How to determine good custom archetype design in yugioh

[WhiteThunder777]

Design is very subjective, as people have different opinions on what makes a great custom archetype design.  But the thing that can be agreed on is that cohesiveness is involved when designing custom archetypes in general.  If all the cards in the custom archetype do their own thing, that is terrible design because if another person were to look at your cards, they can see that there is no strategy to your deck.  

Another thing to keep in mind is to be original (or try to think of an idea that was never used before, or never worked out too well) and NOT copy the TCG Meta.  As of right now, Kashtira is meta, meaning that if one were to copy the design idea of Kashtira and claim it as their own, they have zero creativity (i.e. their custom archetype is described as Kashtira but better).  Same things with Spright and Tears.  

Try not to focus on the TCG Meta when making your custom archetypes - focus on potential of cards created rather than power. If you focus on potential of your cards, you will witness your cards grow overtime with imaginative ideas which to make your archetype cohesive.  Take for example, columns - that is a concept that has been lost to the history of yugioh ever since Mekk-Knights and Weather Painter.  Power refers to the end board of your custom archetype - 5+ negates and no one wants to play against you.  No one wants to play against you if you only focus on your end board and forget about the opponent.  

An example of a good idea could be a column archetype that places a specific type of Counter, and then uses that same type of Counter as resources to do stuff - simple, and very easy to expand on the idea.  Another good example of a custom archetype design is a coin flip archetype where if the toss were heads, the archetype goes in one way, but it goes a very different route in Tails.  Think of archetype design as an investment - if the investment is worth it, then you are on your way to making good custom cards, but keep in mind, you have to let your opponent go 2nd. 

Eventually, follow this idea, and you should know how to balance your cards and make sure that these cards can't be abused.  Pure archetypes need 14 archetypal cards at least, and engines need less that that.  But for engines, you'd have to throughly test.  

In ALL cases, it takes good practice to design a really good archetype.  The simpler the idea is, the more likely you will ever expand on it.  An archetype whose card effects are all over the place is a terrible investment.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WhiteThunder777]

Speaking of counters, you can design the <name> Counters for your archetype as a simple way to play with investment, or you want to give the Counters a purpose within your custom archetype.

 

[WhiteThunder777]

Here's another thing in design ... 

1. Card advantage is the main point in yugioh - it is the total number of cards in your hand + field.  Like there is nothing wrong with searching for example as in having 1 or 2 cards that search the archetype for things you need.  Free self mill from Deck to GY plusses you because the GY can be used to set up further plays.   
2. You'd want to make your cards useful without forcing your opponent to get creative.  
3. You'd rather have your opponent having higher LP than dealing with more cards.  The 2nd choice requires you to get a bunch of outs while the first choice can be dealt with by using battle/effect damage, and letting the Battle Phase take care of that matter.