Deck Building Guide - Guide for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus

Deck Building Guide
Version 1.00
By: Chris Schalk

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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Basic Deck Strategies [#BDS]
3. General Deck Building Tips [#GDBT]
4. The Deck Building Process - Archetype  [#DBPA]
  a. Selecting a Focus
  b. The Core of the Deck
  c. The Higher Level Monsters
  d. Additional Support
  e. Trap Cards and Completed Deck
  f. Finishing the Deck
  g. Determining the Number of Copies of Each Card
  h. Paths not Taken
5. Common Deck Building Pitfalls  [#CDBP]
  a. Having too many cards in your deck
  b. No focus
  c. Deck is not focused enough
  d. Overdoing the theme
  e. Normal Monsters
  f. Equip Spells
  g. Reload, Magical Mallet, and Card Trader
  h. Cards that don't fit the deck's focus
  i. Situational Cards
  j. Monsters with Summoning Conditions
  k. Poor Ratio of Monsters, Spells, and Traps
  l. Magic Cylinder
  m. Not filling up the Extra Deck
  n. Dark Bribe
6. General Support Cards  [#GSC]
7. Legal Info
8. Contact Info
9. Credits


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Version History
=======================================

Version 1.00 - First full version. Basic Deck Strategies, General Deck Building
               Tips, The Deck Building Process - Archetype, Common Deck
               Building Pitfalls, and General Support Cards added. (05/25/2011)

Version 1.01 - Fixed a minor error regarding the strategy applications of a
               card. (05/26/2011)

Version 1.02 - Fixed a few more minor errors and typos. (06/02/2011)


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1. Introduction
=======================================

This guide is designed for newer players that are familiar with the basic
rules of Yu-Gi-Oh and would like to try their hand at building their own decks.
I have critiqued many decks on the Yu-Gi-Oh message boards over the years.
Time and time again I have seen newer players making many of the same mistakes.
It's not their fault, they're just new to the game. That is why I have chosen
to write this guide, to help newer new players become better deck builders. 
In this guide, I will take you through the deck building process from start
to finish, and then you will be on your way to making your own successful
decks.

I have also added reference tags next to the main sections in the table of
contents. Now, all you have to do is use ctrl + f, type in the reference tag,
and it'll take you to that section of the guide.

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2. Basic Deck Strategies   [#BDS]
=======================================

There are several different types of stategies a deck can implement. These
strategies are basically how a deck will play, and how a deck plans to win.

a. Swarm or Aggressive

This type of strategy is pretty straightforward. The goal of this type of deck
is to swarm your opponent with more monsters than they can handle. This type
of deck often has many ways of special summoning monsters, or getting more
monsters from the deck. A swarm deck will usually pack some removal spells
to clear away anything that is stopping your monsters from running over the
opponent. The main goal is to win as quickly as possible, giving your
opponent very little time to do anything.


b. Control

This type of deck likes to win by card advantage, or basically having more
cards than the opponent. Control decks will usually pack a lot of removal
cards, and quite often some form of making the opponent discard. Once the
control player has gained enough card advantage, it's basically a walk in
the park to win a duel. If you have 4 cards in your hand, while your opponent
only has 1, chances are you are going to win, even if your opponent still has
8000 life points, just due to the fact that you have more cards. More cards
give you more options while playing, and having more options than your
opponent can really put your opponent in an uphill battle.


c. OTK (One Turn Kill)

OTK decks aim to use a certain combination of cards that will let them win
in a single turn by dealing 8000 or more points of damage. A great example of
this is to summon Armed Samurai - Ben Kei, who gains additional attacks based
on how many equip spells are equipped to him. Equip cards such as Mage Power,
Axe of Despair, and United We Stand not only increase his attack power, but
increase the number of times he can attack. With these equip cards attached
to Ben Kei, it becomes easy to attack for more than 8000 damage in a single
turn.


d. Stall or Low-Level

Stall decks will use cards like Level Limit-Area B, Gravity Bind, and Messenger
of Peace in an attempt to stop the opponent from attacking. From there, a stall
deck can use a number of methods to winning, including low-level monsters that
can still attack, burn, deck-out, or an alternative winning method (such as
Final Countdown).


e. Burn

Usually combined with stall cards, burn decks will use cards that inflict
direct damage to the opponent. One of the most popular win cards for a burn
deck is Wave-Motion Cannon, but there are a variety of other burn cards as
well. There are also monster that have effects to inflict direct damage, such
as Des Koala and Stealth Bird.


f. Deck-Out

If you try to draw a card, but there are no cards left in your deck, you lose
the game. A deck-out strategy tries to make that happen to your opponent.
Necroface, Morphing Jar, Needle Worm, and Morphing Jar #2 are all popular
choices for this type of deck. It is also not uncommon that a few stall cards
show up in this type of deck either.


g. Alternative Winning Methods

There are a handfull of cards that will let you win the game when certain
conditions are met. These cards will have the entire deck based around meeting
those conditions in order to win. Here's a list of the alternative win cards:

Destiny Board
Exodia, the Forbidden One
Exodius, the Ultimate Forbidden Lord
Final Countdown
Last Turn (this card is currently banned)
Vennominaga, the Deity of Poisonous Snakes


==================================================
3. General Deck Building Tips         [#GDBT]
==================================================

a. Keep your deck as close to 40 cards as possible

This tip is based on basic principles of statistics. The fewer the cards in
your deck, the greater the chance it is for you to draw the card you need, when
you need it. Having a 40 card deck will also increase your deck's consistency,
meaning you'll be able to pull off the main combos or summon your most
important monsters on a regular basis.


b. Include multiple copies of key cards

This goes hand-in-hand with the previous tip. If your deck is focused on the
Gravekeeper archetype, Necrovalley will be one of your main cards. Including 3
copies of Necrovalley in your deck will give you better chances of drawing
Necrovalley as soon as possible.


c. Start with the staples

When you first begin building a deck, there are a few cards you should
consider. I like to call these cards staples. The staples are generally good
cards that can easily fit into almost every deck. You don't need a good reason
to include these cards in your deck. Rather, you would need a good reason NOT
to include the staples in your deck. Opinions may vary, but I find the cards
listed below to be very splashable and are strong supportive cards to add into
nearly all of my decks.

