Looking Under the Bed: One-Deck Cycles vs. Multiple-Deck Cycles 

Through all my time in playing the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!, I’ve always held on to one core belief: the best players build the best decks. As time went on and my focus on the game shifted from playing it to writing about it, I came to the conclusion that the best cycles were the ones that held the most diversity in the decks that were designed. From the early days of the game, before the banlist, to the Goat Control cycle and beyond, I’ve always held onto that belief, and as the game has shifted and changed and grown I still hold on to that belief today. 

I hold all my colleagues here on Pojo in very high esteem, but there is one writer who above all else I have an incredibly deep respect for: Jae Kim, also known as JAELove. He and I have shared the opinion that a diverse metagame is the best way for the game to go, though after reading his article JK15: A Few Realizations, his opinions on the game changed. Which is completely fine, to be perfectly honest – we wouldn’t be theoretical duelists without disagreement and discussion. If you have not read that article, I highly suggest you do so – it is a phenomenal read, as all his articles are. 

Jae, if you’re reading this, I would love to hear from you about your thoughts on the subject. 

His new thoughts are that a one-type cycle is the way to go. Where one deck completely dominates the metagame and players need to make minor revisions to their decks in order to compete. I disagree. 

While it is true that many duelists play similar decks, to me, a truly great duelist is one that makes a deck that goes against the grain and wins with it. Many players can make a combo-based deck work, though in my opinion it takes an amazingly good duelist to make a completely off-the-wall deck work, especially at the competitive level of, say, the Shonen Jump circuit. In the earlier cycles, decks were built more towards countering the metagame and the proven method of winning as opposed to simply going along with it and changing a few cards. The March 2007 – September 2007 cycle, commonly known as the WTF format, showed the true versatility of the top players of the day, with four different decks each winning a Shonen Jump Championship. Bazoo Return, DDT, Monarchs, Machine OTK – these were the dominant decks of that cycle, bar none, but it wasn’t like two or three cycles ago, where Dark Armed Dragon variants ran supreme. 

With a varied and sizeable cycle, it forces players to look out for all the different types of decks that could even be remotely possible. As opposed to a one-deck cycle, where you essentially know what you’re going to be going up against, a cycle where there can be four, even six top decks makes the top duelists really stand out. Their decks need to stand up to multiple threats, making them prove that they are truly the best players in the cycle, not just because of their ability to craft a deck, but because of their ability to counter anything that comes their way. 

Not only that, but when the cycle in question has many different top-tier decks at its disposal, we are able to see different duelists winning at high levels of competitive play, not just the same players over and over again. With many different decks entering into the competitive aspect of the game, we see different players with different decks doing different things, and this lends credence to what Konami is trying so hard to do: build a game that is fun and competitive for all players, not just those that have a ton of money. 

Because that’s really what it boils down to in cycles with one dominant deck: how much money each duelist has. It has become more and more difficult to trade for those top-tier cards and easier to just buy them, as many players tend to do. Yu-Gi-Oh! has always been an expensive game, which kind of narrows down the field of competition because many players who are amazing at the game simply cannot afford to go to a myriad of different tournaments. 

This is where my next idea comes into play, and I’ve spoken about this before. Because the game is so expensive, why doesn’t Konami help those duelists by offering at the very least cash prizes at Shonen Jumps? They offer many different prizes for players, sure, but at the same token those players really can’t do much with the prizes that they win. Major League Gaming has a great system: top 8 finishers all get cash, and they get what are known as travel stipends to appear in the next tournament. This is a great system that works incredibly well and it helps the players in MLG continue to compete without worrying about monetary issues.  

But I’m getting a bit sidetracked. This article was meant to discuss the differences of a one-deck cycle versus a multiple-deck cycle, not the benefits of a cash-prize system in the game of Yu-Gi-Oh! But I believe I have gotten my point across on both fronts; a multiple-deck cycle is infinitely more advantageous to a one-deck cycle if only because more decks are open to players and there are more avenues to win, as well as showing who the best and most creative duelists are by giving them multiple challenges to overcome in the course of any given tournament. 

I’m always open for discussion, and as I stated earlier, I would love to hear from anyone who either agrees or disagrees with me. Feel free to contact me at anteaus44@hotmail.com and let me know what you all think! 

Thanks,

Anteaus