Deck-Building Guide

Hello, hello, and welcome to Yu-Gi-Oh! Revolution Fanon’s official Deck-Building Guide. Our friendly administration team has put our heads together to give to you, our wonderful editors, a guide on how best to build an effective, winning deck. First, we’ll start with perhaps one of the most iconic things about the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game:

1. Monster cards. Very few decks are capable of consistently holding their own in Duels without Monster cards, even those with effective Spells and Traps. In the majority of cases, the Monster cards that you wish to run in your deck will dictate the rest of the deck’s contents. In deciding which Monsters to base your deck around, consider the following.

• Archetype. Many Monster cards come in sets specifically meant to support each other, mainly through the use of card effects, and these sets are referred to as archetypes. Some of the most famous archetypes in the game include the Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Elemental HERO, Crystal Beast, and Neo-Spacian archetypes. Many archetypes include a deck master, an exceptionally powerful card that the deck can specialize in summoning. Examples of deck masters include Yugi Muto's Holactie the Creator of Light, Jaden Yuki's Elemental HERO Divine Neos, Yusei Fudo's Shooting Quasar Dragon, etc.
• Type. Sometimes, it's as simple as cards having a vague connection to each other making that common thread work for them. Warrior, Dragon, Fiend, and Spellcaster are a few of the types of Monster cards that exist within the game, and if a specific archetype doesn't appeal to you, perhaps this might be a way to develop your deck. Decks built around specific types of Monsters can be some of the most fluid and interesting decks you'll ever run, if built well with an eye towards making sure your deck has a good degree of synergy.
• Attribute. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked... Kidding, wrong series, but you get where I'm going with this. FIRE, EARTH, WATER, WIND, LIGHT, DARK, and the more rare DIVINE are the attributes for Monster cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Decks built around attributes can be extremely powerful, but be aware that yours certainly won't be the only attribute-based deck out there, and there will probably be some capable of countering and crippling your attribute of choice.

There are many ways to mix and match archetypes, types, and attributes effectively in order to create a deck filled with powerful Monsters whose effects work well together. What makes this game so fun, timeless, and interesting is exactly this: there's no one way to build a deck, and what may work for others may not necessarily work well for you. Another extremely important thing to keep in mind when selecting Monsters for your deck is the different summoning types that involve pulling useful and/or powerful Monsters from your Extra Deck (or even your Main Deck). Understanding the different types of summoning, aside from basic Normal Summoning, will allow you greater strategic flexibilty in pulling your most powerful Monsters out onto the field.

• Tribute Summoning requires you to sacrifice a level 4 or lower Monster in order to Summon your higher level Monster. In the case of level 5 and level 6 Monsters, you need only tribute one of your Monsters (ex. Elemental HERO Necroshade). Level 7 and higher requires two tributes (ex. Blue-Eyes White Dragon). Some monsters require 3 tributes, while for others, they may have varying requirements. In fact, some Monsters, such as Vision HERO Witch Raider, can even use Trap cards as tributes. When considering adding a level 5 or higher monster to your deck, be sure to familiarize yourself with its tribute requirements - nothing is more disappointing than thinking you can Summon your ace Monster when you're actually unable to!
• Fusion Summoning is the result of combining the strength of your Monster cards. The HERO and Cyber Dragon archetypes in particular are famous for their use of this Summoning type. Many Fusion Monsters require the mediation of Spells like Polymerization to perform the Summoning. Once again, the Summoning conditions of Fusion Monsters vary widely - be sure to pay close, close attention to your Monster's Fusion requirements. 
• Synchro Summoning is a type of high-speed Summoning that allows you to quickly summon powerful Monsters. This keeps getting reiterated, but make sure to pay attention to the Summoning requirements. By sending at least two Monsters, at least one of which must be designated as a Tuner or Synchro Tuner and the other of which must be a non-Tuner or non-Tuner Synchro, to the grave whose levels total the Monster you are aiming to bring out, you may perform a Synchro Summon. Decks that rely on Synchro Summoning are, at their best, high-flying decks that are excellent at rapidly bringing out your best Monsters and recycling the materials used to Summon them.
• Xyz Summoning is a type of Summoning that allows you to Summon unique monsters that are generally stronger than any other non-Xyz monsters of the same rank. Xyz Monsters normally require two monsters of similar rank to summon, and when it's summoned the monsters used to Xyz Summon it are added to the card as "Xyz Materials". XYZ Materials can be discarded to activate a monster effect. For example, you can remove one Xyz Material from Number 39: Utopia to negate the attack from an opponent's monster. Some of them require both Materials to be removed, such as in the case of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, which cuts a targeted monster's attack points in half, and the points are added to Xyz Dragon.
• Link Summoning is the newest type of Summoning to the game that was recently added. As of right now, Link Zones are not allowed on Yu-Gi-Oh! Revolution Fanon Wiki per unanimous staff decision, and we operate under Pendulum Rules. You may still use Link monsters, but their effectiveness will be limited due to the ruleset we operate under. Once more counters to it come out, the staff will revisit the issue.

2. Spell Cards. Every deck worth their salt should have a healthy amount of Spell cards to bolster their deck. There are several different types of Spell cards to choose from, each with different effects and abilities, and can help turn the tide in battle if you use them correctly.

