Article - Where Does the True Advantage Lie?

Recently there has been a lot of focus on “card advantage” in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Much of this discussion is spent lauding praises on effects that draw cards, no matter how minimal the advantage, simply because “hand advantage” has become something of a Holy Grail in the game.

Yet this obsession doesn’t sit right with me. Players have always fawned over Pot of Greed, and proclaimed it to be the Only Perfect Card in the game, yet the meek +1 advantage provided by it seems rather pitiful (of course, had the Pot never been restricted, three in one turn would provide admirable advantage). Now that the Pot has finally been banned (in my opinion not because of power, but because everyone and his dog’s mother played it, and the executives in charge of the game wanted to see some deck diversity), praise is being heaped upon miserable little draw monsters, such as Des Lacooda, Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive, and Poison Draw Frog (and I’ve heard blatherings that the only good card in the upcoming Enemy of Justice set is Cyber Phoenix).

In my interpretation of the game, monsters are supposed to provide a solid field advantage. Big beaters like Berserk Gorilla, and indestructibles like Spirit Reaper both contribute a lasting advantage, whereas the draw monsters are so pathetically weak that an inordinate amount of Spell/Trap protection is required to get any lasting presence from them. Furthermore, only one of these monsters is capable of creating more than a +1 advantage without assistance: Des Lacooda. Dekoichi requires the restricted Tsukuyomi, and Poison Draw Frog would require one to waste precious graveyard recursion. So I ask, is one random card from the top of the deck worth the cost of a Normal Summon, and a Monster resource? To me, the answer seems obvious: No (maybe in Exodia).

Some people have written that life gain is a horrible strategy, as it is not a win condition. Yet, card drawing isn’t a win condition in itself, either, except in an Exodia Deck, where every draw could win the game. Indeed, perhaps the most idiotic statement I have read in a YGO article is, “Whoever has the most cards in their hand is winning. Life Points don’t matter.” Certainly, drawing can move one closer to any deck’s win condition, but by that token, life gain can act in a similar manner, as it places a thicker barrier between the opponent and the most common win condition: zero life points. Furthermore, Life Points DO matter, as a great amount of LP allows a player to use powerful cards with a Life Point Cost. Who will argue that Premature Burial is not a good card? How about Confiscation, or Delinquent Duo? Imperial Order? Even the classic Seven Tools of the Bandit can work wonders when used correctly.

The problem is the perception that “More is Always Better.” This is probably something subconsciously ingrained into American children by our dysfunctional capitalist machine. In some cases, yes more is always better (like with money or life points). These items are relatively small individually and are generally only useful in large amounts. But cards are not a liquid commodity like money or LP, they are a variable commodity, like stocks. Cards do different things, and having a lot of them at once can be good if you have the right ones at the right time (similar to having a diversified investment portfolio). However, you’re just as likely to draw something that doesn’t help at the moment (i.e. I really need Mystical Space Typhoon; drat, I drew a Smashing Ground). When you draw, the potential benefit is random. You could end up with some nice Berkshire Hathaway stock, or something horrible like Enron. “Card Advantage” is something of an illusion.

So, if drawing is not the key to advantage, if numbers aren’t the key to advantage, what is? Quality over quantity: the saying has been around for ages, yet Duelists still fall for the idea that sheer quantity is better. The true advantage lies not in drawing, but in tutoring. What card is the best tutor in the game? What card was banned so early? Witch of the Black Forest. I am not proclaiming the Witch to be Perfect, as so many have done with the Pot, as no card is perfect. However, for sheer utility, for nabbing the best monster for any given situation, Witch of the Black Forest is the supreme advantage. Which would you rather have in your hand: a Thunder Dragon, which will net you two useless 1600 ATK Tribute Monsters, or a Witch, which will net you almost any monster in your deck? Quality over quantity!

Just because Witch of the Black Forest is banned, it doesn’t mean we are left without excellent tutors that completely whip the remaining puny draw cards. Sangan, Witch’s hairy little brother, can do almost as much as his big sister, especially in this age of Control Decks filled with medium-sized monsters. With Warrior Toolbox as one of the current Cookie-Cutters, Reinforcement of the Army is proving itself to be a power rivaling the Witch. Reinforcement of the Army lacks universality due to its limitation to Warriors, but makes up for that by being a speedy spell and being limited by level rather than ATK/DEF. Finally, the Search-Summon monsters are proving themselves to be solid deck foundations and providers of field presence and top-notch tutoring. With all of this monster tutoring and deck thinning, a few weak +1 draw cards seem inadequate and unnecessary. We still get to draw once per turn!

The only real lack of tutoring seems to be in the area of spells. For traps we have A Cat of Ill Omen, for Field Spells we have An Owl of Luck and Terraforming, for Equips we have Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu. The only tutoring we have for other kinds of spells are the slow and unreliable Different Dimension Capsule, and the decktype-centered Ancient Gear Drill. Getting the exact card you need is great, but waiting two turns and possibly losing that card for the remainder of the duel are quite counter to all of the good points possessed by other forms of tutoring. If only Konami would give us a balanced Spell Tutor. Perhaps something like: “Discard one Spell card from your hand to the graveyard and pay 1000 Life Points: add one Spell card from your deck to your hand.” The cost would be fairly high, and would result in a loss of numerical advantage, but the quality advantage would more than make up for that.

In conclusion, having the one right card is more important than having many wrong cards in any given situation in a duel. Tutoring is the supreme advantage, not drawing. In addition, monster specific tutoring is abundant and becomes still more powerful when it includes a Special Summon of the tutored monster. Therefore, I will end with this controversial statement: Elegant Egotist is better than Pot of Greed.