Monster Reborn
Dark Hole
Torrential Tribute
Mirror Force
Solemn Judgment
Mystical Space Typhoon

Torrential Tribute, Dark Hole, and Mirror Force have the potential to destroy
multiple monsters, giving you card advantage. Having more cards than your
opponent means you'll have more options, and having more options gives you a
better chance of winning.

Monster Reborn may not generate card advantage, but being able to summon any
monster from either graveyard can be a game swinging effect. Mystical Space
Typhoon is a 1-for-1 card trade, but getting rid of your opponent's trap card
before they can use it can help your game plan from being disrupted. MST can
also eliminate a key continuous spell/trap card that your opponent relys on.
Since MST is a quick-play spell, it can find a home in almost any deck.

Solemn Judgment is a card that can make or break you. It has the power to stop
almost anything at the cost of half your life points. Half your lp may seems
like a big cost (especially on the first couple turns of a game), but on the
bright side, it's a cost you will always be able to pay. Solemn Judgment can
be used to stop your opponent's key play, preventing them from winning. It can
also be used to stop an opponent's trap card that would otherwise wreck your
strategy (ex. Mirror Force). However, using Solemn Judgment at a bad time
could cost you the game, so be sure to use it wisely.


d. Keep your deck focused

The first thing you should do when building a new deck is to select the focus
for the deck. You can choose to focus on an archetype such as Six Samurai, or
you can focus on summoning a specific high power monster such as Stardust
Dragon/Assault Mode. Your deck could also be focused on a general strategy
such as burn or deck-out. Pick something that you want your deck to do on a
game-to-game basis, and build your deck to accomplish that. Consistency is the
key here, you want your deck to be able to do what it was meant to do, as much
as possible.


e. Extra deck staples

The extra deck is separate from your main deck, and is responsible for holding
all your fusion and synchro monsters. The extra deck is limited to 15 cards,
and it's recommended that you fill all 15 slots. Since the extra deck is
separate from your main deck, there's no penalty for maximizing your extra
deck. Even if you don't have any tuner monsters in your deck to perform synchro
summons, you never know when you could play Monster Reborn to revive your
opponent's tuner monster and synchro summon a monster that would greatly
benefit you.

Below is a list of the synchro monsters that are included in most
extra decks, and what makes them good. Not all of them could be included in
every extra deck, and others will need to be replaced for theme specific
synchros, such as Blackwing Armor Master. This list should give you a good
start on how to fill up your extra deck.


Ally of Justice Catastor

This 5-star synchro monster instantly destroys any non-dark monster that tries
to battle with it, no matter who declared the attack. This is great for
removing troublesome monsters in a pinch. And with 2200 attack, he can take out
a nice chunk of your opponent's life points.


Arcanite Magician

A 7-star synchro monster that can blow up two cards. Sounds like a pretty
decent deal. 400 attack afterwards may seem low, but that does give Arcanite
Magician the ability to dodge Bottomless Trap Hole. This card gets better use
in a deck focused on spell counters, but otherwise will often be replaced by
a theme specific synchro.


Armory Arm

It doesn't look very impressive at first, but as one of the few (or only)
4-star synchro monsters, it does have a few niche uses. In addition to boosting
another sychro's attack power to win battles, Armory Arm can be used as a
synchro material monster himself. This can become useful if you have a tuner
monster that's on the field, and you have the ability to return that tuner
from the graveyard to play. First, you can synchro summon Armory Arm, revive
your tuner monster, and then use Armory Arm to synchro summon into a higher
level synchro monster.


Black Rose Dragon

This 7-star synchro monster gives you the option to nuke the field upon its
summoning. This effect can be highly useful if your opponent has a lot of
cards on their field, or if you're in a tight spot. Black Rose Dragon is a
monster you almost always want to have 1-of in your extra deck.


Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

2300 Attack for a 6-star synchro is just short of being great, but the real use
for Brionac comes from his ability. By discarding a card, you can return a card
on the field to its owner's hand. This can be helpful by clearing your
opponent's field, letting you attack directly for victory, or can even return
opposing synchro/fusion monsters back to the extra deck. (Remember, a synchro
monster can never be in your hand, returning it to the hand puts it back in
the extra deck.)


Chimeratech Fortress Dragon

Ok, this one isn't a synchro monster, but it does have a place as an extra
deck staple. You can summon CFD by using your opponent's Cyber Dragon and
machine type monsters as well, which is why it deserves to be mentioned here.


Dark End Dragon

This 8-star synchro monster requires dark type monsters to synchro summon,
making it a little more restrictive. However, Dark End Dragon can help clear
out your opponent's monsters, and has decent attack strength, even after using
its effect once.


Formula Synchron

As a 2-star synchro monster, he isn't for every deck to pull off. But for the
decks that can synchro summon Formula Synchro, he is amazing, drawing you a
card, and giving you the option to synchro summon on your opponent's turn.
This gives you time to wait and see what synchro monster would be best for you
to summon, making it a great asset.


Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth

A 6-star synchro with 2600 attack and no effect doesn't seem like much, but
Gaia Knight has its uses. 2600 attack lets it run over most other 6 star or
less monsters, most notably the Monarchs. His attack power also let's him beat
Stardust Dragon in battle.


Goyo Guardian

A 6-star synchro with 2800 attack and an ability that lets me steal opponent's
monsters that he destroyed in battle. This makes Goyo Guardian arguably one
of the best synchro monsters out there.


Mist Wurm

Much like Brionac, Mist Wurm returns cards from the hand to the field. A 9-star
synchro may be harder to pull off, and you do have use at least 3 monsters to
synchro summon it, but the effect can be rewarding in the right situation.
However, these drawbacks make Mist Wurm one of those cards that is replaced
with a theme specific synchro.


Naturia Beast

This 5-star synchro monster requires an earth attribute tuner and earth
monsters to synchro summon, making it more restrictive in its uses. However,
the benefits gained make it worth mentioning. Naturia Beast can negate your
opponent's spells, at the "cost" of putting the top 2 cards from your deck into
the graveyard. This effect actually gains you card advantage, and can also
set up your graveyard for other effects.


Red Dragon Archfiend

As an 8-star synchro with 3000 attack is not a bad deal, especially when you
combo it with an effect that destroys your opponent's defense position
monsters. This will stop your opponent from hiding behind that Marshmallon or
Spirit Reaper. Unfortunatly, being an 8-star synchro, Red Dragon Archfiend is
often left competing for extra deck space against Stardust Dragon and theme
specific synchros.


