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Doomkaiser Dragon
Card# CSOC-EN043
Doomkaiser Dragon's effect isn't just for Zombie World duelists: remember that its effect can swipe copies of Plaguespreader Zombie, too!
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In the past weeks, we've gone over both organizing card collections and the fundamentals of deckbuilding. With this series of articles, we're going to expand your understanding of deckbuilding to encompass the different deck themes—or archetypes—that are popular in current play. Each theme will be explained in detail, and we'll discuss the cards and combos that are most effective in each, making it simple for you to look through your collection and see which themes might work the best.
For ease in understanding the different themes, I've seperated them into groups that share common strategies. I'll devote one article to each group, describing the deck themes in detail, discussing the stratgies involved in playing them, and pointing out key cards. In this way, duelists will be prepared to experiment with deck themes and expand their knowledge of the game. Sound appealing? Then let's get started!
Warrior, Water, Beatdown, Archfiend, Spellcaster, Control, Burn, Zombie/Vampire, Gravekeeper, Hand Disruption, Exodia, Final Countdown, Machine, Dragon, Chaos, Final, Mill, Scientist, Fairy, Fiend, Last Turn, and more . . . there are a lot of options available. It's a common misconception that to win at Yu-Gi-Oh!, all a duelist needs are big, powerful monsters and strong spell and trap cards. While true to an extent, there are all sorts of different strategies in the game, and all with the same goal—defeat your opponent before he or she can defeat you.
Let's start off our series with three of the most basic deck archetypes in the game, the ones most duelists are familiar with: Beatdown, Control, and Hybrid.
Beatdown Decks
 Beatdown is a popular deck type, especially among newer duelists and those with a smaller card pool. It focuses on big, fast attackers; a few tributes; and core spell and trap cards to help control the field. The main concept behind a Beatdown deck is shown clearly in its name—the deck is designed to reduce your opponent's life points in a hurry by overwhelming his or her monsters and causing as much battle damage or direct attack damage as possible.
Beatdown decks focus on card utility, rather than card synergy, which means that each card in the deck is designed to work on its own, not as part of a card combo. This is what helps give Beatdown decks their speed—a duelist does not have to wait for certain cards to complete a combo.
Popular Beatdown monsters typically have a few things in common—high ATK and low tribute costs (if any). Mechanicalchaser, an ultra rare with 1850 ATK, used to be the card to beat, but rare cards with 1900 ATK (Archfiend Soldier and Mad Dog of Darkness) have come out in the latest expansions. Besides these and other level 4, 1900 ATK monsters, you are also likely to see . . .
Popular Beatdown Monsters
–Goblin Attack Force
–Spear Dragon
–Dark Elf
–Breaker the Magical Warrior
–Injection Fairy Lily
–Cyber Jar
–Berserk Gorilla
–Jinzo
Popular Beatdown Spell and Trap Cards
–Core cards like Pot of Greed, Monster Reborn, Call of the Haunted, Imperial Order, Mystical Space Typhoon, Harpie's Feather Duster, Mirror Force, Ring of Destruction and so forth
–Fissure
–Axe of Despair
–United We Stand
–Nobleman of Crossout
All of the Beatdown cards—monster, spell, and trap—are chosen for their ability to speed through the game and damage the opponent. They all work well on their own and don't require combos to pull off the intended strategy. If a duelist lacks high-powered monsters, then ATK-boosting equips can be added to the deck, but the best, fastest Beatdown strategy is to use strong monsters that can hold their own the moment they hit the field.
Control Decks
 Control decks focus on both depriving your opponent of cards and limiting his or her ability to draw enough new cards to recover. Then the strategy tends to focus on either going for a Yata lock or chipping away at life points. Control decks rely on maintaining a duelist's 'field presence'—having cards in the monster field to threaten and defend against his or her opponent—with Effect monsters and spell and trap cards, rather than big, high-ATK monsters. Here's a summary of popular, effective cards used in Control decks.
Popular Control Monsters
(effects, rather than high ATK)
–Yata-Garasu
–Mystic Tomato
–Don Zaloog
–Witch of the Black Forest
–Sangan
–Tribe-Infecting Virus
–D. D. Warrior Lady
–Sinister Serpent
–Breaker The Magical Warrior
–Spirit Reaper
Popular Control Spell and Trap Cards
–Core cards, as discussed above
–Delinquent Duo
–Confiscation
–Drop Off
–The Forceful Sentry
–Time Seal
–D. D. Designator
–Waboku
–Torrential Tribute
Duelists with experience playing Control decks will often add alternate or additional cards as they learn what works best for them. If your play experience to date has centered on a Beatdown style (card utility), then give Control (card synergy) a try. It runs a bit more slowly, and it does take some skill and a sense of timing to play effectively, but Control is an important aspect of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Gaining some working familiarity with the decks and how effective their combos can be will benefit any duelist.
Now that we've looked at two deck themes with very different play strategies, we'll end this article by seeing how well they can work together. Let's examine . . .
Hybrid Decks
 Hybrid decks combine elements seen in other deck types, taking advantage of more than one kind of strategy. When Hybrid is spelled with a capital "H", it refers to a combination of Beatdown and Control. A Hybrid deck combines the elements of Beatdown and Control to provide a better defense and offense against a variety of deck types. It can be trickier to play than straight Beatdown or Control, since the strategy usually shifts during the duel, but once mastered, it allows a lot more finesse in dealing with different situations.
Popular cards for Hybrids are most of the same cards seen in the Beatdown and Control decks, with a few additions.
Popular Hybrid Monsters
(a combination, to taste, of big attackers and good Effect monsters)
–Goblin Attack Force
–Jinzo
–Don Zaloog
–Mystic Tomato
–Witch of the Black Forest
–D. D. Warrior Lady
–Tribe-Infecting Virus
–A variety of types of level 4 1900 ATKs
–Fiber Jar
Popular Hybrid Spell and Trap Cards
–Core cards as described above
–Delinquent Duo
–Confiscation or The Forceful Sentry
–Skill Drain
–Ceasefire
–Nobleman of Crossout
Different cards might be used, as duelists often temper the deck to their preferred play styles. Some might slant the deck more towards one theme than the other, and some like to play a Hybrid deck that is more balanced between the two. A well-built and skillfully played Hybrid deck will be able to handle a wider variety of game situations than a straightforward Beatdown or Control deck, functioning almost as if a side deck was built right in. A skilled Hybrid player will need to learn to assess his or her opponent in order to get a sense of which strategy to lean towards in each individual game.
Now you've had a look at three of the most common and widely known deck themes. Take a look through your collections (which should all be organized by now!) and get out cards suitable for each of these archetypes. Build a Beatdown deck and duel with it against a few different opponents, then build a Control deck and experiment with that style of play. Once you feel you've gotten an idea of how each of the decks should run, try your skill at a Hybrid deck. Take note of how the play style changes and the options you have during the game. Your understanding of how to use the various cards will increase, and you'll be better able to defeat different deck types. Knowing the strategy to as many deck themes as possible, even if you don't intend to play them yourself, will enable you to predict your opponent's strategies once you recognize his or her deck theme.
Next week, we'll continue our study of deck themes by looking at a group of decks that focus on swarm and overextension strategies. See you then! |
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