Pros and Cons of Playing "Pure" Yu-Gi-Oh Decks.

We all know that Paul likes to play Yugioh deck "pure". But what does that mean and what are the up and downsides to this playstyle?
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[@SicklyNickable]

Man I love how Team APS gets RIGHT into the content. No intro, no filler, no fluff, super refreshing

[@Portfelio]

You could say he's a content purist.

[@zero-fn7qs]

Pure is definitely my preferred way to play, but mixing in different engines with a deck is fun too and sometimes makes decks better that need the support from other achytypes

[@mikeyfeliciano7174]

It’s rather ACCEPTABLE to put support cards that flow with the archetype. But to have 2 different archetypes in the same deck, doesn’t really make it pure, and having staples less likely either

[@natedog8281]

It depends on the archetype I feel like

[@J-Sade]

I love Branded Eldlich. I love running both pure, but together you get to see people scratching their heads when you send Albaz and Eldlich odd of Branded Fusion. 😂

[@TheRoseReaper]

For me it's a thematic thing. If I wanna run Odd-Eyes, I'll play things related to it and the archetype itself. Gold Pride Punk while thematically clashes, feels like it should be played that way funny enough.

[@M_M386]

Funny that you mention odd eyes, because that’s the deck i use and i only play it pure too

[@TheRoseReaper]

@@M_M386 I just wish it had more boss monsters to go into.

[@ODDVORTEX552]

I LOVE ODD EYES

[@M_M386]

@@ODDVORTEX552 same, it’s my favorite deck

[@otterfire4712]

Gold Pride PUNK works due to the paid life of PUNK acting as a hype machine for the Gold Pride race

[@jojomations2596]

Another con is that if you want to play a newly introduced archetype, youre only given enough cards to make half a deck. Youre either forced to play engine and handtraps to fill the gap, or you wait until the 2nd wave of support to truly have a completed pure deck

[@Charley-ju6yg]

And then there are decks that can do absolutely nothing without using generic support/boss monsters, such as fur hire

[@dakotastein9499]

Yeah I ran into that problem when I wanted to make a paleozoic deck...it's got potential but where it sits now it's only a backseat engine.

[@zgct3648]

I like to play archetypes pure so that I can learn the ins and outs of that deck in particular. But, if its not doing it for me, I'll see what can patch up the weak spots. Pure is to fall in love with a deck. Mixing in other archetypes is for growing as a duelist alongside it.

[@renaldyhaen]

We cannot avoid deck mixing in YGO. Because most the time, playing only pure arctype isn't enough to fill 40-cards deck. But I hope Konami give more restriction to deck mixing like this, like restriction can only summon a certain type. If the lock is only summon mechanic or atributes, this sometimes useless because the target for generic stuff is still wide.

[@cba_2442]

I have 64 pure decks built and it's a blast. When I have a friend over, we literally duel using a random number generator and the random pure decks are just so fun. I never do well in any kind of competitive environment on anything so this is the way I get to enjoy the game.

[@EthanKironus8067]

Same, I hate competitive blandness! That's why I love the Phantom Knights deck from Legendary Heroes so much, it's pretty much a pure deck, and is the strongest one in the set to boot.

[@dakotastein9499]

Yeah as somone whose played the game since its inception...the toxic competitive mentality among the player base is one of the games biggest downfalls.

[@glitchmakerygo]

I kinda like pile decks more just because they have all these cards that a single normal person looking at them might go "I mean, they're all [insert trait here] but how do they work together? They all look unrelated outside of those traits." But they work together so well and all achieve basic game plan and win condition. Some of my friends who don't play the game have seen my favorite deck, Dragon Link, and it gets them to ask more questions than if I showed them my Marincess build.

[@Chiss_Combat_Club]

What is that deck like?

[@cannonballkuriboh]

I like starting pure, just to see exactly how far I can push the gameplan that the deck was designed for, like Dogmatika ripping apart and punishing the Extra Deck. Mixing engines, while powerful, can feel like you’re just not doing anything fun in that vein, seeing just how far it can go.

[@gudamgirexia1000]

I have to agree with these but i feel it might be healthier to do pure from a newcomer's standpoint to learning A) How to play Yu-Gi-Oh as a whole and B) Understand the mechanism that make up the base of the deck that they are playing and how to build off of it with proper research and help. When it came to me learning how to play Vendreads i had to go through that process and suffer that maddness pure to understand to always reveal your added card off of Vendread Stiges or proper discard targets for Vendread HoundHorde being Scar Of Vendread. Taking time to understand the machinations that make up how the cards interact help you to learn how it interacts with other decks

[@IronFatherJohn]

I love pure decks. My problem is that older archetypes...just can't do this because they were built in a pre-hand trap era.