Scrap Dragon

This 8-star synchro has good power with 2800 attack, but its real value comes
from its first ability. Once per turn, you can destroy one card you control,
and one card your opponent controls. Destroy your own Dandylion or Card
Trooper, and you're not losing any card advantage.


Stardust Dragon

This in an 8-star synchro that is arguably one of the best synchros in the
game. With his ability, you can negate any card that tries to destroy any of
your cards, and then your Stardust Dragon revives itself automatically during
the end phase. His 2500 attack can be difficult to overcome when he stops
anything with a destroy effect. Decks that run Starlight Road or have an
easier time making 8-star synchros will often put 2-3 Stardust Dragons in their
extra deck.


Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

As a 9-star synchro monster requiring a minimum of 3 monsters to synchro
tummon, it may be rare for typical deck to summon Trishula, but on the
occassion you do, it's a powerhouse. Upon summoning, you get to remove from
play a card in your opponent's hand, field, AND graveyard. On top of that,
Trishula has a hefty 2700 attack. It may be difficult to summon in a deck that
isn't specifically desinged to summon 9-star synchro monsters, but when you
do get that opportunity, you'll want be sure Trishula is in your extra deck.


==================================================
4. The Deck Building Process - Archetype  [#DBPA]
==================================================

a. Selecting a Focus

In this section, I'll use an archetype, or a group of cards with something in
common, as the focus. Some examples of archetypes include Elemental Heros,
Crystal Beasts, and Six Samurai. For this exercise, I'll focus on the Gusto
archetype.


b. The Core of the Deck

Now that we've selected a focus, the next thing I like to do is look at the
main monsters we'll be using. More specifically, I like to start by looking at
the 4-star or less monsters, as these monsters will generally be the most
readily available monsters for us to summon during a duel. For that reason, I
like to call this the core of the deck. Since we're going to be seeing them a
lot, it's important to look at them and know what they do, and how they can
support the other monsters of the deck.

Gusto Egul, Gusto Skwirl, and Gusto Gulldo are the tuner monsters we'll be
using, ranging from 1 to 3 stars. Egul and Gulldo have effects that summon
other Gusto monsters from our deck when they're destroyed in battle. Gusto
Skwirl can summon higher level monsters with his effect, but it's a bit more
difficult to pull off, since Skwirl has to be destroyed by a card effect. For
this reason, I'm only going to start off with 2 Skwirls in the deck.

Next we have Gusto Thunbolt and Wynnda, Priestess of Gusto, which can also
special summon more Gusto monsters from our deck when they're destroyed in
battle. And finally, we have Caam, Serenity of Gusto, that can return 2 Gusto
monsters in our graveyard back into our deck to let us draw a card.

Ok, so what do we have here? We have a bunch of cards that like to be destroyed
in battle, and some that let us put those monsters back into our deck. This
gives our deck the potential to cycle through a lot of our cards in a short
time, and to fill our graveyards with Gusto monsters. Being able to search our
deck and special summon other Gusto monsters of our choosing give this
strategy some versality, in the sense that we can have whatever monster we need
when we need it.

Another thing to note is that all of the Gustos the like being destroyed all
have 1500 Attack or less, and all the Gustos are wind attribute monsters. This
gives us the option to use Flying Kamakiri #1, the wind elemental searcher,
who also likes being destroyed in battle. Now we have a boatload of things that
want to be destroyed in battle, now we just need a way to make that happen
more profitably. Enter Creature Swap. This allows us to give our opponent our
low powered Gusto monster in exchange for a monster of their choosing. The
switch is permanent, and if your opponent only has one monster, there's really
no choice. Then, we can attack the Gusto monster we just gave them, and since
the destroyed monster goes to our graveyard, we get to activate its effect,
and summon another Gusto monster from our deck.

Let's take a look at our current deck list, after adding in the core monsters
and staples

-------------------------------------------
Gusto Deck

Monsters - 19
3 Gusto Egul
3 Gusto Gulldo
2 Gusto Skwirl
3 Gusto Thunbolt
3 Wynnda, Priestess of Gusto
3 Caam, Serenity of Gusto
2 Flying Kamakiri #1

Spells - 7
3 Creature Swap
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
2 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps - 3
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute

Total so far - 29
-------------------------------------------


c. The Higher Level Monsters

Now that we have the core monsters down and our main strategy assembled, now
we should take a look at any tribute, synchro, fusion, or ritual monsters
that are part of the Gusto archetype. First we have 2 tribute monsters, Reeze,
Whirlwind of Gusto, and Windaar, Sage of Gusto. First, Reeze has us return
a card from our hand to the bottom of our deck to give us another creature
swap effect, which is always welcome here. Windaar can revive one of our Gusto
monsters when he destroys an opponent's monster in battle, which can be useful
to start up another Gusto chain of cycling or for setting up a synchro summon.
Both monsters are psychic types that can be special summoned from the deck with
Gusto Thunbolt. Also, given the nature of our core monsters, we generaly don't
want to tribute for these two. Given these two reasons, I'm going to put only
one of each in the deck for now.

On to the synchro monsters, where we find Daigusto Eguls, Daigusto Sphreeze,
and Daigusto Gulldo. Eguls can remove a wind monster from our graveyard to
destroy a face down once per turn, not bad. Gulldo is a 5-star synchro that
can return 2 Gusto monsters from our graveyard to our deck to destroy a face
up monster. Pretty cool, and he fits right in with the recycling theme we have
going on. 

I find Sphreeze to be really interesting. Upon synchro summoning, we
can return a Gusto monster from our graveyard to our hand. On top of that, our
opponent now takes all battle damage from battles involving our Gusto monsters.
This can create some crazy shenanigans if our opponent has a face up attack
position monster. Summon Gusto Gulldo, attack your opponent's monster, they
take the battle damage, you summon another Gusto from your deck. Rinse and
repeat.

It's safe to say we'll want at least 1-2 copies of each of these monsters, so
with that in mind, here's the updated decklist.

