Before anything i wanted to say major thanks to TDP, he helped me a lot with this article. In fact i think he did most of the work for this article due to my lack of time caused with my rl problems. But nevertheless. Its here, and i hope u will like this article.
The Art of OTK
If you are reading this you are mostly likely interested in finding out how to perform consistent OTK’s are how to prevent them. And I have to comment you, that you are certainly in the right place to read up on that, so search no further.
This article contains information about a series of subjects which will be broken down to:
• What is an OTK..?
• Why you would want to OTK..?
• How many ways are there to OTK..?
• How do I perform an OTK ..?, or prevent an OTK ..?
• Conclusion
What is an OTK…?
OTK is a short term for One Turn Kill, this term is used to refer to how you beat your opponent. In this case in one turn which isn’t all that easy. Since of course if my opponent is down to 500 life points and I attack with my Sangan which holds an attack strength of 1000 I beat him in one turn. But that isn’t called to be an OTK. A One Turn Kill is mostly claimed to be an OTK when you are in the early stages of a duel and win with a strategic combination of cards preferably when your opponent still holds their 8000 life points. Although it isn’t needed but still your opponents life points have to very close to 8000 or above to claim it to be an OTK if you force the win trough battle.
For example: Final Countdown
Final Countdown makes sure your opponent losses after 20 turns have passed since you activated Final Countdown. But Final Countdown takes 20 turns to do so which means it isn’t considered to be an OTK even if it your opponent gets beaten in 1 turn by a card effect like Final Countdown. Since it took 20 turns for the effect to resolve if I may explain it like this.
An One Turn Kill based deck is like saying ok I know I have good odds so I will take the risk of losing while I knew I was gambling it all. Why such a bald statement is as followed; a lot of OTK decks do not have a back-up plan installed in case the master move fails because of a Gorz, Tragoedia, Battle Fader, Solemn Judgment, Solemn Warning etc. etc. Therefore in involves a certain risk while playing with the OTK strategy. Furthermore OTK decks essentially only resolve around the OTK move and therefore don’t have the tools to last in a long game since they can run out of option quickly although to players like myself that risk can be ignored as long as you know how to play your cards right.
Why you would want to OTK..?
As you might have known before reading this, I’m quit obsessed with performing an OTK in my duels and even matches. The reason why I became obsessed with it is; performing an OTK on a consistent bases isn’t that easy to do especially in today’s format although the format hasn’t been defined yet it still shows signs of rather being a weird mixture of a variety of different concepts.
Besides it being a challenge to do it on a consistent bases I get the most fun out of it but that is all personal preference. I mainly chose battle OTK types since that is the most common way to achieve victory in duels so why not do while performing an OTK. The reasons why you might like to perform an OTK on a consistent bases are;
• You can use the OTK strategy within any kind of play style
• A lot of decks are fully capable of performing an OTK
• It is challenging
If these above mentioned reasons are part of the full picture why you personally would like to perform OTK’s on a regular bases than you once again found the right place to educate yourself even more.
How many ways are there to OTK..?
This question is not really capable of answering although if you mean to find out what different sort of OTK’s there are it will become a lot easier to answer that question. Since we have the following OTK’s lined up for you:
• Throughout battle damage
• Burn ( throughout effect damage )
• Exodia ( gathering all 5 pieces in one turn )
The OTK done throughout battle damage is the most common nowadays, in my opinion it luckily is because I personally find Burn, Exodia and Mill not that much of a challenge to pull of although there still isn’t anything wrong with it.