[@jbone_malone]

1:20 This is why I love Rescue Ace! I love imagining that the opposing player is this major threat/emergency and I'm sending out these units to take care of the emergency. It also reminds me of an old game I used to play, Ty 2 Bush Rescue.

[@DanielGarcia-lr7ro]

I like to play pure gravekeeper. It's very fun because they all have that egypt theme but it's great because the archetypal gimmick really catches a lot of decks off guard. It isn't super consistent but I love playing this way. I don't mind losing unless I'm on a streak lol.

[@reiji_vt4262]

I definitely prefer pure and always have. I just really like to keep everything in theme..but I also do see the advantage of combining multiple decks and engines. I just feel weird when I mix different types together, even if it works

[@bchavez149]

I wished that decks didn't have to use support from other archetypes, too bad that doesn't matter to big Konami, they will print what they want to print to influence the sale of whatever pack/tin the good cards come in.

[@Charley-ju6yg]

I definitely prefer running pure, I just wish that all decks had that as a playable option. As an example, look at Fur Hire. No matter how well you play, Fur Hire does not have a win condition without playing generic links. They have decent search and draw power, but nowhere to go with it. At best, you can play the equip spell United we stand, and hope it’ll be enough to get an OTK. But I also absolutely enjoy playing hybrids. I’ve made a Tearlament/skull servant 60 card deck with grass, Spright/Fabled, Swordsoul/blackwing, and of course I’ve done some of the more normal hybrids like Brandred/swordsoul deck, where I have my own little win-con that uses buster dragon to contact fusion my opponents entire field, and obviously I’ve played the usual spright/live twin. Combining decks and see how they can support each other is VERY fun. I also like to do something in between where I stick to themes, but not necessarily staying within the archetype. An example for that would be the scareclaw deck I’m currently testing around with. Rather than using kashtira unicorn, I have opted to use the true king EARTH monster, that banishes 3 cards from the opponents extra deck. It is a technically wyrm, but come on, you can’t look at that card and tell me it doesn’t fit the beast theme. And while it may objectively be a worse card, there are times it is better than kashtira unicorn, especially in scareclaw where getting rid of 3 cards that could be a threat to triheart is a pretty massive and impactful play. Yugioh have so many ways to deckbuild that many other card games don’t have/allow, it’s one of the games greatest benefits

[@SuperSonic3557]

Absolutely agree!!

[@joelpaultre7440]

I prefer hybrid decks. Some of the first deck I played when going to locals for the first time were Time Thief Lunalight and Earth Machine. I love weird synergies that I'm pretty sure weren't intended but work like a dream anyway

[@Acholight.]

Not sure when you last touched Duel Links, but if you want to play Pure decks vs. Pure decks, DL's format is THE format to play. The monetization structure and gameplay of DL puts off a lot of players since god forbid you actually PLAY the game to get your cards, that if you're not playing a deck PURE, you're legitimately at a disadvantage to those that do. It's so easy to just immediately discredit Duel Links as a bad way to play yugioh and never touch it once because of how it's designed but you're missing out on playing EXACTLY how you explained you want to play your decks: Pure vs. Pure Maybe you have played it recently, but as a viewer I've heard you explain this situation so much that if you actually have played it recently, I'd think pure decks wouldn't have been a topic of discussion so much imo

[@alastoralex4828]

The best way to learn to play YUGIOH TCG is to get a tier 1-2 deck and practice. Pure archetype is just gonna teach that 50% of the time u brick 50% of the time u do a little payoff combo or floodgate combo

[@zeo4481]

Me out here playing pure Madolche, Pure Lunalight and pure Tearlaments (cant anymore) , have never complained about my decks lacking anything.

[@lordshmee13]

Old yugioh sets, o wow i could put this with my deck and mix and match Current yugioh, this archetype is crap, i got 1 staple in archetype i wanna play, or dam the archetype is expensive for sets, i need hand traps to win Not to say old yugioh was perfect but dam sucks when i buy a pack and end up with 5 different archetypes and none are ones i wanna play or get the 1000th blackwing or HERO or Performapal that doesnt get the deck enough gas to start to be worth another card to waste space in main sets

[@shigesohma]

The way I consider a deck as "pure" is that you play an archetype and your main goal is to play the intended boss monster/ key cards. And not rush out an overtuned generic just because its better. Splashes are fine but they're meant to be for utility. Which is why i hate when people claim to play lyrilisc but the end goal is really a cheap rush to zeus. Same thing with zoodiac.

[@RedWurm]

Being new to tcgs in general, archetypes are incredibly useful in learning how to build a deck without an encyclopedic knowledge of the format, so that's a big positive for me. Regarding the last point about deck diversity - while arguably true for top competitive decks, that is also the case to a large extent in other games, just building around the best cards rather than modifying the best archetype. And outside the meta decks, the ability to play a deck whose whole gameplan may be completely unique is one of the real strengths of the game in my opinion.

