and Paper, so I definitely will try out the "B/E/C" method you explained. I rarely conflict with my opponent with LP, but I will do it as a precaution for my upcoming regionals.

Also CS189, a word of advice. Don't flood your sentences that aren't article related with periods. Messages don't have to contain silence and pauses and it will give the reader impression that you're either inexperienced on a Subject Matter, or just aren't confident in general.

So, in other words, Brighten up!

Aye,Aye sir. I will stop with the elispes...(cept for that one lol)