Deck Building Basics (should be sticky haha)

I've noticed a few people need some basic help with deck-building. Even fun decks should have a basic skeleton set of rules to follow. Here's what I've learned from deck building over the years, and maybe they'll help you build something worth showing off in this Deck Showcase.

BREAKDOWN OF THIS EXPLANATIONS SET-UP:
#. (Rule)
--(explanation of rule)
**(exceptions/something to keep in mind)

1. Pick a strategy and focus.
--When you're deciding what deck to build, you have to decide what your strategy is going to be. Beat down? Mill? Burn? OTK? FTK? Stall? And then, you have to pick what cards you want to focus on. If you want to burn, do you want to focus on Wave-Motion Canon? Or would you rather focus on Dark Snake Syndrome? There are plenty of ways to win, and plenty of cards to choose from. But remember, you have to have a strategy and a focus. Remember to only have 1 of each. Don't mix styles.
**Don't build a "just-in-case" deck. What I mean by that is, don't build a deck with cards that are "just-in-case" your opponent does something. Like, don't have random cards like Mirror of Oaths just in case your opponent is running Gladiator Beasts. I like to think of decks as personal tanks on the battle field. If you build a bunch of little tanks for different types of walls, none of them will be able to take down a really big strong wall. But if you pick 1 tank, and you boost it up and make it as strong as possible by focusing on this 1 tank, it'll be able to take down ANY wall. So, strengthen up 1 strategy, and don't worry about what your opponent will run. That's what a side-deck is for.

2. Stick to 40 cards.
--Simple statistics can support this. The less cards you have to dig through, the more chances you have of drawing the right cards. So a 1/40(1 in 40) chance is a lot better than a 1/50(1 in 50) or 1/60(1 in 60).
**NONE

3. Any card worth having 1 of is worth having 3 of.
--This is the case for any card. If you think is any card is worth having 1 of, you should max out on it. If you think 1 Gold Sarcophagus is good, then you should add a second one. Obviously, if Morphing Jar was up at 3, every good deck would probably be running 3.
**of course this would mean going over the 40 card limit rather quickly. But this is when your judgment comes in. What would you rather have more of and what is worth sacrificing?

4. Don't go over 20 monsters.
--Normally, monsters can only be summoned 1 at a time. There are plenty of exceptions to this, but starting off a duel with a handful of monsters can be extremely dangerous. A duelists best decision is to have between 16-18 monsters, and then have searcher spell-cards, like Reinforcement of the Army, Gold Sarcophagus, or Gladiator Proving Ground. More Spell cards let you search than monster cards do, so it always helps. And searching your deck for specific cards is a lot better than hoping you draw them next turn.
**A few decks nowadays, like Lightsworns(or anything that uses the Lightsworn engine, like Twilight or ZombieSworn) or Hopeless Dragons, are dependent on having more monsters than anything else, so be sure to look out for that. Those might require you to go up to 25 or so monsters. But there aren't many decks like that.

5. More Spells than Traps.
--Spells are a lot better than Traps. They can be more versatile, especially Quick-Plays, because they can be played on the turn you draw them. Most Spells(except Quick-plays) can even be played on the turn they are set, so you can set a valuable card down, like Monster Reborn, and then play Card Destruction, discarding a big monster, drawing a new hand, and then summoning that monster that same turn. And many times, it's better to draw My Body As A Shield than Dark Bribe, because if your opponent activates something like Bottomless, Dark Bribe will have to wait, while My Body can be activated right away from your hand.
**Certain decks are Trap-heavy. Some Monarch decks revolve around summoning Trap-Monsters like Zoma the Spirit. These types of decks are the exception to the rules.

6. Searcher/Draw power is a must.
--Every effective deck has sufficient drawing power and searcher power. Zombies, for example, have Goblin Zombie and Pyramid Turtle, and use cards like Card Destruction and Hand Destruction to draw. Hopeless Dragons have Trade-In. Lightsworns have Charge of the Light Brigade and Solar Recharge. Six Samurai have Six Samurai United and Gateway Of The Six. Etc. Etc. Etc. Make sure whatever deck you have has some draw-power and searcher power. If there aren't any specifics, like The Six Samurai or Lightsworns have, you can always use general searchers like Gold Sarcophagus or Sangan, or general draw-power crads like Dark World Dealings, Card Destruction, or Morphing Jar.
**NONE

7. Make sure you run Staples.
--Staples are cards that every deck should run to work well. Mirror Force, for instance, is a staple. Heavy Storm is another one. (A general list of modern staples will be provided at the bottom. I will try to keep up with newer banlists as they come out). You generally want to have every staple in your deck, but some, like Giant Trunade, can be excluded in decks without much worry.
**Some decks have their own staples. For example, if you're going to run a Mill deck, Morphing Jar is a staple. Needle Worm is another staple for that deck. But they aren't staples anywhere else. And cards like Mirror Force AREN'T staples for Mill decks because those deck's don't worry about your opponent's field and would rather you flip the monster with an attack anyways.

That's my general help. I know it's a bit long, but it's helped me build some pretty amazing decks. In fact, it's what helped me build my current Six Samurai deck, which is better than almost any other Six Samurai deck you can run into. If anyone has any other suggestions, you should definitely post at the bottom. I hope this is helpful to at least someone. haha

LIST OF CURRENT GENERAL STAPLES FOR AVERAGE DECKS:

SPELLS:
2x Mystical Space Typhoon
1x Monster Reborn
1x Dark Hole
1x Heavy Stm

TRAPS:
1x Call of the Haunted (Maybe 2)
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Solemn Judgment
2x Solemn Warning

EXTRA DECK:
1x Ally of Justice - Catastor
1x Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1x Black Rose Dragon
1x Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
1x T.G. Hyper Librarian
1x Number 39: Utopia

(Even if you're not running Tuners, an Extra deck is good when running Monster Reborn. You can always take control of one of their tuners and use it against them. That will usually catch your opponent off-guard.)

This should be stikied I am remaking my main deck based on this skeleton. When I am done with the rebuild I will post it and see if anyone thinks they can make changes in order to increase its playability

Thanks!11!

true i think it should be stickied this is some good stuff.
this is a great contrbution to the academy for ppl like me who find deck building hard

I'm glad I could help. (=

If you guys ever need deck advice, I'm usually on and you can check Hamachi for me, or just send me a message in my dorm room or something.

Stickied.

Thanks for the sticky, Theo.