[@arch4609]

Not even Yugi ran a pure deck

[@IanKentch]

I'm the same. I always preferred pure decks.

[@GamerZeroZX]

I do enjoy a more pure version of a deck. But sometimes, you really need other cards to make it work cohesively. Like in my IRL F.A. Deck, I had to put a small speedroid engine in so I could synchro summon easier. Hang on mach with backrow pass is not good enough in this day and age in Yu-Gi-Oh so I needed a for sure way to at least bring out some disruption if i didn't draw an optimal hand

[@KeitrenGraves]

Most of the time I like pure. I usually try not to stray too far away from the original cards but sometimes I will throw in staples for consistency. The only mixed deck that I play would be gold pride punk but I feel like the themeing fits perfectly

[@maxthebear7765]

“If I’m playing Rikka, I’m… a… plant princess” 💀😂

[@edwinkim8933]

For me, I kinda go both ways. Back when I started, gladiator beasts was my go to but only way I won was with at the time meta staples and sides. The one archetype I love to run pure though is Ice Barrier. Just something about the lore from duel terminal and the artwork just hits all the right spots for me.

[@GG_Nowa]

Pure in concept is fun but playing rokkets pure vs playing more d link adjacent really patches up it's issues of no real ways to start or go thru hand traps which hinders the idea of the decks focus around big links

[@Cardlimits]

pure or mixed? depends on the deck. z-arc. absolutely. god cards... god no.

[@Syza_ZX]

I like pure because it makes me feel like an anime character with a theme that is important to me in some way.

[@KevinTangYT]

Somewhere in-between is the best. I think focusing on the goal of the archetype and adding cards that enable that goal is more fun that using things just as an engine for generic extra deck monsters. Often it's trying to figure out what other engines can be grafted into a weak outdated archetype. Even stuff like old school Dark Magician decks. People have made Dark Magician/Branded hybrids, Spellbook Dark Magician, Dogmatika Dark Magician, etc. Personally I'm trying to figure out if there can be a more aggressive Counter Fairy deck, which you cannot play pure since Trap decks are already slow, reactive Counter Trap even moreso. So they'd need to add immediate threats to make opponent burn early game resources like Kashtira Fenrir, but also get to their main cards ASAP.

[@Blizz3112]

Its why I don't like universal staples...

[@DharcTheDarkCharmer]

Love this topic, always liked discussing it

[@cplgsleight1661]

A Pure Format would be dope.

[@M_M386]

This is how I play yugioh, whether with friends or playing ranked online

[@groobly6070]

I usually like pure, but some engines that have really good synergy like Adventure with Plunder Patroll or Runick with Magick Muskets. As for deck theming, I like to imagine the Plunder Patroll met the Adventure crew on the seas and seeing their potential teamed up; half the games end with you banishing your own illegal knight on the opponent’s field with Moerk, so it’s like the Plunder Patroll backstabs the adventures when they outlive their usefulness

[@dee2273]

I mainly play pendulum archetypes. I usually play odd-eyes, with the pendulum extra deck support of course. Currently i am running "pure" vaylantz and it has forced me to better olay it and learn its strengths. I do have kaijus in it, but very rarely do they come up

[@thatdrummeroz654]

The synergy between Cyberdarks and Dragunity is kind of fun. There's some random explosive plays you can pull off. Would love a revamp of the original Cyberdark machine trio.

[@cosmo_cat64]

Yes paul you are a plant princess LMAO But i also like playing a deck as pure as i can,its fun and some of the weird cards of an archetype nobody plays means they won't see it coming lol

[@tenkyoken]

My personal favorite deck types are the ones where two completely unrelated themes are combined to work surprisingly well. During Masterduel's NR festival, I was messing with Infinitrack Anchordrill for xyzs, special summoned a "lv4" qliphort thinking they would go to level 8, only for them to go to lv12, then summoning a Number 77 with its effect active. Another I saw on LukeVonKarma's video was Lair of Darkness turning Kaiser Glider Golden Burst and Swordsoul Auspice Chunjun into quick effect Kaijus. While such decks are known to be gimmicky, sometimes they just work by catching your opponent off guard.

[@maxv658]

I didn't realize this was called something. I've always played my decks this way. It's why my favorite GOAT deck is Dragon Beatdown that includes both Horus level 8 and Dark Paladin. Incredibly inefficient doing two things at once, but man do I love it.

