MY STRATEGIES

[Bill.kx]

number 1

 

Winning In Yugioh Part Two: Spell/Trap Removal, Monster Removal, and Hand Management

 

 

 

Welcome to part two of my article about winning in Yugioh. This time we will discuss spell/trap removal, monster removal, and hand management. They are the fourth, fifth, and sixth most important card factors in the game, respectfully. As with other factors, there will always be players who neglect them. I've seen decks with a great monster foundation and strategy that fall flat on their face because they lack good spell/trap removal. It's something you have to really explain to new players. Other decks leave out good monster removal, thinking high ATK monsters will suffice. They run into something like Marshmallon or Krebons and get shut down. Something that takes a long time to master is learning how to manage your hand. So many players burn through their cards too fast. They expose all of their resources, leaving them vulnerable. Good players know how to both conserve their resources while eliminating their opponent's. It's a delicate process that demands skill. If you can master how to balance all of this, you will be a great player.

 

Ah, spell/trap removal. Don't you just love attacking when that zone of your opponent's field is clear? You should. The term spell/trap removal would actually work better as trap/spell removal. On the field, traps are almost always a greater threat than spells. Oftentimes, late game, they determine who wins. Even though their effects are powerful, their vulnerable and slow nature force players to limit their use. Still, if you run into a trap like Mirror Force or Torrential Tribute, it can kill you. Even smaller ones like Magic Cylinder, Compulsory Evacuation Device, Sakeretsu Armor, and Draining Shield can bite. Traps are dangerous. As for spells, they can also be quite threatening. Look at Necrovalley, United We Stand, Enemy Controller, and Swords Of Revealing Light. If you don't destroy these cards, your opponent can gain a brutal advantage over you. Swords of revealing light can stop your attacks for three turns. If you don't destroy it, it's like your opponent used threatening roar on you three turns in a row! United We Stand can give your opponent a 1600 ATK boost, which can mean 1600 less life points for you. By now you should see how important spell/trap removal is, both defensively against spells, offensively against traps, and sometimes vice versa. Now we can look at the actual cards used to destroy spells and traps. The best card for this right now is hands down Heavy Storm. It is one card, with no cost, and the potential to destroy up to five other cards. Some of the other good ones are Mystical Space Typhoon, Breaker The Magical Warrior, Mobius The Frost Monarch, and Dust Tornado. Cards like Twister and Royal Decree can be useful in the side deck if your opponent plays a lot of spells and traps that stay on the field, or more traps than normal. Another aspect of spell trap removal that is important is spell/trap negation. Jinzo, Horus The Black Flame Dragon LV 8, and Solemn Judgement are all good at this. As for the amount of removal to use, a typical deck could benefit from a lineup like this: Mobius The Frost Monarch x3, Breaker The Magical Warrior x1, Heavy Storm x1, Mystical Space Typhoon x1, Dust Tornado x2, and Dark Bribe x2. An underrated card that is useful against traps is Seven Tools Of The Bandit. It has advantages over Royal Decree and Solemn Judgement because it won't negate your traps and it has a more balanced cost. Offensively, it can win you games. The only decks that don't really need spell/trap removal are Exodia, Burn, Stall and a few other unconventional builds. Otherwise, pack some serious spell/trap removal unless you want to lose.

 

Along with powerful monsters that can destroy other monsters in battle, you need alternative methods of removing monsters. This is where monster removal comes into play. If you can eliminate a monster and attack directly, or save yourself from a swarm of monsters, you have made a positive play. Destroying both face-up and face-down monsters is important, but face-up ones are more of a threat in general. It goes hand-in-hand with spell/trap removal for the strategy of wiping your opponent's field clear to win the game. Monster Removal basically lets you get rid of monsters faster than you would by attacking. But it also lets you remove monsters that you normally couldn't kill. Two basic ways of removing monsters are A) Destroying them, and B) Bouncing them. There are also other ways, like removing them from play and taking control of them, but the first two work best because they have more card support. I recommend using cards from all four groups for a well-rounded, versatile mix of removal. You should use mostly destructive removal, though, because it is the most powerful. Use cards like Smashing Ground, Fissure, Lightning Vortex, Exiled Force, Zaborg The Thunder Monarch, Bottomless Trap Hole, Torrential Tribute, and Mirror Force. Other removal cards that work well are D. D. Warrior Lady, D. D. Assailant, Caucis The Shadow Monarch, Raiza The Storm Monarch, Compulsory Evacuation Device, Neo-Spacian Gran Mole, and Brain Control. If you don't use several different types, certain monsters will overwhelm you. Use enough monster removal, and it will cripple your opponent's field advantage.

