Doug Zeeff
8/9/2012 10:55:00 AM
 Comments

While the ultimate goal of every player may differ, there's one aim that Duelists of all skill levels have, and that's to become better. Last week I shared some of my thoughts on the mind games of Yu-Gi-Oh! and the advantages they can bring you, but today I'd like to talk about how to playtest the correct way. Now, there are many different ways to playtest, and no one is the best way, but I'd like to cover some ways you can playtest and discuss their pros and cons.

Online Programs
Starting at the bottom of the playtesting food chain we have online programs. Whether it be through official or unofficial means, this is nowhere near the best way to playtest. The main reason that online programs are helpful, though, is that they can help you test out cards you don't have, as well as get you a feel for how your deck flows. If you're using online play methods as a means of playtesting, my advice to you would be to play higher ranked duelists, as they'll generally know what they're doing.

Of course, online Dueling can also be used to play with your friends and people you know while you're not at a real life tournament. This is the most effective way of using the online area of playtesting: it's the best (and only), alternative to playing someone in real life. Online Dueling is also useful because you can play anytime you're near a computer, just in case you're unable to get to tournaments for some period of time. Personally, I use online Dueling during sports seasons so I stay in the loop while I'm not able to go to locals or regionals.

The bad part of online Dueling is that it doesn't give you the same level of interaction as real life. Almost all of the advice that I gave in my last article goes out the window when you're Dueling online, save the bit about patterns. In addition, the shuffling systems can't be completely random, as computers are incapable of creating a truly random shuffle. You'll also face some really inexperienced players, which doesn't help your testing at all.

Getting a Group to Playtest With
Brainstorming is one of the biggest advantages group playtesting can afford you: it works because several people from different backgrounds are throwing in their thoughts, which means the result is going to be the sum of the best of everyone's ideas. Any time you're looking to refine a concept or develop a new one, several knowledgeable players are better then one. A quick way to get deck advice would be posting your deck up on the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCGPlayer facebook page, where you can get some advice from alot of awesome players. I'd also suggest posting your deck up on the forums, and other websites and Facebook groups if you're part of any.

An ideal group is one formed of players that are about the same experience level as you, and some maybe more experienced than you. This will ensure the best tips, as getting input from players that only play super-casually won't be too useful. It should be noted, however, that you should never shut down a piece of advice just because a player hasn't topped any big events or Regionals. There's this issue with the community that when an inexperienced player uses an underused card, they're called a horrible player, but when an experienced or well-known player uses the same card it's seen as the best tech of the format. Case and point: Maxx "C", Threatening Roar, and Snowman Eater.

You Have an Idea, but How Should You Test it?
If you're the type of person that comes up with off-the-wall ideas but can't put them into practice, do not fret because it's completely normal. A common problem with players everywhere is that alot of them have great ideas but don't know how to set them into motion. I'd like to take the time to go over some different ways to test different types of decks.

Archetypes: I'll start off with this simple flavor of deck choice because it's the easiest. When you build a deck around an archetype (like Wind-Ups, Inzektors, or Lightsworn) you'll generally find it less stressful to put everything together, because the cards you put in the deck are basically laid out in front of you. Archetypes have theme-stamped cards that are generally desirable to play. The way that I personally like to test the many different archetype decks is by throwing three of every archetype card into a build with staples, and play a few games with it. While this may not grant you the most victories, it will give you knowledge on what cards aren't needed and which can be effective, but don't need to be run in triplicate.

From this point, you can start adding in support cards to move your theme along. Remember that you don't have to limit yourself just to an archetype's theme-stamped cards: generic or splashable monsters, spells, and traps that support your strategy are incredibly important. An example would be how Dark Grepher and Armageddon Knight are not Infernity monsters, but work wonders in an Infernity strategy. While this may seem simple to many players reading, it's a mistake that I see new players make all the time.

High Mid Low

Armageddon Knight $11.97 $7.58 $7.16

Set	Phantom Darkness
Number	PTDN-EN021
Type	Warrior/Effect
Attribute	Dark
A / D	1400 / 1200
Rarity	Super Rare
Card Text	When this card is Summoned, you can send 1 DARK monster from your Deck to the Graveyard.
this card!

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Type or Attribute-Based: If you don't want to chain yourself to a particular archetype you may find yourself seeking satisfaction from a particular monster type (Warriors, Spellcasters, and so on) or attribute (Water, Wind, and such). Similar to named archetypes, monster types and attributes tend to follow a theme. I won't go over the different types' themes because that would take too long, but there are some common play patterns found in certain attributes.

The Dark attribute focuses on special summoning and big monsters. It's often associated with Fiends and Spellcasters. The Light attribute is generally good at maintaining card presence, and card advantage (often through draw effects) is the core of many of these strategies. The Light attribute is often associated with the Fairy and Thunder types. The Wind attribute is often focused on the destruction or manipulation of spell and trap cards. Wind monsters are, not surprisingly, commonly represented by Winged Beasts. The Earth attribute has lots of gifted defenders with high DEF; many Rock and Warrior-types find themselves in this attribute. The Water attribute is all over the place, but the types it features are commonly Sea Serpents, Aqua monsters, and Fish. Lastly, using Fire monsters means that you'll be burning your opponent's Life Points in most cases, and the Pyro-type cards are right at home in this attribute.

Hopefully these points will assist anyone trying to build an attribute based deck if they don't know where to start. In most cases you can build your strategy around these goals and do pretty well.

Decks that Don't Follow a Set-In-Stone Theme: The strategies I'm referring to here are those like of Synchro Plants and Chaos Dragons. There may be many themes in such a deck, but they usually have a common end point to reach. For Plants, it was to overpower the opponent with cards like Glow-Up Bulb, Reborn Tengu, and a flurry of Synchro Summons. Chaos Dragons aren't necessarily an attribute based deck, but rather they abuse the attributes of included cards by putting huge monsters on the field.

Testing these decks is a difficult process, but I'd start off with a strategic theme you want to stick with. Whether it be stunning your opponent to keep them from making moves; generating card advantage; or making massive aggressive attacks, it doesn't really matter. Once you have a theme you should start looking up cards that help you achieve that goal. It's a similar process to finding good support cards for your archetype deck.

Outside Sources
If you're reading this article then it's highly likely that you have an internet connection. That being said, make sure to use that internet connection to research your deck! While you may think your deck is original, chances are that someone, somewhere, has built it before. I'd suggest googling builds of your deck online and to find some card choices or tech ideas you might not've thought of. Another good place to look is the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki, where you can search for archetypes and themes and get a multitude of paragraphs that are there to help you.

While I don't condone netdecking (finding an exact deck list online and playing with it as written), I do think that it can be useful when you're just starting out with a new strategy. The problem with netdecking is that the build you copied may not match up with your play style or metagame, and just playing with a pre-made deck can limit your ability to come up with your own ideas. You have to remember that some Duelist out there had to actually test that deck for countless hours, and that it's their work, not yours. Netdecking is a tool, not a lifestyle.

It's a difficult process perfecting decks, but it's a rewarding one. Whatever you do, don't ever give up on a deck idea, and keep trying new things! As someone who's tried his best to make decks like Cloudians as competitive as possible, I know how hard this can be. I really do hope that this article gave you some interesting ideas for playtesting and bettering your deck. Be sure to take what you've learned and put it to good use!

-Doug Zeeff