Article 5: Where's your Plan B??

I can't think of a better name for this article so pardon me for that. LOL

Up to today, I have encountered many people who do not know how to side-deck properly. Heck, some of them even thought that they do not need to utilise their side-decks in order to win.

Q: Why do we need side-decks?

A: No deck is ever perfect. That is why we need back-up strategies to reinforce our main decks. Without a side-deck, when your opponent starts to exploit your deck's weaknesses, there is nothing you can turn to for help. Even in war, a good strategist will devise back-up plans should the main strategy fail.

Making a good side-deck is not an easy task. Even extremely good deck-builders or players can fail in this. I wouldn't claim to be very good at side-decking but at least I know how not to screw up. This article is only to help everyone to at least have a basic understanding of building a decent/proper side-deck.

Basic Guideline

- Understand your own meta well so you will be able to know what to expect from your opponents.

"A surprised army is easily annihilated. Expect the unexpected, predict your enemy's movement and maintain well-preparedness at all times. Gain an initiative to catch your enemy unaware and victory shall be yours. "

The 4 different approach:

01. Use cards that can alter your whole strategy as a whole.
02. Use cards that work against your opponents and stuff that they least expect.
03. Use cards that can cover up your weak-points or against decks that you are weak against.
04. Use cards that can reinforce your main strategy.

For the first approach, you will include cards that can change the face of your deck. For example, from an OTK deck to a standard deck-type. This is not an easy task so I don't highly recommend it.

For the second approach, you wil use cards that can exploit your opponent's weakness, without changing your main strategy. For example, you can use Wave Motion Cannons and/or Stealth Birds when facing Burn decks. Most burn decks do not pack enough removal and this can win you the game easily.

For the third approach, you will use cards that can kill off decks that are dangerous or difficult to win against. And if your opponent is exploiting your weak-points, stop them. (Eg. Using cards to protect your important Field cards)

For the fourth approach, it is pretty self-explanatory.

Since the side deck only allows 15 cards, it is practically impossible to combine all the 4 together. We will choose to follow the most important which is the 3rd point, followed by the fourth. I emphasize on the 3rd point because it is difficult/troublesome to beat 2 deck types, namely Scientist FTK and Stall/Burn.

I will do a brief review on some cards that people like to use (most are anti-Scientist & Burn). Here comes the main highlight of this article!
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King Tiger Wanghu
Earth/Beast/4/1700/1000
When this card is face-up on the field, all monsters with attack strength of 1400 or less are destroyed after being successfully Summoned or Special Summoned.

+ Gets rid of Magical Scientist, Catapult Turtle, Controller of the Dead - Jowgen (Jowgen the Spiritualist), Search-Monsters and those weenies stall decks tend to use
- Doesn't stop Reverse Summons
- Rather weak stats

A very good choice against Scientist FTK, Burn/Stall and even Last Battle (Last Turn) decks.

Mystic Swordsman LV2
Earth/Warrior/2/900/0
If this card attacks a Monster in face-down defense mode, do not go to Damage Calculation, and destroy that face down defense mode Monster. During the End Phase of a turn in which this card destroyed a Monster as a result of Battle, you can put this card into the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 [Mystic Swordman LV4] from your hand or deck.

+ Attacks under Level Limit B Area/Gravity Bind
+ Kills face-down monsters with ease
+ Warrior sub-type
- Very weak stats

This is a good choice to counter Stall/Burn decks. Book of Moon and Sealing Swords of Darkness (N/A in TCG) can help make it more efficient. This is better than Severing Samurai (Sasuke Samurai) since it has higher attack strength for only a 2-star monster.

Ice Emperor Mobius (Mobius the Frost Monarch)
Water/Water/6/2400/1000
When this card is successfully Sacrifice Summoned, you can destroy up to 2 Spell or Trap cards on the Field.

+ Destroys up to 2 Spell/Trap => Card Advantage
+ Non-mandatory effect (doesn't screw yourself up)
+/- Tribute Monster (Sacrifice that Lava Golem)
- One time effect

The most popular of all the Emperors (Monarchs). Ever since Cyclone (Mystical Space Typhoon) is restricted, Spell/Trap removals are needed against the increase of Burn and theme decks. It doesn't matter if you main-deck this instead, but I personally prefer to side-deck this since it is pretty useless against decks that don't require you to have lots of S/T removal.

Sage Keiroon (N/A in TCG at the moment)
Earth/Beast Warrior/4/1800/1000
Discard 1 Spell card from your hand. Destroy 1 Spell or Trap card on your opponent's Field. You can only use this effect once per turn.

+ Reusable effect
- Not exactly strong stats
- Requires a discard of a Spell card

Again I'm emphasizing the importance of Spell/Trap removal in the current meta-game. Being able to destroy Spell/Traps using Effect Monsters is always beneficial since even the likes of Pharaonic Curse (Curse of Royal) won't be able to stop it.

