What is a Theme Deck and what is Creativity?

[EndUser]

  There are too many ways a deck can be made: Pure archetypal decks, Type/Attribute-related, Token-Burn based, Milling Beasts, Machina Trains, Worm Dolls, Sophia Summon First Turn and whatever crazy you may think of.

  Some are creative. Others have themes. Many have both. However, what do "theme" and "creativity" mean? 

 

  I believe creativity is something a deck has if

1) it's not copy-paste and/or

2) has some interesting (maybe unique) touches.

 

  As for a theme, I think it can be practically everything, from a Type-related deck and a deck of mixed archetypes, to a Lock Deck or a spammy R4 deck. Also, a deck with synergetic cards and multiples of them for optimal results, but with no very specific connection among them, could be a theme (although I'm not so sure).

 

 

 

  What do you think?

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Creativity is nice and all, but I honestly hate when people act like using a deck you didn't create yourself is some massive sin.

 

Netdecking is fine.

 

Hell, netdecking is how you get good at Yugioh.

[ihop]

I think to consider something really creative it needs to somehow be an improvement on the original framework. Anyone can throw together a bunch of random archetypes or random cards and call it a deck, but creativity comes when you've actually made something cool out of it. It can be anything from an entirely new deck (Nekroz Shaddoll, for example), or a single card's difference from the accepted standard build (Warrior-type Djinn outs in Nekroz can be considered creative when they were first thought of, for example). Originality is cool and all, but like there's a difference between a fine work of art and me throwing some paint on a canvas, there is a difference between a truly good and innovative deck and a pile of cards.

[EndUser]

Creativity is nice and all, but I honestly hate when people act like using a deck you didn't create yourself is some massive sin.

 

Netdecking is fine.

Sin or not, it's what everyone wants to use; I agree. I don't know, though, if you mean that decks with no creativity/originality are a cancer. If that's the case, then the thing is: A hatred for a deck is different from what someone thinks of its creativity.

 

I think to consider something really creative it needs to somehow be an improvement on the original framework. Anyone can throw together a bunch of random archetypes or random cards and call it a deck, but creativity comes when you've actually made something cool out of it.

Nice addition here. Didn't think of it myself.

 

Your answers are all about creativity. Do you have a general idea of what a Theme is? Do you not want to have a say perhaps?

(I'm not pushing you, just reminding you in case you ditched the last sentence.)  ;)

[Just Crouton]

It's only creative if it wasn't the norm and proven to be superior to what relevant decks currently exists.

 

FTK stuff like Spell Chronicle and Librarian Exodia/Blasting the Ruins are stuff I'd also call original.

 

I get the feeling some people just throw random cards together and use creativity as a shield or call it a "tech."

 

Pure archetype builds aren't creative because the cards tell you that they go into a deck together, so the deck is really just throwing itself together.

[Krein]

 

  There are too many ways a deck can be made: Pure archetypal decks, Type/Attribute-related, Token-Burn based, Milling Beasts, Machina Trains, Worm Dolls, Sophia Summon First Turn and whatever crazy you may think of.

  Some are creative. Others have themes. Many have both. However, what do "theme" and "creativity" mean? 

 

  I believe creativity is something a deck has if

1) it's not copy-paste and/or

2) has some interesting (maybe unique) touches.

 

  As for a theme, I think it can be practically everything, from a Type-related deck and a deck of mixed archetypes, to a Lock Deck or a spammy R4 deck. Also, a deck with synergetic cards and multiples of them for optimal results, but with no very specific connection among them, could be a theme (although I'm not so sure).

 

 

 

  What do you think?

 

 

 

I think you got it when you said that a themed deck is simply a deck built around a certain Type, Attribute, and Archetype, the last one being more common nowadays. Creativity comes in whenever you begin adding your own personal touches to the deck, and/or running it in a way that applies different, newer strategies aside from the ones it typically uses.

[Maeriberii Haan]

Netdecking, the act of copying someone's deck online, is not the "sin" here.

