Top Ten Reasons To Get Into DuelMasters

Some of you might know me from a few postings to Pojo's Yu-Gi-Oh! tips. I'm 
new to DuelMasters, as I guess everyone else would be at this point, but a 
veteran of Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic, and a few other less successful TCG's (WCW 
Nitro, Highlander, Star Trek, and even EEEEEWWWW *Spellfire* UGGH...). I 
would like to present to you all the Top Ten Reasons To Start Playing 
DuelMasters.

10. It's cheap. Ten bucks for a starter set containing 51 cards, less than 
four bucks a booster. Not as cheap as Magic or Vs., but a lot cheaper than 
Yu-Gi-Oh.

9. It's cheap. Same point, different reason: You don't have to surf through 
several boxes of boosters to become competitive. In Yu-Gi-Oh, the only good 
cards (with VERY few exceptions) are Super, Ultra, or Secret Rare. Building 
a deck that can compete on a tournament scale is going to cost you a 
fortune, even if you go through eBay. DuelMasters seems reminiscent of 
Pokemon in that there is no truly useless card, regardless of rarity. Worst 
comes to worst and you draw an outdated weenie monster late-game, it can 
become mana.

8. It's simple. One can learn the rules in five minutes. You don't need to 
learn 100+ pages of Netrep rulings to know how the cards interact, and you 
don't need to use a scientific calculator to tell where in a turn phase you 
are and what effects can be activated when and how (God, it sucks to be a 
Yu-Gi-Oh judge sometimes). If it isn't your turn, all you do is Block or 
maybe get a Shield Trigger. That's IT.

7. It's self-contained. No counters. No score to keep. No pens, no paper, 
nothing but you, your opponent, and your decks. That's genius.

6. Starters more than once per year! I like the ability to purchase a 
package for a TCG that I KNOW what will be contained therein. If I need 
something particular for a deck, it saves me time and money. Magic drops new

decks every few sets. Yu-gi-oh, once per YEAR!? How cheap is that? Point is,

the next expansion to DuelMasters is on its way, and with it, two 
character-based Starter decks. That's coolness.

5. Visual appeal. The game is fun as it is; it also appeals to the eye, so 
it not only plays good, it just friggin' LOOKS cool.

4. Tactical decisions that begin with deckbuilding. I could write out seven 
decklists for Yu-Gi-Oh, and if your deck doesn't match one of those seven 
lists, odds are it won't ever make it to regionals; otherwise, a monkey 
could play it, henceforth why it makes it to regionals. DuelMasters takes 
more than that, in construction (civilization(s), theme, etc.) and in play. 
There's more to a game than Remove, Attack, Manifest: there are decisions to

be made.

3. No Banned or Restricted cards. Ever. Some thought went in to balancing 
this game, and one must appreciate that. This kind of goes back to the 
self-contained rule; you don't have to consult the latest lists when 
building a deck as to what from your hard-earned collection you can or 
cannot put into your deck.

2. Ingenious resource system. Any card in your Deck can provide resources 
for the rest of them. I know it's been drilled since day one, but it's 
really important that this game focuses on tactics and action, not on being 
screwed for mana. And mulligans, Magic fans, are a thing of the past.

1. HAHA!! No Yata-Lock!! Yet... MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Where do I sign up!?

And there you have it! With all these good reasons, if you're not playing 
DuelMasters, you should be now! And if you are, dodge the hate with them. 
It's a great game, and it's only going to get better. I bashed DuelMasters 
in the beginning too, but now I'm a player, and the above ten reasons is 
why. So I'll see you across the table. Game on!

John Redmond, a.k.a. Joven Shadowcaster JovenShadowcaster@msn.com

"You can trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. It's an honest man you can't

trust, because you never know when he's going to do something incredibly 
stupid."
-- Captain Jack Sparrow,
"Pirates of the Carribbean" (2003)