Swarm of Locusts
Dark/Insect/3/1000/500
Once during your turn, this card can be changed to face-down defense mode. When this card is successfully Reverse Summoned, destroy a Spell/Trap card on the field.

+ Reusable effect
+/- Non-Reverse Effect Monster
- Very weak stats

This can be one of the substitutes for extra Spell/Trap removal.

Fiber Pod (Fiber Jar)
Earth/Plant/3/500/500
Reverse: Each player shuffles his cards on the Field, hand and Graveyard into his or her deck. Each player then draws 5 cards.

Nothing much to say about this. It is just....good. Doesn't matter if you main or side this.

Victory Dragon
Dark/Dragon/8/2400/3000
This card can't be Special Summoned. You must sacrifice 3 Dragon Sub-Type Monsters on your Field to Sacrifice Summon this card. If this card reduces your opponent's Life Points to 0 in a direct attack, this card's controller wins the Match.

- Difficult to pull off effect
- Rather ridiculous summoning requirement. (However, you can still summon it with the help of Magical Scientist.)

I have seen many people side-decking this nowadays. Regardless of how useless this card is, against a Scientist FTK deck on your first or second duel, if you can stop the opponent's combo and get this out, it saves you from the prospect of getting KO'ed on your very first turn of the third duel. Basically an anti-Scientist measure....nothing more.

Book of Moon
Quickplay Spell
Change a face-up monster on the field to face-down defense mode.

+ Stops effect monsters (this includes a wide range)
+ Bane of Equip Spells
+ Prevent your monsters (or Opponent's monsters) from being targeted by stuff that only target face-up monsters
+ Reuse your Reverse Effect monsters
+ Helps trample or face-down killers like Mystic Swordsman LV2 or Apostle of Genocide (Nobleman of Crossout)
+ Protects against one attack
+ Chainable
- Bad top-deck

The most versatile card in the game. Besides being able stop OTK decks like Scientist/Last Turn, it has many uses, which is impossible to list everything out. I'll still mention some simple examples:

*Combo with Transformable Beast Gunner Dragon (Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast)
*Combo with Magical Scientist to get permanent Fusions
*When opponent tries to destroy your Theft (Snatch Steal), Early Burial (Premature Burial) or Cry of the Living Dead (Call of the Haunted), chain Book of Moon to flip your monster down and keep it from being destroyed. This is an "alternate counter" to opponent's S/T removal.
*Against Metamorphosis decks (stops Dark Balter)
*Stops Lava Golem from burning you

Magic Effect Arrow (N/A in TCG at the moment)
Quickplay Spell
Destroy all face-up Spell cards on the Field controlled by your opponent. Do 500 points of damage to your opponent for each Spell card destroyed in this way.

+ Destroys all Permanent Spells on the field
+ Deals damage
- Does nothing against traps

This does well against the likes of Level Limit B Area, Wave Motion Cannon, The Legendary City - Atlantis (A Legendary Ocean) and equip spells etc.

Holy Life Barrier (Hallowed Life Barrier)
Normal Trap
Discard 1 card from your hand. During the turn in which this card is activated, all damage received from your opponent becomes 0.

+ Stops Scientist FTK
+ Chainable => Scientist decks using Hurricane (Giant Trunade) will not get past this.
+ Useful against burn decks or effect damage
- Requires discard

Like its famous cousin, Emissary of Harmony (Waboku), it doesn't promote any significant form of advantage. However, being able to stop Scientist FTK completely makes it a useful card to side-deck.

God's Declaration (Solemn Judgment)
Normal Trap
Pay half of your Life Points. Negate the activation and effect of a Spell, Trap or Monster Summon and destroy that card.

+ Counters almost anything
- Heavy cost on your life points

The best negator around. Period.

Heavenly Punishment (Divine Wrath)
Counter Trap
Discard 1 card from your hand. Negate the activation and effect of an Effect Monster, and destroy that Monster.

+ Stops quite a number of effect monsters
- Requires discard
- Rather situational

Not the best card you can side-deck but it can still counter Magical Scientist among other things.

Chain Lost (Chain Disappearance)
Normal Trap
You can activate this card when a Monster with an attack strength of 1000 or less is Summoned, Reverse Summoned or Special Summoned. Remove that Monster from the game, and your opponent removes all copies of the destroyed Monster in his or her hand and deck from the game. Shuffle that deck afterward.

+ Gets rid of Magical Scientist, Catapult Turtle, Controller of the Dead - Jowgen (Jowgen the Spiritualist), Stealth Bird, Soul Banishing Spirit (Spirit Reaper), Marshmellow (N/A in TCG) and other weenie monsters
+ Remove mulitiple monsters
- Situational

This is a favorite among many players I met. Useful against Scientist/Last Turn and especially Stall/Burn.

