From: Dhuman571@aol.com
Subject: How to prepare you side deck Issue 1 - Dhuman aka Ben Jackson



Hey all. Now that the new (and surprisingly nice) ban list is out, I'm gonna start posting on the forums more, sending in more tourney reports, and of course, send in my tips. So watch out for the Dhuman. Especially you all playing at E&E this weekend. >D Any way, on to the article. With a new ban list, we're all looking to find the next big deck. However, just as important of the deck is, you guesses it, the SIDE deck. This handy little fifteen-card pool can be used to enhance our decks between games. The side deck has won many people games, tournaments, and more through out the history of this game. Knowing this, you can tell that building a solid, powerful, and well thought out side deck is just as important as how you make the deck it self. So, by looking at what people seem to be using now, I'll do my best to give you hints on what to use in your side deck, how they can be used, and when you should put them in, and even what you may think of taking out. Of course, every one's side deck must correspond with the deck you use, along with what's being used, so by all means, feel free to take my tips and use the ones that will work for you.



First, let's look at how the basics of the side deck should be handled. Your going to want to have cards to deal with decks your normal deck can't handle well. Of course, you can only use fifteen cards, so you can't have a back up for EVERY little thing there's a chance you can play against. So, you have to prepare for what people in your area use. Let's say you play a bunch of people whose main concern is having fun. One uses E-Heroes, one an Insect deck, and the last, some net-decked CC he found and just updated to fit the new list. Make your side deck to counter either fusions or spells and fat monsters (to take out a fusion Hero deck or the Neo HERO flash deck), pack stuff for anti flips like MS LV2 or Drillroid to get rid of aggravating insects, and lastly, pack some stuff to deal with what ever the main point of that net-decked deck was. With any additional spaces, put in burn for time, and for a random Cyber you may see out there (see how some cards can be used in two different ways through the side deck?) On the other hand, say you play at a big tourney full of top-notch players. One uses Stein-OTK, the other that new, oddly annoying, Tech. OTK. Another guy uses Tomato Control, the other a D-hero deck, and some other guys use stuff you've never seen before. I would make your deck around performing well against the two OTKs and the Tomato control. After that, build you SIDE deck around things you may need for things you don't know about, such as plain machine builds, aggro, and other, more "original" ones. Then again, you may not know what ANY one is playing. In this case, build your side mostly to take out common stuff, but have one or two cards ready for those random, odd combo decks and what not out there. So, now that I've gone over, in a very light way, how you might go about making the side deck, let's look at what you may want to include in your side deck.


Burn cards (3-8): These are very important, as they can hurt Stein decks, and save you if you're about to be called for time. Try putting in burn in the form of Monster, Magic, and Trap if possible.


Cover cards (5-10): These will let you cover your bases that your deck doesn’t. Made your deck to mess up ugly OTKs and machine decks, but you run headlong into dark world? Side for that kind of thing, just in case. Also, if you run Zaborg, side a Mobius, just in case.


Random Stuff (0-4): These are in there to mess up the guy running something weird or plain. Memory Crusher and Cold Wave are good examples of current 'random stuff' you can put in if you find you have the room in your side deck.


Alternate (0-15): I once saw a kid do this a long time ago. By switching most or all of your side deck in, you change the WHOLE strategy of the deck. Seeing people do this with chaos, or with Stein-Burn was always fun, and it can really throw the opponent off.


That's all for now loyal pojo fans. (I sure hope I get some soon XD) For now, this is Dhuman aka Ben Jackson, signing off. Oh, and did you like or hate this? Got something to say? E-mail is dhuman571@aol.com AIM is the same. Peace out.