"Originality: Easier Said Than Done?"


Hi, everybody. It's your ol' pal Snodin, here with another Pojo article. I've been noticing that a few people have been ranting about there not being a lot of originality in the Yu-Gi-Oh! atmosphere (in fact, I may have been one of them), and for the most part, they're right. But, is it really anybody's fault for this? That's what I'm going to talk about, for after doing a little research, I have realized that a few elements when put together make up the recipe for lack of originality, as far as tourney decks go. This will be broken down into sections, starting with…


The "Banned" Wagon

Now, let's start with the cards that have recently been put on the Japanese Banned List: Raigeki, Imperial Order, Yata-Garasu, Injection Fairy Lily, Delinquent Duo, Fiber Jar, Cyber Jar, Harpies Feather Duster, Change of Heart, and Painful Choice. Why are all of these cards banned in Japan now? Simply put: they were abused and were getting old. At least, that's how I see it.

Surely, you're looking at that list and realizing that you have at LEAST five of those said cards in your deck or decks. Since these are among the most "staple" cards a deck could ask for, they actually benefit the lack of originality. I mean hey, everybody's using them, right? That should count for something.

Once these cards get banned in the States and beyond, will duelists panic? Hopefully not, for as crazy and suicidal as it may seem, you could make a deck that doesn't need any of these cards. And perhaps the game as a whole could benefit from this, because it will give us a chance to test out cards we have slipped into our card books, binders, or shoeboxes, etc. And don't be surprised if the cards that are being abused today will eventually jump on the Banned Wagon; the ones I'm talking about are the subjects of my next article section:


"Semi-Staples? Yeah, We Got That!"

Jinzo, Vampire Lord, D.D. Warrior Lady, and Don Zaloog. If your deck is carrying at least one of these bad boys (or girl), than your deck is NOT ORIGINAL! In my personal opinion, a truly "original" deck is one that consists of cards that nobody- and I mean nobody- is using. And hey, it's not that I'm trying to bring anybody down, it's just that these cards are, pretty much, the only ones of their kind. And they all spell out one thing: Control. Control is half the game; once you've put a damper in your opponent's strategy, he's at your mercy. And since Jinzo and the like are the only ones of their kind (and what I mean is, monsters that not only have good effects, but can also stick around- unlike weaker ones like White Magical Hat), they become the more sought out.

It's okay to get the new and better cards… but you don't necessarilyy need them. I've won duels pretty well without Jinzo, or V-Lord, or any of those above-mentioned cards. …Of course, that could be because I've nnever been up against a "tourney-worthy" deck before. But if you can come up with a tourney-worthy deck that really doesn't need these guys and still win with, you've got yourself an original deck. Kudos to you.


Character Decks

I've recently completed a casual Dragon deck, and I'm sure that once I set it loose on people, at least one of them will say, "Hey, you made a Kaiba deck!" And I'm sure some of them would even call it a Rebecca Deck, since Rebecca (remember her? She's the sweet little blond girl that tried to sic her Shadow Ghoul on Yugi) will, in the future of the anime [SPOILER WARNING!!!], have a half-dragon deck that features all of the "Luster" dragons. And I just happen to have all of the Luster dragons in my deck, except the Ruby one or Diamond-Head Dragon, which aren't even out in Japan yet. (Why, Konami? WHY???)

I'm sure a lot of you have, by accident or not, have constructed a deck that mimics that of Yugi (Magician), Joey (Luck/Warrior), Kaiba (Dragon/Control), Mai (Harpy/Amazon), Bakura (Fiend), Tea (Fairy/All female deck- God help you if you do), Mako (Sea), or perhaps even Weevil (Insect), Bones (Zombie), Bandit Keith (Machine) or Rex Raptor (Dinosaur). Those are, in fact, the most popular decks of all. And why is that? Because for some reason, Konami has designed certain types of monsters with special effects that compliment each other, and they all just happen to pop up in the anime! Which are the ones that are usually left out? Everybody else, that's who.

When was the last time you went up against an all Fire deck? I'll bet you never did, because until they get upgraded in future sets, Fire-type monsters will very rarely if not ever see play. And that's because most of them don't have any big members that are worth playing. Fire Princess, maybe… but she has her rarity in tourneys as well. You see where I'm going with this? It's nobody's fault if they happen to copy Character decks; it's the Characters that happen to have the BEST cards in the game. Only until Konami brings out cards with greater variety will we see more "original" themes.


"Mind If We Play?…"

Now that we've covered what makes Yu-Gi-Oh! unoriginal, let's focus now on deck ideas that could see play in the future that will feel more original than the themes mentioned above.

Fire Decks
As I've mentioned before, Fire decks are the least-seen decks that are based on a Main type. Right now, we have a few good monsters for this theme: Fire Princess for a start but also a dozen Fire-types from Invasion of Chaos like Gren Maju Da Eiza, Burning Inpachi, Burning Algae and The Thing In The Crater. And sooner or later they'll unleash Prominence Dragon.

Sea Serpent Decks
Now THIS I HAVE to see! How many sea serpents are there so far? Kaiser Seahorse, Levia-Dragon -Daedalus, Dark Fortress Grampus, Dark Sea Dragon, Roaring Ocean Snake (and he's a Fusion monster!)... Those are all I can think of off the top of my head and from checking out the IOC list! That hardly seems fair…

Deck-Out Decks
Someone mentioned before that one Yu-Gi-Oh! strategy that rarely sees play is Deck-Out; the object is to force your opponent to keep drawing cards until he can't draw anymore, and you automatically win. So far, there are a lot of cards out there that can help with this strategy; the Morphing Jars and Sasuke Samurai #3 come to mind…

Best Decks
With monsters like Bazoo and Beserk Gorilla running around, an all-Beast deck might not be so far-fetched. Fenrir can help Sea decks; Mad Dog of Darkness is only a normal Rare; and isn't it also funny that a few Australian animals have made it to the growing list of beasties? Lookout, here comes my vicious Big Koala!   ^^

Beast-Warrior Decks
Hey, they're the Warriors' hairier cousins; why shouldn't they see play? Most Beast-Warriors have good stats; Battle Ox is 1700-ATK, and Wolf Axe-Weilder has 1650-ATK, which really is nothing to laugh at in the right situation. But thanks to Enraged Battle Ox and Manticor of Darkness, perhaps the half-beasties will see play in the near future after all (and harpies/birds as well; they work with Winged Beasts too, after all!)

All-Trample Decks
Ever try out a Gradius/Mad Sword Beast/Airknight deck? Come on, I'm sure you have… I know it crossed my mind more than once; all you have too do is gather enough cards that force your opponent's monsters to defense mode, then have at them!

Now, probably the least expected deck types would be All-Plant, All-Rock, All-Thunder, All-Pyro, and just about all of the elementals, plus. These are, arguably, the weakest monster cards of all. It's pretty sad, yes; some of them are even cute.   ^^   But who knows? Maybe in the future, one of these deck types will get its chance.


Well, there you have it, folks; all the reasons why decks are lacking originality. You can go ahead and try to create the above-mentioned decks, but without seni-staples like Jinzo and the like, you might not stand much of a chance. Then again, you could prove me wrong. …I sincerely hope you do..

And please, don't try to send hate mail to Konami or Upperdeck for choosing certain monster types over others. They've been making up for certain Main and Sub-types recently, so they're at least trying. And remember: as long as somebody out there keeps coming up with new deck themes, this game will never get old.


Send me your comments and deck ideas to the following address: KaodMaster@aol.com  Ask for Snodin… and bring pizza.  :- )