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Something to be said for originality - Jonathan Ondracek
From: "Jonathan Ondracek" <jonathanondracek19@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2005 21:13:59 -0700

This is my first submission, so go easy on me guys.
There is little I can say that has not been said before.

However in all my time reading commentary on Pojo.com, I have never seen someone try to INSTRUCT people on originality. That is, I have never read an article on how to make an ORIGINAL deck, plenty of deck builder guides, but never a means to use your own idea.

That said, over the last year and a half that I have been playing Yu-Gi-Oh, I have learned the trials and tribulations of building a deck. Now I say to you, let not the difficulty of originality lead you to the temptation of Cookie Cutter decks. BLS-Envoy of the Beginning may be powerful, nay game-breaking, but people will hate you for using him. I know I've felt my blood boil seeing Chaos pulled on me.

While cookie cutter decks have their advantages (no thinking necessary), they all have the same near-fatal flaw. Everybody will know what you're doing and how to stop you. Using a cookie cutter deck is like walking around with a target on your back. You're begging to get shot down(the reason stopped playing burn).

That being said, I will instruct you in Guru's method of deck building.
Firstly, find a card or combo with potential dual-changing ability. Here's a list of some potentials (Just what I can come up with off the top of my
head):

-Tsukuyomi lock
-the Asura Priest instant kill
-flip-up/flip-down
-Raging Flame Spryte
-Ultimate Baseball Kid and DNA Transplant -Chaos Necromancer -Gren Maju Da Eiza -Reversal of Worlds (If it ever comes out) -Bad Reaction to Simochi -Big Bang Shot removal (personal favorite) -suicide tie -all female deck -reverse trample (Try to figure that one out) -Reaper on the Nightmare fusion/hand control (actually seen someone build a deck around this)

These are just SOME ideas. Now that you have your idea, you need to see if there's any support for your idea. This requires RESEARCH. Uh-Oh, now we have to work. Sorry. Can't be avoided. But seriously, ask around the local card shop. Go online and look for ideas. Just look for cards that work well with your combo/card/idea. Now take all your research and compile it. Now ask the question, "Does all of this add up to a workable deck?" If the answer is "yes," then you have more work to do. If not, go back and start over.

Now, if your idea has enough support, then it's time to figure out what of the standard/staple cards can work in this deck. For instance, if none of your monsters have 1500 or lower ATK then Sangan is useless.

Now that we have that out of the way, it's time for card hunting (my favorite part). Go in search of the important cards to make your new deck.
If you're running Reaper fusion/hand control, then you're gonna need Morph.
Make that 3 Morphs. You may want to make it a Zombie themed fusion deck.
Just look for cards that go with the idea or support your card/combo.

Now assemble the deck (I assume readers know how to assemble a usable deck).

Finally comes the deck testing. This has been the longest, hardest process for myself. My current deck actually started as a fun deck I built for no apparent reason. I "tweaked" it so much that it turned out better than the deck I had been playing, so I went with it. While I have had dificulty with this step, it really varies depending on your situation. I am a 45 minute drive away from the nearest card shop and a 30 minute drive away from a place that sells booster packs. You see, situation really counts.

Now go out and celebrate the creation of your original deck (that preferably does not use BLS). An accomplishment of this sort is truly something to be proud of.

If any of you have any GOOD ideas, email em to me. Here's my email jonathanondracek19@hotmail.com. I'll answer INTELLIGENT questions. I will not fix decks. I will not answer gameplay questions. Gameplay questions should be directed to rule books and tournament judges, not regular fanboys.
I will not post my decklist (makes mass copying too easy, as if anybody would like to copy my low budget deck). I will however explain how to do a wierd combo (like Big Bang Shot removal or reverse trample damage).