The academic year is finally over and I have about a month to write a few articles before going to upstate New York to work at a camp. My first article will be an article on what many of you here at IG forums know me well for; unique deck building.
There are three kinds of unique decks; concept, base, and support. A support deck is a deck that has specific support like warriors. To build a unique support deck is very difficult; you need to use cards"¦ or concepts not typically used. One thing you need to remember about unique decks is that they are only unique till everyone else uses them... catch 22 I believe the term is. Some thoughts that come to mind when I think of a unique support deck is insect, normal weenie monster, or a fiend deck based around Goblin King. You know you're ready to make this deck when you think something along the lines of "I should try that deck out" or "I wonder if that deck would work".
A base deck is a deck where you go through all the sets and you come across a card that makes you think to yourself "I could build a deck around this card". Some of these decks, like Last Turn and Skill Drain, have become mainstream and are not considered unique for this reason. Other cards that come to my mind are Chaos Necromancer, Gren Maju Da Eiza, Bad Reaction to Simochi, Final Attack Orders, Labyrinth of Nightmare, Final Countdown, Stumbling, Destiny Board, Fire Princess, Reversal Quiz"¦ I'm sure there are more, I'm just not aware of them all. You know you're ready to make this kind of deck when you think to yourself "I could make a deck around this card".
The third, and most creative deck, someone can make is a concept deck. A concept deck is a deck that is not based around a card or any specific support. You come up with a concept and you"¦ put a deck together. Perhaps the best (and most mainstream) example is a high level monster deck. Someone had the idea to make a deck with a lot of high level monsters so they started out with high level monsters and found cards that bring them out easily; cards like Reasoning, Monster Gate, A Hero Emerges, and Spirit Reaper as tributes. Then that person threw in some staples, play tested the deck and tweaked it accordingly. Some other decks that come to mind are deck-out (also know as mill) and morph (fusion). As a side note I have tried a monster control deck myself. You know you're ready to make this kind of deck when you think to yourself "I want to make a deck that does "“fill in the blank-". I've been working on a deck designed to piss off my opponent; I know its working because some duelists just scoop after a few turns.
As many of you know, I have built a deck based around Secret Barrel; I load up my opponent's hand by using Cyber Jar multiple times and ending the game with x3 Secret Barrels. Inspiration can strike you at any time, Chaos emperor dragon is what inspired my deck idea, it (my idea) remained dormant until I found out about Secret Barrel. If you have something similar to that stuck in your head I encourage you to make the deck and tweak it until it works (no matter how long it takes).
When making a unique deck research every set thoroughly, even old sets. Read every single card, even if you already know what it does. No card is off limits when making something different because the point is to use something or do something no one else does. There really isn't much else I can do to help the reader of this article come up with a unique deck idea, something like that has to come from the reader. This article is intended for three things: a guide, an inspiration, and to get the gears turning. Good luck and don't give up.
There are three kinds of unique decks; concept, base, and support. A support deck is a deck that has specific support like warriors. To build a unique support deck is very difficult; you need to use cards"¦ or concepts not typically used. One thing you need to remember about unique decks is that they are only unique till everyone else uses them... catch 22 I believe the term is. Some thoughts that come to mind when I think of a unique support deck is insect, normal weenie monster, or a fiend deck based around Goblin King. You know you're ready to make this deck when you think something along the lines of "I should try that deck out" or "I wonder if that deck would work".
A base deck is a deck where you go through all the sets and you come across a card that makes you think to yourself "I could build a deck around this card". Some of these decks, like Last Turn and Skill Drain, have become mainstream and are not considered unique for this reason. Other cards that come to my mind are Chaos Necromancer, Gren Maju Da Eiza, Bad Reaction to Simochi, Final Attack Orders, Labyrinth of Nightmare, Final Countdown, Stumbling, Destiny Board, Fire Princess, Reversal Quiz"¦ I'm sure there are more, I'm just not aware of them all. You know you're ready to make this kind of deck when you think to yourself "I could make a deck around this card".
The third, and most creative deck, someone can make is a concept deck. A concept deck is a deck that is not based around a card or any specific support. You come up with a concept and you"¦ put a deck together. Perhaps the best (and most mainstream) example is a high level monster deck. Someone had the idea to make a deck with a lot of high level monsters so they started out with high level monsters and found cards that bring them out easily; cards like Reasoning, Monster Gate, A Hero Emerges, and Spirit Reaper as tributes. Then that person threw in some staples, play tested the deck and tweaked it accordingly. Some other decks that come to mind are deck-out (also know as mill) and morph (fusion). As a side note I have tried a monster control deck myself. You know you're ready to make this kind of deck when you think to yourself "I want to make a deck that does "“fill in the blank-". I've been working on a deck designed to piss off my opponent; I know its working because some duelists just scoop after a few turns.
As many of you know, I have built a deck based around Secret Barrel; I load up my opponent's hand by using Cyber Jar multiple times and ending the game with x3 Secret Barrels. Inspiration can strike you at any time, Chaos emperor dragon is what inspired my deck idea, it (my idea) remained dormant until I found out about Secret Barrel. If you have something similar to that stuck in your head I encourage you to make the deck and tweak it until it works (no matter how long it takes).
When making a unique deck research every set thoroughly, even old sets. Read every single card, even if you already know what it does. No card is off limits when making something different because the point is to use something or do something no one else does. There really isn't much else I can do to help the reader of this article come up with a unique deck idea, something like that has to come from the reader. This article is intended for three things: a guide, an inspiration, and to get the gears turning. Good luck and don't give up.