-------------------------------------------
Gusto Deck

Monsters - 21
3 Gusto Egul
3 Gusto Gulldo
2 Gusto Skwirl
3 Gusto Thunbolt
3 Wynnda, Priestess of Gusto
3 Caam, Serenity of Gusto
2 Flying Kamakiri #1
1 Windaar, Sage of Gusto
1 Reeze,Whirlwind of Gusto

Spells - 7
3 Creature Swap
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
2 Mystical Space Typhoon

Traps - 3
1 Mirror Force
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Torrential Tribute

Extra Deck - 6
2 Daigusto Eguls
2 Daigusto Sphreeze
2 Daigusto Gulldo

Total so far - 31
-------------------------------------------

d. Additional Support

Ok, so we still have room for some more cards in the deck. There are a couple
more Gusto support cards to evaluate. Contact with Gusto returns 2 Gusto
monsters from our graveyard to our deck to let us destroy a card of our
choosing. Destroying cards is always nice, and it also fits in with the
recycling strategy.

Then there's Blessings for Gusto, a trap card that returns 2 Gusto monsters
from our graveyard to our deck to let us revive another Gusto monster in our
graveyard. This is not a card I want to be adding to the deck. How did I come
to that conclusion? Lets take a closer look at what the card does. Sure, it's
a card that is a part of the Gusto archetype, but the card actually works
against our main focus. First off, it requires 3 Gusto monsters in our
graveyard to activate (2 to return to the deck, and 1 to summon).

Even though our theme is centered around recycling, 3 Gusto monsters in the
graveyard is asking for a lot. All of the other recycling cards so far only
require 1 or 2 Gusto monsters in the graveyard to activate. On top of that, we
already have a number of recycling effects, adding too many could create
conflicts during a duel, in which Blessings for Gusto is competing to be used
before Contact with Gusto, Reeze, and Daigusto Gulldos, among other cards.
However, the thing that hurts Blessings for Gusto the most is that is special
summons from the graveyard. Our core strategy involves summoning more monsters
from our deck in order to fill up our graveyard to use other effects. Summoning
from our graveyard goes against this strategy.

(On a side note, Windaar does indeed also summon monsters from the graveyard.
But unlike Blessings for Gusto, Windaar doesn't require 3 Gusto monsters in
the graveyard to be used.)

Our central strategy does involve filling up our graveyard, so this would be
a great place to put the Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter and Charge of the Light
Brigade as a milling engine.

Another thing to note is that our 3 Gusto synchro monsters are all psychic
type, meaning we can easily slip in a Miracle Synchro Fusion to our main deck
and an Ultimate Axon Kicker to our extra deck. This gives the deck more power,
and a great late game finisher monster. 

This would also be the time to fill up the rest of the extra deck with other
extra deck staples. With all the synchro summoning going on and stealing our
opponent's monsters with Creature Swap, Mind Control fits right in. With Mind
Control, we can take our opponent's monster to use for our own synchro summon.


e. Trap Cards and Completed Deck

Well, since our deck is not dependant on any archetype specific traps, that
gives us a couple options when it comes to the trap line-up. We can go with a
traditional trap line-up of Solemn Judgment, Bottomless Trap Hole/Solemn
Warning, Torrential Tribute, Mirror Force, etc. This would be completly
acceptable, but there is another valid option I'd like to point out.

Our main strategy involves having our monsters destroyed in battle. We want
our monsters to be in combat as much as possible. Card like Mirror Force and
Torrential Tribute kinda go against this theme. Sure, there are some monsters
we need to destroy, and we have other effects that destroy monsters. But we
don't want to destroy monsters so much that our Gusto monsters are never
involved in combat. So instead of the traditional trap line-up, we can kinda
forgo traps alltogether by using 3 Royal Decrees. This would also stop all of
monster destruction traps our opponent is using as well, and would keep our
Gusto monsters in combat more often.

Well, we have one last slot to fill in the deck, and for that, I'm going to
add in Giant Trunade, since it also fits with the strategy of keeping opposing
traps off the field and letting our Gusto monsters combat. It's also useful for
setting up a turn where we make a big play and we don't want our opponent's
traps to spoil our plans.

Here's the final decklist after putting everything together:

-------------------------------------------
Gusto Deck

Monsters - 24
3 Gusto Egul
3 Gusto Gulldo
2 Gusto Skwirl
3 Gusto Thunbolt
3 Wynnda, Priestess of Gusto
3 Caam, Serenity of Gusto
2 Flying Kamakiri #1
1 Windaar, Sage of Gusto
1 Reeze,Whirlwind of Gusto
3 Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter

Spells - 13
3 Creature Swap
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
2 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Charge of the Light Brigade
2 Contact with Gusto
1 Miracle Synchro Fusion
1 Mind Control
1 Giant Trunade

Traps - 3
3 Royal Decree

Extra Deck - 15
2 Daigusto Eguls
2 Daigusto Sphreeze
2 Daigusto Gulldo
1 Ultimate Axon Kicker
1 Ally of Justice Catastor
1 Goyo Gaurdian
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Red Dragon Archfiend
1 Scrap Dragon

Total - 40
-------------------------------------------


f. Finishing the Deck

Ok, we have our 40 card deck, so are we finished? The answer is no. The next
step is to take the newly made deck and play a handful of duels with it.
After playing several games, make adjustments you feel are necessary. I would
recommend that you ask yourself the following questions:

Did I win or lose most of my games?
If I lost, what caused me to lose?
If I won, what were the main cards that lead to the victory?
Were there any cards that sat in my hand doing nothing, for whatever reason?
Were there any cards that did not have as large of an impact on a duel as
expected?
Are there any cards previously excluded that I'd like to try out?

By answers those questions, you can now make adjustments to your deck. The
next step is... you guessed it, play another handful of games with your deck,
and repeat this process again. Deck building is a continuous process of making
minor adjustments based on your duel results and personal preferences until
you are satisfied with the deck.


g. Determining the Number of Copies of Each Card

A common issue in deck building is figuring out how many of each card you
should add to your deck. There's no clear cut answer for this, and sometimes
the only way to determine this is to play a handful of games. Even then, the
difference between having 2 copies of a given card versus having 3 copies may
all come down to a personal preference between different players, and neither
is right or wrong. However, if you are struggling to determine how many copies
of a card to have, try asking yourself the following questions:

How important is the card to the central focus?
How often do you want to draw the card?
What are the conditions to playing the card, and how easy are these conditions
met? (A condition can be anything required to take place before you play the
card. For instance, Mystical Space Typhoon has the condition of having another
spell/trap card on the field that you want destroyed.)
How often will the card be a dead card?

