How to Side Deck Effectively:

1. Introduction

2. The Principles of Siding and Counter-Siding

3. What to Side Out + Ratios

4. The Range of your Side-Deck

5. The Differences between Going 1st, and Going 2nd

6. Conclusion

==============

1. Introduction

Side-Decking is one of the most important things in the game today, yet is also one of the most under-looked by more casual or inexperienced players (and also some more experienced people)

As pretty much every match in an official Yu-Gi-Oh tournament is played under the rules of Best out of 3 games, you will be playing more games with your side deck than without it, and your side deck strategy will shape the way that Games 2/3 will be played.

An optimal main-deck is often not enough to win, or even top a major tournament if your side-deck is not up to scratch, however a large percentage of discussion about the game revolves around main-deck strategies, and how to build the optimal main deck. This is understandable, as the main deck will be at the very core of how you win games in the first place, but the proportion of discussion related to proper side-decking is still imbalanced, and it is often optimal choices relating to the side deck (whether it be preparing for other side decks, or fine tuning their own) that can often be the difference between winning or losing on the bubble of a major tournament.

This article will be covering some of the major issues to address when building your side deck. Do bear in mind this blog will have a variety of content, some aimed at more casual players, and some at more experienced players, the same can be said of this article. There will theories, and points in this article which are more useful for beginners who are looking to pick up some basic side-decking tips, and there will be information that more experienced players can hopefully find to be useful.

==================

2. The Principles of Siding & Counter-Siding

The best way to think about your side deck, is to think of it as an additional 15 cards to allow your deck to adapt to certain matchups, and is used to give yourself a better chance of winning that game. Along with this theory, you can easily split side-decking strategies into one of the following three strategies:

Stopping your opponent’s deck (Obstructive Siding) Protecting your own deck (Counter-Siding) Siding into a different deck/engine (Smokescreening)

First, we’ll discuss Obstructive Siding. Spots in your side-deck dedicated to Obstructive Siding will be used against certain decks with the purpose of stopping or breaking down their deck strategy. By breaking down the opponent’s potentially dangerous strategy, in theory it should make the game easier for you to win.

Obstructive Siding can come in different forms, one of the most common examples is in the use of “floodgates,” which are usually continuous cards which can completely shut down parts of an opponent’s strategy. I will take a common example deck this format, and take Mermails to be the example here. When preparing for a major tournament, Mermails are both a very popular, and very scary deck to face. Common floodgates against this deck inlude Dimensional Fissure, Macro Cosmos, and Soul Drain, all of which prevent the deck from gaining +1s from their discards and furthering their combos. These cards stop so many key cards in the Mermail strategy, like Abysslinde, Abyssgunde, Dragoons, Marksman, and Infantry, that they can be classed as “floodgates” against the Mermail deck, as if one of these cards stays on the field, the Mermail deck is severely impaired.

Obstructive Siding doesn’t necessarily need to be in the form of floodgates, it can instead be something as simple as changing your main-decked Mirror Forces for Dimensional Prisons, if your opponent needs their monsters to stay in their graveyard. This can also come in the form of hand traps, such as Maxx “C”, Effect Veiler, and D.D. Crow, which can all punish your opponent when you go 2nd (explained more in a later section) and they try to combo off on T1 of the duel.

Obstructive Siding should most commonly be used when the power of your deck, and its plays/combos are generally weaker than your opponent’s plays/combos. For example, this format, the two decks with the strongest opening plays/combos are Mermails and Hieratic Rulers, who can both bring out devastating fields in one turn. If you’re playing a deck like +1 Fire Fist, your deck is more consistant, but the power of your big plays (Bear Train or Wolfbark) don’t match the power level of the Pike/Turge combo, or the Lavalval Chain/Dracossack combo, so when playing as Fire Fist against the Mermail match, you would look mainly to dedicate slots in your side deck to obstructive siding for this matchup.

