[SushiX]

Hey XC, this is my first time writing anything like this on the site but I figured I would give it a shot.
Most people decide to go first in a duel because you have the card advantage that way. But if you go first you have more then just a card advantage you also have the first move which means unless your facing a hearld deck none of your plays can be stopped. I'll give you and example between a gadget and an X-Saber deck.

You open with, "Green Gadget, Tragoedia, Torrnetial Tribute, Royal Oppression, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and you draw Cold Wave." This is an amazing hand but its also very difficult to figure out what to play since the deck you are facing is very explosive. In this situation you have a few options options.

Option #1: The Bad Move
You know your playing X-Saber and they special summon a lot. So you summon Thunder King Rai-Oh, and you set Torrential and Royal Oppression and end your turn.

Why is that a bad move? Well first off X-Saber run a lot of backfield hate. Dust Tornados, MST, Cold Wave, Heavy Storm, Trunade, etc So chances are they your oppression and torrnetial are going to get destroyed. And if they do your only other out is Trag but since you set so many cards even with teh gadget search you will be playing catch-up from now on.

Option #2: The Average Move
You summon your gadget, and you search then you set torrential since you will have a monster to summon and your opponent wont.

This is a very obvious and common move. Again with so much backfield hate Torrential might not even go off of you wont effect them that much. Best case senario is your playing someone who doesnt know how to play x-sabers and they over extend and you torrential 2+ monsters. Outisde of that they will probably out-pace you.

Option #3: The Safe move
You activate cold wave on the start of your main phase 1. You summon your gadget and you search. Then end your turn. Now granted the worst thing to come out of this is that they open with Cat and Faultroll. But even then you will have the advantage as long as they dont ditch your trag out of your hand. If and when they run over your gadget drop trag (who will have 3k on your draw) and since you played Cold Wave your Tragoedia is going to be safe for the turn and you can really dish out some damage from there.


Another thing to keep in mind when going first. Think your plays through, dont look at your hand and just see the 6 cards, think of all the strategies and the intricasies of your deck and play out your options in your head. Try to forsee your opponents moves and counter them properly. This is a rule I use when ever I am in a large tournament dueling...

Turns 1-4: The Set Ups these turns will set up for the rest of the duel and who ever has the advantage can play defensively.

Turns 5-8: This is where most plays are executed and this is also where the tables can change.

Turns 8+: From here its a thing of luck, depending on the deck your using and playing against. More and more cards will be played and the decks will become smaller. From here you should pay close attention to what your opponent has played and what they have out. One wrong move and you could lose in a single turn.

And as for some food for thought, if you go first the Third Turn is the most important. And for most game the third turn will decide the duel.

[Moist Cake]

This article had a bit of thought in it... however I believe that the topic is a bit "overly specific" on an Opression Gadgets v. X-Sabers duel. Also, making comments like

Quote

Best case senario is your playing someone who doesnt know how to play x-sabers

isn't exactly... good. I appreciate the time you put into this article and a lot of the information and opinion you have here I can agree with. However, an article on duel strategy should NOT be biased or opinionated. Articles of this nature should be fueled by statistical facts.

Complaints aside, this was worth the read.

6/10 as far as articles go