After answering those questions, if you are still unsure, I would recommend
starting with 2 copies. This should be enough where you will draw it on a
regular basis, so at least the card will be in your hand, but won't overwhelm
you. Then play a handful of games and evaluate the card in question again. Be
sure to pay attention to how much the card supported your main theme, and how
often you were able to play the card when you drew it.

Building a deck is a continuous process, so don't be afraid of tweaking your
deck time and time again. Having a card with 2 copies may seem to work out
great, so you may want to try 3. Then, after testing the deck again, you find
that 3 is too much, and the card is sometimes a dead draw. Or maybe your deck
has changed so much that 2 copies is now too many, so you want to bring it
down to 1 or even remove it from your deck completely.


h. Paths not Taken

The Gusto archetype provides us with many deckbuilding options. The exercise
above just showed one way to build a Gusto deck, but there are multiple other
ideas that could lead the deck on a different path. I like to call these paths
not taken. Here, I'll give a brief overview about different ideas that could
be used with the Gusto archetype.


Gusto OTK with Exodia

Using Brain Research Lab, Mind Master, and Caam, Serenity of Gusto creates a
combo that could be used to draw a lot of cards. The goal here would be to draw
the 5 pieces of Exoida to win. Here's how it works. Use Mind Master to tribute
a Caam, using Brain Research Lab to cover up having to pay life points. Search
your deck for another Caam, and tribute that to Mind Master to summon another
Caam from your deck. Use Caam's effect, returning the other 2 Caams in your
graveyard back into your deck to draw again. Repeat this process until
you draw all the parts to Exodia.


Lightsworn

This deck is already using Ryko as a milling engine. Since the Gusto strategy
involves filling the graveyard with monsters, adding some more Lightsworn
to the mix wouldn't be a huge stretch. Lightsworn monsters are also in the
business of milling cards from your deck, making them useful for almost any
graveyard based strategy.


More Milling Effects

Maybe you don't want to go with Lightsworns, but do want some more milling
effects and cards that benefit from being in the graveyard. Card Trooper,
Necro Gardna, and Plaguespreader Zombie can fit this role quite well, and have
some nice synergy with other cards already present in the deck. Plaguespreader
Zombie could be used to return one of our tribute monsters to the top of our
deck for Gusto Thunbolt to special summon out so we don't have to worry about
tributing a monster. Card Trooper provides us with more mill effects, and
Necro Gardna can be used to negate an unfavorable attack.


Psychics

All of the Gusto synchro monsters are psychic type, and so are some of the
other monsters in the main deck. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to add more
of a psychic focus to the deck. This could give you the chance to use things
like Mind Master, Mind over Matter, and another Miracle Synchro Fusion with
Ultimate Axon Kicker.


Dark Simorgh

Going along with the strategy of keeping our monsters in battle and away from
traps, Dark Simorgh stops your opponent from setting cards on the field. With
all of the mill effects in the deck, it will be relatively easy to fill up
the graveyard with dark and wind monsters for Dark Simorgh. All of the Gusto
monsters are wind attribute already, so now you just need some dark monsters
(Plaguespreader Zombie anyone). With additional cards that remove our monsters
in our graveyard from the game, Burial from a Different Dimmention could find
a home with this deck as well.


==========================================
4. Common Deck Building Pitfalls  [#CDBP]
==========================================

I have critiqued many decks on the message boards over the years, and I have
noticed some recurring patterns when it comes to some of the deck building
pitfalls. In this section, I will discuss these pitfalls and how to avoid
them.

a. Having too many cards in your deck

The minimum number of cards required in your deck is 40. Take advantage of
this. Having less cards in your deck gives you a higher chance of drawing the
cards you need, when you need them. Also, if your deck has 50 or even 60 cards
the chances of being able to focus strongly enough on your central theme
because you won't be able to draw the specific cards you need. So try and
keep your deck as close to 40 cards as possible. Personaly, I do just about
whatever it takes to keep my deck at 40 cards. I'd say 99% of my decks are
exactly 40 cards, and as a result, I'm able to consistently draw the cards
I need to make the deck's theme work.


b. No focus

A deck with no focus is just that, an unfocused deck. A deck with no focus
will have monsters that have no synergy with each other, and no specific
support cards to take advantage of. Meanwhile, if your deck has a focus,
you will be able to take advantage of the synergies between your monsters
and your other theme support cards. The result is a focused deck that is much
stronger.


c. Deck is not focused enough

This pitfall can be best illustrated with a deck.

-------------------------------------------
Dragon Deck

Monsters - 29

2 Blue-Eyes White Dragon
2 Red-Eyes Black Dragon
1 Armed Dragon lv7
2 Armed Dragon lv5
2 Horus the Black Flame Dragon lv8
2 Horus the Black Flame Dragon lv6

2 Red-Eyes B. Chick
2 Paladin of White Dragon
3 Horus the Black Flame Dragon lv4
3 Armed Dragon lv3
3 Masked Dragon
2 Kaibaman
3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands

Spells - 15

1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
2 White Dragon Ritual
2 Ancient Rules
3 Level Up!
2 Inferno Fire Blast
2 Burst Stream of Destruction
1 Reinforcement of the Army

Traps - 6

1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Dragon's Rage
2 Dragon's Bead

Total - 50
-------------------------------------------

Do you see the issue here? This deck has too much going on all at once.
You have a deck that is trying to summon Blue-Eyes, Red-Eyes, Armed Dragon,
and Horus. The result is a deck that can't do any of these things very well.
For starters the deck has too many cards, so it will be much less likely to
draw the specific cards you need when they are needed. Furthermore, none of
the 4 main monsters has enough support, and what's worse is that the
support that is present, doesn't work with the other monsters. For instance,
Red Eyes B. Chick can summon Red-Eyes, but it does nothing to help Blue-Eyes
or the level monsters. Likewise Level Up! is only useful for the level
monsters, and does nothing to help Red-Eyes or Blue-Eyes.

To avoid this pitfall, make sure your deck has a specific focus, and that
the focus is well supported.


d. Overdoing the theme

This is best exemplified by another sample deck.