On the flip-side of this scenario, we look at the match from the Mermail player’s point of view. The Mermail player will more likely be siding into a Counter-Siding strategy against the Fire Fist deck. The Mermail deck doesn’t have to fear any deadly combos/plays from the Fire Fist deck, but instead has to fear the cards which might be sided in to stop their own combos. This means that Mermails will have a number of slots in their side deck dedicated to counter-siding, with cards like Mystical Space Typhoon, Dust Tornado, and Full House being common side picks due to their abilities to destroy the floodgates which prevent the Mermail deck from playing.

This counter-siding strategy has differed between formats and differed between decks, another good example of this is back in March 2013 format, where the two main decks were Dragon Rulers and Spellbooks. Dragon Rulers had the most powerful strategy out of all the decks, but Spellbook & Evilswarms had cards which locked Dragons out of the game. Dragon Rulers began to side things like Tsukuyomi and Psi-Blocker to get around “floodgates” such as Jowgen the Spiritualist and Evilswarm Ophion. Floodgates and “lockdown” cards can take many different forms, so it is all about analysing which floodgates are the most popular, and optimising your side deck to be able to deal with these threats aptly. One more recent development, which showcases this is that Breakthrough Skill is becoming more and more popular in the Mermail deck, mainly because it can turn off the two biggest Extra Deck threats to the deck, the aforementioned Evilswarm Ophion, and the popular and generic Abyss Dweller, which a lot of decks this format can easily make. Abyss Dweller is an example of a floodgate card which resides in the Extra Deck, meaning it will be an option during Game 1. This means that Mermails have had to adapt so they don’t auto-lose Game 1 to any deck which can make Abyss Dweller, which is why Mermails now play a solid trap lineup, and have begun to main things like Breakthrough Skill and even Forbidden Lance to run over opposing Abyss Dwellers.

It is worth mentioning that certain cards can serve a dual-purpose, of both being good Counter-Siding and Obstructive Siding options. One good example of this is how Mystical Space Typhoon is very versatile in the Fire Fist matchup, as you can use it defensively by chaining it to the activation of Fire Formation – Tenki, and slow down the Fire Fist player, or you can use it offensively, and take out a Dimensional Fissure or a Macro Cosmos to ensure your own plays go off. your side deck should attempt to be as versatile as possible, and this is the logic as to why you don’t see a lot of narrow side-deck cards in the side decks of more experienced players, as they don’t have a wide enough range (which I have dedicated a section of this article to)

The third and final strategy for side-decking is one which is a lot less common now, but can still be pulled off effectively in certain types of deck. This strategy is named “Smokescreening” – and it is when you use your side deck to side into a different “core” or “deck engine.”

The reason for doing something like this is to throw your opponent completely off guard. If you know your opponent can and will side too many floodgates or side cards that cripple your deck, you can change into effectively what is a different deck, making those floodgates dead, and taking advantage of what your opponent will side.

The most successful smokescreen has topped quite a few tournaments, and even Top 16ed at YCS Berlin, which is where the player begins with a Chain Burn main-deck (most likely winning G1) and then siding into an Inzektor engine during G2, as your opponent will be siding things like Royal Decree, Trap Stun, Seven Tools, and will side out all of their monster removal. This allows the Inzektor strategy to combo off unhindered, while leaving your opponent with a lot of dead side cards and in theory should set you up for a match win.

======================

3. What to Side Out + Ratios

This is a section I really wanted to write up on for this article, a lot of the time I’ve come across people who have had great ideas for their side deck, and they’ve built it well, but when it comes to actually siding during a game, they’ve had no real idea of what is most optimal to side out. Whenever you enter a major tournament you should always have a rough idea of what will be going in/out against a certain type of deck, you shouldn’t be siding out random cards in place of your side-deck cards.

This should also be firmly in your mind when building your side-deck in the first place. If you’re playing a deck which requires a lot of combo pieces (think Spellbooks, or even decks like Mermails/Hieratic Rulers) then it is almost never beneficial to side out important parts of your own combos, or important parts of your own deck.