The Battle Damage OTK;
As explained earlier this OTK is all about overwhelming power and destruction and thereby dropping your opponents life points to 0 throughout battle damage. But overwhelming power and destruction…., that’s a tough call since there are so many ways to create it. The key in this particular OTK way is to make as consistent as possible so that you can also win without having to perform the OTK although the OTK combo is your main goal. Well how do you determine which way to go while making an OTK battle damage deck. Before finding that out you must understand card advantage and how to generate card advantage therefore I provide you with a quick lesson:
Now, more advanced players tend to forget why newer players run massive decks packed full of every conceivable strategy. It's really a pretty basic concept: be able to counter your opponent's moves, and you will win the duel. Advanced players will talk about "versatile" and "situational" cards when building decks. The only real difference between this concept and that of the beginner is that beginners will add a card or two to deal with every situation imaginable; advanced players try to use only cards that, while not necessarily perfect for a given situation, can be used in many different situations. This works on the principle that less cards means a greater chance of drawing them, which in turn means that you are more likely to work around your opponent's moves as they make them.
They seem radically different, but both are connected by the same basic mathematical concept: if you have more cards, you're more likely to have the one(s) that you need. Anyone can see the truth of this statement. If I take the top eight cards from a forty-card deck, I'm more likely to draw a given card than if I draw only the top five cards. By the same logic, if I have eight cards between my hand and field combined, I am more likely to have a given card than if I have only five total cards. If I have eight cards between my field and hand, and my opponent has only five, I am more likely to have an answer to his moves than he is likely to have an answer to mine. My "competetive upper-hand" is that I have more cards, and therefore more options, than my opponent. Because I have more options than my opponent, I am more likely to win the game. That is the concept of card advantage. So, by having more options than your opponent, you maximize your ability to win the present duel.
Advantage is relative. That is, when one player is said to have card advantage, it means that they have more cards than their opponent, not just "more cards in general". This holds true in all scenarios, regardless of how many total cards are currently involved in the game. To determine who has card advantage, and to what degree, simply count the total number of cards controlled by both players, both on the field and in that respective player's hand. This is called that player's "card count." When you subtract one player's card count from the other player's card count, you will find a whole number that is either negative, positive, or exactly zero. In math terms, the operation will yield an integer. The player with the most cards has card advantage, equal to the difference between the two card counts. EXAMPLE: If your opponent has a card count of three, and you have a card count of five, you have a card advantage of two cards. This would be called " 2 advantage."
The actual equation, for you algebra-heads out there, is |O-Y|=A. It is called the "Advantage Equation".
Now that you have learned how to generate Card Advantage you will come to notice that the more advantage you have the more options you have to perform an OTK. For that soul reason OTK based decks tend to replace defensive natured cards like Mirror Force, Bottomless Trap Hole etc for cards that will generate more hand advantage while maintaining the focus on the decks OTK strategy.
To give you a perfect example of an OTK based deck throughout battle damage while generating advantage I provide you with the deck list of the Blue Montage Dragon OTK deck:
Total deck count: 40
Monster Count: 18
3x Montage Dragon
3x Blue Eyes White Dragon
3x White Stone Legend
2x Debris Dragon
3x Broww Huntsman of Dark World
3x Thunder Dragon
1x Snipe Hunter
Spells: 19
3x Hand Destruction
3x Cards of Consonance
3x Trade-in
1x Card Destruction
3x Dark World Dealings
3x Pot of Avarice
1x Monster Reborn
1x Giant Trunade
1x Dragons Mirror
Traps: 3
3x Reckless Greed
The main deck is fully based upon thinning the deck, drawing ( in order to set-up the combo in your hand ) and when everything is set and done overwhelm your opponent with such a force only a Battle Fader will help him. But even with Battle Fader your opponent has a slim chance of turning the duel around and put you into trouble. Why you might ask;
• Hand Destruction makes your opponent discard cards they thought they might not need but in the end will need.
• Card Destruction disrupts their own strategy
• You have way more advantage even after you made your big move.
• You should still have options like Dragon’s Mirror and Monster Reborn left to make a full scale battle comeback.
• You have manipulated the tempo of the duel so immense that most likely your opponent cannot follow-up on your speed and therefore your advantage.
This is the sole purpose of an OTK battle damage based deck.
