The Rules

[Crab Helmet]

Because I've changed my mind and decided that a topic about this is necessary; it's just that we need different rules. These rules act in addition to the official site rules.

Throughout this topic, I'll be using the following imaginary decklist as a sample decklist:

Bubble Crash, 3 Larvae Moth, 2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, Swords of Revealing Light, 3 Magical Hats

Obviously, this deck is far too small to be legal; it is just an example.


1. Line Breaks

When posting your deck, don't post everything in one line; put each card on a different line. For example:

1 Bubble Crash
3 Larvae Moth
2 Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch
1 Swords of Revealing Light
3 Magical Hats

This makes the deck much easier to read. However, don't put blank lines between each card; they should be together, but on separate lines.


2. Organization

When posting your decklist, divide it up into Monsters, Spell, and Traps.

Example:

Monsters

2 Thestalos the Firsestorm Monarch
3 Larvae Moth

Spells

1 Bubble Crash
1 Swords of Revealing Light

Traps

3 Magical Hats

Doing this makes your deck much, much easier to read. If you wish, you may also divide your monsters into Tribute Monsters and Non-Tribute Monsters, but this is optional. You don't need to use underlines for the section titles; I personally prefer bold, for example.


3. Numbers

At the start of each section, say how many of that type of card is included in your deck. For example:

Monsters (5)

2 Thestalos the Firsestorm Monarch
3 Larvae Moth

Spells (2)

1 Bubble Crash
1 Swords of Revealing Light

Traps (3)

3 Magical Hats

This makes it much easier for people to see your deck's balance.


4. Topic Titles

The old sticky said that deck names should be along the lines of "My Deck" or "Crab Helmet's Deck". This is a bad system, was not used when it was officially sanctioned, and is no longer even remotely encouraged.

It is best for your topic title and deck title to be descriptive of the deck's function. For example, an Immortal Bushi deck could be called "Bushi Deck" or "Gadget Warrior" or something. Decks titled "My Deck" are generally looked down on, especially after a recent series of Generic Beatdown decks of that title.


5. Legality

Decks posted here must be legal under the March 2008 Advanced Format banlist, which can be found in the other sticky on this board. If your deck contains any banned cards, such as Yata-Garasu, or too many copies of Limited or Semi-Limited cards, such as 3 Overload Fusion, it cannot be posted here.

If the only thing that prevents your deck from being legal is that it contains a single copy of a banned card, or one copy each of multiple banned cards, then it is legal in Traditional Format and may be posted in the appropriate sub-forum.

If your deck contains 2 or 3 copies of a banned or limited card, or if it contains 3 copies of semi-limited card, then it is illegal in all formats and cannot be posted anywhere.

The only main exception to this rule is that you may post a deck that follows the September 2007 format instead of the March 2008 format for the purposes of use on Game King Online, which has not been updated with the new banlist yet. If this is the case, you must say so within the topic.

A few player-created banlists exist, most notably the Atem Penultimate Banlist. You may post decks that use these, but if you do so, you must state that you are using such a banlist, and should post the banlist within spoiler tags for the benefit of those who are not familiar with it.


6. Flaming

Yes, this is one of the general site rules, but because of recent disputes over what constitutes flaming, I feel that it should be defined here in more detail.

"Flaming" is a direct insult to a person. Example: "You are an idiot".

Speaking ill of a person's deck is not considered flaming. For example, "this deck sucks" is perfectly acceptable.

Speaking ill of a person's recommendations is also not considered flaming. For example, "your suggestions suck" is perfectly acceptable.

Speaking ill of a person's playing ability is generally not considered flaming. For example, "you suck at this game" or "learn to play" are perfectly acceptable. However, this can become flaming if done improperly; for example, "only an idiot could be this bad at this game" would be considered flaming.

Amendature 6.1 (26/02/09)
After several complaints I have decided that the above phrases directly contravene the sites regulations. Therefore people must be more specific when posting that a deck is bad. However it is the person's who is upset with the comments responsibility to report the offending post and not the moderators to find the post by randomly searching through posts.


