custom cards Generic cards and their relations on how to make custom cards for archetype

[WhiteThunder777]

Improved guide on how to make custom cards using the banlist

you know why certain cards are banned in the yugioh TCG/OCG, it's because the banned cards are unhealthy for the game:

• They are splashable and are too generic (i.e. put into any deck).  If a card can go into ANY deck it becomes a problem as the card risk breaking the game as a whole.  For example, Isolde the Link 2 was banned because it could be splashed into any warrior based deck.   
• They have effects that break the game as a whole.  Like unable to Summon monsters from Rhongominiyad for example - that breaks the game. 

And also, if a card is banned in the OCG but not in the TCG, it is advisable not to touch upon that card when designing our own custom cards for yugioh.  Because a card that is banned in the OCG may also be banned in the TCG, despite the fact that the Yugioh TCG and OCG have very different metagames.

The solution is to restrict the monster to its own archetype for example, and to also think of effects that are healthy for the game as a whole.  But sometimes you have to do more when you are basing your custom cards on a monster that is too powerful.

Let's look at some cases at how generic cards become a problem.

1. Verte Anaconda would be banned because it can use any effect monster as a result was able to spawn Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.  But if it were locked into only Predaplants or the Starving Venom archetype, then it shouldn't be a problem.  As a result of locking, you cannot make something like Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
2. Crystron Halq is another example because it could Synchro spam recklessly.  Restricting it to the Crystron archetype allows it to be confined to its own archetype.  
3. Borreload Savage Dragon was banned because it could be made with any 1 Tuner and 1 non-Tuner monster.  Restricting it to the Rocket archetype would help.

My point is, when designing custom cards, try your best to keep the card to its own archetype. Avoid cards that lock the opponent out of the game.  Even though yugioh is a back and forth interaction game, the important thing is you don't want to play solitaire by denying the opponent.

 

 

 

 

[WhiteThunder777]

Now to determine how you should make your custom archetype wrt generic cards, let's look at several cases. 

Typical Cases

Case 1: Cyberse has a lot of generic cards, so you want to ask yourself do you want your custom Cyberse archetype to work with existing Cyberse support? If not, you will have to lock it to its own archetype.  And since Cyberse is all about spam, try to find something unique that it has not done before.  

Case 2: Zombies haven't have a lot of support so it could work, unless you want your custom zombies to mesh with existing zombies.

Case 3: For Fiends, you want to ask yourself, do you want to play with Fiendsmith or Labrynth, or make the Fiends standalone? 

Case 4: For Beast, Beast-Warrior,and Winged-Beast, you risk running into problems with Tri-Brigade Support. 

Case 5: For Insect, Plants and Reptiles, you risk running into Raika support, as well as existing Insect Support like Beetrooper and whatnot.  Also, for existing Plant Support, you risk playing with Sunvalon.  

Case 6: Warriors is an unusual case because due to Isolde Link 2 being banned, can be doable.  

Case 7: Rock is doable unless you ask yourself, do you want your custom rocks to work with existing Adamacipator support or standalone as its own thing?

Case 8: Dragon has a ton of existing support, so it's hard to workaround this as Dragon Link is a thing. 

Unusual Cases

For Level 2 monsters, you don't want to make something like the Spright engine but better. 

My point is, Konami tries to mesh cards and make them work together, so for custom archetype design, you want to ask yourself, do you want to work with existing Konami cards or do you want to make your custom archetype standalone? 

Edited June 27 by Surge77754

[WhiteThunder777]

Once that is out of the way, you want to look at existing Attribute Support, keep in mind to avoid pure DARK or pure LIGHT attribute, as DARK and LIGHT are the most commonly used Attributes of monsters in the game.  The others, not so much.

The important thing is to NOT copy the TCG Meta and make it into custom cards.  That shows that you lack creativity, as in It's Dragon Link but better.

Now with all due regards, let's keep it simple and to the point.  Every archetype has a certain way to play it.  For example, Mekk-Knights focused on columns, Applicancers focus on co-linking.  What do you want your archetype to do, and ask yourself, would YOUR opponent like playing against that archetype? If not, it's best to avoid that idea.  Like lockdown can be a problem if you don't know what you are doing, even if you have a hard once per turn on your cards.

