Forty cards stand between victory and defeat. Monsters, spells, and traps form the fabric of your deck, so they have to be arranged in harmony. This week’s article will help you master an important part of deckbuilding—putting together balanced ratios.

When I say “ratio,” I’m talking about the number of monsters, spells, and traps that exist in a deck. In my experience from answering thousands of deck-submission emails, one of the biggest differences between beginners and more advanced players is that advanced players know the importance of setting up an effective deck ratio. An experienced duelist knows that building a balanced ratio is crucial in making sure that his or her draws are consistent.

A Helpful Exercise

Imagine that you have a solid opening hand featuring two useful monsters—an attacking force such as Berserk Gorilla or Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and a weaker monster with a great effect such as Morphing Jar or Magician of Faith. Your hand also has two or three great spells such as Book of Moon and Snatch Steal. In addition, you have a defensive trap or two, so you’ll be able to affect the field early.

Now, imagine that your deck has 42 cards. Your six-card opening hand has a balance of two monsters, three spells, and one trap. If you expand this ratio to your entire deck, it would contain 14 monsters, 21 spells, and 7 traps. You’ve just stumbled upon the golden rule of deck construction, which is that a deck should run 14 to 18 monsters, 16to 21 spells, and 4 to 9 traps.

Let’s look at each of the three components of a deck.

Monsters

Monsters can give you multiple advantages. While spells and traps generally fizzle out after one use, monsters can provide field presence and achieve the win condition of whittling down your opponent’s life points to 0.

These strengths are balanced by the fact that monsters can only be summoned a limited number of times per turn. In addition, a monster can be handicapped by a stronger monster such as Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning or Dark Ruler Ha Des.
 
Many duelists prefer effect monsters that combine the best elements of monsters with the advantages of spell and trap cards. These monsters provide powerful effects and stable field presence. Cards like Breaker the Magical Warrior (a monster with Mystical Space Typhoon’s effect) and Magician of Faith (which transforms into any spell in your graveyard) are prized members of most decks.

You’ll see significant variations in monster lineups among different decks. While a Zombie-themed deck could have almost the same spell or trap lineup as a Chaos Warrior build, the decks’ monsters will be dramatically different.

You should set up a balance of powerful effect monsters (which often have weaker stats), tribute monsters, and solid attacking forces. Don’t include too many tribute monsters, however, because they can often get stuck in your hand where they can’t help you.

Spells

Spells are generally considered to be the best cards, because unlike traps and some monsters, spells are instantly playable. It also doesn’t hurt that three of the most useful cards in the game—Pot of Greed, Delinquent Duo, and Graceful Charity—have green borders.

In the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh!,spells were never valued for their defensive abilities. After the release of Book of Moon, Enemy Controller, Scapegoat, and other quick-play spells, spells became known for providing both offensive and defensive capabilities.

In fact, some winning decks in Japan have run only monsters and spells—the only traps those decks had were three copies of Royal Decree, a card that negates other trap cards! However, because a spell generally withers away after one use, you shouldn’t go overboard. Your defensive strategy, life points, and field presence will suffer if you don’t feature traps and monsters in your deck.

Many spells and traps work well almost anywhere, and some of the most useful ones aren’t limited to any monster type. You’ll usually see Pot of Greed, Delinquent Duo, and Graceful Charity along with Premature Burial, Mystical Space Typhoon, Heavy Storm, Snatch Steal, and Lightning Vortex.

In general, players fill the remaining slots with the quick-play defenders Book of Moon, Enemy Controller, and Scapegoat. Cards such as Creature Swap and Metamorphosis might also be included so they can combo with the Scapegoat defensive setup in many decks.

Traps

Traps are the easiest cards to fill out, mainly because most duelists run only about seven in each deck. Out of those seven slots, four are usually reserved for some of the most useful traps in the game: Ring of Destruction, Call of the Haunted, Torrential Tribute, and Mirror Force. If you’re looking for more traps to boost your defenses, you can pick from a list of strong candidates such as Bottomless Trap Hole, Sakuretsu Armor, and Magic Cylinder.

Many duelists have skimped on traps because of Jinzo, but you shouldn’t worry very much. With all of the monster removal in the metagame, Jinzo probably won’t last for more than a few turns in a game, so feel free to run as many traps as you’d like.

A Brief Note about the Optimal Size of Your Deck

There are two camps on this issue. One camp says, “Give me a 40 card deck or give me death,” and the other one says, “Let’s run a 55 card deck!” Of course, the first group’s reasoning is far better, since certain cards are better than others in different decks, and the not-as-good cards should be left behind. Common sense says that playing the minimum-sized deck will give you quicker and easier access to your strong cards.

That being said, don’t be afraid to add a few more cards to your deck if you really need them. The 42 to 43 card range is fine. Many top players have built decks with more than 40 cards and done well with them, most notably Eric Wu of Team Comic Odyssey, who won the Los Angeles Shonen Jump Championship with a 41 card deck.

Reaching the Balance

Paying attention to your deck’s ratios will help you get better and more consistent draws. No matter if you’re a beginner or an expert, a balanced deck will help you. Almost all of the decks I’ve received from beginners feature monster counts in the mid- to high 20s and either too few or too many spells and traps. It’s time to fix this! Spread the word that balanced ratios lead to better health and prosperity!