*NOTE* I'm still counting the votes, this is just an extra one I wanted to do.
I apologize for the lack of articles. Well, I'm 13 now so I can stop getting e-mails saying "you're only 12???." On to the article. Everyone has their own way of deciding the order of play. Dice roll, coin, bottom card... The most common way is that whoever wins gets to choose who goes first. Which one should that person choose? It depends 100% on the deck, since you don't see what you have to work with.
Obviously, a FTKO deck would want to go first. If you play one of these decks, you should definitely choose first. That's obvious, just trying to fill up space. Burner Decks, and decks that rely on Spells and Traps should aim for first turn. You can lay chainable traps and play spells without distruption which is a big plus. These decks include hand distruption and
IMO, going first can either put you at an advantage or a disadvantage depending on what you draw. Usually going first is an advantage because you get to play your Spell Cards, Traps, and Monsters first.
- Spell Card Strategies
- *The only Spell Cards you wouldn't want to play would be the ones that need an opponent's card on the field. The exception to this are Quick-Plays which act as Trap Cards anyway. (Common Sense)
- *Do not hesitate at all to play the Pre-Negators, besides D.D. Designator.
- Trap Card Strategies
- *On your first turn, you should only set chainable Traps (or Drop Off). Unless you are 100% sure your opponent has nothing to counter (through the 4 Prenegators), Traps like Waboku are your best bet. If they waste an S/T Removal card on your chainable trap, they lost the advantage they had when you set your card. Not only that, but that's one less S/T Removal card your Non-Chainables have to worry about.
- *First turn, I wouldn't set Ring of Destruction. Most likely they'll use a S/T before they summon a monster, so it's a waste.
- Monster Strategies
- *Good monsters to play first turn are one of the searchers or a "destroyed by battle" type of monster. You're going to want protect them with some negation though.
- *Setting monster is risky especially if its a MOF or something that can easily be turned against you.
Though it seems like a waste of LP, playing the Searchers Face-Up is a good defense first turn. Playing a searcher Face-Up when you go first stops things like NoC and Sasuke Samuari. The only things (I'm pretty sure of) that can prevent you from searching with Sangan or Witch are Banisher of Light, D.D. Warrior Lady, Baltar, and a dump and revive of Terrorking Archfiend or some sort of way to summon Ha-Des first turn. DDWL is the most common, but when they use it they leave themselves wide open monster wise. I'd avoid playing any beatsticks first turn because they can score your opponent an early lead. In my deck, I don't even play a monster first turn. I either have a Waboku face down or a Kuriboh in my hand.
Going Second Strategies
Going second, depending on what you draw can give you the greatest advantage. If the opponent summon a beatstick, take control of it, destroy it, and score an early lead. The problem with going second is that your opponent most likely set some traps for you. What can really put you at a disadavantage if they have an Imperial Order and you don't have an MST to chain. I've seen a lot of players lose key cards like PoG because of this. If I have a Breaker, I usually like to bait them with a Heavy Storm or something. If its an Order, you just triggered it so summon Breaker. If its not you got rid of it anyway. Sometimes I save my PoG if I think their face down is an Order. A good way to check is to rush in blind with an attack. If its a Torrential, they lose field advantage to. Anything else attack triggered is a minor inconveince. A face down monster usually isn't a threat. DDWL causes a loss of field advantage, not a lot of people would set a Fiber first turn, and Cyber works to your advantage. MoF is a little bit of a 50-50 chance. It depends what they played first turn.
- Spell Card Strategies
- *Think smart. If your opponent has a beat stick, don't waste a Raigeki.
- *If your opponent has a face down, do what I mentioned above
- *If you have the potential of an OHKO or a huge lead (over 4000), go for it. Just make sure you have some spells waiting to back you up.
- Trap Card Strategies
- *The most annoying card for your chainable traps will be MST. No way to get around this outside of a MT removal card.
- *Unless you have a searcher in your graveyard, don't try Call of the Haunted. 75% of the time, they'll destroy it.
- Monster Strategies
- *On an open field, Dons, Kycoos, etc. are good choices. Gorrilas, 1900's provide the brute force, but lack the control factor of Don and Kycoo.
- *Setting monsters when your opponent also has a monster face down isn't a good idea vs. control. Airknight will take you down especially if you set a Sinister.
All in all, choosing is a matter of preference- only you can make the choice. Even though it is a big factor, the one who goes first isn't always the winner. Hopefully not. >_< *coughmagicalscientistcough*
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Questions? Comments? E-mail at
Suicune@optonline.net.