-------------------------------------------
Gravekeeper's Deck

Monsters - 23

2 Gravekeeper's Assailant
2 Gravekeeper's Chief
3 Gravekeeper's Commandant
3 Gravekeeper's Spy
2 Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier
2 Gravekeeper's Guard
2 Gravekeeper's Vassel
2 Gravekeeper's Curse
2 Gravekeeper's Cannonholder
2 Gravekeeper's Descendant
1 Gravekeeper's Visionary

Spells - 12

1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Monster Reborn
3 Necrovalley
3 Royal Tribute
2 Book of Moon
3 Gravekeeper's Stele

Traps - 5

1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
3 Rite of Spirit

Total - 40
-------------------------------------------

See the issue with this deck? Every card with gravekeeper in it has been
thrown in the deck, regardless of if the card is good or not. To avoid this
problem, make sure you take the time to evaluate the cards before adding them
to your deck. Not sure if a card is good enough? No problem, just add it to
your deck for the time being, and try it out in a few duels. Then you should
be able to determine if the card in question is worthy of remaining in your
deck.


e. Normal Monsters

Normal monsters are generally not good to have in your deck because they are
just that, normal. They have no effect for you to take advantage of, and no
effect that your opponent has to worry about. Normal Monsters can attack,
defend, and that's it. Effect monsters can do that too, but they also come
with a bonus effect to help you even further. There are times when using
normal monsters is appropriate. For instance, if your deck is based around
summoning Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then of course you'll have to use the normal
monster Blue-Eyes. Also, if you're using support for normal monsters such as
Advanced Ritual Art or Heart of the Underdog, then it is also appropriate to
use normal monsters.


f. Equip Spells

Equip spells, such as Axe of Despair and Mage Power, are generally not a good
idea to add to your deck, simply because all they do is increase your attack
power. Let's take the following senario:

You and your opponent each have 1 monster on the field, and your opponent has
a face-down card. You equip your monster with Axe of Despair and attack. Your
opponent activates their face-down Mirror Force. You lose both your monster
and your equip spell. Meanwhile, your oppoent only used up their Mirror Force.
You lost 2 cards while your opponent has only lost 1 card. Your opponent has
now gained card advantage. Having more cards available to you means you have
more options, and more options is better. In this situation, your oppoent now
has more options then you, which increases their chances of winning and your
chances of losing. Using equip spells just opens the door for your opponent
to gain easy card advantage.

Another drawback to using equip spells is that you need a monster to equip
them to. This may seem obvious, but look at it this way. Both you and your
opponent are in top-deck mode, meaning you both have nothing on the field
and nothing currently usable in your hand. Basically, you are both hoping
to draw a card that will be better then what the other draws. You happen
to draw an equip spell, and with no monster to equip it with, your equip
spell has just become a dead draw, or a card you cannot currently use.
Essentially, you have just lost your turn.


g. Reload, Magical Mallet, and Card Trader

I frequently see these cards appearing in the decks of newer players, and I
can understand why. Reload and Magical Mallet allow you to exchange your hand
back with your deck in an atempt to draw a better hand. However, the price you
pay for using these cards is far too steep. Say you have 5 cards in your hand
and then you play Reload. You put your hand back into your deck, and you get
to draw only 4 cards. You went from 5 cards down to 4 cards. You now have less
options in your hand, and you have given your opponent the all important card
advantage. Meanwhile, Reload has done nothing to disrupt the strategy of your
opponent. Bottom line, avoid Reload and Magical Mallet.

Card Trader, while it is a continuous spell, does still fall under the same
category as Reload and Magical Mallet. Card Trader does nothing to disrupt
the opponent's strategy. Card Trader is a card your opponent can safely
ignore.


h. Cards that don't fit with the deck's focus

I'll illustrate this with another sample deck.

-------------------------------------------
Gravekeeper's Deck

Monsters - 21

3 Gravekeeper's Assailant
2 Gravekeeper's Chief
3 Gravekeeper's Commandant
3 Gravekeeper's Spy
3 Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier
2 Mystic Tomato
1 Marshmallon
1 Sangan
2 Caius the Shadow Monarch
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

Spells - 13

1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Dark Hole
1 Monster Reborn
1 Smashing Ground
1 Fissure
1 Brain Control
3 Necrovalley
2 Allure of Darkness
2 Wave-Motion Cannon

Traps - 6

1 Mirror Force
1 Torrential Tribute
3 Rite of Spirit
1 Bottemless Trap Hole

Total - 40
-------------------------------------------

Now, in this deck, there are a couple of cards that are out of place. For
starters, Wave-Motion Cannon does not belong in this deck. That is not to say
that Wave-Motion Cannon is a bad card, it is just out of place in this deck.
The focus is gravekeeper's, not burn, and that card slot is better used for
something that would support gravekeepers.

Marshmallon is another out of place card. Sure, it can't be destroyed in
battle, which makes it decent tribute fodder for Chief and Caius. However,
Marshmallon does not fit with the dark support cards of Mystic Tomato and
Allure of Darkness. Furthermore, Gravekeepers are an aggressive swarm deck,
and Marshmallon adds nothing to the offense.

The lesson here: some cards may be good cards, but if they don't fit with your
deck's focus, then they are best left out of your deck.


i. Situational Cards

Some cards have requirements that need to be met before you can activate the
card. A great example of this is Radiant Mirror Force. It has a great effect,
however, in order to activate it, your opponent has to have 3 or more monsters
in attack mode. If your opponent has any less, Radiant Mirror Force becomes
a dead card, or a card you cannot use. Also, if your opponent has 3 monsters
attacking you, chances are they're allready going to be sure you don't have
any potentially dangerous face-down spells or traps.


j. Monsters with Summoning Conditions

There are some monsters that can only be summoned by meeting certain
conditions. Ocean Dragon Lord - Neo-Daedalus is a great example. You have
to tribute a Levia-Dragon - Daedalus in order to summon him. Levia-Dragon is
already a 7 star monster, and Ocean Dragon Lord only gains a slight boost in
attack power and effect. This makes it really not worth the effort it takes
to summon. There are many monsters in Yu-gi-oh with requirements for summoning.

