Card Advantage FAQ - Illustrated Edition

[CrabHelmet]

I'm making this because this is one of the most important concepts in the game to understand, and because Chaos Pudding's topic gave me the idea. So there. I'll also cover draw control, deck thinning, and other related topics.

 

 

Card Advantage, put simply, refers to the number of cards a player has in his or her hand and field. For example, if you have four cards in hand and three cards on the field, while the opponent has two cards in hand and four cards on the field, you have more card advantage than the opponent does, as you have immediate access to more cards.

 

Card Advantage can be subdivided into Hand Advantage and Field Advantage. Hand Advantage refers to the number of cards in hand, whereas Field Advantage refers to the number of cards on the field. However, monsters are more important to Field Advantage than Spells and Traps are.

 

 

Advantage Notation is a way of summarizing the efficiency of a card and whether that card pays for itself. It is calculated by determining how a card will affect your Card Advantage. For example, Pot of Greed leaves your hand in order to put two more cards into your hand; since the number of cards in your hand increases by 1, Pot of Greed is considered a +1.

 

Reducing your opponent's advantage is equivalent to increasing your own advantage for the purposes of Advantage Notation. For example, activating Delinquent Duo reduces your number of cards by 1, but reduces the number of cards your opponent has by 2; therefore, it is also considered a +1. A +0 or better is considered good, as it results in no loss of advantage.

 

 

Advantage notation is useful in determining what cards to include in a deck. For example, Tribute to the Doomed costs two cards (Tribute to the Doomed and the discarded card) to destroy one monster (presumably an opponent's monster), making it a -1 in terms of advantage. Smashing Ground, on the other hand, takes one card to destroy one card, and is therefore a +0. For this reason, Smashing Ground is considered superior to Tribute to the Doomed; they serve similar purposes, but Smashing Ground is more efficient.

 

 

The purpose of Card Advantage and Advantage Notation is to reflect a duelist's options. The more cards a duelist has at his or her disposal, the more options are available, the more likely that duelist is to be able to respond to the opponent's moves, and in general the better a position that duelist is likely to be in.

 

Because of this definition, some cards that are technically +1 are still not very good. For example, Thunder Dragon trades one card for two cards, making it a +1; however, the two cards that it adds to your hand are basically useless cards, which means that, though your hand size is larger, you do not have more options at your disposal.

 

 

Life Points do not matter.

 

Yes, you win the game when they hit zero. However, at any time before that point, Life Points are totally irrelevant. Advantage is what wins games, not Life Points. Advantage gives you the ability to win.

 

Observe the card Oozaki. It inflicts 800 damage to the opponent's Life Points, but it provides no advantage; after activation, it merely goes to the graveyard without paying for itself, making it a -1.

 

 

Okay, I lied. Life Points do matter a tiny bit if you can get them below 800, since this prevents the opponent from activating Premature Burial and Brain Control, two commonly run cards that generate advantage. As a rule of thumb, however, Life Points do not make a difference.

 

 

Utility is also important in terms of card advantage. For example, Monster Reborn is a +0, whereas Premature Burial is technically a +1; however, while it remains on the field after activation, Premature Burial is useless to its controller and makes it easier for the opponent to destroy the equipped monster, making Premature Burial inferior to Monster Reborn. This is similar to the reason that Thunder Dragon is not considered a good card.

 

 

Sometimes a card may appear to be a -1 in the short term, but will provide long term benefits. For example, Foolish Burial reduces your card advantage by 1, but its use can provide advantage later in the duel. For example, one of the most popular uses for it is to send Treeborn Frog to the graveyard, which will then provide an extra +1 on every subsequent turn.

 

 

Let's see if you understand the concept of Advantage. Quickly, tell me in advantage notation, what is Sangan? Is it a -3? Is it a +2? What is it?

 

[spoiler=Click here for the answer]Sangan is a +1.

