[Battle Pack] Deckbuilding 101

DISCLAIMER: As the pack has not been released yet, the following may not work for everyone. If these tips turn out to be useless...well, I tried

I was reading Konami's articles about the Battle Pack, looking for inspiration for something to write about for this blog. While ending up at AlterRealityGames' website, I ran into this article explaining some tips for how to build a deck out of the sealed pool. So from those two sources, I thought that I'd share some personal tips about how to build a deck from a limited card pool.

The main reason why I love sealed play is that it reminds me of when I started playing Yugioh when I was just 8 years old. Back then, I only had ~100 cards to work with, not to mention the internet was not the source of information for netdeckers as it is now. That being said, sealed play is very similar to what i've experienced when I was younger: you only have 50 cards to work with, and while the internet can give you tips on what cards in the set work well with each other, its up to you to figure out how to make a functional deck with what you got.

Konami's first article explains the composition of the battle pack. From this article, there are some tips that are not explicitly explained, but those tips could be the difference between winning and losing. For example...

TIP #1: Monsters are the most important part of your deck
How does this show in the article? Remember that the pack was specifically detailed to work for sealed play, right down to the small details such as the print run and controlling the purpose of each card slot in a pack. The article explains the role of the five slots:

1. Card Slot 1’s card mix includes many of the most powerful cards in the set – the cards that will really make an impact when played.
2. CARD SLOT 2: These cards either destroy monsters, Spells, or Traps, or else alter the outcome of a battle. But Spells and Traps with other effects can also be found here. 
3. CARD SLOT 3: These are your higher-ATK monsters
4. CARD SLOT 4: These are lower-ATK monsters that are included for their utility
5. CARD SLOT 5: Wild-Card Slot

Do you see what I see? Two of the five slots are guaranteed to be monsters. None of the slots guarantee a spell or trap card. You could possibly open a pack containing only monsters, and in my opinion that would not be a bad thing. Without monsters, you cannot damage your opponent, and you cannot win.


TIP #2: Spells and Traps push your deck to victory
You might be asking "Isn't this the opposite of Tip 1?" Well, the first tip explains how monsters are crucial to winning. However, the role of spells and traps are there to help out your monsters achieve your win condition. The scariest monsters in the early days of Yugioh (pre-Pharaoh Servant) were Blue-Eyes, Summoned Skull, and La Jinn. The scariest spells and traps? Raigeki, Dark Hole, Heavy Storm, Solemn Judgement. Hey wait, those spells and traps I just mentioned are in the Battle Pack. This goes back to the previous paragraph on when I played Yugioh when I was younger. They had the scariest spells and traps, but it was still a monster-oriented game. The spells and traps were there however to pave the way for your monsters

Look at the first two card slots. These slots, along with the unpredictable wild card slot, contain the most powerful cards of the set. It also contains spells and traps, which show just how high the power level the spells and traps are relative to the monsters.