From: amisner [mailto:amisner@cox.net]
 

I don't know what the rules are for sending you articles, but figured I'd give it a try.  This is just an article I wrote for my buddy from another website who was having trouble building decks.  I only sent it to him in an email, so it was never posted anywhere on the Internet yet.  I "adjusted" it to fit multiple readers, as when I first wrote it it was just a personal note to my buddy.  Anyway, this is an interesting way to look at deck-building.  If you don't like it feel free to throw it away, just thought you might like to take a look.

Here it is:

Deck Building 101 - The Tactical Approach

Some of you may or may not know that I am in the Air Force assigned to a combat unit.  I've gone through months and months of training and years of deploying (most recently to Iraq).  The point I am trying to make is this: one day I was tinkering around with a deck (an advanced beatdown type, with Airknight backup) and decided to go about it in a completely battle oriented point of view.  The deck worked wonderfully and actually went on a 19-2 streak until I disbanded it.  In any case, since then, all of my creature based decks have been built using this method, and I thought it might help you.  Take it or leave it.

In a combat situation, namely, there are four specialty areas (4 squadrons in my unit), and they are as follows: Forward-attack, Forward-support, Passive-attack, and Passive-support.  Well, I applied this to Yu Gi Oh in this way.  Think of the forward attack as your Forward line of monsters.  Your "attackers" or "aggressors", those monsters that will be dealing the damage and taking names.  They should be either powerful or quick, but try to make them both (Powerful would be something like Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, quick would be something like Gilasaurus and Mataza the Zapper, Powerful and quick would be Berserk Gorilla or Goblin Attack Force, etc).  Of course these examples are for beatdown, you can apply them to whichever theme you like, however.  This "section" of the deck should be the first you make, you always need a front-line, something to deal the damage (in a burn deck or the like, your Forward-Attack would be Wave Motion Cannon and Stealth Bird, etc)

The second "section" should be your Forward Support, or in Yu Gi Oh terms, your front-line support.  Let me explain.  Your front-line support should be either monsters or S/Ts that will support your front line, either making it faster, or more powerful, or sometimes more effective.  In keeping with the beatdown theme, cards such as Axe of Despair, Cyber Jar, Mystic Swordsman LV2, Call of the Haunted, Ring of Destruction, etc come to mind.  Remember, this is still an aggressive part of the deck, anything that is in the least bit defensive will be later.  Summed up, the Forward support section should be mildly aggressive, yet support or enhance your forward attack scheme.

Now onto the third "section"...Passive-attack.  Summed up, this section is a more passive (or defensive) sort of attack.  Things like Magic Cylinder belong in this category, because, though it does attack, it is defends you first, then attacks.  More examples would be Mobius, Tribe-Infecting Virus, Exiled Force, etc.  So they are mainly defenders, though can deal some damage under the right conditions.  These can also be looked at as "theme support".  Example: If you are running Gravekeepers, your passive attack would consist of Gravekeeper's Spy and the like, in fact, MOST of the gravekeeper deck would be in this category.  This is the hardest category to understand, though stick with the summation that "they defend first, and attack or deal damage when necessary" and you'll be fine.

The fourth and final "section" is the passive-support category.  In this, you would have cards that support your passive-attack section, and to a certain extent, the theme as a whole.  Stuff in this section is usually S/T removal, S/T negation, or disruption cards.  Some example would be Dust Tornado, Confiscation, The Forceful Sentry, Sinister Serpent, Sakuretsu Armor, etc.  These are purely defensive cards, they do nothing to attack (of course, sinister serpent can attack, but usually he is food for Tribe Infecting Virus and tributes, its up to you where to put him, either here or in passive-attack).  Anywho, the point is, looking at the Yu Gi Oh environment in this way is a refreshing outlook.  Usually I keep the numbers like this:

Forward-Attack =   11-14 cards

Forward-Support =  8-11 cards

Passive-Attack =    3-5  cards

Passive-Support =  10-15 cards

This formula has worked for me time and time again.  It is a good idea to find an open area of your carpet or something to lay out your cards in 4 columns, each representing a category, and look at it as a whole.  Debate in your head as to which cards support which cards, and if there is a card that only supports 1 or 2 other cards, it can usually be tossed out (depending on the situation).  Remember, this isn't a fix-all solution to deck-building, but certainly a lively way of looking at it.  Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you.  Here is the summary:

Forward-Attack - Purely aggressive, forward line of attackers, the cards that will deal the damage

Forward-Support - Support for your Foward-Attackers, these should "enhance" your front-line

Passive-Attack - Defensive, though can deal some damage and take some names when the sitation is right

Passive-Support - Supports your passive attack, completely defensive in nature, shouldn't be able to do any damage 

And for the final word, here is the Advanced Beatdown deck I built with this method, and the categories I put each card into:

Forward-Attack = 3X Mataza the Zapper

                          3X Berserk Gorilla

                          3X Archfiend Soldier

                          2X Airknight Parshath

Foward-Support = Cyber Jar

                           Mystic Swordsman LV2

                           Call of the Haunted

                           2X Creature Swap

                           3X Axe of Despair

                           Change of Heart

                           Premature Burial

                           Ring of Destruction

Passive-Attack = Magic Cylinder

                          Tribe Infecting Virus

                          Exiled Force

                          Mobius, the Frost Monarch

Passive-Support = Mystical Space Typhoon

                            Dust Tornado

                            3X Sakuretsu Armor

                            2X Smashing Ground

                            Sinister Serpent

                            The Forceful Sentry

                            Heavy Storm

                            Confiscation

                            2X Magic Drain

                            2X Book of Moon

Hope you enjoyed.

- IronEagle72982