Three Part Series - Deck Building Guide by TLLO Part 1

This guide is focused on deck building: meta and fun decks alike. I think beginners to the game can benefit from advice given on this and hopefully even the experienced members can take something out of this.


Consistency

We can all agree Yu-Gi-Oh is a game of chance, it may look good on anime to see Yugi turn the duel around dramatically with 1 card but let's face it; we're not all Yugi Moto. It is all about statistics (forgive me for bringing this into games but I like maths too much), and I will present you with some numbers I think you'll find interesting (assuming 40 card decks).

15% - The Chance of Opening with 1 exact card
39% - The Chance of Opening with at least 1 copy of a card you run 3 of
49% - The Chance of Opening with at least 1 of 4 target cards
58% - The Chance of Opening with at least 1 of 5 target cards

As you can see, rather that 15% of getting one card it is more consistent to rely on the 39% of drawing one of your three cards. This is why rather than running 1 copy of different cards you like, it's better to focus on 3 copies of 1 card. This exact same principle applies to the 40 card deck rule: the chances of drawing the cards you need are higher, and in this game that is a crucial factor. Unfortunately, despite how important strategy is in the game, it is useless if we can't draw the pieces we need for it. Consistency can be defined of as the flow of the deck; regardless of the situation if the deck flows well then it is consistent.

Ratio

The ratio between your cards is also important. As a general rule I rarely put in more than 20 monsters in a deck (there are certain exceptions of course). The ratio between Monster/Spell/Trap differs between each person and deck but in general it is something like 18/12/10. Like I said this isn't a set formula or rule and everyone's ratio is different, for example spellbooks will run far more spells. However, it is important to keep balance between your cards. You don't want to draw a hand of all monsters with no spell/traps or vice versa, it's all about balance.

Synergy

Another huge aspect of deck building is Synergy; when I look at Yugi's deck I just cringe, it's a mix of random cards. Again, we are not Yugi Moto; we are not blessed by the gods (if you believe in them). Generally, using cards from archetype is a safe way to build decks. If you want to be more creative then when deck building, keep in mind what exactly your deck is trying to achieve. What is the win formula? Will this card work well with the others? These are questions you should always ask yourself.

What many people actually ignore is your play style; whether it be stall, aggro, control. Each deck has its own play style and the cards should support that. Fro example, decks that run aggressively such as Chaos Dragons should not have stall cards in the deck. Make sure your cards support each other and its play style.


Look out for deck building guide part 2 (should be out around next week which will cover other topics such as deck engines!

How is it a 15% chance to get one card in a deck with 40 cards?

Man, statistics are some mean people v.v

Equivalence wrote:How is it a 15% chance to get one card in a deck with 40 cards?

Here is the mathematics behind it.

If you go first your opening hand has 5 cards. So to get one copy of a card it needs to be on of the 5 from 40. 5/40 * 100 = 12.5%.
However if you go second your opening hand has 6 cards. So to get one copy of a card it needs to be one of the 6 from 40. 6/40 * 100 = 15%.

I felt that there would be some confusion if I put two different numbers up so these numbers are only valid if you are going second. Perhaps I should place that in the article.