Now you know have seen a standard OTK deck build it is time to go more advanced within building an OTK deck or even a deck that falls in the category of the so called semi-OTK decks. First let me provide you with more details around an advanced OTK deck build and it’s game play options.
You have learned that in order to OTK on a consistent bases you need to get as much card advantage ( total advantage preferably more hand advantage ) in order to do so, but how can we create a more controllable one turn kill without losing lots of capability to do so. Konami themselves are not liking First turn Kill and One Turn Kill concepts that much although lately they have been so generous to provide us with plenty of both. For example: Junk Collector OTK
Junk Collector is a level 5 light attributed warrior which holds the effect to remove itself while face-up on the field and 1 normal trap card from your grave to activate that normal trap cards effect.
You might know or see right away that this OTK style isn’t done trough battle damage but trough effect damage also called burn. In the OCG this concept was hell consistent due to the fact the OCG had Junk Collector before we did meaning they had more options and more time to perfect this OTK deck build although it is still perfectly playable. To see how, I advise you to read further below:
Total deck count: 43 ( personal preference )
Monsters: 11
3x Junk Collector
3x Kuraz the Light Monarch
2x Ehren, Lightsworn Monk
2x Jain, Lightsworn Paladin
1x Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior
Spells: 27
1x Card Destruction
3x Hand Destruction
3x Into the Void
1x Charge of the Light Brigade
3x Solar Recharge
3x Arm’s Hole ( Hidden Armory )
3x Divine Sword Phoenix Blade
1x Reinforcements of the Army
2x Magical Stone Excavation
3x Different Dimension Reincarnation ( D.D.R. )
2x Dark World Dealings
1x Monster Reborn
1x Burial from a Different Dimension
Traps: 5
1x Magical Explosion
3x Blasting the Ruins
1x Return from the Different Dimension
The strategy of the deck is to mill, draw and search out nearly your entire deck in your first turn. In your end phase set Magical Explosion, Return from the different Dimension. Activate them both in your opponents Draw phase and use Junk Collector’s effect to copy the effect of Magical Explosion and that is supposed to be game. However you can truly see the gamble you take in this strategy since if you mill all 5 traps it is going to be hell tough to win if not impossible. But the chances of doing so are slim to none I might add.
Why is this form of generating advantage different from the Blue Montage OTK build, it’s actually quite easy to explain; You can always generate “new” options because all the effects are actually working perfectly with each other unlike the Blue Montage since in that specific build some cards are a -1 to your hand and you do that with the hopes of having Pot of Avarice soon to recycle and even it out with a 1. While Junk Collector OTK bases itself around a large portion of your cards in your grave and slightly in your Removed from game zone and even your hand. So naturally in a match you can have a hard time dealing with your opponent if you go second since then your opponent might have sided in some ways to stop the OTK move and thereby win the duel. Since if you fail with Junk Collector OTK the chances of you still winning are slim to none therefore it involves a great risk in choosing this to be your main deck although if played right you won’t lose that many games.
As promised the Exodia FTK/OTK:
The Exodia OTK deck resolves around massively drawing out your deck in order to draw into all pieces of exodia the forbidden one. Why you would want to do so:
• It’s easy
• Instant win condition
• It can be more consistent than other OTK deck types
In the past there were all kinds of Exodia OTK decks with engines such as; Destiny Engine, Magical Library, Trade-in, Hand Destruction, Card Destruction etc. etc. In the present days I personally have only seen 1 consistent Exodia FTK/OTK deck which resolves around drawing your deck out while using dragons to do so. For more information check the build below:
Monsters 16
5x Pieces of Exodia
3x BEWD
3x The White Stone of Legend
3x Flamvell Guard
2x Broww Huntsman of Dark world
Spells 24
3x Trade-In
3x Card of Consonance
3x Upstart Goblin
3x Super Rejuvenation
2x Dark Factory of Mass Production
3x Dark World Dealings
3x Hand Destruction
3x Reload
1x Card Destruction
The point of the deck is to discard as many dragons as possible through hand destruction and trade-in and then play super rejuvenation for like a 10 card draw. I personally teched Broww in here for that extra draw when you need or when you don’t have better options for Dark World Dealings, Card Destruction etc. if you start off with a decent or good hand you can almost say you win automatically since you will draw those 5 pieces of exodia no matter what.