For example, Flashstrike capitalizes on the mechanics of the Union monsters thus causing them to access Synchro Union monsters and Link Union monsters with the intent to make beatsticks, hence allowing the deck to unleash new ways to play with Union monsters going 1st and 2nd.  This sets it apart from ABCs, as ABC is one of the way to play Union monsters.  B/c Flashstrike allows you to tap into Synchro Union and Link Union monsters, it is accessing uncharted seas of yugioh, making it easy for beginners to learn the Union mechanic.  

Endboard is a key aspect of archetype making.  Every archetype in the yugioh TCG has some form of endboard.  But if you look at the mechanics and say "I will focus on that mechanic instead of making one with a specific endboard in mind", it's very hard for your opponent to find a counter and hand trap you.   

 

 

Edited June 22 by Surge77754

[WhiteThunder777]

A common pitfall is to make Ash Blossom and other hand trap for your custom archetype.  This is frowned upon for several reasons:

• Most hand traps in archetypes, except the Ghost Girls series of hand traps, are not TCG meta-breaking.  Ash Blossom is a staple in some decks, but not all decks should use it. 
• Hand Traps in the form of an archetype are like Psy-Frame, which can be problematic, as the design of Psy-Frames is poor.
• If a hand trap that is a custom archetype is recycled, that denies the opponent from playing the game. 

 

[WhiteThunder777]

Most monsters that say unaffected by card effects in some form serve as beatsticks.  But Kaijus are not the only out to them, as running over these monsters by battle is one option, Amazons Swords Woman, and the Milano archetype can bypass them because it affects the player. 

 

[WhiteThunder777]

There's something that I have been noticing in the TCG that makes it useful in terms of custom card design.  Sometimes you have to ask yourself, "How I am going to make <Archetype X> play 1st and 2nd?"

Right now, archetypes in the TCG work with other archetypes to make a specific endboard.  If you knew what the endboard, you would have cards like Forbidden Droplet, Dark Ruler no More, Super Polymerization, etc. to break these endboards.  

If you use the TCG Metagame to make your custom archetype, it would be definitely no fun because all you're doing is using card design and the TCG Metagame to justify winnings.  

Endboard reliant archetypes are archetypes that rely on a specific endboard. For example, Kashtira ends on Arise-Heart and that other Rank 7 Zone lock to lock the opponent out of playing.  This is terrible design for custom card games in general, because it did not want the opponent to go 2nd.  Yugioh is a back and 4th game.  

Non-endboard reliant archetypes focus on design first.  Because you don't know what the endboard of these archetypes would be it would be hard to counter them.  An example woutl be Flashstrike which prioritizes on improving the Union mechanic by using Synchro Union and Link Union monsters.  But still, these archetypes which are non-endboard can still be countered by the same types of card like DRNM, Super Poly, Forbidden Droplet, etc.  The Invoked engine ends with Mechaba, but it can be splashed with other archetypes like Eldlich or Mekk-Knight to make it play 1st and 2nd. 

Going 1st means setting up your endboard and then using that endboard to put pressure on your opponent.  Going 2nd means that given an opponent's endboard, one must ask oneself how this going 1st endboard can be broken.  There's a lot to think about yugioh custom card design when it comes to custom card archetypes.

[WhiteThunder777]

Now you have been wondering why designing your customs based on the TCG Meta is bad. Let me shed light on this behaviour.  

1. The TCG Meta is known to be stale for its card design.  It was stale because hardly any of the archetypes had its identity though. Though there were a few exceptions like Sky Striker.
2. In addition to 1, the endboard of the TCG Meta can be very oppressive. Which was why Kaijus, Lava Golem, Ra - Sphere Mode, Dark Ruler no More, etc. as board breakers going 2nd.

But your custom card designs don't have to be this way.  Instead of being a meta-sheep focused on only winning, win with something crafted by you.  

 

[WhiteThunder777]

A good way to determine if a yugioh custom card archetype is linear or not, look at this.  

Do you know how the Invoked Engine is linear because it's all about using Aliester to invoke their Fusion monsters via invocation? The combo starts off with you Normal Aliester and then searching off Invocation, and then depending on the game state invoke whichever Fusion monster you want.  

A linear archetype has a straight game plan in order to achieve a specific end board and relies on 1 specific combo to end on something.  A non-linear archetype does NOT care about its endboard, and has multiple ways to combo off.

In a linear archetype, the opponent knows EXACTLY where to hand trap to stop them after multiple plays.  But in a non-linear strategy, the hand trap counters are NOT that obvious.

Edited July 7 by Surge77754