 

The problem is the people who netdeck without the intention to learn anything. Netdecking is supposed to give you a base to work with. You learn why each cards are used in that certain amount, why cards are run, why they tech A or B here, and such and such. You will disagree with some of the choices later down the road, so you'll improve that base according to your own taste and belief.

 

It's the easiest way for people to learn about a deck, so the act itself is innocent. But then you have people that copy decks, brag it as their own creation, and not actually understanding what the hell's going on with it, and having no intention to understand.

 

If we talk about this academically, netdecking is supposed to be quoting and paraphrasing a work or article, while the netdecking that everyone hates is actual plagiarism.

 

It's not the bane of creativity too. If you want to be creative, then you need to understand the interaction between cards first. And you can learn it by netdecking that new deck that piques your interest and play around with it for a bit.

[goodfusion]

For me, creativity in deck building can range greatly from just a few interesting techs in an already existing deck/archetype to trying something completely wacky.

Deck building is possibly my favourite part of the game. On Duelling Network, I enjoy choosing a theme or card to base my deck around, and seeing what the most effective way to use it is.

For example, I made a deck around Dice Jar. I added cards that make that easier to use: That Six so it isn't completely random, Reverse Reuse so I can well, reuse it, draw power for consistency, etc. It was reasonably effective, and what I would call a 'creative' deck.

 

I think creativity isn't necessarily about making something better than it already is. Sometimes, it can just be sticking stuff together and seeing what works. Sometimes it can be having a theme or goal and making a deck work with those. However, I do think you should be aiming for something, and for the cards you choose to have a purpose. Even if your deck is basically just a 'billy' deck, you should still be taking into consideration the choices you make when deck building and think about how effective each card is within the constraints you have set yourself.

[Kaiji]

Just going to point out that in actuality "netdecking" minus all the stigma is just a shortcut to getting better. As a newer player, you can get lots of value out of copying a list, but you'll find that you'll experience diminishing returns fairly quickly.

 

I don't mind if people consider themselves creative and it turns out to be 60 vanillas or whatever the stereotype is (DM support? Anime Highlander?), I remember when I had a divekick HERO deck during Wind-Up format and I refused to play anything else. This wasn't because I was stubborn or anything, it was my limited card pool knowledge where I was more comfortable with playing with something I created. At least that's how I see it.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

No. You get good at Yugioh by observing how decks work and coming to understand the mechanics behind them. I don't think netdecking is a deadly sin, but it sure is trying to pass it off as skill or bragging about winning with it. Copypasting a deck can work if you use it once or twice to understand how it works (though seriously, with some recent decks you'd have to be braindead to take more than one try to understand how they work), but after a while it becomes just laziness.

Wait but...skill is how you play a deck not what deck you are using.

 

Technically creative just is something that's not common but...for the sake of this I'd say creative is using at least a few unusual cards that actually works more than half the time.

As for theme deck? That's anything. Anything can be a theme really.

[Sleepy]

I think to consider something really creative it needs to somehow be an improvement on the original framework. Anyone can throw together a bunch of random archetypes or random cards and call it a deck, but creativity comes when you've actually made something cool out of it. It can be anything from an entirely new deck (Nekroz Shaddoll, for example), or a single card's difference from the accepted standard build (Warrior-type Djinn outs in Nekroz can be considered creative when they were first thought of, for example). Originality is cool and all, but like there's a difference between a fine work of art and me throwing some paint on a canvas, there is a difference between a truly good and innovative deck and a pile of cards.

 

This is a great definition.

Though I'd say that other than strictly finding something better than the standard way of running something, if it is something that's not necessarily "better" but on pair and/or with pros and cons, I think that'd be legit as well.

 

 - - - - -

 

On the "theme" topic. I think the meaning is pretty straight forward: Your cards have something in common to work with. In most cases, that "something" is an idea for a playstyle. 

Monarch theme is making your opponent lose card advantage through Tribute Summons's effects

Dark World theme is triggering your monster effects by discarding them via card effects, combined with discarding support that can mirror the effect on your opponent's hand for potential disruption

and so on.... A deck's theme and goal are not usually up for debate, which is why creativity took out most of the talk in the thread.