This means that when building your side deck, you have to know almost exactly what goes in/out against each matchup, otherwise you can be left with an imbalance.

I’ll use the Spellbook deck as an example. When building my side deck, I decide I want to side in 8 cards for the Mermail match, because I have a bad matchup against the deck. I decide I want to side in:

1x Dimensional Fissure

1x Soul Drain

2x Vanity’s Emptiness

3x Maxx “C”

1x D.D. Crow

Now, those cards all appear to be on paper, good against the Mermail deck. However, when I play in a tournament against Mermails, and I go to Game 2, in order to put these 8 cards into my main deck, I have to take 8 cards out of my main deck. Now, the Spellbook deck has a certain amount of staple pieces (assume a World/Priestess hybrid build) – which are the following:

3 Spellbook Magician

3 Temperance

2 Priestess

1 World



3 Crescent

3 Secrets

2 Master

2 Eternity

2 Tower

1 Power

1 Life

1 Fate

1 Wisdom

That is 25 cards straight off the bat that can’t be touched, or you begin to hinder your own deck, and your chances of winning the game. You are also playing defensive cards like Fiendish Chains, and the staple traps like Warning/Bottomless/Torrential which can’t really ber sided out, as you need reactive cards to stop the opponent’s plays. Take into consideration all of this, and suddenly you can’t effectively side out 8 cards to accomodate for the cards you want to side in. This is a situation which can easily be avoided in the planning and construction stage of building your side deck, where you can use the practice of determining what you can afford to side out against different decks, and then you form a side deck based around that information.

For example, if I were playing my version of Spellbooks, I determined that I could side out on average about 3-5 cards from my deck without hindering the playstyle of it. Against Mermails I would be siding 1x Dimensional Fissure and 1x Soul Drain because they’re the best floodgates against the deck. Because of this, I know I can side out the 1 Stoic of Prophecy I main-deck, as there’s a chance it will be dead. I would also be siding out of 1-2x MST, due to the fact most Mermails run limited backrow, with the only real backrow being chainable Reckless Greeds/Breakthrough Skills and Abyss-Spheres, and I’m maining 2x Raigeki Break which is a more reactive card. I can also side out the 1 defensive trap, and then put in 2x Maxx “C”, as Maxx acts as a defensive cards against the deck, and can’t be popped by marksman, allowing you to manage +1s a little more easily. All in all, that’s a 4-card switchover, but you need not follow my exact train of though, you could side out more defnesive traps and replace them with cards like Vanity’s Emptiness, which is a lot more effective against Mermails than standard traps. Irrelevant of what you are exactly siding in/out, understanding how effective your main and side cards are, is crucial when ensuring you side deck properly.

The flip-side of this is when someone has a poorly constructed side deck, they can jam in multiple cards for the Mermail match, like Banisher of the Radiance x3, D.D. Crow x3, Vanity’s Emptiness x3, Maxx “C” x3, by doing this they inevitably weaken the core aim of their deck, and regardless of how effective these cards are against Mermails, if your Spellbook deck now has too many Normal Summons, and you’ve sided out your Crescents, you are less likely to open a playable hand, and less likely to loop Fate over and over which can lose you the game. This is why it is important to determine exactly how effective your side cards are, and the different interactions they have with the deck you are staring down.

====================

4. The Range of your Side Deck

This section of the article is based around how to build your side deck depending on what you are competing in. Decklists which win events are usually copied and distributed across the entire Yu-Gi-Oh community, and net-decking a main deck is in most cases pretty easy to do, as the main deck is usually good no matter what level you’re playing at. Net-decking a side deck however, is usually a much worse idea. Your side deck should change depending on what kind of tournament you’re playing at. If you’re playing at your local card shop, you should pretty much know what decks are popular and which aren’t in your local area. By using this information, you can tailor your side deck to your local metagame, maybe dedicating more space to a deck which is popular at a local level, but less popular in other parts of the world.