I used the term semi-OTK decks before and most of you probably do not really understand what that term means. It is quite simple actually since we already covered the term OTK so the only thing we need to cover is semi. Well semi basically means that it isn’t a perfect/completed/100% OTK deck or rather as I see it not build to perform OTK’s on a regular bases but is fully capable of performing them. For example XX-Sabers; that specific archetype isn’t made to perform OTK’s but rather to explode and gain more advantage throughout hand control. But we duelists have made them in a way that they can OTK just as easily as an OTK deck. To enlighten you even further; my old Simorgh Turbo diesel from the September 2009 format was not an OTK deck although I won mostly because of performing an OTK same goes for my Kitty Cat decks of that same format.
But how could they perform OTK’s just as easily you might ask, well that is all due to my play style and deck building preferences. I like to conservative for most of the time of the duels I am in and strike when I see an opening and I have my things set up for a major move and preferably OTK. This isn’t easy to do and it is even harder to do if you do not understand how to generate advantage for yourself or to force simplification.
For those unfamiliar with simplification read below;
In Yu-Gi-Oh!, simplification is exactly what it sounds like: making the game more simple by removing options from both players card count. Simplification is used to make card advantage count, as we will soon see. But here I would like to introduce the reason why Player A lost that first game in the above section. Here's the scenario I'm talking about:
Player A has four cards in hand and two set spell or traps: a card count of six. Player B has only two cards in hand and none on the field. Player B draws, and a broad smile slowly creeps across their face. Player B beams triumphantly as they drop first Giant Trunade, then Future Fusion, then Overload Fusion to summon an 8000 atk Chimeratech Overdragon. Stunned, Player A cries "lucksack," and angrily scoops up their cards. Player B retorts that it was Player A's fault for letting him have the opportunity to use the combo in the first place. And so on and so forth. We've all seen it.
Before saying anything myself, I would like to quote Jason Grabher-Meyer, who summed it up rather nicely in his article, "Keeping it Simple," which can be found here:
http://yugioh.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=1856“I have a love-hate relationship with the entire concept of card advantage. On one hand, I love the fact that players try to impose a resource system onto a game that doesn't have one. Imposing order over chaos in order to make sense of things is one of the habits that draws us all closer as human beings, for better or worse, and keeping card advantage in the back of your head can make you a better player”.
We can determine mathematically that Confiscation is an even trade. It is a 1-1. Simplification is where even trades start to mean something. This scenario shows the most basic use of simplification. By eliminating a specific card needed to perform a combo, even trades can prevent your opponent from shifting the momentum of the game in their favor. By simplifying the game, you have kept your opponent from doing anything, not just less. Simplification has other, more mathematically involved applications as well. When the game state is "simplified," it means that both players have few options remaining to them; that is, they both have relatively small card counts. A game state where both players have no cards on the field and are top decking is as simplified as the duel could possibly be. More often, a simplified game state will involve both players controlling between one and three cards. To understand the impact of a simplified game state on the outcome of a duel, we need to understand the mathematical significance of having fewer options in play.
Let's start with the assumption that you have a card count of eight, and your opponent has a card count of six. Simple arithmetic tells us that you have 2 advantage, which means that you are most likely to win the present duel. However, experience tells us that an opponent with six cards is likely to have some way of mounting a comeback. Some readers may already have realized that another way of calculating advantage is to find the percentage of your card count relative to your opponent's card count. To do so, we divide your card count by your opponents, and move the decimal place two places to the right in the solution. This may seem interchangeable with the Advantage Equation, but, as we shall see, it is much more useful and dynamic. Mathematically expressed:
Y/O•100=Ap
Where Y is your card count, O is your opponent's card count, and Ap is the "Advantage Percentage."