• Normal Spells are exactly as they say on the tin. These are cards you activate right away on your turn only, either on the first or second Main Phase, and have a wide variety of different abilities. One of the most famous, and one of the oldest, is Monster Reborn, a card that was once banned for a whopping fifteen years until it came back. This card allows you to Special Summon a monster from either your graveyard, or your opponent's, making it a very powerful game changer. You're only allowed to have one, but just one Monster Reborn can make all the difference. Another example of a normal Spell is Pot of Greed, a no-nonsense card that allows you to draw two more cards from your deck. Unfortunately, this card is banned in all formats except the Traditional Card Game format, where you can only have one in your deck.

• Quick-Play Spells are very special Spell cards. These cards can be activated on any phase on either player's turn, and often have effects ranging from altering lifepoints to special summoning tokens. Quick-Play Spell cards can turn a duel around if you play them right, by either increasing your lifepoints or decreasing your opponent's, or even getting a monster out on the field to help protect your lifepoints, and can even help get rid of pesky cards in your opponent's backrow. And example of the third benefit would be Mystical Space Typhoon, which allows the user to target one Spell or Trap card on the field and destroy it. Quick-Play Spells can be played from the player's hand during any phase as long as it's their turn, but once it's set face down, it can't be activated until the opponent's turn, or the player's next turn.
• Field Spells are Spell cards whose purpose to augment a specific type of Monster card. In the anime, a great example of this is Jaden Yuki's Skyscraper card, which gives every one of his Elemental HERO Monsters a 1000 ATK boost when they attack an opponent's Monster. Field Spells can tied to an Archetype, Type, or Attribute; it doesn't matter. The usefulness of Field Spell cards can't be understated, and if one exists for the type of deck you wish to use, it is highly recommended that you consider adding it.
• Equip Spells are Spell cards that are attached to an individual Monster card. An excellent classic example of this is the card Black Pendant, which gives the Equipped Monster a 500 ATK boost. Usually when the Equipped Monster is destroyed, so the Equip Spell attached to it. 
• Continuous Spells are Spell cards whose effects activate, well, continuously, frequently on a per-turn basis. An example of this would be Constellar Belt, which prevents the activation of LIGHT-attribute Monsters' effects from being negated.
• Ritual Spells are Spell cards that allow you to summon very special Monsters; sometimes without tribute, sometimes with tribute. It all depends on the requirement of the Ritual Spell. A classic example of a Ritual Spell is Black Magic Ritual, which allows you to summon Magician of Black Chaos by tributing Monsters whose total level equal 8.

3. Trap cards. As with Spell cards, the opportune drawing of a Trap card can shift the tide of an entire Duel. These are cards that, unlike Spell cards, are often Set in the backrow to be activated when they are most useful. Famous Trap cards include Mirror Force, which can be activated after being Set when an opponent's Monster attacks a Monster you control; it will negate the attack and destroy all Attack Position Monsters your opponent controls. Trap cards have a wide variety of nasty effects that can make your opponent's life much more difficult, and can save your skin when played correctly. 

• Normal Traps are basic Trap cards that you Set facedown in the backrow, waiting until their effects can be used (normally during your opponent's turn). Aside from the aforementioned Mirror Force, Magic Cylinder, Sakuretsu Armor, and Waboku are all famous classic Normal Traps that most who play the game are familiar with.
• Continuous Traps are similar to Continuous Spells in that their effects outlast a single turn, and can activate their effects on a per-turn basis. They must be destroyed or otherwise negated by a card effect in order to have their own effects neutralized. Call of the Haunted is a famous Continuous Trap card among players that recalls a destroyed Monster from the Graveyard for as long as the card remains on the field.\
• Counter Traps are nasty Trap cards that can only be negated by other Counter Traps. Their activation takes precedence over Normal and Continous Trap cards. Solemn Judgement is an excellent example of such a card: by paying half of your LP, you may negate the Summon of a Monster or the activation of a Spell/Trap and destroy that card.

Some more general deck-building tips:

1. Abide by the 1:2:1 ratio. 1 Trap and 1 Spell for every 2 Monsters in your deck. This is an effective way to increase the quality of your starting hands and your draws, making your deck, in theory, less likely to run dry and give you a useless hand or draw. You don't want to oversaturate your deck with just one category of card.

2. Keep your theme in mind. If a card won't go well in your deck with the Monsters you've chosen to add to it, don't put it in there. You wouldn't put Constellar Belt in a DARK deck, for example. A healthy portion of your Traps and Spells should have some sort of connection to the Archetype/Attribute/Type/mixture you've chosen to build your deck around.

3. Definitely include Spells and Traps that could go in any deck; for example, you never don't want to have Mirror Force, Dark Bribe, Twin Twisters or similar cards in your deck.

4. Make sure not to make your deck top-heavy with powerful Monsters. Remember, any monster above a level 4 can usually only be Summoned by paying some sort of price, be it having to use Tributes, using Monsters as Fusion/XYZ/Synchro/Ritual Materials, etc. Ritual Monsters cannot even be summoned regardless without their accompanying Ritual Spell. You don't want to leave your field open because you have too many high level Monsters in your hand that you can't do anything with. The overwhelming majority of your monsters in your Main Deck (XYZ, Synchro, and Fusion Monsters go in the Extra Deck and you can only have 15 Monsters in the Extra Deck) should be level 4 or under, with a few higher level ones sprinkled in to give your deck some teeth. This is not the end of the world. You should pick your weaker Monsters with an eye towards their effects; how can they help you hasten bringing out your big guns? Can they help protect your LP? Such considerations much be taken into account when building your deck.

As always, please feel free to ask the staff any questions you have about the rules of the game, the different card types, and for deck-building tips. We love and appreciate great decks, and are more than happy to help you make yours stronger.