When attending a larger, more premier event such as a YCS, or an ARG Circuit event, or even a large regionals (depending where you’re from) – you should be tailoring your side deck to what has topped recent tournaments at that level, and basing your side deck choices on what decks were the most represented at previous tournaments. That being said, deck popularity does change from country to country, so be aware of this as well.

When we discuss the “range” of the side-deck, we are referring to how adaptable your side deck is in a tournament scene where you could run in to any one of over 100 different deck types. Obviously, you can’t side specific cards for every single possibility, but you can extend the range of your side deck by implementing cards which are good against a variety of different matchups, instead of siding more narrow cards which are only used against one type of deck.

Now, there are obviously other attributes you should look to implement in your side deck other than range, and you should be attempting to find the best trade-off between the different attributes such as Power, Range, and Versatility.

The example I’ll use for this format, is siding against the +1 Fire Fist Deck. There are numerous channels you can go down with your side deck for this match, and different players approach it differently.

Lets give an example, you have a choice of 3 different cards you can side in against Fire Fists, and you have to choose between them:

Dust Tornado

Memory of an Adversary

Mind Crush

Dust Tornado has a relatively low power level, however is the most versatile and has the largest range of these choices, as it can be sided in against any deck which plays a lot of backrow, and can be used against a lot of different threats, either by stopping a Fire Formation – Tenki, and stopping a Fiendish Chain, to turning off a floodgate card, or just End-Phase sniping an opponent’s backrow.

Memory of an Adversary has the highest power level of these cards, as alone, it obtains a +1 over your opponent, by stealing one of their monsters. However, this card has a very narrow range, with it only being especially useful against certain decks, although to its merit, it can function against really any deck in the game, it just may not be the optimal choice. It also isn’t very versatile within the matchup, it is a battle response trap, meaning it is vulnerable to S/T or generic destruction, and can also be countered by something like Forbidden Lance.

Mind Crush has a varied power level, seeing the card in multiples is extremely good, being able to pick apart your opponent’s plays. However, seeing 1 copy isn’t usually that great against the Fire Fist matchup, as by the time they resolve Tenki and search their monster, they have already technically garnered a +1, as the Tenki stays on the field for future abuse. It has a very wide range as a lot of decks search cards on a consistant basis, and Mind Crush becomes especially good against Bujins and Spellbooks, with a higher power level in those matchups. Regarding versatility, its a mixed bag, it is chainable, so can be used reactively and can punish your opponent’s destructive effects, but in order to get the most use out of it, your have to know something dangerous in your opponent’s hand, and in a lot of situations your opponent may not have searched anything deadly as of yet.

As you can already see, deciding on the best side deck card for you, isn’t even as simple as independently analysing the three attributes I’ve spoken about, and there are a lot of grey areas, for example, a card’s power level changes depending which deck you are facing. This is also relevant depending on which kind of deck you yourself are playing. If you are playing a deck like Evilswarms, where you have a win condition against certain decks like Evilswarm Ophion, you will be more likely to side in cards like Skill Prisoner, and Dark Illusion to protect your win condition rather than cards which directly stop your opponent’s plays.

There’s a lot to think about regarding the range of the side deck, I feel that I’m barely scratching the surface by writing this article, when you actually look really far into a certain Yugioh format, you begin to see more and more potential interactions, and it is up to you to ensure that your Side Deck is good enough to handle these interactions effectively.

========================

5. The Differences between Going 1st and Going 2nd

This will most likely be a fairly short section, but it is still important enough to include in this article. What you side in/out can change depending on whether you are going 1st, or going 2nd.