So, how can you tell if it is worth the effort to summon these types of
monsters? Well, a monster with summoning requirements would need to have an
extemely powerful effect to make it worth the effort to summon. Dark Armed
Dragon is a good example of a monster that is well worth his weight for his
summoning condition. How easily the summoning conditions can be met are also
a big factor when deciding on if you should use these monsters.


k. Poor Ratio of Monsters, Spells, and Traps

You can only normal summon once per turn. If your deck has too many monsters,
you will find yourself with a bunch of monsters just sitting in your hand. In
a general 40 card deck, a ratio of 20 monsters to 20 spells and traps is a good
ratio to aim for. Now certainly, you don't have to hit this ratio exactly, but
you should certainly try to avoid having things like 30 monsters with only 10
spells and traps. I don't want to list a range for the number of monsters,
because each deck is different. Depending on the theme, you may want more or
less monsters in your deck.

Another card I would like to mention in this section is Royal Decree. If you
have Royal Decrees in your deck, you should have a MAXIMUM of 6-7 traps, and
I'm really pusing it with those numbers. Look at it this way, if you have 10
traps in your 40 card deck, and 2 of those traps are Royal Decrees, essentially
one fourth of the cards in your deck become dead cards (cards you cannot use)
when you have Royal Decree on the field. That would make Royal Decree very
counterproductive to your deck, so do keep an eye on the number of traps you
have if you plan on using Roayl Decree.


l. Magic Cylinder

Magic Cylinder is a card I see popping up a lot. However, Magic Cylinder is not
as great as it first seems. First of all, it only stops the attack of one
monster, and it doesn't even destroy that monster. If my opponent uses Magic
Cylider, I only worry about the direct damage in 3 senarios:

1. If it reduces my life points to 0.
2. If it lowers my life points to the point where I cannot pay for costs of
   cards like Judgment Dragon.
3. If my opponent is playing a burn deck.

If my opponent is not playing a burn deck, I'm generally not worryed about
Magic Cylinder. In fact, Magic Cylider would give me card advantage (remember,
Magic Cylinder does not destroy the monster). And more often than not,
situations 1 and 2 two don't arise when my opponent uses Magic Cylinder.


m. Not filling up the Extra Deck

This is something a bit more minor, but I do see this a lot. Whenever you have
Fusion or Synchro monsters, you should always run the maximum number possible.
Even if you can't summon all 3 copies of a fusion monster from your deck list
alone, some crazy things can happen in a duel. Besides that, there is
absolutely no penalty for having cards in your extra deck. If your deck doesn't
even have a single tuner monster, it would still be wise to fill up your extra
deck with 15 synchro monsters. You never know when you might be using Monster
Reborn on one of your opponent's tuner monsters in order to get out of a tight
spot.

Again, there's no penalty for having a full extra deck. In fact, I'd say
there's a penalty for having an empty extra deck. An empty extra deck means
your opponent does not need to fear for any fusion or synchro monsters. On the
other hand, having a full extra deck can give you an intimidation factor, even
if you never summon anything from it.


n. Dark Bribe

Recently, I've seen Dark Bribe get misused a lot, being throw into almost any
given deck. Don't get me wrong, Dark Bribe can be a good card in certain
situations, but that doesn't mean it belongs in every deck as a staple card.
Dark Bribe is most useful for protecting continuous cards from spell/trap
removal. In these situations, you almost don't care what your opponent draws,
as long as your main continuous spell/trap card(s) remain on the field. Dark
Bribe can also find a home in certain OTK decks. In this case, it won't matter
if your opponent gets to draw a card because you just stoped your OTK combo
from being broken up and you're going to win this turn anyways.

In general though, Dark Bribe will not be a card to put into all your decks.
Giving your opponent an extra card gives them one more option than you, and
when your opponent has more options than you, that puts you in an uphill
battle.


=======================================
6. General Support Cards  [#GSC]
=======================================

In this section, I'll discuss some of the general support cards. I find that
the following cards fit in with a variety of decks, but not nearly enough to
consider them staples. In fact, I wasn't really sure how group these cards,
because their effects also vary. So instead, I'll just list them here, and
explain the types of decks that they support the best.

Book of Moon

This is a very versitile quick-play spell. You can use it to save your monster
from your opponent's attack by flipping the opposing monster into face-down
defense. You can also use this opportunity to attack a monster with a low
defense. Book of Moon can also be used on your monster to save it from Brain
Control, Lightning Vortex, Smashing Ground, Mirror Force, etc. You can also use
it to re-use the flip effects of your monsters. Flipping a monster face-down
will also make all equipment cards attached to it fall off. Book of Moon is
a very versitile card, and one of my personal favorites.


Bottomless Trap Hole

A great 1 for 1 removal trap that also works on special summoned monsters as
well. Furthermore, removing the monster from play mean you won't have to worry
about any monster reborn shenanigans that would just revive the fallen monster.
Bottomless Trap Hole also does not suffer the restriction of having to wait for
the monster to attack. This can be a huge benefit compared to other 1 for 1
removal traps such as Dimensional Prison. For example, if your opponent summons
Judgment Dragon and activates its effect, you Dimensional Prison will be
destroyed before you get the chance to use it. With Bottomless Trap Hole, your
opponent will still have the opportunity to activate JD's effect, but you will
be able to activate your BTH, removing the 3000 attack dragon from the game
before it can come for your life points.


Card Trooper

Any deck that wants to fill up their graveyard with cards can probably find
a spot for Card Trooper. This guy let's you put up to 3 cards from the top
of your deck into the graveyard. Also, when Card Trooper is destroyed, you get
to draw a card, so he essentially replaces himself.


Cold Wave

This spell card does come as a -1 to your card advantage, but when used wisely
Cold Wave could win you the game. If you're going for a final strike on your
opponent, using Cold Wave can shut down any trap cards that would otherwise
wreck your plans. Even if you're not going for a final strike, Cold Wave can
be used to help set up your field, provided that you don't need any spells or
traps to execute your plan.


Compulsoary Evacuation Device

With the rise of synchro monsters, Compulsoary Evacuation Device has risen in
value. With no cost, it can put a synchro monster back into the extra deck,
where your opponent would need to synchro summon it again.


Creature Swap

Any monster whose effect activates when it's destroyed in battle can make use
of creature swap. Say you have a Mystic Tomato in your hand, and your opponent
has a strong monster on their side of the field. Summon your tomato, and give
it to your opponent with Creature Swap. They're forced to give you their great
monster. But wait, it gets better. Now attack the tomato, and since the Mystic
Tomato goes to your graveyard (since it is your card to begin with), you get
the effect of Mystic Tomato. The creature swap is also a permanent switch, so
you still get to keep your opponent's monster. What a great deal.


