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bhim's Guide to Making Good Cards

JerryFreelance

By JerryFreelance
in Realistic Cards

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JerryFreelance Newbie

JerryFreelance

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bhim’s Guide to Making Good Cards

bhim’s Guide to Making Good Cards

 

I believe an introduction is in order…

 

I’m bhim. Some of you know me, some of you do not. Do not allow the username to fool you, I definitely am bhim. I suppose I should start with background. If you care not, feel free to skip the next couple paragraphs.

 

I joined this site in [i believe] May, as my interest in Yu-Gi-Oh! was piqued yet again, and I found this site to be extremely fun, what with the card maker and all. I joined the forums, and started doing things. I started out with -2 reps, and then we got the new card maker. Once we got the new card maker, I decided to turn it around. By the time I left the site on maternity leave [not really, I’m a guy xD], I had the most rep points on the site at 69. It is about here that I left and put in what is now my Custom User Title. The time I left was around the end of summer as school was starting again and I was almost instantly swamped with work.

 

Now then, I am absolutely positive that someone has made a guide about this. But to be honest, I don’t care. Everyone has a different view on things, and this guide will be my two cents. If you like someone else’s guide better than mine, that’s you. I’m not going to feel offended if you like theirs better than mine; they’re both there for reasons. Two different takes on the same topic or even the same take maybe. It’s up to you to decide which you want to read.

 

So, now that the introductions are over, allow me to begin with a few questions.

 

[align=center]What works?

 

The most important point of a card is its effect, right?

 

So what's the best kind of deck?

 

Beatdown?

 

This sounds like the most logical explanation, right? [/align]

 

Well, that may be a lot to stomach, so let’s go through this step by step. First, what works? Well, that there is the overarching question, is it not? So in order to answer that question, we have to know the answers to every other one. This means, we may have to go out of order.

 

So what’s the best kind of deck? Obviously, the point of the game is to kill kill kill. Drain your opponent’s life points while preserving your own. Right? So naturally, the obvious first choice would be a deck packed with huge buff monsters that can kill your opponent. Sounds like Beatdown is the best archetype. So why isn’t it winning every dang Shonen?

 

Go back to the previous question. The answer to that is yes, the effect is so important it’s not even funny. Now, combine the questions and think about that.

 

Sounds a bit complicated, doesn’t it?

 

You might feel a bit swamped with all these questions, but once you can fully comprehend all of it, you’ll get it. We’ll take this slow. When you combine the effect and the power, the next obvious choice is to make cards that pump up your other monsters. So why don’t equips run rampant in the game? It’s wrong, that’s why.

 

The number one taboo in card making is stat boosters. Think about it. Aside from equips and fields, what monsters in the actual game are boosting your stats? Hardly any. I can’t even think of one off the top of my head – but then again, I have been gone…

 

So why are we listening to this freak anyways? Why are you reading? I have been gone. All you stat boosters that are now unnerved with the way I’m speaking, leave if you must. Stop reading. But I am far from finished. You want to know how to make cards? Then holster your anger and prepare to get shot at. ‘Cause I’m going to shoot down almost everything you thought was right.

 

So we’ll start from the beginning. You make an effectless card, and you’re already done. If I remember your name, I’ll never look at your cards again. Normal monsters are USELESS. Even if they’re for a fusion, kill ‘em. Don’t use them, whatever you do. This kind of thing should be self-explanatory, but it’s funny how you’ll still see people making normal monsters and crying when you give them a 0/10. MAKE A DAMN CARD.

 

As I already said, don’t give monsters effects that up stats, unless you just absolutely need a filler monster. Stat-uppers are no good… People don’t use ‘em because they’re just taking the place of another Raiza.

 

Next, don’t make insta-winners. We have Exodia for a reason people. And don’t be fooled, an insta-winner isn’t just a card whose effect allows you to win the duel, it’s also cards that have effects like, “This card can attack three times in the same Battle Phase” with a super high ATK. Don’t do it.

 

God cards are broken and can’t be used anyways, so don’t bother.

 

If you make a card with a stat that’s not a number [like “?”], specify in the effect how the stat is determined, otherwise you’re wasting time…

 

So you know that now, let’s move on. The best kinds of effects are the ones that work with something else. That’s why sets are so amazing. You make one card and then another one works with it. This is why people use Monarchs and Gadgets as opposed to one card and then another completely different card. Synergy, people. So make four or five monsters all based around the same thing. Give them the same names or whatever you want, and then make their effects work together. Often times, something nice to put in to show that they work together is to add some sort of effect with counters or tokens, and give each card a unique effect with the tokens or the counters.

 

Cards that don’t work with something specific are a little bit more difficult to do, but you can do it with a little practice. First, you’ll need to think of an effect that can benefit any deck. Look at the decks in today’s meta and think to yourself… What a wonderful world – sorry, I mean think to yourself… “What kind of effect would make this deck run a bit smoother?” And make that kind of card. This step seems like an easy one, maybe common knowledge, but a lot of card makers screw up in this step. How? By making stat-boosters, or by using the obvious answer, an insta-winner. Don’t do that. Think of something else for it. Maybe the key component of the deck is to get a bunch of cards into your hand to bust out Exodia. Well, that’s what they have cards like “Heart of the Underdog” for. Konami’s [used to be] thinking, you should too.

 

Writing the effects, then, is pretty important in itself. When writing an effect, you have to be EXTREMELY specific, and paying amazing attention to detail. Lack of one word can cause the card to go from blowout fantastic, to bull. Make sure it’s worded exactly like a real card would, otherwise you’re just kidding yourself. If you need help with that, go look at your own cards, or check out the sticky cyberdude made.

 

Obviously just looking at the words in this guide won’t help… For some reason, they’re sticky-ing archives now… I guess this is the only time that they help as being stickies. Go look at someone’s card archive and see how they do it. God Kaze is a great card maker, and surprise, his is the first archive stickied. Check out his cards and you’ll know what you should be striving for.

 

To conclude, I can almost guarantee I’m forgetting some things, so post anything I forgot to put down and I’ll put in an FAQ.

 

Thanks for reading, hope it helped, and if you have any questions, post!

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Sith Scott Newbie

Sith Scott

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well one thing youve forgotten if you want is that spell cards should be used for special summoning only if the card is weak (overpowering things like that will always get on my nerves) Not that u need it but you said you wanted to be sure you haven't forgotten anything. Nice tutorial. (pictures also shouldn't be looking like they are pixelated)it makes good cards look horrible.

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