This is because when you go 2nd in a game, your opponent gets a chance to set up Turn 1 with minimal interaction from you (the opponent.) When going 2nd against a deck like Sept 13′ Dragunity Ruler, or Infernity, or any other deck which can combo off during Turn 1, and set up a strong board, you will want to see hand traps (Maxx C, Effect Veiler) in your opening hand to stop their push, and give you a fighting chance in the game. However, when you go 1st against one of these, decks, and play a lot of heavy backrow, seeing Maxx C and Effect Veiler in your opening hand is less of a necessity, as you can set up your board to hopefully deal with any huge combos from your opponent. I’m not advocating that you shouldn’t be siding in Maxx “C” when you go 1st, because against a lot of decks, Maxx “C” is good at a lot of points in the game, however some people may opt to instead side more defensive traps instead of Maxx C when going 1st, dependant on the nature of both decks.

Another example of siding changing dependant on 1st/2nd is when playing Evilswarms against something like Hieratics or Mythic Rulers. When going 2nd against a deck like Hieratics, you will want cards which are better to draw to established fields, as your opponent will most likely be setting up their strongest possible T1 board, because of the fear of Ophion locking down their entire deck. This is why Evilswarms should be siding cards like Dark Hole, Electric Virus, and other cards which can break these set-ups, for when they find themselves going 2nd in this kind of match. Both these opposing decks are naturally more powerful and explosive than Evilswarms, so breaking their field and establishing an Ophion is the most effective way to win the game, and that is what Evilswarm players should be exploiting. This philosophy has changed slightly with the introduction of Evilswarm Exciton Knight to the game, as Evilswarms now have a board wipe which is always available in the Extra Deck, but the philosophy still remains as an effective one.

Your deck doesn’t have to fit into one specific example in order to get the most out of this theory, it can be something as simple as siding out cards like Vanity’s Emptiness when going 2nd, or something along these similar lines (again not advocating you do this in every matchup)

The last thing in this section is just a brief aside about “going into time” at major events, and the EOMP (End of Match Procedure) policy, and how to tailor your side-decking in response to the clock.

If you are about to begin Game 3, and you see there is only 3-4 minutes left on the clock, there is a high chance dependant on matchup that the match could be decided in time, with who has the higher life points after Turn 5 of time. This means that you should certainly think about siding out cards for Game 3 which either seriously impact your own life points, or give your opponent free life, cards like Upstart Goblin, Solemn Warning, and Memory of an Adversary all fit into this category, and you should be aware that keeping these cards in could end up costing you the match in time.

==================

6. Conclusion

I’ve rambled on about all sorts of different things to think about while siding, and been through pages and pages of my thoughts on the subject. Even though I’ve said quite a lot, it still feels like barely scratching the surface, to quote a word which is well over-used in the YGO community, it feels like there are “infinite” interactions with Side Decking due to the variance of the game, and there are thousands of little nuances that can pop up over the course of a major tournament.

However, I do hope that although this probably isn’t the most concise read, and probably isn’t the easiest to follow, that this has helped some people to become better, even if only by a little bit. Because that’s the point of this blog, is to try and teach and educate players to become that little bit better.

If you came here looking for the quick fix, or the “ultimate side-deck formula” then I just have to say that it doesn’t exist. You can’t just tell someone what to put in their side deck, and I wouldn’t say that there is an “optimal side deck” or an “optimal theory to use” – because side decks change from format to format, and from week to week as the formats change. The best way to prepare yourself for this is to try to stay ahead of the curve, which is a lto more easily said than done. Explore options which are different from the norm, and compare them to the options players are currently using. Whether its Mermails maining Breakthrough Skill to deal with Dweller/Ophion, or whether it is the re-discovery of Full House, there are always more options out there.

============================

This concludes this article on side decking, feedback on this is appreciated, and pointing more people in the direction of this blog is always a good thing.

I will try to be producing completely original content, which will be mostly aimed at intermediate/experienced players, and each article will hopefully provode discussion, and encourage new ideas.

I know this was a long article, so thanks for sticking with it the whole way through, keep me bookmarked for more and more quality content.

Vital Yugioh