[@EliteElk221]

Pure decks will be even more fun AND competitively viable ONLY IF Konami; 1. Prints more powerful archetype cards, don't let only certain archetypes have all the modern support with insane end-boards. 1.5. Prints better archetypal boss cards that HAVE to remain tied to that archetype, don't just make a generic omni-negate cards like Borreload Savage (which would not need to be banned if it had a "Rokket Tuner/Tuner + one or more Rokket monsters" errata), make boss monsters that assist in the decks main playstyle while not being so weak as to just being another card for the engine. 2. Print a full suite of semi-useful/REALLY useful monsters, spells, and traps. The most recent set of structure decks are a great example, no need to fill the deck full of generic monsters and spell/traps when you have a full archetype to work with (good example Traprix and fire kings, bad example saga of the blue eyes). 2.5. The archetypes newly supported/newly printed NEED to have a workable strategy than can survive other strategies, these decks don't need floodgates or omi-negates, they just need simple negates, searches, etc. Again looking at Traptrix which is an AMAZING mid-range deck. 3. If certain engines aren't supported enough/don't have enough cards to be considered an archetype, allow them to mesh better with other engines. It's not a perfect example as these archetypes are super generic searchers with lots of support and decent generic boss monsters, but the HERO archetypes are a good inspiration. While you obviously want a mostly pure engine for your boss monsters, you can absolutely mix and match your Elemental HERO's with Destiny or Vision HERO cards. Why can't we do that with Goblin cards and a fiend archetype? Sadly my rambling with some likely holes in the ideas will NEVER be adopted by Konami but one can dream I guess. I just want to play pure phantom knights or pure anything really and not get omni-negated/OTK'd at the local level because the UBER competitive and UBER casual can't get over their mutual disdain for eachother.

[@Novanewf]

As a pure Fur-Hire player I love the face people make when I have Fulgo up with 2 more names and I MST a card and they’re like, MST doesn’t negate dude. I know, I want to draw 3 cards while you’re setting up!

[@dakotastein9499]

I normally play pure...but there are a few specific exceptions...for starters combining voiceless voice with heralds.

[@JasonBA96]

One thing I love about engines and shit is the storytelling of it: Blue boy/Spellbook Draw engine slides into most spellcaster decks, because LaMaison is a library that wants Magical knowledge to be freely accessible. Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians slots into heavy spell card/spellcaster deck because yes, Endymion loves her, but the Moon is an elusive and multifaceted mistress that shines her light on any powerful Spell user. [Also the Aleister>Artemis the Moon Maiden>Mechaba has an incredible narrative considering their backstory] Kashtiras look like Gren Majus from the future and they fit together so well. Finding narrative synergy in mechanical ones is so fun, and it feels like reading tarots or solving puzzles

[@Jenn-lq9yu]

I much prefer Pure decks. Pure Salamangreat Raging Phoenix is my favourite deck, just pumping and going hard into the Link summons without ending in an oppressive negate board that's going to make people hate you.

[@daoudkhalil908]

I've been playing with pure decks with my friends for a while and I've been destroying them with my galaxy eyes photon deck 🙃

[@internalcosmos6876]

Believe it or not, I'm newish. I just started playing in August and had never seen the shows. I'm still learning cause I don't get to actually play much. But I started out building a Spellcaster deck, and now I am building a gravekeeper's archetype deck. I put it together in Master Duel but haven't seen much success with it. I like your channel and your podcast, I've learned a lot listening to you guys!

[@SamuraiMotoko]

Like the idea of moving away pure make decks more unique and creative, but if you just net deck the solution thek where is the creativity?

[@NyxSakura]

I mostly try to play pure, like for an example, Trickstars, I try to play the link climb variant, where I just summon the Trickstar links. I might try to maybe put one small engine or something, like Windwitches in trickstars, or Chaos Dragon Levianeer and Nebula Dragon in Blue-Eyes, but nothing that alters the playstyle too heavily.

[@larshoffmann2594]

I play mostly pure. Especially in Duel Links format with just 20 cards. In full format pure + staples (Ash Blossom, Kaiju, Zeus, ...) or mixing max 2 archtypes (Darkworld+Danger!, Drytron+Herald). Some archtypes don't have enough cards to form a deck by themselfes (All Drytron cards at 3 are just 27 cards alltogether). You have to put other cards in. Some archtypes simply don't work on their own. Artifacts or Endless Chain for example. You need other cards to make them playable.

[@chappy9245]

“If I’m playing Rikka, I’m a..plant princess” Paul is a plant princess..confirmed 🤔🤣

[@adrienne6880]

I’m a fan of a mostly pure Black Magician/Black Magician Girl. Also, the name with Lunalights. I’ll always run cards with Monster Reborn and Mirror Force with them.

