Hey there! This is GTtheBard/GoldenTyranitar here to help you with building a deck. This is IronChef's Deck Guide that I have edited and updated for Advanced format and the current sets. Whether you're new to the game, returning from a hiatus, or even a veteran player, reading a deck-building guide will always help you with strategies and ideas.
So far your deck is scratch. There are no cards there. Why? Because it would be pointless to build a deck without a goal in mind. This is where the starting point of the deck comes in – the THEME. Every good deck has a good theme. Why? It is because the theme is what the deck is focused on. The deck is built to achieve whatever goal you meant for it to achieve. That goal usually determines your theme. For example, if you want a Chaos deck, the theme can be to summon the Chaos monsters and use them to your advantage.
After deciding on a theme, you must build a deck in which each and every card will help you achieve your goal in the theme. Most competitive decks are 40 cards, and VERY few go over 41 or 42 cards. The fewer cards you have, the more likely it is that you will draw the cards you need when you need them.
There are quite a lot of themes in YGO, many of which are overlooked. Deciding your deck’s theme is the most important step in starting to build a good deck though, so do some research on different themes before you begin to build a deck. A good deck needs focus and having a definite theme is the best way to gain that focus.
So you now have a theme but still no cards in the decklist. Get started by adding cards that are good for pretty much every deck. These cards are called the "staples" and even though the list of these cards is highly debatable, you should at least have a generic idea of the better cards in the metagame. Whenever I start building a deck, I always start with a Generic Staples list. Here is the one I use for English decks:
DECK TITLE
~Monsters~
Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600)
Jinzo (2400/1500)
Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000)
Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)
Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)
Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000)
D.D. Warrior Lady (1500/1600)
Exiled Force (1000/1000)
Sangan (1000/600)
Cyber Jar (900/900)
Morphing Jar (700/600)
Injection Fairy Lily (400/1500)
Magician of Faith (300/400)
Sinister Serpent (300/250)
Spirit Reaper (300/200)
~Magic~
Pot of Greed
Graceful Charity
Premature Burial
Mystical Space Typhoon
Heavy Storm
Delinquent Duo
Lightning Vortex
Snatch Steal
Brain Control
Nobleman of Crossout
Nobleman of Crossout
~Traps~
Mirror Force
Call of the Haunted
Ring of Destruction
Torrential Tribute
TOTAL –
FUSION DECK –
SIDE DECK –
Yes to all you “Pot of Greed is the only staple people”, this is most likely a shock. No, I don’t think all of those cards I just listed are as good as Pot of Greed. But I will always consider each and every one of these cards when building any deck. This is essentially the skeleton for any deck I build. Of course, the majority of the cards listed here will usually get bump out of the deck frequently. Examples include Dark Ruler Ha Des and Injection Fairy Lily. Why certain cards will get bumped out will probably up to personal preference and your deck’s theme. For example, in a Burner, there is next to no use for a Jinzo. You’ll want more thematic cards such as Lava Golem.
That is the next step in building a deck – add theme cards. You’ve already defined your theme and you’ve got the “staples” down, but the “staples” can only go so far. The staples cannot replace the theme of the deck. Those take theme cards. By this I mean cards that add to the goal of the theme. Usually, I’d consider anything that looks good and max it out. For example, Don Zaloog is an excellent Warrior so I’ll max it out when I consider it. Do this for any card that you think might be any good in the deck or contribute to the theme.
After that, it is time to reduce the deck size to hopefully 40 by cutting out cards that just aren’t worth a deck space or not as good as other cards. This is one of the main reasons why Brain Control and Injection Fairy Lily get cut from my deck so frequently. They were just not worth it while better cards were available. Continue to cut out cards in multiples. Think to yourself how many copies of a certain card you need. Do you really want to draw Don Zaloog that badly? Probably not, so maybe lessen it to 1 or 2 in a deck.
Now cutting good cards can be a difficult task and there’s no scale to go by. However, I usually go by several standards: How often do I want to draw it, when do I want it in my hand, how much would it help me in my hand, what is its purpose, do I want to TOPDECK this card in topdeck mode, and how consistent is the card? Now not all cards have the ability to fit all of those standards. Mobius the Frost Monarch is a good example. I would like to often have m/t removal, but not in certain circumstances such as in topdeck mode. Its purpose is of course m/t removal, and it would help me a lot in the hand when I encounter m/t that are tough to deal with and I have a monster to sacrifice. And from experience, I find Mobius to be a fairly consistent card, but there are much better ones to be used most of the time.
Let's say that you've cut all the cards perfectly, and yet you still have space. Maybe you don't want to add a third Blade Knight or another Tribute monster, and you need some supporting cards. This is where Fillers come into play.
I use the term "Filler" loosely. Often times, these cards will see the first draft of decks simply because they are very useful. However, you may not always want to have these cards on hand, and they can be dropped without any real damage to the flow of the deck.
~Fillers~
Card Destruction
Giant Trunade
Swords of Revealing Light
Creature Swap
Smashing Ground
Scapegoat
Book of Moon
Enemy Controller
My Body as a Shield
Monster Reincarnation
Magic Cylinder
Ceasefire
Bottomless Trap Hole
Compulsory Evacuation Device
Raigeki Break
Dust Tornado
Sakuretsu Armor
Threatening Roar
Good Goblin Housekeeping
Sometimes you'll find that "filler" cards will work better than "staple" cards. For example, in a Low Level Deck (a deck that focuses on monsters with less than 4*) often times your monsters will be weaker than the opponent's monsters, so the opponent probably won't set monsters as often as they would if you were using stronger monsters. In this case, Smashing Ground would probably work better than Nobleman of Crossout, simply because you’ll use it more often.
CONSISTENCY is another important factor. In fact, due to consistency, I would rank Waboku high than Torrential Tribute. Yes TT has the better effect, but Waboku is more consistent in having its effect used. Use those standards or add your own when building your deck. However, this is not to dismiss the important concept of CARD ADVANTAGE in Yu-Gi-Oh! Generally, whoever has more resources available should have the advantage in duel. So try for all or most of your cards to give you card advantage or take away your opponent's card advantage.
Another important concept is SPEED. Obviously, if you destroy your opponent faster than they can destroy you, you’ll win. So the deck should generally utilize as much as possible to put you in a favorable position. Keep in mind theme is still important but you’ll also want your deck to be as versatile as possible. Building the first draft of the deck isn’t easy but it is necessary.
After building the deck, test duel it either with another duelist or just by playtesting with YVD or Apprentice. I can use open both YVD and Apprentice and battle each other with me as both of the operators in the simulation.
The point of those tests is to get a feel for the deck in operation. In order to use it well, you have to know the strengths and weaknesses of your deck and tweak the deck accordingly. One of the best ways to do this is to duel against the hardest kind of deck that your deck can face (eg. Chaos decks have a hard time handling Gravekeepers). Then duel against the easiest type of deck you can face. Then adjust your decklist to make up for those weaknesses against the hard deck while still having enough strengths against the easy deck. Now this can be a difficult and often time-consuming process but it is a good way to make the deck. Keep on practicing until you get the deck to a point where you feel really good about it.