 

Confused? Yes, Sangan gives you one extra card when it is sent to the graveyard, which might make you think that it is a +0; you lose one card, and you get one card. However, before Sangan is sent to the graveyard, it can perform the regular duties of a monster; attacking opponent's monsters, defending you, forcing the opponent to use an attack or effect to get rid of it, and so on.

 

As a rule of thumb, since Spells and Traps go to the graveyard after use, they generally start as a -1; however, Monsters can perform other duties, so they start as a +0.

 

 

 

Dark Armed Dragon's effect may appear to consist of a series of 1-for-1s, a common term for +0's that exchange one card for another, if one didn't know that the graveyard is not counted toward Card Advantage; in fact, each activation of its effect is an easy +1. This is why this and many of the other Dark Counterpart cards, such as The Dark Creator, are so powerful; the costs do not reduce advantage, while the effects do produce advantage.

 

 

The advantage produced by some cards depends on the state of the field. For example, Lightning Vortex starts as a -2, then gains an extra +1 for every face-up monster the opponent controls. Therefore, if the opponent has two monsters, it is a +0, but it is a -1 if the opponent has only one.

 

Cards such as these should be used when they would generate the most advantage. For example, if the opponent declares an attack with his or her only Attack Position monster and you have a Set Mirror Force, it might be beneficial to choose not to activate Mirror Force at that time. Activating it then would merely make Mirror Force a +0; waiting until the opponent controlled more monsters could make it a +1 or better.

 

 

Not every +0 card is good. Jar of Greed, for example, is a +0, but its effect just gives you the card that you would have drawn if you hadn't been using Jar of Greed, and the fact that it's a Trap means you need to wait a turn.

 

What it does do is thin your deck. After its activation, your deck is one card smaller than it would have been if you had drawn another card. This is also the purpose of cards like Thunder Dragon.

 

This does not mean that Jar of Greed and Thunder Dragon should be used all around as staples, though. There are usually better alternative ways to provide deckthinning, although something like an Exodia Deck can still benefit from Jar of Greed.

 

 

Spin refers to a type of effect, such as that of Raiza the Storm Monarch or Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, that returns a card to the top of its owners deck. At first glance, such an effect seems to only delay the problem of an opponent's card rather than actually eliminating it; however, the fact that the card returns to the top of your opponent's deck instead of to your opponent's hand means that your opponent's next draw will be wasted on drawing a card that they already had.

 

Clogging your opponent's draw is very useful, especially since you can choose what card to spin. For example, spinning a Tribute monster will for the opponent to Tribute Summon it in order to use it again; if their field is low on monsters, the draw may even be totally useless. Spin, therefore, is usually considered superior to destruction, which is why Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, despite appearing to be a -1, is now commonly run, and Raiza the Storm Monarch is considered the best Monarch.

 

 

All factors must be considered when determining advantage. For example, Mobius the Frost Monarch may appear to be a +2, while most other Monarchs are a +1, yet he is actually run less than, and is seen as inferior to, the other Monarchs (with the exception of Granmarg the Rock Monarch). The reason for this is that Mobius is rarely able to actually reduce the opponent's advantage as much as it looks like it would be able to, as most Spells and Traps used (Mirror Force is an exception) could be chained to the summoning of Mobius or the activation of its effect, thereby allowing the opponent to benefit from them even though Mobius tries to destroy them.

 

 

Hold on a moment. This card is quite clearly a -1. So why is it run so much?

 

For a start, the purpose of card advantage is to make yourself more likely to be able to respond to your opponent's moves; Dark Bribe is able to replace whatever card the opponent uses to respond with a random card from his or her deck, one which may not fit the circumstances. It also has the ability to disrupt the opponent's strategies.

 

Another thing to note is that any costs that the opponent pays to activate a Spell or Trap are not refunded if that card is negated. So, this card becomes a +0 if it negates a card like Different Dimension Revival.