[@MrZacchery]

I always end up agreeing strongly with Paul's perspectives. So, does Laundry Trap count as a Dragonmaid archetype card? It has the maids in the art, but can't be searched with Parlor or Chamber maids. I also found that Red Eyes Darkness Metal was an invite to some archetypal research. Have you noticed each human form maid has a counter dragon form except the Chamber Dragonmaid? Look at her tail! It Red Eyes Darkness Metal!! Now flare is in my extra and Red Eyes and Red Stone are in my main. After playing maids regularly, switching to Pheonix or my Bujin/Fire Fist/Fire Kings Simorgh deck occasionally, I really enjoy making my own head-cannon up. I like to have the Red Eyes Sword and a Claw of Hermos, for the feel goods😊 in my maids deck. I really wish I could play these guys at Dragon Dice someday, and see their ideas in my domain 😅. In a month of being into YGO, my favorite MD hobby is collecting Dinos, Dragons and Big Birds😅 Thank you guys for the joy you bring.

[@benbogosh4057]

Also I 100% prefer pure decks. I think the best part of this game is what you said Paul, the “weird and interesting” interactions of random cards. It makes much more exciting board states and puzzles to break then the current game standard of “throw up half your deck for a board of negates and make sure your opponent cant do anything”

[@Ichigo90]

I’ve got two things to say about this: 1: I enjoy pure-ish play. As long as it doesn’t get absolutely stupid. I don’t think equipping Power of the Guardians and Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce to War Rock Bashileos is necessarily “mixing two decks together.” Sure, those two spells are Guardian cards, not War Rock cards, but it’s not like I’m mixing the two decks together. I’m not running a whole Guardian engine in a War Rock deck. I have two very specific tech pieces that work really well with Bashileos specifically. 2: my response to “but that’s not something you should bank on at a ycs or a regional” is… “well, we’re not at a ycs or a regional, now are we‽ we’re on dueling book, and not even in the ranked section of Duelingbook! So shut up and get your kash/tear/barron-turbo playing hind end to the no fun zone where it belongs.”

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

While I really like the main deck pure, I like the extra deck to be thematic but not archetype locked. Speedroid uses Wind Synchro Monsters so it's one of the few archetypes that can run Baron De Fleur so I'm ok using it in it's archetype. Although Baron De Fluer and AA Zeus are the easiest to me to use no matter the deck (assuming it's an Xyz or Synchro strategy deck) I'll tend to almost never run non-archetypal main deck cards unless they are hand traps/board breakers like Kaijus and Ash Blossom. And another deck I play that gets helped by that rule is Mono-Lyrilusc, where D.D. Crow and Slower Swallow are both Level 1 Winged Beasts allowing them to fall into my main deck nicely. And a weird case in my Lyrilusc Extra deck is that for some reason I like playing Relinquished Anima. If I had to guess, it's probably because I have a copy I used to run it in my OG deck that was Uber banned and played cards like Ultimate Offering (I was given a bunch of random cards and was in 5th grade in 2016 and knew the rules but not what makes a good deck). If anything that just makes me think I need to build a deck that can make good use of Number 39: Utopia, because I still have my original Utopia and recently got a copy of S39: Utopia the Lighting, but don't really have a deck for them. Anybody got any ideas that are Zexal era that I might not remember? Don't want to play Galaxy Eyes, Onomonopia, or anything that isn't an archetype, and can make rank 4 cards.

[@Rob2512053]

I've got Springans Albaz, Galaxy-Eyes, and Red Dragon Archfiend (Bystial King), as pure decks that don't play handtraps or generics besides like Foolish Burial because 1. These decks are not meta and won't be meta so I'm not bothering trying to make them something they're not 2. Having them fully commit to a theme is fun 3. Having lower powered decks is important for facing friends and newbies. That sliding scale of competitive to rogue to casual, gotta cover the spectrum

[@xCorvus7x]

I prefer pure builds but sometimes my sense of purity is less about cards technically belonging together but what seems to be the idea behind an archetype. Yang Zing, for instance, is about Synchro summoning during your opponent's turn, so the various Tuner Synchros with Quick Effects to Synchro Summon during your opponent's turn are just as good as archetypical Synchros (to continue playing on my opponent's turn). In case of archetypes with lore behind them, I don't like mixing foes. My pet Branded deck is centred around Albaz and tries to use his effect as disruption. (He is the one going on adventures and fusing with parts of his opponents.) Though, because one Superpoly per turn isn't enough to stop an opponent's plays (even if the available Fusion monsters are exceptionally generic or provide very much payoff such as Mirrorjade), I'm fine combining this with some thing else such as Bystials who provide excellent utility on their own while demanding no Extra deck space. Dogmatika Ecclesia, Fleurdelis, and Nadir Servant (and maybe Dogmatika Encounter) might also be a useful addition.

[@AlienWasteland]

I kinda wish Konami would’ve gone old shool Deck Archetype cores without giving you just full blown recipe type strategies. I always loved being able to take a concept of a deck and make it my own.

