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Thursday, November 4, 2010

It's a Trap!

Let's talk about traps this format.

At the start of the format, it was common to see 10 - 12 traps in the main deck of the most competitive decks.  Multiples of Solemn Warning and Trap Stun were the norm.  What the hell happened?  Surprisingly enough, players and playstyles are evolving at faster pace than in the past.  Royal Decree has single handedly defined this format.

You have to admit, it was rather annoying to stare down your opponent sitting behind a high attack lvl4 monster and 3+ backrows.  Players who were not adept at baiting backrows almost always lost to the opponent who turtled behind backrow cards.  Players who could bait them out, felt vindication, yet frustration that the game had began to digress into a "Crab Battle."  Enter Royal Decree.  Going 1st with a single Spell or Trap facedown and ending your turn with nothing more on the field is now a very omnimous play.  If you are playing a trap heavy opponent, they will cringe in horror as you flip your End Phase Decree, locking down their 3+ backrow cards (Solemn Warning being one of them).

To successfully run Decree, you have to be willing to accept 1 thing:

If your opponent is any good, they will exploit the fact that you cannot reliably stop their pushes.

You all know that a strong Offense is a strong defense.  Meaning that if you put constant pressure on your opponent, they will be hard pressed to damage to you.  Book of Moon is your friend.  Book of Moon in a decree build is best used to break up Synchro Plays and not for stopping early game attacks, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.  Effect Veiler is a Life Saver.  A well timed Veiler on Caius will more times than not spell the difference between a loss and a victory.  By simply protecting your royal decree from a Black Rose play or Caius, you continue to keep nearly a quarter of your opponents deck unplayable. 

I'm not advocating running Royal Decree nor am I preaching 10+ traps in the mainboard.  I am of the school of thought that believes the more chainable your backrow cards are, the better.  It all boils down to player preference.  And if you prefer to win, be prepared to cut your trap count.

3 comments:

  1. This is all very valid.

    My playstyle is not decree friendly. I'm not really a tripple decree kind of guy. My playstyle is not very good at counting on long term effects for victory, its just how i am. With that being said, i only play 6 traps in all my decks. 2 trap stun, 2 seven tools, 1 solemn judgment, and 1 mirror force. i may play the 2 bottomless if i have room.

    3 books is godly and your only garunteed defense. with that, morphing jar, spy, and ryko are all amazing. And it shows in the better decks of the formats (im also predicting an increase in a gravekeeper's monarchy snycro kind of build because of spy)

    Another solid post dubkdad. =]

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  3. hey dubkdad i know i have not posted any videos but i will and also would like to talk to u about buying a deck from u or cards that i need peace.

    junkanddebris

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