Deck Building

"Deck Building" is the art of building a deck around a Buddyfighter's intentions, goals and dreams. This article will go into some steps, general tips and info to consider so you too, can make an awesome deck!

Step 1 - Choosing your deck
Before building your deck, consider where to build from. Some people construct their deck around a "Flag / World". Some choose an Attribute. Some go for Archetypes. Some build their deck around a single card or a combo of cards.

Look around for the thing that makes you go "OOOHHHhhhhhhhhhh. I want to build that" and let's start from there.

Step 2 - Winning Image
The "Winning Image" is a general term for the strategy of your deck i.e. the path towards victory!!!

There are several strategies you can take. It could be simply attacking your opponent every turn with everything you got. Maybe you want to outlast your opponent by gaining Life every turn. Perhaps you want to deplete your opponent's hand or deck. There are many more strategies then this to explore!

Whether it's simple or complicated, whether it's fast or slow, keeping to the Image of your deck is an important factor to building your deck.

Step 3 - Choosing a Buddy
Picking your Buddy can be a big decision. The card you pick as your Buddy is normally one of the most commonly played cards within your whole deck or perhaps the very card that represents the entire deck.

On the other hand, your Buddy can also just be a throw-in for that sweet 1 Life from the Buddy Gift...... Ok, that sounds mean, but I'm sure they're cool with it.

Make sure to find the right Buddy for your deck. Also it's a good idea to run 4 of it in the Main Deck for consistency.

Step 4 - Key Cards
A card alone does win the match. Your Key Cards are a group of cards that, once assembled, will allow you to go for the win. They are the focus of your Deck and the overall idea is to try to get them as fast as possible and keep yourself in the game long enough to use them.

You might think your Buddy is a Key Card but it doesn't have to be.

Step 5 - Gaining ground & Covering weak points
Remember what I said about the overall idea should be getting your Key Cards as fast as possible and to keep yourself in the game? That's what the rest of cards should do.

Cards that allow you to draw or search from your deck, cards that can stop the opponent's attacks, cards that prevent your other cards from being destroyed, cards that add Gauge, big powerful Monsters, cards that destroy the entire field etc. These are the kinds of cards you should be looking at.

Whether you want to out-speed your opponent at the cost of being easy to hit, or to fortify a large defence, or a balance in between, or something else entirely is up to you.

Sideboard:
In tournaments, you usually have a Best-of-3-Matches Round. In between Matches, you can swap cards out of your Main Deck with ones in your Sideboard. Why?

Generally, The Sideboard is made of situational cards that you store away until you do need them. This allows the player to have access to cards without having to add needlessly to their deck. AWESOME!!!

Step 6 - Ratios (Monster / Spell / Item / Impact)
Ratios refers to the number of a type of card you have in your deck and how much they make up the deck. Each one has their advantage and downfalls. Keeping a good balance between them is key to making a functioning deck.

Too many Monsters, you won't easily draw the Spell that turns things around. Too many Spells and you'll be defenceless with no Monsters to protect you. Items are cool but you can only have 1 of them compared to 3 Monsters. Impacts are awesome finishers, but how are you going to lower your opponent's Life low enough to use it?

Ultimately, Ratios depend on the kind of deck you're building. If your deck focuses on casting Spells every turn, then a higher Spell count is expected.

Just be sure to keep track of your Ratios and find the best balance for your deck.

Step 7 - Time to Buddyfight
Now you got your deck. Think that's it? Nope. Now you have to put it to the test. Best way to test it? Have a Buddyfight!!!

Find a friend who's willing to test your deck against theirs. Keep note of how many times you win or lose, and tweak your deck if it needs it. Don't have someone to fight against? Then build a second deck and fight against yourself!

Now go out there, build your decks and Buddyfight!!!