[@windsonma8209]

I personally like to Pack as much Archetype Cards as I can with that particular Architype, for example and I know this is a Terrible Example but it's the most simplest one that I could think of. Anyways for example for a Blue Eyes Deck I try to Pack that Deck as Much Blue Eyes Archetype Cards as I can. Then fill the rest of my Deck in with the Best Cards that I have that I think that might work Best or even fit the theme of that Deck as I can. And in the case of Blue Eyes I try to Pack the rest of my Deck with Dragon Type Cards. Be it on Digital or in Real Life.

[@benbogosh4057]

I agree with just about everything in this video. I think sometimes merging archtypes is fine, especially for underdeveloped ones, but I do hate when people take an already strong archtype that could function on its own and smash in another one that makes it completely OP

[@MateFold]

I follow the 90-10 rule: 90% of the deck has to be pure archtype and 10% can be generic support. In a 40 cards deck this means 4 cards, perfect for a playset of pots and called by. It’s not a mandatory rule though, for example my Ursartic Drytron deck (arguably the same archtype). I think the point is to not win at any cost but rather have fun and use x cards that are meant to be used within the thematic.

[@michaelbevan1081]

I have no hate on duelists adding “ packages,” or mixing other archetypes; though I really do prefer pure decks too. Though sadly not all archetypes were created equally in the eyes of the yugi gods? Konami, Konami, yeah them. That said those who are fully committed to a deck(s), and they don’t receive consistent support? It’s adapt( mixing it up), or play something else.

[@xCorvus7x]

1:15 If you play Rikka/Sunavalon, you're a magical gardener/forest sorcerer.

[@gastgadtje8753]

I also like purist decks, but some cards like harpie's feather duster, lightning vortex etc. are necessary.

[@vonakakkola]

i remember when i bought a Yosenju deck, my seller send me a Yosenju Deck because he thought it was better, and that Yosenju deck is basically "gneric boss monsters with a Yosenju engine", with no Yosenju boss monsters but about running a "pure" deck or maybe 2 or 3 archetype, i'm the type of person who like to not play in a too "canonical" way, i prefer mixing things that i think they work togheter, but i always end up with a pure deck, because with a game so around archetypes, there are 2 possibilities: an archetype/generic boss monster took the spotlight from the other (and that other is the one i enjoy the most) OR the mixing is worse than the pure version, and that's why i run a pure charmer deck instead of a fortune fairy charmer deck and i agree with you that playing an archetype on how is intended to be used, you understand it way more than using an already prebuild meta version of that archetype

[@phoenix5029]

I personally limit hybrid decks to two archetypes, MAYBE three if the newcomers are closely related in playstyle (Albaz to Despia, or Fur Hire with Tri Brigade). Idea being is that I envision myself a duelist for this one archetype, and a two archetype hybrid can be roleplayed as me "teaming up" with a different archetype. Some teams can add options here and there and implementing a different engine is skin to a summon ally in RPGs. If they want to call it cringe, that's their loss for not having that sense of fantasy.

[@cold-fire]

I play pure-ish. I'll always choose in-archetype boss monsters even if it's not the ideal strategy, because there's too many cool boss monsters that we never get to see. If I mix, like Adventure in Plunder Patroll or Bystials in Chaos, I won't use them in any of my other decks. Having my decks feel samey would burn me out too quickly, which is why I don't use Fenrir or whatever.

[@lordofninjas1]

I tend to run pure decks mostly. I do it because I find that the decks tend to run better and not brick as often if you run them pure and not have all the extra random cards that you'll probably never end up using clogging up spaces and such for other cards that you may need for something. I guess in other words I find that it pretty much always leaves all cards in the deck useful so you can pretty much always be doing something (assuming of course your opponent doesn't lock you out of things and such). I'm not opposed to putting in something like a Pot of Greed or Sakuretsu Armor or something like that if the archetype or theme or whatever doesn't have enough cards in it or if I don't own all the cards for that theme or whatever, but that's because I generally see those cards as "archetypeless", or more specifically "meant to work within every theme/archetype". I don't put a ton of them in as to not compromise the archetype/theme, but I don't mind having them in there. Just as a side thing, to use Smash Bros terminology, I'm not a For Glory player in Yugioh, I'm a For Fun player, I don't really do YCS type stuff or whatever (though if we ever get together and have some time my friends and I do put together little tournaments and such of our own), I just play to have fun and do something with friends and family. I don't exactly care about winning and defeating everyone on turn -1 and having a Tier SSS or 000 rank deck and everything like most Yugioh players seem to, nor do I really care if my deck contains some ban list cards, I don't own most of them anyways and probably won't ever own most of them so even if I did follow ban list it doesn't really effect me. Maybe it's just me growing up during the old school Yugioh eras (like the Legend of the Blue-Eyes packs came out when I was like 8 or 9), but I'm a fan of everyone getting more than like half a turn each and then the duel is over, and each player having half a turn each and then the duel ends seems to be the norm for most Yugioh nowadays.