 

Finally, let's discuss hand management. Have you ever started running a race really fast, but lost in the end because you didn't pace yourself? If so, then you should understand what happens when you use up your hand too fast in Yugioh. It may give you an initial boost, but it will usually cost you resources that should have been saved for later. Any card that involves discarding cards can leave you prone to hand disadvantage. Making foolish plays like using Smashing Ground on a Tune Warrior can also do it. The trick is to fight your opponent with only a little ammo at first, and save the big guns for later. You have to resist the impulse to play cards left and right. If you have Mirror Force and Trap Hole in your hand, set Trap Hole first. If you have Shining Angel and Compulsory Evacuation Device, set only Shining Angel. If you have Enemy Controller and Book Of Moon, play Book Of Moon first. It's simple. Start small and gradually build up your strategy from there. Don't come out guns blazing right away, trust me. It took me a long time to learn to play conservatively. This is a hallmark of some of the best players. They know how to maximize their resources, and do not waste a single card. Practice is the best way to acquire this skill. Teach yourself when to "hit" and when to "stay". You have to know when to use cards and when not to use them. Practice, practice, ad practice some more. It will generate you more card advantage and greater field presence when you get good at it. Include cards that don't burn up your hand fast. The more options you have, the more tasks you can accomplish. This is one of those factors that resides both in the player and that cards they use. It's the most commonly neglected factor and the most difficult to master. Yet, you can learn to do it if you put the effort in. Hand management protects your resources and keeps you strong at the same time. Learn it, and use cards that support it.

 

That's it for part two of this article. Thank you for reading, and I hope you pick something up from this. Get ready for part three: Draw Power, Speed and Versatility.

 

number 2

 

Winning in Yugioh: Power, Card Advantage, and Field Presence

 

 

 

Factors and potential factors- for gameplay and everything else, pertaining basically to winning

 

1,2,3,4,5,etc.=Approximate number ranking of the most important factor to the least important factor ranked separately for conduct and cards. Note: These are nineteen affective factors. There may be more, but these are the ones we are dealing with right now.

 

Total card factors:12

 

Total player factors:7

 

Card factors:

 

1.Card Power

 

2.Card Advantage (1 for 1, 2 for 1, etc.)

 

3.Field Presence

 

4.Spell/Trap Removal

 

5.Monster Removal

 

6.Hand Management

 

7.Draw Power

 

8.Speed

 

9.Versatility

 

10.Synergy

 

11.Hand Control

 

12.Life Point Advantage

 

 

 

Player Factors

 

1.Self-Control

 

2.Cardpool

 

3.Proper Conduct

 

4.Card Rulings

 

5.Conviction

 

6.Intuition

 

7.Bluffing

 

 

 

This is part one of a seven part article covering basic factors in Yu-gi-oh! that pertain to winning. These factors, which deal both with the sum of a player's cards and the sum of a player's ability, affect the success rate of a player. When I say player, that includes the person's ability combined with their deck. There are many things to consider, for this is a complicated game. All of these factors combine to assist in winning a game. They exist singularly but also dependently, and they all matter on some level.

 

The absolute factor involving all of this that is not listed is discipline: the entire force of will a player utilizes to accomplish their goals. You won't get anywhere in this game or anywhere in life unless you rigorously instill this within yourself. You must do everything you possibly can and more to be a champion, with no excuses. Everyone has the potential; few develop it. It's your responsibility alone. Once you happily accept this, you'll be well on your way to achieving greatness.

 

Let's get on to card gameplay factors. Power is number one because it measures the sheer force that a card exerts on the game. It's pretty self-explanatory. Usually, the greater a single card's power, the better the card. There are exceptions and whatnot when you get into card combos, but generally, this applies. Look at any card. You can see how obviously powerful it is through logic. The Beginning Of The End? THAT'S a powerful card. Stardust Dragon? A step down. Then we could go Mobius The Frost Monarch, Breaker The Magical Warrior, Neo-Spacian Gran Mole, Smashing Ground, Kuriboh, Tribute To The Doomed, Different Dimension Capsule, Reckless Greed, etc. in descending order. The advantage a card generates is the primary component of it's power, most of the time. Sometimes there are combos and setup effects that you have to consider. Power = Good. Pack as much of it as you can Note: I know some of these cards stink: I was just making a point.