7. Deckbuilding

Before you post your deck, read the Basic Deckbuilding FAQ - Illustrated Edition:

Basic Deckbuilding FAQ - Illustrated Edition (Click to View)

A lot of beginning players think that a good Deck Size is whatever size will allow them to include all the cards they want. Some even think that larger decks are better, on the grounds that they permit a wider variety of cards.

Simply put, this is wrong. Smaller decks are superior to larger decks.

The thing about larger decks is that, though there are more cards available, you have a significantly lower chance of drawing any given card. If you are unable to draw the cards you need with some degree of consistency, the deck will be unable to win with some degree of consistency. Furthermore, since you can only have three copies of each card in your deck, and many staples can be run only in one or two copies, your chances of playing your best cards are slim.

This is not just my opinion; this is a commonly accepted standard among better duelist. If you look at large tournaments, such as Shonen Jump Championships, all the best decks have low numbers of cards; most have 40, generally the best number, and none has more than 45.



Most good decks should have 40 cards; having more is permissible, but 40 is generally ideal. Of course, there are a few exceptions, depending on the decktype being used. Gadget decks, for example, often run more cards to reduce the player's chances of drawing redundant copies of the Gadget monsters; however, even these decks do not run more than 45 cards.



Each deck needs a theme of some sort. Some new players will simply throw together cards that they like; however, these decks, commonly described as "HOLY PILE OF RANDOM, BATMAN!", suffer from a severe lack of synergy. Synergy is the way in which the cards in a deck work together and complement one another; random decks generally do not have this support, leaving them at a huge disadvantage.

A deck's theme could be anything from a series of cards that were specifically designed to work together as a set, such as the Crystal Beast cards, to cards that all support a specific win condition.



Each deck needs a win condition, also called a deck goal, or a manner in which that deck is designed to win the duel. Keeping this win condition in mind when building a deck helps to make that deck more focused.

Something like "attack and make the opponent's Life Points zero" is not a specific enough win condition; something like "rapidly gain field advantage to defeat the opponent" for Six Samurai or "use the effect of Crystal Abundance to attack the opponent and win" for Crystal Beasts would be more appropriate. Even though both involve attacking the opponent to obliterate his or her Life Points, the manner of doing so is drastically different.

Of course, some decktypes do not involve reducing the opponent's Life Points. Decks focused on cards like Exodia, for example, win by fulfilling different conditions; in this case, fulfilling those conditions by a certain method is the deck's win condition.



When constructing a deck, it is important to have a good ratio of monsters, spells, and traps. In a standard 40-card deck whose win condition involves attacking the opponent and reducing his or her Life Points in a non-OTK method, a good balance usually involves 18-22 monsters (16-24 at the outside), with the remainder divided between spells and traps, usually with about 2 spells for every 1 trap.

Of course, there are many exceptions. For example, decks including Jinzo and/or Royal Decree should run low numbers of traps. A deck's win condition can also affect the ratio; DDT decks, for example, usually run about 11 monsters, a large number of Normal Spells, and almost no (if any) traps.



When constructing a deck, individual card choices can be almost as important as the overall deck structure. As an example, observe the Hero Barrier card above. Many beginner Elemental Hero decks use this card, but it is, in actuality, a very bad card. The following cards serve a purpose that is exactly like that of Hero Barrier, except better:

* Mirror Force
* Negate Attack
* Threatening Roar
* Waboku
* Sakuretsu Armor
* Dimensional Prison
* Magic Cylinder
* Draining Shield

There is never any reason that Hero Barrier should be used, since any one of these cards can do the exact same thing except with an added bonus and no restriction.