[@mikeyfeliciano7174]

Fun fact, I’m trying to make a PURE generaider deck with ALL the Generaider Boss Monsters and I mena all cards, can you link to me or make a deck profile of that? 😅

[@ThatOneWeirdFlex]

I think both sides have an argument, however, I think both sides should be explored by players. Ive been cooking up an ABC Machine pile that's super cheap and super consistent while not sacrifing any of the fun since all of the monsters don't thematically clash.

[@southbranch]

after YEARS away from the game my lil friends circle are going back. no collection in my case etc to go back to so gonna rock two structure decks for a time just to...get a vibe? in my case single copy decks (aware should x3 but meh best learn simple again) beware the traptrix and spirit charmers lol its a small crew of us and very casual so I figure a solid way back into teh game. love teh content been watching tons last few days

[@ducky36F]

Cons: boring for me To elaborate, I have much more fun building decks than anything else, mixing and matching cards is an awful lot of the fun for me. Without that I don’t think I’d still play the game.

[@Reflecter16]

Recently I used the Diabellstar engine in T.G. (one of my favorite decks) and it simply helps me gets Rocket Salamander. It's not like another 4 negate Appo, Baronne and insert other generic end board here. It's still ending on T.G. bosses with T.G. follow-up. Pure definitely gets more love for Infernoble on my end.

[@Scatterneo]

Aside from the fact that the vast majority of games are decided/ended by the end of Turn 3, this is probably the biggest reason I'll never return to modern Yugioh. With the exception of a few niche archetypes, the bulk of a decks power comes from the Extra deck. And not only are many of these "boss monsters" generic pieces that can be used by virtually any deck, but many of the monsters that Aren't generic can often be splashed into most decks with only a few cards. I'll gladly give Konami my hard earned money and get destroyed by a horde of zoomers if it means the game returns to tribal formats.

[@Scatterneo]

Aside from the fact that the vast majority of games are decided/ended by the end of Turn 3, this is probably the biggest reason I'll never return to modern Yugioh. With the exception of a few niche archetypes, the bulk of a decks power comes from the Extra deck. And not only are many of these "boss monsters" generic pieces that can be used by virtually any deck, but many of the monsters that Aren't generic can often be splashed into most decks with only a few cards. I'll gladly give Konami my hard earned money and get destroyed by a horde of zoomers if it means the game returns to tribal formats.

[@Magikey]

I started out playing pure magikey for fun,it was calling to me But as time went on,i found myself experimenting in the lab,creating new lines and comboes i never knew before. Im playing yugioh better than i ever did Now im playing libromancer magikey and ive mastered my duel ability to put up interruptions and give my opponent a hard time with my signature comboes. A main stay combo. Barone and swordsoul chixao. Im very proud of my grand creation. Its just a pet deck but for me its just a link to my creative expression in terms of being a yugioh player Its not heroes like the linear comboes Its not unchained Its whatever i want it to be. Whatever normal monsters Whatever extra deck

[@CaptainPlayguy]

I have mixed feelings. I like pure as much as the next guy. Sometimes, it feels like that's the way to play. But finding interesting combos with cards is part of the excitement of Yu-Gi-Oh!. One of my pet decks focuses on milling itself to power up Chaos Necromancer while giving access to useful effects. What other game will let me to run a smattering of unrelated archetypes like Lightsworn, Shaddoll, Danger!, and Burning Abyss together in harmony? On the other hand, there's been plenty of times where the crossovers are *too* good. Something something, rhymes with schmearlament schmizu. I don't know where the line in the sand is with unrelated cards working together awesomely. I just know there is one.

[@mattsharp1046]

Im not a competitive player so to me a lot of the fun of yugioh IS seeing a pure deck’s engine run and getting to mess around with the themes i like. I have a pure Ogdoadic deck and a pure solfachord deck that i think are fun even tho people just talk mad shit about both of those. Are they good decks? No. But im not trying to win so like, i kinda win anyway lmao.

[@panblu]

Since I only play casually with my friend, I always tend to stay the same archetype, so far I only have my crappy blue eyes deck. But I’m planning on finishing it and getting a DM deck and elemental hero deck too very OG elemental

[@zerocalvin]

it try to keep my deck as pure as possible... i run harpie deck, so unfortunately, if you run harpie pure you cant really do much since all their boss monster arent really a win condition, Cyber Slash Harpie Lady is an interrupt, Harpie Conductor is a staller and Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon is a staller... so you cant really win with just those boss monsters, not in modern yugioh... while harpie's gimmick used to be swarming but unfortunately they arent really the best at it since there are multiple archetype like lyrilusc that can swarm much more efficiently and swarm more bodies... however the one advantages that harpie have is that most people have no idea what it does and what extra deck monster it has, monster like Ice Beast Zerofyne and Lighting Chidori is something that most meta player will never see coming... Ice Beast Zerofyne is a full board negate that have win me many games against deck like flowanderee or tri brigade.