In this scenario, we can determine that:
8(your card count)/6(your opponent's card count)•100=~133%
Therefore, you have 133% as many cards as your opponent.
This is where even trades become important. While you have card advantage over your opponent, and you start initiating card-for-card exchanges, you're Advantage Percentage goes up. If this turn you use one card, say, Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy one of your opponent's back row cards, the card counts change. Now, you have seven cards to your opponent's five. We plug it in to the Advantage Percentage Equation and find that:
7/5•100= 140%
So you now have 140% as many cards as your opponent. If you then activate your set Trap Dust Shoot, you'll have six cards to your opponent's four.
6/4•100= 150%
As you can see, simplifying the game state while you have card advantage is highly advantageous to you. This concept is called "Forcing Simplification," and it can be difficult to determine when and how to use it.
Forcing simplification is a matter of timing. You must factor in everything that you know for a fact, and everything that you strongly suspect to be fact. If you time incorrectly, it could very well cost you the game. The general rule of thumb is to never force simplification unless 1) you must in order to survive the next turn, or 2) you have at least 2 advantage, as determined by the Advantage Equation. If you attempt to force simplification when both players have an equal card count, or you have only 1 advantage, it can backfire horribly and you will most likely lose the duel. Especially if you need a specific 3 card combo to perform your OTK or if you wish to prevent an OTK which can be just as important.
Example:
You hold three cards in your hand: Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, Smashing Ground, and Gravekeeper's Spy. You also have a set Mystic Tomato. Your opponent holds two cards in hand and has a defense-position Spirit Reaper. You have 1 advantage, and decide to force simplification. You activate Smashing Ground, destroying Spirit Reaper, and offer your Mystic Tomato as a tribute to summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, thus discarding a card from your opponent's hand. You now have two cards to your opponent's one: your Advantage Percentage is 200%. You attack directly with Thestalos and end your turn. Your opponent draws. Now, suddenly, you are both back at 100% relative card counts. Your opponent activates Soul Exchange, offers your Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch as a tribute for their own Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch, and discards your Gravekeeper's Spy. Your opponent now has infinite advantage, since 0/1= Infinity. When you draw, you may draw some form of monster destruction, such as Smashing Ground, but you will have to way to regain advantage. Forcing yourself into a top decking situation is not a good idea.
Where to force simplification on …?
Obviously, there are two places to target for simplification: the hand and the field. Both are equally valid options, but, depending on the metagame, the game state, and your deck, one may be far more effective than the other. The field also has two different places that you can target: the monster cards and the spell/trap cards. As described earlier, spells and traps can sometimes be chained to the effect that would destroy them, thus giving the targeted player easy advantage. Monsters can't be chained, however (with a few notable exceptions), and so destroying monsters is much safer than targeting a spell or trap. When forcing simplification, first pay attention to monster removal, unless the specific situation makes that in advantageous (i.e. you can win the game if you eliminate the opponent's spell/trap with Raiza rather than their monster).
How to enforce simplification …?
Simplification can be forced with any card or card combination that costs you and your opponent the same number of cards. Simplification cards that exchange themselves for one of your opponents cards include ( the cards I mention are merely example cards and there are more of course for each category):
Monster Removal:
Smashing Ground
Nobleman of Crossout
Dimensional Prison
Bottomless Trap Hole
D. D. Warrior Lady
Wide Spread Ruin
And cards within the same nature as explained above.
Spell and Trap Removal:
Mystical Space Typhoon
Dust Tornado
Hand Removal:
Mind Crush
Trap Dust Shoot
But these cards will not be as great as some others into forcing out more advantage for yourself only these cards can backfire at time or a wrong timed activation. What cards I could be speaking of are;
• Cold Wave
• Trap Stun
• Giant Trunade
Each one of these cards “battle” your opponents back row but also have some influence on yourself as well. For Example Cold Wave:
This card can only be activated at the start of your Main Phase 1. Until your next turn, you and your opponent cannot play or Set any Spell or Trap Cards.