Cyber Dragon

Cyber Dragon is very easy to special summon and comes with a nice 2100 attack.
He is also great Synchro material. Comming in with 5 stars means you can pair
him with a 3 star or 2 star tuner monster (which are much more common than 4
star tuners) and bring out an easy 7 or 8 star Synchro monster.


Dimensional Prison

Dimensional Prison competes with Bottomless Trap Hole and Solemn Warning as
trap cards that remove your opponent's monsters in a 1-for-1 trade. So why use
Dimensional Prison? First, there's no minimum attack value required to activate
it. Second, unlike Bottomless Trap Hole, it can get rid of Stardust Dragon
(remember, removing it from the game is not the same as destroying). However,
it does come with a downside, and it's that your opponent has to attack with
the monster first. This means if that monster has any sort of activate effect,
it will get a chance to use that effect before you get to remove the monster.


"Discard 1, Draw 2" cards

There are a number of cards with an effect like this. Most require you to be
using a specific archtype or attribute of monsters to meet the discard
requirement. These cards don't provide any card advantage, if you start with
5 cards in your hand, then activate Solar Recharge, you will still have 5 cards
in your hand when the spell has resolved. So why are these cards so great?
There are two things that make these cards great. First, it helps you draw
deeper into your deck. The more cards you draw, the better your chances are of
finding the exact cards you need, when you need them. Second, that discard can
help you set up your graveyard for other effects, such as putting more
Lightsworn monsters into the graveyard so you can summon Judgment Dragon.

Examples of "Discard 1, Draw 2" cards include, but are not limited to: Solar
Recharge, Rare Value, Allure of Darkness, Trade-In, and Destiny Draw. There
are others out there, so look out for them and see if they fit in with your
deck.


Elemental Searchers

If your deck is running a number of monsters that share an attribute and have
1500 or less attack, consider using the elemental searchers. When destroyed in
battle, they will let you search your deck for a monster of the same attribute
with 1500 attack or less, and special summon it to the field. The elemental
searchers are (in no particular order): Giant Rat, Mystic Tomato, Flying
Kamakiri #1, Mother Grizzly, Shining Angel, and UFO Turtle.


Giant Trunade

Much like Heavy Storm, Giant Trunade clears the field of spell/trap cards.
However, instead of being destroyed, the s/t cards return to the players'
hands. Not having to worry about any s/t cards will pretty much leave you free
to play whatever other cards you desire. Giant Trunade really benefits swarm
and OTK decks, allowing each deck to set up their field of monsters or their
OTK combo, respectively. Giant Trunade can also help on the defense by comboing
with a Swords of Revealing Light to get you some extra turns with the Swords.


Mind Control

If your deck is focused on synchro summoning and you have lots of tuner
monsters, consider Mind Control. It allows you to take control of one of your
opponent's monsters for a turn. You can't attack with it, but you can activate
its effect, flip summon it if it has a flip effect, or even use it for your
own synchro summon. If your opponent has only one monster standing between you
and their life points, you can Mind Control their monster, and attack directly
for a final strike.


Pot of Avarice

Any deck in which you can fill up your graveyard quickly with monsters,
consider Pot of Avarice. You have to put 5 monsters back in your deck, but
in return you get to draw 2 cards, giving you instant card advantage.


Pot of Duality

This card is great at digging deeper into your deck and finding the card you
need. There is a drawback of not being able to special summon the turn you use
Pot of Daulity, so it's best in decks that don't heavily rely on special
summoning.


Royal Decree

Any deck with a low number of traps should consider Royal Decree, because
chances are it will hurt your opponent a lot more than it will hurt you. Royal
Decree will also allow you to play without fear of your opponent's Mirror Force
or Torrential Tribute messing up your plans. Another neat trick is that you can
chain Royal Decree to the activation of your opponent's Mirror Force, and your
opponent's card will be negated, while your decree will still be on the field
stopping other traps.


Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter + Charge of the Light Brigade

These two cards are typically used as a milling engine. Both cards will add
cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard, which can help you if your
deck is focused on a graveyard based strategy. The typical ratio of cards here
is 3 Ryko and 1 Charge of the Light Brigade. For decks that have an even
heavier focus on filling up the graveyard, Pot of Avarice can also be added to
this milling engine.


Sangan

Any deck with a handful of monsters with 1500 attack or less should consider
using Sangan. Sangan also makes a great monster to use for a tribute summon,
because you will still get to use its effect. Since it's a dark monster with
1000 attack, it fits right in with a deck that wants to use Crush Card Virus.


Smashing Ground

If your deck needs a little more monster removal, Smashing Ground is a great
1-for-1 removal card. More often than not, the monster with the highest defense
will also have the highest attack, aka the monster you probably want to
destroy the most.


Solemn Warning

This card can negate the summoning of any one monster, but comes with a cost of
2000 life points. It's a great way of getting rid of just about any monster,
including Stardust Dragon, just be sure to use it wisely.


Starlight Road

If you're worried about cards that will destroy multiple cards of yours at a
time, consider running Starlight Road. Not only will you negate that Dark Hole,
but you also get to summon a Stardust Dragon from your extra deck to further
protect your cards. Starlight Road is great for aggressive decks that are
afraid of losing multiple monsters to Dark Hole, Torrential Tribute, Mirror
Force, or some other card that destroys multiple monsters.


Trap Stun

Trap Stun can be used as a one turn Royal Decree. This gives you more
flexibility in your trap line up if you want to include effects that negate
all traps. 


=======================================
7. Legal Info
=======================================

Copyright 2011 Chris Schalk

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.


=======================================
8. Contact Info
=======================================

Email: [email protected]

Please feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions for this guide.
When sending me an email, make sure the subject line makes a reference to this
guide. Also, please do not email me asking me to rate your deck. While I would
to be able to rate everyones' decks, I simply do not have the time to do so.
However, do feel free to post your decks on the message board and I'm sure
other people will be able to rate your deck, and if I happen to be on, I may
end up rating your deck there as well. ;)


=======================================
9. Credits
=======================================

CJayC - Because he's awesome

Konami - For creating the card game known as Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship message board community - For giving me feedback
         and support since writing the first deck building guide for WC2009.

You - For taking the time for reading this guide

Jesus Christ - For being my Savior