 

Next, we come to the beloved card advantage, the pinnacle of potency which will leave you either ahead or behind by eight cards when the duel ends. It deals with math. Basically, a card can use itself to kill one other card, use itself to kill more than one other card, use itself and another card to kill one other card, or use itself and another card to kill more than on other card. You will always either A)Break even, B) Gain a +1 or more advantage, or C) lose a -1 or more advantage. We have one for ones, two for ones, one for twos, and two for twos. -1's are almost always counterproductive (using Tribute To The Doomed to kill one monster, cards like Magic Jammer, Monster Reincarnation, Divine Wrath, etc.). Steer clear from -1's except in specialty decks. One for ones are usually solid (using Fissure to kill one monster, Dust Tornado, Exiled Force, Bottomless Trap Hole, etc.). But sometimes, they're not (Double Snare, Man-Eater Bug), either because they are too costly or too situational. Two for twos can work, but are also often situational. You have to evaluate the card. Now, any card that generates a +1 advantage on it's own is a good card (Don Zaloog, Zaborg The Thunder Monarch, Junk Synchron). Even better, a card that generates or can generate a +2 or more advantage (Mirror Force, Mobius The Frost Monarch, Scapegoat) can break the game. Advantage puts you ahead of your opponent. It gives you more and more options as the game progresses and you back your opponent into a corner. It's crucial to winning, so definitely pack a lot of +1 or more cards. But it's not everything. This kind of advantage doesn't apply to cards like Treeborn Frog, Cyber Dragon, Mystic Tomato, Wave-Motion Cannon, Marshmallon, etc. Which brings us to factor number three.

 

Presence. Field Presence. It applies mainly to monsters, but also to spells and traps. I believe Jae Kim originally coined the term. Whatever the case, I like the term. It deals with, basically, the ability of a card or cards to sustain themselves on the field, or "stay" on the field. Monsters with good field presence are Marshmallon, Treeborn Frog, Mystic Tomato, Krebons, Stardust Dragon, Sacred Phoenix Of Nephthys, and Colossal Fighter. They hold the field. The safer your field is, the safer your life points are. Also, the stronger your field is, the less safe your opponent's life points are. These cards can make you safer, stronger or both. Less influential but certainly important are spells/traps with good field presence. Examples? Swords Of Revealing Light, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, Compulsory Evacuation Device, Toy Magician, and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow. These are chainable cards or cards that just have a knack for staying on the field. Chainability is the most supportive element of spell/trap presence. Scapegoat, Book Of Moon, and Enemy Controller are also good. Use effects that simply keep your cards glued on the field. Overwhelm your opponent with presence, and you'll get some presents when you win the tourney, plain and simple.

 

That's it for part one. These are what I have found to be the top three card factors that make and break games over my years of playing. Stay tuned for part two: spell/trap removal, monster removal, and hand management

[Guest]

Spell/trap removal and negation is good!

 

Card advantage is good too!

 

After a quick skim, I'm pretty sure that this was an accurate summary of the opening post.

[Crow™]

Spell/trap removal and negation is good!

 

Card advantage is good too!

After a quick skim' date=' I'm pretty sure that this was an accurate summary of the opening post.

[/quote']

Yeah, because we didn't know that was a good thing to have. [/sarcasm]

[Kira the Savior]

THIS HAS HELPED ME BECOME A BETTER PERSON!!!!!!! you should write a book!!!! YOUR MY HERO!!!!!

[Azuh]

Too me, this looks like a giant wall of text :S

 

I'll take Crab Helmets tl;dr version thanks.

 

Fix it up... Make it look at least readable

[Valkyrie Lupia Blitzer]

The people who need something don't go after it, while the people who already have it would go after it.

 

It's sad, but that's how noobs act. Especially in YCM.

[KaibaDragoon123]

wow dat rly turn'd my lif arond

 

u shld get a metl

[Guest PikaPerson01]

tl;dr

[Toffee.]

Good players know how to both conserve their resources while eliminating their opponent's.

Not me! Reckless ftw!

 

Traps are dangerous.

Traps arent realy dangerous.

Everyone only runs like 3 to about 6(I think) Traps.

 

tl;dr

I <3 Pika's policy

[~Emo~]

The only trap we have to worry about is:

 

 

 

So, GOOD DAY, SIR.

[Guest]

Lawl, necrobumping.