This card is actually a game winner and a game changer for sure. This card alone makes half your opponents deck invalid for a turn and a half. I say a turn and a half due to the fact you activate it on your Main Phase 1 and the set cards of your opponent are invalid for that turn but because it isn’t a real turn for your opponent I consider it to be a half turn. So this single card makes like 16-20 cards invalid/unusable for 1,5 turn. In my eyes that’s broken and broken cards should be banned but, as long as Konami decides to provide us all with a card like this why not abuse it.
There are only a few cons to this card in my opinion and those would be;
• You have to activate this before you do anything else in your Main Phase 1, although you can still chain cards you had set already in previous turns such as Traps and Quick-play spell cards. But you cannot chain Cold Wave in a situation to undermine the effects of Bottomless Trap Hole. So in my opinion you lose some game play right there and then.
• Cold Wave does not negate continuous effects such as: Level Limit Area B, Skill Drain, Gravity Bind etc. Thus meaning it DOES negate trigger effects and Ignition effects of spell and trap cards.
• In your opponents turn you cannot activate or use the effects of your spell and trap cards you have on the field thus meaning you have less defense options and thus a con in my opinion.
Holding the above cons in mind Cold Wave is still one of the most effective Spell – Trap cards fighters in the game so far if played right. I say this due to some people tend to play Cold Wave at the wrong time in their duels. So now I hear some thoughts about ok but what are the right time to activate Cold Wave?, here they are ( according to my own experience and understandings of the game )
• When you already have a good field presence and control. By Activating Cold Wave at that time you ensure you control for at least a turn and a half and thereby you are able to push the game. Plus you interrupt the tempo of the duel towards your preference and thereby disrupting your opponent even more.
• When you know you can go full force and taking over the control in a duel by your monster effects. This you can see in X-Saber duels. With Recue Cat banned I doubt we will see the old fashioned play; Activate Cold Wave > Summon rescue Cat > Use Cats effect and summon 2 sabers ( Airbellum and Darksoul mostly ) and swing for 1700 and synchro summon a level 6 or higher monster depending on what was already on the field.
• When you opponent has cards on the field such as Royal Oppression, Blaze Accelerator, Begone, Knave etc. So that you can push for game or alter the circumstances towards your preference in meaning of field presence.
These 3 moments are the 3 basic moments to play Cold Wave and more experienced duelists will use them outside these described moments since they know how to fully use the brokenness of Cold Wave, but for the more average and novice duelists among us I strongly advise you to keep the activation of Cold Wave inside these 3 moments.
As you can see Cold Wave can contribute a lot to an OTK since it makes sure of it that all your opponent’s back row cards are made invalid at the time you pull out the big guns and start blasting away. Of course Cold Wave cannot be used in just any OTK deck but rather in the Semi-OTK decks I mentioned early.
Giant Trunade and Trap Stun are a little bit different when it comes to playing them since you and your opponent can both chain the setted cards you need in order to defend or to beat your opponent although if your opponent wishes to chain I advise you to preserve your cards since they might not bring you victory after all.
Conclusion:
You always will need card advantage or a already set-up grave, removed from game or even field in order to be able to perform an OTK. How to generate that needed advantage is explained and if you do not understand it after reading it once or even twice I suggest just keep reading it while also looking at some other OTK decks or even your normal decks to fully understand this concept in Yu-Gi-Oh. To defend yourself from an OTK is actually the same thing only you need to act faster since an OTK usually happens quickly in a duel 1-4 turn.
I sincerely hope this article has brought you anything useful for your future career in Yu-Gi-Oh and thus helped you improve.
Kind Regards.