Of course, even within the cards that are superior to Hero Barrier, some are better than others. Mirror Force and Dimensional Prison are both superior to Sakuretsu Armor, and Mirror Force is also superior to Negate Attack, Threatening Roar, and Waboku. Since Magic Cylinder and Draining Shield do not provide any advantage and can only negate one attack, they are often considered inferior to the other cards that serve similar purposes (outside of a Burn or Life Point Increase deck, respectively).

This is just one example of how card choices can weaken or strengthen a deck, depending on whether they are done properly.



Situational cards can only be used under specific circumstances. For example, Amplifier can only be used while Jinzo is on the field. Situational cards are generally considered weak, as unless specific conditions are fulfilled, they are completely useless dead draws.



Nomi monsters contain the text "This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except..." with a summoning condition described on the card.

A Nomi's usefulness depends on the balance between how easy its summoning condition is to fulfill and how powerful its effect is. For example, Dark Armed Dragon is easy to summon and has an extremely powerful effect, so it is considered a good Nomi, worth running in a compatible deck. Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, on the other hand, is extremely difficult to summon and is nothing more than a beatstick once it hits the field; it has no useful effect at all. This makes it not worth running in most cases.



Normal Monsters, sometimes called Vanilla due to their yellow background color and bland lack of effect, are sometimes added to decks due to their ATK points and possibly their names; however, these can often hurt the deck goal. For example, Gladiator Beast Andal has good ATK and has "Gladiator Beast" in its name, but it lacks a Special Summoning effect common to the other Gladiator Beasts, which means that it doesn't support the deck goal.

Of course, there are some situations in which Vanilla monsters make sense. Elemental Hero Fusion-based decks usually use Elemental Hero Sparkman and Elemental Hero Clayman, since they are needed as Fusion Material. Similarly, some Spellcaster decks have a focus on Dark Magician due to the large amount of support available, ease in summoning, and high ATK.

Vanilla monsters are fine, but only as long as they make the deck stronger.



Polymerization is widely considered one of the worst of all cards that can perform a Fusion Summon, as it costs at least three cards to summon one monster, a net loss of at least two cards of advantage, and provides no extra effects.

Some Fusion cards, such as Vehicroid Connection Zone, come with an added benefit, while others, such as Miracle Fusion, can use Fusion Material Monsters that are already in the graveyard, and therefore do not result in a loss of advantage. When possible, these alternate Fusion cards are preferable to Polymerization; however, some Fusion Monsters, such as Dark Paladin, cannot benefit from any of them, and so Polymerization must be used.



If you are using Ritual Monsters, the regular Ritual Spells are not very good; Advanced Ritual Art is the best way to summon them, as this does not cost as much advantage as regular Ritual Spells.

Since Ritual Monsters and Ritual Spells are useless if one does not have the other, it is important that you be able to search them out to make them more usable. Therefore, most decks that run Ritual Monsters will include Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands for its search effect.

Obviously, to use Advanced Ritual Art, Vanilla monsters are also necessary; this is one of the cases where their use is acceptable.



Staples are highly splashable cards that will make most decks stronger when included. Heavy Storm, Mystical Space Typhoon, and Mirror Force are the most splashable of these; however, many others, though not quite as universal, can benefit decks just as much.

Many staples are Limtied and Semi-Limited cards on the banlist; however, not all Limited and Semi-Limited cards are so splashable. For example, Night Assailant was Limited because two copies of it could be used in an infinite loop.



In Traditional Format, all of these rules are even more important. Since decks are incredibly fast and powerful, a good balance with strong cards and many staples in a 40-card deck.

It covers the most common mistakes seen here, and there's no need to waste everyone's time with your deck if you haven't learned the basics, such as by making 70-card decks.


8. The Xander Clause

If your deck contains obscure or unreleased OCG-only cards, your post should also contain either a link to a description of those cards or a copy-paste of the effects of those cards.

9. The Jack Witt Clause

All deck topics are treated as rate and fix topics. This means that, when you post your deck, you will receive comments and evaluations of the deck's quality from other members and suggestions as to how to improve it. If you cannot deal with this, then do not post your deck. If you post your deck and then show that you cannot or will not accept constructive criticism, you will not only appear childish but also run the risk of having your topics closed.