Curse of Magic Sealing (Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell)
Counter Trap
Discard a Spell card from your hand. Negate and destroy the activation and effect of a Spell card. Your opponent can't activate any cards for the rest of the Duel that have the same name as the Magic card destroyed in this way.

+ Stops multiples of any Spell card
+ Chance to create dead-draws for opponent
- Requires you to discard a Spell card
- Not very useful against decks which don't use multiple copies of the same Spell

A very good side-deck card. Useful against Scientist, Stall/Burn and theme-decks, capable of dealing a very harsh blow to your opponent, making this a very game-breaking card. However, it can be rather inconsistent. Likely victims include: Last Will, Name Inference (Reasoning), Monster Gate, Scapegoat, Book of Life, The Legendary City - Atlantis (A Legendary Ocean), Emergency Rations (Emergency Provisions), Metamorphosis, Level Limit B Area, Wave Motion Cannon etc.

Imperial Oppression (Royal Oppression)
Permanet Trap
Pay 800 lifepoints. Negate a Special Summon and the effect of a card that Special Summons a monster and destroy it. Both players may activate this effect as long as it remains face-up on the field.

+ Stops Scientist FTK
+ Stops "Leveling Up" of those Level Monsters (stops Horus LV8 and Silent Swordsman LV7 completely), Chaos Soldier (Black Luster Soldier), God of Creation (The Creator), Phoenix God of Nephthys (N/A in TCG), Undeads (Zombies), Lava Golem, Monsters special summoned via Search-Monsters/ Metamorphosis/Monster Gate/ Name Inference (Reasoning) and basically any deck involving lots of Special Summoning
- Scientist decks using Hurricane (Giant Trunade) may get past this
- Opponents can use effect against you if your deck involves quite a number of Special Summons

This is the most popular side-deck card I've seen recently and without a doubt, I consider it the best card you could side-deck.

Imperial Control (Royal Decree)
Permanent Trap
While this card is face up on the Field, all Trap cards other than this card are negated.

+ Chainable
+ Mass Negation
- You cannot use traps as well
- Can be easily destroyed by Spells or Effect Monsters

Best trap negator. Period.

Shield Crush (N/A in TCG at the moment)
Normal Spell
Choose a monster in defense mode on the field and destroy it.

+ Can kill stallers such as Marshmellow (N/A in TCG) and Soul Banishing Spirit (Spirit Reaper)
+ Can stop Reverse effects from activating
+ Can destroy ANY monster in defense mode, face-up or face-down
- Top-deck

Another good card against Stall/Burn. It can be used against standard deck-types as well so it doesn't make your deck more situational. Well, removal is always good. Combos with Book of Moon and Enemy Controller.
*Contributed by Ion*

Moon Diviner (Tsukuyomi)
Dark/Spellcaster - Spirit/4/1100/1400
This card cannot be Special Summoned. Return this card to its owner's hand during the End Phase of a turn in which it was Summoned or Reversed. When this card is Summoned or Reversed, choose 1 face-up Monster on the Field and change it to face-down defense mode.

+ Reuse reverse effects
+ Stats sufficient to kill monsters that it put face-down
+ Bane of Equip Spells
+ Helps trample or face-down killers like Mystic Swordsman LV2 or Apostle of Genocide (Nobleman of Crossout)
+/- Goes back to hand (Effect is reusable)
- Basically cannot attack directly
- Top-deck

This is another good sidedeck card. Although it is not chainable like Book of Moon, you can reuse the effect once every turn (using up your summon though).
*Contributed by david0925*
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Protecting your Spell/Traps

Nowadays, the Spell/Trap removal is very diversified. No longer do we see 3x Cyclone (Mystical Space Typhoon) anymore. As a result, even though Cyclone is restricted, it is difficult to protect your Spell/Traps when you really need to do so. Cards like Judgment of Anubis, Magic Jammer etc. do not work as well as in the past. If you really need the protection, I would only recommend the following 4 cards:

- God's Declaration (Solemn Judgment) => As I described earlier in the article, this can stop almost anything.
- Pharaonic Curse (Curse of Royal) => Protects against both Spells and Traps. Therefore it is one of the most useful nowadays.
- Imperial Control (Royal Decree) => Protects your spells against Sand Tornado (Dust Tornado) and Thunder Break (Raigeki Break)...but that's it. Kills other traps as well though.
- Fake Trap => Yes, the forgotten card. This is good protection for your traps. Doesn't provide cover for your Spells though.

FYI, another card that protects your Spells against all sources is Magic Guarder (Magic Reflector). However, I won't recommend it because it can only protect one spell (you target during it's activation) while the other cards I listed earlier can protect more than one at any time.
ie. I have Wave Motion Cannon and Level Limit B Area on the field. Magic Guarder (Magic Reflector) can only put a counter on either one => doesn't protect the other. If I used Pharaonic Curse (Curse of Royal) instead, I can protect whichever one opponent targets.

Well, I guess this ends the article. Have fun building your side-deck!