Picking up on the subtleties (part 2)

In today's segment, I will be addressing the learning curve in Yu-Gi-Oh for side decking.  It is important to analyze your deck's card lineup and its interactions with one another.  Maximizing the synergy in the main and the side deck should be as equal as possible going into games 2 and 3.  Siding into cards that ruin the synergy no matter how good it is for the match-up will slow down your deck ability to combat certain match-ups.  Siding into Thunder King Rai-Oh in a deck that revolves around search is a perfect example.  It is really hard to change the complete makeup of a deck when you are limited too a 15 card side to address the whole meta so avoiding cards that disrupt the synergy of deck will go a long way.

Moving on, the idea of siding is simple, you side out cards that may have a negative or no impact on the match-up for cards that will have a positive impact.  I identified 6 different ways to side:

Side decking - Generic siding, take out and put in cards that will put you in the best position to win, some people use the opportunity to side into a completely different deck to catch opponents off guard.  Not many decks can pull this off but when they do the rewards could be well worth the the risks.  Also playing mind games with your opponent and making obvious assumptions out loud could shaken and/or deter your opponent mentally when they side; they could be make a mistake or a bad judgment call that you could capitalize on.  A strong presence is invaluable games 2 and 3, especially when the players are equally skilled.

Ghost siding - Credit to my friend Nathan for revolutionizing the way I side.  As the name suggests, ghost side decking is siding in mystery.  When you do this, nothing should be what it seems.  You want to make it blatantly obvious how many cards you are siding without revealing what they are and side a fraction or none of the cards you revealed without alerting your opponent.  The pressure it provides on your opponent is absolute and will increase proportional to what game it is.  In their mind, they will be trying to side and counter side against your ghost side.  More often than not, will cause them to over-side and commit to more than they needed too; committing to much will be the demise of most decks because of the lack of synergy in the deck.  This also gives you a little leeway to side and make the appropriate judgment calls.  Ghost siding is all about mind games and secrecy is key.  You may have sided 0, maybe 3, or 15, your opponent will never know.

No siding - Not siding has its benefits in favorable match-ups and avoids disrupting your deck's synergy.  More oftern than not Yu-Gi-Oh is luck based so siding or not are ways to combat that luck.  In good match-ups you can deliberately not side and use the time to observe your opponent side.  You should always do this but more so when you do not side.  Being aware of what and how your opponent sides will help you have the in game adjustments to fend off his/her side.  Of course there is the down side that your opponent might have the card lock you down, but if you know/feel that you could take the risk going into the next game then why not do it.

Counter-Siding - Games 2 and 3 can be full of surprises and mind games.  Sometimes in mirror matches, the one that sides the best will win.  The victor is determined by anticipating what the opponent is siding and the answers his/her side has for them.  Take for example Six Samurai, side decking is crucial!  Kinetic soldiers, Snowman eaters, Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, monster hate, backrow hate, etc. will dictate the pace of the game.  The appropriate counter measures will almost always win you the game(s).

Over side - This is absolutely the worse way to side unless your deck auto-loses to the match-up you are facing.  I don't like doing this because of its implications and the side-effects to your deck's synergy, but sometimes siding 15 cards can put you in a position to win.

Unsiding - Depending on the game, some cards are better when you go first or second because they are proactive or reactive and/or helpful or useless.  Siding out cards you sided in can dictate the tempo if you made the right reads.

Side decking can be an effective tool in winning games and should not be overlooked.  You will learn through experience how to handle every situation and what cards to side against the meta.  If you have other ways to side leave them in the comment section below and as always this is E from The Team Misplay signing off.