[@CatPhil]

Instead of making 10.000 archetypes konami should make waaay more support for existing archetypes so you can build different types of decks for the same archetype. So instead of everyone making a going second cydra deck, you can switch it up and make a go first cydra or a control cydra etc. Also ads element of surprise to archetypes cus you don’t know exactly what type of cyber dragon deck your opponent is playing and you need to figure it out during the game. Makes sense?

[@shamluis2125]

Pure yigioh aka anime yugioh where you are stuck with an archtype well the anime plays highland pure most the time. I would love a pure deck category for master duel or some other yugioh product to help players get used to the game

[@corrupt_heart9985]

I much prefer running pure architypes for the most part, but I do use generic staples here and there like ash and lightning storm.... Or stuff like adding slifer to knights of face.... Dark magician and dragon maids was not a good idea though, fun, but even more bricky.

[@adnielmunoz4680]

I usually like to play a pure spellcaster type of deck typically a dark magician deck with dark magician of chaos and obelisk and the occasional 1 or 2 fiends in the deck that grant me access to certain monsters to be able to protect my life points like sangan while i search for the remaining cards for my combo

[@07Sader]

Pure is the way. Mixing technically raises the ceiling of decks, but then comes whether it's the archetype doing the work or the outside cards.

[@tsaad41]

For it's not by choice sort of speak. I run HERO it's my favourite deck I've played it for years. We keep getting more cards and a lot of them say that we're locked into heros. I chose to play hero's but it's the deck that says it needs to be pure. Except handtraps, hero's are the only monsters in the main and extra.

[@adrianjude9041]

I prefer pure will add a few minor techs if the deck can search for these cards using its own power and if the cards actually benefit the original game plan, for example, running galaxy soldier in a cyber dragon deck because it's a lvl 5 light machine type monster, just like Cydra.

[@unclefred3128]

Eh, we used to just plop a massive random assortment of cards on the floor and draft a deck of unrelated cards in 15 minutes, that was honestly the most fun the game has ever been for me.

[@NecromancerAdr]

I enjoy playing my pure Dark Magician deck, which usually doesn't do that well but at least I have fun in the process

[@kylo-juju3796]

hands down, blue-eyes is a very versatile decks when you talk about playing pure builds, you can either go fusion, synchro or rituals, or even you can abandon those ang go for bewd beatdown

[@Zetact_]

There is an aspect of originality and creativity in mixing but it can also stifle it. Like before the banlist finally put it to rest, every single Synchro Deck in the game was doing the exact same Needlefiber Auroradon into Borreload, Baronne combo. The ability to fit in mini engines is also kind of a "the rich get richer" situation because it means already strong decks that can afford space for the package benefit the most from it while a weaker deck that needs to devote more space to its own engine either will end up just having the main strategy of the deck feel like it's fluff because the sub-engines are overtaking it or simply won't be able to fit in the engines. HERO is probably a moderately good example where in spite of it being the hugest archetype in the entire game it's become a rather linear combo deck that just uses a select few cards from each of the HERO subcategories.

[@siddis772]

So I do a weekly duel tournament with some friends and we only ever use cards within the archetype that we're playing. Its an odd format, kind of a speed duel format but with TCG cards and the only thing we don't use are pendulums and links, but everything else goes. Occasionally someone may pull out a burn deck with mystic mine, but its thematic to their deck so we don't really care. I honestly think if we started using nibiru, baronne, ash or any of the other powerful staples it would become a lot less fun for us all

[@zerokamour4963]

I play my decks Pure as well. It’s fun to imagine being a duelist of that given archetype in the anime. I also like the more relaxed vibe of playing my archetyes pure

[@DnnyTheMinuteman]

I honestly don’t think it’s cringe to imagine yourself as a commander of your deck. Me personally I like to think of myself as the general or commander of the dragunity legion when I use that deck as it is my favorite archetype. I mean cmon a bunch of winged knights riding dragons? Best archetype in my opinion

[@leejackson3737]

back in the day i played pure raidraptor(might have had dark rebellion in extra deck but cant recall) last year i kind of made it a hybrid with phantom knights and a few generic xyz monsters..and a couple non archetype winged beast extenders. might try pure again in the near future

[@errusenfor]

i prefer playing around a thematic kind of deck based on an archetype, like the new horus archetype, i wanted to do a egyptian-style deck around that archetype