About Damien Carey Expertise I can answer questions about rulings and I will do deck fixes in the Advanced format. However any question concerning deck fixes must include the deck's strategy, or the goal you are ultimately trying to achieve. Sure i could just churn out cloned decks simply because they bear a resemblance to the deck you are trying to produce, but where is the fun in that? My specific areas of expertise centre around Dark World, Gadgets, Monarchs, Chimeratech, Cyberdarks, Warriors and Crystal Beasts.
I am a moderator on the new site www.freewebs.com/icaruswing under the name Pinion (pegasus-pinion) and if i am maxed out here then you can try me there.
Experience I'm a Level One Judge and I have been playing Yugioh since 2000. However i took an extended leave of absence in 2004 and only returned to the game in July 2006.
Publications I post my own articles on my bebo site, which are available for anybody to view.
Education/Credentials I have been out of University where I studied Computer Game Design, for the last three years.
Awards and Honors Since returning to the game i have attended every tournament possible. I am averaging between 4th and 8th place but i seem to be improving. I recently came 25/164 in the Irish Nationals. and 1 took 2nd Place at the Force of Breaker Sneak Preview
Question Here is the deck, then I will try to explain the goal of my strategy:
Monsters (22)
Blindly Loyal Goblin
Command Knight x2
Cyber Dragon x2
D. D. Warrior Lady
Disciple of the Forbidden Spell
Elemental Hero Wildheart x2
Exiled Force x3
Gearfried the Iron Knight
Goblin Attack Force
Marauding Captain x2
Mystic Swordsman LV2
Mystic Swordsman LV4
Sangan
Spirit Reaper
Tenkabito Shien
Treeborn Frog
Spells (12)
Fissure
Fusion Sword Murasami Blade
Heavy Storm
Lightning Vortex
Mystical Space Typhoon
Nobleman of Crossout
Snatch Steal
Pot of Avarice
Reinforcement of the Army x2
Reload
Swords of Revealing Light
Traps (6)
Call of the Haunted
Royal Decree
Sakuretsu Armor x2
Trap Hole x2
The main goal of my strategy is short and simple swarming. I want to be able to maintain useful card advantage (low traps with royal decree is part of that) and keep my opponent guessing what my strategy is. I also need some ideas for a side deck to go with it to counter a D.D explosion/warrior deck and the gadgets or other popular metagame strategies.
If it isn't too much hassle, could you also give me some pointers on building a deck besides just knowing your strategy and what decks you run against?
Thanks for the help.
William
Answer I'll start with your last question and work backwards.
DeckBuilding 101:
When Building a deck the first thing you have to take into consideration, and this is more important then anything else anyone will tell you, is what cards 'speak' to you. Yugi and Jaden might be speaking a load of twaddle when they speak about the 'Heart of the Cards' but in watching many duelists out there i do find that most of them do seem to work best when they find a deck or a theme that speaks to their individuality.
For example. Up until recently my friend and I were both playing redically different decks. He was playing Dark World and I was playing Gadgets. We had most of the cards for these decks when we started out so they were the easiest to put together. that was why we built them. We spent months working on them and when we were finished we had two of the most mathematically perfect versions of those decks out there.
And we had our asses handed to us over and over again.
Unsure of the reason why for this we sought help from many areas and found many experts telling us the same thing - we should be doing better.
It wasn't until recently when we played a 'Reverse match' a match were players switch there decks with each other and play with a deck they have never played before that we made a startling discovery. Our opponents used our decks against us with an efficiency we simply had never been able to.
It wasn't that we didnt know all the card strategies or the combos. We just didnt have that 'feel' for the cards that you get when your playing with the deck your supposed to.
Due to that event my firena and i researched all the different deck types, we looked at all the card pictures and we chose new decks. My friend chose the Six Samurai. He is you see a sword collector, an archaeology student and studyinh japanese culture. The Six Samurai deck 'Spoke' to him. He spent time and money putting it together and he has not been beaten since.
I defied all forms of logic by switching from Gadget to Crystal Beasts. Again because the cards spoke to me and i went from a Top 8 player to a Top 2 player.
Was my gadget deck better then my Crystal beast deck? Definitely butit's the beasts that let me win.
I know all that sounds a bit strange and many people will disagree. These people will be especially cynical top eight players who believe in only playing cards that show speed and performance. Players that do not believe in deck themes and are only ever concerned with winning.
When you are getting ready to make a new deck. Ask yourself these questions:
1) why do i play Yugioh?
If your in it to win it then cast aside any notions of using cards you like or of having fun. You will need to construct your deck like a soldier and only use cards that have shown time and again that they work. You will need to steel yourself against loss and become ruthless to your opponent while playing him, regardless of whether it is at home or at a torunament. There can be no friendly matches only practice.
On the other hand if you play Yugioh for the fun, excitement and thrill of playing and if you take away new skills and strategy away from every loss as well as every win then build a deck that reflects you as a person. What cards best define you? And from there each win and loss will tell you how to shape and refine your deck until it will be a reflection of you and a tournament ready deck
2) What is my Strategy?
When you have chosen a theme or lack of one then move on to strategy. A strategy will be often chosen for you in the theme you have chosen. For exmple Gagdets Swarm, Crystal Beasts Abundance OTK, Demise OTK etc.
3) What are the contradiction?
After choosing your cards carefully you must keep an eye out for contradictions. For example Pot of Avarice is a Must have card unless you play Dark Necrofear or Overload Fusions. These cards contradict each other and could cost you a game. Once all contradictory cards have been replaced or removed your deck will run fluidly
4) Remove Situational cards
Cards that can only be activated during certain circumstances need to be carefully wayed and removed if found too difficult to use. For example Volcanic Doomfire is a 3000 atk monster with an amazing effect but i would be more than a little surprised if any one actually managed to summon him in an official game.
5) Weakness
Your side deck is there to cover your decks weaknesses or to use against certain OTK kill decks. Dteremine your decks major weakness and build a side deck that first of all covers this flaw if necessary and secondly defend you against dire threats
i hope this has helped.
Now the deck fix.
You say your main strategy is swarming? Well the best warrior deck for swarming is the six samurai. However i will make a swarming warrior deck without them.
This warrior deck uses Cyber Dragon and Marauding Captain to swarm but also uses Stratos to get Elemental hero Ocean or Wildheart to your Hand. Use reinforcement of the army on Ocean Summon him and get another E-hero to your hand. Here you go. The favourite thing about this deck is using Stratos to get Ocean. Then between the two of them they keep bringing each other back to the field. also I put United we stand and mage power in here. I dont approve of equip spells except when equipped to wildheart as he is a little harder to kill when he attacks and generally lives slightly longer than most monsters.
Spells(14)
2x Reinforcement of the army
2x Smashing Ground/ Fissure
1x United We Stand
1x Mage Power
1x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Heavy Storm
1x Scapegoat
1x Premature Burial
1x Snatch Steal
1x Pot Of Avarice
1x Nobleman Of Crossout
1x Confiscation
Traps(6)
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Mirror Force
1x Ring of Destruction
3x Sakuretsu Armor
The trap line up is standard but three sakurestus could be dropped for Three Royal Decrees. personally though i think suping up Wildheart can be even better and Ocean can keep bringing him back to your hand.