10. Deck Size

Under new rules all decks must be under 50 cards in size. This is to help with people fixing your deck. Any decks over 50 cards will be locked with no warning. People cannot be expected to fix decks which are 80 cards in size.

[Chaos Pudding]

Can I post a deck using Atem's list if I make it clear that I am doing so?

[Crab Helmet]

Chaos Pudding Wrote:Can I post a deck using Atem's list if I make it clear that I am doing so?

Section edited to permit the Atem Penultimate Banlist, because it's awesome.

[Chaos Pudding]

Cool. Time to bust out some new decks...

[Tickle Me Emo]

whats the atem banlist?

[Crab Helmet]

DevilMayCry4Life Wrote:whats the atem banlist?

The Atem Penultimate Banlist, which is superior to the junk that Konami cooks up (Click to View)

I. Forbidden Cards

You cannot use these cards in your Deck or Side Deck:

ACCUMULATED FORTUNE
BLACK LUSTER SOLDIER - ENVOY OF THE BEGINNING
BUTTERFLY DAGGER - ELMA
CARD OF SAFE RETURN
CHANGE OF HEART
CHAOS EMPEROR DRAGON - ENVOY OF THE END
CHAOS SORCERER
CHIMERATECH OVERDRAGON
CONFISCATION
CRUSH CARD VIRUS
CYBER END DRAGON
CYBER TWIN DRAGON
CYBER JAR
CYBER-STEIN
DAIROKKAN (Sixth Sense)
DARK ARMED DRAGON
DARK HOLE
DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS
DECK DEVASTATION VIRUS
DELINQUENT DUO
DIMENSION FUSION
EXCHANGE OF THE SPIRIT
FIBER JAR
GOLD SARCOPHAGUS
GRACEFUL CHARITY
HARPIE'S FEATHER DUSTER
IMPERIAL ORDER
LAST TURN
LAST WILL
LIMITER REMOVAL
MAGICAL EXPLOSION
MAGICAL SCIENTIST
MAKYURA THE DESTRUCTOR
MEGAMORPH
MEIFU NO SHISHA GOES (Gorz the Emissary of Darkness)
MIRAGE OF NIGHTMARE
MONSTER REBORN
MORPHING JAR
NOBLEMAN OF CROSSOUT
PAINFUL CHOICE
PHANTOM OF CHAOS
POT OF GREED
PREMATURE BURIAL
RAIGEKI
RETURN FROM THE DIFFERENT DIMENSION
RING OF DESTRUCTION
SANGAN
SINISTER SERPENT
SKY SCOURGE NORLERAS
SNATCH STEAL
SNIPE HUNTER
THE FORCEFUL SENTRY
THOUSAND-EYES RESTRICT
TIME SEAL
TRAP DUSTSHOOT
TREEBORN FROG
TSUKUYOMI
ULTIMATE OFFERING
VICTORY DRAGON
WITCH OF THE BLACK FOREST
YATA-GARASU

NEW! - Accumulated Fortune, Card of Safe Return, Chimeratech Overdragon, Crush Card Virus, Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Twin Dragon, Dark Armed Dragon, Dark Magician of Chaos, Deck Devasation Virus, Dimension Fusion, Gold Sarcophagus, Limiter Removal, Magical Explosion, Megamorph, Meifu no Shisha Goes (Gorz the Emissary of Darkness), Monster Reborn, Morphing Jar, Nobleman of Crossout, Phantom of Chaos, Premature Burial, Return from the Different Dimension, Sangan, Sky Scourge Norleras, Snipe Hunter, Trap Dustshoot, Treeborn Frog, Ultimate Offering


II. Limited Cards

You can ONLY use one of the following cards in the Deck & Side Deck combined:

BREAKER THE MAGICAL WARRIOR
CALL OF THE HAUNTED
CARD DESTRUCTION
CARD TROOPER
CEASEFIRE
CHAIN STRIKE
DANDELION (Dandylion)
ELEMENTAL HERO STRATOS
EXODIA THE FORBIDDEN ONE
GIANT TRUNADE
GREEN BABOON, DEFENDER OF THE FOREST
HEAVY STORM
JINZO
LEVEL LIMIT - AREA B
MAGIC CYLINDER
MAGICIAN OF FAITH
MARSHMALLON
MIRROR FORCE
NIGHT ASSAILANT
SPIRIT REAPER
SWORDS OF REVEALING LIGHT
TRIBE-INFECTING VIRUS
TWIN-HEADED BEHEMOTH
UNITED WE STAND

NEW! - Call of the Haunted, Jinzo, Tribe-Infecting Virus


NEW! - The following cards are no longer Limited: Advanced Ritual Art, Book of Moon, Brain Control, Cyber Dragon, D.D. Warrior Lady, Destiny Hero - Disk Commander, Destiny Hero - Malicious, Fissure, Foolish Burial, Future Fusion, Gravity Bind, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Leg of the Forbidden One, Light and Darkness Dragon, Mage Power, Magical Stone Excavation, Manticore of Darkness, Mask of Darkness, Metamorphosis, Mind Crush, Mystical Space Typhoon, Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, Ojama Trio, Ouke no Shinden (Temple of the Kings), Overload Fusion, Pot of Avarice, Raiza the Storm Monarch, Reinforcement of the Army, Right Arm of the Forbidden One, Right Leg of the Forbidden One, Royal Decree, Scapegoat, Smashing Ground, The Transmigration Prophecy, Torrential Tribute, Wall of Revealing Light

[b7hamma]

Addendum A (aka The Xander Clause)

If you're going to use obscure or unreleased OCG cards, provide a link or c/p the effect in your post.

[Crab Helmet]

b7hamma Wrote:Addendum A (aka The Xander Clause)

If you're going to use obscure or unreleased OCG cards, provide a link or c/p the effect in your post.

I agree. Added.

[jtdog97]

ok man

[Crab Helmet]

jtdog97 Wrote:ok man

This post will trigger a new Renaissance, complete with art, music, and noses made of solid gold.

[Kizzi]

Wow. Not many people follow the rules. >.>

[Crab Helmet]

kizzi Wrote:Wow. Not many people follow the rules. >.>

That's the problem with stickies in general. The people who need to read them are the people who don't.

[Chaos Pudding]

I believe we need a new rule.

If you post your deck on this board, you will accept that people WILL tell you that your deck sucks, among other comments, and that those same people will tell you to change cards in said deck. If you cannot deal, then do not post your deck. If you post your deck and then show that you cannot or will not accept constructive criticism, then your thread will be locked

[Crab Helmet]

The Jack Witt Clause has been added. The name was generated after I pressed random keys on my keyboard. Any resemblance to the names of actual users, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

[Kizzi]

Crab Helmet Wrote:The Jack Witt Clause has been added. The name was generated after I pressed random keys on my keyboard. Any resemblance to the names of actual users, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

*is clearing room to sig that*

[BlueThunder37]

Crab Helmet Wrote:

jtdog97 Wrote:ok man

This post will trigger a new Renaissance, complete with art, music, and noses made of solid gold.

......Huh?? lol that's funny. People that posts pointless decks should really read this.

[Destructor]

Is there a limit to cards in a deck posting

you know the kind where there is certain amount of cards that are allowed to be posted as a deck recipe

[JesusofChaos™]

Not at the moment but it is in the process of becoming a rule

[Max C.]

iv got only one question: i want to post my deck, but it has 57 cards, but i want to post it asking what 7 cards to take out.. is that legal??

[PikaPerson01]

Considering JoC edited that rule in, not Crab, I personally don't take it into account, mainly because IIRC there's already a limit to the deck size, 60 cards.