 

 

By this point, you've probably realized why Polymerization is considered to be so inferior to cards like Overload Fusion. Cards that fuse monsters in the graveyard are +0; you pay the spell that conducts the fusion, and obtain the Fusion Monster. Polymerization, however, is at the very least a -2, since you also lose the Fusion Material Monsters needed for the Fusion Summon; cards in the graveyard do not count toward advantage, remember, but cards in hand and field do.

 

 

Someone merely glancing at Brain Control might see it as a -1, since the monster you steal is returned to the opponent at the end of the turn. However, you must also consider what can be done with the borrowed monster; it does not return to the opponent if it is no longer on the field.

 

Tributing the borrowed monster for a Tribute Summon or to pay a cost for some sort of effect turns Brain Control into a pure +1; you lose one spell but gain a monster, and your opponent loses one monster.

 

 

Equip Spells, Continuous Spells, and Field Spells are, by and large, not great cards. Some good Equip Spells exist, (such as Premature Burial, Different Dimension Revival, and Crystal Release), some good Continuous Spells exist (such as Dimensional Fissure and Level Limit - Area B), and some good Field Spells exist (such as Skyscraper 2 - Hero City and Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins); however, for the most part, these three types of cards fail to provide card advantage to pay for themselves. The ones that merely alter ATK are the worst; the game is no longer about mere ATK points, and spending an entire card solely for such a purpose is not usually worth it.

 

 

The end.

[tonisanoob]

wow very well done ^_^

[HORUS]

Very informative and well done. Good work soldier.

 

BTW, i got the question right. haha. i'm awesome.

 

I've always said Life Points don't matter until they reach zero, and you explained that, i see.

 

What exactly would you say is Raiza's advantage? i'm not quite sure. its +2 right???

[CrabHelmet]

What exactly would you say is Raiza's advantage? i'm not quite sure. its +2 right???

Technically speaking, Raiza is a +0; you lose the tributed monster, and your opponent loses one card.

 

However, the spin effect could be considered an additional +1 in some cases, since a useful card that the opponent could have drawn is replaced with a card that you returned - a card that, if you chose it properly, could be utterly useless. The benefit of spin, however, can't really be measured properly in advantage notation, especially since the opponent ultimately loses not a card but a turn of deck speed.

 

Also, if the tributed monster is something like Treeborn Frog or D.D. Survivor, then you could think of Raiza as being up to a +2. Even though Treeborn/Survivor's returning effect is their own, and therefore they are the +1's and not Raiza, they can't use that effect if not tributed. So, in some cases, Raiza could be as good as a +2.

 

Of course, Dark Armed Dragon owns them all. Easy +4 please?

[Static]

What exactly would you say is Raiza's advantage? i'm not quite sure. its +2 right???

Technically speaking' date=' Raiza is a +0; you lose the tributed monster, and your opponent loses one card.

 

However, the spin effect could be considered an additional +1 in some cases, since a useful card that the opponent could have drawn is replaced with a card that you returned - a card that, if you chose it properly, could be utterly useless. The benefit of spin, however, can't really be measured properly in advantage notation, especially since the opponent ultimately loses not a card but a turn of deck speed.

 

Also, if the tributed monster is something like Treeborn Frog or D.D. Survivor, then you could think of Raiza as being up to a +2. Even though Treeborn/Survivor's returning effect is their own, and therefore they are the +1's and not Raiza, they can't use that effect if not tributed. So, in some cases, Raiza could be as good as a +2.

 

Of course, Dark Armed Dragon owns them all. Easy +4 please?

[/quote']

 

Easily, and if you don't win when it touches the field, bust out phantom of chaos and loss is nearly impossible. :P

 

I know that was irrelevant.

 

I likez pics and stuffz! :)

[Gravitize Me Cap'n!]

But guys, Norleas is like +16.

[Guest Chaos Pudding]

This guide is much better put together than mine. Kudos to you. Now if I could just get around to finishing mine...

[Flame Dragon]

This and those other 2 need to be stickied. Great job, and keep it up.

[CrabHelmet]

For maximum efficiency, they should just sticky the Collected Guide topic.